I give up. Have it your way. What I mean is, I have been trying to get people to believe that perfection and living by God’s righteous perfection needs to be done before we physically die, but most will not believe this truth. Around 99% of the people that believe in God in our world today believe that perfection cannot be attained until after we physically die. So, I have decided to write to these people in the context of their beliefs and see if their beliefs make sense.
First off, I will not be quoting much scripture since there is not much scripture that goes along with these beliefs. For example, I can’t quote “Matt 5:48 - Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. NKJV”, because people no longer think this is possible in our life time. And I can’t quote “1 Peter 1:15-16 - But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy. NIV”, because people no longer think this is possible in our life time. And I can’t quote “Rev 21:7 - He who overcomes (overcomes sin) will inherit all this (heaven), and I will be his God and he will be my son. NIV”, because people no longer believe that all sin can be overcome or that a person is able to live a sinless life.
I can quote a few scriptures like “John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. NIV” I can quote this as long as a person understands the term “believe” to mean a belief in the existence of Christ and that He died on the cross to pay for all our sins. I can quote this scripture because people believe that Christ did it all and we don’t have any responsibility except to believe in what Christ did on the cross for us. This belief is all about saving them to eternal life, but not about being the Lord of any person’s life. I can’t quote about Christ being the Lord of our lives, because Christ being Lord of our life would require the lordship of Christ to take control of a person, which would mean we would have to give up control of our own life. The lordship of Christ does not fit into this belief because it would require a changed life, a life that would have to die to all the sinful nature. It would mean submitting all to Christ as Lord. People would loose control of their life and this is not believed to be required anymore.
People believe that all we have to do to have eternal life is to take up on the offer of being fully forgiven by Jesus Christ’s sacrifice which paid the cost for all our sins. No repentance, holiness, or perfection by living by God’s love is required. Since Christ did it all on the cross for us, all we have to do is say that sinner’s prayer and that heavy load of the consequences of our sins are removed from us. So only God’s forgiveness is required and all we have to do is take advantage of it. It is a win-win situation for us. Everybody goes to heaven as long as they are forgiven. Everyone that is forgiven is automatically converted from a sinful being to a perfect being at the point of the death. This perfect conversion from a sinful soul to a perfect soul has to be accomplished because nothing imperfect or impure can enter God’s heavenly kingdom. This is the belief of most believers even though this belief goes directly against God’s Word. God’s Word is considered out of date for the time we live in and people believe God has changed to compensate for the changing times.
Either way, people believe we become perfect. It is just a question of when and how. All believers are looking forward to heaven and believe we have to become perfect to enter heaven. So, do we really want to be perfect? Do we really want to be like God? Do we really want to be rid of our evil selfish nature and have it replaced with a perfect holy and righteous nature? Christ’s nature. If we do, how much and how soon do we want to become perfect?
If we believe that our goal is to become perfect and be made perfect by becoming pure love like God is love, wouldn’t we want that to happen as soon as possible? If we believe that we have to die to become perfect, wouldn’t we want to pray to God and have Him take our life as soon as possible so that we could become that perfect soul? Wouldn’t we want to leave this evil filled world for a life in a perfect world as soon as possible? When someone dies, don’t we try to help the grieving ones left behind by saying the one they lost is in a better place? If we believe this, shouldn’t we be throwing a big party because God has chosen to take that person and make him/her perfect and have that soul live in a perfect heaven for eternity?
Do we need to wait to have God take our life or can we end it ourselves? If we commit suicide, we would be sinning against God’s Word, because we would be acting as our own God and killing ourselves. But God has probably changed His law for our times and aren’t all sins forgiven through Christ anyway? Most believers believe that someone that has committed suicide can still go to heaven. It is unthinkable to think a loving God would reject anyone for wanting to escape this evil world. Since this understanding is an excepted belief and even taught by many churches, this might be a person’s way to perfection and heaven. At least we need to commend them for acting on their beliefs. At least they are willing to put action to their beliefs. After all, what ever a person believes, they will act on. If we say we believe in something and don’t act on it, we don’t really believe what we say we believe.
So how soon should we want to physically die to become perfect? Some would argue that we need to have children (procreate) before we die so that the circle of life can continue. There is some logic to this consideration, but for the ones that don’t want to have children or can’t have children, wouldn’t it be best to die as soon as they come to Christ to have their sins forgiven? For the people that want to procreate, it would probably be best to die right after their kids have come to Christ by their children asking for forgiveness for their sins. In this way they would insure that their children are saved to eternal life and the parents could then leave this evil world to go onto the perfect realm of God. With the parents gone, the kids could use the assets left by the parents, grand parents, and so on, to get a good start for them to get ready to have kids of their own.
Some people might think that they need to stay living in this life to nurture and help their children and other people. Well this might sound fine and good, but what does an evil selfish person have to offer anyone else but to share in the consequences of their own sin? We can understand that there is some good in almost everybody, but the selfishness (evil) in a person will always out way any good that a person is trying to do. Since we believe that we never can get rid of our evil nature, then we have to believe that we really can’t offer anything to others that will be good for them. It will always be like dirty rags. We can’t help someone become good or cleaner by wiping them with our dirty rags. Since sin never leaves us until we die, every good thing we try to do will be tainted with evil. Let me give you an example. Say you have a favorite drink, like Mountain Dew, it being pure and good to the taste. Now let us add some sin into that drink. Suppose you go to the bathroom and take some of the feces (poop) from your own body and put it in the drink. Now the drink is tainted and anyone that drinks that drink will not be able to enjoy the goodness it had before it was tainted. Since we still have our sinful nature, when we share with ourselves, we are really sharing a tainted drink to our children and others. Why would we want to do this to people? Isn’t it better if we stop sharing in our consequences of our sins with others and just decide to die and be perfect?
So, after saying all this, why wouldn’t anyone want to die and be perfect? After all being perfect would be like heaven, which represents all of what God is and has to offer us. Being in heaven would be sharing in pure love, righteousness, holiness, and eternal life with God. Why wouldn’t anyone want this as soon as possible? Some might say, “They want it eventually, but they will wait until after they die after a long life.” These people are really saying, “I don’t want all of God right now. I want to still live my own life the way I desire. I want to still be my own God, and after I die I won’t have anything left to loose, so then I will accept perfection.” These people are trying to save their own life for themselves. Or, maybe people might say that they believe in perfection after death, but they really aren’t sure if they totally believe it to the point of wanting to die to get it. The bottom line about all this is, for most people, receiving perfection has to high of a cost – themselves.
So, if you want God and His perfection and you have decided that you can’t be perfected and totally set free of your sinful nature until after death, then you should desire to die so that you can finally be perfected and enter heaven. Come on people, stop fooling yourselves, you need to admit that you don’t want God’s perfection and His heaven and stop calling yourself a Christian, or start believing God’s Word, repent, and live a perfected life by living through the power of His Holy Spirit. Please figure out what you really believe and then show what you believe by acting on that belief.
God gives us the choice of what we want to believe. For me and my house we will believe God’s Word.
Michael W Reid
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Promise
Most people calling themselves Christians today have a belief that the hope we have in Christ is the hope of getting to heaven some day. Even though heaven is a place we look forward to, that should not be our hope as Christians. So what is our hope and what is the promise of God?
Today MOST churched people's hopes are to get to heaven. This is not what our main hope should be or what we should strive for. If our main hopes and striving are to get to heaven then we are only trying to save ourselves from hell.
The scriptures say the deposit of the "Holy Spirit" into us is the GUARANTEE of our heavenly inheritance. This is true.
Eph 1:13-14 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. NKJV
2 Cor 1:21-22 - Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. NKJV
So once we are totally filled with the Holy Spirit (the promise), then we are guaranteed heaven as long as we don't willfully sin after that point. So the hope we need to go for is the promise that God will fill us with His Holy Spirit AFTER we have come to a point of total obedience (out of love for Him). Once we have the fullness of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) in us, we no longer have a hope of being in His eternal kingdom, because we are already in His eternal kingdom. There is not a hope of heaven anymore, it is a for sure thing as long as we don't reject His Holy Spirit by willfully sinning against Him. If we willfully sin after being totally filled with the Holy Spirit (the promise), then we have committed the unforgivable sin. Let me explain this with scriptures.
After we have done the will of God we receive the promise (the Holy Spirit).
