Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The question must be asked, IS JESUS ENOUGH?
The question must be asked, IS JESUS ENOUGH?
Does He truly have the power He claims? Is He strong over all things?
Are the promises He has made to us real and powerful or is there something in our lives that is MORE powerful than He?
Do we really believe the Bible? Do we agree that it is true? Or do we only give lip service to its truthfulness and in reality trust and rely on the things man has taught us?
Do we really believe the Bible? Do we agree that it is true? Or do we only give lip service to its truthfulness and in reality trust and rely on the things man has taught us?
What do we really believe?
Most Christians SAY they believe the Bible, but when it comes to reality, it is their experiences that have sway over their lives rather than what the scriptures actually state. Do you doubt what I am saying? Are you going to write back and say that I am lying?
We shall see. Look at the following >>>
2Pe 1:3 For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).
2Pe 1:4 By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature.
So the Lord has given us everything we need to live a life of godliness and also be a partaker of the divine nature. In other words, we will walk, talk, act, feel, and even think as HE does!
How many of us believe that?
2Pe 1:5 For this very reason, adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence),
2Pe 1:6 And in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety),
2Pe 1:7 And in [exercising] godliness [develop] brotherly affection, and in [exercising] brotherly affection [develop] Christian love.
2Pe 1:8 For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep [you] from being idle or unfruitful unto the [full personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
2Pe 1:9 For whoever lacks these qualities is blind, [spiritually] shortsighted, seeing only what is near to him, and has become oblivious [to the fact] that he was cleansed from his old sins.
2Pe 1:10 Because of this, brethren, be all the more solicitous and eager to make sure (to ratify, to strengthen, to make steadfast) your calling and election; for if you do this, you will never stumble or fall.
Now we are told that IF we do the above things WE WILL NEVER STUMBLE OR FALL!!!! Hmmm, what happened to the doctrine of sinning on a daily basis? According to this (and several other verses) we are NOT to be living in this manner. In fact, we are being told that it is expected that we will NOT stumble or fall AT ALL! EVER!
That is completely different than what the vast majority of Christians says, of what Churches teach, and the doctrines that have been handed down to us that are considered orthodox!
Friends, I did NOT say these things, the BIBLE does! Shall I copy a few more verses that say similar things? We could go through I John and include several passages. John 8:31-36 is another place.
Joh 8:31 So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples.
Joh 8:32 And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered Him, We are Abraham's offspring (descendants) and have never been in bondage to anybody. What do You mean by saying, You will be set free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Whoever commits and practices sin is the slave of sin.
Joh 8:35 Now a slave does not remain in a household permanently (forever); the son [of the house] does remain forever.
Joh 8:36 So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free.
Jesus tells us right here that He came to cause us to cease from committing sin! Do NOT allow what man has taught you to change what the scriptures say. This is INDEED what Jesus is telling us.
Here is another passage that tells us similar things.
1Co 10:12 Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands [who feels sure that he has a steadfast mind and is standing firm], take heed lest he fall [into sin].
1Co 10:13 For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.
1Co 10:14 Therefore, my dearly beloved, shun (keep clear away from, avoid by flight if need be) any sort of idolatry (of loving or venerating anything more than God).
Brothers and Sisters can you read these words and believe them? Are we so controlled by man’s doctrines and teachings that we cannot believe what the scriptures actually tell us? Will we change the very meaning of the Bible?
These verses above tell us that God will NOT ALLOW us to be tempted in such a way that we CANNOT withstand that temptation; He will ALWAYS make a way for us to OVERCOME! Do we REALLY believe this? Do we believe what the scripture says about temptation?
Jas 1:12 Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor's] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.
Jas 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by [what is] evil and He Himself tempts no one.
Jas 1:14 But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions).
Jas 1:15 Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death.
Jas 1:16 Do not be misled, my beloved brethren.
