Whoever has my commandments AND keeps them,
he it is
who loves me…
If anyone loves me, he WILL keep my word,
And my Father will love him,
And we will come to him
And make our home with him.
Whoever does NOT love me does NOT keep my words.”
(1 John 14:18-24)
How could this be made more plain?
ARE YOU thinking...
This poor, sad Christian...Doesn't she know that the
'Ten commandments' have all been replaced with the ONE command to...
LOVE
After all, JESUS SAID,
"..I am giving you a new commandment:
Love each other.
Just as I have loved you, you should love each other."
(John 13:34)
"ALL the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;
'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.'"
(Galatians 5:14)
I know this verse.
However, JESUS also said,
"DO NOT THINK that I came to abolish the law or the Prophets;
I did NOT come to abolish but to fulfill."
(Matthew 5:17)
“BY THIS we know that we have come to know Him,
IF we keep His commandments.
Whoever says,
“I know him”
BUT
Does NOT keep his commandments
IS a liar,
AND
The truth is NOT in him…
Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk
-in the same way-
in which He walked.”
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one,
Which you have had since the beginning.
This old command IS the message you have heard.
Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him..."
(1 John 2:3-6)
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
There is no one who understands;
There is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
They have together become worthless;
There is no one who does good,
Not even one.”
"Their throats are open graves;
Their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Ruin and misery mark their ways,
And the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law;
RATHER, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith?
Not at all!
Rather, we uphold the law.
Paul wrote to a group of people who were being encouraged to have a a very close 'relationship' with Jewish law.
(Romans 3:9-31)
Jesus came so we could have a relationship with the law Giver and that we could intentionally choose to become 'possessed' ...by Him!
The law is the standard by which one can understand the truth about oneself.
A person who focuses on the law, apart from seeking a relationship with the God who wrote it...
one who manipulates his behavior (and tries to manipulate others') to line up with personal interpretations of God's law...
Well, let's just say that, in God's eyes, it's like a used maxi-pad.
(Isaiah 64:6)
The person who loves God truly, will find his desires divinely changed and will find that he IS conforming to God's law.
The person who claims to love God, but whose life and behavior contradict God's law, THEY are a FARCE.
"Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied:
“ ‘Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it:
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
ALL the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:36-40)
SO...
What of the 'LOVE' movement today?
Whether the majority within this movement realize it or not, they have made for themselves a new super-Biblical law...
'LOVE' according to feelings.
"For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God,
But their zeal is not based on knowledge.
Since they did NOT know the righteousness of God
AND sought to establish their own,
They did NOT submit to God’s righteousness.
Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."
(Romans 10:2-4)
Not only is this movement 'NOT based on knowledge' and full of error as a result of their lack of knowledge, but the truths one hears repeatedly from the pulpit, or casual ear set, are elementary.
"Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ
And be taken forward to maturity,
NOT laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,
And of faith in God,
Instruction about cleansing rites,
The laying on of hands,
The resurrection of the dead,
And eternal judgment."
(Hebrews 6:1-2)
Half of these 'elementary' teachings are not talked about or practiced.
The other half are points of doctrine we confessed when we made a 'profession of faith'.
But church teaching is to move beyond ALL this.
Paul gave some powerful messages about 'godly living'... and they are in the NEW Testament.
Did you know that the 'free gift' came with the expectation that each 'believer' would...
"turn from godless living and sinful pleasures and to live good, God-fearing lives day after day"?
Paul commanded this young pastor, Titus...
"...Speak up for the right living that goes along with true Christianity.
Teach the older men to be serious and unruffled;
They must be sensible, knowing and believing the truth
And doing everything with love and patience.
Teach the older women to be quiet and respectful in everything they do.
They must not go around speaking evil of others and must not be heavy drinkers,
But they should be teachers of goodness.
These older women must train the younger women to live quietly,
To love their husbands and their children,
And to be sensible and clean minded,
Spending their time in their own homes,
Being kind and obedient to their husbands
So that the Christian faith can’t be spoken against by those who know them.
In the same way, urge the young men to behave carefully, taking life seriously.
And here you yourself must be an example to them of good deeds of every kind.
Let everything you do reflect your love of the truth
And the fact that you are in dead earnest about it.
Your conversation should be so sensible and logical
That anyone who wants to argue will be ashamed of himself
Because there won’t be anything to criticize in anything you say!
Urge 'employees' to obey their 'employers' and to try their best to satisfy them.
They must not talk back, nor steal, but must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy.
In this way they will make people want to believe in our Savior and God.
For the free gift of eternal salvation is now being offered to everyone;
And along with this gift comes the realization
That God wants us to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures
And to live good, God-fearing lives day after day."
(Titus 2:1-12)
How many of us can say
we hear much of anything like
we hear much of anything like
Titus 2 from the pulpit?
But we repeatedly hear the 'Gospel'.
We hear about 'love'.
We hear distorted claims to God's 'promises'.
Or else the message is so watered down and drawn out in artistic fashion as to have put half the audience to sleep.
But we repeatedly hear the 'Gospel'.
We hear about 'love'.
We hear distorted claims to God's 'promises'.
Or else the message is so watered down and drawn out in artistic fashion as to have put half the audience to sleep.
“By this we know that we love the children of God,
WHEN we love God
AND obey his commandments.
For this IS the love of God,
THAT we keep his commandments.
And His commandments are not burdensome.”
(1 John 5:2-3)
JESUS, the Author of the NEW covenant, told a man how to have eternal life...
And He said to him, "…If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
He said to him, “Which ones?”
And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Jesus basically told this man that the secret of living forever is obedience to the ten commandments. knowing the impossibility of doing this, apart from divine intervention, Jesus pointed out to the man how he was falling already falling short on commandments #1 and #10.
The ONLY way to find one's whole self obedient to ALL the commandments, is to love God above ALL and believe what He did for you on the cross so that He could come and live with and accomplish His will in you.
"When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."
How many Christians sentimentally hold on to a lot of things they consider valuable enough to continue to grasp?
"And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a 'rich' person enter the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 19:16-23)
"It will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us."
(Deuteronomy. 6:25)
JESUS made this possible.
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