Thank you for posting the Living word of God...Always speaks to my spirit....Praise God, Brother....Always, only he is Worthy of our Praise!!
Abiding In Christ Necessary for Eternal Life
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Eternally Grateful
Well-Known Member
The issue is you seem to believe (tell me if I'm mistaken) that justification happens only once, at the outset of the Christian walk, whereas Scripture teaches God doesn't just judge once, but continually judges your standing--eg, the believer who doesn't do what he believes is correct is guilty of "sin" and is "condemned" (his "justification" is compromised) (Ro 1:5,16,17, 14:5,23)--whereas the one abiding in Christ has "no condemnation" (Ro 8:1)--and, at the eschatological judgment, men will need to be "justified" (Ro 2:6-16).
So, yes, "justification" happens at the outset, upon hearing with faith, but I also recognize it occurs at other times as well.
This is why James 2 says Abraham was "justified by works [of faith]"--justification is ongoing because God's assessment of our lives is ongoing.
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According to 1 Jn 3:23,24, the Spirit is for those who keep Christ's Commands. The command is : 1) believe in the Name of God's Son, and 2) love one another.
This is why Paul warns "whoever disregards God's prohibition on immorality disregards not man but God Who gives you His Spirit" (1 Th 4:8)--as David cried, after having committed immorality with Bathsheba, "Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me!"
Why does Paul even raise their issue of "Who gives His Spirit to you" in connection to observing righteousness (by Grace of course)? The same reason David cries "Do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me"!
Not sure why or how this should be controversial for someone who loves Scripture--I'm literally saying what Scripture says.
Yes, God's children are to walk "even as Christ walked"--and if they don't, if instead they commit immorality and idolatry, they have no inheritance in God's Kingdom (1 Co 6), so they fall under God's wrath, and forfeit the Promise, just as occurred with the Jews after they were saved and baptized and ate communion (1 Co 9:26-1 Co 10).
Yes, as long as we are keeping His commands (believe in the Name of God's Son and love one another), we are abiding in Him, and so are being given the Spirit/eternal life that is only found within Christ (1 Jn 5:11).
1 John 4:1 says "test the spirits", and, so, the book is full of criteria whereby spirits may be tested.
One of the ways you can test someone's claim that they are of God is by whether they keep Christ's commands ("believe in the Name of God's Son and love one another"). If they're not doing those two things, they're not abiding in Him, so the Spirit is not being supplied to them (1 Jn 3:23,24), so you can know they're lying, because knowing Christ is eternal life (Jn 17:3), but they can't have the Spirit/eternal life without obeying those commands, since, again, the Spirit is only supplied to those who are abiding in Him by obeying Him, so Christ isn't being revealed to them by the Spirit (Jn 16:14).
The book gives other tests--"every spirit that confesses that Christ is come in the flesh is of God", etc.
Not sure how you think you're disagreeing with me, as this is literally what I said.
Please finally DO IT! GO AWAY. Quit FLOODING my thread! Go open your own thread and ramble over there!
You don't need to wonder, or pray for "God" to reveal some deep secret about why I don't want you FLOODING my thread. I have explained to you in DETAIL already.
Go make your own thread about the topics you want to FLOOD my discussion with.
In regards to title of O.P.
John 15:
5. I AM THE VINE, ye are the BRANCHES: He that abideth in me,and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Some seem to forget we are NOT THE VINE, BUT RATHER THE BRANCHES! They want to tell God what he is saying instead of listening & obeying what he has said!
IF we continue to abide in him, being led through his word by his Spirit then we receive the nourishment needed for maturing as believers .
1 John 3
23This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
24The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him by the Spirit he has given us.
People have let go of God, unaware they are walking without the vine, satisfied in their own knowledge, strength & self- righteousness, just as the Pharisees, who challenged Jesus!
Ignore or report, if not learn tolerance!
John 15:
5. I AM THE VINE, ye are the BRANCHES: He that abideth in me,and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Some seem to forget we are NOT THE VINE, BUT RATHER THE BRANCHES! They want to tell God what he is saying instead of listening & obeying what he has said!
IF we continue to abide in him, being led through his word by his Spirit then we receive the nourishment needed for maturing as believers .
1 John 3
23This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
24The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him by the Spirit he has given us.
People have let go of God, unaware they are walking without the vine, satisfied in their own knowledge, strength & self- righteousness, just as the Pharisees, who challenged Jesus!
Ignore or report, if not learn tolerance!
I'm not even saying these people don't know God just because they are "foggy" on what the Bible teaches.
I don't think God waits for people to have perfect doctrine before they can know God.
I would argue that they DO know God, but that doesn't mean they're right about Scripture--they don't need to be to know God.
They know the God of Scripture, but they don't know the Scripture of the God!
I've already responded : God can and has disowned His children, so this "born again" that you keep raising, as if no one knows about it, as if it's some novelty, solves nothing.
No one has PERFECT understanding but many are deceived.
I'm not timid about marking those who do not walk in the principles, commandments, and standards the word sets forth.
We look through the glass darkly; we could not handle God in his complete fullness; revealed. However we are to know exactly WHAT GOD SAYS, not man.
Proverbs 9:10-11
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 11 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
The doctrine of God and Christ are in the word ,clearing the " FOG" out by the Holy Spirit !
