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
Showing posts with label dying to selfishness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dying to selfishness. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
God Will Not Be Mocked - Message 3
Gal 6:7 - Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.
The mark of the beast revealed
As always I want to start out emphasizing how God wants His creation to see the full depth of His love for us, but since most people (including most believers) are so emerged in loving themselves, they can’t see or even understand God’s agape love that He has for us. These people are still filled and consumed by their own selfishness and that is the subject of this message.
God’s Word teaches us that there will be a time when most people will be deceived and will receive the mark of the beast, which is “666” on their hand and/or forehead. I want to inform you that we are and have been living in that time already. Most people have already received this mark of the beast and don’t even realize it.
In order to understand this mark of the beast and what it actually is, we must first come to a basic understanding of the “Things of God” and the “things of the devil”. These “Things of God” are in a specific order (ordered by God) and are numbered and always have to be used when we try to figure out all of the numbers in the symbolic scriptures of God’s Word. I would like to share more about the fuller meanings of God’s number system (the Things of God), but for now we are only going to concentrate on one “Thing of God” which is SELFLESSNESS and “one thing of the devil” which is SELFISHNESS. Below are the “Things of God” and the devils corresponding opposites which are the “things of the devil”.
Things of God
#1 – Longsuffering (patient)
#2 – Mercy (leniency or compassion)
#3 – Contentment (satisfied)
#4 – Humility (willing to be humbled)
#5 – Gentleness (kindness to others)
#6 - Selflessness (thinking of others first)
#7 – Peace (state of harmony)
#8 – Goodness (moral excellence)
#9 – Joy (great delight and rejoicing)
#10 – Forbearance (self control thru faith)
#11 – Hope (hope of winning thru grace)
#12 – Love (Perfection of all Things)
Things of the devil
#1 – Instant gratification
#2 – No leniency or compassion
#3 – Never satisfied
#4 – Prideful (unwilling to be humbled)
#5 – No kindness shown to others
#6 – Selfishness (thinking of self only)
#7 – No harmony with self or others
#8 – Totally unmoral values
#9 – Draining of any delight or rejoice
#10 – No faith or control over one’s self
#11 – No hope of winning or finishing
#12 – Hate of all good things
Notice above that #6 in the “Things of God” represents “Selflessness” and #6 in the “things of the devil” represents “Selfishness”. So when we talk about the beast’s mark, we are then talking in the realm of the “things of the devil”, since the beast represents the evil or the devils spiritual realm. We can now understand from this that the number “666” represents the forms (or realms) of selfishness since all the numbers in the number of the beast contain all 6’s. But how do these numbers go together or add up?
To understand how these three 6’s combine or go together we must now look at the makeup of the spiritual realm of God and the corresponding opposite spiritual realm of the devil. Below are the two spiritual realms.
God’s spiritual realm
Blood – Physical flesh realm
Water – Loving heart of man
Spirit - Heavenly spirit in man
Glory – Kingdom of God
The mark of the beast revealed
As always I want to start out emphasizing how God wants His creation to see the full depth of His love for us, but since most people (including most believers) are so emerged in loving themselves, they can’t see or even understand God’s agape love that He has for us. These people are still filled and consumed by their own selfishness and that is the subject of this message.
God’s Word teaches us that there will be a time when most people will be deceived and will receive the mark of the beast, which is “666” on their hand and/or forehead. I want to inform you that we are and have been living in that time already. Most people have already received this mark of the beast and don’t even realize it.
In order to understand this mark of the beast and what it actually is, we must first come to a basic understanding of the “Things of God” and the “things of the devil”. These “Things of God” are in a specific order (ordered by God) and are numbered and always have to be used when we try to figure out all of the numbers in the symbolic scriptures of God’s Word. I would like to share more about the fuller meanings of God’s number system (the Things of God), but for now we are only going to concentrate on one “Thing of God” which is SELFLESSNESS and “one thing of the devil” which is SELFISHNESS. Below are the “Things of God” and the devils corresponding opposites which are the “things of the devil”.
Things of God
#1 – Longsuffering (patient)
#2 – Mercy (leniency or compassion)
#3 – Contentment (satisfied)
#4 – Humility (willing to be humbled)
#5 – Gentleness (kindness to others)
#6 - Selflessness (thinking of others first)
#7 – Peace (state of harmony)
#8 – Goodness (moral excellence)
#9 – Joy (great delight and rejoicing)
#10 – Forbearance (self control thru faith)
#11 – Hope (hope of winning thru grace)
#12 – Love (Perfection of all Things)
Things of the devil
#1 – Instant gratification
#2 – No leniency or compassion
#3 – Never satisfied
#4 – Prideful (unwilling to be humbled)
#5 – No kindness shown to others
#6 – Selfishness (thinking of self only)
#7 – No harmony with self or others
#8 – Totally unmoral values
#9 – Draining of any delight or rejoice
#10 – No faith or control over one’s self
#11 – No hope of winning or finishing
#12 – Hate of all good things
Notice above that #6 in the “Things of God” represents “Selflessness” and #6 in the “things of the devil” represents “Selfishness”. So when we talk about the beast’s mark, we are then talking in the realm of the “things of the devil”, since the beast represents the evil or the devils spiritual realm. We can now understand from this that the number “666” represents the forms (or realms) of selfishness since all the numbers in the number of the beast contain all 6’s. But how do these numbers go together or add up?
To understand how these three 6’s combine or go together we must now look at the makeup of the spiritual realm of God and the corresponding opposite spiritual realm of the devil. Below are the two spiritual realms.
God’s spiritual realm
Blood – Physical flesh realm
Water – Loving heart of man
Spirit - Heavenly spirit in man
Glory – Kingdom of God
devil's spiritual realm
Blood – Physical flesh realm
Water – Evil heart of man
Spirit – Evil spirit in man
Babylon – devil’s kingdom
You will notice from the above listings that God’s spiritual kingdom and the devil’s spiritual kingdom both contain the “Blood – Physical flesh realm”. This is where these two spiritual realms meet. These two spiritual realms meet in the fleshly realm which is why the spiritual warfare is fought out beginning within the flesh realm. After or underneath the “Blood – Physical flesh realm”, you will notice that these other spiritual realms are opposites of each other when you compare God’s spiritual realms with the devil’s spiritual realms.
