What It Means to Believe in Jesus Christ

The Ultimate

Core

Eternal Life - Salvation & Overcoming

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Something learned from 43 yrs of reading/analyzing entire NT 100s and 100s of times: BELIEVE ALL OF IT, "And he said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Jesus Mat18:3

 
^Luk1:37“For nothing is impossible with God.”

- angel Gabriel talking with Mary about the birth of Christ,
 who was conceived in her by the Holy Spirit.

^Luk3:16“ ..... He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” - John the Baptist speaking of Jesus

 
  

^Joh5:28“ ..... a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his* voice ²⁹and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

    * Jesus'

   

' ..... God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.' - 1Joh4:16-17

  

  
   

   
^2The2:10 ..... They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. .....

  ¹² ..... all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.  

^Joh5:42“ ..... I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ..... ⁴⁴How can you believe if you ..... make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?”

      

     

     
   
^Joh7:17“If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” -  Jesus

    
^Act26:20“First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent^4a and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”

 

^Luk3:8“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ..... ⁹The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” - John the Baptist

 
   

  

   
^Act10:34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

  
 
 
 
 

^Luk24:46 ..... “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Repenting and Believing are inextricably linked.
  
^Act10:43“All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

   
 
^Jam2:14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 ¹⁸ ..... Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

..... ²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” (Gen 15:6) and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

..... ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

^Act5:32“ ..... the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

^Gal3:11 ..... “The righteous will live by faith*.” (Hab 2:4) .....
 

*  NIV Hab2:4 footnote says the word may be translated as faith OR faithfulness,      which means: steadfast, steady, firm, strict, and thorough in adherence to promises and in observances, performance, and discharge of (official) duty, the execution of commands, the transaction of business  showing fidelity (loyal, accuracy in details, exactness)

  
^Rom8:12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.

¹³For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die;

 but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

 ¹⁴because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ..... ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. ¹⁷ ..... we are ..... heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, ..... if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

 
^1Pet4:1Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. ²As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. ³For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery^2a, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. ..... ⁵But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

^Jam1:12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

  

 
 

^1Cor10:13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

 

 

 

^Heb2:18Because he* himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

   * Christ

^Heb4:15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
  

 
^Rom14:23 ..... everything that does not come from faith is sin.

^Gal5:6 ..... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
  

^1Cor13:6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

  ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸Love never fails. .....

 

 

^1Cor16:14Do everything in love.

^1Tim1:4 ..... God's work—which is by faith. ⁵The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

A pure heart and good conscience are connected with obedience, which is connected with faith,
and these result in truly loving people.

Again:  faith, obedience, and love are tightly connected.

 ^1Tim1:18 ..... fight the good fight, ¹⁹holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.

^Heb9:14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

.....

 ²⁶ ..... But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

.....  ¹⁴ ..... by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

 

^1Pet2:21 ..... Christ suffered for you .....

 ²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

^Heb10:26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

 

^Phi3:18 ..... many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

         
 

 
  

^1Cor6:9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders ¹⁰nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified^1a, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

 

^Eph5:3But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

.....

  ⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

 

  ⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

^2Tim2:19 ..... God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” (Num 16:5) and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” 
 

'Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ..... As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.' (Jam2:17, 26)

 

 
^Act3:26“When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” - speaking about Jesus

   

^Jam4:7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ..... ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
 
  

 

^Eph6:16 ..... take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

 
 

 
^1Pet1:6 ..... now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

                
.....

 ^1Pet5:10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

.....

  ¹² ..... this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
  

God makes us strong by permeating us with His presence; divine inspiration.   ' "For the joy of the Lord is your strength." ' (Neh8:10) " 'You have made known to me the paths of life;       you will fill me with joy in your presence.' "          (Psa 16:8-11OT) (Act2:28)   - King David speaking of Jesus talking to God the Father

 

 
^2Cor1:21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. 

 
.....

 ²⁴ ..... it is by faith you stand firm.

 

^1Pet1:4 ..... you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God's power .....

  

  

^1Cor8:3But the man who loves God is known by God.

^2Joh1:6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

 

^Rom13:9The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” (Exo20:13-15,17; Deu5:17-19,21) and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev19:18) ¹⁰Love does no harm to its neighbor.
  

