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"Abide in the spirit" sounds spiritual, but what does it really mean? Flesh, body, soul, spirit, whatever. It's just us here.You abide in the spirit, but heck who cares about mentioning those things, they are to harsh!
I hate it when Jesus is made irrelevant (except for dying on a cross for our sins). That's one of my pet peeves.
Does obedience have to be a checklist for salvation? How's about a minimum standard for love? "If you love Me, keep My commandments".So when someone says you have to obey every single word Jesus spoke as if it’s a checklist for salvation
But He was human, just like us. Begotten inn the likeness of sinful flesh. Just like us. Except He didn't have any propensity to sin. But He had the same temptations, and more intense than ours. Yet He never sinned. Why? Because of faith. His relationship with His Father kept Him strong. Which is why He prayed often, even all night. The whole demonic realm knew Who He was. They made His life as hard and as difficult as they could, using their every ounce of intelligence and deception and evil to cause Him to fail in His mission. O wenly through His relationship with His Father could He have the victory. And that's exactly how we also can overcome. Through our connection to the Vine. But stop being defeatist, teaching that God doesn't expect us to obey all His commandments, because we aren't able to, or to weak, or too "fleshly". That's wrong. We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. ALL things. And that includes, especially includes, keeping all of God's commandments.From birth, He loved the Father and mankind with flawless devotion
You keep on repeating this when it is not true.But you can't be Jesus cause you are not him.
@MatthewG
So. The one thing that brought the downfall of the entire human race, with all is suffering, pain, and death, that being disobedience, no longer has the benchmark of God's word, but has been reduced to a hit and miss affair according to our feelings and informed by our weaknesses?
Does obedience have to be a checklist for salvation? How's about a minimum standard for love? "If you love Me, keep My commandments".
But He was human, just like us. Begotten inn the likeness of sinful flesh. Just like us. Except He didn't have any propensity to sin. But He had the same temptations, and more intense than ours. Yet He never sinned. Why? Because of faith. His relationship with His Father kept Him strong. Which is why He prayed often, even all night. The whole demonic realm knew Who He was. They made His life as hard and as difficult as they could, using their every ounce of intelligence and deception and evil to cause Him to fail in His mission. O wenly through His relationship with His Father could He have the victory. And that's exactly how we also can overcome. Through our connection to the Vine. But stop being defeatist, teaching that God doesn't expect us to obey all His commandments, because we aren't able to, or to weak, or too "fleshly". That's wrong. We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. ALL things. And that includes, especially includes, keeping all of God's commandments.
Yes, some commandments were situational. I'm not going down to the local village and untying some stranger's donkey for Jesus. I'm not going door to door the rest of my life without money or a change of clothes. One day, the Lord might personally challenge me to do just that, and that's fine. He will also give me the faith and the assurance that all will be well when it happens. He has done that before, so I know He will provide in the future. We need to use common sense. Wisdom. But obedience to The Ten Commandments? That's an absolute. That's the minimum requirement that expresses our love for Him and others. And yes, it's also a criteria for salvation. It's not the means by which we are redeemed. That's the blood of the Lamb. But think carefully about this. Adam and Eve were shut out of paradise for one offence and brought desolation upon countless billions of people. How much more will God refuse to entertain the possibility of a repeat of that in the coming kingdom?
"He Who has begun a good work in you will complete it". Jesus is returning for His bride, without blemish and without spot or wrinkle ort any such thing. That's why He have teachers, prophets and apostles, for the perfecting of the saints.
Read the letter to the Laodiceans in Revelation 3. Notice the attitude of those people. Luke warm. Though they had everything. Rich in knowledge and goods, or so they thought, happy... ostensibly, they even thought they were clothed in fine apparel like the righteousness of Christ, but in reality they were miserable, poor, blind, and naked, and except they repent, Jesus was going to vomit them out of his mouth.
God has set His standard. The beauty of that we don't have to strive to attain it. It comes as a gift. And it's offered to everyone. The righteousness of Christ. We simply have to want it above everything else. To hunger and thirst for it. Be willing to shed our idols and false ideas. To repent of our lukewarmness. But we need to aim high. Not to expect anything less than what God personally promises us. Perfection of character and a mirror image of Christ's own character. That's the benchmark. That's true love. Don't settle for anything less.
“18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. ”Dang life sucks. And i haven't said that there isnt anything to learn off of Jesus. Just the point he never speaks to us directly.
Tough world some people believe all they need to do is open the book flip to a page read it and they are all set for the day....
Idk if that is true, but I know that faith makes a world of difference.
“18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. ”
Isaiah 30:18-21 KJV
God speaks to us through His providential workings and through the influence of His Spirit upon the heart. In our circumstances and surroundings, in the changes daily taking place around us, we may find precious lessons if our hearts are but open to discern them. The psalmist, tracing the work of God's providence, says, "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." Psalms 33:5; 107:43. God speaks to us in His word. Here we have in clearer lines the revelation of His character, of His dealings with men, and the great work of redemption.
Let's go into Matthew 19: 16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Notice the young man says "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?"
The young man didn’t need to ask this question to Jesus, because he was already in a good place with the Lord. This is where the story gets interesting, because if you read the full story which we have to do, to get full understanding. We will see that the keeping of the Commandments Jesus mention wasn't the young man problem, it was something else. We do well learning from this, because it's always something we need to prove in our walk in the Lord.
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. That answer should have been absolutely yes sir!
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. The young may have been perfect in keeping the Commandments, and doing so he was blessed and had great possession, but when he was ask what he lack, and it was giving up everything to follow Jesus. The young man had a problem with that.
So Jesus says if thou be perfect, that means the young was really close to being perfect, but the young had great riches that he couldn't let go, and that goes with what Jesus says in Matthew (22:37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. This was very hard for the young man to do.
So let's recap the story a little, the young man kept the commandments from his youth up, all most perfect, except one thing Jesus ask him to do, and that's sell all his possession and come follow him. This is about the young man heart, he did right by keeping the law from his youth up and he was bless, but his heart toward the lord was not all the way in place.
Let's continue in Matthew 19: 23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.