This thread Is for discussion and debate so please don’t just add posts with loads of scripture or presume certain things about each other ( especially in prayer ). Using the phrases ‘ they ‘ ‘ them ‘ is actually sitting in judgement of other members taking part in the discussion. Stick to the subject being discussed and be civil to one another.
My posts have been deleted by me...thank you for the wake up call @Rita .
Thank you Lord for showing me and opening my heart to hear you through Rita.
We are to discuss in Love and respect for one another.
In Jesus Name!....Amen!
Thank you Lord for showing me and opening my heart to hear you through Rita.
We are to discuss in Love and respect for one another.
In Jesus Name!....Amen!
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Eternally Grateful
Well-Known Member
What does Jesus say?
I like to walk through John as Jesus gives us a picture of what it means to have eternal life I will go through one at a time
1. He said we have to be born again, Its one thing to be born of the flesh, it is another to be born of the spirit.
He tells us how. And uses an OT example to show his point. As Moses lifted the serpent. So too must the son of man be lifted. So too must the son of man be lifted, what whoever believes in him should not perish, but has eternal life.
If we look at the story. The people of Israel were walking through a field of snakes. They would get bitten and die. God told Moses to lift the serpent, whoever looked lived, whoever did not died. Why would people not look? They had unbelief. The people who looked had faith in God. As Jesus said, Whoever believes is not condemned, whoever does not believe is condemned already.
So in review
1. Know your dead, or going to die (as the people who were bitten by snakes)
2. Look to the cross,
3. If you do, you will NEVER DIE (a promise God gave to everyone who looked)
4. And you HAVE eternal life (this literally means you will live forever)
this is being born again. To pass from death to life. This life being eternal.
I like to walk through John as Jesus gives us a picture of what it means to have eternal life I will go through one at a time
1. He said we have to be born again, Its one thing to be born of the flesh, it is another to be born of the spirit.
He tells us how. And uses an OT example to show his point. As Moses lifted the serpent. So too must the son of man be lifted. So too must the son of man be lifted, what whoever believes in him should not perish, but has eternal life.
If we look at the story. The people of Israel were walking through a field of snakes. They would get bitten and die. God told Moses to lift the serpent, whoever looked lived, whoever did not died. Why would people not look? They had unbelief. The people who looked had faith in God. As Jesus said, Whoever believes is not condemned, whoever does not believe is condemned already.
So in review
1. Know your dead, or going to die (as the people who were bitten by snakes)
2. Look to the cross,
3. If you do, you will NEVER DIE (a promise God gave to everyone who looked)
4. And you HAVE eternal life (this literally means you will live forever)
this is being born again. To pass from death to life. This life being eternal.
I think this is a great commentary on how we abide in Christ....sometimes imo....my flesh wants to take over...even when it does.....the Holy Spirit will NEVER leave or forsake us...he just lets me get on with it....until I see the errors of my way....which can only come through the Spirit......he opens my heart to see and hear.
Being saved means we are “in Christ.” It is our status and we are now united in Christ by faith and all His riches have become our own. In Colossians 2:13, it says, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.” God has given us new life in Him.
When Jesus was crucified, we were also crucified with Him; we no longer live but it is Christ in us (Galatians 2:20). We joined with Him in His death as He took our sin upon Himself. Now we are risen with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Being in Christ means we have a communion with Him that is rooted in His death and resurrection, and Jesus calls us to remain or “abide” in His love (John 15:9).
So what does abiding in Christ look like in the Christian life?
This means that believers will experience painful times in their life. However, the Lord can use it to remove anything that is hindering our spiritual growth. It will result in greater flourishing for us as we walk with Him.
Christians are to remain in Jesus like the branches remain attached to the vine. He gives us all that we need to sustain us in this life and for all eternity.
Being saved means we are “in Christ.” It is our status and we are now united in Christ by faith and all His riches have become our own. In Colossians 2:13, it says, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.” God has given us new life in Him.
When Jesus was crucified, we were also crucified with Him; we no longer live but it is Christ in us (Galatians 2:20). We joined with Him in His death as He took our sin upon Himself. Now we are risen with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Being in Christ means we have a communion with Him that is rooted in His death and resurrection, and Jesus calls us to remain or “abide” in His love (John 15:9).
So what does abiding in Christ look like in the Christian life?
Fruitfulness
Remaining or abiding in Jesus means that we will produce fruit. Not physical fruit like apples, pineapples and grapes, but spiritual fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit as “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” That is quite the variety of fruit that God works in us as we abide in Him. His Spirit remains with us and produces this fruit which we cannot produce in our own effort; we must remain in Him (John 15:4). As we spend time with Him, walking closely with Him by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatian 5:16). As we bear fruit, it is proof that we are disciples of Jesus and it glorifies Him (John 15:8).Pruning
Those who have tried their hand at gardening will know that pruning is when plants are cut off or cut back to encourage more growth. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and the Father is the vinedresser or the gardener. He is the one who cuts back the branches that do not produce any fruit. For those branches that do produce fruit, He prunes back further so that they will be even more fruitful (John 15:1-2).This means that believers will experience painful times in their life. However, the Lord can use it to remove anything that is hindering our spiritual growth. It will result in greater flourishing for us as we walk with Him.
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