The more I talk to people and listen to other people, the more I realize that real communication has become almost impossible. Two or more people can be speaking the same language, but still totally misunderstand what each other are saying.
For instance, when Barack Obama told us that he would bring “Real Change”, everyone understood “Real Change” in their own way. Now that we see the change that the president was proclaiming, most of us will agree it wasn’t the change we understood it to be. Many politicians will use many words in their speeches that have many meanings or have relative meanings, so depending on who is hearing it, it will be taken the way the listener wants to take it.
Words have almost become meaningless. Take the word “believe.” What does “believe” mean to you? Is it something you can accept? Is it something you can understand? Is it something you can touch or see? Does it represent what you experience? Is it something you have because of tradition or family practices? Is it something you were taught in school by others which have a certain belief, so you go with the crowd? To believe, does it have a cost, or is it always free to believe? To believe something, are you required to act on that belief, or can we say we believe without taking any action on that belief? What does the word “believe” mean to you, does it have a different meaning to you other than what I listed? In our world the word “believe” has become almost worthless, because it has become a relative term.
Another word that is confusing is the word “love.” The word “love” is also relative in meaning and we have almost made this word meaningless. It was such an important word at one point, but because of its misuse, it is almost a worthless word now. We can love our shoes, a car, or a house. We can love our pet ant, a tree, a cat, or a dog. We can love our son or daughter. We can love our girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife, or same sex mate. When we say we love our spouse, are we saying we love them like a car, or maybe a dog, or maybe like one of our children? I can say I love my neighbor or my neighbor can say he loves me, but what does that mean? The neighbor might often kick his dog that he says he loves; does he love me like that? I just don’t know.
“Obey” is another word that has become a relative term. Even though we don’t hear or use this word as much anymore. It has kind of become a dirty four letter word. When we “Obey”, is it only something we do when someone is watching? Is it something we do when it only benefits us? Do we do it because we feel we have to or because we want to? Are there consequences to not obeying, or is obeying an option with no consequences or blessings attached to do it? Did you have to obey while you were a child to receive the blessings of your parents, or did they bless you anyway even when you didn’t obey? Do we feel we need to obey a higher power, or are we the higher power that others need to obey? Maybe you feel you need to obey, or maybe obeying is for people lower then you?
The word “Lord” has also seemed to become another four letter forbidden word, because almost no one wants to have anyone be Lord over them, because they want to be in control of their own lives. Many people want Jesus Christ to be their Savior, but the Lord part is just too much to ask. So the word “Lord” hasn’t been used much anymore. In essence, it has been made an optional part of the Gospel.
So, when I say to people that God’s word says Jesus Christ must be the “Lord” of our lives by “loving” Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, they really don’t have a clue of what I am saying, because the words have been made worthless. These words have been made so relative that people can make it mean what ever they want it to mean.
When I tell people that God’s word says that a person must “believe” in Jesus Christ to be saved and be born again spiritually through this “belief” in Christ, they really don’t have a clue of what I am saying, because the words have been made worthless. These words have been made so relative that people can make it mean what ever they want it to mean.
God’s word says if we “love” Him, we will “obey” Him. What does this really mean? What does it mean to you?
It has really come to the point where:
2 Tim 4:3-4 - For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. NIV
Michael W Reid
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
What Is Perfection
I have a good friend that asked me how a person can tell if someone is perfect or not. I thought it was a good question and maybe some others might wonder about this also. So I am sending on my response to my friend to all that might be interested.
“How can you identify when someone is perfect?” Good question. Most would not ask this question, because either they think of this as judging someone, or they don’t believe anyone can do this except God, or they are really fearful of knowing the answer.
To think and act perfect before God, a person must live totally by unselfish love. When a person lives by the love of God, they will automatically be holy and righteous. But the terms “unselfish love, holy, and righteous” can be defined in many ways other than by their true godly meanings. So how does perfection really look in a true born-again believer?
