yours post remind me, what Father told me just few years ago, and He was angry:
What do you think I AM? An evil God, Who just sit here and waits, until you make mistake, to punish you?!
I was pretty messed up in that question too.
I lived under fear almost 29 years, that no matter, what i do, i go to hell.
But He told me just few days ago (because i FINALLY ASKED) , that study Bible WITH Him, living, following Jesus teachings, learning new spiritual truths from Holy Spirit, let myself be lead from Holy Spirit (go there, do this, say that) and mostly, because my own words/deeds usually are big fail, so i choose to be lazy and do, what Holy Spirit say - so to see miracles and wonders very often: people change with a second, earth shaking, weather changing, healing and lot of tears of relief and smile.. Just love it and without Holy Spirit leading, i just .. f a i l ...
All that is, Father wants - it is He's will.
And my kids friends think - i am cool. I dont swear or talk rubbish, but especially with youth i keep my ears open - what to say, or when or maybe just shut up. And honesty - yes i believe in God - yet no nagging - because it is not my work - and so on and so on, let just Holy Spirit walk before me, let Him to show the way - it is easy, awesome and so many time left to do, what i like... yeah that too
There are hard times, funny times, easy times, but never get boring
Thats why my main theme is how to listen Holy Spirit - He will lead you, He will heal you, He will teach you and THIS - leading of Holy Spirit - is doing Father's will, because Holy Spirit KNOWS IT, BUT I DONT...
AND DOING FATHERS WILL...
True and False Disciples
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
so - what ever we do - in the name of Jesus!!! - doesn't matter...
if!
It is NOT will of Father - at that time, with that person, with those words...
right?
because people, who DO believe in Jesus, can use He's name to do miracles and those happening. Those must be christians? so - no our deeds , even IN THE NAME OF JESUS, no our words - NOTHING, but "
who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
just one thing more - Father KNOWS our weaknesses, and He help even here!
If you don't hear Him well yet - DO AS YOURS HEART TELL YOU - WHY?
because Proverbs 2 AND
Jeremiah 31
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
We give us under slavery of love - YET WE ARE NOT SLAVES
we give away our free will, when follow leading of Holy Spirit, yet we are FREE to do that. Because of trust - He KNOWS BETTER
And doesn't just love us - GOD IS LOVE.
Hi Eha,
I think you were responding to in the original post on this topic, but I wanted to respond to a Scripture you quoted that is commonly taken out of context.
Jeremiah 31-34
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
The above quote can be easily misunderstood if not taken into the context of other Passages about this New Covenant –
how and
when God will give a New Heart and New Spirit. The how and when is not mentioned in the Scripture you quoted. Therefore, we must learn the truth of the matter from the context of other Scriptures on this very topic.
For instance, God only gives a new heart and new spirit after you first repent and believe, that is, if you can accept the
how and
when that God himself defines:
“
A new heart and a new spirit” is defined by many in the Church as regeneration – a new creation that is accessed only by a repentant faith in the New Covenant.
Regarding that prophecy of the New Covenant, God explains the how and when the new heart and new spirit are received in the following. . .
Ezekiel 18 (NIV)
Bolding mine… 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed,
and get a
new heart and a
new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel?
Therefore, only one way exists to get a new heart and new spirit – only by first repenting in faith toward God. God asks the people of Israel why they should die when they could be saved - only be repentance.
Potter and the Clay also illustrates this truth....
In
Jeremiah 18:
2-11 (the Passage Paul used in
Romans 9), God (the Potter) purposes to form into a vessel of honor only those who repent. We must repent first. . . .
Jeremiah 18:
2-11 (WEB) Bolding mine… 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from
the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. . . 11 Now therefore,
speak to the men of Judah, and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Yahweh says:
Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you:
return you now everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
How a person or nation reacts in God's (Potter's) hands, will determine how God chooses to form the clay. The fact that the clay is marred in God's hands is not God's doing. Rather, the clay itself was marred, so God purposed to form it for destruction, unless they (the clay) heed God’s call to repent of all their evil and faithlessness.
God then summarizes in verse 11 - God is telling them the responsibility is on each one of them to repent and God would reconsider the punishment He had intended against them.
See also Ezekiel 33 on this very same point. . .