^1Cor7:19 ..... Keeping God's commands is what counts.

 
 
 

 
 

^Mar12:28 ..... “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

 ²⁹“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: .....

³⁰'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' ” (Deu 6:4-5)  

 

 
  
  

 ^1Joh5:3This is love for God: to obey his commands.

  And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴for everyone born of God overcomes the world.

  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
   

.....

 
 ¹⁸We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
 

'You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. 
 And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.' - Rom8:9

 
^Jer29:12“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.”

 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." - Joh8:34

^1Joh2:14 .....

       you are strong,
       and the word of God lives in you,
       and you have overcome the evil one.

^2Cor4:18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

^2Cor5:7We live by faith, not by sight.

^2Cor5:16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.

^Mat5:28“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”
 

^2Pet2:14With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! ¹⁵They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
  

      ..... ¹⁸by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity^5a—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

 ²⁰If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. ²¹It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.

 ²²Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” (Pro 26:11) and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
 
 
 

 
^Jam4:4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?

Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  

^3Joh1:11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.

          Anyone who does what is good is from God.

          Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

 
^1Joh3:29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

^Joh8:31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
  

 ^Joh14:

   ¹⁵“If you love me, you will obey what I command.

 ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— ¹⁷the Spirit of truth. ..... you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ..... ¹⁹Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

 
 ²¹“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.

He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

.....
 
 ²³Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.

My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

 ²⁴He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”

 
.....

 ³⁴Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

 
 

 
^2Cor2:17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

^1Tim6:12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called .....   
 

^Act14:21 ..... they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, ²²strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

^Heb12:7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ..... ⁹ ..... submit to the Father of our spirits and live! ¹⁰ ..... God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

 

^Rev3:19“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent^4b.” -  Jesus
 

 

^1Cor11:32 ..... we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

 
 

^Heb5:8Although he was a son*, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him .....

     * Jesus

^Heb2:10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God ..... should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. ¹¹Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

 
   
  

  

          

 

^2Cor4:16Therefore we do not lose heart. .....

inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
  

^1The4:9 ..... you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. ¹⁰ ..... Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

^Jam1:21 ..... get rid of all moral filth ..... and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

 ²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

^Joh12:47“As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. ⁴⁸There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.”

 

^Mat12:50“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

^Luk8:21He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.”

                

^Mat5:22“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”

  

.....

 ^Jam1:26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

^Mat12:36“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

^Jam3:2 ..... If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
 

^Heb10:37For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay.

    ³⁸But my righteous one will live by faith*.
   And if he shrinks back,
       I will not be pleased with him.” (Hab 2:3,4)

  ³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

*  NIV Hab2:4 footnote says the word may be translated as faith OR faithfulness,      which means: steadfast, steady, firm, strict, and thorough in adherence to promises and in observances, performance, and discharge of (official) duty, the execution of commands, the transaction of business  showing fidelity (loyal, accuracy in details, exactness)

  
^Heb12:1 ..... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, .....

^Eph2:10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

^Tit2:11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem^6b us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
  

  
^2Cor9:8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

.....

 ¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

 ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, .....

                         

 
^Act15:8“God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, ..... ⁹ ..... he purified their hearts by faith.”

^Act26:17“ ' ..... I am sending you to them ¹⁸to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified^1b by faith in me.' ”  -  Jesus speaking to Paul 

^Act2:38Peter replied, “Repent^4c and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

 

' ..... by faith we ..... receive the promise of the Spirit.' - Gal3:14

 

Repentance and Faith are inextricably linked. You can't really believe without really repenting. You can't really repent without really believing. Earnestly seek to do both and God will enable you.

^Mar1:15..... Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

- the first thing Jesus said when he started his ministry

 

^Gal2:20“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

 
^Rom6:6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,

  that we should no longer be slaves to sin .....

.....

 ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

  ¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness,

 but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

 ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

^Rom6:16Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are

  slaves to sin, which leads to death,

  or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

 ¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

 ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

 ¹⁹ ..... Just as you used to offer the parts of your body

in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness,

so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

.....

  ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God,

 the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

 ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

^Rom7:

 ⁵For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.

 ⁶But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit .....