Heb 10:36 - For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the PROMISE NKJV
Abraham's offspring are the people that have received the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Rom 9:8 - In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. NIV
God pours out the Holy Spirit into all that have been obedient to the will of God. Then they are the sons of God and exalted to the right hand of God. A son of God is exalted to His right hand when that person has shown himself worthy of the Holy Spirit's filling. This needs to happen in our physical lifetime.
Acts 2:33 - Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the PROMISE of the Holy Spirit , He poured out this which you now see and hear. NKJV
God saves us from the power of our sinful nature to enable us to become the sons of God by eventually receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit after we have done His will.
Gal 3:14 - He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. NIV
Only if we are totally devoted to Christ are we considered Abraham's seed and enjoy in the promised Holy Spirit.
Gal 3:29 - If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV
Life in Christ is the Holy Spirit in a person. Holy Spirit = Life in Christ.
2 Tim 1:1 - ...according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ... NIV
Once anyone has been fully filled with the Holy Spirit and has become a son of God, then they have been enlightened and have experienced God's eternal kingdom and the powers of that eternal kingdom. If they ever decide to fall away by willfully sinning against the Holy Spirit that is within them, then they are judged unworthy of the Holy Spirit and God's Holy Spirit is taken away from them forever.
Heb 6:4-6 - For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the HEAVENLY gift, and have become partakers of the HOLY SPIRIT, and have tasted the good word of God and the POWERS of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. NKJV
Now one important thing to remember when understanding these scriptures, when a person comes to the saving grace of God and says that first sinners prayer, they don’t receive the Holy Spirit at that time unless they were able to die to all their selfishness at that time. They receive Jesus as their High Priest, but for most people today, they don’t receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit until they die to all their selfishness and be obedient and do the will of God. It is through the power of God’s grace working through Jesus Christ being their High Priest that they have the power to overcome all sin, but they have to make the choice to die to every sinful thing in them. God will not make anyone die to their own selfish nature, but He gives you the power to do so if that is a person’s earnest desire.
When a person receives the Holy Spirit, they receive the knowledge of the truth. The truth is written on their hearts. God's very Word is written on and in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. So, after this happening, if they ever willfully go against that truth that has filled their heart, they will be doomed to an eternal fiery judgment.
Heb 10:26-29 - For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? NKJV
If we keep and stay within God's promise (the Holy Spirit) we are assured a new heaven and a new earth full of righteousness.
2 Peter 3:13 - But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. NIV
For the people, the true sons of God, the ones that have been filled with the Holy Spirit, that have partaken in the heavenly gifts and powers of the heavens (the powers to come), they are already in His eternal kingdom. The only difference that happens after physical death for a true son of God is that they don't have to live in both a righteous and un-righteous world any longer. They will live only in a pure, holy, and righteous world for eternity. Before a true son of God physically dies, they are already living a pure, holy, and righteous life already, but having to endure an un-righteous world until they physically die.
So I say all this to indicate that our salvation has to happen in our physical lifetime (before physical death). When someone says "Completed salvation is not until we reached the other side into heaven", this is an incorrect statement. This is what people want to believe and backs up MOST people's beliefs that we can never be perfect, pure, holy, and/or righteous this side of heaven, which a lie of the devil.
A true son of God has already been judged and found worthy to receive God’s promise of the Holy Spirit, because they have sacrificed all to Him. Once having received the Holy Spirit, we are then worthy to enter and be in God's eternal kingdom. It is the Holy Spirit of Christ that is the key to God’s eternal kingdom. All true sons of God have been judged in this life already and will never be judged again unless they commit the un-forgivable sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit that had totally filled their heart.
If anyone is judged by God after their physical death - it is too late for them. They are destined for the eternal fire.
May God’s truth encourage you to finish the race,
Michael W Reid
Today MOST churched people's hopes are to get to heaven. This is not what our main hope should be or what we should strive for. If our main hopes and striving are to get to heaven then we are only trying to save ourselves from hell.
The scriptures say the deposit of the "Holy Spirit" into us is the GUARANTEE of our heavenly inheritance. This is true.
Eph 1:13-14 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. NKJV
2 Cor 1:21-22 - Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. NKJV
So once we are totally filled with the Holy Spirit (the promise), then we are guaranteed heaven as long as we don't willfully sin after that point. So the hope we need to go for is the promise that God will fill us with His Holy Spirit AFTER we have come to a point of total obedience (out of love for Him). Once we have the fullness of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) in us, we no longer have a hope of being in His eternal kingdom, because we are already in His eternal kingdom. There is not a hope of heaven anymore, it is a for sure thing as long as we don't reject His Holy Spirit by willfully sinning against Him. If we willfully sin after being totally filled with the Holy Spirit (the promise), then we have committed the unforgivable sin. Let me explain this with scriptures.
After we have done the will of God we receive the promise (the Holy Spirit).
Heb 10:36 - For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the PROMISE NKJV
Abraham's offspring are the people that have received the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Rom 9:8 - In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. NIV
God pours out the Holy Spirit into all that have been obedient to the will of God. Then they are the sons of God and exalted to the right hand of God. A son of God is exalted to His right hand when that person has shown himself worthy of the Holy Spirit's filling. This needs to happen in our physical lifetime.
Acts 2:33 - Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the PROMISE of the Holy Spirit , He poured out this which you now see and hear. NKJV
God saves us from the power of our sinful nature to enable us to become the sons of God by eventually receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit after we have done His will.
Gal 3:14 - He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. NIV
Only if we are totally devoted to Christ are we considered Abraham's seed and enjoy in the promised Holy Spirit.
Gal 3:29 - If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV
Life in Christ is the Holy Spirit in a person. Holy Spirit = Life in Christ.
2 Tim 1:1 - ...according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ... NIV
Once anyone has been fully filled with the Holy Spirit and has become a son of God, then they have been enlightened and have experienced God's eternal kingdom and the powers of that eternal kingdom. If they ever decide to fall away by willfully sinning against the Holy Spirit that is within them, then they are judged unworthy of the Holy Spirit and God's Holy Spirit is taken away from them forever.
Heb 6:4-6 - For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the HEAVENLY gift, and have become partakers of the HOLY SPIRIT, and have tasted the good word of God and the POWERS of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. NKJV
Now one important thing to remember when understanding these scriptures, when a person comes to the saving grace of God and says that first sinners prayer, they don’t receive the Holy Spirit at that time unless they were able to die to all their selfishness at that time. They receive Jesus as their High Priest, but for most people today, they don’t receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit until they die to all their selfishness and be obedient and do the will of God. It is through the power of God’s grace working through Jesus Christ being their High Priest that they have the power to overcome all sin, but they have to make the choice to die to every sinful thing in them. God will not make anyone die to their own selfish nature, but He gives you the power to do so if that is a person’s earnest desire.
When a person receives the Holy Spirit, they receive the knowledge of the truth. The truth is written on their hearts. God's very Word is written on and in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. So, after this happening, if they ever willfully go against that truth that has filled their heart, they will be doomed to an eternal fiery judgment.
Heb 10:26-29 - For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? NKJV
If we keep and stay within God's promise (the Holy Spirit) we are assured a new heaven and a new earth full of righteousness.
2 Peter 3:13 - But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. NIV
For the people, the true sons of God, the ones that have been filled with the Holy Spirit, that have partaken in the heavenly gifts and powers of the heavens (the powers to come), they are already in His eternal kingdom. The only difference that happens after physical death for a true son of God is that they don't have to live in both a righteous and un-righteous world any longer. They will live only in a pure, holy, and righteous world for eternity. Before a true son of God physically dies, they are already living a pure, holy, and righteous life already, but having to endure an un-righteous world until they physically die.
So I say all this to indicate that our salvation has to happen in our physical lifetime (before physical death). When someone says "Completed salvation is not until we reached the other side into heaven", this is an incorrect statement. This is what people want to believe and backs up MOST people's beliefs that we can never be perfect, pure, holy, and/or righteous this side of heaven, which a lie of the devil.
A true son of God has already been judged and found worthy to receive God’s promise of the Holy Spirit, because they have sacrificed all to Him. Once having received the Holy Spirit, we are then worthy to enter and be in God's eternal kingdom. It is the Holy Spirit of Christ that is the key to God’s eternal kingdom. All true sons of God have been judged in this life already and will never be judged again unless they commit the un-forgivable sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit that had totally filled their heart.
If anyone is judged by God after their physical death - it is too late for them. They are destined for the eternal fire.
