Hi
All… sorry for the delay…. “LIFE”, you know?!! Gets
awfully busy, doesn’t it??! Don’t know about all of you,
but I feel time has been sped up over these last few years… and
there’s never time enough in the day to get everything done.
Anyway
a fair & just reminder to not take “my” word for it….
However, for our ETERNAL life (or eternal death’s)
sake….. we all better take GOD’S WORD for it!!!!
I
do my best to show what the Bible says… and then someone comes
along & tries to undo everything – thinking they have it
“all tied up in a neat little package” and that salvation
depends ONLY on “believing” in Jesus.
Yet,
Scripture reminds us: EVEN the demons
“believe”!!! But!!! They are not heading to
heaven!! Impossible! They were IN heaven, and were
cast out after they sinned & joined lucifer in revolting
against the Lord.
JESUS
HIMSELF says that IF we love Him we WILL keep His
commandments!!! This means to obey Him.
Not
every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. Many shall come to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name cast
out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU; DEPART FROM
ME (Who??)
YE
THAT WORK INIQUITY.
(Matthew 7:21-23) My emphasis on helping us to
understand who exactly is told to depart from Him.
And why
call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
(Luke
6:46)
"If you
love Me, you will keep My commandments.
(John
14:15)
He that
hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my
Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
(John
14:21)
Jesus
answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will
keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him.
(John
14:23)
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep
his commands.
4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he
commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
1
John 2:3-4
A
liar, huh? You calling me a liar? No, not
me. THE BIBLE IS. IF we do not DO what He
commands.
“Well
done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of
the Lord.” Matthew 25:21 It SHOULD BE every real
Christian’s greatest desire to hear this! Though we will
not get a “well done” if we did not “well DID”!! [At
this point, all the whiners, don’t want to please the Lord
crowd gets puffy & angry & ready to stone me, accusing
me of teaching a works-based salvation, while the Lord knows
nothing could be further from the truth!! But the Bible
is replete with reminders throughout nearly every book that we
are saved UNTO good works…. And after repenting of our secular
life unto God & putting our faith in Jesus Christ, then we
are expected to obey Him from then on.]
How
many “instructions” (commandments) does even the New Testament
hold? Ephesians alone, there’s close to 500 commands,….
Did you know that? Funny!! If we’re not expected
to “follow” the instructions of the Bible… then those who
wrote it, inspired by the Holy Spirit Himself, uh: wasted a
lot of time and effort and paper telling us what’s expected of
us!
From
2 Timothy 3:16
New Living Translation
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us
what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our
lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do
what is right.
GET
THAT?
ALL
Scripture….
And
“teaches us to DO WHAT IS RIGHT”.
The
KJV verse says: for
instruction in righteousness:
Hmm…..
we have “all these” instructions in the Bible, a rational
thinking person would think we’d better follow them
then! It’s easy really, His commandments are NOT
burdensome!
1 John
5:2-4English Standard Version (ESV)
2 By this we
know that we love the children of God, when we love God and
obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love
of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments
are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has
been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory
that has overcome the world—our faith.
Even
if you (meaning a “general” you) do not like this plan, well …
better take that up with the LORD! It’s HIS book!!
HIS RULES!! His guidelines.
Slam
dunk, proving that it is NOT ONLY “unbelievers” in
hell:
Revelation
21:8 King James Version (KJV)
8 But the
fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable,
and murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death.
Revelation
22:15
But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral,
the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and
practices falsehood.
The
NT clearly points out there are sins leading unto death (yep,
even for “believers”**!)
1 John 5:16 “If
anyone sees his brother** commit a sin that
does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him
life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There
is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should
pray about that.”
The
“sin unto death” is willful, continuous, unrepentant sin.
Sorry,
unconditional eternal security OSAS believers!
Yes, OF COURSE the free gift of salvation is offered to us and
it IS “forever” providing…. We ABIDE
(stay) IN THE VINE!!!! {ref. John 15} It’s
like this: super high cliff (visual: old western from
the ‘50s), you’ve fallen off it & landed on a ledge…
perhaps the Lone Ranger or Tonto comes along, drops a rope for
you to tie around yourself & is now pulling you up to
safety…. You make it & live AS LONG AS you hang onto the
rope!! {abide in the Vine} OR… you can let go
& fall to your death, the choice is y/ours. Sorry,
simple, elementary explanation of abiding in the Vine…. Yet
sometimes the simple explanations are most helpful.