^Rom8:2

  ..... through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

 

 ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, ⁴in order that

 

God's law is perfect,    'The law of the LORD is perfect,        reviving the soul.        The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,        making wise the simple.    The precepts of the LORD are right,        giving joy to the heart.        The commands of the LORD are radiant,        giving light to the eyes.    The fear of the LORD is pure,        enduring forever.        The ordinances of the LORD are sure        and altogether righteous.'          (Psa19:7-9) 'So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.' (Rom7:12)

the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us,

who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

 ⁵Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires;

 but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

 

 

⁶The mind of sinful man is death,

 but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

 

 

 ⁷the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

 
 ⁹You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit,

  if the Spirit of God lives in you.

 And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

 
 

^2Cor13:5Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? ..... ⁸For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ..... ¹¹ ..... Aim for perfection, ..... 

"God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, .....
                  ..... he purified their hearts by faith.” - Act15:8-9

'This is how we know we are in him:

⁶Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.' - 1Joh2:5-6

'..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷But 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, purifies us from all sin.' - 1John1:5-7

'Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.' - 1Joh3:24

'¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, .....' - Joh3:18-19   

  

 

 

 

   

^Rom2:29No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, .....

 

^Tit3:5 ..... He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, .....

 ¹³ ..... from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying^1c work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 

^Col1:21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

^1Cor15:1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ²By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

 

^Heb3:6But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

 
^Eph3:14For this reason I kneel before the Father,

..... ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 ²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

[his incomparably great power for us who believe.  Eph1:19]  

    ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

 

^Col2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, ¹²having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

^Col3:1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. .....

 ⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: [bitterness Eph4:3], anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

.....

 ¹² ..... clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

^Mat6:14“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

 
 

^Mat7:1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ²For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 
^Jam5:9Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

^Luk6:37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

 

^Jam2:13 ..... judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

 

^Mat5:7“Blessed are the merciful,
              for they will be shown mercy.”

^Luk6:36“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

 

 

^Rom12:18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

^Mat5:9“Blessed are the peacemakers,
                for they will be called sons of God.”

 

 

^2Tim3:12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

 ¹³while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

^Phi1:29For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, .....

 

^Mat5:10“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

                   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 

 

 

^Mat5:44“But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. ..... ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
 

^Luk6:35“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

   

 
^Col1:11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. ¹³For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption^6c, the forgiveness of sins.

 
  

^2Cor3:18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

^Col1:27 ..... God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 ²⁸We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ²⁹To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
 
 

 
^Act1:8“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses ..... ” -  Jesus
  
  

The following is what people will witness from you:  love:

 

^1The2:10You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. ¹¹For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, ¹²encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

  

Living holy, righteous, blameless  =  living a life of love.

^Mat28:18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - after Jesus' resurrection from the dead
  

  
  
^1Cor15:58 ..... stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

^1Tim4:12 ..... set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

..... 

 ¹⁵Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. ¹⁶Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 

  
  

 

 

^2Cor4:13It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” (Psa 116:10) With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, .....

 

Real faith comes out by telling others about salvation through Jesus Christ: 'The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.' (Gal5:6)  and ' "Love your neighbor as yourself." ' (Lev19:18 OT) (Rom13:9)   If we love people we will want them to get saved and talk with them about it, pray for them, and do this on an ongoing basis out of earnest concern, with gentleness and respect.

 

 
 

^Mat10:32“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” - Jesus

 
^Act4:31 ..... And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
 

 

^2Tim1:7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
 

 ⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, ..... join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

^Rom1:16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: ..... ¹⁷For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith*.” (Hab 2:4)

   

*  NIV Hab2:4 footnote says the word may be translated as faith OR faithfulness,      which means: steadfast, steady, firm, strict, and thorough in adherence to promises and in observances, performance, and discharge of (official) duty, the execution of commands, the transaction of business  showing fidelity (loyal, accuracy in details, exactness)

 
Through faith-fulness in Jesus we become righteous in our ways.

 

   

^2Tim2:24And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance^4g leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

 

 
 

 
^Eph2:1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 

 ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

 

^2Pet3:9The Lord ..... is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 
 

You must turn from your sin and evil ways in order not to perish; this is what goes along with real faith and believing in God, in Jesus. ' "But unless you repent, you too will all perish" ' (Luk13:32)

..... ¹⁵Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, .....