May God’s truth encourage you to finish the race,
Michael W Reid
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Enemies of God
Yesterday I was out on an exercise walk when I saw a neighbor that I have wanted to talk with about God. I know this man and his family are professing Christians. I knew they had been upset with many churches in the area, because most of the churches didn’t believe and teach that a person has to repent to be forgiven by God. I know there is no forgiveness by God unless we also repent from our sinful behavior. Since I knew we both had this in common, I wanted to talk with this man. As I was walking by his house, he was in the yard working, so I went over to him and we had a 2 – 3 hour discussion.
I found out that he had found a local Baptist church which did preach repentance and forgiveness. This discussion led into the topic of repentance eventually allowing a person to become entirely sanctified, where they no longer sin, because they no longer have any desire to sin. Since God has done this miracle in my life, I was trying to encourage him and his 23 year old son that entire sanctification was possible and that to enter God’s eternal kingdom a person must be entirely sanctified in this life time. Since they had a Calvinist background, they could not believe this. They indicated that no one could be entirely sanctified in this lifetime and that I was alone in this kind of thinking. I assured him that he was correct in the fact that most churches have taken on the Calvinist belief. Even the holiness churches have taken in the Calvinist view as part of their beliefs. I have realized that even when holiness churches preach holiness, the congregations take entire sanctification as a goal or option. A goal to go for, but believing it never can be reached in this lifetime.
This father and son believed John MacArthur commentary that Romans 7 was indicating that St. Paul was talking about himself in his current state at the time of the writing, when he was totally filled with the Holy Spirit (Born Again), but could not keep from sinning. They believe, as most churches do, that a person fully filled with the Holy Spirit is still a slave to sin and cannot help themselves from doing the evil they don’t want to do. They compare themselves to the Old Testament people, a time before the Holy Spirit filled the hearts of men. What fools they have become. Almost all have let the great power of the gospel become powerless. For they have let it become a lie. Did Christ come to pay the dept for sinners only have them keep sinning? They have turned His grace and the workings of the Holy Spirit into a mockery by saying God doesn’t chose to free us from all sin.
I asked if this father and son had been saved from any sin, where God has taken away even the desire to do that sin. They both answered yes and realized that God had totally freed them from one or more sinful behaviors. Then I asked them, what sin did they think God wanted them to keep? They didn’t have an answer. Then I asked them, why don’t they think that God would want to clean them of all sin like the Bible says? Their answer was amazing to me. They said that God didn’t want to take all their sin away from them, because God uses the consequences of sin to keep people coming back to Him. They also said, if a person ever did come to the point of not sinning anymore, then that person wouldn’t need God any longer. So they believe that God wants every person to keep some sinful nature so that we will always need Him - Even though it is sin which separates us all from God.
Christ says “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed - John 8:36 NIV”, but now the majority is saying we are never really free?
God’s Word says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9 NIV.” Evidently this is no longer true for most churches.
God’s Word says we shall be made blameless through and through. “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through . May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. - 1 Thess 5:23-24 NIV” Evidently this is not believed to happen anymore in our time.
God’s Word says that no unclean/sinful thing can enter heaven and that the only ones to enter His eternal kingdom are the ones that have conquered all sin in their lives.
“Nothing impure will ever enter it (God’s eternal kingdom/city), nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. - Rev 21:27 NIV”
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes (overcomes sin), I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. - Rev 2:7 NIV”
“He who overcomes (overcomes sin) will inherit all this (inherit God’s eternal kingdom), and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. - Rev 21:7-8 NIV”
If we are to believe the Calvinist theology, then Jesus Christ died on the cross in vain. For if no one can become sanctified and holy through and through, then no one can enter heaven. If no one can overcome all sin by the power of God’s grace working through them, then no one can enter eternal life. If no can come to the point of living a blameless and pure life by becoming one with God’s Holy Spirit, then no one will ever be considered holy enough to see God. If anyone believes the lies within the Calvinist theology, they must also believe that God’s Word is not the infallible truth.
Just like in the Garden of Eden, the devil has once again succeeded by taking the truth and changing it just enough to sidetrack almost everybody into believing it for the truth. Since most churches have adopted these lies into their theology to some extent, it has turned most of our churches into the enemies of God.
Any church that teaches that a person doesn’t have to be fully sanctified and die to all of their sinful nature to enter God’s kingdom is God’s enemy. For they have turned the gospel of Jesus Christ into a lie.
Any church that teaches a person they can never be free from their sinful nature is God’s enemy. For they have turned the gospel of Jesus Christ into a lie and is perpetuating a “hopeless” message.
It is for this reason that God is building His wrath against this unbelieving world. God’s wrath will come soon and most all deserve it, because they have listened to the devil and made His Word into a lie.
Michael W Reid
reidmike@charter.net
I found out that he had found a local Baptist church which did preach repentance and forgiveness. This discussion led into the topic of repentance eventually allowing a person to become entirely sanctified, where they no longer sin, because they no longer have any desire to sin. Since God has done this miracle in my life, I was trying to encourage him and his 23 year old son that entire sanctification was possible and that to enter God’s eternal kingdom a person must be entirely sanctified in this life time. Since they had a Calvinist background, they could not believe this. They indicated that no one could be entirely sanctified in this lifetime and that I was alone in this kind of thinking. I assured him that he was correct in the fact that most churches have taken on the Calvinist belief. Even the holiness churches have taken in the Calvinist view as part of their beliefs. I have realized that even when holiness churches preach holiness, the congregations take entire sanctification as a goal or option. A goal to go for, but believing it never can be reached in this lifetime.
This father and son believed John MacArthur commentary that Romans 7 was indicating that St. Paul was talking about himself in his current state at the time of the writing, when he was totally filled with the Holy Spirit (Born Again), but could not keep from sinning. They believe, as most churches do, that a person fully filled with the Holy Spirit is still a slave to sin and cannot help themselves from doing the evil they don’t want to do. They compare themselves to the Old Testament people, a time before the Holy Spirit filled the hearts of men. What fools they have become. Almost all have let the great power of the gospel become powerless. For they have let it become a lie. Did Christ come to pay the dept for sinners only have them keep sinning? They have turned His grace and the workings of the Holy Spirit into a mockery by saying God doesn’t chose to free us from all sin.
I asked if this father and son had been saved from any sin, where God has taken away even the desire to do that sin. They both answered yes and realized that God had totally freed them from one or more sinful behaviors. Then I asked them, what sin did they think God wanted them to keep? They didn’t have an answer. Then I asked them, why don’t they think that God would want to clean them of all sin like the Bible says? Their answer was amazing to me. They said that God didn’t want to take all their sin away from them, because God uses the consequences of sin to keep people coming back to Him. They also said, if a person ever did come to the point of not sinning anymore, then that person wouldn’t need God any longer. So they believe that God wants every person to keep some sinful nature so that we will always need Him - Even though it is sin which separates us all from God.
Christ says “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed - John 8:36 NIV”, but now the majority is saying we are never really free?
God’s Word says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9 NIV.” Evidently this is no longer true for most churches.
God’s Word says we shall be made blameless through and through. “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through . May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. - 1 Thess 5:23-24 NIV” Evidently this is not believed to happen anymore in our time.
God’s Word says that no unclean/sinful thing can enter heaven and that the only ones to enter His eternal kingdom are the ones that have conquered all sin in their lives.
“Nothing impure will ever enter it (God’s eternal kingdom/city), nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. - Rev 21:27 NIV”
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes (overcomes sin), I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. - Rev 2:7 NIV”
“He who overcomes (overcomes sin) will inherit all this (inherit God’s eternal kingdom), and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. - Rev 21:7-8 NIV”
If we are to believe the Calvinist theology, then Jesus Christ died on the cross in vain. For if no one can become sanctified and holy through and through, then no one can enter heaven. If no one can overcome all sin by the power of God’s grace working through them, then no one can enter eternal life. If no can come to the point of living a blameless and pure life by becoming one with God’s Holy Spirit, then no one will ever be considered holy enough to see God. If anyone believes the lies within the Calvinist theology, they must also believe that God’s Word is not the infallible truth.
Just like in the Garden of Eden, the devil has once again succeeded by taking the truth and changing it just enough to sidetrack almost everybody into believing it for the truth. Since most churches have adopted these lies into their theology to some extent, it has turned most of our churches into the enemies of God.
Any church that teaches that a person doesn’t have to be fully sanctified and die to all of their sinful nature to enter God’s kingdom is God’s enemy. For they have turned the gospel of Jesus Christ into a lie.
Any church that teaches a person they can never be free from their sinful nature is God’s enemy. For they have turned the gospel of Jesus Christ into a lie and is perpetuating a “hopeless” message.