Ezekiel 33:11-12 (NIV) 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked,
but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
12 “Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’
Jeremiah 18 is the bases for Paul’s reasoning of
Romans 9, which confirms this very thing regarding God’s Sovereignty. This reality clearly shows the indescribable depth of God’s Sovereignty, Wisdom and Foresight, which is unlike any human sovereignty in that a Sovereign God is able to work out His perfect will and plans while at the same time allowing mankind free will choices.
Same in the following verses:
2 Timothy 2:19-21 (WEB) Bolding mine… 19 However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “
Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.”
20 Now in a
large house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of clay. Some are for
honor, and some for
dishonor. 21
If anyone therefore cleanses himself from latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and suitable for the master’s use, prepared for every good work.
God forms a vessel into something honorable and sanctified but only if they cleanse themselves from their latter deeds (repentance).
So, God, as the Potter, will have mercy on whom He will have mercy and will save whom he wills to save. And, regarding regeneration/salvation, the Scriptures declare throughout the OT and NT that
- God chooses to have mercy on, and save, those who repent
- God chooses to harden those who obstinately keep refusing His grace.
If God, in judgment, has to miraculously harden someone's heart so a person can no longer respond to His grace, then that means that, IF God had not miraculously intervened and hardened a person's heart in judgment, then that person could have believed. This truth refutes the idea that a person can only repent and believe if God miraculously causes it to be so, for if God had to miraculously hardens the hearts of those who kept obstinately refusing His grace, the people already have the free will choice to believe in the Gospel and the convicting work of the Spirit, and then by so doing, repent
- unless God miraculously hardens their hearts in judgment.
That is why Paul, at the end of Romans 9, sums up why God had punished Israel – because they pursued righteousness not by faith but by works. This is actually how Scripture itself teaches us regarding God’s Sovereignty from Genesis to Revelation.
That is the Scriptural context for Jeremiah 31
In the actual New Covenant that we are now in, salvation and the Spirit of God are only received by repentance and faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
2 Timothy 2:19-21 (WEB)
19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription:
- “The Lord knows those who are his,” and,
- “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord turns away from wickedness.”
As a New Creature in Christ by faith, YOU are responsible to:
• to put to death the misdeeds of the body to live: Romans 8:12-13
• offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness: Romans 6:18-19
• to live by and walk by the Spirit we receive so we won't fulfill the lusts of the flesh: Galatians 5:16
• to sow to the Spirit to reap eternal life: Galatians 6:8-9
• to live by the Spirit to fulfill the requirements of the whole law: Romans 8:3-4
• to take off the old self and to put on new self: Ephesians 4:24-25; Colossians 3:9-10
• to abstain from reaping to the flesh so we may enter the Kingdom of God: 1 Corinthians 6:7-10; Ephesians 5:1-6
• to live as slaves to God by which we reap holiness leading to eternal life: Romans 6:22 . .
Therefore, God sanctifies us through His Spirit that indwells the believer, but only as the believer is diligent to walk and live by the Spirit God gave the believer.
God Gracious Gift of Salvation – the regenerative work of God –
*is received by Faith (Romans 5:1-3)
*is kept by the power of God through faith (1 Peter 1:4-5)
*The end result of your faith is your salvation (1 Peter 1:9)
By faith I am justified: Romans 5:1
By faith God credits righteousness to me: Romans 4:3-11; Romans 4:2-24
By faith, not works, do I receive the free gift of salvation: Romans 9:30-33
By faith I access God's saving grace: Romans 5:1-2
By faith I receive the power of God onto salvation: Romans 1:16-17
By faith I receive His Spirit: Acts 2:38; Acts 5:32; Galatians 3:2; Ephesians 1:13-14; John 7:37-39; John 14:15-17; John 14:23
By faith I am regenerated by the Holy Spirit: John 7:37-39
By faith I am born of God: John 1:12-13; Galatians 3:26
By faith to the end I receive the Crown of Life: Revelation 2:10
By Faith in Jesus I am sanctified: Acts 26:16-18
By faith I am kept by God's Power until the end 1 Peter 1:4-5
The end result of my faith is my salvation 1 Peter 1:9
"From faith to faith, the righteous will live by faith." Romans 1:16-17
You must believe first to receive the Holy Spirit and His regenerating power...
John 7:37-39 (WEB) Bolding mine
38 He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.”
39 But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified.