The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
1 John 3:19-22 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
In the last part of this study we saw that Jesus Himself is the perfect expression and example of what true love is and how those of us who are saved are to follow His example by showing that kind of love toward our brothers and sisters in Christ. We also discussed the fact that it isn’t our deeds that save us but rather our deeds prove we are saved because they are born out of our love for Jesus. Another example of what John was saying Is found in James:
James 2:15-17 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
In other words, no one who is really saved could continually see a brother or sister in Christ who was in great need and not do whatever they could to help them.
John also shows us that he realizes that none of us are perfect and that we all slip up and sin. We see that he even includes himself in this because he uses the term “we” instead of saying “you”.
We can know for sure that we belong to the truth means simply (and amazingly) that we can be sure that we are saved forever. He begins the sentence with “This then is how we know”. The words “this then” are referring to what he has been saying to us throughout this entire letter and really ties this all together nicely:
1 John 1:5-10 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
1 John 2:1-6 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
1 John 3:11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3:14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
1 John 3:18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
John is saying then that this love we have for each other is one way we can know that we are truly saved. John knows however that there will be times when we won’t show this kind of love. He knows that we do still sometimes sin and includes himself in that. He has been telling us all along that our relationship with other believers affects our relationship with the Lord. With that in mind he says that when our hearts condemn us, when our conscience isn’t clear, we can trust the fact that we can go boldly into His presence and confess our sin and be totally forgiven for them. Even though our hearts may continue to beat us up over our sin, we can know for sure that the Lord has forgiven us because we are not supposed to be relying on our own character but rather on the character of the Lord who is greater then our hearts.
When we walk in love with each other, we grow in our understanding of God as well because we are abiding in Him when we do this; therefore we are experiencing His heart more and more. Because we are walking that closely with Him and each other, we will experience confidence in His presence. When we slip and our hearts begin to condemn us, we need to confess and get back into a right relationship with the Lord and each other so that our growth isn’t stunted.
Sometimes however our hearts accuse us wrongly. This is yet another reason why we need to remember that God knows everything, always. He knows the Truth, even when we don’t. Therefore we can go to Him, confess and know for certain that everything is OK between us. We don’t have to listen to our hearts then because once we have confessed if we feel it’s necessary, we know that the Lord has already taken care of it because God never makes a mistake and will never judge us wrongly.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Remember when John denied the Lord three times just before our Lord’s death on the cross? I’m sure that from the moment that rooster crowed the third time that John was miserable and that his heart condemned him. He knew what he had done and he knew it was a sin. I’d ask if you can imagine how he felt, but I’m sure you can just as I can. It’s a horrible horrible feeling when you know you have let your Lord and Savior down. I don’t think there is any worse feeling then that, and our hearts often grab onto that and beat us up with it over and over again even after we have confessed.
Luke 22:61-62 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Like us, John most likely lived with that awful condemnation from his heart until Jesus Himself relieved him of it after His resurrection. The point is that he didn’t need to live with that because his heart was falsely condemning him. John had already repented of his sin. We know this because the verse above says “he went outside and wept bitterly”. If that isn’t an example of godly sorrow which leads to repentance, then I don’t know what is! God knew that John had repented the very second he did so; in fact God knew he would repent before he had even sinned! So there was no reason for John’s heart to condemn him any longer, his heart, just like ours, was deceitful. This is why we should place our confidence in God and not in ourselves.
Finally John tells us that when we are living in right relationship with the Lord and with each other then we will also be praying according to His Will and not our own. Therefore He will give us anything we ask. What a wonderful promise to spur us onward toward always living (abiding) in a close personal relationship with the Lord!
Bible Studies, Friends and Fellowship
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
Monday, December 7, 2009
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
Today we’ll pick up from where we left off before we got side tracked on the part about prayer.
1 John 3:16-18 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Right at the very start here John shows us what true love looks like. He minds us that Jesus is the personification of love and of course our goal is to be like Him. Since we’ve had some time away from the original text, like me remind us here too that when John speaks of “brother”, he is referring to other true believers in Christ, not to our neighbors or even our families. I am not saying that we shouldn’t be this way with non believers too, I just want to make sure we remember the context that we’re reading this in. Jesus laid down His life for each of us who has accepted Him. Therefore we should be more then willing to do the same for any other believer.
John goes on to bring the point more down to earth since it’s unlikely that many will be asked to die for another believer. He reminds us that when we are aware of another believer who is in need, if we have what that person needs, we need to share it with him. John says, if we don’t do this, not out of “duty” but out of love and pity for the person, then we can’t possibly be in a close relationship with Christ. As believers the Lord shows us His heart and little by little changes our hearts to be more like His. The word translated “pity” is splanchna and means a deep seated emotional concern or sympathy. This is one area that I’ve noticed that the members of Fresh Hope really seem to excel in. I’ve lost count of how many people have been helped by members here both financially as well as emotionally by our members. It always makes me feel so honored to be part of the body of Christ that is working the way it’s supposed to be! John tells us here, that we should show our love for other believers with our actions as well as our words whenever we can, and this is something that our members don’t seem to have any problem with at all!
Note too that John isn’t telling us that we “must” give in order to be saved. He’s saying instead that those who do love their fellow believers and show it this way are obviously saved. This kind of love comes from the Lord, not from our old natures. Again, works do not save us, but are the “proofs” that we are saved.
