The Heart of the Matter

[Christsfreeservant]

1 John 1:1-4 ESV

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.​

Jesus Christ, God the Son, was from the beginning with God and he was (is) God. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (Jn. 1:3). Yet, He left his throne in heaven, and he humbled himself “by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7), and he made his dwelling among men (Jn. 1:14).

When he was the age of 30, I believe it was, he began his earthly ministry. And, so he called for himself twelve disciples who were to work alongside him in ministry for three years. John was one of those disciples who followed Jesus, and so he was giving an eyewitness account of what he saw and experienced with Jesus while he was on the earth fulfilling his purpose.

For, Jesus Christ was (and is) the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that through his seed all nations would be blessed. And, if we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to that promise (Gen. 22:18; Gal. 3:16, 26-29; Gal. 4:28).

Jesus is the Christ who was to come, the Messiah of God’s people. All who believe on him in truth believe in the God of Abraham. All who do not believe in Jesus Christ do not believe in the God of Abraham, and they are not heirs according to the promise. But, they are the antichrist (1 Jn. 2:22).

Jesus Christ is the Word of Life, he is Life, and he is the giver of life, both that of flesh and blood, and that of the Spirit of God, i.e. eternal life.

Through God-given faith in Jesus Christ, in death to sin, and in resurrection with Christ to new life in Christ, we have eternal life with God. But, this eternal life is not just the promise of heaven when we die. It is the hope of a transformed life away from sin to God while we still live on this earth.

John’s purpose in writing this was to proclaim to his readers that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come, and who had now come.

It was to let them know that, through faith in him, they could have eternal life with God. For, he wanted them to be part of the fellowship of God, too, which would mean that they were in fellowship with the other disciples, as well. For, John knew that only through God-given faith in Jesus Christ can any of us be in fellowship with God and have life (eternal life) in Him.

1 John 1:5-6 ESV

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ​

Ok, now we get to the crux of the matter. We are not saved from our sins, with the hope of eternal life with God, via some nebulous faith in Jesus.

Many people today are just telling people to believe or to have faith but they don’t explain what that means. Or else they give the impression that such faith is a mere acknowledgment of who Jesus is (and was) or that it is a mere acceptance of his death on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

But, if we are truly to be in fellowship with God, be saved from our sins, and to have eternal life with God, we have to die with Christ to sin and we have to live with Christ to his righteousness, for this is why he died (1 Pet. 2:24).

Many people today are teaching that we can believe in Jesus and yet continue in our sinful lifestyles, and that God doesn’t even see our sin anymore, and, in fact, he delights in us even if we are vegging out on porn. For, they teach that all God requires is this nebulous faith and that he does not require repentance, obedience or submission to Christ as our Lord.

But, John blows that theory out of the water here. He lets us know that if we claim to be in fellowship with God, via faith in him, but we walk (in lifestyle, in practice) in darkness (sin addiction), that we are liars who don’t live by the truth. Ouch!

John didn’t soft pedal the truth one iota, did he? Why? Because he wasn’t concerned about offending people or hurting their feelings. He was concerned that they were dying and going to hell based on a lie.

1 John 1:7-10 ESV

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.​

So, do we want to be in fellowship with God and with one another? We must walk (in lifestyle, in practice) in the light (truth, righteousness). And, then the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins.

So many people don’t get this. So many people who call themselves Christians and followers of Jesus do not get this, for they are not being taught this. But, this is taught all throughout the New Testament. For, we are not saved from our sins based on some past belief. Our eternal life with God is not founded in some one-time experience at an altar.

True faith in Jesus Christ, which is God-given faith, endures. It continues. And, it walks (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit of God and not according to the flesh (Rom. 8:1-17; Lu. 9:23-25). So, if you have been told that you can believe in Jesus and still continue on in your sinful addictions, you have been fed a lie from hell.

What Jesus taught and what his NT apostles taught is that we are saved (past), we are being saved (present) and that we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns and our salvation is complete. The belief in Jesus that guarantees us eternal life with God is present tense, not past tense.

Also, what scripture teaches is that our faith in Jesus Christ means we die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, not just once, but daily by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh. And, it means what we practice is righteousness, not unrighteousness.

For, if we walk (conduct our lives) according to the flesh/sin (in practice, in lifestyle), WE WILL DIE in our sins, not have eternal life with God in heaven. For, we will reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction (decay, death). But, if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life with God (Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

So, don’t believe the lies. Believe the truth. If you are basing your hope of eternal life with God on some one-time experience where you prayed a prayer after someone else and where you invited Jesus Christ into your life, please know that alone does not assure you eternal life with God.

