"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth./ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:/Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
In Christ all authority in heaven and on earth resides so without abiding in him the commission cannot be discharged (Matt.28:19)( John 15:4-5). It is universal and enjoined upon ever believer.
Jesus sent the twelve disciples as associates. (Matt.10:40). This Principle of Association renders all those foreknown and called by the Father having a position, which is in heaven. God of all mercies empowers the word outflow as with the Son of man offered the living waters. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" ( John 7:8).
The risen Christ gave commission to his disciples across time and space that they 'make disciple of all nations' and assured them that he was with them always till the end of time.
In giving this commission he was demanding the fullness of every disciple because the church was being built brick by brick on the living Word.
"I am the true vine" is another analogy. "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily/ And ye are complete in him," (Col.2:9-10) Consequently the principle of Association at every node had to be perfect. "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away."( John 15:2)
Not merely the twelve or seventy other disciples, which received the commission from word of his mouth but as we read in his prayer, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;( John 17:21-23) Unity of the Spirit is an essential part of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 'I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.'
We shall look at the significance of these three mentioned in the Parable.
The vine in the parable did not want to lord over men. The joy that wine gave was unlike anything like wooing the ungovernable and wicked like the trouble sea. No one ever ruled over hoi polloi and laid aside reins unscathed. In nature rabble were like snarling dogs when checked. Oh no the vine that the Lord gave was heavenly. "The vine that makes the heart of men glad" (Ps.104:15) is associated with Jesus Christ, the true Vine. "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."( John 15:5)
Fig tree is a metaphor for Israel. "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time:"(Hos.9:10)
Finally the olive tree is set down in the Bible for the Spirit found it as a tree planted by God. Its oil which make the grace of God work effectively so worship of man is found pleasing in His sight. God instructed Moses and we read thus: "The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee" (Nu.6:24)
The significance of face in the Scripture is spiritual interface between God and man.God a Spirit (and the invisible) assures,"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."(Ps.32:8; "knowledge in the face of Jesus Christ"-2 Co.4:6)
'The Spirit moved upon the face of the waters.'Here face is where God can work with 'the waters'. So the olive tree is synonymous for man to know God and grow in the knowledge of the glory of God. The burning bush from which God called out Moses is an apt illustration. Having said this let us look at the olive tree mentioned by St Paul in Romans Ch.11. "but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy."(11:11)
From the discussion let me conclude by saying that God called us before the worlds began .
1. God's Will is complete
and the cloud of witnesses is a visible manifestation of the will of God. God's will would never need correction. But one third of the stars falling of applies believers who either received the Son and who shall abide in him by faith or rejected him. Three is a Command number to indicate the Son.
All the blessings of God continue from the sixth day. It is unstoppable. So when a voice from heaven announces,"Behold the tabernacle of God is among men" it is the body the Bride and it is descending to the mid-air. Jerusalem and Israel as political entities are finished. They are cast off as reprobate silver. (Re.21:3) God's Will is fulfilled by the Son. All those who were broken off were determined by their response to Christ Jesus.
2. Trees of righteousness is different than the Olive tree (Ro.11)
God blessed Abraham accordingly. "All families in earth do not mean Israel exclusively. (Ge.12:3) Abraham believed and it was counted to him for righteousness. Faith is the DNA that Israel did not show. Their rejection brings the Gentiles to the fore.
St Paul talks about grafting. It is about physical and not of the true Vine that Jesus Christ represents.
3. There is only one foundation for the Church
Wild olive branches carry Babylon, Medeo- Persia Rome. With the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD the miry clay refers to the Christian church founded on a pagan foundation, All the heresies that are being aired in this forum owe to the confusion. Miry clay is not of the body of Christ.
John 15:1-5 "true Vine" "Without me you can do nothing" This is addressed to miry clay who say they are Christians but rejecting the Power of God and the doctrine of Christ. What do they end up a mongrel church so Israel or USA as nations play prominent role. There are only two nations: nation of saints in light or children of wrath.
Yes, we need to be spiritually awaked, as you said, for the bridegroom is coming and we need to go out to meet Him- Matthew 25:1-6, with lighted lamps and oil because it is midnight, that is, we are living at the turn of the sixth to the seventh and final Day - the Day of the Lord, or seventh and final millennium, the darkness of midnight is a very dangerous blackness, despite the woman being clothed with the Sun, clothed with the Greater Light- John 8:12-, having the Lesser Light under her feet- John 15:26 combined with Revelation 12:1, and crowned (by Jesus) with 12 stars(12 Apostles-, so as is written in Colossians 3:1-4 -take a look: -> 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of GOD. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
5th point
Yes, let's get our hearts fix on the Kingdom to Come- Revelation 11:15-18, you said Christ is coming and we will all stand (or fall) before Him.
Yes, as everyone know, JESUS is the stone: Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
6th point:
About your comment on a sad incident that caused you be desperate, I should say to you what my Lord JESUS said: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect-Mat.5:48.
Jeremiah 17:8 along with Psalm 1 bring out the benefits of a tree whose roots are planted near the water. This steadfast faith in the Lord is contrasted in the next verse which describes the vicissitudes of the heart of unregenerate man. These vital concepts describe the state of a soul; who needs to be vigilant to bearing fruit and testing themselves to see if they are in the faith is a necessary prerequisite ( 2 Cor. 13:5). Those who do not bear fruit are cut off and burned; a figurative statement describing a very real state of the lost at Judgment Day (see John 15:2).
Surely all flesh is as grass ( 1 Peter 1:24) and like a vapor this life soon passes away ( James 4:14). Eternity is in men's hearts showing that indeed the nature of man is for their spirit to live forever after the body and soul perish ( Ecclesiastes 3:11). This means their legacy is either eternal glory and recognition of those things done while living for the Lord; or eternal damnation for the lack thereof. (see Matthew 25:34 and associated verses).
There is some hope for us who still are producing works of wood; hay and stubble ( 2 Tim. 2:21-23) to change to better works if we have a foundation in Christ ( 1 Cor. 3:11). This results in varying degrees or levels in the harvest and subsequent reward for those who are saved (see also Mark 4:20).
Those in the flesh and not Born Again can only interpret what they see around them in the world (the actions of others who serve as their peers and interpreted through their own understanding). God alone as I see it through predestination determines who will be saved. On our end it takes a fair evaluation of who we really are as compared to a righteous God which then leads to godly sorrow and repentance (which is indeed a gift from God as about half a dozen scriptures indicate). John 16:8 must enlighten us to our desperate plight that SHOULD be aided by proper evangelism appealing for individuals to repent.
"Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."(v.6)
Traditions are what man makes of God's commandment. It is to which Jesus alluded in vv.3-6. Pharisees as separated ones were creating their narrative, which drew Jesus to call them hypocritical. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess./Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also."(23:25-26)
In these chapters while the Evangelist delineate the doctrine of God as doable he is also creating a subtext on the detractors of Jesus whose opposition stemmed from their avowed position as the moral custodians of the nation of Israel.