This passage tells us that IF we give IN to temptation, WE WILL SIN! The converse is also true, IF we do NOT give in to temptation, we will NOT sin. Friends, we MUST believe ALL the Bible, NOT our pet verses and teachings. We cannot take those comfortable verses that PROVE our doctrines and ignore passages as those above that directly contradict what we believe. If we do, then we are preaching a FALSE DOCTRINE!
On another board, someone had their beliefs challenged and responded by saying that at least we have the witness of the Holy Spirit in our lives which proves our salvation. Please forgive me for saying this but how do we know that kind of witness is from the Holy Spirit if our lives do not conform to the scriptures; if the way we live contradicts the teaching of the scriptures?
We DO NOT KNOW that it IS the Holy Spirit at all! We are only assuming some “feeling” we have inside of us is the witness of the Holy Spirit. WE MUST REMEMBER that satan is well able to mimic many of the miracles, signs, wonders, and many other things of God in order to deceive us. In fact, satan does not even need to work there very hard if at all. We are quite capable of deceiving ourselves into thinking we are saved. If the way we live is NOT in agreement with what ALL the scriptures say, then HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE SAVED?
Tell me, HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE SAVED? What is the sign? What is the difference between an unsaved and saved person? What does the Bible say? Let us NOT rely on the doctrines and teachings of man to determine this MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE!
We say we believe the Bible, but do we? Let us look once more at this passage >>>>
1Co 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality,
1Co 6:10 Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.
How about this? >>>>>
Gal 5:18 But if you are guided (led) by the [Holy] Spirit, you are not subject to the Law.
Gal 5:19 Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies),
Gal 5:21 Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].
Gal 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.
Gal 5:25 If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]
Brothers and Sisters, DO WE BELIEVE THESE VERSES? They are written by Paul and he tells us that whoever practices immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery (that is using drugs to get high), enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, divisions, a party spirit, heresies, envy, drunkenness, carousing and all sorts of other things JUST LIKE THAT WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
Is this what we preach? Is this what we believe? Do our lives show this? Are we completely different from those who live in the world? This IS what the Bible says. This is NOT my interpretation. Should I bring our attention to I John?
1Jn 3:5 You know that He appeared in visible form and became Man to take away [upon Himself] sins, and in Him there is no sin [essentially and forever].
1Jn 3:6 No one who abides in Him [who lives and remains in communion with and in obedience to Him--deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] commits (practices) sin. No one who [habitually] sins has either seen or known Him [recognized, perceived, or understood Him, or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him].
1Jn 3:7 Boys (lads), let no one deceive and lead you astray. He who practices righteousness [who is upright, conforming to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action, living a consistently conscientious life] is righteous, even as He is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 [But] he who commits sin [who practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes his character from the evil one], for the devil has sinned (violated the divine law) from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done].
1Jn 3:9 No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God's nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.
1Jn 3:10 By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God's will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellow believer in Christ).
Do we believe these verses OR do we only give them lip service? Do we actually live by them or do we twist them to suit the way we live our lives?
Once more, my friends, I am NOT twisting anything, this is NOT my interpretation. It is exactly what the scriptures say. These are not my words. They are direct quotes from the Bible. Many of these passages were written by Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles and (if I may be so bold) the Apostle of Grace. Do we REALLY BELIEVE THEM or do we change them to suit our own doctrines, teachings, and purposes? Do we explain them away or do we truly believe and live by them? Is this what we teach and preach or do we preach a watered down so called gospel that is pleasant to the ears of our hearers?
Look what Paul said once more >>>>
Rom 6:1 WHAT SHALL we say [to all this]? Are we to remain in sin in order that God's grace (favor and mercy) may multiply and overflow?
Rom 6:2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?
Rom 6:3 Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Rom 6:4 We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, live and behave in newness of life. so we too might
Rom 6:5 For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, His resurrection we shall also be
Rom 6:6 of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.body We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that
Rom 6:7 For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) sin from among men.
Rom 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
Rom 6:9 Because we know that Christ (the Anointed One), being once raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.
Rom 6:10 For by the death He died, He died to sin [ending His relation to it] once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].
Rom 6:11 in Christ Jesus. Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore rule as king in your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies, to make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions.
REMEMBER, these words are written by Paul and it is he who said we shall live by grace through faith NOT by a list of rules. Yet this same Paul has stated CLEARLY that WHOEVER practices those sins that he lists and anything else like them SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD! Look at these verses once more all together >>>> A TRULY SAVED, SPIRIT-FILLED PERSON WILL LIVE IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER >>>
Rom 6:2 How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? They do not sin.
Rom 6:4 live and behave in newness of lifeso we too might They behave in their everyday life without sin. His resurrection
Rom 6:5 we shall also be. They are just like Jesus.
Rom 6:6 of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin. bodyWe know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that
Rom 6:6 of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin. bodyWe know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that
The sin nature has been put to death and no longer has any effect in their lives.
Rom 6:7 sin from The Sin Nature has no power in their lives PERIOD!
Rom 6:11 in Christ Jesus.Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [ Sin is as effective in their lives as it is in a dead man’s, which is why they now have unbroken fellowship with God for God can not have fellowship with anyone who walks in sin.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore rule as king in your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies, to make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions. They have a choice whether or not as Christians they allow sin in their lives.
A bondslave in Christ Jesus, Dirk
av Dirk A Schnarr
Rom 6:7 sin from The Sin Nature has no power in their lives PERIOD!
Rom 6:11 in Christ Jesus.Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [ Sin is as effective in their lives as it is in a dead man’s, which is why they now have unbroken fellowship with God for God can not have fellowship with anyone who walks in sin.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore rule as king in your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies, to make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions. They have a choice whether or not as Christians they allow sin in their lives.
I will say one more thing about all of this. There will be those who attack these words and/or me. They will attempt to divert our attention from what the scriptures actually say to something else. They may try to bring my own walk into this in order to redirect the conversation away from the REQUIREMENTS of God! I ask you all right now >>> Where are the verses of scripture that DISAGREE with what is stated here? Make sure you do not take them out of context if you can find any. Whether or not I live my life in this manner HAS NO EFFECT UPON WHETHER OR NOT THESE VERSES OF SCRIPTURE ARE TRUE! So, let us deal with the scripture alone!
I have NOT said there is NOT grace. I have not said I am better than anyone else. I have NOT said I do not need to hear this message. I have NOT said this life does NOT come by faith NOR have I said that it comes by adherence to some list of rules or commandments. In fact, I have NOT said how it comes at all. That is another article altogether.
I draw your attention to the message, WHAT HAPPENED by Art Katz.. IT HAPPENED BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE and NOT by following a list of rules or commandments. Please do not say I am promoting legalism. Please do not say I am saying I am better than anyone here. PLEASE DO NOT SAY I am saying we can be perfect without Jesus and that there was NO REASON for Him to come. I am saying NONE of those things.
If it was NOT for Jesus, we all would be like those in Sodom. If Jesus were to leave us, then we would IMMEDIATELY revert back to the sinners we were, for it is ONLY by His Blood, Spirit, and Power that we are enabled to live lives Just Like His!
Do we really believe the scriptures? Do we agree that they are true? Some may not like what I have said here. I do not ask for your forgiveness. I am only agreeing with what the scriptures state; I am only bringing our attention to the requirements of God that are written in them.
If we violate the scriptures and live lives that are in contradiction to what they actually say, then we will NOT enter the Kingdom of God. This is stated again and again. We can either agree with them, and allow the Lord to TRULY Change us, or we can explain them away and eventually reap the results that lead to eternal death.
It is our choice. Just because we think we are saved does NOT mean we are. We MUST follow what the scriptures actually state and live in that manner. Otherwise we make God out to be a liar.
A bondslave in Christ Jesus, Dirk
av Dirk A Schnarr
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