If someone who wasn’t saved were to read these passages and attempt to love others in this way and really worked hard at it, they would be doing much good, but they still wouldn’t be saved. True believers don’t have to “work” at doing these things because these things are all fruit of the spirit that are born out of our love for what the Lord has done for us.
Friday, December 4, 2009
What are we going to feel when we finally stand before Him face to face?
What are we going to feel when we finally stand before Him face to face?
What are we going to feel when we finally stand before Him face to face? Whether it's due to the rapture or death, all of us who are born again will experience life in heaven. We know some of what that life will be like from what scripture says, but I'd like to take a look at what our first immediate experience might be like. I think we're all familiar with the verse that tells us that there will be no more pain, death, sorrow etc. and many apply that to their entire "life to be". In fact, until recently, I did too. Lately however I've come to understand that this isn't necessarily true for the first part of our experience.
Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
For one thing, what the Lord says in Rev 21:4 happens after the millennium not the second we all arrive in heaven.
The more I study the more I realize that what we do here will affect our lives there a LOT and that what we won't be able to "make up" for what we didn't do here once we get there, like so many think they'll be able to. Let's first take a look at the parable of the talents in Matthew:
Matthew 25:14-30 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.“ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
First Jesus gives us His gift of salvation, and has given us each of us abilities and talents.
Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Then Jesus left for a long time. Isn’t it interesting how He has warned us in several places in His Word that once He ascended that He would be gone a long time in our way of thinking before he returned again?
Notice in the parable what the first man did when the Master left? Does it remind you of what happened when Jesus called his disciples? (Remember how when Jesus called each of them, it says in the bible that they “immediately” got up and followed Him? Like that, the first man goes “at once” and put his money to work and earned more, as did the next man. Jesus is showing us here that when we are saved, He expects us to immediately live up to what we have already attained, just as Paul said in Phil 3:16.
Philippians 3:16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
The only way we can do that is through spending time with God in prayer and studying God’s Word. The only way we can “invest” what Christ has given us is also through studying His Word, so that we can then share that knowledge with others. Therefore when we receive this wonderful gift of salvation, our very first requirement is to study!
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
When we study and spend time in prayer, we begin on the path to spiritual maturity. The closer we become to the Lord through prayer and study, the less likely we are to be fooled by false teachers, and the more grateful we’ll be for our own salvation because we’ll actually understand it better! Because we are more grateful and more knowledgeable, our testimonies will be all the more powerful too!
Matthew 13:12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
In the parable of the talents we see first how two different believers are rewarded. Then we discover that the final person was never saved to begin with. That person claims to be born again, but isn't.
Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
He did nothing at all with what the Lord had given him! Jesus, instead of rewarding him as he expected in his arrogance, took back what He had given him and cast him into hell. This man is an example of a false follower of Christ. He is a picture of what a “goat” would look like. We'll have to look at other verses to determine what happens to those who are born again but who choose to do nothing or practically nothing for the Lord. First let me share another verse that shows that we may very well experience shame at first if we're not careful:
1 John 2:28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
John is telling us that as long as we continue in our close fellowship (relationship) with the Lord that we will be able to be confident and unashamed when He comes for us at the rapture. Of course this means then that those who do not maintain that close personal relationship with the Lord and wind up wandering off into false teachings, those who do not take the time to become mature in Christ through studying His Word and spending time in prayer, etc, will not be confident, and will instead be ashamed of themselves when they are finally face to face with their Lord. This does NOT say they will lose their salvation, it simply says that when they face our Lord, and finally see the “real truth”, that they will be ashamed of themselves. When I say they'll see the “real truth” I mean that when we are finally with Him, we will know Him just as He knows us:
1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
So to me the question is, what are we going to feel when we finally stand before Him face to face? Will we feel confidence as John says because we have spent time growing that personal relationship with Him and our Father, because we've spent time getting to know Him through His Word which He gave us, because we've used the discernment of mature believers to avoid false teaching and stayed on the narrow path of faith, or will be we ashamed of ourselves because we haven't done these things? Let's look at 1 Cor. first.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
This passage makes it quite clear that some who are born again will only miss hell by a hair's breadth! It shows in fact that they will suffer loss! That doesn't sound at all like the description of our lives in heaven that we tend to focus on to me. So what does this mean? This takes place at the Bema judgment and is not about our eternal destiny because that is already taken care of. We already know that we are destined to live in heaven with the Lord. This is strictly to determine what rewards or our loss, and what we will be doing throughout eternity. Long ago pastors preached about the fact that there can be loss, but today we rarely hear about this. People joke about this all the time but Paul was dead serious when he wrote this. Let's see what else we can find about this:
Philippians 1:20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
Here again Paul indicates that he doesn't want to feel ashamed when he is finally face to face with his Savior. He wants to be confident instead that he is doing all he can to please the Lord.
1 Timothy 3:13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.
Prior to this statement, Paul is discussing how a deacon should serve. I think this last verse applies to us all though. When we are truly servants of Christ we gain an excellent standing here among other believers, but more importantly we gain that great assurance, that great confidence for when we come face to face with Jesus. So we will face Him with assurance, or confidence instead of being ashamed.
