WHAT IT MEANS TO BELIEVE.
Romans 8:13,聽For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
John 11:26-27,聽And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
By comparing theses scriptures we determine that 1) whosoever lives and believes in Jesus shall never die. 2) If we live according to the flesh, we will die; but if we mortify the deeds of the body in the power of the Spirit, we will live.
I conclude that whoever lives and believes in Christ will not live after the flesh but will through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body; because he shall never die: and of course those who live after the flesh will die. And of course also the condition for living is that we mortify the deeds of the body in the power of the Spirit.
Therefore because I believe in Him I will not live after the flesh but will mortify the deeds of the body in the power of the Spirit; and as a result I will live, and not die.
Therefore, believing in Christ has intertwined within its meaning a walk of not obeying the dictates of the flesh.
THE IFFINESS OF A DEATHBED CONVERSION.
In Luke 13:24 it says, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
This indicates to me that those who say, "I am going to wait until my deathbed, and then I will accept the Lord," may find themselves unable to do so when the time comes. Every time you harden your heart by rejecting Jesus it becomes a little bit harder; and by the end of your life it may be so hard that you will not even be able to receive Christ.
In Psalms 32:5-6, I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity I have not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
Then there is Isaiah 55:6-8, Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
SANCTIFICATION.
Galatians 3:14, Romans 5:5, and Ephesians 3:19 tell us that through faith in Jesus Christ we are filled with the fulness of the love of God by the Spirit. Romans 8:4 tells us that if we walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh, the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us. Also the love I speak about from Romans 5:5 is the fulfilling of the law...Romans 13:8-10, 1 John 5:2-3, 2 John 1:6.
1 John 1:8 tells us that all of us have sin...but 1 John 3:5-9 shows us that this is not speaking of us being unable to not commit sin from moment to moment...it is speaking of indwelling sin...and indwelling sin can be rendered dead (Romans 7:8, Romans 6:6-7, Galatians 5:24) so that it has no authority over what we do in our behaviour.
We become one flesh with Jesus Christ according to Ephesians 5:30-32; we are purified in our souls according to 1 Peter 1:22, and in Titus 3:4-7 our soul and spirit is regenerated and renewed. And in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 we can be sanctified wholly in the spirit and soul and body.
In Hebrews 10:14 those who are sanctified (wholly) have been perfected for ever.
Now I do not claim to be sinless; I consider that I have not apprehended this sanctification that I speak of: and in Philippians 3:15 it states that as many as are perfect shall have this attitude.
Proverbs 4:18 says, But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Therefore in my process of sanctification, I seek to move ever forward and never backward (see also Philippians 3:16).
If I ever reach what Proverbs 4:18 calls the perfect day, I may never know it, although it may be the truth. Because as a born again Christian, my eyes are fixed on Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18) and not on my inward parts; unless the Holy Spirit is specifically pointing out something to me that is not pleasing to Him.
I find that He points those kinds of things out less and less as time passes, because He is sanctifying me on a daily basis, and I am becoming more and more like Christ through being immersed in His word from day to day (Romans 8:29, Romans 12:1-2).
Romans 8:13,聽For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
John 11:26-27,聽And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
By comparing theses scriptures we determine that 1) whosoever lives and believes in Jesus shall never die. 2) If we live according to the flesh, we will die; but if we mortify the deeds of the body in the power of the Spirit, we will live.
I conclude that whoever lives and believes in Christ will not live after the flesh but will through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body; because he shall never die: and of course those who live after the flesh will die. And of course also the condition for living is that we mortify the deeds of the body in the power of the Spirit.
Therefore because I believe in Him I will not live after the flesh but will mortify the deeds of the body in the power of the Spirit; and as a result I will live, and not die.
Therefore, believing in Christ has intertwined within its meaning a walk of not obeying the dictates of the flesh.
THE IFFINESS OF A DEATHBED CONVERSION.
In Luke 13:24 it says, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
This indicates to me that those who say, "I am going to wait until my deathbed, and then I will accept the Lord," may find themselves unable to do so when the time comes. Every time you harden your heart by rejecting Jesus it becomes a little bit harder; and by the end of your life it may be so hard that you will not even be able to receive Christ.
In Psalms 32:5-6, I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity I have not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
Then there is Isaiah 55:6-8, Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
SANCTIFICATION.
Galatians 3:14, Romans 5:5, and Ephesians 3:19 tell us that through faith in Jesus Christ we are filled with the fulness of the love of God by the Spirit. Romans 8:4 tells us that if we walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh, the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us. Also the love I speak about from Romans 5:5 is the fulfilling of the law...Romans 13:8-10, 1 John 5:2-3, 2 John 1:6.
1 John 1:8 tells us that all of us have sin...but 1 John 3:5-9 shows us that this is not speaking of us being unable to not commit sin from moment to moment...it is speaking of indwelling sin...and indwelling sin can be rendered dead (Romans 7:8, Romans 6:6-7, Galatians 5:24) so that it has no authority over what we do in our behaviour.
We become one flesh with Jesus Christ according to Ephesians 5:30-32; we are purified in our souls according to 1 Peter 1:22, and in Titus 3:4-7 our soul and spirit is regenerated and renewed. And in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 we can be sanctified wholly in the spirit and soul and body.
In Hebrews 10:14 those who are sanctified (wholly) have been perfected for ever.
Now I do not claim to be sinless; I consider that I have not apprehended this sanctification that I speak of: and in Philippians 3:15 it states that as many as are perfect shall have this attitude.
Proverbs 4:18 says, But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Therefore in my process of sanctification, I seek to move ever forward and never backward (see also Philippians 3:16).
If I ever reach what Proverbs 4:18 calls the perfect day, I may never know it, although it may be the truth. Because as a born again Christian, my eyes are fixed on Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18) and not on my inward parts; unless the Holy Spirit is specifically pointing out something to me that is not pleasing to Him.
I find that He points those kinds of things out less and less as time passes, because He is sanctifying me on a daily basis, and I am becoming more and more like Christ through being immersed in His word from day to day (Romans 8:29, Romans 12:1-2).
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