It is for this reason that God is building His wrath against this unbelieving world. God’s wrath will come soon and most all deserve it, because they have listened to the devil and made His Word into a lie.
Michael W Reid
reidmike@charter.net
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The Majority Is Usually Wrong
The majority of the US was wrong in believing in Barack Hussein Obama! But that is not all that we have been very wrong about!
In the far past, the majority of people in Noah’s day thought they could do any selfish thing they desired without any consequences for their sins. God destroyed them all except for Noah’s family.
In the past, the majority of people were wrong in building the Tower of Babel. They were of one language, thought, and desire. They thought they could do anything. God showed them that they were very confused!
During Abraham’s time, the majority of the people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorra were fooled into the lies of the devil and became very evil. They thought they could delight themselves with every kind of sexual sin they could imagine - Much like many people in our society today. God destroyed them all!
During Moses’ time, the majority of the Egyptians thought they could be gods and rule over and enslave other peoples. Through Moses the real God showed His mighty power and crushed the Egyptians!
During the Roman Empire time, the majority of the Jews (God’s people), misread and misunderstood the scriptures and were looking for a physical earthly kingdom rule to come from God. So they rejected Jesus Christ and put Him on the cross and crucified Him! God showed them they were very wrong and brought forth a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of men.
Now during our times, the majority is wrong again. The church has been broken into as many different denominations as there are opinions. There is very little unity in the church today. Somehow we accept that every differing view of scripture can be the right views, depending on who is interpretating the scriptures. So, in essence we no long have one unifying truth, but as many truths as we want to believe. The church has lost the truth and can no longer show the way for the lost to find true salvation. For this reason, the church has been dying and will continue to die until it comes back to the truth. Through much agonizing struggles to bring the real truth of God’s Word to the church, I have found that even God’s elect, the true born again Christians, cannot bring themselves to believe the true Word of God anymore. The church has become corrupt with the deceptions from within its man made traditions and cannot seem to return to the real truth. The church is supposed to be the salt of the world, but it has lost its saltiness. The church is meant to flavor the world with God’s love and truth, but instead the world has flavored the church with worldliness and deception.
So where is today’s churches going wrong? It is the lack of truth in the gospel that they are preaching. God’s Word says we are set free from our sin by believing in His truth, but this gospel truth is not being proclaimed.
Today’s churches proclaim that no one can ever be totally free from their sinful nature. They teach that a person will always retain their selfish nature and this sinful nature will always have a certain amount of control over a person, even a born again Christian. So people come into the church to be freed from their sinful ways and be a new godly creation only to be told they will never be free from their sinful nature and its consequences. What kind of hopeful message is this? If everyone retains their sinful nature and the consequences from those sins, then what have they gained by coming into the church? Can you guess why our churches are dying?
God’s truth says that when a person is born again (born of God), they are a new creation of God and the old selfish man is gone. This is not taught correctly in today’s churches, because most people have been brainwashed by centuries of church traditions that a person is born again at the initial sanctification point. A person is not born of God at their initial sanctification point, but at the end of the person’s sanctification, when they are totally set apart for God. It happens when a person actually loves God with all their heart and soul. It happens when they have given themselves over to God as a living sacrifice, when they have died to all their selfish ambitions to live for God alone.
If the people of a church are told they can never be free from their selfishness and that they are already born again even though their life still has sin, then the devil has won, because most of these people will not go further and search out God to truly be born of God. The devil is very happy when people are only being partially sanctified, because partially sanctified people will not be able to enter a sin free heaven. The devil knows a person has to be totally sanctified to have eternal life, so a church full of people that are partially sanctified and also think they are going to heaven is all part of the devil’s evil plan. The sad part is that most churched people believe these deceptions.
So, the church as we know it today, a church that is riddled with the traditions of man, must be allowed to die. Unless Christ’s final return happens soon, we must look at rebuilding the church from its foundations, the foundation being the true Word of God. There is only one God and one truth. The truth is not what we want it to be. It is what it has to be – whether we like it or not. The truth is not what we experience, but represents what we need to experience. The truth is not some sort of thing that is relative in time, but is the same in all times. So let us cast away all our selfish reasoning, traditions, and personal experiences (which could be of God or of the devil). We must let the church of today die away, because all of today’s churches have been deceived. They are teaching some truths interlaced with lies from the devil. Let us get back to the real truth, His righteousness, and His holiness. Anyone that follows the current churches of our day might have a small chance of actually becoming a real born again Christian, but the chances are very slim. We need to return back to God’s real truth so that we can be His real church again and bring many more into His eternal kingdom.
Michael W Reid
In the far past, the majority of people in Noah’s day thought they could do any selfish thing they desired without any consequences for their sins. God destroyed them all except for Noah’s family.
In the past, the majority of people were wrong in building the Tower of Babel. They were of one language, thought, and desire. They thought they could do anything. God showed them that they were very confused!
During Abraham’s time, the majority of the people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorra were fooled into the lies of the devil and became very evil. They thought they could delight themselves with every kind of sexual sin they could imagine - Much like many people in our society today. God destroyed them all!
During Moses’ time, the majority of the Egyptians thought they could be gods and rule over and enslave other peoples. Through Moses the real God showed His mighty power and crushed the Egyptians!
During the Roman Empire time, the majority of the Jews (God’s people), misread and misunderstood the scriptures and were looking for a physical earthly kingdom rule to come from God. So they rejected Jesus Christ and put Him on the cross and crucified Him! God showed them they were very wrong and brought forth a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of men.
Now during our times, the majority is wrong again. The church has been broken into as many different denominations as there are opinions. There is very little unity in the church today. Somehow we accept that every differing view of scripture can be the right views, depending on who is interpretating the scriptures. So, in essence we no long have one unifying truth, but as many truths as we want to believe. The church has lost the truth and can no longer show the way for the lost to find true salvation. For this reason, the church has been dying and will continue to die until it comes back to the truth. Through much agonizing struggles to bring the real truth of God’s Word to the church, I have found that even God’s elect, the true born again Christians, cannot bring themselves to believe the true Word of God anymore. The church has become corrupt with the deceptions from within its man made traditions and cannot seem to return to the real truth. The church is supposed to be the salt of the world, but it has lost its saltiness. The church is meant to flavor the world with God’s love and truth, but instead the world has flavored the church with worldliness and deception.
So where is today’s churches going wrong? It is the lack of truth in the gospel that they are preaching. God’s Word says we are set free from our sin by believing in His truth, but this gospel truth is not being proclaimed.
Today’s churches proclaim that no one can ever be totally free from their sinful nature. They teach that a person will always retain their selfish nature and this sinful nature will always have a certain amount of control over a person, even a born again Christian. So people come into the church to be freed from their sinful ways and be a new godly creation only to be told they will never be free from their sinful nature and its consequences. What kind of hopeful message is this? If everyone retains their sinful nature and the consequences from those sins, then what have they gained by coming into the church? Can you guess why our churches are dying?
God’s truth says that when a person is born again (born of God), they are a new creation of God and the old selfish man is gone. This is not taught correctly in today’s churches, because most people have been brainwashed by centuries of church traditions that a person is born again at the initial sanctification point. A person is not born of God at their initial sanctification point, but at the end of the person’s sanctification, when they are totally set apart for God. It happens when a person actually loves God with all their heart and soul. It happens when they have given themselves over to God as a living sacrifice, when they have died to all their selfish ambitions to live for God alone.
If the people of a church are told they can never be free from their selfishness and that they are already born again even though their life still has sin, then the devil has won, because most of these people will not go further and search out God to truly be born of God. The devil is very happy when people are only being partially sanctified, because partially sanctified people will not be able to enter a sin free heaven. The devil knows a person has to be totally sanctified to have eternal life, so a church full of people that are partially sanctified and also think they are going to heaven is all part of the devil’s evil plan. The sad part is that most churched people believe these deceptions.
So, the church as we know it today, a church that is riddled with the traditions of man, must be allowed to die. Unless Christ’s final return happens soon, we must look at rebuilding the church from its foundations, the foundation being the true Word of God. There is only one God and one truth. The truth is not what we want it to be. It is what it has to be – whether we like it or not. The truth is not what we experience, but represents what we need to experience. The truth is not some sort of thing that is relative in time, but is the same in all times. So let us cast away all our selfish reasoning, traditions, and personal experiences (which could be of God or of the devil). We must let the church of today die away, because all of today’s churches have been deceived. They are teaching some truths interlaced with lies from the devil. Let us get back to the real truth, His righteousness, and His holiness. Anyone that follows the current churches of our day might have a small chance of actually becoming a real born again Christian, but the chances are very slim. We need to return back to God’s real truth so that we can be His real church again and bring many more into His eternal kingdom.