^Rom2:4 ..... the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, ..... God's kindness leads you toward repentance .....

 
  

 
 
 

 
^1Joh2:10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
 

^2Cor5:17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ ..... ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us [OR, be a sin offering], so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

            "Everything is possible for Him who believes." - Mar9:23

                      "Nothing is impossible with God." - Luk1:37  You are with me God.

^2Cor6:16 ..... For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Lev 26:12; Jer 32:38; Eze 37:27)

   ¹⁷“Therefore come out from them
           and be separate, says the Lord.
        Touch no unclean thing,
           and I will receive you.” (Isa 52:11; Eze 20:34,41)
   ¹⁸“I will be a Father to you,
           and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2Sam 7:14; 7:8)

 
^2Cor7:1Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

 
^1Tim4:7 ..... train yourself to be godly.  

^1The4:3It is God's will that you should be sanctified^1d: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; ..... ⁷For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. ⁸Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
 

^Gal5:16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

.....

 ¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery^2b; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

  
^Luk14:33 ..... “any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
  

^Mat13:44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

  
^Mar8:34 ..... “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross [daily Luk9:23] and follow me. ³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul [very self Luk9:25]? ³⁷Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
 

^Joh12:25“The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

^Luk14:26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” 
 

We hate the sinfulness in all of us.

 
  

 
 
 

 

 

  
^Mat6:24“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

 

^Luk12:33“Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”

 

^Luk19:8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

 ⁹Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
 

Very, very few instances of Jesus pronouncing someone saved. This is one.

True salvation comes when you truly repent.   Zacchaeus truly repented, therefore it changed his actions. This showed he believed in God, just as Abraham did when he went to sacrifice Isaac (Jam2:21, Gen15). His heart change was real because it changed his life.     'Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth.' (1Joh3:18)   'Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? ..... For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth' (2Cor13:5-8)     Turning to God, Zacchaeus changed from serving self to loving others. 'But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.' (1Joh2:5) 'Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.' (Eph5:1-2)   How you act shows how you believe.

 

  

   

   

  

   

^Mat7:13“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

 

By all means, go all out in your faith; this is really the only way to do it because: ' "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"  "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ..... 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' " ' (Deu6:4-5 OT) (Mar12:28-30)   God gets what he wants, he is shrewd and tough: ' "I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow." ' (Luk19:22). Err on the side of without question doing right according to God's written Word! God wants people who love Him with everything they've got, and in the end you can be certain that's what He will have.

  

 

^Mat7:21“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
 

God can tell by what you do whether you really believe in Him, love Him.

 

 

^Luk6:46“Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. ⁴⁸He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

 

  

^Luk13:23Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

   He said to them, ²⁴“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.”

 

^Mat11:12“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”

 

^Mar10:15“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
 

Ultimately you may not be able to reason your way out of sinning, but must simply obey, like a little child. And it may take forcefulness to do this as an adult, to object to and reject your own reasoning (what makes sense to you) and desires, passions, urges, cravings, sinful behaviors and pleasures, fixation on pleasure, selfish over-indulgences, in order to simply obey the authority of God.

 

^Luk16:16“ ..... the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.”

^Rev1:5 ..... To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

^Rev2:1“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

      These are the words of him who ..... walks among the seven golden lampstands*: ²I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. ⁴Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. ⁵Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent^4e and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ ..... To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

    * the words are Jesus', and the lampstands are the churches

.....

 ¹¹“ ..... He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.”
 

^Rev3:1“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

      ..... I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ²Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. ³Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent^4f. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. ⁴Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. ⁵He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.” 
 

"Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed." - Rev16:15

When Jesus comes by surprise there won't be time to repent and believe anymore, there won't be time to do anything.
           (see the parable of the 10 virgins - Mat25:1)

   
^Rev19:6Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

   “Hallelujah!
        For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
   ⁷Let us rejoice and be glad
        and give him glory!
     For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
        and his bride has made herself ready.
   ⁸Fine linen, bright and clean,
        was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

^Rev21:1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

 ⁵He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

 ⁶He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”

 “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”  
 

 ⁷“He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

 ⁸“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

"If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?