1 Corinthians 3:8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
Here it is only talking about rewards, but I wanted to point it out because where there are rewards there is also the possibility of losing those rewards. Plus I wanted to point out that the rewards we earn here are not like getting a new big screen TV for ourselves. These rewards we've heard so much about are all things that will glorify the Lord, that will please Him, not us. We need to remember that it's really not about us, it's all about Him. That's why those works which honor Him will remain and those that don't will be burned away.
Our world has become so selfish though that whenever we hear the word "reward" we do automatically think it's something for us. We may not literally think of a great big TV, but we generally think of a reward as though it would be something like we'd get as a birthday present from someone. In heaven however that's not how it works. Like so many other things, this too is the opposite of what the world teaches. Our "rewards" in heaven will be things that give honor and glory to the Lord, not ourselves! Hence the more rewards we earn, the more He is glorified.
About the only kind of reward that we might think of as being more for us, would be the various crowns we are promised. Such as the one in this verse:
2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
If we think it through though we will see that this too honors the Lord, not us! Are we righteous or does our righteousness come from Christ? Of course it comes from our Lord! Not one of us would be in heaven if not for Him!
Romans 3:22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
1 Corinthians 1:30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
And what will we do with those crowns?
Revelation 4:10-11 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
Once again, it's all about Him! Let's look at another passage where Jesus explains what is going to happen:
Matthew 24:44-51 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus makes it pretty clear again here that there will be both rewards and loss! The last part of this passage is often thought to be referring to hell. However if you read it again you'll notice that the "wicked servant" calls Jesus "his Master". Even more importantly, when Jesus tells this parable He says "The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him", of course referring to Himself. If He is that servants master then that servant is indeed saved, he simply hasn't done anything with his salvation! (which is why he is called "wicked".) Therefore this cannot be referring to hell, because we know from scripture that he cannot lose his salvation. This scenario is exactly what is referred to in this verse:
1 Corinthians 3:15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Now that we see it in that light it doesn't sound to good does it? From what I've seen so far, I think there will be a time right at first at least when we will feel ashamed of ourselves for not doing the things the Lord asked of us while we were here, for not trying harder to please Him. I think we'll finally understand why He asks what He does of us here and we'll feel remorse for not doing what we should have been doing.
I don't think however that there will be any sort of jealousy or anything like that for those who did do what the Lord asked and because of that are given rewards and wonderful opportunities and high ranking jobs (such as ruling over nations etc) to do there.
I used to say like many do that I would only get into heaven by the skin of my teeth, meaning of course that it is only through the grace of the Lord that I'm saved. But now I cringe when I hear that. Mainly because when I look back I see that when I said that myself in the past, I was also using it as a crutch kind of because I knew I wasn't doing the things the Lord wanted me to. I wasn't studying His Word like He asks us to etc. so now I'm ashamed of myself for thinking that way and instead try to do all I can to please Him and to earn as many crowns and rewards as I can. Not to glorify me because they won't glorify me. I finally understood that every single crown, and every reward only glorifies Christ, so the more we earn the more He is glorified. Knowing that, I want to earn all there is!
Again, the bible tells us that what we do here will determine our placement in heaven. By placement I mean what types of work the Lord will have for us and what rewards He will have for us; whether or not we will be ruling nations with Him, helping others, traveling, teaching, etc or if we will be scrubbing toilets as some like to say they won't mind doing there.
The point is that if we are scrubbing toilets because the Lord couldn't trust us while we were here to spend time with Him and study His Word, then I don't think I'd be to proud of my job. Grateful yes, but not proud of it because it would mean I had failed Him.
There are many other verses that show all of this as well and many that show what some of our other "rewards" will be. I'm just going to list some here for you now so that we can discuss them if you'd like to. Keep in mind as you're reading these that they are referring to us; to all who are born again. All of us will either be rewarded or we will suffer loss. I want to be one of those who is rewarded and will do all I can to please Him now so that I can give Him the glory later too!
1 Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
2 Timothy 2:12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;
1 Corinthians 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Matthew 25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
I do not think that there will be any continuous shame or any condemnation of those who do wind up scrubbing toilets so to speak though because after the Millennium the Lord says He will wipe away all our tears etc and there will be only joy and love and perfect companionship with Him and each other. So I don't think this will be at all considered "punishment" then. Then how long we will have to endure that shame of not having done even the least to please Him? That I don't know. Perhaps it will only last moments, but if that verse about wiping away all tears apply to this as well, then it may well last throughout the millennium. I haven't yet found anything in His Word to indicate for sure it going either way, except that the verse about wiping away our tears is definitely speaking of after the millennium. So to me this is a very good reason to get our bibles out and plan on spending more time with Him and studying His Word!
Let me conclude today with Johns warning to us:
2 John 8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
Instead of continuing with the next verses today, I’d like to continue on the topic of prayer and confession of sin since that’s the direction our conversation has taken, This is still very much a part of this topic because the entire book is discussing both what constitutes a genuine fellowship or relationship with God and how to tell if we or someone else has that kind of fellowship with Him.
One big problem that many people have is their prayer life. Part of the problem I suspect is due to the way many of us were taught about prayer. In many churches, especially the Catholic and Episcopal churches, prayer is something you read out of a book and/or repeat after a priest, or just say “amen” too. Many people who grew up in churches like these, have a very hard time learning how to just talk to the Lord. I know that was very true for me coming out of the Episcopal church.