"For they wash not their hands when they eat bread" ThePharisees were offended at the table manners of his disciples and that was leveled as a veiled criticism to their master. "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin."( John 15:22) As in the case of Herod his presence filled his uneasy conscience to connect him with John whom he had murdered the very presence as sent from his Father pricked their conscience. St Matthew develops it and brings to its climax where we have his 'Woe unto you' discourse. in Ch.23, It is as pivotal as his Sermon on the Mount to the development of his gospel.
vv.18-21
"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man./ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:/These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man." At the most man by flouting the norms of hygeine may suffer bouts of indigestion but culture wars from a defiled heart splits a nation beyond remedy.
Good question. John 4:24 is pretty clear saying God is a Spirit. We are made in His image too, however that works. Not sure if that means physical or otherwise.
My opinion of heart in this context is that it is a metaphor. According to Strongs Hebrew H3820 means both heart and feelings.
I think its similar to John 15:5 which is symbolic and doesn't mean Jesus is a literal vine and we are a literal branch instead of human being. And when we eat Jesus's body and drink His blood, it doesn't mean we're cannibals and actually doing it (I guess Catholics do though) but an important metaphor.
"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant(18:21-30) we have the servant who apparently let a beam in his eye and it prevented him see the unsurpassable riches of mercy held out to his account in heaven. This ran to 'ten thousand talents' an enormous amount in terms of his salvation. By forgiving his past God showed mercy on one who was 'dead in trespasses and sins' and taken into service.In his refusal to keep his eye of faith ever fixed on his master he was persecuting a fellow servant who owed an hundred pence. He reduced the worth of his salvation to a paltry sum. He would not abide in his Son so saying 'once saved is saved enough' teaches us our own problem. The Power that raised his Son must be active so " but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."(Ro.12:2)
The same hypocrisy in our personal conduct as ambassadors is what convulsing the activism of the Evangelicals.
Nowhere in the Bible the Spirit tells of God's mercy as being expressed once. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not./They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."(La.2:22-25) God breathed into us and made us living soul which also serves as a sign. In Trinity body of the Son serves as the soul of Zion, collective name of every soul redeemed by the perfect sacrifice. (Ps.50:5) "The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him." With abiding life we are learning to prove the perfect with into which without the grace of Jesus Christ is nul. ( John 15:5)
"Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." This perfection is what we have in terms of light.
Now reexamine this verse, "if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."(v.23)
Thank you Valmar. To respond & also I'm in agreement with you, No, the Triune God never changes - as well as His requirement of faith to please Him & be acceptable to Him. The OT folk were accepted by God because of their faith in Him for Who He was (as revealed to them) & they were confident that He would fulfill all that He had promised to them. Those who died in their sins were the disobedient & faithless & could never please Him & suffered under His Hand. So, the essential requirement was Faith & when the Law & Commandments came to them, they were to obey fully in their strength, looking unto their Maker only.
So, what changed with the coming of Jesus Christ? Faith was still the requirement ( Hebrews 11:6), but it was no longer a human faith, based on human works, to be acceptable to God. The OT faithful (looking forward) would have their sins paid for at Calvary, just as those who would believe from Israel & Gentiles post-Calvary. But now, we don't receive a set of rules to follow to please God - we don't muster up (our) faith to be acceptable - and we contribute nothing in works (sacrifices, feasts, sabbaths, washings, etc.) towards our salvation.
For this reason, I sought your thoughts on the work of the Holy Spirit, He Who was sent by Jesus ( John 15:26; John 16:7; Galatians 4:6), a Spirit that the OT faithful never received for the renewing & enlivening of their hearts - only at Pentecost such a mighty Work of God took place. God indeed has not changed, but the Cross has changed how man stands before God. To Page 2.
"Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him./After this manner therefore pray ye."
'Therefore' is a conjunctive adverb, used to connect prayer with the manner the heathen are wont to pray. Their much speaking however holds no faith which is covered up more mumbo-jumbo of their device. They have to be seen doing their tasks in full sight of the public so they are staking their claim to be 'holier-than thou'. Jesus warns,"Be not ye therefore like unto them.
Abiding life is not playing to the crowd. What you are God knows, as God the Husbandman knows what he has planted. " every good tree bringeth forth good fruit"(7:17). Abiding life is to hold a position as being so many branches to Jesus Christ the good vine.
We may view it as pictorial representation of Psalm 91:1. Under the shadow of God's protective care we abide nourished by the goodness of the true vine.
God knows our needs and He who did not spare His own Son for our sakes shall he not give everything pertaining to life and godliness? "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."( John 15:5)
It is in this context we set the Lord's Prayer on well grounded principles. Principle of Similitude sets the heaven in terms of the earth. God a Spirit and our fruits of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,/Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. " (Gal.5:22-23) Abiding in Christ we are living the Law which is what we mean by " Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."(6:10)
Our daily bread is from the same table as in heaven. "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.:(15:26). Compare "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?"(7:9-11)
One of the most discussed topics in Christendom is the idea of eternal salvation. Many noted Christian leaders in our day support the notion of eternal salvation that is not derived from scripture. God doesn't have a number of spiritual states one can be in and still serve Him. Some do try and 'straddle the fence', so to speak. Jesus plainly states in Revelation 3:15-16 that anyone considering themselves Christians and not do those things Christ commanded, have no part in His inheritance or kingdom. I note that in that same chapter of Revelation, He states in His message to the Sardis church of believers (mind you) that they who overcome, meaning obeying Him despite obstacles, sufferings or inconveniences, He will not blot their name out of the book of life. When an individual comes to Christ, that doesn't negate his or her ability to choose whether to continue in His service. Your free moral agency or freedom to choose is still there. Don't think so, consider King Saul. In 1 Samuel 10:9-11, God gives Saul a new heart and His spirit is given to him. Then in chapter 16 and verse 14, we read that God took His spirit away from Saul or departed from him. Why? DISOBEDIENCE, plain and simple. The apostle Paul had the same problem when Demas departed from him ( 2 Tim. 4:10) because of his love of this present world. Christ had a number of followers who departed from Him and followed Him no more ( John 6:66). Jesus cannot be anyone's Savior unless He's their Lord also.
Love is the bond of perfection according to Col 3:14. This is where Christianity of the hour falls short of perfection, as they believe they can not be perfect because the serpent preacher behind the pulpit isn't. The same serpent that deceived Eve has deceived Christians by using vain deceit, philosophy, theology, out-of-context verses, misconceptions, and lies.
Without the live of the truth mankind do know know what the love of God in Christ is about 100% conditional love. Everybody claims to know God and love him, however, does God know you in Christ? The preacher preaches God loves you when it is nothing but idle words to occupy their pews every Sunday just vain deceit, vain words to get at your pocketbook and not for the saving of the soul. Without Jesus Christ the Son of God and his words in you there is no love in a man or woman as Jesus' words are spirit and life John 6:63. The preacher who preaches God is love does not themselves have a stitch of that love. The live they posess is the live of money the root of all evil, the live for your pocketbook and nothing for the saving of your soul. Sunday school is not that love of the truth. It is every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God spoken by the Son of God Jesus Christ the law of spirit and life the words of spirit and life which sents us free from the law of sin and death.