The perfected (sanctified/saint/born-again) believer:
Being perfect is when a person loves God with all their heart, soul, mind, body, and strength: Mark 12:30 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. NIV Some might say “I do the second greatest commandment, which is: Mark 12:31 - The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ NIV If I do this second commandment, doesn’t that prove I love God by loving others?” The answer is NO. There are probably many people that think they love God by trying to please and love others the way they would want to be loved, but the way a selfish person wants to be loved is not the way God loves us or the way we need to love God. If anyone switches these two commandments around to be like: Love your neighbor with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love the Lord God as yourself. This is how some people might see how to love God, or what they might end up doing sub-conscientiously. People can easily have some form of a relationship with a real physical person, but how do they have a relationship with a God they can’t see or touch. So people resort to trying to love people instead of God. What does all this have to do with being perfect? Unless we FIRST love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; we cannot truly love others as God loves. If we try to love people without having God as our first love, then we will try to please others instead of giving them what they need. When we love others perfectly, we will help them with what they need and not necessarily with what they want. God’s perfect love doesn’t give people what they want, but instead gives them what they need. A perfect person will be willing to give the other person what they need, even when it might cost their relationship; whether the relationship be a spouse, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, or friend.
A perfect person loves God above everyone and anything else. He/she will please their Father in heaven first, even if that love for God causes problems with others being displeased with them. If anyone is more concerned about pleasing someone else more than God, then their love is not perfect. Anytime anyone loves anything of this world, including people, more than God, then that worldly love will make them desire to please what they love instead of God. God’s perfect love is not about pleasing people, but doing what is best for His glory and their eternity. So a perfect person will have God first in their life, then people second, and then things and money after that.
Jesus tells us how to be perfect:
Matt 19:21 - Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." NIV
To understand God’s priorities of how to be perfect, we must read the sections of the verse above in reverse order. Our first priority is to follow Jesus Christ – “come, follow me.” Our second priority is to take care of people – “give to the poor.” Our last priority in life is to acquire wealth – “sell your possessions.” For most of us, having wealth will get in the way of following Christ. Also for most of us, getting to attached to un-perfected people will get in the way of following Christ – when we end up loving other people more than God.
A perfect person will not sin against God’s will. If any person is knowingly sinning against the good and right will of God, then they are not perfect. For they love someone or something else more than God. Their love for themselves, others, or things are really their God. God commands: Ex 20:3 - You shall have no other gods before me. NIV
A perfect person will not worship anything or anyone else other than God. A lot of people put other people up on a pedestal and worship them as higher than other men. One man is no better than any other man or women. The only one good is God. Any man/women can only be considered good if God is perfectly controlling their life. It is not the man/women that has any good value of their own, but only the good of God living in them. To be perfect, a person must consider themselves worth nothing and God worth everything.
A perfect person will always love what God loves and hate what God hates. They will hate evil (selfishness) and always love what is good and perfect. They will hate the sin of a person, but love the sinful person.
A perfect person will have no damming anger for another, but will always return good for evil.
A perfect person will always value the person and not the sex of the other person. Their sexual tendencies will always be overridden by the value they place on the other person. The pure love that a perfect person has, will always value the other person over their own sexual desires.
A perfect person will value other people and the other person’s possessions and not envy what the other person has. If anyone envies other peoples possessions, then they still are selfish and not perfect. The only thing a perfect person needs or wants is God Himself.
A perfect person never steals. Anyone that steals, even for food to eat, is not depending on God for all their needs. God is all we need and He will supply all our needs.
A perfect person never lies. Not even a little white lie. Perfection has nothing to hide. Anyone that lies is still of the devil’s spirit.
A perfect person fears nothing, for he/she knows God is in control of all things. If anyone fears anything, then they have not been made perfect yet. 1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. NIV We are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, but after fully being made perfect by the fullness of God’s love, there is no longer any need to fear. A perfect person no longer has to fear God, because they have been made perfectly in Christ’s image (love) and have become one in Spirit with God. If a person is one in Spirit with God, then fear is gone. A person that is one with God cannot fear the perfect love that now fills every part of his/her heart and soul. There is no selfish left and Satan cannot touch him/her any longer because there is no selfishness left for the devil to tempt.
