Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Matthew 10:32 ¶ "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 10:32 ¶ "Therefore, the one who confesses and acknowledges Me before men [as Lord and Savior, affirming a state of oneness with Me], that one I will also confess and acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven. |
Subject: Are you a follower of Jesus or a church? |
Bible Note: My dear friend: Your question has been asked in a thousand ways on a thousand different forums. The gist of it seems to be that there is something we can do to earn acceptance with God. I will make just one effort to show that this cannot be, and it is not so. By ourselves we cannot please God. When he is in control, we do. God requires two things of us, and these combine to establish a right relationship with him. One is repentance. The other is faith. We have to come to the end of ourselves, and stop relying on our wisdom and our strength. We have to realize that we are sinners by nature and that we do not have what it takes to please God. We then cease that reliance on ourselves and turn instead to him. When we have turned to him, he requires that we trust in him. He is able to do what is necessary, and he has done it. We have to submit to him in simple faith, and trust him. When we do that, he changes us. He changes our heart. He changes our nature. As new creatures, we are able to obey him and to produce righteous acts. The good that we try to do without repentance does not count. We must surrender to God to do things his way. When we surrender, God declares us righteous, and we are saved from ourselves, from our sin, and from the eternal consequences of sin. We are then free to be righteous in our ways. We are also free to do bad things, but those are contrary to our nature. We will not continue doing them. There have been people, from the time of Abel to this day, who have put their faith in God. They are righteous, and it is because of their faith in God. This is what I understand, and this is what I have experienced. Am I saying that the righteous did not need to love God or follow the Ten Commandments in order to live by faith? I am saying, because I believe it is what God says, that when we believe God we are declared righteous and we will keep his commandments. This is a part of living by faith. It is not a means to an end. The essence of it is trusting God. We do that even when we do not know or understand. We look to him for knowledge and for guidance in what we do. We depend on him to teach us and to show us, to be patient with us, to work with us and in us, to will and to do his good pleasure. We depend on his promise that he will never leave us or forsake us or fail to guide us and protect us. Knowing all he has done for us, we love him, and we do the things that please him. |