Number place holder
Blood – x1 (ones place)
Water – x10 (tens place)
Spirit – x100 (hundreds place)
Glory/Babylon – x1000 (thousands place)
Now I want you to take a close look at the number place holder column. Each one of these opposing spiritual realms has a corresponding number place holder for God’s spiritual numbering system. For example: the “Water” realm of both opposing spiritual realms share the number place holder of “x10 (the tens place holder)” and this number place holder represents a spiritual realm of either a spiritual realm of God or a spiritual realm of the devil. The spiritual realm to be used (God’s or the devil’s) is determined by the context of God’s Word from where the scripture is being taken from.
Anyone that understands what I have stated above can now interpret what the number “666” really means and in turn understand what the mark of the beast really is.
6 = x1 (ones place holder) = A selfish fleshly body
+60 = x10 (tens place holder) = A heart filled with selfishness
+600 = x100 (hundreds place holder) = A spirit filled with selfishness
------
666 = A person filled with selfishness in their body, heart, and spirit
The mark of the beast is a spiritual mark and not a physical mark. The mark of the beast represents any person controlled by total selfishness (sinful nature). These selfish souls belong to the devil. God’s Word says the mark of the beast “666” will be on the hand or forehead. Again this mark represents a person filled with total selfishness and isn’t a visible mark on the hand or forehead. God’s Word says it is on the forehead because this represents our brain and what we think. God’s Word also says it can be on our hand because this represents our works that we do with our hands. A person that has the mark of the beast will think selfishly and all his/her works with also be selfish.
I want to inform everybody that has ears to hear, that the devil’s evil beast has been given authority to deceive the nations, even the believers.
Rev 13:14 - Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.
In the past and for many hundreds of years, the devil’s deceptions had been restricted by God to let His church grow without undo influence by the devil, but now the devil has been allowed to deceive all the people of all the nations. These deceptions of the devil have been going on already for many, many years. God is not surprised by the world being taken over by the devil and his evil forces. God is allowing it to happen. God has authorized all of this evil for the testing of souls and to bring His plan to completion. God is allowing the devil to deceive who ever will be deceived in order to weed the weeds out of His harvest.
Rev 22:11-13 - Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy." "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Gal 6:7-9 - Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
God’s judgment is coming soon to everyone. God is allowing this evil to go on for a time, but this time of evil will come to an end. But before this time of trial and testing ends, it will get much worse. Get ready and then stay ready until Christ’s return. Evaluate yourself and let God search your soul. Are you sealed with His mark of Love (#12 – Love – God’s perfection) or are you marked by the devil with his mark of “666”. Selfishness can be overcome, but only by God’s grace through His Son (Christ Jesus) by the power of God’s love.
Your servant in Christ – Michael Reid
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Salvation Story Told From The Old Testament
The story of the exodus to the new Promised Land is a good representation of the salvation process that happens in the New Testament. It is amazing how much the Old Testament is a foreshadowing of the New Testament. It all goes to show that God is always the same.
We can see this story in two different ways. We could examine individuals in this exodus to the new Promised Land process, and we would see how only a few people that actually started the journey actually made it to the promise land, but I want to show you this journey in a different way. I want to take the whole nation of Israel and how Israel as a nation represents the salvation process that happens in us individually under the new covenant. All the things that the nation of Israel went through is what most of us as believers under the new covenant go through during our process of coming to faith in Jesus Christ in order to be born again of God. The start of the exodus of Israel from Egypt represents the start of our salvation process and Israel entering the promise land represents our salvation process being completed by being born again into God’s kingdom.
Let’s start out with the exodus story. Before the exodus started the nation of Israel were captive and slaves to the Egyptian Empire. This captivity of Israel represents our captivity and slavery to our own sinful nature. Just like the people of Israel could not escape from the pharaoh’s grip without God intervening, we also cannot escape the grip and slavery of our sinful nature without God intervening on our behalf.
It was at the point when God made Egypt let His people go that Israel was released from her bondage of slavery. God had saved them from this bondage of slavery and now they had a choice to leave the tyranny over them. Israel was now free to worship and serve God. Just like God saved Israel from her bondage, God has sent Jesus to free us from our bondage of our sinful nature. When we start believing in Jesus Christ, God sends His Spirit into us to free us from our bondage. He saves us from our own nature. Just like the nation of Israel, we too are now free to worship and serve God. Just like Israel was very happy to be free, it is also at this point we feel God’s Spirit working in us and lifting our sin and guilt from us. This releasing of the guilt of sin makes us feel alive again, but this good feeling usually only lasts until the pressure of sin starts grabbing at us again. So far in this process we are not yet saved onto eternal life. We are only free to make the choices to become born again at this point.
Fast forwarding a little bit, we see the nation of Israel trapped between the red sea and pharaoh’s army. With pharaoh’s army pressing in on them they start doubting God. Even after all the great signs He had already done, they were wanting to go back to slavery.
Ex 14:11-12 - They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
The nation of Israel already wanted to go back to their bondage instead being free. They were people that had no faith in their God. We too as new believers return back to our sinful ways because we don’t have enough faith in God. Well, even though Israel was not faithful, God was. He parted the sea and Israel traveled on dry ground to the other side and then God was glorified by drowning the pharaoh’s army.
After about one and a half months the people of Israel said: Ex 16:3 - If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.
Again Israel could only think out of their own selfishness, they were not interested in glorifying God, they only cared for themselves. Just like Israel, we as believers that have not been completed in God’s love, are still selfish, we are not yet relying just on God’s provisions, we are still trying to satisfy our selfish nature.
Moving forward in this process, we come to the point where Moses was taking a long time to come down from the mountain. When Moses finally comes down he sees that Israel had corrupted them selves by going back to their old ways they had learned in Egypt. They had made a golden calf as an idol that they could worship. This is a representation of a believer being pushed or tempted back into the ways of the world. The believer wants to give in to the pressure out of lack of knowledge of God and out of selfishness to return to what is known and comfortable.
Ex 32:35 - And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
The verse above represents God’s punishment and cleansing of sinful ways upon the Israel people. God also punishes us as believers out of love for us. When He does this punishment on us, it will either work out cleansing in our heart or harden our hearts away from God. Remember we are now saved from the bondage of sin; we now have a choice to continue with God or go our own way.
