Now That I'm Saved, What's Next?

To have assurance of a future with God in heaven all you have to do is believe in His Son. John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me.” You have to be His child and the Word of God says in John 1:12 “as many as received Him to them gave He right to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” 1 Corinthians 15:3&4 tells us what Jesus did for us. He died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead on the third day. Other Scriptures to read are Isaiah 53:1-12, 1 Peter 2:24, Matthew 26:28&29, Hebrews chapter 10:1-25 and John 3:16&30. In John 3:14-16&30 and John 5:24 God says if we believe we have eternal life and simply put, if it ends it wouldn’t be eternal; but to emphasize His promise God also says those who believe shall not perish. God also says in Romans 8:1 that “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” The Bible says that God cannot lie; it is in His innate character (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18&19). He uses many words to make the promise of eternal life easy for us to understand: Romans 10:13 (call), John 1:12 (believe & receive), John 3:14&15 (look – Numbers 21:5-9), Revelation 22:17 (take) and Revelation 3:20 (open the door). Romans 6:23 says eternal life is a gift through Jesus Christ. Revelation 22:17 says “And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” It is a gift, all we need to do is take it. It cost Jesus everything. It costs us nothing. It is not a result of our doing works. We cannot get it or keep it by doing good deeds. God is just. If it were by works it would not be just and we would have something to brag about. Ephesians 2:8&9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Galatians 3:1-6 teaches us that not only can we not earn it by doing good works, but we can’t keep it that way either. It says “did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith… are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh.” I Corinthians 1:29-31 says, “that no man should boast before God… that Christ is made unto us sanctification and redemption and… let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” If we could earn salvation Jesus would not have had to die (Galatians 2:21). Other passages which give us assurance of salvation are: 1. John 6:25-40 especially verse 37 which tells us that “him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out,” that is, you don’t have to beg or earn it. If you believe and come He will not reject you but welcome you, receive you and make you His child. You only have to ask Him. 2. 2 Timothy 1:12 says “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day.” Jude24&25 say “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more! Amen.” 3. Philippians 1:6 says “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” 4. Remember the thief on the cross. All he said to Jesus was “Remember me when You come in your kingdom.” Jesus saw his heart and honored his faith. He said, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42&43). 5. When Jesus died He finished the work God gave Him to do. John 4:34 says, “My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to finish His work.” On the cross, just before He died, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The phrase “It is finished” means paid in full. It is a legal term that refers to what was written over the list of crimes someone was being punished for when his punishment was completely finished, when he was set free. It signifies that his debt or punishment was “paid in full.” When we accept Jesus’ death on the cross for us, our sin debt is paid in full. No one can change this. 6. Two wonderful verses, John 3:16 and John 3:28-40 both say that when you believe you will not perish. John 10:28 says never perish. God’s Word is true. We just have to trust what God says. Never means never. 7. God says many times in the New Testament that He imputes or credits Christ’s righteousness to us when we put our faith in Jesus, that is, He credits or gives to us Jesus’ righteousness. Ephesians 1:6 says we are accepted in Christ. See also Philippians 3:9 and Romans 4:3&22. 8. God’s Word says in Psalm 103:12 that “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” He also says in Jeremiah 31:34 that “He will remember our sins no more.” 9. Hebrews 10:10-14 teaches us that Jesus death on the cross was sufficient to pay for all sin for all time – past, present and future. Jesus died “once for all.” Jesus’ work (being complete and perfect) never needs to be repeated. This passage teaches that “he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Maturity and purity in our lives is a process but He has perfected us forever. Because of this we are to “draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22). “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:25). 10. Ephesians 1:13&14 says the Holy Spirit seals us. God seals us with the Holy Spirit as with a signet ring, putting on us an irreversible seal, not able to be broken. It’s like a king sealing an irreversible law with his signet ring. Many Christians doubt their salvation. These and many other verses show us God is both Savior and Keeper. We are, according to Ephesians 6 in a battle with Satan. He is our enemy and “as a roaring lion seeks to devour us” (I Peter 5:8). I believe that causing us to doubt our salvation is one of his greatest fiery darts used to defeat us. I believe that the various parts of the armor of God referred to here are the Scripture verses which teach us what God promises and the power He gives us to have victory; for example, His righteousness. It is not ours but His. Philippians 3:9 says “and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” When Satan tries to convince you that you are “too bad to go to heaven,” respond that you are righteous “in Christ” and claim His righteousness. To use the sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God) you need to memorize or at least know where to find this and other Scriptures. To use these weapons we need to know that His Word is truth (John 17:17). Remember, you have to trust God’s Word. Study God’s Word and keep on studying it because the more you know the stronger you will become. You must trust these verse and others like them to have assurance. His Word is truth and “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). You must fill your mind with it until it changes you. The Word of God says to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,” like doubting God. Ephesians 6 says to use that sword and then it says to stand; don’t quit and run (retreat). God has given us everything we need for life and godliness “thorough the true knowledge of Him Who called us” (2 Peter 1:3). Just keep on believing.

The Word of God says, “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).  In order to have any relationship with God a person must come to God by faith through His Son, Jesus Christ.  We must believe in Jesus as our Savior, Whom God sent to die, to pay the punishment for our sins.  We are all sinners (Romans 3:23).  Both I John 2:2 and 4:10 talk about Jesus being the propitiation (which means just payment) for our sins.  I John 4:10 says, “He (God) loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”  In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man comes to the Father but by Me.”  I Corinthians 15:3&4 tells us the good news…”Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”  This is the Gospel which we must believe and we must receive.  John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”  John 10:28 says, “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.” So our relationship to God can only begin by faith, by becoming a child of God through Jesus Christ.  Not only do we become His child, but He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell within us (John 14:16&17).  Colossians 1:27 says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Jesus also refers to us as His brothers.  He certainly wants us to know that our relationship with Him is family, but He wants us to be a close family, not just a family in name, but a family of close fellowship.  Revelation 3:20 describes our becoming a Christian as entering a relationship of fellowship.  It says, “I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in, and dine with him, and he with Me.” John chapter 3:1-16 says that when we become a Christian we are “born again” as newborn babies into His family.  As His new child, and just as when a human is born, we as Christian babies must grow in our relationship with Him.  As a baby grows, he learns more and more about his parent and becomes closer to his parent. This is how it is for Christians, in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  As we learn about Him and grow our relationship becomes closer.  Scripture speaks a lot about growing and maturity, and it teaches us how to do this.  It is a process, not a one-time event, thus the term growing.  It is also called abiding. 1). First, I think, we do need to start with a decision.  We must decide to submit to God, to commit to following Him.  It is an act of our will to submit to God’s will if we want to be close to Him, but it is not just one-time, it is an abiding (continuous) commitment.  James 4:7 says, “submit yourselves to God.”  Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”  This must start with a one-time choice but it is also a moment by moment choice just as it is in any relationship. 2). Secondly, and I think of utmost importance, is that we need to read and study the Word of God.  I Peter 2:2 says, “As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby.”  Joshua 1:8 says, “Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth, meditate on it day and night…”  (Read also Psalm 1:2.)  Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV) tells us that we must get beyond babyhood and become mature by “constant use” of the Word of God. This does not mean reading some book about the Word, which is usually someone’s opinion, no matter how smart they are reported to be, but reading and studying the Bible itself.  Acts 17:11 speaks about the Bereans saying, “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”  We need to test everything anyone says by the Word of God not just take someone’s word for it because of their “credentials.”  We need to trust the Holy Spirit in us to teach us and really search the Word.  2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (NIV correctly handling) the word of truth.”  2 Timothy 3:16&17 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete (mature)…” This study and growing is daily and never ends till we are with Him in heaven, because our knowledge of “Him” leads to being more like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18).  Being close to God requires a daily walk of faith.  It is not a feeling.  There is no “quick fix” which we experience which gives us close fellowship with God.  Scripture teaches that we walk with God by faith, not by sight.  However, I believe that when we consistently walk by faith God makes Himself known to us in unexpected and precious ways. Read 2 Peter 1:1-5.  It tells us that we grow in character as we spend time in the Word of God.  It says here that we are to add to faith goodness, then knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.  By spending time in study of the Word and in obedience to it we add to or build character in our lives.  Isaiah 28:10&13 tells us we learn precept upon precept, line upon line.  We do not know it all at once.  John 1:16 says “grace upon grace.”  We do not learn all at once as Christians in our spiritual life anymore than babies grow up all at once.  Just remember this is a process, growing, a walk of faith, not an event.  As I mentioned it is also called abiding in John chapter 15, abiding in Him and in His Word. John 15:7 says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” 3). The Book of I John talks about a relationship, our fellowship with God.  Fellowship with another person can be broken or interrupted by sinning against them and this is true of our relationship with God also.  I John 1:3 says, “Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”  Verse 6 says, “If we claim to have fellowship with Him, yet walk in darkness (sin), we lie and do not live by the truth.”  Verse 7 says, “If we walk in the light…we have fellowship with one another…”  In verse 9 we see that if sin disrupts our fellowship we need only to confess our sin to Him.  It says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  Please read this entire chapter. We do not lose our relationship as His child, but we must maintain our fellowship with God by confessing any and all sins whenever we fail, as often as necessary.  We must also allow the Holy Spirit to give us victory over sins we tend to repeat; any sin. 4). We must not only read and study God’s Word but we must obey it, which I mentioned.  James 1:22-24 (NIV) states, “Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the Word, but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”  Verse 25 says, “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.”  This is so similar to Joshua 1:7-9 and Psalm 1:1-3.  Read also Luke 6:46-49. 5). Another part of this is that we need to become part of a local church, where we can hear and learn God’s Word and have fellowship with other believers.  This is a way in which we are helped to grow.  This is because each believer is given a special gift from the Holy Spirit, as a part of the church, also called “the body of Christ.”  These gifts are listed in various passages in Scripture such as Ephesians 4:7-12, I Corinthians 12:6-11, 28 and Romans 12:1-8.  The purpose for these gifts is to “build up the body (the church) for the work of the ministry(Ephesians 4:12).  The church will help us to grow and we in turn can help other believers to grow up and become mature and minister in God’s kingdom and lead other people to Christ.  Hebrews 10:25 says we should not forsake our assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another. 6). Another thing we should do is pray – pray for our needs and the needs of other believers and for the unsaved.  Read Matthew 6:1-10.  Philippians 4:6 says, “let your requests be made known unto God.” 7). Add to this that we should, as part of obedience, love one another (Read I Corinthians 13 and I John) and do good works. Good works cannot save us, but one cannot read Scripture without determining that we are to do good works and be kind to others.  Galatians 5:13 says, “by love serve one another.”  God says we are created to do good works.  Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” All of these things work together, to draw us closer to God and make us more like Christ. We become more mature ourselves and so do other believers.  They help us to grow.  Read 2 Peter 1 again.  The end of being closer to God is being trained and mature and loving one another.  In doing these things we are His disciples and disciples when mature are like their Master (Luke 6:40).