Being a sinner is not God's love. God's live is that he washed us from all sin through the blood words of Jesus John 15:3 and Rev 1:5. In order to have something you must first posess it. In order to have love you must first posess it. No truth = no love.
2nd Thess 2:10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
[11] And for this cause God shall send them strong deluson, that they should believe a lie:
[12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
To wrap up. In John 15:26, Jesus says, "But when the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."
Here we see how the "offices" of the Godhead work in unity, Jesus ask of the Father, to send the Holy Spirit to be given unto His disciples, and the Father wills to do this, the Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, is not independent of the Godhead) has the office of testifying of and about Jesus. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are given to us by the Father. The Father is the one who send both, Jesus asks of the Father and also send the Spirit in union with the Father. Jesus has the office of Mediator, one who goes between man and the Father, so in sending the Holy Spirit, he mediates this sending from the Father of the Spirit, and the Spirit completes the will of the Father by testifying of Jesus. All of the Godhead wills that the Spirit will come and dwell within believers and when the Spirit does this, all persons of the Godhead indwell a believer. It is all, really, one act of God carried out by all three persons.
I hope that this is helpful. It is important to distinguish between the Essence of God, His Divine Being, and the distinction of the Persons of this one Divine Being. Then we can understand how Jesus can be one with the Father and also for the Father to be greater than Jesus.
The logos aspect of Jesus Christ was there in bodily form as Joseph was in Dothan. 'Joseph went after his brethren and found them in Dostan.' By setting parallel account of Joseph and Jesus we are given a ringside view of the effect of Law of Moses on the nation. As soon as his brethren set eyes afar off what was their reaction. "Come now therefore, and let us slay him.". They hated his dreams as much as they hated his person. Jesus well knew his presence had left them with no cloak to hide. "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you."( John 8:37-NKJV) "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin."( John 15:22)
In addition to this parallel narrative the Spirit serves another symbol as dreams of Joseph convey the role of the world of the Spirit. We carry while abiding in Christ the body of Christ as was prepared before the worlds began. This is faith in quintessence. By abiding as branches our works are what our lives show. Envy, rancor and divisions as we see that the activism of modern churches causes are not from God. Nation of Israel had no cloak to hide when Jesus came among them. Their conspiracy finds parallel to what faced Joseph in Dostan.
What is the significance of Dostan? It was where God heard the prayer of Elisha. "Open his eyes,Lord, so that he may see." Then theLordopened the servant's eyes, "(2 Ki.6:17).
Joseph was there at the mercy of his brethren. The Spirit uses the name to evoke that there was no way they could escape their heinous crime from retribution. Joseph's story is a commentary as the fate of Israel after they had rejected Jesus and killed him on trumped up charges. The word of God 'shall prosper in thing whereto I sent it.'
I know the two resurrection you speak of, most believe what you believe.
The word speaks of Christ resurrection, then the resurrection of those who never believe that were raised with Christ.
Colossians 3:1 ... if ye be RISEN with Christ ....
Ephesians 2:6 .... and hath RAISED US us up together ....
Isaiah 26:19 .... TOGETHER with my dead body shall they ARISE ....
Hosea 6:2 ..... in the third day he will raise US UP .......
The saints that arose with Christ, were the Old Testament saints that had died in faith, but had never receive their promise of eternal life.
Those: in Revelation under the alter clothed in white are the Old saints awaiting their promise, eternal life, by their resurrection of Christ.
These are the 144,000 raised with Christ, the firstfruits of the resurrection.
Hebrews 11:39 And these all, havlng obtained a good report through faith, received not the PROMISE (eternal life).
Hebrews 11:40 Christ having provided some BETTER THING FOR US (never having to die and wait in the grave), that they WITHOUT US should not be made PERFECT (by our resurrection as one).
Hebrews 5:9 ...and having been made perfect .... by our resurrection as one ....
Philippians 3:15 Let us therefore who be perfect (by our resurrection as one), be thus minded: and if in any thing you be otherwise mined, God shall reveal even this to you.
Hi Jordyn, the two resurrections that I was referring to are :
1. the resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
2. And, then 1000 years later, the resurrection of the wicked to receive their judgement.
I was not referring to the resurrection of our LORD which, in my opinion, is a special and separate deal. By the way, it's so interesting because after Christ rose, some of the dead were resurrected and seen in Jerusalem. The Bible says Jesus took captives in his train when he returned to Heaven. That's exciting. I wish it would've been me in the train. Oh well. I'll be patient. :)
The first RESURRECTION .... is the resurrection of Christ .... and those that come to the truth of the gospel THAT YOU were joint heirs of that resurrection, and made ONE, were married to Christ, were baptised in HIS NAME.
The whole Bible is the promise of God to destroy death.
The promise has always been ETERNAL LIFE.
The wages of SIN (unbelief) has always been DEATH.
All this was accomplished when Christ was resurrected.
When you come to truth that YOU and Christ were resurrected TOGETHER, then you will never die again.
That is the FIRST DEATH and the FIRST RESURRECTION.
Luke 20:36 Neither can they (YOU) die anymore, for they (YOU) are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, BEING the children of THE RESURRECTION.
The RIGHTEOUS dead are raised at the FIRST resurrection to eternal life. The UNRIGHTEOUSNESS dead are raised at the SECOND resurrection. They will face the judgement seat of Christ and then they will die eternally. Their soul will die.
Below, verse 24 emphasizes that 'once saved, always saved' is a dangerous lie. How many children were saved in Sunday school and assume, as adults ,they are saved. But, they don't give one thought to God as an adult and they do not pursue sanctification in their life. Anyway, the following scripture is from Ezekiel:
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
But, if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes and do that which is right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? Saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
But when the righteous turn away from his righteousness, and committed iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die." Ezekiel 18:20-24
Yes , scripture states that salvation can be lost.
See Ezekiel 18:21-32.
However, the lost won't be eternally conscious in hell. God says they will surely die. Cease to exist. It's too hard to explain in a couple paragraphs. But, eternal life is only the reward of the righteous.
Also, when people die, they fall asleep until judgement day. We have an object lesson in our nightly sleep. Suddenly, it's morning. The idea of grandma watching over us from heaven is a satanic ploy. It makes room for seances, praying to dead saints, spiritism. Any dead relative appearing to a living relative is a demon impersonating the relative.
The problem with the question of eternal security lies in having NO KNOWLEDGE of God's WORD.
If one deeply studies the PROPHECIES, one will see that at some point in the ages to come all the tribes of Israel are going to once again exit.
BUT, in this AGE he is ONLY calling out the PREISTHOOD, the house of David, the kind of firstfruits as is the tribe of Judah, lawgivers that will rule and reign and serve him when he resurrects all the DEAD back to there bodies of flesh and blood.
If one studies under the spirit of truth, you find these prophecies in the blessings of Israel to his twelve sons, from the beginning the tribe of Judah was CHOSEN to be God's lawgiver. The blessing on the remaining tribes will be fulfilled after all the lawgivers are put in place.
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zachariah, and Revelation all prophesy ONLY a PART will be save in this age, one third (probably symbolic) since other prophecies seem to say ONE TENTH, the tithe to God, those without blemish being sacrificed with Christ on HIS CROSS.
You find this in the blessings of Jacob and Esau.
Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau CONCERNING THINGS TO COME.
There are TWO DEATHS, TWO RESURRECTION and TWO JUDGEMENTS,
The first death and resurrection is those SAVED in this AGE, the ones Christ CAUSES TO BELIEVE in this AGE, they are being judged by the words of God.
1 Timothy 4:10 ... who is the SAVIOUR of ALL MEN (not necessarily in this AGE), especially THOSE (in this AGE) that BELIEVE.
Isaiah 6:13 But yet in it (the land) shall be a tenth, and it (the tenth) shall be eaten (same as Christ is eaten, eat the words and digest them) as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance (CHRIST) IS IN THEM, when they cast their leaves (administer judgement), so the HOLY SEED shall be the substance thereof.
Obadiah 1:21 And SAVIOURS (those conformed to the image of Christ) SHALL COME upon Mt, Zion to JUDGE the house of ESAU
Thanks for your reply. While I agree that we should focus on winning souls, I also believe that it is crucial for the church to teach the sound doctrine as Paul commanded to Timothy.
Besides, this is the "discussion" section, not the comment section. Everyone is welcome to express their views and opinions about a specific verse.
I am an advocate for winning souls to Christ, and I have been doing so for the past 14 years. Let's keep the momentum and win more souls for the Kingdom.
John 15:2: "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."
I heard so many people saying that salvation cannot be lost. I think there is a necessity to define what "lost" means. Does it mean losing the communion with the Lord on this earth? Or does it mean going to hell after death? In my argument, I have chosen the latter definition, losing salvation = going to hell after death. If one finishes up not making it to heaven, it means the person has lost his salvation because the goal of salvation is to live where Jesus is ( John 14:3)
1. Who are the branches Jesus spoke about? The believers, here Jesus was not talking about non-believers (because they are not "branches").
2. Two types of branches: Branches that abide in Jesus, and branches that do not abide in Him, meaning believers who abide in Jesus, and believers who do not. Those who abide bear good fruit, but those who do not abide bear no fruit.
3. Note that there is a difference between accepting Jesus and abiding in Him. Some people accept Jesus but do not ABIDE in Him, meaning that they do not obey and completely surrender to Him in their journey.
4. Those people (who believed at first, but did not abide in Him later) are the branches that do not abide in Jesus, and therefore, they will be cut off.
Conclusion: It is a big mistake to believe that one cannot lose salvation once saved. Philippians 2:12-13 said, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you..." If salvation is "granted" once, why did the Apostle Paul say we should work with "fear" and "trembling"?
I Corinthians 9:27: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." Look at the last word of the verse. "CASTAWAY", meaning losing salvation.
True Christ Followers will be obedient to all of God's 10 Commandments as taught by Jesus in the New Testament."
Well, God's 10 Commandments are identical to Christ's Commandments. Christ didn't change, minimize or abbreviate them in any way. Christ is the Creator of all things and He created the Commandments - there would be no reason for Him to change or rescind any of them.
Christ speaks of obeying the Law, the 10 Commandments, just as they are taught by the scribes and Pharisees in Matt. 23:1-3. He says to "do as they say, but not as they do" because the teachers of the Law at that time were all hypocrites. They taught the 10 Commandments, but kept none of them. That passage proves that Jesus taught the literal keeping of the 10 Commandments, not just the essence, or spirit, of them in our hearts, etc.
Jesus stated, as you pointed out, that He kept all of the Father's 10 Commandments physically when He declared it in John 15:10.
We see that 1 John makes clear that we are to live as Jesus lived, obeying what He obeyed, in 1 John 2:6. That does not support the modern popular teaching that we are only to obey them in spirit. And if Jesus had any intention of teaching that Christians did not need to keep them literally, we would not have the record of the disciples keeping the Saturday Sabbath immediately after Christ's death on the Cross in Luke 23:54-56. We also would not see Paul being labeled by the elders as a "Keeper of the Law" in Acts 21:24.
"IF a Christian is filled with God's Holy Spirit they will naturally be following all of God's/Jesus Commandments."
I would agree with this, but that just means that the vast majority of professed Christians today are not filled with the Holy Spirit because most Christians do not obey the 10 Commandments.
Jesus says that it is the keeping of the 10 Commandments that is pre-requisite for receiving 'HIM' as the Holy Spirit in John 14:21.
True Christ Followers will be obedient to all of God's 10 Commandments as taught by Jesus in the New Testament."
Well, God's 10 Commandments are identical to Christ's Commandments. Christ didn't change, minimize or abbreviate them in any way. Christ speaks of obeying the Law, the 10 Commandments, just as they are taught by the scribes and Pharisees in Matt. 23:1-3. He says to "do as they say, but not as they do" because the teachers of the Law at that time were all hypocrites. They taught the 10 Commandments, but kept none of them. That passage proves that Jesus taught the physical keeping of the 10 Commandments, not just the essence, or spirit, of them in our hearts, etc.
Jesus stated, as you pointed out, that He kept all of the Father's 10 Commandments physically when He declared it in John 15:10.
We see that 1 John makes clear that we are to live as Jesus lived, obeying what He obeyed, in 1 John 2:6. That does not support the modern popular teaching that we are only to obey them in spirit. And if Jesus had any intention of teaching that Christians did not need to keep them literally, we would not have the record of the disciples keeping the Saturday Sabbath immediately after Christ's death on the Cross in Luke 23:54-56. We also would not see Paul being labeled by the elders as a "Keeper of the Law" in Acts 21:24.
"IF a Christian is filled with God's Holy Spirit they will naturally be following all of God's/Jesus Commandments."
I would agree with this, but that just means that the vast majority of professed Christians today are not filled with the Holy Spirit because most Christians do not obey the 10 Commandments.
Jesus says that it is the keeping of the 10 Commandments that is pre-requisite for receiving 'HIM' as the Holy Spirit in John 14:21.
True Christ Followers will be obedient to all of God's 10 Commandments as taught by Jesus in the New Testament.
Luke 9:23"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
John 14:15"If ye love me, keep my commandments."
Keeping God's 10 Commandments - plus the additional commandment that Jesus emphasized - to Love each other.
John 15:10 "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love."
Jesus warns all of us that we will not enter into Salvation without keeping God's Commandments.
Revelation 22:14 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
IF a Christian is filled with God's Holy Spirit they will naturally be following all of God's/Jesus Commandments.