Let’s fast forward to Moses sending the spies into the promise land. The spies went into the promise land and verified it was a land of milk and honey. Just like the nation of Israel was able to have a glimpse of the promise land before they entered it, we too in our individual salvation walk will get glimpses of God’s kingdom through His Word and His Spirit. But just like the nation of Israel having many spies that saw the same things, there were only two that were willing to give of them selves fully to fight with God to acquire the promise of God. We too in our walk with God still have parts of us that are and aren’t willing to give in to total obedience of our whole self to God’s will. Often there are parts of our life we are willing to give over to God, just like the two faithful spies of Israel, but we usually also have many areas of our life we are not yet willing to give over to God.
After the spies came back from the land of milk and honey that God wanted to give to them, most of the spies convinced the people of Israel that it was to dangerous. This is what the people of Israel said:
Num 14:2-4 - If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" So they said to one another,” Let us select a leader and return to Egypt."
Again, even after all the great miracles that God did for them and within their sight, the people of Israel did not believe that God would do most of the work of conquering the land for them. Only Joshua and Caleb had faith in God.
Num 14:11-12 - Then the Lord said to Moses: "How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
Since the rest of the Israel people did not have faith in God and were only reasoning out that they could not fight these giants on their own, God sent Israel back into the desert for 40 years until all the unbelieving people of Israel had been cleansed out (died off). After the 40 years of the purging of unbelief was done, God let Israel come into the promise land.
Num 14:30-32 - Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.
What happened to Israel is what happens spiritually to a believer under the new covenant. All unbelief must be cleansed out of a believer to come to full faith in Jesus Christ. When full faith in Jesus Christ has been attained by the working of God’s Spirit upon our soul, we are then born again of God which gives us access into His eternal kingdom.
The timing of how long this process takes depends on how open a person is to the changes that needs to take place by God. If a person will humble them selves, God will lift up that person. If a person wants to stay in control and be prideful, God will have to wait for that person to be humbled before He can work with that person. Again, Jesus has saved all believers from bondage so he/she can now make their choice to fully serve God or not. The people of Israel were not willing to give their life to take the promise land, but after the 40 years of roaming around in the desert they became willing. We must also come to the point in our belief that we are willing to give our life to receive His promises for us, which is being born again into God’s eternal kingdom.
From God – through me – to you,
Mike Reid
We can see this story in two different ways. We could examine individuals in this exodus to the new Promised Land process, and we would see how only a few people that actually started the journey actually made it to the promise land, but I want to show you this journey in a different way. I want to take the whole nation of Israel and how Israel as a nation represents the salvation process that happens in us individually under the new covenant. All the things that the nation of Israel went through is what most of us as believers under the new covenant go through during our process of coming to faith in Jesus Christ in order to be born again of God. The start of the exodus of Israel from Egypt represents the start of our salvation process and Israel entering the promise land represents our salvation process being completed by being born again into God’s kingdom.
Let’s start out with the exodus story. Before the exodus started the nation of Israel were captive and slaves to the Egyptian Empire. This captivity of Israel represents our captivity and slavery to our own sinful nature. Just like the people of Israel could not escape from the pharaoh’s grip without God intervening, we also cannot escape the grip and slavery of our sinful nature without God intervening on our behalf.
It was at the point when God made Egypt let His people go that Israel was released from her bondage of slavery. God had saved them from this bondage of slavery and now they had a choice to leave the tyranny over them. Israel was now free to worship and serve God. Just like God saved Israel from her bondage, God has sent Jesus to free us from our bondage of our sinful nature. When we start believing in Jesus Christ, God sends His Spirit into us to free us from our bondage. He saves us from our own nature. Just like the nation of Israel, we too are now free to worship and serve God. Just like Israel was very happy to be free, it is also at this point we feel God’s Spirit working in us and lifting our sin and guilt from us. This releasing of the guilt of sin makes us feel alive again, but this good feeling usually only lasts until the pressure of sin starts grabbing at us again. So far in this process we are not yet saved onto eternal life. We are only free to make the choices to become born again at this point.
Fast forwarding a little bit, we see the nation of Israel trapped between the red sea and pharaoh’s army. With pharaoh’s army pressing in on them they start doubting God. Even after all the great signs He had already done, they were wanting to go back to slavery.
Ex 14:11-12 - They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
The nation of Israel already wanted to go back to their bondage instead being free. They were people that had no faith in their God. We too as new believers return back to our sinful ways because we don’t have enough faith in God. Well, even though Israel was not faithful, God was. He parted the sea and Israel traveled on dry ground to the other side and then God was glorified by drowning the pharaoh’s army.
After about one and a half months the people of Israel said: Ex 16:3 - If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.
Again Israel could only think out of their own selfishness, they were not interested in glorifying God, they only cared for themselves. Just like Israel, we as believers that have not been completed in God’s love, are still selfish, we are not yet relying just on God’s provisions, we are still trying to satisfy our selfish nature.
Moving forward in this process, we come to the point where Moses was taking a long time to come down from the mountain. When Moses finally comes down he sees that Israel had corrupted them selves by going back to their old ways they had learned in Egypt. They had made a golden calf as an idol that they could worship. This is a representation of a believer being pushed or tempted back into the ways of the world. The believer wants to give in to the pressure out of lack of knowledge of God and out of selfishness to return to what is known and comfortable.
Ex 32:35 - And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
The verse above represents God’s punishment and cleansing of sinful ways upon the Israel people. God also punishes us as believers out of love for us. When He does this punishment on us, it will either work out cleansing in our heart or harden our hearts away from God. Remember we are now saved from the bondage of sin; we now have a choice to continue with God or go our own way.
Let’s fast forward to Moses sending the spies into the promise land. The spies went into the promise land and verified it was a land of milk and honey. Just like the nation of Israel was able to have a glimpse of the promise land before they entered it, we too in our individual salvation walk will get glimpses of God’s kingdom through His Word and His Spirit. But just like the nation of Israel having many spies that saw the same things, there were only two that were willing to give of them selves fully to fight with God to acquire the promise of God. We too in our walk with God still have parts of us that are and aren’t willing to give in to total obedience of our whole self to God’s will. Often there are parts of our life we are willing to give over to God, just like the two faithful spies of Israel, but we usually also have many areas of our life we are not yet willing to give over to God.