I am not exactly sure what you are looking for, so I will try to add to the subject, but if you would answer back and be more specific, maybe we can help.  My answers will be from a Scriptural (Biblical) view unless otherwise stated. Words in any language such as “life” or “death” can have different meanings and usages in both language and Scripture.  Understanding the meaning depends on the context and how it is used. For example, as I related previously, “death” in Scripture can mean separation from God, as shown in the account in Luke 16:19-31 of the unrighteous man who was separated from the righteous man by a great gulf, one going to eternal life with God, the other to a place of torment.  John 10:28 explains by saying, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”  The body is buried and decays.  Life can also mean just physical life. In John chapter three we have Jesus’ visit with Nicodemus, discussing life as being born and eternal life as being born again.  He contrasts physical life as being “born of water” or “born of the flesh” with spiritual/eternal life as being “born of the Spirit.”   Here in verse 16 is where it speaks of perishing as opposed to eternal life.  Perishing is connected to judgment and condemnation as opposed to eternal life.  In verses 16&18 we see the deciding factor that determines these consequences is whether or not you believe in God’s Son, Jesus.  Notice the present tense.   The believer has eternal life.  Read also John 5:39; 6:68 and 10:28. Modern day examples of the use of a word, in this case “life,” might be phrases such as “this is the life,” or “get a life” or the “good life,” just to illustrate how words can be used.  We understand their meaning by their use.  These are just a few examples of the use of the word “life.” Jesus did this when He said in John 10:10, “I came that they might have life and might have it more abundantly.”  What did He mean? It means more than being saved from sin and perishing in hell.  This verse refers to how “here and now” eternal life should be – abundant, amazing!  Does that mean a “perfect life,” with everything we want?  Obviously not!  What does it mean?  To understand this and other puzzling questions we all have about “life” or “death” or any other question we must be willing to study all of Scripture, and that requires effort.  I mean really working on our part. This is what the Psalmist (Psalm 1:2) recommended and what God commanded Joshua to do (Joshua 1:8).  God wants us to meditate on the Word of God.  That means study it and think about it. John chapter three teaches us that we are “born again” of the “spirit.”  Scripture teaches us that God’s Spirit comes to live within us (John 14:16&17; Romans 8:9).  It is interesting that in I Peter 2:2 it says, “as sincere babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby.”  As baby Christians we don’t know everything and God is telling us that the only way to grow is to know the Word of God. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God…rightly dividing the word of truth.” I would caution you that this does not mean getting answers about God’s word by listening to others or reading books “about” the Bible.  A lot of these are people’s opinions and while they may be good, what if their opinions are wrong?  Acts 17:11 gives us a very important, God given guideline: Compare all opinions with the book that is totally true, the Bible itself.  IN Acts 17:10-12 Luke complements the Bereans because they tested Paul’s message saying they “searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so.”  This is exactly what we should always do and the more we search the more we will know what is true and the more we will know the answers to our questions and know God Himself.  The Bereans tested even the Apostle Paul. Here are a couple interesting verses relating to life and knowing God’s Word.  John 17:3 says, “This is eternal life that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.”  What is the importance of knowing Him.  Scripture teaches that God wants us to be like Him, so we need to know what He is like.  2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Here is a study in itself since several ideas are mentioned in other Scriptures also, such as “mirror” and “glory to glory” and the idea of being “transformed into His image.” There are tools we can use (many of which are easily and freely available on line) to search out words and Scriptural facts in the Bible.  There are also things God’s Word teaches that we need to do to grow into mature Christians and be more like Him.  Here is a list of things to do and following that are some on line helps that will help in finding answers to questions you may have. Steps to Growth:

1. Fellowship with believers in church or a small group (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:24&25).
2. Pray: read Matthew 6:5-15 for a pattern of and teaching about prayer.
3. Study Scriptures as I have shared here.
4. Obey the Scriptures. “Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only,” (James 1:22-25).
5. Confess sin: Read 1 John 1:9 (confess means to acknowledge or admit). I like to say, “as often as necessary.”

I like to do word studies.  A Bible Concordance of Bible Words helps, but you can find most, if not all, of what you need on the internet.  The internet has Bible Concordances, Greek and Hebrew interlinear Bibles (the Bible in the original languages with a word for word translation underneath), Bible Dictionaries (such as Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Greek Words) and Greek and Hebrew word studies.  Two of the best sites are www.biblegateway.com and www.biblehub.com.  I hope this helps.  Short of learning Greek and Hebrew, these are the best ways to find out what the Bible is really saying.