For, we must walk according to the Spirit. We must walk in the light (truth, righteousness). We must deny self and take up our cross daily and follow Jesus, not in absolute perfection, but in daily practice.

And, we must not live to fulfill the lusts of the flesh and make the flesh our god in place of God. And, Jesus Christ is to be the only Lord of our lives, not ourselves and not our fleshly desires. For this is the grace of God at work in our hearts and lives in cleansing us from all sin, as we surrender our wills to the will of God. And, then we have the hope of eternal life with God.

He Gives Purpose

An Original Work / June 9, 2012

“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.
Obey freely My word.
Follow Me in all of My ways.
Do all that I say.
Hear Me gently whisper to you
My will for your life and future.
Give all of your life and heart to
Follow Me always.”

Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.
He’s your Lord and Master.
He died for your sins so you could
Live with Him today.
He has a plan for your life and
He gives purpose and direction.
He gives meaning to your life,
So follow Him today.

“I love you so much I gave My life for
You to walk in My ways,
Living for Me each day as you
Bow to Me and pray.
Witness for Me of your love for Me and
Of My grace and mercy,
How I died to save you of your
Sins now and always.”

Friday, February 22, 2019

 

[Carl Emerson]

So, don’t believe the lies. Believe the truth. If you are basing your hope of eternal life with God on some one-time experience where you prayed a prayer after someone else and where you invited Jesus Christ into your life, please know that alone does not assure you eternal life with God.

For, we must walk according to the Spirit. We must walk in the light (truth, righteousness). We must deny self and take up our cross daily and follow Jesus, not in absolute perfection, but in daily practice.

And, we must not live to fulfill the lusts of the flesh and make the flesh our god in place of God. And, Jesus Christ is to be the only Lord of our lives, not ourselves and not our fleshly desires. For this is the grace of God at work in our hearts and lives in cleansing us from all sin, as we surrender our wills to the will of God. And, then we have the hope of eternal life with God.

Thanks for your effort in presenting this...

If you have time, can you explain how the prophesies of Jeremiah fit into your thesis.

Jeremiah predicted a New Covenant to come in which He would put the fear of the Lord in believers to seal them against disobedience.

You can read it here...

38 They will be My people, and I will be their God.
39 I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will never turn away from Me.

From Isaiah 11:2 we read that His anointing includes seven aspects which are listed to include the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.

So if being born again means receiving this anointing within us then it is indeed a one time permanent transfer from the kingdom of darkness to His eternal family.

Please consider this aspect if His word on the matter.

Blessings,

Carl Emerson.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Thanks for your effort in presenting this...

If you have time, can you explain how the prophesies of Jeremiah fit into your thesis.

Jeremiah predicted a New Covenant to come in which He would put the fear of the Lord in believers to seal them against disobedience.

You can read it here...

38 They will be My people, and I will be their God.
39 I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will never turn away from Me.

From Isaiah 11:2 we read that His anointing includes seven aspects which are listed to include the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.

So if being born again means receiving this anointing within us then it is indeed a one time permanent transfer from the kingdom of darkness to His eternal family.

Please consider this aspect if His word on the matter.

Blessings,

Carl Emerson.

Carl, First tell me what you make of these verses, many of which I referenced in this devotional:

Luke 9:23-25: “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”

John 10:27-30: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

Gal. 5:19-21: “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” *

Galatians 6:7-8: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

Ephesians 4:17-24: “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Eph. 5:3-6: But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Titus 2:11-14: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

1 Pet. 2:24-25: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Ro. 8:3-14: “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

1 Jn. 1:5-9: “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

What do you believe they are saying?

 

[Carl Emerson]

Hi there,

Are you asking for an in-depth commentary on each verse? What purpose will this serve?

I was simply asking how this Prophesy of Jeremiah fits into your presentation...

If you have given it some consideration, what was your conclusion?

Blessings,

Carl Emerson.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Hi there,

Are you asking for an in-depth commentary on each verse? What purpose will this serve?

I was simply asking how this Prophesy of Jeremiah fits into your presentation...

If you have given it some consideration, what was your conclusion?

Blessings,

Carl Emerson.

Carl, You are going off the subject. Do you know what these scriptures are saying? I taught what they teach. If you want to know how they fit with the prophecy of Jeremiah, then perhaps you should search that out yourself. I was teaching on 1 John 1 and I offered supportive scriptures which all pretty much give the same message.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Hi Sue,

OK I understand what you are saying.

Yes as I read your excellent collection of scriptures, the relationship between sanctification and reconciliation is quite clear. Jeremiah further predicted that the sealing of the salvation of new covenant believers is achieved by the indwelling presence of the fear of Him.

Blessings,

Carl Emerson.