After the spies came back from the land of milk and honey that God wanted to give to them, most of the spies convinced the people of Israel that it was to dangerous. This is what the people of Israel said:
Num 14:2-4 - If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" So they said to one another,” Let us select a leader and return to Egypt."
Again, even after all the great miracles that God did for them and within their sight, the people of Israel did not believe that God would do most of the work of conquering the land for them. Only Joshua and Caleb had faith in God.
Num 14:11-12 - Then the Lord said to Moses: "How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
Since the rest of the Israel people did not have faith in God and were only reasoning out that they could not fight these giants on their own, God sent Israel back into the desert for 40 years until all the unbelieving people of Israel had been cleansed out (died off). After the 40 years of the purging of unbelief was done, God let Israel come into the promise land.
Num 14:30-32 - Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.
What happened to Israel is what happens spiritually to a believer under the new covenant. All unbelief must be cleansed out of a believer to come to full faith in Jesus Christ. When full faith in Jesus Christ has been attained by the working of God’s Spirit upon our soul, we are then born again of God which gives us access into His eternal kingdom.
The timing of how long this process takes depends on how open a person is to the changes that needs to take place by God. If a person will humble them selves, God will lift up that person. If a person wants to stay in control and be prideful, God will have to wait for that person to be humbled before He can work with that person. Again, Jesus has saved all believers from bondage so he/she can now make their choice to fully serve God or not. The people of Israel were not willing to give their life to take the promise land, but after the 40 years of roaming around in the desert they became willing. We must also come to the point in our belief that we are willing to give our life to receive His promises for us, which is being born again into God’s eternal kingdom.
From God – through me – to you,
Mike Reid
Some of the areas where the US churches are failing
We have lightened up, or sugar coated the gospel to say, all you need to have eternal life is to accept Jesus as your personal savior. We need to emphasize that we need to make Him our Lord and Savior. The Lord part comes before and is more important then the savior part. We can’t have the salvation part without making Him our Lord first. When we make Jesus our Lord, we have to live a life of a humble servant, ready to do what ever glorifies our master. This includes dying to all our selfish desires and living only to please our God. Now I understand that we will fail at this, but this is a heart issue. Our heart must be totally submissive to His Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit will enable us to be submissive with increasing measure as long as we have a repenting heart. It is really God glorifying Himself through us.
We have to emphasize more on the Holy Spirits power. We are powerless to do any good without relying on the Spirit to do all of the good works through us. Many people’s spiritual walk gets stuck in a quagmire because they haven’t been taught about the awesome power within every born again believer – the Holy Spirit. There are also a lot of people restricting or rejecting the Spirit, because they really don’t want to give up certain parts of their life. These people need help from the Word, the Spirit, and church leaders to help bring this unwillingness to die to the flesh out in the open. The Bible commands that we must live by the Spirit - God’s Spirit within us. If we rely on ourselves we will fail, if we rely on His Spirit we will triumph over all.
The church needs to help point out all the devils deceptions that are working to keep us away from God. One of these big deceptions is money; the Word says “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. Many people in most churches are caught up in this trap. The fact is that many churches are teaching their flock that this is one of the major ways God blesses you. Having enough money to sustain you and your family is a blessing, having more than enough money can easily turn into a trap of the devil, where we rely on ourselves and our money instead of God.
There is another deception working behind the scenes. It is that we have to wait for Christ’s kingdom to come before we can obtain the perfection of the heart that God is looking for each believer to have. We have to fight off this belief. Jesus’ kingdom is here now and has been ever since Christ returned to His apostles after His resurrection. We have the full cleansing and sanctifying power of God’s Spirit now. We do not have to wait!
Another lie some churches are teaching is – Jesus did it all at the cross. Jesus only did what God had to and only God could do. He would not do what we had to do. What we have to do is, make a choice to love Him voluntarily and accept Jesus whole heartedly as Lord. To accept Jesus as Lord might sound easy, but for humanity it is the hardest thing to do, because of our pride. We want to stay lord of our own life.A deception of what it takes to be a true believer ( Christian ) has been watered down also, As I mentioned above, we must accept Jesus as our Lord. When we sincerely accept Jesus as Lord, we whole heartedly have to give ourselves as a living sacrifice. God demands this to be a whole heart decision, not a partial heart decision. If we are truly trusting in Jesus completely, then in time the Spirit will bring to realization through sanctification what has all ready happened within our heart. But if we keep on restricting the Spirit to the point of rejecting His Spirit’s leading in any aspects of our life, that previous decision was not whole hearted. If this falling away of the faith happens, they were never a true believer or Christian, so they never had the promise of eternal salvation. A person never can lose eternal salvation if the person never had it in the first place.
Even though righteousness from works is not taught from the pulpit, many people try to act like Christians instead of actually being Christians or relying on the Spirit in them. They hear from the pulpit and teachers that if we are Christians we should have certain qualities of love and act a certain way, which is correct, but then they try to do these works on their own. We have to help people understand good works is just a byproduct of God’s Spirit being inside a person and working through a person. Many churched people are trying to do on their own what the Spirit should be doing. I can tell you from experience, if a person has the Spirit in them and they are letting God’s Spirit work in them, they will automatically be doing works by loving people through the gifts given to them. If the Spirit is the one doing the work, that work being done will be a joy to do, it will not be any hardship to the person. When the Spirit has taken over a person’s heart, that person’s desires are all about what is best for the other person. We no longer are interested on what we can get out of a situation or person; we have all we need in the Spirit. In fact we end up having so much love from the Spirit; it wells up in us and overflows to others. If a person is doing good works, but is not enjoying doing it, it is important for that person to go to God and look at why they don’t feel like doing that good work. It might not be the Spirit doing it. They might need more of a renewing heart instead of trying to keep doing the work.
Hell must be emphasized more than it is. Hell cannot be just explained as being separated from God. As good as Heaven is, the opposite is true for hell. Hell is so bad our human minds cannot fathom it. There needs to be a healthy fear of what awaits us if we don’t have Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We also must keep explaining how bad hell is to motivate Christians to go out and witness to unbelievers. If we have the heart of God and truly understand hell and that all unbelievers are going there, we will be motivated to bring people to Christ out of love for them. This is the same love Christ showed and we are called to show.