A perfect person always has the choice to return to sin, but since all selfishness has been defeated by God’s love, sin has no power over a perfected person.
A perfect person is a brother of Jesus Christ and is no longer under the priesthood of Christ. The priesthood of Christ is only for the sanctification process to enable a person to become perfect. During the perfection process, Christ is our High Priest, but after perfection Christ becomes our brother instead. A perfect person has the same Spirit of Christ and the spirit of the devil (selfishness) is gone.
Michael W Reid
“How can you identify when someone is perfect?” Good question. Most would not ask this question, because either they think of this as judging someone, or they don’t believe anyone can do this except God, or they are really fearful of knowing the answer.
To think and act perfect before God, a person must live totally by unselfish love. When a person lives by the love of God, they will automatically be holy and righteous. But the terms “unselfish love, holy, and righteous” can be defined in many ways other than by their true godly meanings. So how does perfection really look in a true born-again believer?
The perfected (sanctified/saint/born-again) believer:
Being perfect is when a person loves God with all their heart, soul, mind, body, and strength: Mark 12:30 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. NIV Some might say “I do the second greatest commandment, which is: Mark 12:31 - The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ NIV If I do this second commandment, doesn’t that prove I love God by loving others?” The answer is NO. There are probably many people that think they love God by trying to please and love others the way they would want to be loved, but the way a selfish person wants to be loved is not the way God loves us or the way we need to love God. If anyone switches these two commandments around to be like: Love your neighbor with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love the Lord God as yourself. This is how some people might see how to love God, or what they might end up doing sub-conscientiously. People can easily have some form of a relationship with a real physical person, but how do they have a relationship with a God they can’t see or touch. So people resort to trying to love people instead of God. What does all this have to do with being perfect? Unless we FIRST love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; we cannot truly love others as God loves. If we try to love people without having God as our first love, then we will try to please others instead of giving them what they need. When we love others perfectly, we will help them with what they need and not necessarily with what they want. God’s perfect love doesn’t give people what they want, but instead gives them what they need. A perfect person will be willing to give the other person what they need, even when it might cost their relationship; whether the relationship be a spouse, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, or friend.
A perfect person loves God above everyone and anything else. He/she will please their Father in heaven first, even if that love for God causes problems with others being displeased with them. If anyone is more concerned about pleasing someone else more than God, then their love is not perfect. Anytime anyone loves anything of this world, including people, more than God, then that worldly love will make them desire to please what they love instead of God. God’s perfect love is not about pleasing people, but doing what is best for His glory and their eternity. So a perfect person will have God first in their life, then people second, and then things and money after that.
Jesus tells us how to be perfect:
Matt 19:21 - Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." NIV
To understand God’s priorities of how to be perfect, we must read the sections of the verse above in reverse order. Our first priority is to follow Jesus Christ – “come, follow me.” Our second priority is to take care of people – “give to the poor.” Our last priority in life is to acquire wealth – “sell your possessions.” For most of us, having wealth will get in the way of following Christ. Also for most of us, getting to attached to un-perfected people will get in the way of following Christ – when we end up loving other people more than God.
A perfect person will not sin against God’s will. If any person is knowingly sinning against the good and right will of God, then they are not perfect. For they love someone or something else more than God. Their love for themselves, others, or things are really their God. God commands: Ex 20:3 - You shall have no other gods before me. NIV
A perfect person will not worship anything or anyone else other than God. A lot of people put other people up on a pedestal and worship them as higher than other men. One man is no better than any other man or women. The only one good is God. Any man/women can only be considered good if God is perfectly controlling their life. It is not the man/women that has any good value of their own, but only the good of God living in them. To be perfect, a person must consider themselves worth nothing and God worth everything.
A perfect person will always love what God loves and hate what God hates. They will hate evil (selfishness) and always love what is good and perfect. They will hate the sin of a person, but love the sinful person.
A perfect person will have no damming anger for another, but will always return good for evil.
