searchingforGodlyanswers said:
St. Matthew 7:17-23 What is your interpretation of all these verses, verse by verse taking the whole chapter into consideration?
verse 22: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Taking the whole chapter into context, what does this mean?
If a person is saved, can that person have bad and good fruit? I know it is supposed to be all good, but what happens when there is some bad fruit mixed in with the good. What happens to the believer? Is the whole tree hewn down and cast into the fire? And further down it talks of people who do many wonderful works and prophesy in His name but He says He does not know them.
What do you make of these verses...
When a person is born again, spiritually, they are connected to God's Holy Spirit and have Him as a comforter and guide into all truth. The old-man of the flesh which represents our life before asking God into our lives is supposed to be dead, as baptism represents, and we step into our new lives as new creatures in Christ, but there is a problem with the old nature still living in us if we let it. We have to overcome the old dead nature of sin and the flesh. God gives us this grace to overcome in the lamb of God, Jesus. and we should have as our testimony that we are fighting the good fight of faith against the works of the flesh and the devil - sin. If we continue in faith, Jesus said that He will help us overcome sin and death, but we have to try. He is never fooled or mocked, as some people play games with God and count on what they mstakenly think of as their own goodness, even as so-called Christians, to save them. It is the humble person who submits Himself to God that God will truely use.
Re 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Paul morned at having the old sin nature to battle but rejoiced that God had overcomed it all through Jesus. Check these verses which speak to the matter:
Romans 7:5 I dont understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I dont do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate.
16 I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good.
17 But I cant help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things.
18 I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I cant make myself do right. I want to, but I cant.
19 When I want to do good, I dont. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway.
20 But if I am doing what I dont want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it.
21 It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
22 I love Gods law with all my heart.
23 But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?
25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey Gods law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Ga 5:16 So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you wont be doing what your sinful nature craves.
17 The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict.
Many will claim the Lord's name but not do any of the works that He has said we will do who belong to Him. They will be like the rich young ruler who wanted eternal life as just another possession. Do you see the Church being made merchandise of today? Are people selling Jesus and right standing with God? Yes, and this is warned of in the Bible. Following after the Lord is death to self, and a long work that takes a life time to accomplish and only then by the blood of Jesus and a heart submitted unto Him.
Just walking into a Church doesn't make one a true believer of God, nor does putting on a great show and speaking God's word make one a prophet and a godly man. It is the person who does the will of God and obeys Him for their life - not their own idea driven by pride or greed in His name. Some people are like wolves dressed in sheeps clothing who feed upon the flock.
Ac 20:29 I know full well that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock.
2Pet. 2:1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end.
2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered.
3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way.
