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NASB | Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]--he cannot be My disciple. |
Bible Question:
Good verses, Aixen. Can I probe a little bit? (I promise to be gentle.) When I was 12, I was presented the "Roman Road." I would suspect that most of the folks on this forum are familiar with this formula for evangelism. So as I began to understand that my sin and my being a sinner separated me from a holy God, I naturally asked questions. It went sort of like this: "My sin separated me from God because He is holy and pure?" YES, THAT'S RIGHT. "So how do I get myself clean so that I too am holy and pure like God." SON, THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO CLEAN YOURSELF FROM SIN. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. THERE IS ONLY ONE THING THAT CAN CLEAN YOU FROM SIN - THE BLOOD OF JESUS. "But Pastor, don't I have to clean up my act before I can come to Jesus?" NO, SON, YOU CAN'T CLEAN YOURSELF. ALL OF YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS AS FILTHY RAGS IN GOD'S SIGHT. ONLY JESUS BLOOD CAN CLEAN YOU. "Let me see if I understand: God is perfectly holy and righteous. I am a sinner and unclean. There is not ONE thing that I can do to make myself clean before God. All I can do is to trust Jesus?" THAT'S RIGHT, SON. IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU - IT'S ABOUT JESUS. YOU TRUST JESUS AND HE WILL PURIFY YOU. YOUR SINS WILL BE WHITER THAN SNOW. (seeking4truth trusts in Jesus as Lord and Savior) "Wow, Pastor, Jesus has washed me whiter than snow?" THAT'S RIGHT. "Now what do I do?" NOW, SON, YOU NEED TO KEEP YOURSELF CLEAN BY NOT SINNING AND IF YOU SIN, YOU GET YOURSELF CLEANED UP THROUGH CONFESSION AND YOU NEED TO PURIFY YOURSELF AND YOU NEED TO LIVE HOLY AND YOU NEED TO SANCTIFY YOURSELF AND YOU NEED TO... If I could go back 30 years, I would say, "Wait a minute, Pastor, BEFORE I came to Jesus, it was all about HIM and what HE has done. Now that I have come to Jesus, why is it all about me and what *I* must do?" Funny, evangelicals tell folks that they can't possible make themselves pure enough to be acceptable to God or to enter His kingdom. "It is finished!" we say. But after "conversion", the focus dynamically shifts 180 degrees to our standing being completely dependent upon what WE do or don't do. To me, this effectively means that the grace (a gift of God) that is sufficient to initially save us is powerless to keep us clean and pure before God AFTER we become saved. It would seem that "sinners" are saved by grace but that "saints" are perfected (purified) by works. Something smells fishy and fleshly to me. Any thoughts? seeking4truth |
Bible Answer: May I interject? You said, "So how do I get myself clean so that I too am holy and pure like God." You said, "But Pastor, don't I have to clean up my act before I can come to Jesus?" You said, "...There is not ONE thing that I can do to make myself clean before God. All I can do is to trust Jesus?" You said, "Now what do I do?" Because of that last statement is the problem. Like there was some kind of formula. You use the word "clean" in three of your statements. So, you must be aware that something is wrong. Are you coming out of fear or perhaps convienence. Or do you really understand the gravity of things and you are truely thankful for what Jesus has done for you. If you say you are thankful, then the "Now what do I do" becomes "I will now do whatever I can" for the One that has given me this great gift. Because, now I know that He loves me. For I was dead and now I am alive, I have been born again. (Psa 34:18) The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. (Those who are pressed and afflicted, by the sorrow of their heart under which their spirits are broken. To these the Lord is "nigh"; not in a general way only, as he is to all men, being God omnipresent, but in a special manner; he comes and manifests himself to them, calls to them, in a gracious way, pours in all of his love, and binds up their broken hearts, comes and dwells with them. He does not pass by them nor neglect them.) And now I love Him. Now, I will keep myself clean because I love Him, not because I have to but because I want to. Now you are ready. Into His fellowship, a partnership, an awareness of worth to Him, and you know within that new life that has entered you, there is nothing, nothing can take that love from your heart. That kind of love that is more than a wife, or a father or even life itself. Shout it from the roof tops, "Look what the Lord has done"! Shout it in the market place, "Jesus Is Lord"! Because I love Him and He has cleansed me. How did this all happen? Somebody told me about Him. |