A perfect person will always value the person and not the sex of the other person. Their sexual tendencies will always be overridden by the value they place on the other person. The pure love that a perfect person has, will always value the other person over their own sexual desires.
A perfect person will value other people and the other person’s possessions and not envy what the other person has. If anyone envies other peoples possessions, then they still are selfish and not perfect. The only thing a perfect person needs or wants is God Himself.
A perfect person never steals. Anyone that steals, even for food to eat, is not depending on God for all their needs. God is all we need and He will supply all our needs.
A perfect person never lies. Not even a little white lie. Perfection has nothing to hide. Anyone that lies is still of the devil’s spirit.
A perfect person fears nothing, for he/she knows God is in control of all things. If anyone fears anything, then they have not been made perfect yet. 1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. NIV We are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, but after fully being made perfect by the fullness of God’s love, there is no longer any need to fear. A perfect person no longer has to fear God, because they have been made perfectly in Christ’s image (love) and have become one in Spirit with God. If a person is one in Spirit with God, then fear is gone. A person that is one with God cannot fear the perfect love that now fills every part of his/her heart and soul. There is no selfish left and Satan cannot touch him/her any longer because there is no selfishness left for the devil to tempt.
A perfect person always has the choice to return to sin, but since all selfishness has been defeated by God’s love, sin has no power over a perfected person.
A perfect person is a brother of Jesus Christ and is no longer under the priesthood of Christ. The priesthood of Christ is only for the sanctification process to enable a person to become perfect. During the perfection process, Christ is our High Priest, but after perfection Christ becomes our brother instead. A perfect person has the same Spirit of Christ and the spirit of the devil (selfishness) is gone.
Michael W Reid
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sanctification - What Is It Really
When we first come to the Lord and He starts changing us from the inside out, some of us don’t really know how he does this miracle. We talk about this as the sanctification process. Most of us think God’s Spirit is sanctifying us by ridding us of our sins. It is true He needs us to become people totally living for Him and living a righteous life for Him and in site of others. But getting rid of the sins is really a byproduct of something else that is really happening within our hearts.
The sanctification process is really all about changing who we love. When we first come to Christ, most of us are still absorbed in loving ourselves and only thinking of our self preservation and needs. The sanctification process changes this process from loving self to loving Him. This is done by getting to know and trust in God with an ever increasing love and dependence on God. The sanctification process in not really about purifying us from our sins, it is all about a transformation of our heart, it is all about transferring our love from loving ourselves to loving God alone.
What determines whether we sin or not, depends only on who we love the most. If we love the sin more than God, we will be disobedient to God and perform the sin. If we love God more than the sin, we will abstain from that sin for the glory of God. It is just like having a son who is obedient to his earthly father. If the son loves the father, he will try to please his father in everything he does, because the obedience is out of love for the father. But, if the son decides to be disobedient even though that son might have some love for the father, the love for himself over rules the love for the father and then the disobedience happens against the father.
It is all about who you love and who you are trying to please. Sin, disobedience, or righteousness is just the result of where your love lies.
God bless - Michael Reid
The sanctification process is really all about changing who we love. When we first come to Christ, most of us are still absorbed in loving ourselves and only thinking of our self preservation and needs. The sanctification process changes this process from loving self to loving Him. This is done by getting to know and trust in God with an ever increasing love and dependence on God. The sanctification process in not really about purifying us from our sins, it is all about a transformation of our heart, it is all about transferring our love from loving ourselves to loving God alone.
What determines whether we sin or not, depends only on who we love the most. If we love the sin more than God, we will be disobedient to God and perform the sin. If we love God more than the sin, we will abstain from that sin for the glory of God. It is just like having a son who is obedient to his earthly father. If the son loves the father, he will try to please his father in everything he does, because the obedience is out of love for the father. But, if the son decides to be disobedient even though that son might have some love for the father, the love for himself over rules the love for the father and then the disobedience happens against the father.
It is all about who you love and who you are trying to please. Sin, disobedience, or righteousness is just the result of where your love lies.