It's IMPOSSIBLE to live a worldly life and be a Christ follower.
"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth./ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:/Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
In Christ all authority in heaven and on earth resides so without abiding in him the commission cannot be discharged (Matt.28:19)( John 15:4-5). It is universal and enjoined upon ever believer.
Jesus sent the twelve disciples as associates. (Matt.10:40). This Principle of Association renders all those foreknown and called by the Father having a position, which is in heaven. God of all mercies empowers the word outflow as with the Son of man offered the living waters. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" ( John 7:8).
The risen Christ gave commission to his disciples across time and space that they 'make disciple of all nations' and assured them that he was with them always till the end of time.
In giving this commission he was demanding the fullness of every disciple because the church was being built brick by brick on the living Word.
"I am the true vine" is another analogy. "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily/ And ye are complete in him," (Col.2:9-10) Consequently the principle of Association at every node had to be perfect. "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away."( John 15:2)
Not merely the twelve or seventy other disciples, which received the commission from word of his mouth but as we read in his prayer, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;( John 17:21-23) Unity of the Spirit is an essential part of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 'I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.'
The Vine, the Olive and the Fig
We shall look at the significance of these three mentioned in the Parable.
The vine in the parable did not want to lord over men. The joy that wine gave was unlike anything like wooing the ungovernable and wicked like the trouble sea. No one ever ruled over hoi polloi and laid aside reins unscathed. In nature rabble were like snarling dogs when checked. Oh no the vine that the Lord gave was heavenly. "The vine that makes the heart of men glad" (Ps.104:15) is associated with Jesus Christ, the true Vine. "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."( John 15:5)
Fig tree is a metaphor for Israel. "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time:"(Hos.9:10)
Finally the olive tree is set down in the Bible for the Spirit found it as a tree planted by God. Its oil which make the grace of God work effectively so worship of man is found pleasing in His sight. God instructed Moses and we read thus: "The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee" (Nu.6:24)
The significance of face in the Scripture is spiritual interface between God and man.God a Spirit (and the invisible) assures,"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."(Ps.32:8; "knowledge in the face of Jesus Christ"-2 Co.4:6)
'The Spirit moved upon the face of the waters.'Here face is where God can work with 'the waters'. So the olive tree is synonymous for man to know God and grow in the knowledge of the glory of God. The burning bush from which God called out Moses is an apt illustration. Having said this let us look at the olive tree mentioned by St Paul in Romans Ch.11. "but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy."(11:11)
From the discussion let me conclude by saying that God called us before the worlds began .
1. God's Will is complete
and the cloud of witnesses is a visible manifestation of the will of God. God's will would never need correction. But one third of the stars falling of applies believers who either received the Son and who shall abide in him by faith or rejected him. Three is a Command number to indicate the Son.
All the blessings of God continue from the sixth day. It is unstoppable. So when a voice from heaven announces,"Behold the tabernacle of God is among men" it is the body the Bride and it is descending to the mid-air. Jerusalem and Israel as political entities are finished. They are cast off as reprobate silver. (Re.21:3) God's Will is fulfilled by the Son. All those who were broken off were determined by their response to Christ Jesus.
2. Trees of righteousness is different than the Olive tree (Ro.11)
God blessed Abraham accordingly. "All families in earth do not mean Israel exclusively. (Ge.12:3) Abraham believed and it was counted to him for righteousness. Faith is the DNA that Israel did not show. Their rejection brings the Gentiles to the fore.
St Paul talks about grafting. It is about physical and not of the true Vine that Jesus Christ represents.
3. There is only one foundation for the Church
Wild olive branches carry Babylon, Medeo- Persia Rome. With the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD the miry clay refers to the Christian church founded on a pagan foundation, All the heresies that are being aired in this forum owe to the confusion. Miry clay is not of the body of Christ.
John 15:1-5 "true Vine" "Without me you can do nothing" This is addressed to miry clay who say they are Christians but rejecting the Power of God and the doctrine of Christ. What do they end up a mongrel church so Israel or USA as nations play prominent role. There are only two nations: nation of saints in light or children of wrath.
4th point:
Yes, we need to be spiritually awaked, as you said, for the bridegroom is coming and we need to go out to meet Him- Matthew 25:1-6, with lighted lamps and oil because it is midnight, that is, we are living at the turn of the sixth to the seventh and final Day - the Day of the Lord, or seventh and final millennium, the darkness of midnight is a very dangerous blackness, despite the woman being clothed with the Sun, clothed with the Greater Light- John 8:12-, having the Lesser Light under her feet- John 15:26 combined with Revelation 12:1, and crowned (by Jesus) with 12 stars(12 Apostles-, so as is written in Colossians 3:1-4 -take a look: -> 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of GOD. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
5th point
Yes, let's get our hearts fix on the Kingdom to Come- Revelation 11:15-18, you said Christ is coming and we will all stand (or fall) before Him.
Yes, as everyone know, JESUS is the stone: Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
6th point:
About your comment on a sad incident that caused you be desperate, I should say to you what my Lord JESUS said: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect-Mat.5:48.
GOD BLESS and get ready
Jeremiah 17:8 along with Psalm 1 bring out the benefits of a tree whose roots are planted near the water. This steadfast faith in the Lord is contrasted in the next verse which describes the vicissitudes of the heart of unregenerate man. These vital concepts describe the state of a soul; who needs to be vigilant to bearing fruit and testing themselves to see if they are in the faith is a necessary prerequisite ( 2 Cor. 13:5). Those who do not bear fruit are cut off and burned; a figurative statement describing a very real state of the lost at Judgment Day (see John 15:2).
Surely all flesh is as grass ( 1 Peter 1:24) and like a vapor this life soon passes away ( James 4:14). Eternity is in men's hearts showing that indeed the nature of man is for their spirit to live forever after the body and soul perish ( Ecclesiastes 3:11). This means their legacy is either eternal glory and recognition of those things done while living for the Lord; or eternal damnation for the lack thereof. (see Matthew 25:34 and associated verses).
There is some hope for us who still are producing works of wood; hay and stubble ( 2 Tim. 2:21-23) to change to better works if we have a foundation in Christ ( 1 Cor. 3:11). This results in varying degrees or levels in the harvest and subsequent reward for those who are saved (see also Mark 4:20).
Those in the flesh and not Born Again can only interpret what they see around them in the world (the actions of others who serve as their peers and interpreted through their own understanding). God alone as I see it through predestination determines who will be saved. On our end it takes a fair evaluation of who we really are as compared to a righteous God which then leads to godly sorrow and repentance (which is indeed a gift from God as about half a dozen scriptures indicate). John 16:8 must enlighten us to our desperate plight that SHOULD be aided by proper evangelism appealing for individuals to repent.
"Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."(v.6)
Traditions are what man makes of God's commandment. It is to which Jesus alluded in vv.3-6. Pharisees as separated ones were creating their narrative, which drew Jesus to call them hypocritical. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess./Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also."(23:25-26)
In these chapters while the Evangelist delineate the doctrine of God as doable he is also creating a subtext on the detractors of Jesus whose opposition stemmed from their avowed position as the moral custodians of the nation of Israel.