The Bible indicates very strongly that if we have a repentive heart for our sin(s) we are forgiven for our personal sins. But if we don’t have a repentive heart of our sin(s), we are not forgiven for our personal sins. Forgiveness of personal sins is not just for the asking, there must be a repenting heart to go along with the asking.
Praying for our churches,
Michael Reid
We have to emphasize more on the Holy Spirits power. We are powerless to do any good without relying on the Spirit to do all of the good works through us. Many people’s spiritual walk gets stuck in a quagmire because they haven’t been taught about the awesome power within every born again believer – the Holy Spirit. There are also a lot of people restricting or rejecting the Spirit, because they really don’t want to give up certain parts of their life. These people need help from the Word, the Spirit, and church leaders to help bring this unwillingness to die to the flesh out in the open. The Bible commands that we must live by the Spirit - God’s Spirit within us. If we rely on ourselves we will fail, if we rely on His Spirit we will triumph over all.
The church needs to help point out all the devils deceptions that are working to keep us away from God. One of these big deceptions is money; the Word says “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. Many people in most churches are caught up in this trap. The fact is that many churches are teaching their flock that this is one of the major ways God blesses you. Having enough money to sustain you and your family is a blessing, having more than enough money can easily turn into a trap of the devil, where we rely on ourselves and our money instead of God.
There is another deception working behind the scenes. It is that we have to wait for Christ’s kingdom to come before we can obtain the perfection of the heart that God is looking for each believer to have. We have to fight off this belief. Jesus’ kingdom is here now and has been ever since Christ returned to His apostles after His resurrection. We have the full cleansing and sanctifying power of God’s Spirit now. We do not have to wait!
Another lie some churches are teaching is – Jesus did it all at the cross. Jesus only did what God had to and only God could do. He would not do what we had to do. What we have to do is, make a choice to love Him voluntarily and accept Jesus whole heartedly as Lord. To accept Jesus as Lord might sound easy, but for humanity it is the hardest thing to do, because of our pride. We want to stay lord of our own life.A deception of what it takes to be a true believer ( Christian ) has been watered down also, As I mentioned above, we must accept Jesus as our Lord. When we sincerely accept Jesus as Lord, we whole heartedly have to give ourselves as a living sacrifice. God demands this to be a whole heart decision, not a partial heart decision. If we are truly trusting in Jesus completely, then in time the Spirit will bring to realization through sanctification what has all ready happened within our heart. But if we keep on restricting the Spirit to the point of rejecting His Spirit’s leading in any aspects of our life, that previous decision was not whole hearted. If this falling away of the faith happens, they were never a true believer or Christian, so they never had the promise of eternal salvation. A person never can lose eternal salvation if the person never had it in the first place.
Even though righteousness from works is not taught from the pulpit, many people try to act like Christians instead of actually being Christians or relying on the Spirit in them. They hear from the pulpit and teachers that if we are Christians we should have certain qualities of love and act a certain way, which is correct, but then they try to do these works on their own. We have to help people understand good works is just a byproduct of God’s Spirit being inside a person and working through a person. Many churched people are trying to do on their own what the Spirit should be doing. I can tell you from experience, if a person has the Spirit in them and they are letting God’s Spirit work in them, they will automatically be doing works by loving people through the gifts given to them. If the Spirit is the one doing the work, that work being done will be a joy to do, it will not be any hardship to the person. When the Spirit has taken over a person’s heart, that person’s desires are all about what is best for the other person. We no longer are interested on what we can get out of a situation or person; we have all we need in the Spirit. In fact we end up having so much love from the Spirit; it wells up in us and overflows to others. If a person is doing good works, but is not enjoying doing it, it is important for that person to go to God and look at why they don’t feel like doing that good work. It might not be the Spirit doing it. They might need more of a renewing heart instead of trying to keep doing the work.
Hell must be emphasized more than it is. Hell cannot be just explained as being separated from God. As good as Heaven is, the opposite is true for hell. Hell is so bad our human minds cannot fathom it. There needs to be a healthy fear of what awaits us if we don’t have Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We also must keep explaining how bad hell is to motivate Christians to go out and witness to unbelievers. If we have the heart of God and truly understand hell and that all unbelievers are going there, we will be motivated to bring people to Christ out of love for them. This is the same love Christ showed and we are called to show.
The Bible indicates very strongly that if we have a repentive heart for our sin(s) we are forgiven for our personal sins. But if we don’t have a repentive heart of our sin(s), we are not forgiven for our personal sins. Forgiveness of personal sins is not just for the asking, there must be a repenting heart to go along with the asking.
Praying for our churches,
Michael Reid
Romans 7 – So misunderstood
I was not planning on writing a message on the interpretation of Romans 7 until I realized that the misunderstanding of this passage was deceiving many away from God's truth. This scripture is so misunderstood by most churches.
There is an epidemic of misunderstanding of what a true Christian is and everybody with this misunderstanding seems to keep pointing to Romans 7 for their justification for this misunderstanding.
The misunderstanding originates from Romans 7:14-20.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Most have misunderstood this verse because Apostle Paul seems to be writing this about himself. Since Paul is a born again Christian at the time he wrote this, people assume this is what a Christian is like.
If people fully understand the rest of the New Testament, they would quickly see these verses could not even be remotely considered to be representing what a true Christian is. To say a born again Christian is still controlled by his sinful nature is an oxy-moron. The phrases “born again Christian” and “controlled by sinful nature” cannot exist in the same person. Either you are still controlled in part or in full by your sinful nature or you are a born again Christian where the sinful nature has no control over you.
To start understanding this scripture we must understand whether this person Paul is talking about is born again or not. One of the key verses that indicates this is not a Christian is in Romans 7:14.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin..
When we are a Christian we are filled with God’s Spirit which has transformed our heart into a heart of love. Romans 7:14-20 is indicating a person’s life without the Holy Spirit in it. Without the Spirit in us, we have no hope of conquering sin on our own and we are still a slave to sin.
Apostle Paul is actually talking theoretically about any person, including himself, and how we are powerless with just our own human capabilities to get rid of sin. We learned throughout the Old Testament that we cannot obey God’s commandments on our own without the Holy Spirit’s power in us. This is what Paul is stressing in his letter. He is helping them understand what all of Israel already new before Christ came to die on the cross for us. The Jews knew the law was good but they were not capable of fulfilling the law.