But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;

it desires to have you, but you must master it." - Gen4:7

-  God speaking to Cain, Adam's son.

 
.....

 ²²I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

^Rev22:10Then he told me, “..... the time is near. ¹¹Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” - angel speaking to John

         God does not want people who are just trying to escape hell
               but have no love or desire to live for Him, like Him.

 ¹²“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

 
^1Cor4:4 ..... It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ ..... the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

 
^Heb4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

 

'..... God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ ....' - Rom2:16

 
 
^Rev2:23“ ..... I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” -  Jesus

 

' "I the LORD search the heart         and examine the mind,         to reward a man according to his conduct,         according to what his deeds deserve." ' (Jer17:10)

 
  
"⁴³No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. ⁴⁵The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." - Luk6:43-35
  

"¹⁸When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money ¹⁹and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." ²¹Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²²Repent of this wickedness ....." - Act8:18-22
 

'⁹That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.' - Rom10:9

 

Therefore, if a person really believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord, then they will produce good fruit.
 

"But the seed that fell on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." - Luk8:15

 

"¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." - Mat7:16-19

 
  
  

 
 

^2Cor5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

¹¹..... Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. .....
   
  

 

' “ ..... Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)' - Rev19:8

   
 
 ¹⁴“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

'²²And the LORD God said "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." ²³So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.' - Gen3:22-24

“ ..... He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” - Luk3:16-17 - John the Baptist speaking of Jesus

^Rom12:212Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

.....

 ⁹ ..... Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

.....

 ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

^Mat13:40“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴²They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ..... ”

^Rev20:10And the devil ..... was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

 

  

 
 ¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. ¹⁴Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 
 
 

^Gal6:7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

  ⁸The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction;

the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

 ⁹Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

^2The3:13 ..... never tire of doing what is right.

^Rom1:4 ..... Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

^Rom2:6God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” (Psa 62:12; Pro 24:12) ⁷To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. ⁸But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

^2The1:3We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. ⁴Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
 
 ⁵All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷and give relief to you who are troubled ..... ⁸He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord .....

..... ¹¹With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

^Heb6:7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

 ⁹Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. ¹⁰God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. ¹²We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

^Heb3:12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵As has just been said: 

   “Today, if you hear his voice,
        do not harden your hearts
     as you did in the rebellion.” (Psa 95:7,8)

  ¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
 

 Disobedience and Unbelief are inextricably linked.

^Heb4:1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ²For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. ³Now we who have believed enter that rest, .....

..... ⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. ¹¹Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

^1Cor10:1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. ²They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

 ⁶Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. ⁷Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” (Exo 32:6) ⁸We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

 ¹¹These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

   
 ^Jud1:5Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. ⁷In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

 ¹⁴Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied ..... : “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones ¹⁵to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ¹⁶These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires .....

^2Tim3:4 ..... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
   

  

  

^Tit1:16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

  
  

^2Tim3:6They are ..... loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. ⁸ ..... these men oppose the truth—men of depraved^5b minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.

   

  

^2Pet2:9 ..... the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. ¹⁰This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature .....

.....

 ²⁰But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. ²¹Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
   

 ^Heb10:24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

^Rom15:16 ..... so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified^1e by the Holy Spirit.

..... ¹⁸I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God .....

 

 

 

^Rom16:25Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, ..... ²⁶ ..... so that all nations might believe and obey him— ²⁷to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

^1Cor1:4I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ..... ⁸He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

^1Joh2:3We know that we have come to know him* if we obey his commands.

 
 ⁴The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

    * Christ

  ⁵But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.

  This is how we know we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

^Act10:38“ ..... God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, ..... he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” 

^Rev4:8 ..... “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
                   who was, and is, and is to come.”

^1Joh1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

  ⁷But 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, purifies us from all sin.

^Heb12:14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.  
 

We must make every effort to be holy if we want to be with God. This is an expression of our faith. Then God will do the impossible for us by enabling us to actually live a holy life through the power of His Holy Spirit. ' "For nothing is impossible with God." ' (Luk1:37), with God's powerful Spirit living in us, ' "Everything is possible for him who believes." ' (Mar9:23)

 
 .....  

           ^Mat5:8“Blessed are the pure in heart,
                          for they will see God.”