"For they wash not their hands when they eat bread" ThePharisees were offended at the table manners of his disciples and that was leveled as a veiled criticism to their master. "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin."( John 15:22) As in the case of Herod his presence filled his uneasy conscience to connect him with John whom he had murdered the very presence as sent from his Father pricked their conscience. St Matthew develops it and brings to its climax where we have his 'Woe unto you' discourse. in Ch.23, It is as pivotal as his Sermon on the Mount to the development of his gospel.
vv.18-21
"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man./ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:/These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man." At the most man by flouting the norms of hygeine may suffer bouts of indigestion but culture wars from a defiled heart splits a nation beyond remedy.
My opinion of heart in this context is that it is a metaphor. According to Strongs Hebrew H3820 means both heart and feelings.
I think its similar to John 15:5 which is symbolic and doesn't mean Jesus is a literal vine and we are a literal branch instead of human being. And when we eat Jesus's body and drink His blood, it doesn't mean we're cannibals and actually doing it (I guess Catholics do though) but an important metaphor.
John 15:16 You have not chosen me, I HAVE CHOSEN YOU, and ordained you .....
You were not chosen to go the heaven, you are chosen to be a worker in the Kingdom of God.
The word of God is all about HIS kingdom, and the kingdom workers, not sitting in a rocking chair in a place called heaven.
You have to go deep into the study of Mosses and the Prophets, to understand.
God Bless YOU!
"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant(18:21-30) we have the servant who apparently let a beam in his eye and it prevented him see the unsurpassable riches of mercy held out to his account in heaven. This ran to 'ten thousand talents' an enormous amount in terms of his salvation. By forgiving his past God showed mercy on one who was 'dead in trespasses and sins' and taken into service.In his refusal to keep his eye of faith ever fixed on his master he was persecuting a fellow servant who owed an hundred pence. He reduced the worth of his salvation to a paltry sum. He would not abide in his Son so saying 'once saved is saved enough' teaches us our own problem. The Power that raised his Son must be active so " but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."(Ro.12:2)
The same hypocrisy in our personal conduct as ambassadors is what convulsing the activism of the Evangelicals.
Nowhere in the Bible the Spirit tells of God's mercy as being expressed once. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not./They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."(La.2:22-25) God breathed into us and made us living soul which also serves as a sign. In Trinity body of the Son serves as the soul of Zion, collective name of every soul redeemed by the perfect sacrifice. (Ps.50:5) "The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him." With abiding life we are learning to prove the perfect with into which without the grace of Jesus Christ is nul. ( John 15:5)
"Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." This perfection is what we have in terms of light.
Now reexamine this verse, "if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."(v.23)
Thank you Valmar. To respond & also I'm in agreement with you, No, the Triune God never changes - as well as His requirement of faith to please Him & be acceptable to Him. The OT folk were accepted by God because of their faith in Him for Who He was (as revealed to them) & they were confident that He would fulfill all that He had promised to them. Those who died in their sins were the disobedient & faithless & could never please Him & suffered under His Hand. So, the essential requirement was Faith & when the Law & Commandments came to them, they were to obey fully in their strength, looking unto their Maker only.
So, what changed with the coming of Jesus Christ? Faith was still the requirement ( Hebrews 11:6), but it was no longer a human faith, based on human works, to be acceptable to God. The OT faithful (looking forward) would have their sins paid for at Calvary, just as those who would believe from Israel & Gentiles post-Calvary. But now, we don't receive a set of rules to follow to please God - we don't muster up (our) faith to be acceptable - and we contribute nothing in works (sacrifices, feasts, sabbaths, washings, etc.) towards our salvation.
For this reason, I sought your thoughts on the work of the Holy Spirit, He Who was sent by Jesus ( John 15:26; John 16:7; Galatians 4:6), a Spirit that the OT faithful never received for the renewing & enlivening of their hearts - only at Pentecost such a mighty Work of God took place. God indeed has not changed, but the Cross has changed how man stands before God. To Page 2.
"Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him./After this manner therefore pray ye."
'Therefore' is a conjunctive adverb, used to connect prayer with the manner the heathen are wont to pray. Their much speaking however holds no faith which is covered up more mumbo-jumbo of their device. They have to be seen doing their tasks in full sight of the public so they are staking their claim to be 'holier-than thou'. Jesus warns,"Be not ye therefore like unto them.
Abiding life is not playing to the crowd. What you are God knows, as God the Husbandman knows what he has planted. " every good tree bringeth forth good fruit"(7:17). Abiding life is to hold a position as being so many branches to Jesus Christ the good vine.
We may view it as pictorial representation of Psalm 91:1. Under the shadow of God's protective care we abide nourished by the goodness of the true vine.
God knows our needs and He who did not spare His own Son for our sakes shall he not give everything pertaining to life and godliness? "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."( John 15:5)
It is in this context we set the Lord's Prayer on well grounded principles. Principle of Similitude sets the heaven in terms of the earth. God a Spirit and our fruits of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,/Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. " (Gal.5:22-23) Abiding in Christ we are living the Law which is what we mean by " Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."(6:10)
Our daily bread is from the same table as in heaven. "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.:(15:26). Compare "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?"(7:9-11)
Without the live of the truth mankind do know know what the love of God in Christ is about 100% conditional love. Everybody claims to know God and love him, however, does God know you in Christ? The preacher preaches God loves you when it is nothing but idle words to occupy their pews every Sunday just vain deceit, vain words to get at your pocketbook and not for the saving of the soul. Without Jesus Christ the Son of God and his words in you there is no love in a man or woman as Jesus' words are spirit and life John 6:63. The preacher who preaches God is love does not themselves have a stitch of that love. The live they posess is the live of money the root of all evil, the live for your pocketbook and nothing for the saving of your soul. Sunday school is not that love of the truth. It is every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God spoken by the Son of God Jesus Christ the law of spirit and life the words of spirit and life which sents us free from the law of sin and death.
Being a sinner is not God's love. God's live is that he washed us from all sin through the blood words of Jesus John 15:3 and Rev 1:5. In order to have something you must first posess it. In order to have love you must first posess it. No truth = no love.
2nd Thess 2:10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
[11] And for this cause God shall send them strong deluson, that they should believe a lie:
[12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
PT. 2
To wrap up. In John 15:26, Jesus says, "But when the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."
Here we see how the "offices" of the Godhead work in unity, Jesus ask of the Father, to send the Holy Spirit to be given unto His disciples, and the Father wills to do this, the Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, is not independent of the Godhead) has the office of testifying of and about Jesus. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are given to us by the Father. The Father is the one who send both, Jesus asks of the Father and also send the Spirit in union with the Father. Jesus has the office of Mediator, one who goes between man and the Father, so in sending the Holy Spirit, he mediates this sending from the Father of the Spirit, and the Spirit completes the will of the Father by testifying of Jesus. All of the Godhead wills that the Spirit will come and dwell within believers and when the Spirit does this, all persons of the Godhead indwell a believer. It is all, really, one act of God carried out by all three persons.