Ever since the time when Adam ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, we have had the knowledge of good and evil in us. Remember it was the knowledge of good and evil, not just evil. The big problem ever since the original sin is not that we can’t know what is good, it is that we could not do any of the good we had knowledge of without the power of God in us. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 7:15-16.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
Paul goes on to say that it is the sin, or evil, living in this person doing the sin since this person is still under the law. It is evident that this person does not have the Holy Spirit living in him. Paul concludes in Romans 7:17-18 that the only thing living in this person is the sinful nature.
As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
Now to keep this passage in context, let’s go back to the passages before Romans 7:14-20 to Romans 7:1.
Do you not know, brothers — for I am speaking to men who know the law — that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?
We see here that Paul is addressing people that know the Jewish law and emphasize that all men are under the control of the law until they die. Another words, we have to die to be free from the law. To illustrate his point Paul uses marriage as an example in Romans 7:2-3.
For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
So what Paul is emphasizing here is that we have to die to the law before we can be bound to another, which is Jesus Christ. We die to the law by believing in the perfect body of Jesus Christ dieing on the cross for us. In Romans 7:4-6 Paul explains this for us.
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
If we believe Jesus Christ died for us, then we believe through the cross we also died and are no longer bound to the law and are now under God’s grace and no longer under the control of the sinful nature. We are given a new heart from God which does not have any selfishness or sin in it, but only love for God and love for all of God’s creation. True love cannot contain any selfishness or sin of any kind. Because this new heart that is from God has only love, it cannot willfully sin. Through this new heart we now have control of the body instead of the sinful nature in the body controlling us. Only God can do this and everything is possible with God.
Matthew 19:26 - Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Today Romans 7 is falsely preached from many pulpits with the idea that Christians can’t keep from sinning. This has been another deception from the devil that a lot of people have believed because it supports people believing they are born again when they truly haven’t had a total heart transformation yet. Don’t let yourself be fooled by this lie of the devil. The truth is, when your born again you can, through God’s Spirit’s power in you, conquer all the sins that His word or His Spirit convicts you of.
Remember God’s grace is His Spirit working in and through you – Michael Reid
There is an epidemic of misunderstanding of what a true Christian is and everybody with this misunderstanding seems to keep pointing to Romans 7 for their justification for this misunderstanding.
The misunderstanding originates from Romans 7:14-20.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Most have misunderstood this verse because Apostle Paul seems to be writing this about himself. Since Paul is a born again Christian at the time he wrote this, people assume this is what a Christian is like.
If people fully understand the rest of the New Testament, they would quickly see these verses could not even be remotely considered to be representing what a true Christian is. To say a born again Christian is still controlled by his sinful nature is an oxy-moron. The phrases “born again Christian” and “controlled by sinful nature” cannot exist in the same person. Either you are still controlled in part or in full by your sinful nature or you are a born again Christian where the sinful nature has no control over you.
To start understanding this scripture we must understand whether this person Paul is talking about is born again or not. One of the key verses that indicates this is not a Christian is in Romans 7:14.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin..
When we are a Christian we are filled with God’s Spirit which has transformed our heart into a heart of love. Romans 7:14-20 is indicating a person’s life without the Holy Spirit in it. Without the Spirit in us, we have no hope of conquering sin on our own and we are still a slave to sin.
Apostle Paul is actually talking theoretically about any person, including himself, and how we are powerless with just our own human capabilities to get rid of sin. We learned throughout the Old Testament that we cannot obey God’s commandments on our own without the Holy Spirit’s power in us. This is what Paul is stressing in his letter. He is helping them understand what all of Israel already new before Christ came to die on the cross for us. The Jews knew the law was good but they were not capable of fulfilling the law.
Ever since the time when Adam ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, we have had the knowledge of good and evil in us. Remember it was the knowledge of good and evil, not just evil. The big problem ever since the original sin is not that we can’t know what is good, it is that we could not do any of the good we had knowledge of without the power of God in us. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 7:15-16.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
Paul goes on to say that it is the sin, or evil, living in this person doing the sin since this person is still under the law. It is evident that this person does not have the Holy Spirit living in him. Paul concludes in Romans 7:17-18 that the only thing living in this person is the sinful nature.
As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
Now to keep this passage in context, let’s go back to the passages before Romans 7:14-20 to Romans 7:1.
Do you not know, brothers — for I am speaking to men who know the law — that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?
We see here that Paul is addressing people that know the Jewish law and emphasize that all men are under the control of the law until they die. Another words, we have to die to be free from the law. To illustrate his point Paul uses marriage as an example in Romans 7:2-3.
For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
So what Paul is emphasizing here is that we have to die to the law before we can be bound to another, which is Jesus Christ. We die to the law by believing in the perfect body of Jesus Christ dieing on the cross for us. In Romans 7:4-6 Paul explains this for us.
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
If we believe Jesus Christ died for us, then we believe through the cross we also died and are no longer bound to the law and are now under God’s grace and no longer under the control of the sinful nature. We are given a new heart from God which does not have any selfishness or sin in it, but only love for God and love for all of God’s creation. True love cannot contain any selfishness or sin of any kind. Because this new heart that is from God has only love, it cannot willfully sin. Through this new heart we now have control of the body instead of the sinful nature in the body controlling us. Only God can do this and everything is possible with God.
Matthew 19:26 - Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Today Romans 7 is falsely preached from many pulpits with the idea that Christians can’t keep from sinning. This has been another deception from the devil that a lot of people have believed because it supports people believing they are born again when they truly haven’t had a total heart transformation yet. Don’t let yourself be fooled by this lie of the devil. The truth is, when your born again you can, through God’s Spirit’s power in you, conquer all the sins that His word or His Spirit convicts you of.
Remember God’s grace is His Spirit working in and through you – Michael Reid
Only Souls With Pure Hearts Will Enter Heaven
God has promised that when we are born again we are given a new heart.
Ezek 36:25-26 - I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.
God says all of our sinful nature is gone and we are a new creation in Him.
2 Cor 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation ; the old has gone, the new has come!
When we are truly born again we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to His righteousness.