We often feel as though we’re not good enough for the Lord to hear our prayers but His Word says differently. His Word says that He will hear our prayers and answer them, therefore we must live by faith and not by our feelings or even by sight in this area. This is true especially when we first get started because we often feel so awkward.
1 John 3:21-22 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
Prayer is probably the most important aspect of our life as Christians. It may surprise some people that I would say that as much as I harp on studying His Word. I bet most people would have thought that I would say that reading and studying His Word is the most important part. While that is of course very important, our connection to Him can’t be maintained if we don’t spend time in prayer.
There were many centuries where Christians didn’t have bibles to read. The only scriptures they knew were those that were explained to them by the RCC. I say those explained to them because the RCC read the scriptures in Latin which many people didn’t even understand. So their only connection to the Lord was through their prayer life. Through that alone the Lord was able to strengthen them and teach them. Those who truly loved the Lord had little choice but to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide them to the truth and teach them.
Then as now though there were people that preferred to let the priests do the work for them and they simply went to church and did whatever the priests said. Those that truly loved the Lord and wanted to be close to Him however, were not satisfied with that and and instead of relying on the priests, they relied on the Holy Spirit spending much time in prayer.
We can look at everything our Lord did while He was here to see what our lives should look like. One thing that’s very noticeable is that He spent a great deal of time in prayer. If our Lord Himself took His valuable time to pray to the Father, then how much more should we be doing so?
He not only daily spent time alone praying, but He also was constantly uttering “mini prayers” to the Father throughout the day. Here’s one example of that so you know what I mean. The background for the following verses is that Jesus was teaching the public as well as His disciples about sin and repentance among other things, and He suddenly stops speaking to them and instead prays to the Father and says:
Matthew 11:25-26 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
This is shown again in this second verse as well as many others:
Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
He does this frequently which gives us an idea of what we should do. If our minds are always on Him as they should be, then it is perfectly natural for us to do the same thing.
For example yesterday while we were shopping I saw something that I really wanted to get for my granddaughter but didn’t think I could afford to. So I put it back and continued on. My husband however realized it was on sale and that we could afford it for her. So he picked it back up and brought it to me explaining that it was only $7. The first words out of my mouth were: “Thank You Lord!”
The point being that Jesus talked (prayed) to the Father as though the Father was right there with Him every second of every day; as though the Father was intimately involved in everything Jesus said, did and thought. From what the Bible says, we know that this is actually true, and not just for Jesus, but for us as well!
The Lord really is with us every second of every day. He really is involved in everything in our lives, right down to the smallest details of them. Our choice is to realize this and acknowledge it, or to ignore it.
Unfortunately most people choose to ignore it. When you begin to realize just how very close the Lord is to you all day long, then you can’t help but talk to Him about what’s going on. If He was a real flesh and blood person right there with us 24/7 and involved in everything, it wouldn’t occur to us to ignore Him would it? That would be outright rude! We’d be chatting with Him all the time. It’s no less rude of us to act as though He isn’t present just because we can’t see Him with our physical eyes.
Matthew 28:20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Luke 15:31 ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
Acts 2:25 David said about him: “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
This is what having a close personal relationship with the Lord is all about. He’s always with us—always; not just when we pray or just when we go into a church, but always.
However there is another type of prayer that’s just as necessary for us. Jesus showed us what that looks like as well.
Matthew 14:22-23 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
With these and other verses we see that Jesus took time out of his day to be alone with the Father and pray. This is the more serious side of prayer rather then the regular chat during the day. It’s during this time that the Lord draws us ever closer to Himself and makes us more like Jesus. It’s during this time that we take Him our most serious needs as well as the needs of others. It’s during this time too that we confess and repent of sin that He’s shown us throughout the day. I look at this time as similar to the time a husband and wife have when they need to have a real talk about what’s going on in their lives. Although we talk to our spouses all day long, we also have a need to have fairly regular more involved intimate conversations with them too. Usually these conversations are longer then the constant chat during the day. What’s also true though is that both of these types of prayer often overlap each other, just as both kinds of conversation over lap between a husband and wife.
For example, when I realize that I’ve sinned, I certainly don’t wait till my next scheduled quiet time with the Lord to confess it and repent of it! Of course not! I repent and confess it immediately, no matter where I am or what I’m doing or who I’m with. When I do this it’s quite heartfelt too. There is nothing “casual” about it. Generally though, it ends there. In other words the Lord forgives me and we go on about our day together. Then, since I usually have two “quiet time” periods with Him every day, (every morning and every evening) when my evening quiet time comes, I usually bring it up again. I don’t ask for forgiveness again, because He’s already forgiven me. What we do then though is discuss what happened. We discuss why I sinned, what led to it, what might cause it to happen again, etc. and this is the time when He usually breaks my sins down for me so that I can see their roots, which helps me grow. Let me repeat the example I used earlier here:
Let's say I lied about something that I felt was inconsequential, and I am discussing that what happened with Him. When I do the Lord might show me that I not only sinned by lying but that I actually was sinning because I didn't trust Him. (If I trusted Him then I would have told the truth and allowed the consequences to simply happen anyway) Then when that thought had filtered through my mind, I would realize that I was also sinning by attempting to manipulate people and control what was happening or would happen! Then my next thought might by that I had just sinned too by being self righteous thinking that I could control everything and make things work out the way I wanted them too, rather then trusting the Lord to work things out for my good. ....etc...