The first question to answer in regard to your question is what is a true Christian, because many people can call themselves Christians who have no idea what the Bible says a Christian is. Opinions differ as to how one becomes a Christian according to churches, denominations or even the world. Are you a Christian as defined by God or a “so-called” Christian. We have only one authority, God, and He speaks to us through the Scripture, because it is the truth. John 17:17 says, “Thy Word is truth!” What did Jesus say we must do to become a Christian (to be a part of God’s family – to be saved). First, becoming a true Christian is not about joining a church or religious group or keeping some rules or sacraments or other requirements. It is not about where you were born as in a “Christian” nation or to a Christian family, nor by doing some ritual such as being baptized either as a child or as an adult. It is not about doing good works to earn it. Ephesians 2:8&9 says,” For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works…” Titus 3:5 says, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus said in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” Let’s look at what the Word says about becoming a Christian. The Bible says “they” were first called Christians in Antioch. Who were “they.” Read Acts 17:26. “They” were the disciples (the twelve) but also all those who believed in and followed Jesus and what He taught. They were also called believers, God’s children, the church and other descriptive names. According to Scripture, the Church is His “body,” not an organization or building, but the people who believe in His name. So let’s see what Jesus taught about becoming a Christian; what it takes to enter His Kingdom and His family. Read John 3:1-20 and also verses 33-36. Nicodemus came to Jesus one night. It is apparent that Jesus knew his thoughts and what his heart needed. He told him, “You must be born again” in order to enter the Kingdom of God. He told him an Old Testament story of the “serpent on a pole”; that if the sinning Children of Israel went out to look at it, they would be “healed.” This was a picture of Jesus, that He must be lifted up on the cross to pay for our sins, for our forgiveness. Then Jesus said those who believed in Him (in His punishment in our place for our sins) would have everlasting life. Read John 3:4-18 again. These believers are “born again” by God’s Spirit. John 1:12&13 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name,” and using the same language as John 3, “who were born not of blood, nor of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” These are “they” that are “Christians,” who receive what Jesus taught. It’s all about what you believe Jesus did. I Corinthians 15:3&4 says, “the gospel which I preached to you…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day…” This is the way, the only way to become and be called a Christian. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father, but by Me.” Read also Acts 4:12 and Romans 10:13. You must be born again into God’s family. You must believe. Many twist the meaning of being born again. They create their own interpretation and “re-write” Scripture to force it to include themselves, saying it means some spiritual awakening or life renewing experience, but Scripture clearly says we are born again and become God’s children by believing in what Jesus has done for us. We must understand God’s way by knowing and comparing Scriptures and giving up our ideas for the truth. We cannot substitute our ideas for God’s word, God’s plan, God’s way. John 3:19&20 says men don’t come to the light “lest their deeds should be reproved.” The second part of this discussion must be to see things as God does. We must accept what God says in His Word, the Scriptures. Remember, all of us have sinned, doing what is wrong in God’s sight. Scripture is clear about your life style but mankind chooses either to just say, “that’s not what it means,” ignore it, or say, “God made me this way, it’s normal.” You must remember that God’s world has been corrupted and cursed when sin entered the world. It is no longer as God intended. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has been guilty of all.” It doesn’t matter what our sin may be. I have heard many definitions of sin. Sin goes beyond what is detestable or displeasing to God; it is what is not good for us or for others. Sin causes our thinking to be turned upside down. What is sin is seen as good and justice becomes perverted (see Habakkuk 1:4). We see good as evil and evil as good. Bad people become victims and good people become evil: haters, unloving, unforgiving or intolerant . Here is a list of Scripture verses on the subject you are asking about. They tell us what God thinks. If you choose to explain them away and continue to do what displeases God we can’t tell you it is OK. You are subject to God; He alone can judge. No argument of ours will convince you. God gives us free will to choose to follow Him or not to, but we pay the consequences. We believe Scripture is explicit on the subject. Read these verses: Romans 1:18-32, especially verses 26&27. Read also Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13; I Corinthians 6:9&10; I Timothy 1:8-10; Genesis 19:4-8 (and Judges 19:22-26 where the men of Gibeah said the same thing as the men of Sodom); Jude 6&7 and Revelation 21:8 and 22:15. The good news is that when we accepted Christ Jesus as our Savior, we were forgiven for all our sin. Micah 7:19 says, “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” We don’t want to condemn anyone but to point them to the One Who loves and forgives, because we all sin. Read John 8:1-11. Jesus says, “Whoever is without sin let him cast the first stone.” I Corinthians 6:11 says, “Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” We are “accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6). If we are true believers we must overcome sin by walking in the light and acknowledging our sin, any sin we commit. Read I John 1:4-10. I John 1:9 was written to believers. It says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If you are not a true believer, you can be (Revelation 22:17). Jesus wants you to come to Him and He will not cast you out (John 6:37). As seen in I John 1:9 if we are God’s children He wants us to walk with Him and grow in grace and “be holy as He is holy” (I Peter 1:16). We must overcome our failures. God does not abandon or disown His children, unlike human fathers can. John 10:28 says, “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.” John 3:15 says, “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This promise is repeated three times in John 3 alone. See also John 6:39 and Hebrews 10:14. Hebrews 13:5 says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 10:17 says, “Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.” See also Romans 5:9 and Jude 24. 2 Timothy 1:12 says, “He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” I Thessalonians 5:9-11 says, “we are not appointed to wrath but to receive salvation…so that…we may live together with Him.” If you read and study Scripture you will learn that God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness does not give us a license or freedom to continue to sin or live in a way which displeases God. Grace is not like a “get out of jail free card.” Romans 6:1&2 says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” God is a good and perfect Father and as such if we disobey and rebel and do what He hates, He will correct and discipline us. Please read Hebrews 12:4-11. It says He will chasten and scourge His children (verse 6). Hebrews 12:10 says, “God disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness.” In verse 11 it says of discipline, “It produces a harvest of holiness and peace to those who have been trained by it.” When David sinned against God, he was forgiven when he acknowledged his sin, but he suffered the consequences of his sin for the rest of his life. When Saul sinned he lost his kingdom. God punished Israel by captivity for their sin. Sometimes God allows us to pay the consequences of our sin to discipline us. See also Galatians 5:1. Since we are answering your question, we are giving an opinion based on what we believe the Scripture teaches. This is not a dispute about opinions. Galatians 6:1 says, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.” God does not hate the sinner. Just as the Son did with the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11, we want them to come to Him for forgiveness. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

As a Christian, you are born into God’s family. Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:3-5) that he must be born of the Spirit. John 1:12&13 makes it very clear, as does John 3:16, how we are born again, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become the children of God, to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 3:16 says He gives us eternal life and Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” This is our miraculous new birth, a truth, a reality to be believed. Just as a new baby needs nourishment to grow, so Scripture shows us how to grow spiritually as God’s child. It is abundantly clear for it says in I Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.” This precept is not just here but in the Old Testament as well. Isaiah 28 says it in verses 9&10, “Whom shall I teach knowledge and whom shall I make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from milk and drawn from the breasts; for precept must be upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.”

This is how babies grow, by repetition, not all at once, and so it is with us. Everything which enters a child’s life affects his growth and everything God brings into our lives affects our spiritual growth as well. Growing in Christ is a process, not an event, though events can cause growth “spurts” in our progress just as they do in life, but daily nourishment is what builds our spiritual lives and minds. Don’t ever forget this. Scripture indicates this when it uses phrases like “grow in grace;” “add to your faith” (2 Peter 1); “glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18); “grace upon grace” (John 1) and “line upon line and precept upon precept” (Isaiah 28:10). I Peter 2:2 does more than show us that we are to grow; it shows us how to grow. It shows us what is the nutritious food that makes us grow – THE PURE MILK OF THE WORD OF GOD. Read 2 Peter 1:1-5 which tells us very specifically what we need to grow. It says, “Grace and peace be unto you through the knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, according as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue… that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature…giving all diligence, add to your faith…” This is growing in Christ. It says we grow by the knowledge of Him and the only place to find that true knowledge about Christ is in the Word of God, the Bible. Isn’t this what we do with children; feed them and teach them, one day at a time till they grow up to be mature adults. Our goal is to be like Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18 states, “But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Children copy other people. We often hear people say, “He is just like his father” or “she’s just like her mother.” I believe this principle plays out in 2 Corinthians 3:18. As we watch or “behold” our teacher, Jesus, we become like Him. The hymn writer caught this principle in the hymn “Take Time To Be Holy” when he said, “By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be.” The only way to understand Him is to know Him through the Word – so keep studying it. We copy our Savior and become like our Master (Luke 6:40; Matthew 10:24&25). This is a promise that if we behold Him we will become like Him. Growing means we will become like Him. God even taught the importance of God’s Word as our food in the Old Testament. Probably the most well-known Scriptures which teach us what is important in our lives to be a mature and effective person in the body of Christ, are Psalm 1, Joshua 1 and 2 Timothy 2:15 and 2 Timothy 3:15&16. David (Psalm 1) and Joshua (Joshua 1) are told to make the Word of God their priority: to desire, meditate on and study it “daily.” In the New Testament Paul tells Timothy to do the same in 2 Timothy 3:15&16. It gives us knowledge for salvation, correction, doctrine and instruction in righteousness, to thoroughly equip us. (Read 2 Timothy 2:15). Joshua is told to meditate on the Word day and night and to do all that is in it to make his way prosperous and successful. Matthew 28:19&20 say we are to make disciples, teaching people to obey what they are taught. Growing can also be described as being a disciple. James 1 teaches us to be doers of the Word. You cannot read Psalms and not realize that David obeyed this precept and it permeated his entire life. He speaks of the Word constantly. Read Psalm 119. Psalm 1:2&3(Amplified) says, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law (His precepts and teachings) he (habitually) meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted (and fed) by streams of water, which yields fruit in its season; its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers (and comes to maturity).” The Word is so important that in the Old Testament God told the Israelites to teach it to their children over and over (Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19 and 32:46). Deuteronomy 32:46 (NKJV) says, “…set your hearts on all the Words I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe all the words of this law.” It worked for Timothy. He was taught it from childhood (2 Timothy 3:15&16). It is so important we should know it for ourselves, teach it to others and especially pass it on to our children. So the key to being like Christ and growing is to really know Him through the Word of God. Everything we learn in the Word will help us know Him and reach this goal. Scripture is our food from babyhood to maturity. Hopefully you will grow beyond being a baby, grow from milk to meat (Hebrews 5:12-14). We do not outgrow our need of the Word; growing doesn’t end till we see Him (I John 3:2-5). The disciples did not achieve maturity instantly. God doesn’t want us to remain babies, to be bottle fed, but to grow to maturity. The disciples spent a lot of time with Jesus, and so should we. Remember this is a process.

OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS TO HELP US GROW

When you consider it, anything we read, study and obey in Scripture is a part of our spiritual growth just as everything we experience in life influences our growth as a human being. 2 Timothy 3:15&16 says Scripture is, “profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work,” so the next two points work together to bring about that growth. They are 1) obedience to the Scripture and 2) dealing with the sins which we commit. I think probably the latter comes first because if we sin and don’t deal with it our fellowship with God is hindered and we will remain babies and act like babies and not grow. Scripture teaches that carnal (fleshly, worldly) Christians (those who keep sinning and living for themselves) are immature. Read I Corinthians 3:1-3. Paul says he could not speak to the Corinthians as spiritual, but as “carnal, even as unto babies,” because of their sin.