Michael W Reid
Monday, February 15, 2010
Who Are We Really and Who Do We Belong To
God has called me as a prophet to bring back the truth of His Word which has been lost over the many years, but I have to admit this has been a very hard and frustrating task. Sometimes I wonder why God picked me for do this task. Even though I didn’t get to choose this gift that He gave me, I will be faithful to do the task that God has set out for me. The main problem with bringing back God’s truth to His loved ones is that the current deceptive things people believe as truth are so ingrained into them that they are not willing to let go of it to receive God’s real truth. I have tried not to offend people and sugar coat God’s real truth as much as possible without degrading the truth, but I realize most people are not getting it and are still heading down that lost path of deception. So I have decided to fight head on against the devil and his lies. I know this will make some people very uncomfortable, but God’s Word must prevail in order to conquer the devil’s evil schemes.
One of the simple truths that we must all return to is discerning who is a true Christian and who isn’t. This letter is not to have any one person tell you whether you are a Christian or not, but for you to evaluate yourself against what a true biblical Christian is. Like most definitions in this world, the term “Christian” has been watered down and made politically correct. In today’s world, we want to include almost everyone into the Christian group. Even if a person’s actions and walk don’t show faith in God’s Word, but they might have said a prayer, even once, then who are we to exclude them from the Christian name - right, or else we might be accused of judging. We must not judge, that is God’s domain, but we are called to evaluate ourselves and others.
I want everyone to understand that being a Christian is an exclusive thing, even though everyone has the option to become a Christian through a relationship with Christ. Becoming a true Christian can be the result of the process that can happen while we are in a relationship with Christ; it is not a single event that most people have come to believe. Most have made the mistake of proclaiming a relationship with Christ as the same thing as being a Christian. God wants and will have a relationship with anyone that accepts what Christ did on the cross, but only the few that fully submit to His Lordship will be called Christians in God’s eyes. The only way to become a Christian is to have faith in Jesus Christ, His truth, and His love. No one can be called a Christian unless they are living by faith in the truth which is found in Jesus Christ alone. If anyone is living any part of their life outside the boundaries of Jesus Christ’s truth and love, then they are not a Christian.
The well accepted definition of the term “Christian” within the Christian circles is to be a “follower of Christ”. Another definition is to be a “disciple of Christ”; we can find this definition directly out of God’s Word.
Acts 11:26 - The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Other definitions of a Christian include, being a “believer in Jesus Christ”, or any person that is considered a “son of God”. All of these definitions are true and can be used to define a Christian, but how the human selfish reasoning has degraded these definitions is where the problem lies. We need to look at the un-watered down biblical views of these meanings to see if we fit into the Christian profile.
Let us start with examining the definition of being a “follower of Christ”. Anyone that is following in Jesus Christ’s footsteps, as all Christians are called to do, will find themselves in the path of living a sinless and loving life, just as Jesus Christ did when He was on earth and in the flesh, just as we are in the flesh now. We do this by the power of His Spirit living inside us. A follower of Christ is no longer living by the ways of his selfishness, but by the ways of God’s love. If anyone is walking in the footsteps of Christ, then they are walking in righteousness and void of any sin, but if anyone wanders off the path of Christ and sins, then they can no longer be called a Christian, because they are no longer following Christ. Within the footsteps of Christ, there is no sin. Anyone that goes off and is no longer following in the footsteps of Christ is no longer in right fellowship with God until they confess, repent, and get back on the path of Christ. Until a person gets back to following Christ whole heartedly, that person cannot be called a Christian, but if they call themselves a Christian and do not immediately repent of all their sin, then they should be called a hypocrite, or a un-repentive sinner. So in essence, if anyone has sin in their life, they cannot be called a Christian, because there is no sin in Christ. If anyone has sin in their life, they are living by their own selfish spirit and not by Christ’s Spirit.
Now let us take a look at what it means to be a “disciple of Christ”. Anyone that has become a disciple of Christ has been made into the likeness of Christ. For Christ to make a person into a person like Himself, that person has to sacrifice themselves to the work of Christ, just like Christ sacrificed Himself to the work of His Father. To become a Christian (disciple), a person must give up everything they are so that Christ can make them into the likeness of Himself.
Luke 14:26-27 - If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple . And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Matt 10:37-39 - Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
These scriptures clearly state that to be a Christian (a disciple); a person must give up all of themselves to become worthy to become His disciple. If a person is still sinning, then that person has shown to themselves and others that they are not worthy to be called a disciple, because they are acting out their love for someone or something else other then Christ. Usually sin is the act of loving ourselves over God, but sometimes we might actually love something else other than ourselves, but still not loving God with our first love. Our first love represents who we love the most. If we cling to and love anyone or anything over God, then that is sin and this situation will result in sinful acts against God. Again, if we understand that a Christian is a disciple, or a replica of Christ, then we must also understand that a Christian (disciple) cannot live with any sin, since Christ lived a sinless life. As long as we have sin in our life, then we are not a disciple of Christ, but instead we must admit that we are yet a disciple of the devil, at least until we truly repent of all our sins and walk in a way worthy of being Christ’s disciple.
1 John 3:7-8 - Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he (God) is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
For anyone that truly believes in Christ, they will be called a Christian, but what does “believe in Christ” really mean. Can we say that we believe in Christ and in that belief go and sin against God and/or our fellow man. Is there anything within the realm of believing in Christ that would make us sin? Of course the answer to this question is NO. So when we sin, it shows that we do not believe in Christ, but in someone or something else other than Christ.
When we say we “believe in Christ”, we are not just saying that we believe in Jesus Christ’s existence, we are actually believing in everything that Christ is and represents. Jesus is our Savior, He is God, the Alfa and Omega, the beginning and ending of all things, the Word of God, the Truth of God, the Son of the living God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the One reigning in God’s Kingdom, and the One that sees and knows all, etc……
John 12:44-46 - Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
John 14:9-10 - Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
A Christian doesn’t just believe that there is a God; a Christian must have the faith in God and all the aspects of God that He has opened up to us. Faith is a belief in the unseen reality of God, His Truth, and His Spiritual Kingdom. We must have the faith to search out God and become one with Him. Many people believe in the existence of God, including the devil and his demons, but they are not one with God.
James 2:19 - You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.
If anyone truly believes in Christ, then they will stop loving themselves through selfishness and love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
1 Peter 1:8-9 - Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
If we say we believe in Christ (God), but do not love Him over our own souls, then we are liars, because we are still believing and relying on our own selfish souls as the god of our lives, but if through our faith we give all of our heart and soul to God, we will then be joined eternally with Him and only do God’s will, for our selfish will has been crucified with Christ on the cross and our will has been replaced with God’s will. God’s will is that we glorify Him by loving Him and others, even over ourselves.
John 8:42 - Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.
1 John 4:20-21 - If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
If we sin, our father is not God, but the devil. A Christian cannot sin, because their Father is God, which is without sin, but a sinner’s father is the devil, for a sinner is a slave to his father’s work.
John 8:44 - You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire.
If we are born of God, then we are considered to be God’s son (or daughter), just as Jesus is God’s son. We have become brothers with Christ and joint heirs with Him. When we have become worthy of Christ, then Christ sends the fullness of His Holy Spirit into our heart and makes us like Himself. Anyone that has been born of God’s Holy Spirit, has been renewed with a new unselfish Spirit that does not sin. There is no sin in a life that has been born of God, because they are not living by their old selfish spirit, but by God’s Spirit. There is no more sinful lifestyle in a person that has been born of God’s Spirit, because there is no sin in God and we have become one with God.
1 John 3:9 - Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
A true Christian has been born of God’s Spirit and no longer lives by his old selfish spirit. If anyone is still sinning, then this indicates to that sinful person and to everyone else that they have not yet been born of God, but that they are still living by their selfish spirit that they were born with. If anyone still has sin in their life, then they are not yet a child of God, but still a child of the devil.
1 John 3:10 - This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
John 8:34-35 - Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family (God’s family), but a son belongs to it forever.
The scriptures are clear, anyone that loves and does what is right (doesn’t sin) is a child of God, but anyone that does not love and does not do what is right (sins) is a child of the devil. We need to come to believe in the real truth, even if it doesn’t feel good, and stop letting the name of “Christian” be degraded by letting it be applied to people that are still sinning. Anyone that is still sinning is a child of the devil and it is an abomination to God to call them a Christian. Before we call anyone a Christian, we should take the time to see if they really are a Christian.