God bless - Michael Reid
Love Has To Be A Choice
Most of us have asked ourselves - why are we here, what is our purpose? This basic question is a question that has to be answered to have a full understanding of who we are and how God relates to us. We must know why we were created to be able to fulfill our full potential that God intended for us.
The only reason for every man or woman's existence since the beginning of time is for each one of us to choose who/what will be the lord of our life and then glorify that lord we have chosen to follow and worship. The only reason God created man is to have a loving relationship with Him and for God to glorify Himself thru us. We are God's creation and with the Holy Spirits unrestricted working in our life, we have the full potential of glorifying God as He intended. But, we can also choose to have ourselves, things, or money be our lord. What ever we decide to be our lord, that lord is what we will worship. If we trust in anything other than the true God, we will not be able to have a joy filled life as God intended. All true love and joy can only come from God. We have to consider ourselves dead anytime we are separated from the Lord, since life is only in the Lord. If we don't have Christ in us, we don't have life. This is why a loving God can let people go to hell, since they are only empty shells with no life in them. The only value in us is Christ's life, which is from God alone. The good news is that He wants all to come and trust in His son Jesus to receive this life.
Love has to be a choice, otherwise it is worthless. What makes love so valuable? It’s what makes the world go around. It is what makes a life worth living. God's word says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love , I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love , I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love , I gain nothing." (NIV 1 Cor 13:1-3). What makes the love of our spouse so special? It is the spouses choice to love us as we are and the sacrificing of his/her life for us. Why is it so special when our kids listen and do what we say? It is the love they are showing us by making the choice of respecting and being obedient to our wishes. Why is it so important to be obedient to God's word, His will, and the Holy Spirits leading? Our choice to be obedient shows our love for our Lord, no matter how much a sacrifice that obedience requires. The more sacrifice required, the more love is shown back to our Lord thru our obedience. What makes the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our redemption so valuable? It is that He (God), made the choice to sacrifice Himself out of love for us, so we could once again have the choice to love God and others.
From the very beginning of time, love had to be a choice. In the beginning, God had a loving and close relationship with His creation, Adam and Eve. The only instruction He commanded Adam that he could not do, was to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We all know what happened with the fall of man when Adam did eat of that tree. But why did God have that tree in the garden at all? Since God is in control of everything, it must of been serving a purpose for God. The requirement of love having to be a choice has everything to do with it. God wanted to feel true love coming from Adam, not some kind of forced love. If we could create a robot and program it to only love us, what value would that love from that robot have in our hearts. If we could make our children love us by placing a pre-programmed chip in them to make them love us, what value would that love have to us. It would have no value at all. God created us to have free will so we could make the choice to love Him and willingly be obedient to His commandments out of that love.
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. (NIV Jos 24:15)
With God's love and Spirit, I bring you this message.
Michael W. Reid
The only reason for every man or woman's existence since the beginning of time is for each one of us to choose who/what will be the lord of our life and then glorify that lord we have chosen to follow and worship. The only reason God created man is to have a loving relationship with Him and for God to glorify Himself thru us. We are God's creation and with the Holy Spirits unrestricted working in our life, we have the full potential of glorifying God as He intended. But, we can also choose to have ourselves, things, or money be our lord. What ever we decide to be our lord, that lord is what we will worship. If we trust in anything other than the true God, we will not be able to have a joy filled life as God intended. All true love and joy can only come from God. We have to consider ourselves dead anytime we are separated from the Lord, since life is only in the Lord. If we don't have Christ in us, we don't have life. This is why a loving God can let people go to hell, since they are only empty shells with no life in them. The only value in us is Christ's life, which is from God alone. The good news is that He wants all to come and trust in His son Jesus to receive this life.