1. Confessing Our Sins to God

I think this is one of the most important steps for believers, God’s children, to achieve maturity. Read I John 1:1-10. It tells us in verses 8&10 that if we say we don’t have sin in our life that we are self-deceived and we make Him a liar and His truth is not in us. Verse 6 says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” It is easy to see sin in other peoples’ lives but hard to admit our own failures and we excuse them by saying things like, “It’s not that big a deal,” or “I’m just human,” or “everyone’s doing it,” or “I can’t help it,” or “I’m like this because of how I was raised,” or the current favorite excuse, “It’s because of what I’ve been through, I have a right to react like this.” You have to love this one, “Everyone has to have one fault.” The list goes on and on, but sin is sin and we all sin, more often than we care to admit. Sin is sin no matter how trivial we think it is. I John 2:1 says, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not.” This is God’s will regarding sin. I John 2:1 also says, “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” I John 1:9 tells us exactly how to deal with sin in our lives: admit (acknowledge) it to God. This is what confession means. It says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is our obligation: to confess our sin to God, and this is God’s promise: He will forgive us. First we have to recognize our sin and then admit it to God. David did this. In Psalm 51:1-17, he said, “I acknowledge my transgression” … and, “against Thee, Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.” You can’t read the Psalms without seeing the anguish of David in recognizing his sinfulness, but he also recognized God’s love and forgiveness. Read Psalm 32. Psalm 103:3, 4, 10-12 & 17 (NASB) say, “Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion…He has not dealt with us according to our sin, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us…But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children.” Jesus illustrated this cleansing with Peter in John 13:4-10, where He washed the disciples’ feet. When Peter objected, He said, “He that is washed needs not to wash save to wash his feet.” Figuratively, we need to wash our feet every time that they are dirty, every day or more often if necessary, as often as necessary. God’s Word reveals sin in our lives, but we must acknowledge it. Hebrews 4:12 (NASB) says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” James also teaches this, saying the Word is like a mirror, which, when we read it, shows us what we are like. When we see “dirt,” we need to be washed and be cleansed, obeying I John 1:1-9, confessing our sins to God as David did. Read James 1:22-25. Psalm 51:7 says, “wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Scripture assures us that Jesus sacrifice makes those who believe “righteous” in God’s sight; that His sacrifice was “once for all,” making us perfect forever, this is our position in Christ. But Jesus also said we need to, as we say, keep short accounts with God by confessing every sin revealed in the mirror of God’s Word, so our fellowship and peace are not hindered. God will judge His people who continue to sin just as He did Israel. Read Hebrews 10. Verse 14 (NASB) says, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Disobedience grieves the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:29-32). See the section on this site about, if we keep on sinning, for examples. This is the first step of obedience. God is longsuffering, and no matter how many times we fail, if we come back to Him, He will forgive and restore us to fellowship with Himself. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

2. Obeying/Doing What the Word Teaches

From this point, we must ask the Lord to change us. Just as I John instructs us to “clean” up what we see is wrong, it also instructs us to change what is wrong and do what is right and obey the many things God’s Word shows us to DO. It says, “Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only.” When we read Scripture, we need to ask questions, such as: “Was God correcting or instructing someone?” “How are you like the person or people?” “What can you do to correct something or do it better?” Ask God to help you do what He teaches you. This is how we grow, by seeing ourselves in God’s mirror. Don’t look for something complicated; take God’s Word at face value and obey it. If you don’t understand something, pray and keep studying the part you don’t understand, but obey what you do understand. We need to ask God to change us because it clearly says in the Word that we can’t change ourselves. It clearly says in John 15:5, “without Me (Christ) you can do nothing.” If you try and try and don’t change and keep failing, guess what, you are not alone. You may ask, “How do I make change happen in my life?” Though it starts with recognizing and confessing sin, how can I change and grow? Why do I keep doing the same sin over and over and why can’t I do what God wants me to do? The Apostle Paul faced this same exact struggle and explains it and what to do about it in Romans chapters 5-8. This is how we grow – through God’s power, not our own.

Paul’s Journey – Romans chapters 5-8

Colossians 1:27&28 says, “teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:29 says, “whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.” So maturity and growth is being like Christ, our Master and Savior. Paul struggled with the same problems we do. Read Romans chapter 7. He wanted to do what was right but could not. He wanted to stop doing what was wrong but could not. Romans 6 tells us not to “let sin reign in your mortal life,” and that we should not let sin be our “master,” but Paul could not make it happen. So how did he gain victory over this struggle and how can we. How can we, like Paul, change and grow? Romans 7:24&25a says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” John 15:1-5, especially verses 4&5 says this another way. When Jesus talked to His disciples, He said, “Abide in Me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches; He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” If you are abiding you will grow, because He will change you. You cannot change yourself. To abide we must understand a few facts: 1) We are crucified with Christ. God says this is a fact, just as it is a fact that God laid our sins upon Jesus and that He died for us. In God’s eyes we died with Him. 2) God says we died to sin (Romans 6:6). We must accept these facts as true and trust and count on them. 3) The third fact is that Christ lives in us. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” When God says in the Word that we should walk by faith it means that when we confess sin and step out to obey God, we count on (trust) and consider, or as Romans says we “reckon” these facts to be true, especially that we died to sin and that He lives in us (Romans 6:11). God wants us to live for Him, trusting in the fact that He lives in us and wants to live through us. Because of these facts, God can empower us to be victorious. To understand our struggle and Paul’s read and study Romans chapters 5-8 over and over again: from sin to victory. Chapter 6 shows us our position in Christ, we are in Him and He is in us. Chapter 7 describes Paul’s inability to do good instead of evil; how he could do nothing to change it himself. Verses 15, 18&19(NKJV) sum it up: “For what I am doing, I do not understand…For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I find not…For the good that I will to do I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice,” and verse 24, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Sound familiar? The answer is in Christ. Verse 25 says, “I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” We become believers by inviting Jesus into our lives. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and dine with him and he with Me.” He lives in us, but He wants to rule and reign in our lives and change us. Another way to put it is Romans 12:1&2 which says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 6:11 says the same thing, “reckon (consider) yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” and verse 13 says, “do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” We need to yield ourselves to God for Him to live through us. At a yield sign we yield or give the right of way to another. When we yield to the Holy Spirit, the Christ who lives in us, we are yielding the right to Him to live through us (Romans 6:11). Note how often terms like present, offer and yield are used. Do it. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit who dwells in you.” We must present or give ourselves – yield – to Him – allow Him to LIVE in us. God does not ask us to do something that is impossible, but He asks us to yield to Christ, who makes it possible by living in and through us. When we yield, give Him permission to, and allow Him to live through us, He gives us the ability to do His will. When we ask Him and give Him the “right of way,” and step out in faith, He does it – He living in and through us will change us from within. We must offer ourselves to Him, this will give us the power of Christ for victory. I Corinthians 15:57 says, “thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” He alone gives us power for victory and to do God’s will. This is God’s will for us (I Thessalonians 4:3) “even your sanctification,” to serve in newness of Spirit (Romans 7:6), to walk by faith, and “bring forth fruit to God” (Romans 7:4), which is the purpose of abiding in John 15:1-5. This is the process of change – of growth and our goal – becoming mature and more like Christ. You can see how God explains this process in different terms and many ways so we are sure to understand – whatever way Scripture describes it. This is growing: walking in faith, walking in the light or walking in the Spirit, abiding, living an abundant life, discipleship, becoming like Christ, the fulness of Christ. We are adding to our faith, and becoming like Him, and obeying His Word. Matthew 28:19&20 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Walking in the Spirit produces fruit and is the same as “letting the Word of God dwell in you richly.” Compare Galatians 5:16-22 and Colossians 3:10-15. The fruit is love, mercy, meekness, longsuffering, forgiveness, peace and faith, just to mention a few. These are Christ’s characteristics. Compare this also to 2 Peter 1:1-8. This is growing in Christ – in Christlikeness. Romans 5:17 says, “much more then, they which receive abundance of grace shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.” Remember this word – ADD – this is a process. You may have times or experiences which give you growth spurts, but it is line upon line, precept upon precept, and remember we will not be perfectly like Him (I John 3:2) until we see Him as He is. Some good verses to memorize are Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 3:18 and any others which help you personally. This is a lifelong process- as is our physical life. We can and do continue to grow in wisdom and knowledge as humans, so it is in our Christian (spiritual) lives.

The Holy Spirit Is Our Teacher

We have mentioned several things about the Holy Spirit, such as: yield yourself to Him and walk in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is also our teacher. I John 2:27 says, “As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.” This is because the Holy Spirit was sent to dwell within us. In John 14:16&17 Jesus told the disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever, that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 14:26 says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” All persons of the Godhead are One. This concept (or truth) was promised in the Old Testament where the Holy Spirit did not indwell people but rather came upon them. In Jeremiah 31:33&34a God said, “This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel…I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it. They will not teach again each man his neighbor…they will all know Me.” When we become a believer the Lord gives us His Spirit to dwell within us. Romans 8:9 makes this clear: “However you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” I Corinthians 6:19 says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God.” See also John 16:5-10. He is in us and He has written His law in our hearts, forever. (See also Hebrews 10:16; 8:7-13.) Ezekiel also says this in 11:19, “I will…put a new spirit within them,” and in 36:26&27, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.” God, the Holy Spirt, is our Helper and Teacher; shouldn’t we seek His help to understand His Word.