When I confess this is very close to the kind of dialog that goes on between me and the Lord. He keeps peeling the onion so to speak, showing me the deeper and deeper roots of each sin. You can see from this how this is much more involved, deeper, then something that would go on as part of regular conversation during the day.
Sometimes these two types of prayer will overlap too, just as the two types of conversation sometimes overlap in a marriage relationship. An example of a conversation I have regularly with the Lord that is kind of a mix, would be when I’m reading my Bible. While I’m reading I’m usually saying things like, "what do you mean here Lord?" "How does that help me Lord", "how can I do this Lord" "but what about...?" Does this go along with what I was reading the other day"? etc. For this His answers are generally things He shows me in scripture. You can see though how this is a mixture of both types of prayer though.
For me the most important thing to remember is that the Lord is always with us, and that He really does care about what’s going on. To teach myself how to have this kind of relationship with Him, when I was first saved, I simply pretended that I had an invisible friend, much like many small children do. Of course what I was pretending, was actually true, I do have an invisible friend, and His Name is Jesus. That helped me to remember to include Him in everything I was doing though.
At first I felt very strange about it and even silly at times. But now it’s just a part of me. Learning to do it this way also helped me learn to actually listen and look for His answers too, which has also made a huge difference in my life and in my relationship with Him.
I hope I haven’t bored you too much. I think it’s such an important subject and really wanted to try and at least discuss it a little bit here.
Monday, November 30, 2009
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
1 John 3:13-15 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
We often read in the bible that the world will hate us, but I think we often overlook just who “the world” is referring to. When that term is used in the Bible it is referring to all people who are not truly saved. That means your neighbor, your co-worker and the people in your family who aren’t saved. This is the part I think we tend to over look a lot when we read about this. We don’t like to think that the people we like actually hate us. However, God says that if we are truly saved and living our faith, in a close personal relationship with Him, then those people cannot help but hate us. Why, well, first because God says so, but He says this because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and when unsaved people are around us, they feel the spirit of God convicting them of their sins and they don’t like that at all!
Does this mean that we can’t have friends that aren’t saved? That depends entirely on how you define the word “friends”. For example, my neighbors are very friendly toward me and I like them; however, they know exactly what I believe and it makes them very uncomfortable. Therefore they don’t call me to chat or to “hang out” with them. They do that with each other and not with me. When they are around me they try to “fit in” pretending that they are “religious”too. Thankfully though, when they have questions, they know who they can ask that will tell them the truth. So, you could call them my “friends”. I know some people would. However, they really aren’t. I don’t spend time with them and they don’t spend time with me.
Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 15:2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Romans 12:17-18 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
We are neighbors and I do take the responsibility of being a good neighbor to them as God commands to heart. So we make sure they’re safe when there have been storms, or we help when they need snow shoveled or a car worked on, or whatever the problem might be. We watch their house when they’re away etc, and they do the same for us. We do this because the Lord commands it. It causes them to see the light of Christ and hopefully one day they will be drawn to the light because of it, instead of pushing away from it as they do now. In the true sense of the word friendship however, I am not “friends” with my neighbors; I am simply “friendly” towards them. Do you see what I mean?
Do they hate me? Yes, actually they do. They don’t like the idea that I know of their sins. It makes them feel “dirty” and no one likes that. They do not yet understand how to “fix” it. In their minds right now, they would have to become “fanatical” like me to fix it and they’re not willing to go that far and they don’t want to give up their sins. Oh they don’t act hateful toward me, but it’s there. I can see it and they know I know it. They also know I’m ok with it, and that I don’t think they understand at all. Since this was covered much more thoroughly in another study I won’t go into it more now, but I didn’t want to let this just pass by without addressing it either.
1 John 3:13-15 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
After reminding us that the world hates us, John once again tells us that we are to love one another. He is not talking about loving the unsaved here, he’s talking about loving fellow believers. He again states in no uncertain terms that those who do not love their fellow believers, “remains in death” and does not have “eternal life in him”. This is easier to explain if we look at how this is translated in the NKJV:
1 John 3:14-15 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Notice the word “abides”. What this is saying is that if a Christian hates another Christian then they are not “abiding in Christ” at that time. They have slipped into their old nature. Thus they are not abiding in eternal life. This has nothing to do with anyone's salvation. This is again saying that we need to maintain a constant close relationship with the Lord in order to live this Christian life.
We cannot be abiding in Christ and have hatred in our hearts for another believer. John says this so strongly that he says it is the moral equivalent to murder if we hate a fellow believer! (just as looking at someone in lust is the moral equivalent of adultery). If we have these things in our heart then we certainly cannot claim a close personal relationship with the Lord. A believer that hates another believer is disastrously and dangerously out of touch with their Lord, They will be living in death, in sin, until they confess and repent of their sin and draw near to the Lord again. Only then can they reestablish their relationship with the Lord.