I hope that this is helpful. It is important to distinguish between the Essence of God, His Divine Being, and the distinction of the Persons of this one Divine Being. Then we can understand how Jesus can be one with the Father and also for the Father to be greater than Jesus.
"On his father's errand"
The logos aspect of Jesus Christ was there in bodily form as Joseph was in Dothan. 'Joseph went after his brethren and found them in Dostan.' By setting parallel account of Joseph and Jesus we are given a ringside view of the effect of Law of Moses on the nation. As soon as his brethren set eyes afar off what was their reaction. "Come now therefore, and let us slay him.". They hated his dreams as much as they hated his person. Jesus well knew his presence had left them with no cloak to hide. "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you."( John 8:37-NKJV) "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin."( John 15:22)
In addition to this parallel narrative the Spirit serves another symbol as dreams of Joseph convey the role of the world of the Spirit. We carry while abiding in Christ the body of Christ as was prepared before the worlds began. This is faith in quintessence. By abiding as branches our works are what our lives show. Envy, rancor and divisions as we see that the activism of modern churches causes are not from God. Nation of Israel had no cloak to hide when Jesus came among them. Their conspiracy finds parallel to what faced Joseph in Dostan.
What is the significance of Dostan? It was where God heard the prayer of Elisha. "Open his eyes,Lord, so that he may see." Then theLordopened the servant's eyes, "(2 Ki.6:17).
Joseph was there at the mercy of his brethren. The Spirit uses the name to evoke that there was no way they could escape their heinous crime from retribution. Joseph's story is a commentary as the fate of Israel after they had rejected Jesus and killed him on trumped up charges. The word of God 'shall prosper in thing whereto I sent it.'
I know the two resurrection you speak of, most believe what you believe.
The word speaks of Christ resurrection, then the resurrection of those who never believe that were raised with Christ.
Colossians 3:1 ... if ye be RISEN with Christ ....
Ephesians 2:6 .... and hath RAISED US us up together ....
Isaiah 26:19 .... TOGETHER with my dead body shall they ARISE ....
Hosea 6:2 ..... in the third day he will raise US UP .......
The saints that arose with Christ, were the Old Testament saints that had died in faith, but had never receive their promise of eternal life.
Those: in Revelation under the alter clothed in white are the Old saints awaiting their promise, eternal life, by their resurrection of Christ.
These are the 144,000 raised with Christ, the firstfruits of the resurrection.
Hebrews 11:39 And these all, havlng obtained a good report through faith, received not the PROMISE (eternal life).
Hebrews 11:40 Christ having provided some BETTER THING FOR US (never having to die and wait in the grave), that they WITHOUT US should not be made PERFECT (by our resurrection as one).
Hebrews 5:9 ...and having been made perfect .... by our resurrection as one ....
Philippians 3:15 Let us therefore who be perfect (by our resurrection as one), be thus minded: and if in any thing you be otherwise mined, God shall reveal even this to you.
God Bless YOU!
1. the resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
2. And, then 1000 years later, the resurrection of the wicked to receive their judgement.
I was not referring to the resurrection of our LORD which, in my opinion, is a special and separate deal. By the way, it's so interesting because after Christ rose, some of the dead were resurrected and seen in Jerusalem. The Bible says Jesus took captives in his train when he returned to Heaven. That's exciting. I wish it would've been me in the train. Oh well. I'll be patient. :)
Your right, there are two resurrections.
The first RESURRECTION .... is the resurrection of Christ .... and those that come to the truth of the gospel THAT YOU were joint heirs of that resurrection, and made ONE, were married to Christ, were baptised in HIS NAME.
The whole Bible is the promise of God to destroy death.
The promise has always been ETERNAL LIFE.
The wages of SIN (unbelief) has always been DEATH.
All this was accomplished when Christ was resurrected.
When you come to truth that YOU and Christ were resurrected TOGETHER, then you will never die again.
That is the FIRST DEATH and the FIRST RESURRECTION.
Luke 20:36 Neither can they (YOU) die anymore, for they (YOU) are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, BEING the children of THE RESURRECTION.
God BLESS YOU!
The RIGHTEOUS dead are raised at the FIRST resurrection to eternal life. The UNRIGHTEOUSNESS dead are raised at the SECOND resurrection. They will face the judgement seat of Christ and then they will die eternally. Their soul will die.
Below, verse 24 emphasizes that 'once saved, always saved' is a dangerous lie. How many children were saved in Sunday school and assume, as adults ,they are saved. But, they don't give one thought to God as an adult and they do not pursue sanctification in their life. Anyway, the following scripture is from Ezekiel:
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
But, if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes and do that which is right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? Saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
But when the righteous turn away from his righteousness, and committed iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die." Ezekiel 18:20-24
You said one can lose their salvation.
What are you saved from?
Your SAVED from DEATH.
Christ is our PASSOVER sacrifice, death passed over us,
If we don't believe, then we die in our SIN of UNBELIEF.
But as you said, Christ is going to resurrect the DEAD, so one cannot lose his salvation, being saved from death.
God Bless YOU!
See Ezekiel 18:21-32.
However, the lost won't be eternally conscious in hell. God says they will surely die. Cease to exist. It's too hard to explain in a couple paragraphs. But, eternal life is only the reward of the righteous.
Also, when people die, they fall asleep until judgement day. We have an object lesson in our nightly sleep. Suddenly, it's morning. The idea of grandma watching over us from heaven is a satanic ploy. It makes room for seances, praying to dead saints, spiritism. Any dead relative appearing to a living relative is a demon impersonating the relative.
By the way, welcome to the site.
We live in such critical times where we see less planting and watering today. After we plant God gives the increase.
There has to be a seed planted before the watering and then God gives the increase. There we have a new birth!!
The role of the Holyspirit is the most neglected aspect of the Godhead! It's he that teaches us.
For ourselves the word of God is a must for our growth.
This forum and any other platform is an opportunity to witness.
Thanks and God bless.
The problem with the question of eternal security lies in having NO KNOWLEDGE of God's WORD.
If one deeply studies the PROPHECIES, one will see that at some point in the ages to come all the tribes of Israel are going to once again exit.
BUT, in this AGE he is ONLY calling out the PREISTHOOD, the house of David, the kind of firstfruits as is the tribe of Judah, lawgivers that will rule and reign and serve him when he resurrects all the DEAD back to there bodies of flesh and blood.
If one studies under the spirit of truth, you find these prophecies in the blessings of Israel to his twelve sons, from the beginning the tribe of Judah was CHOSEN to be God's lawgiver. The blessing on the remaining tribes will be fulfilled after all the lawgivers are put in place.
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zachariah, and Revelation all prophesy ONLY a PART will be save in this age, one third (probably symbolic) since other prophecies seem to say ONE TENTH, the tithe to God, those without blemish being sacrificed with Christ on HIS CROSS.