Other Ways to Help Us Grow

Here are other things we need to do to grow in Christ: 1) Attend church regularly. In a church setting you can learn from other believers, hear the Word preached, ask questions, encourage one another by using your spiritual gifts which God gives to each believer when they are saved. Ephesians 4:11&12 says, “And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ…” See Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:1-11, 28-31 and Ephesians 4:11-16. You grow yourself by faithfully recognizing and using your own spiritual gifts as listed in these passages, which differ from talents we are born with. Go to a fundamental, Bible-believing church (Acts 2:42 and Hebrews 10:25). 2) We must pray (Ephesians 6:18-20; Colossians 4:2; Ephesians 1:18 and Philippians 4:6). It is vital to talk to God, to fellowship with God in prayer. Prayer makes us be a part of God’s work. 3). We should worship, praise God and be thankful (Philippians 4:6&7). Ephesians 5:19&29 and Colossians 3:16 both say, “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Think how often David praised God in the Psalms and worshiped Him. Worship could be a whole study by itself. 4). We should share our faith and witness to others and also build up other believers (see Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19&20; Ephesians 6:15 and I Peter 3:15 which says we need to be “ready always…to give a reason the for the hope that is in you.” This requires considerable study and time. I would say, “Never get caught twice without an answer.” 5). We should learn to fight the good fight of faith – to refute false doctrine (see Jude 3 and the other epistles) and to fight our enemy Satan (See Matthew 4:1-11 and Ephesians 6:10-20). 6). Lastly, we should strive to “love our neighbor” and our brothers and sisters in Christ and even our enemies (I Corinthians 13; I Thessalonians 4:9&10; 3:11-13; John 13:34 and Romans 12:10 which says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love”). 7) And whatever else you learn that the Scripture tells us To Do, DO. Remember James 1:22-25. We need to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. All these things work together (precept upon precept), to cause us to grow just as all the experiences in life change us and make us mature. You won’t finish growing until your life is finished.

One of the most perplexing questions for new Christians and even many who have been Christians for a long time is, “How do I hear from God?” To put it another way, how do I know if the thoughts that enter my mind are from God, from the devil, from myself or just something I have heard somewhere that just sticks in my mind? There are many examples of God speaking to people in the Bible, but there are also lots of warnings about following false prophets who claim God spoke to them when God says definitely that He did not. So how are we to know? The first and most basic issue is that God is the ultimate Author of Scripture and He never contradicts Himself. 2 Timothy 3:16&17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” So any thought that enters your mind must first be examined on the basis of its agreement with Scripture. A soldier who had written orders from his commander and disobeyed them because he thought he heard someone tell him something different would be in serious trouble. So the first step in hearing from God is to study the Scriptures to see what they say on any given issue. It is amazing how many issues are dealt with in the Bible, and reading the Bible on a daily basis and studying what it says when an issue comes up is the obvious first step in knowing what God is saying. Probably the second thing to look at is: “What is my conscience telling me?” Romans 2:14&15 says, “(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)” Now that does not mean that our conscience is always right. Paul talks about a weak conscience in Romans 14 and a seared conscience in I Timothy 4:2. But he says in I Timothy 1:5, “The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” He says in Acts 23:16, “So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.” He wrote to Timothy in I Timothy 1:18&19 “Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.” If your conscience is telling you something is wrong, then it is probably wrong, at least for you. Feelings of guilt, coming from our conscience, is one of the ways God speaks to us and ignoring our conscience is, in the vast majority of cases, choosing to not listen to God. (For more information on this topic read all of Romans 14 and I Corinthians 8 and I Corinthians 10:14-33.) The third thing to be considered is: “What am I asking God to tell me?” As a teenager I was frequently encouraged to ask God to show me His will for my life. I was rather surprised later to find out that God never tells us to pray that He would show us His will. What we are encouraged to pray for is wisdom. James 1:5 promises, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” Ephesians 5:15-17 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” God promises to give us wisdom if we ask, and if we do the wise thing, we are doing the Lord’s will. Proverbs 1:1-7 says, “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young – let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance – for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The purpose of the Book of Proverbs is to give us wisdom. It is one of the best places to go when you are asking God what the wise thing to do is in any situation. The one other thing that helped me the most in learning to hear what God was saying to me was learning the difference between guilt and condemnation. When we sin, God, usually speaking through our conscience, makes us feel guilty. When we confess our sin to God, God removes the feelings of guilt, helps us change and restores fellowship. I John 1:5-10 says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” To hear from God, we must be honest with God and confess our sin when it happens. If we have sinned and not confessed our sin, we are not in fellowship with God, and hearing Him will be difficult if not impossible. To rephrase: guilt is specific and when we confess it to God, God forgives us and our fellowship with God is restored. Condemnation is something else entirely. Paul asks and answers a question in Romans 8:34, “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” He began chapter 8, after talking about his miserable failure when he tried to please God by keeping the law, by saying, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Guilt is specific, condemnation is vague and general. It says things like, “You always mess up,” or, “You’ll never amount to anything,” or, “You’re so messed up God will never be able to use you.” When we confess the sin that makes us feel guilty to God, the guilt disappears and we feel the joy of forgiveness. When we “confess” our feelings of condemnation to God they only get stronger. “Confessing” our feelings of condemnation to God is actually just agreeing with what the devil is saying to us about us. Guilt needs to be confessed. Condemnation must be rejected if we are going to discern what God is truly saying to us. Of course, the first thing God is saying to us is what Jesus said to Nicodemus: “You must be born again”(John 3:7). Until we have acknowledged that we have sinned against God, told God we believe Jesus paid for our sins when He died on the cross, and was buried and then rose again, and have asked God to come into our life as our Savior, God is under no obligation to speak to us about anything other than our need to be saved, and most probably He will not. If we have received Jesus as our Savior, then we need to examine everything we think God is telling us with Scripture, listen to our conscience, ask for wisdom in all situations and confess sin and reject condemnation. Knowing what God is saying to us may still be difficult at times, but doing these four things will certainly help make hearing His voice easier.

In answer to this question, the Bible clearly teaches that God is everywhere present, so He is always with us.  He is omnipresent.  He sees all and hears all.  Psalm 139 says that we cannot escape His presence.  I suggest reading this whole Psalm which says in verse 7, “where can I go from Your presence?”   The answer is nowhere, for He is everywhere. 2 Chronicles 6:18 and I Kings 8:27 and Acts 17:24-28 show us that Solomon, who built the temple for God Who promised to dwell in it, realized that God could not be contained in a specific place.  Paul put it this way in Acts when he said, “The Lord of heaven and earth does not dwell in temples made with hands.”  Jeremiah 23:23&24 says “He fills heaven and earth.”  Ephesians 1:23 says He fills “all in all.” Yet for the believer, those who have chosen to receive and believe in His Son (see John 3:16 and John 1:12), He promises to be with us in an even more special way as our Father, our Friend, our Protector and Provider.  Matthew 28:20 says, “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.” This is an unconditional promise, we cannot or do not cause it to happen.  This is a fact because God said it. It also says that where two or three (believers) are gathered together, “there am I in the midst of them.”  (Matthew 18:20 KJV)  We do not call down, beg or otherwise invoke His Presence.  He says He is with us, so He is.  It is a promise, a truth, a fact.  We just have to believe it and count on it.  Though God is not restricted to a building, He is with us in a very special way, whether we sense it or not.  What a wonderful promise. For believers He is with us in another very special way.  John chapter one says that God would give us the gift of His Spirit.  In Acts chapters 1&2 and John 14:17, God tells us that when Jesus died, rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, He would send the Holy Spirit to dwell within our hearts.  In John 14:17 He said, “the Spirit of truth…who abides with you, and will be in you.”  I Corinthians 6:19 says, “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, whom you have from God…”  So for believers God the Spirit dwells within us. We see that God said to Joshua in Joshua 1:5, and it is repeated in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  Count on it.  Romans 8:38&39 tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ. Though God is always with us, that does not mean He will always listen to us.  Isaiah 59:2 says that sin will separate us from God in the sense that He will not hear (listen) to us, but because He is always with us, He will always hear us if we acknowledge (confess) our sin, and will forgive us of that sin.  That is a promise.  (I John 1:9; 2 Chronicles 7:14) Also if you are not a believer, God’s presence is important because He sees everyone and because He “is not willing that any should perish.” (2 Peter 3:9)  He will always hear the cry of those who believe and call upon Him to be their Savior, believing the Gospel.  (I Corinthians 15:1-3)  “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)  John 6:37 says that He will not turn anyone away, and whosoever will may come.  (Revelation 22:17; John 1:12)