Romans 8:12-14 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
This is not talking about eternal death or losing their salvation. Again it means that they will no longer experience their spiritual life as they did before this sin or enjoy the indwelling of the Spirit until the repent. As long as they are in this state of mind they cannot please God.
Romans 8:5-8 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
We see in this that we can also tell when someone has a real relationship with the Lord by their (or our) obedience to Him. Love is a fruit of the spirit, so this is something that constantly grows as a believer becomes more and more mature in Christ.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Love is a test of true faith;
Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
1 John 3:19-20 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
1 John 2:9-11 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
Love also provides us the assurance that we have in fact been saved. Remember that scripture is always telling us to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
This is what that verse is talking about. We are to constantly be checking ourselves to determine if we are abiding in Christ of if we have slipped and are acting out of our fallen nature instead. I know when I first read that verse about examining myself, I thought it meant to check and may sure I was saved. While that’s a good idea if you’re not sure, what it’s really saying is to check and see if we are still abiding in Christ, or if we have slipped and are acting out of our old nature instead. Praise God that when we do slip we can repent and confess our sin and return to the Lord’s embrace!
Today we looked at what love is not and what it means when hate for a believer rears it’s ugly head in our hearts. Tomorrow we’ll look at what love really is and how we experience it and share it with others.
I can't find something in the Bible
I knew I had to just be missing something obvious so I even went so far as to ask current Jewish religious leaders if they were allowed to pray to anyone other then God, now or in their past. Surely they must have prayed or still pray to perhaps Moses, or Joseph or David, Solomon, or Isaiah, or maybe Abraham....
One of them was so shocked at my question that they basically called me a blasphemer and refused to answer me. The others were nicer about it though and I guess they just assumed I was really ignorant. Anyway they told me that they have never ever prayed to anyone other then the One True God and never would. They even showed me one of their religious statements which I guess could be likened to our "statements of faith", although it is of course much much older then anything any Christian religion could come up with. Here's what they said about it:
| Here are the Thirteen Principles of Faith that Judaism rests on, according to Maimonides. Please pay particular attention to number 5. 1) I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, creates and guides all creatures, and that He alone made, makes, and will make everything. 2) I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name is unique, and there is no uniqueness like His in any way, and that He alone is our G-d, Who was, Who is, and Who always will be. 3) I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, is not physical and is not affected by physical phenomena, and that there is no comparison whatsoever to Him. 4) I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name - is the very first and the very last. 5) I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name - to Him alone is it proper to pray and it is not proper to pray to any other. 6) I believe with complete faith that all the words of the prophets are true. 7) I believe with complete faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, peace upon him, was true, and that he was the father of the prophets - both those who preceded him and those who followed him. 8) I believe with complete faith that the entire Torah now in our hands is the same one that was given to Moses, our teacher, peace be upon him. 9) I believe with complete faith that this Torah will not be exchanged nor will there be another Torah from the Creator, Blessed is His Name. 10) I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and their thoughts, as it is said, "He fashions their hearts all together, He comprehends all their deeds." (Psalms 33:15) 11) I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Bless is His Name, rewards with good those who observe His commandments, and punishes those who violate his commandments. 12) I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he may delay, nevertheless I anticipate every day that he will come. 13) I believe with complete faith that there will be a resuscitation of the dead whenever the wish emanates from the Creator, Blessed is His Name and exalted is His mention, forever and for all eternity. |
| Is it permissible to pray to anyone or anything other than God? Dear Cynthia LaFreniere: No, absolutely not. In Jewish Law the only entity that can be prayed to is God. Best regards, Rabbi Reuven Lauffer |
| Can you please tell me if it is acceptable in the Jewish faith to pray to anyone other than G-d for any reason? Dear Cynthia, No it is not acceptable. If you need further assistance feel free to contact us again, Best wishes, Chani Benjaminson |
| Cindy LaFreniere asked: Can you please tell me if it is acceptable in the Jewish faith to pray to anyone other than G-d for any reason? Dear Cindy, Thank you for your inquiry. Here are the Thirteen Principles of Faith that Judaism rests on, according to Maimonides. Please pay particular attention to number 5. They are written here as they are commonly printed in Jewish prayer books: (I already quoted this one so I won't re-quote this part) Rabbi M. Younger Aish.com |
There is a Jewish CULT that did and does allow prayers to others like Rachel, but again this is a CULT and not representative of the real Jewish religion as Jesus would have honored.
So why would I, as a Christian be looking at what the Jew's believe? Well, basically because there can't be a better source for information about the Jewish people and their belief systems. If anyone would know if the Jewish people would/could/should pray to someone/thing other then God, I would think that it would be the Jewish people! Since my Savior came to this earth as a Jew and lived a sinless life as a Jew, I thought that I could find out for sure if Jesus would have prayed to someone/thing other then God or if He would have taught others to do so.
From everything I've read and learned, Jesus or anyone living in Old Testament times or the New Testament times that tried to teach or even simply "tolerate" someone praying to someone/thing other then the One True God, would have been put to death immediately as a blasphemer! So that leaves me with quite a problem. Where then do the catholics get the idea that it's OK for them to do this?????
God says in His Word that He does not change. He says He doesn't lie. He says that His Word doesn't change either. Nor have I found anywhere in the New Testament anyone including Jesus saying that Jesus came and died on the cross so that we might have life and so we could pray to other people too. Therefore, we must still be only allowed to pray to Him and no other. But that can't be right, because the RCC says it's not right...
