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NASB | 1 John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 John 3:24 The one who habitually keeps His commandments [obeying His word and following His precepts, abides and] remains in Him, and He in him. By this we know and have the proof that He [really] abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us [as a gift]. |
Subject: How do we know that we are truly saved? |
Bible Note: Part 2 of 3 “We are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) created in Christ Jesus” Sadly Scriptural passages as the above are taken to their extreme value while rejecting Christ’s own words when He decisively rejects those who have become so adapt that they can perform great feats in “His Name” even though their hearts and spirits are away from God (they lack humility, charity, compassion…); Jesus’ words are quickly excused as pertaining to non-believers or people passing as Christians--Jesus, of course, never stated: “this refers to the unbelievers and the charlatans…” He admonished Israel and taught His disciples… He was never ambiguous about His words even when His own disciples would find them hard to stomach! (John 6:53-66) When Jesus spoke about divorce, He did not expect His disciples to choose obey or reject His Word… as with everything else, He Commanded them to do what He said… not to try to do their best, not to chose an alternative interpretation! “But I encourage you to consider that he was speaking of being removed from a place of service. ” So you are saying that the average person can opt to not abide in Christ and all that is lost is a place of ministry? You truly believe in once “saved” you can do as please without fear of damnation? I missed that parable, where did Jesus teach that (reject me or disobey me or ignore me… it’s OK!)? “It may involve being removed from this life (1 Corinthians 11:30). Yet the soul that trusts in Jesus will be saved (1 Corinthians 3:15).” So you mean to say that if I opt to continue a life of sin, since I’m saved, the worst that could happen is that my number will be called prematurely or I wont be able to hold a place of leadership in the afterlife? “Come to him, admit that we are sinners, ask him to change us, and he does.” This sound excellent! But when did I say different? I think that there’s a great misunderstanding… the iniquity that these people (Matthew 7:21-27) are being charged with is not believing in Jesus, not humbling themselves to abide in Him, not accepting their sins and confessing them… rather, like the Masters of the Law, they charged everyone else and used prepackaged language to claim their status as “saved” (born of Abraham or of knowing the Law!)… These people externalize Christ but continue to dwell in their old nature! Jesus sees into the core of their being and rejects them because He is not swayed by outwardly appearance--wondrous signs, in their case! “All those good works come after salvation.” That sounds very sound! But how can callously returning to sin be a product of “salvation?” How can God change us, only to grant us free and clear sin-full life? How can an “eternally saved” person disobey Christ Commandment? How does adultery or fornication, serving the creature rather than the Creator, demonstrate that a person has eternal life?: We obey Christ because we Believe. We humble ourselves to God because we Believe. We repent from our sin because it is His way or the fire way! We seek to abide in Him because He Commands us to abide in Him! As disciples of Christ, our goal is not to seek to excuse our behavior by interpreting Scripture in a manner that conforms to our desired mold… as disciples of Christ we are to have a greater justice/responsibility than the Pharisees and Sadducees who circumvented the Law whenever it was convenient/profitable! (Matthew 5:20) It is not our attempt to be humble or to love our enemies or one another that demonstrates that we are abiding in Christ…. it is doing it that demonstrates that we are abiding in Christ (Matthew 7:17)… claiming that we are of the Light and yet living in darkness is evident testimony that our statement is flawed! (1 John 2:10) |