Now let us look at how this truth helps the person that is still sinning, but desires to become a Christian. We know that believing in God’s truth will always set a person free from their sin.
John 8:31-32 - If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:36 - So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
The real truth will keep a person searching for the goodness, love, and righteousness of God until they are made whole by the filling of His Holy Spirit (the fullness of Christ’s Spirit). But the lie of the devil – “that a person is a Christian and eternally saved even though they are still sinning” will stifle a person’s spiritual growth and stop their searching for God, because the lie of the devil is telling them that they have already achieved the righteousness of God to enter heaven. There is hope in God for everyone that continues to search for Him. Let us get rid of the lies of the devil so that people will search out God again and fully submit to Christ as Lord and not just have Christ be their Savior.
With God’s truth and love,
Michael W Reid
One of the simple truths that we must all return to is discerning who is a true Christian and who isn’t. This letter is not to have any one person tell you whether you are a Christian or not, but for you to evaluate yourself against what a true biblical Christian is. Like most definitions in this world, the term “Christian” has been watered down and made politically correct. In today’s world, we want to include almost everyone into the Christian group. Even if a person’s actions and walk don’t show faith in God’s Word, but they might have said a prayer, even once, then who are we to exclude them from the Christian name - right, or else we might be accused of judging. We must not judge, that is God’s domain, but we are called to evaluate ourselves and others.
I want everyone to understand that being a Christian is an exclusive thing, even though everyone has the option to become a Christian through a relationship with Christ. Becoming a true Christian can be the result of the process that can happen while we are in a relationship with Christ; it is not a single event that most people have come to believe. Most have made the mistake of proclaiming a relationship with Christ as the same thing as being a Christian. God wants and will have a relationship with anyone that accepts what Christ did on the cross, but only the few that fully submit to His Lordship will be called Christians in God’s eyes. The only way to become a Christian is to have faith in Jesus Christ, His truth, and His love. No one can be called a Christian unless they are living by faith in the truth which is found in Jesus Christ alone. If anyone is living any part of their life outside the boundaries of Jesus Christ’s truth and love, then they are not a Christian.
The well accepted definition of the term “Christian” within the Christian circles is to be a “follower of Christ”. Another definition is to be a “disciple of Christ”; we can find this definition directly out of God’s Word.
Acts 11:26 - The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Other definitions of a Christian include, being a “believer in Jesus Christ”, or any person that is considered a “son of God”. All of these definitions are true and can be used to define a Christian, but how the human selfish reasoning has degraded these definitions is where the problem lies. We need to look at the un-watered down biblical views of these meanings to see if we fit into the Christian profile.
Let us start with examining the definition of being a “follower of Christ”. Anyone that is following in Jesus Christ’s footsteps, as all Christians are called to do, will find themselves in the path of living a sinless and loving life, just as Jesus Christ did when He was on earth and in the flesh, just as we are in the flesh now. We do this by the power of His Spirit living inside us. A follower of Christ is no longer living by the ways of his selfishness, but by the ways of God’s love. If anyone is walking in the footsteps of Christ, then they are walking in righteousness and void of any sin, but if anyone wanders off the path of Christ and sins, then they can no longer be called a Christian, because they are no longer following Christ. Within the footsteps of Christ, there is no sin. Anyone that goes off and is no longer following in the footsteps of Christ is no longer in right fellowship with God until they confess, repent, and get back on the path of Christ. Until a person gets back to following Christ whole heartedly, that person cannot be called a Christian, but if they call themselves a Christian and do not immediately repent of all their sin, then they should be called a hypocrite, or a un-repentive sinner. So in essence, if anyone has sin in their life, they cannot be called a Christian, because there is no sin in Christ. If anyone has sin in their life, they are living by their own selfish spirit and not by Christ’s Spirit.
Now let us take a look at what it means to be a “disciple of Christ”. Anyone that has become a disciple of Christ has been made into the likeness of Christ. For Christ to make a person into a person like Himself, that person has to sacrifice themselves to the work of Christ, just like Christ sacrificed Himself to the work of His Father. To become a Christian (disciple), a person must give up everything they are so that Christ can make them into the likeness of Himself.
Luke 14:26-27 - If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple . And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Matt 10:37-39 - Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
These scriptures clearly state that to be a Christian (a disciple); a person must give up all of themselves to become worthy to become His disciple. If a person is still sinning, then that person has shown to themselves and others that they are not worthy to be called a disciple, because they are acting out their love for someone or something else other then Christ. Usually sin is the act of loving ourselves over God, but sometimes we might actually love something else other than ourselves, but still not loving God with our first love. Our first love represents who we love the most. If we cling to and love anyone or anything over God, then that is sin and this situation will result in sinful acts against God. Again, if we understand that a Christian is a disciple, or a replica of Christ, then we must also understand that a Christian (disciple) cannot live with any sin, since Christ lived a sinless life. As long as we have sin in our life, then we are not a disciple of Christ, but instead we must admit that we are yet a disciple of the devil, at least until we truly repent of all our sins and walk in a way worthy of being Christ’s disciple.
1 John 3:7-8 - Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he (God) is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
For anyone that truly believes in Christ, they will be called a Christian, but what does “believe in Christ” really mean. Can we say that we believe in Christ and in that belief go and sin against God and/or our fellow man. Is there anything within the realm of believing in Christ that would make us sin? Of course the answer to this question is NO. So when we sin, it shows that we do not believe in Christ, but in someone or something else other than Christ.
When we say we “believe in Christ”, we are not just saying that we believe in Jesus Christ’s existence, we are actually believing in everything that Christ is and represents. Jesus is our Savior, He is God, the Alfa and Omega, the beginning and ending of all things, the Word of God, the Truth of God, the Son of the living God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the One reigning in God’s Kingdom, and the One that sees and knows all, etc……
John 12:44-46 - Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
John 14:9-10 - Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
A Christian doesn’t just believe that there is a God; a Christian must have the faith in God and all the aspects of God that He has opened up to us. Faith is a belief in the unseen reality of God, His Truth, and His Spiritual Kingdom. We must have the faith to search out God and become one with Him. Many people believe in the existence of God, including the devil and his demons, but they are not one with God.
James 2:19 - You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.
If anyone truly believes in Christ, then they will stop loving themselves through selfishness and love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
1 Peter 1:8-9 - Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
If we say we believe in Christ (God), but do not love Him over our own souls, then we are liars, because we are still believing and relying on our own selfish souls as the god of our lives, but if through our faith we give all of our heart and soul to God, we will then be joined eternally with Him and only do God’s will, for our selfish will has been crucified with Christ on the cross and our will has been replaced with God’s will. God’s will is that we glorify Him by loving Him and others, even over ourselves.
John 8:42 - Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.
1 John 4:20-21 - If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
If we sin, our father is not God, but the devil. A Christian cannot sin, because their Father is God, which is without sin, but a sinner’s father is the devil, for a sinner is a slave to his father’s work.
John 8:44 - You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire.
If we are born of God, then we are considered to be God’s son (or daughter), just as Jesus is God’s son. We have become brothers with Christ and joint heirs with Him. When we have become worthy of Christ, then Christ sends the fullness of His Holy Spirit into our heart and makes us like Himself. Anyone that has been born of God’s Holy Spirit, has been renewed with a new unselfish Spirit that does not sin. There is no sin in a life that has been born of God, because they are not living by their old selfish spirit, but by God’s Spirit. There is no more sinful lifestyle in a person that has been born of God’s Spirit, because there is no sin in God and we have become one with God.
1 John 3:9 - Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
A true Christian has been born of God’s Spirit and no longer lives by his old selfish spirit. If anyone is still sinning, then this indicates to that sinful person and to everyone else that they have not yet been born of God, but that they are still living by their selfish spirit that they were born with. If anyone still has sin in their life, then they are not yet a child of God, but still a child of the devil.
1 John 3:10 - This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
John 8:34-35 - Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family (God’s family), but a son belongs to it forever.
The scriptures are clear, anyone that loves and does what is right (doesn’t sin) is a child of God, but anyone that does not love and does not do what is right (sins) is a child of the devil. We need to come to believe in the real truth, even if it doesn’t feel good, and stop letting the name of “Christian” be degraded by letting it be applied to people that are still sinning. Anyone that is still sinning is a child of the devil and it is an abomination to God to call them a Christian. Before we call anyone a Christian, we should take the time to see if they really are a Christian.