Scripture does have an answer to this question, so let us be clear, from experience, if we are honest, and also from Scripture, it is a fact that salvation does not automatically keep us from sinning. Someone I know led an individual to the Lord and received a very interesting phone call from her several weeks later. The newly saved person said, “I can’t possibly be a Christian. I sin more now than I ever did.” The person who led her to the Lord asked, “Are you doing sinful things now that you have never done before or are you doing things you’ve been doing all your life only now when you do them you feel horribly guilty about them?” The woman replied, “It’s the second one.” And the person who led her to the Lord then told her confidently, “You’re a Christian. Being convicted of sin is one of the first signs that you are really saved.” The New Testament epistles give us lists of sins to stop doing; sins to avoid, sins we do commit. They also list things we ought to do and fail to do, things we call sins of omission. James 4:17 says “to him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” Romans 3:23 says it this way, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” As an example, James 2:15&16 speaks of a brother (a Christian) who sees his brother in need and does nothing to help. This is sinning. In I Corinthians Paul shows how bad Christians can be. In I Corinthians 1:10&11 he says there were quarrels among them and divisions. In chapter 3 he addresses them as carnal (fleshly) and as babies. We often tell children and sometimes adults to stop acting like babies. You get the picture. Babies squabble, slap, poke, pinch, pull each other’s hair and even bite. It sounds comical but so true. In Galatians 5:15 Paul tells the Christians not to bite and devour one another. In I Corinthians 4:18 he says that some of them have become arrogant. In chapter 5, verse 1 it gets even worse. “It is reported that there is immorality among you and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans.” Their sins were obvious. James 3:2 says we all stumble in many ways. Galatians 5:19&20 lists the acts of the sinful nature: immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, and orgies as opposed to what God expects: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Ephesians 4:19 mentions immorality, verse 26 anger, verse 28 stealing, verse 29 unwholesome language, verse 31 bitterness, anger, slander and malice. Ephesians 5:4 mentions filthy talk and coarse jesting. These same passages show us also what God expects of us. Jesus told us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, “that the world may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” God wants us to be like Him (Matthew 5:48), but it is obvious that we are not. There are several aspects of the Christian experience which we need to understand. The moment we become a believer in Christ God gives us certain things. He forgives us. He justifies us, even though we are guilty. He gives us eternal life. He places us in the “body of Christ.” He makes us perfect in Christ. The word used for this is sanctification, set apart as perfect before God. We are born again into God’s family, becoming His children. He comes to live in us through the Holy Spirit. So why do we still sin? Romans chapter 7 and Galatians 5:17 explain this by saying that as long as we are alive in our mortal body we still have our old nature which is sinful, even though the Spirit of God now lives within us. Galatians 5:17 says “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” We don’t do what God wants. In commentaries by Martin Luther and Charles Hodge they suggest that the closer we approach God through the Scriptures and come into His perfect light the more we see how imperfect we are and how much we fall short of His glory. Romans 3:23 Paul seems to have experienced this conflict in Romans chapter 7. Both commentaries also say that every Christian can identify with Paul’s exasperation and plight: that whereas God desires us to be perfect in our behavior, to be conformed to the image of His Son, yet we find ourselves as slaves of our sinful nature. I John 1:8 says that “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” I John 1:10 says “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives.” Read Romans chapter 7. In Romans 7:14 Paul describes himself as “sold into bondage to sin.” In verse 15 he says I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.” In verse 17 he says the problem is sin which lives in him. So frustrated is Paul that he states these things two more times with slightly different words. In verse 18 he says “For I know that in me (that is in may flesh – Paul’s word for his old nature) nothing good dwells, for to will is present with me but how to perform what is good I do not find.” Verse 19 says “For the good that I will, I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” The NIV translates verse 19 as “For I have the desire to do good but I cannot carry it out.” In Romans 7:21-23 he again describes his conflict as a law at work in his members (referring to his fleshly nature), warring against the law of his mind (referring to the Spiritual nature in his inner being). With his inner being he delights in God’s law but “evil is right there with me,” and the sinful nature is “waging war against the law of his mind and making him a prisoner of the law of sin.” We all as believers experience this conflict and Paul’s extreme frustration as he cries out in verse 24 ” What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death?” What Paul describes is the conflict we all face: the conflict between the old nature (the flesh) and the Holy Spirit that indwells us, which we saw in Galatians 5:17 But Paul also says in Romans 6:1 “shall we continue in sin that grace may abound. God forbid. ” Paul also says God wants us to be rescued not only from the penalty of sin but also from its power and control in this life. As Paul says in Romans 5:17 “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” In I John 2:1, John says to the believers that he writes to them so that they WILL NOT SIN. In Ephesians 4:14 Paul says that we are to grow up so that we won’t be babies anymore (as the Corinthians were). So when Paul cried in Romans 7:24 “who will help me?’ (and us with him), he has a jubilant answer in verse 25, “I THANK GOD – THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.” He knows that the answer is in Christ. Victory (sanctification) as well as salvation come through the provision of Christ who lives in us. I am afraid that many believers just accept living in sin by saying “I’m just human,” but Romans 6 gives us our provision. We now have a choice and we have no excuse to continue in sin. If I’m Saved, Why Do I Keep on Sinning? (Part 2) (God’s Part) Now that we understand that we do still sin after becoming a child of God, as evidenced both by our experience and by Scripture; what are we supposed to do about it? First let me say that this process, for that’s what it is, applies only to the believer, those who have put their hope of eternal life, not in their good deeds, but in Christ’s finished work (His death, burial and resurrection for us for the forgiveness of sins); those who have been justified by God. See I Corinthians 15:3&4 and Ephesians 1:7. The reason it applies only to believers is because we cannot do anything by ourselves to make ourselves perfect or holy. That is something only God can do, through the Holy Spirit, and as we shall see, only believers have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Read Titus 3:5&6; Ephesians 2:8&9; Romans 4:3&22 and Galatians 3:6 Scripture teaches us that at the moment we believe, there are two things God does for us. (There are many, many others.) These are, however, vital in order for us to have “victory” over sin in our lives. First: God puts us in Christ (something that is hard to understand, but we must accept and believe), and second He comes to live in us through His Holy Spirit. Scripture says in I Corinthians 1:20 that we are in Him. “By His doing you are in Christ who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Romans 6:3 says that we are baptized “into Christ.” This is not talking about our baptism in water, but a work by the Holy Spirit in which He puts us into Christ. Scripture also teaches us that the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. In John 14:16&17 Jesus told His disciples that He would send the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) Who was with them and would be in them, (He would live or dwell in them). There are other Scriptures that tell us that the Spirit of God is in us, in every believer. Read John 14&15, Acts 1:1-8 and I Corinthians 12:13. John 17:23 says He is in our hearts. In fact Romans 8:9 says that if the Spirit of God is not in you, you do not belong to Christ. Thus we say that since this (that is, making us holy) is a work of the indwelling Spirit, only believers, those with the indwelling Spirit, can become free or victorious over their sin. Someone has said that Scripture contains: 1) truths we must believe (even if we don’t completely understand them; 2) commands to obey and 3) promises to trust. The facts above are truths which must be believed, i.e. that we are in Him and He is in us. Keep this idea of trusting and obeying in mind as we continue this study. I think it helps to understand it. There are two parts we need to understand in overcoming sin in our daily lives. There is God’s part and our part, which is obedience. We will look first at God’s part which is all about our being in Christ and Christ being in us. Call it if you will: 1) God’s provision, I am in Christ, and 2) God’s power, Christ is in me. This is what Paul was talking about when he said in Romans 7:24-25 “Who will deliver me…I thank God…through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Keep in mind this process is impossible without God’s help. It is obvious from Scripture that God’s desire for us is to be made holy and for us to overcome our sins. Romans 8:29 tells us that as believers He has “predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.” Romans 6:4 says His desire is for us to “walk in newness of life.” Colossians 1:8 says the goal of Paul’s teaching was “to present every one perfect and complete in Christ.” God teaches us that he wants us to become mature (not to remain babies as the Corinthians were). Ephesians 4:13 says we are to “become mature in knowledge and attain the full measure of the fullness of Christ.” Verse 15 says we are to grow up into Him. Ephesians 4:24 says we are to “put on the new self; created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”bI Thessalonians 4:3 states “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” Verses 7&8 say He has “not called us to impurity, but in sanctification.” Verse 8 says “if we reject this we are rejecting God who gives his Holy Spirit to us.” (Connecting the thought of the Spirit being in us and us being able to change.) Defining the word sanctification can be a little complicated but in the Old Testament it meant to set apart or present an object or person to God for His use, with a sacrifice being offered to purify it. So for our purposes here we are saying to be sanctified is to be set apart to God or to be presented to God. We were made holy for Him by the sacrifice of Christ’s death on the cross. This is, as we say, positional sanctification when we believe and God sees us as perfect in Christ (clothed and covered by Him and reckoned and declared righteous in Him). It is progressive as we become perfect as He is perfect, when we become victorious in overcoming sin in our daily experience. Any verses on sanctification are describing or explaining this process. We want to be presented and set apart to God as purified, cleaned, holy and blameless, etc. Hebrews 10:14 says “by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” More verses on this subject are: I John 2:1 says “I am writing these things to you that you may not sin.” I Peter 2:24 says, “Christ bare our sins in His own body on the tree…that we should live to righteousness.” Hebrews 9:14 tells us “Christ’s blood cleanses us from dead works to serve the living God.” Here we have not only God’s desire for our holiness, but His provision for our victory: our being in Him and sharing in His death, as described in Romans 6:1-12. 