Love has to be a choice, otherwise it is worthless. What makes love so valuable? It’s what makes the world go around. It is what makes a life worth living. God's word says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love , I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love , I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love , I gain nothing." (NIV 1 Cor 13:1-3). What makes the love of our spouse so special? It is the spouses choice to love us as we are and the sacrificing of his/her life for us. Why is it so special when our kids listen and do what we say? It is the love they are showing us by making the choice of respecting and being obedient to our wishes. Why is it so important to be obedient to God's word, His will, and the Holy Spirits leading? Our choice to be obedient shows our love for our Lord, no matter how much a sacrifice that obedience requires. The more sacrifice required, the more love is shown back to our Lord thru our obedience. What makes the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our redemption so valuable? It is that He (God), made the choice to sacrifice Himself out of love for us, so we could once again have the choice to love God and others.
From the very beginning of time, love had to be a choice. In the beginning, God had a loving and close relationship with His creation, Adam and Eve. The only instruction He commanded Adam that he could not do, was to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We all know what happened with the fall of man when Adam did eat of that tree. But why did God have that tree in the garden at all? Since God is in control of everything, it must of been serving a purpose for God. The requirement of love having to be a choice has everything to do with it. God wanted to feel true love coming from Adam, not some kind of forced love. If we could create a robot and program it to only love us, what value would that love from that robot have in our hearts. If we could make our children love us by placing a pre-programmed chip in them to make them love us, what value would that love have to us. It would have no value at all. God created us to have free will so we could make the choice to love Him and willingly be obedient to His commandments out of that love.
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. (NIV Jos 24:15)
With God's love and Spirit, I bring you this message.
Michael W. Reid
Don't Count Your Chickens Before They're Hatched
Most people think salvation unto eternal life is a one stop fixit shop of God that we only have to visit once. Don’t be fooled by your desires to have it the easy way.
God’s Word says we must be obedient and do our heavenly Father’s will to enter the kingdom of heaven. See the verse below.
Matt 7:21-27 - "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!
We must be obedient to God’s will before the Father gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 5:32 - We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
But since we are not saved by works – but by grace, how can this be true? Aren’t all good works (obedience) done by the Father’s Spirit and not of our own accord? The answer to this question is an emphatic YES. So how does any of this make sense? Doesn’t God’s Word say that we can be sure of our eternal salvation by the deposit (installment) of the Spirit? See the verse below.
Eph 1:13-14 - Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of his glory.
So if we can only be obedient by the works of the Spirit, doesn’t that guarantee our inheritance of God’s heavenly kingdom - since any obedience we have towards God’s commandments can only come from the Spirit working inside us? The answer to this question is NO. You are now probably saying to yourself – what is this double talk.
I will explain this mystery to you. It is really very simple. There are two main Spiritual fillings that happens to every born again believer. The first Spiritual filling we receive is in measure of God’s Spirit. This Spiritual filling is what allows us to become obedient and grow in faith through the gifts of the Spirit that are measured out to us by God.
When we receive this first Spirit fulfillment - we then start receiving the gifts of the Spirit in proportion to our willingness and the Father’s will. These gifts of the Spirit are what gives us the ability to grow in faith and be sanctified by God’s Spirit. If we are willing to die to our self, we will come to a full faith in Jesus by the power of the God’s Spirit inside us. When we come to this full faith, by turning all our love and dependence towards God (the Father and Jesus) – we
will then want to be totally obedient to His commandments because of this love for God. It is upon this full faith which is demonstrated through our willingness to be totally obedient that we receive another Counselor (the Holy Spirit - Jesus Spiritual nature). This Spiritual filling is permanent. See the verses below.
John 14:15-17 - "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.
Only after we love Jesus and obey His commandments (which are also the Father’s commandments) does Jesus ask the Father to give us His Spirit of truth, which is Jesus’ Spirit. Jesus is the truth (the Spirit of truth) and the way. This is the second main Spiritual filling.
John 14:23-24 - Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.
It is only upon this second filling that the Spirit of Jesus and the Father make a home with the believer.
It is at this second filling of the Spirit, that the seal unto eternal salvation is realized. If there is a specific point in which a person cannot loose their eternal salvation it is at this point or anytime after this second filling. Most or all of the many scriptures about falling away from the faith are referencing the times before this filling of the Holy Spirit (Jesus’ nature imparted in us).