For those
who DO RETAIN the knowledge of God (ref: Romans 1) who DO keep
Him as Savior & Lord, who DO obey Him, then yes salvation
is once saved always saved.
Other
LISTED sins which lead to NO inheritance (part) of the Kingdom
of God are pointed out elsewhere.
Galatians
5: …19 The
acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity,
and debauchery; 20 idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord,
jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions 21 and
envy; drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I
did before, that those who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God.…
Gal 5:19-21
NLT says: When you follow the desires of your sinful
nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality,
impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility,
quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition,
dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and
other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have
before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit
the Kingdom of God.
Cross
References:
Matthew
15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and
slander.
Romans 8:5 Those who live according to the flesh set
their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live
according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the
Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 TLB
9-10 Don’t you
know that those doing such things have no share in the Kingdom
of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives,
who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals—will have
no share in his Kingdom. Neither will thieves or greedy
people, drunkards, slanderers, or robbers.
11 There was
a time when some of you were just like that but now your
sins are washed away, and you are set apart for God;
and he has accepted you because of what the Lord
Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.
12 I
can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no,[a]
but some of these things aren’t good for me. Even if I am
allowed to do them, I’ll refuse to if I think they might get
such a grip on me that I can’t easily stop when I want to.
This
may be THE MOST important footnote you’ll ever read in your
life!! {no, Apostle Paul was not speaking out of both
sides of his mouth}
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 6:12 vv. 9-10
1 Cor. 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin
a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually
sins against his own body.
2 Corinthians 12:21 I am afraid that when I come again,
my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over
many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of their
acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.
Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, the components
of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust,
evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all and the
marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually
immoral and adulterers.
Personal
note injected: I find it funny (as in odd) that
Christians in 3rd world countries WANT to learn
more about God, God’s Word, they WANT to follow Him. Yet
why is it that American Christians as well as in other
developed countries “cry & whine” when they are told to
follow/obey Jesus?? Seriously, is it because we “have it
too good” (as far as many of our material possessions met, our
freedoms to say, think & do many things in life)???
Is it cause we’re mule-headed, independent, proud, knowing
nothing..?? …. Questions, questions!
Sure causes me to wonder!
God’s
Word: We better take it seriously, before we are
seriously dead!
BIBLE:
B asic
I nstructions
B efore
L eaving
E arth
Again,
2 Tim 3:16 from the Berean Study Bible:
All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for
conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Have you
been:
- Instructed
- Convicted
- Corrected
- Trained
in righteousness today???
Well,
then let’s get inside HIS WORD!!! Helpful hint:
turn off the TV, the internet, cell phone, tablet, etc. etc.
& every other mode of “distraction” that takes your mind
off Him. Then get into His Word! Listen to it on
tape in your vehicle. Go to www.BibleGateway.com
as they even offer an audio way of listening (without having
to purchase) you can listen to while cooking dinner!
This
happens every time I post something here or on any Christian
board, I get “beat up” by certain demons assigned to attack
me. So for this reason, I ask that anyone reading this,
I don’t care if it’s just one person whose half way around the
world from me, I covet your prayers of protection for me &
my family! {if this is your assignment from the Lord,
then even doing that is meaningful!} Thank you, thank
you! Your reward is waiting for you in heaven.
I
cannot wait to discover all the delights & surprises
there! For instance, it may be a million years before we
bump into each other & then have a little discussion of
how God weaved our lives together and how we helped each other
out!! … Back in November 2017!! 😊
Unless
the Lord should otherwise direct, this may well be the last
time I’ll cover “this” subject here at Doves. Simply
because all that I’m bringing you is IN the Bible, right in
front of our faces anyway.
Links
for those who seriously want further study: (along with
my usual disclaimer, I may not agree with EVERYTHING on any
particular site!) If we’re wise, we’ll always compare
everything against THE WORD!! Be a Berean!!
BEREAN
B ack
E verything
R eally
E verything
A gainst
N ews in the Bible
http://www.propheticexplorer.com/search.aspx#.WhnZuLpFxPY
http://www.propheticexplorer.com/many_christians_will_be_left_behind.aspx#.WhnaFbpFxPY
http://so4j.com/obedience-to-jesus-necessary-for-salvation
http://christianitynotchurchianity.blogspot.com/search?q=obedience
MARANATHA:
Even so, COME Lord Jesus!