Now let us look at how this truth helps the person that is still sinning, but desires to become a Christian. We know that believing in God’s truth will always set a person free from their sin.
John 8:31-32 - If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:36 - So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
The real truth will keep a person searching for the goodness, love, and righteousness of God until they are made whole by the filling of His Holy Spirit (the fullness of Christ’s Spirit). But the lie of the devil – “that a person is a Christian and eternally saved even though they are still sinning” will stifle a person’s spiritual growth and stop their searching for God, because the lie of the devil is telling them that they have already achieved the righteousness of God to enter heaven. There is hope in God for everyone that continues to search for Him. Let us get rid of the lies of the devil so that people will search out God again and fully submit to Christ as Lord and not just have Christ be their Savior.
With God’s truth and love,
Michael W Reid
How Stupid Have We Become
God’s Word says the world is blind to His truth. It has been made very clear to me that it is our selfishness that makes us blind (spiritually blind). There are so many people that have become very smart in worldly temporal things, but have in turn become so very dumb to the real eternal truths of God. It is our own selfishness that ends up making us stupid towards anything eternal and/or any things of real value. In essence, we don’t understand God’s truth, because our selfishness won’t let us accept His truth. God’s truth is really very simple to understand, but because we want to preserve our selfishness, we won’t accept it. If people were to accept and understand God’s truth for what it says, everyone would realize how devastating their current circumstances really are. We would realize who God is, and see for ourselves who we really are. By comparing God to ourselves, we would realize that we are nowhere close to being worthy of God and His kingdom, but rather equal to the dust of the earth. This is what His Word is supposed to do. If we humble ourselves to what His Word says when we realize we are without Him in us, then we will seek His righteousness instead of our own, but this is not what is happening. We have become proud and our selfishness will not allow us to understand God’s Word as truth anymore. We have changed His truth to suit our own evil desires. We have made truth a relative item so that we can change it when ever and to what ever we want so that we can feel good about ourselves.
So, how stupid has our selfishness made us? We have become so dumb down by the devil’s lies (the lies our selfishness gladly accepts as truth) that we don’t even have common sense anymore. What is going on in most of the churches of this world is mind boggling to any sane person. Even people that don’t go to church can see that there is something really wrong with the churches. And we wonder why people don’t come to church, or keep coming to church. They see the hypocrisy between what they already know about goodness and what the church people actually do.
Somehow the churches now believe that a Christian is a sinner and always will be a sinner. I hear this directly from most church goers and even most of the pastors. If this is the case, what makes the churched people any different then the un-churched people? If the un-churched (worldly) people are mostly sinners and the churched people are mostly sinners, what’s the difference and how does this glorify God. If we are to believe that once a sinner, then always a sinner, then what hope does a sinner ever have to be freed from their sins and to be freed from the consequences of those sins? Now many churched people will say they are forgiven for their sins and are going to heaven. Have we become so blind and lost all common sense to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross so that sinners can be comforted in their sins and that all forgiven sinners can now go to heaven even though they still have a sinful spirit. How ridiculous is this kind of thinking. This kind of thinking has resulted in most churches becoming a sinner’s support group instead of churches that are filled with saints. Also, heaven is where no sin is allowed, so how stupid can we be to think that God would let sinners that are still full of evil in their spirit to enter His perfect sinless domain. People seem to think that the selfish spirit of a person is only in the physical flesh, so they think that when they are separated from the flesh of the body that they will be pure, selfless, loving, righteous, and perfect like God. Again, they are only being fooled by the drinking in of the devil’s lies. It is true that the physical flesh tempts our souls (spirit), but it is our selfish spirit (selfish soul) that takes up on the temptations of the body. Our spirit is not contained within the flesh, but our spirit is made up of our spiritual heart and soul. It is our heart and soul (our spirit) that continues on into eternity. It is only the ones without any selfishness left in their heart and soul that will enter heaven. If a person is full of God’s selfless love, then they are of God’s Spirit, but if anyone still has selfishness in their soul, then they are still of the devil.
So what is the bottom line? Are we going to keep on thinking that Christ paid the cost for all our sins so that we can feel comforted while we keep on sinning, or does God have a bigger plan that most are not willing to accept? Anyone that has not yet been totally blinded and made totally stupid by the devil’s lies will come to the correct answer. Anyone with any common sense left will know that Christ would not have come and died on the cross just to comfort people in their sins and then allow those sinners into His pristine heaven.
Christ came to pay for the sins of the whole world so that anyone in the world could enter into a relationship with Him so that He could be their very own High Priest. Having our sins paid for by Christ does not give us a key to heaven, but having our sins paid for by Christ does allow us to have a relationship with Him. It is through this relationship with Christ as our High Priest that we can grow into a person like Christ. What Christ did on the cross for us allows Him to interact with our evil/selfish spirit to make us into a pure, blameless, and selfless loving spirit. This purification (sanctification) process can only be completed in this life while we are still living in the flesh, but this sanctification process cannot be completed in anyone that is unwilling to let their selfishness die. Sadly we already know by God’s Word, that most will not be able to let their selfishness die in order to let Christ’s life live in them, but God has given us all the same choice. For the ones that strive to have God’s goodness and righteousness in their life, those people will be rewarded with what they have strived for. But for the ones that want to hold on to their selfishness, it is those people that will receive the consequences of that evil they so dearly held so tight to.
By having Christ as our High Priest, we have been given all the power of God’s grace to overcome any and all sin, but most have rejected this power of God’s Spirit in order to keep their own evil selfishness. Most have decided to keep evil in their life even though Christ has made available to them the power to rid themselves of all unrighteousness. Out of the mouths of most church going people you will hear that they agree that God is an all powerful God, but in the same breath they will say that God cannot rid anyone of their selfishness. In a way they are right, God will not rid a person of their sinfulness as long as they want to hold on to it. In John 5:2-9 we see a man waiting for a chance to be healed and sitting by the pool of Bethesda and Jesus asks him "Do you want to get well?" Jesus asked this of the man because Jesus is unwilling to heal anyone that does not want to be healed of their iniquities. So, God has the power and wants to rid us of all our evil/selfish spirit, but it is because of our own selfishness that we will not let go of the evil. If anyone is willing and wanting to die to all their selfishness, then God will rid them of all unrighteousness (all evil) and fill us with His righteousness, which is His pure unselfish love.
It is because of the selfishness of people that people have changed God’s truth to a different truth, to the truths of human selfish reasoning. We have become so blinded to God’s real truth that we now think a sinner is a Christian. This is actually blasphemy to the true meaning of the Christian name and also degrades Christ down to being a sinner. A Christian is a person that has been made Christ like and lives by the Spirit of Christ that is inside him/her. To say a Christian is a sinner is the same as saying Christ is also a sinner, because a Christian is living by the Spirit of Christ alone. Some will say that a Christian has both the full Spirit of Christ and also the spirit of the devil (selfishness) inside them, but don’t believe them, this is a lie of the devil and a selfish person believes this because they want to believe it. If anyone has not killed their selfishness by the power of God’s grace that was made available though the cross, then they are still of the devil and cannot be called a Christ like person. A Christian does not live by selfishness any longer, but only by the love/Spirit of God that has been given to everyone that has truly been born of God.
Michael W Reid
So, how stupid has our selfishness made us? We have become so dumb down by the devil’s lies (the lies our selfishness gladly accepts as truth) that we don’t even have common sense anymore. What is going on in most of the churches of this world is mind boggling to any sane person. Even people that don’t go to church can see that there is something really wrong with the churches. And we wonder why people don’t come to church, or keep coming to church. They see the hypocrisy between what they already know about goodness and what the church people actually do.