2 Corinthians 5:21 states: “He made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Read also Philippians 3:9, Romans 12:1&2 and Romans 5:17. Read Romans 6:1-12. Here we find an explanation of God’s work on our behalf for our victory over sin, i.e. His provision. Romans 6:1 continues the thought of chapter five that God does not want us to continue to sin. It says: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Verse 2 says, “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Romans 5:17 speaks of “those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.” He wants victory for us now, in this life. I would like to highlight the explanation in Romans 6 of what we have in Christ. We have spoken of our baptism into Christ. (Remember this is not water baptism but the work of the Spirit.) Verse 3 teaches us that this means we “have been baptized into his death,’ meaning “we died with him.” Verses 3-5 say we are “buried with him.” Verse 5 explains that since we are in Him we are united with Him in His death, burial and resurrection. Verse 6 says we are crucified with him so that “the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” This shows us that the power of sin has been broken. Both the NIV and NASB footnotes say it could be translated “the body of sin might be rendered powerless.” Another translation is that “sin will not have dominion over us.” Verse 7 says “he who has died is freed from sin. For this reason sin can’t hold us as slaves anymore. Verse 11 says “we are dead to sin.” Verse 14 says “sin shall not be master over you.” This is what being crucified with Christ has done for us. Because we died with Christ we died to sin with Christ. Be clear, those were our sins He died for. Those were our sins He BURIED. Sin therefore does not have to dominate us any more. Simply put, since we are in Christ, we died with Him, so sin does not have to have power over us anymore. Verse 11 is our part: our act of faith. The previous verses are facts which we must believe, though difficult to understand. They are truths we must believe and act upon. Verse 11 uses the word “reckon” which means “count on it.” From here on out we must act in faith. Being “raised” with Him in this passage of Scripture means we are “alive unto God” and we can “walk in newness of life.” (Verses 4, 8 & 16) Because God has put His Spirit in us, we can now live a victorious life. Colossians 2:14 says “we died to the world and the world died to us.” Another way to say this is to say that Jesus did not die only to free us from the penalty of sin, but also to break its control over us, so He could make us pure and holy in our present life. In Acts 26:18 Luke quotes Jesus as saying to Paul that the gospel will “turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified (made holy) by faith in Me (Jesus).” We have already seen in part 1 of this study that although Paul understood, or rather knew, these facts, victory was not automatic and neither is it for us. He was unable to make victory happen either by self-effort or by trying to keep the law and neither can we. Victory over sin is impossible for us without Christ. Here is why. Read Ephesians 2:8-10. It tells us that we cannot be saved by works of righteousness. This is because, as Romans 6 says, we are “sold under sin.” We cannot pay for our sin or earn forgiveness. Isaiah 64:6 tells us “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” in God’s sight. Romans 8:8 tells us that those who are “in the flesh cannot please God.” John 15:4 shows us that we cannot bear fruit by ourselves and verse 5 says, “without me (Christ) you can do nothing.” Galatians 2:16 says “for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified,” and verse 21 says “if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died needlessly.” Hebrews 7:18 tells us “the law made nothing perfect.” Romans 8:3&4 says, “For 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, in order that 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.” Read Romans 8:1-15 and Colossians 3:1-3. We can’t be made clean or be saved by our good works and neither can we be sanctified by the works of the law. Galatians 3:3 says “did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect in the flesh?” And thus, we, like Paul, who while knowing the fact that we are set free from sin by Christ’s death, still struggle (see Romans 7 again) with self-effort, being unable to keep the law and faced with sin and failure, and crying out “O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me!” Let us review what led to Paul’s failure: 1) The Law couldn’t change him. 2) Self-effort failed. 3) The more he knew God and the Law the worse he seemed. (The law’s job is to make us exceedingly sinful, to make our sin obvious. Romans 7:6,13) The Law made it obvious that we need God’s grace and power. As John 3:17-19 says, the closer we get to the light the more obvious it gets that we are dirty. 4) He ends up frustrated and saying: “who will deliver me?” “nothing good is in me.” “evil is present with me.” “a war is within me.” “I cannot carry it out.” 5) The Law had no power to meet its own demands, it only condemned. He then comes to the answer, Romans 7:25, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So Paul is leading us to the second part of God’s provision which makes our sanctification possible. Romans 8:20 states, “the Spirit of life sets us free from the law of sin and death.” The power and strength to overcome sin is Christ IN US, THE Holy Spirit in us. Read Romans 8:1-15 again. The New King James translation of Colossians 1:27&28 says it is the job of the Spirit of God to present us perfect. It says, “God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles which is, Christ in you, the hope of glory.” It goes on to say “that we may present every man perfect (or complete) in Christ Jesus.” Is it possible that the glory here is the glory of which we fall short in Romans 3:23? Read 2 Corinthians 3:18 in which God says He wishes to transform us into God’s image from “glory to glory.” Remember we talked about the Spirit coming to be in us. In John 14:16&17 Jesus said that the Spirit who was with them would come to be in them. In John 16:7-11 Jesus said it was necessary for Him to go away so the Spirit would come to dwell in us. In John 14:20 He says, “at that day you will know that I am in My Father and you in Me, and I in you,” just exactly what we have been talking about. This was actually all foretold in the Old Testament. Joel 2:24-29 speaks of His putting the Holy Spirit in our hearts. In Acts 2 (read it), it tells us this occurred on the Day of Pentecost, after the ascension of Jesus to heaven. In Jeremiah 31:33&34 (referred to in the New Testament in Hebrews 10:10, 14 & 16) God fulfilled another promise, that of putting His law into our hearts. In Romans 7:6 it tells us that the result of these fulfilled promises is that we can “serve God in a new and living way.” Now, the moment we become a believer in Christ, the Spirit comes to abide (live) in us and HE makes Romans 8:1-15 & 24 possible. Read also Romans 6:4&10 and Hebrews 10:1, 10, 14. At this point, I would like you to read and memorize Galatians 2:20. Never forget it. This verse summarizes all Paul teaches us about sanctification in one verse. “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Everything we will do that pleases God in our Christian life can be summed up by the phrase, “not I; but Christ.” It is Christ living in me, not my works or good deeds. Read these verses which also speak of the provision of Christ’s death (to render sin powerless) and the work of the Spirit of God in us. I Peter 1:2 2 Thessalonians 2:13 Hebrews 2:13  Ephesians 5:26&27 Colossians 3:1-3 God, through His Spirit, gives us the strength to overcome, but it goes even further than that. He changes us from the inside, transforming us, changing us into the image of His Son, Christ. We must trust Him to do it. This is a process; begun by God, continued by God and completed by God. Here is a list of promises to trust. Here is God doing what we cannot do, changing us and making us holy like Christ. Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing; that He which has begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 3:19&20 “being filled with all the fullness of God… according to the power that works in us.” How great is it that, “God is at work in us.” Hebrews 13:20&21 “Now may the God of peace… make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ.” I Peter 5:10 “the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” I Thessalonians 5:23&24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He Who calls you, Who also will do it.” The NASB says “He also will bring it to pass.” Hebrews 12:2 tells us to ‘fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (NASB says perfecter).” I Corinthians 1:8&9 “God will confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful,” I Thessalonians 3:12&13 says God will “increase” and “establish your hearts unblameable at the coming of our Lord Jesus.” I John 3:2 tells us “we will be like Him when we see Him as He is.” God will complete this when Jesus returns or we go to heaven when we die. We have seen many verses which have indicated that sanctification is a process. Read Philippians 3:12-14 which says, “I have not already attained, neither am already perfect, but I press toward the goal of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” One commentary uses the word “pursue.” Not only is it a process but active participation is involved. Ephesians 4:11-16 tells us that the church is to work together so we may “grow up in all things into Him Who is the Head – Christ.” Scripture also uses the word grow in I Peter 2:2, where we read this: “desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” Growing takes time. This journey is also described as walking. Walking is a slow way of going; one step at a time; a process. I John talks about walking in the light (that is, the Word of God). Galatians says in 5:16 to walk in the Spirit. The two go hand in hand. In John 17:17 Jesus said “Sanctify them through the truth, thy word is truth.” The Word of God and the Spirit work together in this process. They are inseparable. We are beginning to see action verbs a lot as we study this topic: walk, pursue, desire, etc. If you go back to Romans 6 and read it again you will see many of them: reckon, present, yield, don’t yield. Doesn’t this imply that there is something we must do; that there are commands to obey; effort required on our part. Romans 6:12 states “let not sin therefore (that is, because of our position in Christ and the power of Christ in us) reign in your mortal bodies.” Verse 13 commands us to present our bodies to God, not to sin. It tells us not to be a “slave to sin.” These are our choices, our commands to obey; our ‘to do” list. Remember, we can’t do it by our own self effort but only through His power in us, but we must do it. We must always remember it is only through Christ. I Corinthians 15:57 (NKJB) gives us this remarkable promise: ” thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our LORD JESUS CHRIST.” So even what we “do” is through Him, through the Spirit’s in working power. Philippians 4:13 tells us we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” So it is: JUST AS WE CAN’T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT HIM, WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH HIM. God gives us the