You find this in the blessings of Jacob and Esau.
Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau CONCERNING THINGS TO COME.
There are TWO DEATHS, TWO RESURRECTION and TWO JUDGEMENTS,
The first death and resurrection is those SAVED in this AGE, the ones Christ CAUSES TO BELIEVE in this AGE, they are being judged by the words of God.
1 Timothy 4:10 ... who is the SAVIOUR of ALL MEN (not necessarily in this AGE), especially THOSE (in this AGE) that BELIEVE.
Isaiah 6:13 But yet in it (the land) shall be a tenth, and it (the tenth) shall be eaten (same as Christ is eaten, eat the words and digest them) as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance (CHRIST) IS IN THEM, when they cast their leaves (administer judgement), so the HOLY SEED shall be the substance thereof.
Obadiah 1:21 And SAVIOURS (those conformed to the image of Christ) SHALL COME upon Mt, Zion to JUDGE the house of ESAU
and the Kingdom shall be the LORDS.
Besides, this is the "discussion" section, not the comment section. Everyone is welcome to express their views and opinions about a specific verse.
I am an advocate for winning souls to Christ, and I have been doing so for the past 14 years. Let's keep the momentum and win more souls for the Kingdom.
Blessings to you!
Rather search for a debate to win on this topic eternal security, Let's join in bringing people to Christ and give them the Gospel that saves!
If you can lose it, you have to first get it.
There's many that will be deceived that's on both sides of that argument.
That's one of the problems with the Church today, There's a lack of preaching the Gospel and a great interest in debating.
Why not tell someone how to be saved and let them come to their own mind whether they can lose it.
God bless.
John 15:2: "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."
I heard so many people saying that salvation cannot be lost. I think there is a necessity to define what "lost" means. Does it mean losing the communion with the Lord on this earth? Or does it mean going to hell after death? In my argument, I have chosen the latter definition, losing salvation = going to hell after death. If one finishes up not making it to heaven, it means the person has lost his salvation because the goal of salvation is to live where Jesus is ( John 14:3)
1. Who are the branches Jesus spoke about? The believers, here Jesus was not talking about non-believers (because they are not "branches").
2. Two types of branches: Branches that abide in Jesus, and branches that do not abide in Him, meaning believers who abide in Jesus, and believers who do not. Those who abide bear good fruit, but those who do not abide bear no fruit.
3. Note that there is a difference between accepting Jesus and abiding in Him. Some people accept Jesus but do not ABIDE in Him, meaning that they do not obey and completely surrender to Him in their journey.
4. Those people (who believed at first, but did not abide in Him later) are the branches that do not abide in Jesus, and therefore, they will be cut off.
Conclusion: It is a big mistake to believe that one cannot lose salvation once saved. Philippians 2:12-13 said, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you..." If salvation is "granted" once, why did the Apostle Paul say we should work with "fear" and "trembling"?
I Corinthians 9:27: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." Look at the last word of the verse. "CASTAWAY", meaning losing salvation.
Brethren, Let's walk in holiness.
SolaScrip,
True Christ Followers will be obedient to all of God's 10 Commandments as taught by Jesus in the New Testament."
Well, God's 10 Commandments are identical to Christ's Commandments. Christ didn't change, minimize or abbreviate them in any way. Christ is the Creator of all things and He created the Commandments - there would be no reason for Him to change or rescind any of them.
Christ speaks of obeying the Law, the 10 Commandments, just as they are taught by the scribes and Pharisees in Matt. 23:1-3. He says to "do as they say, but not as they do" because the teachers of the Law at that time were all hypocrites. They taught the 10 Commandments, but kept none of them. That passage proves that Jesus taught the literal keeping of the 10 Commandments, not just the essence, or spirit, of them in our hearts, etc.
Jesus stated, as you pointed out, that He kept all of the Father's 10 Commandments physically when He declared it in John 15:10.
We see that 1 John makes clear that we are to live as Jesus lived, obeying what He obeyed, in 1 John 2:6. That does not support the modern popular teaching that we are only to obey them in spirit. And if Jesus had any intention of teaching that Christians did not need to keep them literally, we would not have the record of the disciples keeping the Saturday Sabbath immediately after Christ's death on the Cross in Luke 23:54-56. We also would not see Paul being labeled by the elders as a "Keeper of the Law" in Acts 21:24.
"IF a Christian is filled with God's Holy Spirit they will naturally be following all of God's/Jesus Commandments."
I would agree with this, but that just means that the vast majority of professed Christians today are not filled with the Holy Spirit because most Christians do not obey the 10 Commandments.
Jesus says that it is the keeping of the 10 Commandments that is pre-requisite for receiving 'HIM' as the Holy Spirit in John 14:21.
SolaScrip,
True Christ Followers will be obedient to all of God's 10 Commandments as taught by Jesus in the New Testament."
Well, God's 10 Commandments are identical to Christ's Commandments. Christ didn't change, minimize or abbreviate them in any way. Christ speaks of obeying the Law, the 10 Commandments, just as they are taught by the scribes and Pharisees in Matt. 23:1-3. He says to "do as they say, but not as they do" because the teachers of the Law at that time were all hypocrites. They taught the 10 Commandments, but kept none of them. That passage proves that Jesus taught the physical keeping of the 10 Commandments, not just the essence, or spirit, of them in our hearts, etc.
Jesus stated, as you pointed out, that He kept all of the Father's 10 Commandments physically when He declared it in John 15:10.
We see that 1 John makes clear that we are to live as Jesus lived, obeying what He obeyed, in 1 John 2:6. That does not support the modern popular teaching that we are only to obey them in spirit. And if Jesus had any intention of teaching that Christians did not need to keep them literally, we would not have the record of the disciples keeping the Saturday Sabbath immediately after Christ's death on the Cross in Luke 23:54-56. We also would not see Paul being labeled by the elders as a "Keeper of the Law" in Acts 21:24.
"IF a Christian is filled with God's Holy Spirit they will naturally be following all of God's/Jesus Commandments."
I would agree with this, but that just means that the vast majority of professed Christians today are not filled with the Holy Spirit because most Christians do not obey the 10 Commandments.
Jesus says that it is the keeping of the 10 Commandments that is pre-requisite for receiving 'HIM' as the Holy Spirit in John 14:21.
True Christ Followers will be obedient to all of God's 10 Commandments as taught by Jesus in the New Testament.
Luke 9:23"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
John 14:15"If ye love me, keep my commandments."
Keeping God's 10 Commandments - plus the additional commandment that Jesus emphasized - to Love each other.
John 15:10 "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love."
Jesus warns all of us that we will not enter into Salvation without keeping God's Commandments.
Revelation 22:14 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
IF a Christian is filled with God's Holy Spirit they will naturally be following all of God's/Jesus Commandments.
It's IMPOSSIBLE to live a worldly life and be a Christ follower.
Happy Sabbath Day!