You can see my confusion on this surely...both can't be true. Either God is True and men are liars, or the RCC is true and God is lying....which one do you think it is?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
1 John 3:7-10 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
These verses indicate that the false teachers/antichrists that these people were being bothered by, were apparently teaching that it was ok to sin and lead sinful lives. John again lets us know that it is not OK to sin. All sin is of Satan, no matter how small it is since he has been sinning from the beginning, plus all sin goes against the very reason Christ came. Christ came to put an end to Satan’s work and when we participate in even the smallest sin, we are working against Jesus instead of for Him.
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
1 John 3:5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
Again, this is not to say that we never sin once we are saved, it’s saying that when we do sin, we are operating out of our sin nature instead of the new nature that the Lord gave us at salvation.
When John says this:
Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
he is saying that because someone that is saved is truly sinless at the core of their being (because of the new nature given them) when we sin, we are not manifesting our true nature. When an unsaved person sins, they are manifesting their true nature because their father is Satan. However when we sin, we are actually concealing our true nature because our father is God and He has given us a new sinless nature. Therefore when we see someone exhibit their true nature of righteousness, we can know for sure that they are saved. The opposite is also true. When we consistently see someone who fails to show love and fails to act righteously then we can know that they are not saved, no matter what they say. Love is righteousness in action.
1 John 3:11-12 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
Once more John reminds us that we are to love our Christian brothers and sisters and we are not to become jealous like Cain did when someone is more mature in Christ then we are. This reminds me of how often when I’m feeling jealous of someone it’s really because I feel guilty about not having done what I should have in my own life. Cain belonged to Satan, and those who don’t love their fellow Christians are acting from their sin nature. They are also acting the way the world acts rather then then following God’s ways.
I’m going to stop here today since I got started late today and am really very tired. With as tired as I am I’m afraid I might not be able to explain things well enough, so we’ll just pick up from here tomorrow.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
1 John 2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
Getting back to what we were discussing yesterday, let’s look again at the verse above. With this verse, John introduces the idea of a new birth when he says that those who do what is right have been born of God. What he is saying here is that when we see someone who is exhibiting true godly righteousness in their life, that we can be sure that they are indeed born again. He is not saying however that those who are born again always and constantly exhibit this kind of righteousness in their life, because he knows that we all sin and that at time we all fall down. Here he is simply saying that this is one way to tell when someone has been born again because only those who have been born again can exhibit this type of godly righteousness.
1 John 3:1-3 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
John continues here reminding us that we are called to be the children of God. He says “and that is what we are” to remind us that as the Lord is holy, so should His children be holy. He then explains that the world doesn’t recognize us as as God’s children, set apart from them, because it never recognized Jesus and doesn’t know Him like we do. The kind of discernment necessary to tell a child of God from a child of Satan is strictly one which a born again child of God can have. Even for us though, this is a spiritual perception and not a physical one because there is no physical mark on us to show the difference. It is spiritually discerned. We see this spoken about also here:
1 Corinthians 2:10-16 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?”But we have the mind of Christ.
This spiritual discernment is given to all who are born again but it is something that comes as a Christian becomes mature in Christ.
Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Although there is no physical mark on us now, he says that when Jesus comes for us at the rapture, we will be like Him. He doesn’t mean that we will physically look like Him, but rather that spiritually we will look like Him because the Lord is changing us every day to become more and more like Him. Also at that time, we will be given our immortal bodies which will be like His.
Then John says that everyone who is born again and has this hope, purifies themselves just like Jesus was pure. What he is saying here is really important to us all. Once we are born again, we cannot, must not, continue to live as we did before our salvation. Now we must always remember that our lives are not our own, they have been bought with a price and belong to our Lord now. We must separate ourselves from the world and learn the ways of God.
Colossians 3:3-10 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
John confirms this when he next says:
1 John 3:4-6 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
John again points out the seriousness of sin for those who have been born again in the above verses. He isn’t saying that those who are born again never sin, we know we do, even John said that we all sin. What he is saying is that when we sin, we are not abiding in God, we are abiding either in the world or in our flesh when we sin. Remember how Jesus tells us that in order to bear fruit we must abide in Him? This is the same thing. When we are truly abiding in Him we do not sin, it’s only when we slip and have fallen out of that perfect union with Him, that’s when we sin. Now we know that our “real” nature is a spiritual new nature that the Lord has given us. That nature does not sin, it cannot. It’s only when we fall back into our old natures that we sin, and those natures are no longer really who we are. That’s why Paul says:
Romans 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
For us, now that we have been given this new nature at salvation, sin for us is unnatural and abnormal. Because we have these two natures we all experience this daily struggle against sin, just as Paul and the other disciples did. I think it’s well explained here too:
Galatians 5:16-26 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
You see, as long as we are abiding in Him, or “living by the Spirit” we do not sin, but when we slip, that is when we once more allow ourselves to be led by the flesh, the world or Satan, because we are not abiding in Him. So to me the Christian life is a constant struggle if you will, to maintain that close personal contact with the Lord at all times, all day long. The better we get at that, the closer we get to Him and the less we sin. It’s when God is not the center and focus of our thoughts that we slip. This goes back to what John was speaking of in the beginning of having that close fellowship (relationship) with Him.