 

^1Pet1:15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (Lev 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7)

 

^Eph4:22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
   

   
   
 ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 
^Rom8:29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

^Gal6:14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵ ..... what counts is a new creation.

^Eph4:13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

^1Joh3:2But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

  ³Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

 

 
.....

  ⁵But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.

 

 ⁶No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

 ⁷Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.

  He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

 

 ⁸He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.  

 ⁹No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
 

'You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. 
 And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.' - Rom8:9

 ¹⁰This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

^1Joh4:19We love because he first loved us. ..... ²¹And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

^Mar9:23“ ..... Everything is possible for him who believes.” 

    ^Phi4:13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

^Tit1:1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—

 ²a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, .....

^Joh17:17“Sanctify^1f them by the truth; your word is truth.”
 

 '..... the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.' - 1The2:13
 

^Act20:32“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

^2Pet1:2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

 ³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

 ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  
^Joh15:4“Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

 ⁵ ..... If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;

 

Extremes, one or the other, no in-between.

 
..... ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

^Joh15:1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
 

' "Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him." ' (Luk8:18)

'Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.' - Rom11:22

^Luk13:6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' ”

 ⁸“ 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' ”

 
^Mat5:13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
 

People who live by God's principles of faith, love, and purity no matter what are the salt of the earth.

^Mat21:43“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

 

There is a huge contrast between remaining and producing fruit in Christ and not. One is not even saved (previous passage) while the other has whatever he asks (next passage).   It's black and white,   2 extremes.

 
 
  ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

 ⁸This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

  

.....

^2Pet1:10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ¹¹and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

^1Pet1:22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
 

 

^Mat5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
               for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

            .....

           ⁵Blessed are the meek,
                for they will inherit the earth.”

 

^Phi2:12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed ..... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

 

 ¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved^5c generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe ¹⁶as you hold out the word of life .....

 

 

 

 

 

^Joh14:6Jesus answered,

“I am the way and the truth and the life.

  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

  
  
  
 

   

^Joh14:10“ ..... it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

 ¹²I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

 ¹³And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
 

  

^Joh16:23“ ..... I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

  ²⁴ ..... Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

 

 

 

^Joh15:9“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

 ¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love,

  just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.

 

^Joh16:31“ ..... I love the Father and ..... I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”

 

Jesus showed His love for the Father by obeying His commands:   We must do the same. 'This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.' (1Joh2:5-6)

^Mar1:11And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

^Joh8:29“The one who sent me is with me;
he has not left me alone,
for I always do what pleases him.”

'In him was life, and that life was the light of men.' - Joh1:4

.....

 ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

 

  ¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

 ¹³Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

  ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Jesus laid down his life for his friends. To be his friend we must obey his command to love others as he loved us. So we must lay down our lives for our friends in order to be with Jesus.

^Gal6:2Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

 

 

 

 

^1Joh3:14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.

  Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

 ¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

 

^1Tim5:8If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

^2Cor8:7 ..... see that you also excel in this grace of giving. ⁸ ..... I want to test the sincerity of your love ..... ²⁴ ..... show ..... the proof of your love .....

 

 ¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

 ²¹Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²²and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

 

  ²³And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

 
  

 
 

^Mat21:21Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, ..... you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. ²²If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

  

^Jam1:6 ..... he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

 
^Mar11:22“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

²⁵And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
 

 

^Luk17:5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

 ⁶He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.”

 

^Joh15:16“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

  ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.”
  
 

 
 

 ²⁴Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

 

 

 

 

^1Joh4:7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

          Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

 

 ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. .....

 
  ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

^1Tim6:15 ..... God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
 

The following is therefore  inexpressibly huge:

 

 ¹³We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

 
 
.....

      ¹⁶ ..... God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

 ¹⁷In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

 

 

^Eph5:1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ²and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

 

   

    

  

  
^1The5:23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify^1d you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
 

 
 

 

      
    

   

^Mat25:31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”

 ³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' ”

 ³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ..... ' ”

..... ⁴⁰“ .....'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' ”

 ⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' ”

..... ⁴⁵“ ..... 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' ”

 ⁴⁶“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

   

 

 

 

 

  
^Joh10:15“ ..... I lay down my life for the sheep. ..... ¹⁷The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.”  -  Jesus
   

  

  
   

 
  
  

     

     

       
   

   
Consolidation:

True faith produces action. God often tests our faith to prove it out, show it to be real (or not):

'..... now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith ..... may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.' - 1Pet1:6-7

'Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, .....' - Joh3:18-19

'Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.' - Jam1:12

'..... your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. ⁴Therefore ..... we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. ⁵All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.' - 2The1:3-5

 

Are we applying the faith God has given us or have we turned away from it? ("Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith" - 2Cor13:5). Are we turning from our sin, when He has granted us the ability to repent, or do we sin anyway?