Somehow the churches now believe that a Christian is a sinner and always will be a sinner. I hear this directly from most church goers and even most of the pastors. If this is the case, what makes the churched people any different then the un-churched people? If the un-churched (worldly) people are mostly sinners and the churched people are mostly sinners, what’s the difference and how does this glorify God. If we are to believe that once a sinner, then always a sinner, then what hope does a sinner ever have to be freed from their sins and to be freed from the consequences of those sins? Now many churched people will say they are forgiven for their sins and are going to heaven. Have we become so blind and lost all common sense to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross so that sinners can be comforted in their sins and that all forgiven sinners can now go to heaven even though they still have a sinful spirit. How ridiculous is this kind of thinking. This kind of thinking has resulted in most churches becoming a sinner’s support group instead of churches that are filled with saints. Also, heaven is where no sin is allowed, so how stupid can we be to think that God would let sinners that are still full of evil in their spirit to enter His perfect sinless domain. People seem to think that the selfish spirit of a person is only in the physical flesh, so they think that when they are separated from the flesh of the body that they will be pure, selfless, loving, righteous, and perfect like God. Again, they are only being fooled by the drinking in of the devil’s lies. It is true that the physical flesh tempts our souls (spirit), but it is our selfish spirit (selfish soul) that takes up on the temptations of the body. Our spirit is not contained within the flesh, but our spirit is made up of our spiritual heart and soul. It is our heart and soul (our spirit) that continues on into eternity. It is only the ones without any selfishness left in their heart and soul that will enter heaven. If a person is full of God’s selfless love, then they are of God’s Spirit, but if anyone still has selfishness in their soul, then they are still of the devil.
So what is the bottom line? Are we going to keep on thinking that Christ paid the cost for all our sins so that we can feel comforted while we keep on sinning, or does God have a bigger plan that most are not willing to accept? Anyone that has not yet been totally blinded and made totally stupid by the devil’s lies will come to the correct answer. Anyone with any common sense left will know that Christ would not have come and died on the cross just to comfort people in their sins and then allow those sinners into His pristine heaven.
Christ came to pay for the sins of the whole world so that anyone in the world could enter into a relationship with Him so that He could be their very own High Priest. Having our sins paid for by Christ does not give us a key to heaven, but having our sins paid for by Christ does allow us to have a relationship with Him. It is through this relationship with Christ as our High Priest that we can grow into a person like Christ. What Christ did on the cross for us allows Him to interact with our evil/selfish spirit to make us into a pure, blameless, and selfless loving spirit. This purification (sanctification) process can only be completed in this life while we are still living in the flesh, but this sanctification process cannot be completed in anyone that is unwilling to let their selfishness die. Sadly we already know by God’s Word, that most will not be able to let their selfishness die in order to let Christ’s life live in them, but God has given us all the same choice. For the ones that strive to have God’s goodness and righteousness in their life, those people will be rewarded with what they have strived for. But for the ones that want to hold on to their selfishness, it is those people that will receive the consequences of that evil they so dearly held so tight to.
By having Christ as our High Priest, we have been given all the power of God’s grace to overcome any and all sin, but most have rejected this power of God’s Spirit in order to keep their own evil selfishness. Most have decided to keep evil in their life even though Christ has made available to them the power to rid themselves of all unrighteousness. Out of the mouths of most church going people you will hear that they agree that God is an all powerful God, but in the same breath they will say that God cannot rid anyone of their selfishness. In a way they are right, God will not rid a person of their sinfulness as long as they want to hold on to it. In John 5:2-9 we see a man waiting for a chance to be healed and sitting by the pool of Bethesda and Jesus asks him "Do you want to get well?" Jesus asked this of the man because Jesus is unwilling to heal anyone that does not want to be healed of their iniquities. So, God has the power and wants to rid us of all our evil/selfish spirit, but it is because of our own selfishness that we will not let go of the evil. If anyone is willing and wanting to die to all their selfishness, then God will rid them of all unrighteousness (all evil) and fill us with His righteousness, which is His pure unselfish love.
It is because of the selfishness of people that people have changed God’s truth to a different truth, to the truths of human selfish reasoning. We have become so blinded to God’s real truth that we now think a sinner is a Christian. This is actually blasphemy to the true meaning of the Christian name and also degrades Christ down to being a sinner. A Christian is a person that has been made Christ like and lives by the Spirit of Christ that is inside him/her. To say a Christian is a sinner is the same as saying Christ is also a sinner, because a Christian is living by the Spirit of Christ alone. Some will say that a Christian has both the full Spirit of Christ and also the spirit of the devil (selfishness) inside them, but don’t believe them, this is a lie of the devil and a selfish person believes this because they want to believe it. If anyone has not killed their selfishness by the power of God’s grace that was made available though the cross, then they are still of the devil and cannot be called a Christ like person. A Christian does not live by selfishness any longer, but only by the love/Spirit of God that has been given to everyone that has truly been born of God.
Michael W Reid
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Hidden Story Behind The Prodigal Son Story
Most people know about the prodigal son story in the bible (It is located in Luke 15:11-32). Some people already understand that this is a parable told by Jesus in physical earthly terms to help us understand the spiritual ways of God’s Kingdom.
The hidden story in this parable is that the Father didn’t really give all the inheritance a true son is due when the prodigal son asked for it. This is because the prodigal son was not really a spiritual son of the Father, but only represented a physical creation of His (a son of man). If the prodigal son was truly a son of the Father, then the son would have never left the Father. The prodigal son wasn’t asking for the spiritual inheritance that a true son of God could receive, but the son only asked for the inheritance that would feed his selfish desires (the riches of this world - not the riches of heaven).
Even though the Father loved this wayward son, the Father could not bless him with His eternal love. The Father considered this wayward son as dead (spiritually dead) to Him and could not consider this prodigal son as His son because he did not do His will and did not act like the Father, but acted instead like his real father – the devil. The loving Father could not give this wayward son the rest of his inheritance until that son came back to Him repenting of all his sins and willing to be His servant. It was upon the son’s returning that now the Father could call him His son. It was not until the son submitted totally to the Father as a willing servant that the Father could call him His son and in turn give His son the rest of His inheritance, which is His eternal love and His eternal life. This was symbolized by the Father when He ordered the best robe and the ring of son ship to be put on the son’s hand. As long as the son was wayward and being a son of the devil, the Father could not give him all that the Father had in store for him.
Many people that call themselves the sons of God are like this prodigal son, where they want to receive all the blessings of God to feed their selfish desires, but are not willing to submit to Him as Lord. Many people are willing and wanting to receive the blessings of being saved from their sins, but are unwilling to leave their sinful lifestyle. Many people are willing to have Jesus Christ be their savior, but are not willing to submit to Him as the Lord of their lives. Jesus must be our Lord and Savior, not just Savior. Sadly, most people don’t come to their senses, like the prodigal son did, and return to the Father in heaven, but instead they stay under their devilish father’s rule and never receive their full inheritance through a submitted life in Christ. God wants to give us His eternal life, but He can’t give it to the sons of the devil.
You will know when you are the heavenly Father’s son, because you will act like the heavenly Father. If you are in fact a son of the living God, then you will inherit all that the Father has.
With God’s love,
Michael Reid
The hidden story in this parable is that the Father didn’t really give all the inheritance a true son is due when the prodigal son asked for it. This is because the prodigal son was not really a spiritual son of the Father, but only represented a physical creation of His (a son of man). If the prodigal son was truly a son of the Father, then the son would have never left the Father. The prodigal son wasn’t asking for the spiritual inheritance that a true son of God could receive, but the son only asked for the inheritance that would feed his selfish desires (the riches of this world - not the riches of heaven).
Even though the Father loved this wayward son, the Father could not bless him with His eternal love. The Father considered this wayward son as dead (spiritually dead) to Him and could not consider this prodigal son as His son because he did not do His will and did not act like the Father, but acted instead like his real father – the devil. The loving Father could not give this wayward son the rest of his inheritance until that son came back to Him repenting of all his sins and willing to be His servant. It was upon the son’s returning that now the Father could call him His son. It was not until the son submitted totally to the Father as a willing servant that the Father could call him His son and in turn give His son the rest of His inheritance, which is His eternal love and His eternal life. This was symbolized by the Father when He ordered the best robe and the ring of son ship to be put on the son’s hand. As long as the son was wayward and being a son of the devil, the Father could not give him all that the Father had in store for him.
Many people that call themselves the sons of God are like this prodigal son, where they want to receive all the blessings of God to feed their selfish desires, but are not willing to submit to Him as Lord. Many people are willing and wanting to receive the blessings of being saved from their sins, but are unwilling to leave their sinful lifestyle. Many people are willing to have Jesus Christ be their savior, but are not willing to submit to Him as the Lord of their lives. Jesus must be our Lord and Savior, not just Savior. Sadly, most people don’t come to their senses, like the prodigal son did, and return to the Father in heaven, but instead they stay under their devilish father’s rule and never receive their full inheritance through a submitted life in Christ. God wants to give us His eternal life, but He can’t give it to the sons of the devil.
You will know when you are the heavenly Father’s son, because you will act like the heavenly Father. If you are in fact a son of the living God, then you will inherit all that the Father has.
With God’s love,
Michael Reid
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