Friday, November 27, 2009
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
The principles of all genuine fellowship with God
Today we find out more about why John wrote this letter to us, and discover again how important it is for us today. Although I’m tempted to post the whole passage, I think it would be best to break it up so we can look at it closer.
1 John 2:18-19 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
We know that here “the last hour” is referring to the end times in which we are living. The end times started when Jesus ascended to Our Father. We can see from this passage as well as many others that Satan lost no time in attacking the Gospel and trying to prevent the Truth from spreading.
John says of these antichrists, which we usually refer to as false teachers and false prophets now, that they “went out from us, but they didn’t really belong to us”. What he is saying is that the ones he is specifically talking about most likely studied directly under him or one of the other apostles, but they were never really saved. They therefore didn’t really belong to the inner circle of teachers as they apparently were claiming to be. Instead they denied the Truth, apparently denying the divinity of Christ and the security of believers salvation, and attempted to sway the rest who had also been taught by the apostles.
John says that if they had belonged to that inner circle, they would have never left, but because they did not share the spirit of fellowship with the Lord, and with the other believers, it showed that they were not ever in a real close personal relationship with the Lord as they claimed to be. Their lives were worldly and didn’t have the fruit of the spirit as they should have. We know all of this because of all that John wrote prior to this passage in this letter. The whole purpose of his letter was to show true believers that they were indeed really saved and show them how to tell the difference between someone who was and someone who wasn’t, so they could discern for themselves that these people were antichrists/false teachers. His intent was to reassure them of their salvation and of the deity of Christ and all they had learned, and let them know that their discernment that these false teachers were antichrists was correct and they had no reason to fear. He was reminding them that those who are in a close personal relationship with the Lord would sense this disharmony of the spirit from these false teachers. He was most likely writing to other church leaders though and not “baby Christians” since baby Christians don’t have that kind of discernment all the time yet, but mature Christians do.
1 John 2:20-27 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
All Christians, even baby ones are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and do not “have” to have a teacher, but here we know John is speaking to those who are mature because he says they already know the truth of everything he has said. Immature Christians are the most vulnerable because they’re relationship with the Lord is still so new that they often need other people to teach them the basics of living in Christ until they have become secure in their relationship with Him and comfortable with having Him as their teacher.
Usually we humans fight tooth and nail against having God teach us. We want another human to do the job. I was the same way to my great shame and embarrassment. I told the Lord so. I begged Him to give me someone “with skin on” to teach me, as I wanted to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding Him. I can almost imagine Him pulling His hair out over my requests like that now. But He honored my request and sent someone to disciple me. Like any good teacher, they always answered my questions by pointing me right back to God’s Word and asking me what God said about it there and/or what He’d told me about it. The reason I say “like any good teacher would” is because a good teacher isn’t there to just “teach you what God’s Word says. They are there to constantly teach you how to find the answers for yourself, confirming you when you’re right, showing you the errors when you’re wrong and how they knew it was an error—right back to God and God’s Word every time. They’re there to constantly ask you “Did you ask the Lord?”, “what did the Lord say”? and other inspired things like, “hmmm what do you think He could have meant by that?” The point being that immature believers are still very accustomed to the world and the worlds ways. They aren’t used to “talking to the Lord” and especially not used to hearing back from Him. They often don’t understand how to read His Word or even that they need to and why. This is why it’s so important that new believers be discipled. While the Holy Spirit will guide them, they aren’t accustomed to that guidance and often ignore His leading to their own peril, not really realizing they’re doing so. This is one reason we know that John was writing to mature believers when he wrote this letter. These people had discernment and simply needed to be encouraged since these antichrist’s (false teachers) were apparently saying they they had gotten their “truth” when learning under John or another apostle. John simply lets them, and us, know in no uncertain terms that anyone who denies the divinity of Christ, or denies that they are secure in their salvation is not saved and is not teaching the true Gospel. They are not one of us.
John constantly since the beginning of this letter has told them to “remain” in what they already know is the Truth. This is something that’s important for us to remember too. It seems like every day there’s some kind of “new truth” being offered to us from someone. Someone is always finding something that changes the gospel and wants to sell it to us. John says, don’t buy it. Remain in what we already know and have. This is the truth, and we don’t need any other. We are saved, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all Truth, and we will and do have eternal life guaranteed to us.
1 John 2:28-29 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
John ends this portion of his letter with these final words, telling us that as long as we continue in our close fellowship (relationship) with the Lord that we will be able to be confident and unashamed when He comes for us at the rapture. Of course this means then that those who do not maintain that close personal relationship with the Lord and wind up wandering off into false teachings etc, will not be confident, and will instead be ashamed of themselves when they are finally face to face with their Lord. This does NOT say they will lose their salvation, it simply says that when they face our Lord, and finally see the “real truth”, that they will be ashamed of themselves.
The last line, about knowing that He is righteous means that we can know that those who do what is right are the ones that are really born again, John uses as a lead in to continue his discussion of how we can tell someone who is really saved from who isn’t. How we can tell an antichrist (false teacher) from someone that isn’t. We’ll pick up with this verse tomorrow as this is more then long enough already.