Part 6: Faith in Jesus, or is it Faith in Something else?
Manage episode 350280873 series 3389906
Yes, my statements fly contrary to centuries of traditional Christianity, but the truth is found in Scripture. What will you believe, what you believe or what the Scripture actually says.
Let’s break the tradition-o-meter right now.
Jesus does not continue to live in those that practice sin without repentance.
Ouch!
Is that Biblical? We’ve read it every time on these podcasts.
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed youare disqualified(2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV).
A person could be disqualified from having Jesus in their life through an insistence to live sinfully, and by a refusal to re-apply the blood of Jesus to their lives through confession of their sins to God (1 John 1:7-9). The practice of sin, or living a sinful lifestyle is what disqualifies a born again Christian from having Jesus in them.
The disqualification spoken of here is not that one was a pagan that never knew Jesus, and therefore has never had Jesus in their lives. No, the context of Paul’s statement here is geared specifically towards Christians that have drifted back into sin and have not repented.
For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repentedof the uncleanness, fornication,and lewdness which they have practiced (2 Cor. 12:20, 21).
We also look at the two parts of righteousness in the New Testament. Specifically, we mention righteousness as the gift of God when we came to Jesus. Then we reiterate that we are told to live righteously, or that we are to practice righteousness. That speaks of keeping moral behavior in line with God’s Word and commandments.
All that and a bag of chips, just for you! Sorry, no bag of chips and no bonbons. That’s right. No cotton candy, and no popcorn as you watch a movie. Only the pure and unadulterated Word of God here! That is what will make you grow up in Him.
Be blessed with this anointed podcast!
Get A Call to Return: Restoring The Roots of Our Relationship With Jesus as an ebook, softcover, or hardcover book from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christianbook, Westbow Press, or order it through your favorite bookstore.
From the Back Cover:
A Call to Return—Restoring the Roots of Our Relationship with Jesus explores the depths of the Scriptures to excavate, refine, and lift up its words of power, revealing deep truths that will radically change the lives of believers. By tapping into this rich vein of biblical insight, Dan Alan Rodriguez offers Christians the insights to enable them to set out upon paths of discipleship that follow Jesus closely and that lead to profound experiences of His presence and power.
Drawing upon the author’s study of first-century Judaism and Christianity and resting upon a diverse array of sources steeped in the foundational texts of these traditions, the twelve chapters of A Call to Return address a series of interlocking topics: a prophetic call to return; the revival of lawlessness; the revival, purpose, and preexistence of God’s commandments; the church’s commandments and their connections to faith, grace, and good works; the association of works of the law to Jewish tradition and ceremony; holiness; the fear of the Lord; each believer as a temple of the holy; and the meaning of loving the Lord Jesus.
If you have a sense that Jesus’s message and ministry are calling you to embark upon a walk with Him that might take you away from all in Christianity that requires no accountability or responsibility before God, then A Call to Return—Restoring the Roots of Our Relationship with Jesus is the right book for you to read. It will give you the keys for understanding and responding to the Lord’s call to return to Him and to follow where He leads.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:29 NASB).
More books have been published and they will become available again in the process of time.130 एपिसोडस