Rom 6:18 - You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Jesus says he has set us totally free from the bondage of the sinful nature.
John 8:36 - So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
We must understand that for most of us that call ourselves Christians, we are not really born again yet. Most of us are in the pregnancy stage and we are getting ready to be born again. When God’s grace has purged all of the sinful nature out of our heart and soul, He will give us a new heart filled with only His love and all of our sinful nature will be gone. Then we will truly be able to love God and others like He commands us to.
To be born again, we have to humble ourselves by letting go of all of our pride and selfishness and give every bit of our soul to Him. Only then can anyone come to Him with the faith as a child to be reborn.
God is patient and gives us our whole life to let Him transform us into a pure spiritual being. Only after our heart is made pure, holy, and righteous by God are we acceptable for the gift of eternal life with Him. How long do you think you have left? Remember this is a process for most of us and usually takes some time.
For anyone that has been taught and believes that this total regeneration is not possible, please understand you have been deceived, for the Bible clearly indicates this entire sanctification is possible through the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not only possible; it is required for anyone to have eternal life with God. Our soul must be purged of any sinful nature because God will not allow any unholy thing into His eternal kingdom.
John 3:3 - In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
I tell you this even though it might be hard to hear, because a lot of us have stopped searching for God’s real truth. We have become complacent with our walk with God because we think we are eternally saved already. We have to stop listening to preachers that are telling us what we want to hear and search for the real truth. God says if we will search, we will find. So I sincerely ask you to search God’s Holy Word. Don’t go to books other than the Bible. Most books other than the Bible will mislead you in some way. The whole truth is in God’s Word. Let God talk to you through His scriptures.
God Bless,
Mike Reid
Ezek 36:25-26 - I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.
God says all of our sinful nature is gone and we are a new creation in Him.
2 Cor 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation ; the old has gone, the new has come!
When we are truly born again we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to His righteousness.
Rom 6:18 - You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Jesus says he has set us totally free from the bondage of the sinful nature.
John 8:36 - So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
We must understand that for most of us that call ourselves Christians, we are not really born again yet. Most of us are in the pregnancy stage and we are getting ready to be born again. When God’s grace has purged all of the sinful nature out of our heart and soul, He will give us a new heart filled with only His love and all of our sinful nature will be gone. Then we will truly be able to love God and others like He commands us to.
To be born again, we have to humble ourselves by letting go of all of our pride and selfishness and give every bit of our soul to Him. Only then can anyone come to Him with the faith as a child to be reborn.
God is patient and gives us our whole life to let Him transform us into a pure spiritual being. Only after our heart is made pure, holy, and righteous by God are we acceptable for the gift of eternal life with Him. How long do you think you have left? Remember this is a process for most of us and usually takes some time.
For anyone that has been taught and believes that this total regeneration is not possible, please understand you have been deceived, for the Bible clearly indicates this entire sanctification is possible through the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not only possible; it is required for anyone to have eternal life with God. Our soul must be purged of any sinful nature because God will not allow any unholy thing into His eternal kingdom.
John 3:3 - In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
I tell you this even though it might be hard to hear, because a lot of us have stopped searching for God’s real truth. We have become complacent with our walk with God because we think we are eternally saved already. We have to stop listening to preachers that are telling us what we want to hear and search for the real truth. God says if we will search, we will find. So I sincerely ask you to search God’s Holy Word. Don’t go to books other than the Bible. Most books other than the Bible will mislead you in some way. The whole truth is in God’s Word. Let God talk to you through His scriptures.
God Bless,
Mike Reid
Is It Possible To Do Jesus’ First Commandment?
Through my studies and walk in the Holy Spirit I have learned that God fully intends to bring us to a full loving relationship with Him. God wants our heart to be totally devoted to Him. It is by totally loving Him that brings us to living holy in Him and living a righteous life through this Godly love that He has put inside us.
We must understand the sanctification process. Sanctification is not a process of ridding us from sins, it is a process of growing in love with God, and it is a process of transferring our love from our selfishness to loving God only. When we love our selfishness we will sin. When we love God we will not sin against Him. If anyone is still sinning, it is out of him/her loving themselves instead of God. When a person loves God with ALL their heart, soul, and mind, they will not sin. Sin cannot come from a heart that totally loves God. When we are given a new heart from God, it is only filled with His love and no sin can come out of a heart filled with His love. Almost all professing Christians say very fervently that born again Christians cannot live a day with out sinning let alone not sinning for a day, week, or year after being born again. So what most people are really saying is that no one can do the first commandment that Jesus gave, which is: Matt 22:37-39 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. What a defeating message these people are giving. If we can't do this first commandment through Jesus Christ living in us, we then can say that God sending the Holy Spirit to reside in us has no value. It is only after we are doing this first commandment that we can do Jesus’ second commandment. Matt 22:39-40 - And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Jesus came and sent His Holy Spirit to free us from the bondage of sin and supposedly born again Christians are telling everybody we will never be free from the bondage of sin.
Where is this logic coming from? Is this understanding that most believers have coming from God’s Word or is it coming from their experiences, or lack of experiences of these professing Christians. Are we “Christians” just fooling ourselves? I don’t see this defeating message in God’s Word of the New Testament. Christians today are living like the Jews in the Old Testament where they did not have the Spirit living inside them which enables us under the New Testament to do all of God’s commandments. The Jews in the Old Testament were not born again and could not live by the Holy Spirit, but Christians today are supposed to be born again and be living by the Holy Spirit which in turn allows us to do all of God’s commandments. As born again Christians we still might sin for awhile because of the renewing of our minds, but we need not keep on sinning. With Jesus’ Spirit living inside us we really have no reason to keep on sinning.
God says if we are His children, He will always give us a way out from our temptations. 1 Cor 10:13 - And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. So if God always gives us a way to not let our temptations turn into sin, is there any reason that we need to sin anymore at all?