Jesus says He is the only way to the Father. It is only after we are converted with Jesus’ very nature (the Holy Spirit) that we have access to His heavenly kingdom and will be able to see (know) the Father. Jesus’ Spirit living inside us is the key that unlocks the doors of God’s eternal kingdom.
Matt 16:19 - I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven
So to put it as plainly as I can – It is the Father’s Spirit that calls and brings us to a full saving faith in His Son and it is by the Father depositing His Son’s Spirit inside us that we are eternally saved.
Please don’t let yourselves be fooled by the teachings of scholars that have not yet entered the kingdom. These people may even have a doctorate degree in theology, but if they haven’t been given the key to God’s heavenly kingdom, it is impossible for them to teach the truth about the kingdom of God.
Luke 11:52 - Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.
God Bless - Michael Reid
God’s Word says we must be obedient and do our heavenly Father’s will to enter the kingdom of heaven. See the verse below.
Matt 7:21-27 - "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!
We must be obedient to God’s will before the Father gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 5:32 - We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
But since we are not saved by works – but by grace, how can this be true? Aren’t all good works (obedience) done by the Father’s Spirit and not of our own accord? The answer to this question is an emphatic YES. So how does any of this make sense? Doesn’t God’s Word say that we can be sure of our eternal salvation by the deposit (installment) of the Spirit? See the verse below.
Eph 1:13-14 - Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of his glory.
So if we can only be obedient by the works of the Spirit, doesn’t that guarantee our inheritance of God’s heavenly kingdom - since any obedience we have towards God’s commandments can only come from the Spirit working inside us? The answer to this question is NO. You are now probably saying to yourself – what is this double talk.
I will explain this mystery to you. It is really very simple. There are two main Spiritual fillings that happens to every born again believer. The first Spiritual filling we receive is in measure of God’s Spirit. This Spiritual filling is what allows us to become obedient and grow in faith through the gifts of the Spirit that are measured out to us by God.
When we receive this first Spirit fulfillment - we then start receiving the gifts of the Spirit in proportion to our willingness and the Father’s will. These gifts of the Spirit are what gives us the ability to grow in faith and be sanctified by God’s Spirit. If we are willing to die to our self, we will come to a full faith in Jesus by the power of the God’s Spirit inside us. When we come to this full faith, by turning all our love and dependence towards God (the Father and Jesus) – we
will then want to be totally obedient to His commandments because of this love for God. It is upon this full faith which is demonstrated through our willingness to be totally obedient that we receive another Counselor (the Holy Spirit - Jesus Spiritual nature). This Spiritual filling is permanent. See the verses below.
John 14:15-17 - "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.
Only after we love Jesus and obey His commandments (which are also the Father’s commandments) does Jesus ask the Father to give us His Spirit of truth, which is Jesus’ Spirit. Jesus is the truth (the Spirit of truth) and the way. This is the second main Spiritual filling.
John 14:23-24 - Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.
It is only upon this second filling that the Spirit of Jesus and the Father make a home with the believer.
It is at this second filling of the Spirit, that the seal unto eternal salvation is realized. If there is a specific point in which a person cannot loose their eternal salvation it is at this point or anytime after this second filling. Most or all of the many scriptures about falling away from the faith are referencing the times before this filling of the Holy Spirit (Jesus’ nature imparted in us).
Jesus says He is the only way to the Father. It is only after we are converted with Jesus’ very nature (the Holy Spirit) that we have access to His heavenly kingdom and will be able to see (know) the Father. Jesus’ Spirit living inside us is the key that unlocks the doors of God’s eternal kingdom.
Matt 16:19 - I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven
So to put it as plainly as I can – It is the Father’s Spirit that calls and brings us to a full saving faith in His Son and it is by the Father depositing His Son’s Spirit inside us that we are eternally saved.
Please don’t let yourselves be fooled by the teachings of scholars that have not yet entered the kingdom. These people may even have a doctorate degree in theology, but if they haven’t been given the key to God’s heavenly kingdom, it is impossible for them to teach the truth about the kingdom of God.
Luke 11:52 - Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.
God Bless - Michael Reid
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