Even though we must forcefully change our ways and seek to live for God's purposes, being saved is still something that we do not deserve.

The deeds produced by our faith only show that our faith is real and that we have in fact repented (chosen God over worldly ways); they do not atone for our sins, they do not pay the price for them or make up for them or cancel them out, for, 'without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness' - Heb9:22.

God is holy. Our sins must be paid for, and that payment is death and separation from God, and punishment in the form of pain and torment. We can not work our way to salvation because, apart from what God does in us and enables us to do, our works are as filthy rags:

'All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.' - Isa64:6

"If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing". - Joh15:5  Jesus

     
Only the blood of Christ can cleanse us of our sins, so clean and pure that the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that goes deep into the Father ("searches ..... the deep things of God" - 1Co42:9), will come into us, that God will dwell in us forever.

   

When we produce the deeds that always are involved in and bear witness to a true change of heart and mind (true repenting and believing), remember that this ability to repent and believe is a gift from God.

' ..... in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth ..... ' - 2Tim2:25

        "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life." - Act11:18
 

'For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God ..... ' - Eph2:8

  
  
Once God makes Himself real to us and we see that our ways need to be corrected to His Way, and He gives us the strength and ability to make the correction, it is still up to us to truly embrace, accept, choose Him and His ways, which means changing the way we live, doing things His way, fighting with the strength He provides. The effort we put into employing what God has given us to change our ways shows we want God, and love Him. Or, we can decide that we want go our own sinful ways in spite of what we now know to be true. We can harden our hearts, ignore the truth, distort and corrupt it, rationalize it, convince ourselves that it doesn't really mean what it says, get lazy and take the easiest path of least resistance, and/or wander away and try to forget the reality and truth of God, perhaps supposing to return to Him at some later date, before it's too late. 

²⁶"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! ..... ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' " - Mat25:26-30
 

'Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.' - Jud1:21 

We keep ourselves in God's love by obeying his commands, but still rely on His mercy through Christ to save us.
  

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.” - Joh15:9-10

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” - Joh14:21


Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.” - Joh14:23-24

 
 

So it is essential that we learn to love, want, crave righteousness to the point of implementing it. You can not love God without loving righteousness, because God is righteous. He will move into us with His Holy Spirit, and then we have the power, ability, and continual prompting to live righteously.

Since faith and repentance are gifts and faith without deeds is dead, useless, and repentance without a change in what we do is not true repentance, then having the will to do good is a gift. Hence:
 
 

God give me the grace to do your will.         

 

 

 

 

  
   

 

 

   

 
1 - sanctify: to free from sin, purify, and set apart for a sacred purpose.   1a: ^  1b: ^  1c: ^  1d: ^  1e: ^  1f: ^  1g: ^

2 - debauchery: indulgence in pleasure that lacks moral restraint, extreme indulgence in sensual pleasure.   2a: ^  2b: ^

4 - repent: to turn from sin/harmdoing and dedicate oneself to the correction of one's life to God's principles: to feel regret and sorrow, to change one's mind.   4a: ^  4b: ^  4c : ^  4d: ^  4e: ^  4f: ^

5 - deprave: to make bad, to corrupt morally, degrade with unsound principles or moral values.   5a: ^  5b: ^  5c: ^

6 - redeem: to buy back, free from what distresses or harms, free from captivity by payment of ransom, to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental, release from blame or debt, to free from the consequences of sin, to remove the obligation of a charge for the satisfaction of some debt by someone else making a payment of an amount which secures its removal, to offset the bad effect of, to make worthwhile.   6b: ^  6c: ^

 

 

Faith   and   Love

 
Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION�. NIV�. Copyright�1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.