God Bless – Mike Reid
We must understand the sanctification process. Sanctification is not a process of ridding us from sins, it is a process of growing in love with God, and it is a process of transferring our love from our selfishness to loving God only. When we love our selfishness we will sin. When we love God we will not sin against Him. If anyone is still sinning, it is out of him/her loving themselves instead of God. When a person loves God with ALL their heart, soul, and mind, they will not sin. Sin cannot come from a heart that totally loves God. When we are given a new heart from God, it is only filled with His love and no sin can come out of a heart filled with His love. Almost all professing Christians say very fervently that born again Christians cannot live a day with out sinning let alone not sinning for a day, week, or year after being born again. So what most people are really saying is that no one can do the first commandment that Jesus gave, which is: Matt 22:37-39 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. What a defeating message these people are giving. If we can't do this first commandment through Jesus Christ living in us, we then can say that God sending the Holy Spirit to reside in us has no value. It is only after we are doing this first commandment that we can do Jesus’ second commandment. Matt 22:39-40 - And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Jesus came and sent His Holy Spirit to free us from the bondage of sin and supposedly born again Christians are telling everybody we will never be free from the bondage of sin.
Where is this logic coming from? Is this understanding that most believers have coming from God’s Word or is it coming from their experiences, or lack of experiences of these professing Christians. Are we “Christians” just fooling ourselves? I don’t see this defeating message in God’s Word of the New Testament. Christians today are living like the Jews in the Old Testament where they did not have the Spirit living inside them which enables us under the New Testament to do all of God’s commandments. The Jews in the Old Testament were not born again and could not live by the Holy Spirit, but Christians today are supposed to be born again and be living by the Holy Spirit which in turn allows us to do all of God’s commandments. As born again Christians we still might sin for awhile because of the renewing of our minds, but we need not keep on sinning. With Jesus’ Spirit living inside us we really have no reason to keep on sinning.
God says if we are His children, He will always give us a way out from our temptations. 1 Cor 10:13 - And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. So if God always gives us a way to not let our temptations turn into sin, is there any reason that we need to sin anymore at all?
God Bless – Mike Reid
Do We Have A Reason To Be Angry With A Sinner
When someone sins and it causes you pain or loss, do you think you have a reason to be angry with that sinner?
Do you expect anybody not to sin if they have not been born again?
How can a born again believer still love and show love to a sinner when that sinner’s sins are causing hurt and loss? It is through Jesus’ love only which is flowing through you.
When we love others the way God loves us, we can love the person (soul) and hate the sinful act of the sinner. Most of the time we try to stop the sinful acts that a person does by condemning the person. We need to remember the root of the sins, which are of a spiritual nature and not so much a physical problem. We must except that a sinner is going to sin. So do we love the sinner anyway and overlook the sin so in the process of loving them we might bring them to Jesus Christ. What did Jesus do?
Rom 5:8 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Then are we not called to die for the sinners too? Yes we are, we die to our own selfish needs and desires for the welfare of others. When we forgive other people for their sins against us, we are also accepting the consequences of their sinful acts upon ourselves. We must be willing to take on and accept the hurt and/or loss to ourselves for the wrongful sinful acts of others. If we are going to truly love people, we must be involved with people. If we are involved with other people we will be hurt and suffer loss by those people.
We must be willing to suffer from the sinful acts of other people in order for us to truly show Jesus’ love to others. Looking past a sinner’s sin and truly loving them with God’s love is how we show God’s light to others. We must be willing to suffer physically and emotionally in order for others to see God’s love in the hopes that they can stop being sinners and be born again. We need to help heal the root of the problem of sin and not attack the sinner. It is a spiritual problem.
In living with the sins of this world we end up suffering and dying to self, this is God's refiner's fire, we are refined like gold. Once the gold is refined it has no impurities left, it is pure gold. Just like pure gold is totally refined, so are we refined in this life into God's pure love, which is when we are totally refined of our inequities. We all need to look forward to this for ourselves. When you are purified as gold, that is the point where you count everything joy, even if it seems everybody in this world is against you. God’s Word says we will be persecuted. Count it joy when others persecute you because of Jesus Name, because they are not really persecuting you but Jesus that is in you.
A sinner will sin, but a born again believer will not sin (at least any sin that the born again believer has knowledge of). So we need to look forward to the sinner no longer being a sinner, but a born again believer. In the mean time if we aren’t pure yet, let us count it joy when we suffer for others.
Your Brother In Christ,
Mike
Do you expect anybody not to sin if they have not been born again?
How can a born again believer still love and show love to a sinner when that sinner’s sins are causing hurt and loss? It is through Jesus’ love only which is flowing through you.
When we love others the way God loves us, we can love the person (soul) and hate the sinful act of the sinner. Most of the time we try to stop the sinful acts that a person does by condemning the person. We need to remember the root of the sins, which are of a spiritual nature and not so much a physical problem. We must except that a sinner is going to sin. So do we love the sinner anyway and overlook the sin so in the process of loving them we might bring them to Jesus Christ. What did Jesus do?
Rom 5:8 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Then are we not called to die for the sinners too? Yes we are, we die to our own selfish needs and desires for the welfare of others. When we forgive other people for their sins against us, we are also accepting the consequences of their sinful acts upon ourselves. We must be willing to take on and accept the hurt and/or loss to ourselves for the wrongful sinful acts of others. If we are going to truly love people, we must be involved with people. If we are involved with other people we will be hurt and suffer loss by those people.
We must be willing to suffer from the sinful acts of other people in order for us to truly show Jesus’ love to others. Looking past a sinner’s sin and truly loving them with God’s love is how we show God’s light to others. We must be willing to suffer physically and emotionally in order for others to see God’s love in the hopes that they can stop being sinners and be born again. We need to help heal the root of the problem of sin and not attack the sinner. It is a spiritual problem.
In living with the sins of this world we end up suffering and dying to self, this is God's refiner's fire, we are refined like gold. Once the gold is refined it has no impurities left, it is pure gold. Just like pure gold is totally refined, so are we refined in this life into God's pure love, which is when we are totally refined of our inequities. We all need to look forward to this for ourselves. When you are purified as gold, that is the point where you count everything joy, even if it seems everybody in this world is against you. God’s Word says we will be persecuted. Count it joy when others persecute you because of Jesus Name, because they are not really persecuting you but Jesus that is in you.
A sinner will sin, but a born again believer will not sin (at least any sin that the born again believer has knowledge of). So we need to look forward to the sinner no longer being a sinner, but a born again believer. In the mean time if we aren’t pure yet, let us count it joy when we suffer for others.
Your Brother In Christ,
Mike
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