power to “do” whatever He asks us to do. Some believers call it the ‘resurrection” power as expressed in Romans 6:5 “we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” Verse 11 says the power of God that raised Christ from the dead raises us to newness of life to serve God in this life. Philippians 3:9-14 also expresses this as “that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” It is obvious from this verse that faith in Christ is vital. We must believe in order to be saved. We must also have faith in God’s provision for sanctification, ie. Christ’s death for us; faith in God’s power to work in us by the Spirit; faith that He gives us power to change and faith in God changing us. None of this is possible without faith. It connects us to God’s provision & power. God will sanctify us as we trust and obey. We must believe enough to act on the truth; enough to obey. Remember the chorus of the hymn: “Trust and obey For there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey.” Other verses relating faith to this process (being changed by God’s power): Ephesians 1:19&20 “what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.” Ephesians 3:19&20 says “that you may be filled with all the fullness of Christ.n Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.” Hebrews 11:6 says “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Romans 1:17 says “the just shall live by faith.” This, I believe, does not only refer to initial faith at salvation, but our day by day faith that connects us to all that God provides for our sanctification; our daily living and obeying and walking in faith. See also: Philippians 3:9; Galatians 3:26, 11; Hebrews 10:38; Galatians 2:20; Romans 3:20-25; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 3:12&17 It takes faith to obey. Remember Galatians 3: 2&3 “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or hearing of faith… having begun in the Spirit are you now being made perfect in the flesh?” If you read the whole passage it refers to living by faith. Colossians 2:6 says “as you have therefore received Christ Jesus (by faith) so walk in Him.” Galatians 5:25 says “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” So as we begin to talk about our part; our obedience; as it were, our “to do” list, remember all we have learned. Without His Spirit we can do nothing, but by His Spirit He strengthens us as we obey; and that it is God Who changes us to make us holy as Christ is holy. Even in obeying it is still all of God – Him working in us. It is all of faith in Him. Remember our memory verse, Galatians 2:20. It is “NOT I, but Christ…I live by faith in the Son of God.” Galatians 5:16 says “walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” So we see there is still work for us to do. So when or how do we appropriate, take advantage of or take hold of God’s power. I believe it is proportional to our steps of obedience taken in faith. If we sit and do nothing, nothing will happen. Read James 1:22-25. If we ignore His Word (His instructions) and don’t obey, growth or change will not take place, i.e. if we see ourselves in the mirror of the Word as in James and go away and are not doers, we remain sinful and unholy. Remember I Thessalonians 4:7&8 says “Consequently he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” Part 3 will show us practical things we can “do” (i.e. be doers) in His strength. You must take these steps of obedient faith. Call it positive action. Our Part (Part 3) We have established that God wants to conform us to the image of His Son. God says that there is something we also must do. It requires obedience on our part. There is no “magic” experience we can have that instantly transforms us. As we said, it is a process. Romans 1:17 says the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. 2 Corinthians 3:18 describes it as being transformed into Christ’s image, from glory to glory. 2 Peter 1:3-8 says we are to add one Christ-like virtue to another. John 1:16 describes it as “grace upon grace.” We have seen that we can’t do it by self-effort or by trying to keep the law, but that it is God who changes us. We have seen that it begins when we are born again and is completed by God. God gives both the provision and the power for our day to day progression. We have seen in Romans chapter 6 that we are in Christ, in His death, burial and resurrection. Verse 5 says sin’s power has been rendered powerless. We are dead to sin and it shall not have dominion over us. Because God also came to live in us, we have His power, so we can live in a way that pleases Him. We have learned that God Himself changes us. He promises to complete the work He began in us at salvation. These are all facts. Romans 6 says that considering these facts we must begin to act on them. It takes faith to do this. Here begins our journey of faith or trusting obedience. The first “command to obey” is exactly that, faith. It says “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” Reckon means count on it, trust it, consider it to be true. This is an act of faith and is followed by other commands such as “yield, don’t let, and present.” Faith is counting on the power of what it means to be dead in Christ and God’s promise to work in us. I am glad God doesn’t expect us to understand all of this completely, but only to”act” on it. Faith is the avenue of appropriating or connecting to or taking a hold of God’s provision and power. Our victory is not achieved by our power to change ourselves, but it may be in proportion to our “faithful” obedience. When we “act,” God changes us and enables us to do what we can’t do; for example changing desires and attitudes; or changing sinful habits; giving us power to “walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) He gives us “power” to reach the goal of victory. Read these verses: Philippians 3:9-13; Galatians 2:20-3:3; I Thessalonians 4:3; I Peter 2:24; I Corinthians 1:30; I Peter 1:2; Colossians 3:1-4 & 3:11&12 & 1:17; Romans 13:14 and Ephesians 4:15. The following verses connect faith to our actions and our sanctification. Colossians 2:6 says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus, so walk ye in Him. (We are saved by faith, so we are sanctified by faith.) All further steps in this process (walk) are contingent upon and can only be accomplished or attained by faith. Romans 1:17 says, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” (That means one step at a time.) The word “walk” is often used of our experience. Romans 1:17 also says, “the just shall live by faith.” This is talking about our daily life as much as or more so than its beginning at salvation. Galatians 2:20 says “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Romans 6 says in verse 12 “therefore” or because of reckoning ourselves as being “dead in Christ” we are now to obey the next commands. We now have a choice to obey daily and moment by moment as long as we live or until He returns. It starts with a choice to yield. In Romans 6:12 the King James Version uses this word “yield” when it says “don’t yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness, but yield yourselves to God.” I believe yielding is a choice to relinquish control of your life to God. Other translations us the words “present” or “offer.” This is a choice to choose to give God control of our lives and offer ourselves to Him. We present (dedicate) ourselves to Him. (Romans 12:1&2) As at a yield sign, you give control of that intersection to another, we yield control to God. Yield means to allow Him to work in us; to ask for His help; to yield to His will, not ours. It is our choice to give the Holy Spirit control of our life and yield to Him. This is not just a one time decision but is continuous, daily, and moment by moment. This is illustrated in Ephesians 5:18 “Be not drunk with wine; wherein is excess; but be filled with the Holy Spirit.: It is a deliberate contrast. When a person is drunk he is said to be controlled by alcohol (under the influence of it). In contrast we are told to be filled with the Spirit. We are to be voluntarily under the control and influence of the Spirit. The most accurate way to translate the Greek verb tense is “be ye being filled with the Spirit” denoting a continuous relinquishment of our control to the control of the Holy Spirit. Romans 6:11 says present the members of your body to God, not to sin. Verses 15&16 say we should present ourselves as slaves to God, not as slaves to sin. There is a procedure in the Old Testament by which a slave could make himself a slave to his master forever. It was a voluntary act. We should do this to God. Romans 12:1&2 says “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” This appears to be voluntary also. In the Old Testament people and things were dedicated and set apart for God (sanctified) for His service in the temple by a special sacrifice and ceremony presenting them to God. Though our ceremony may be personal the sacrifice of Christ already sanctifies our gift. (2 Chronicles 29:5-18) Should we not, then, present ourselves to God once for all time and also daily. We should not present ourselves to sin at any time. We can only do this through the Holy Spirit’s strength. Bancroft in Elemental Theology suggests that when things were consecrated to God in the Old Testament God often sent down fire to receive the offering. Perhaps in our present day consecration (giving ourselves as a gift to God as a living sacrifice) will cause the Spirit to work in us in a special way to give us power over sin and to live for God. (Fire is a word often associated with the Holy Spirit’s power.) See Acts 1:1-8 and 2:1-4. We must continue to give ourselves to God and obey him on a daily basis, bringing each revealed failure into conformity to God’s will. This is how we become mature. To understand what God wants in our lives and to see our failures we must search the Scriptures. The word light is often used to describe the Bible. The Bible can do many things and one is to light our way and reveal sin. Psalm 119:105 says “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Reading the Word of God is part of our “to do” list. The Word of God is probably the most important thing God has given us in our journey toward holiness. 2 Peter 1:2&3 says “According as His power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue.” It says everything we need is through the knowledge of Jesus and the only place to find such knowledge is in God’s Word. 2 Corinthians 3:18 carries this even further by saying, ” We all, with unveiled face beholding, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Here it gives us something to do. God by His Spirit will change us, transform us a step at a time, if we are beholding Him. James refers to Scripture as a mirror. So we need to behold Him in the only obvious place we can, the Bible. William Evans in “The Great Doctrines of the Bible” says this on page 66 about this verse: “The tense is interesting here: We are being transformed from one degree of character or glory to another.” The writer of the hymn “Take Time to Be Holy” must have understood this when he wrote:n”By looking to Jesus, Like Him thou shalt be, The friends in thy conduct, His likeness shall see.” The conclusion to this of course is I John 3:2 when “we shall be like Him, when we see Him as He is.” Even though we don’t understand how God does this, if we obey by reading and studying the Word of God, He will do His part of transforming, changing, completing and finishing His work. 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) says to “Study to show thyself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.” The NIV says to be one “who rightly handles the word of truth.” It is commonly and jokingly said at times that when we spend time with someone we begin to “look” like them, but it is often true. We do tend to mimic people we spend time with, acting and talking like them. For instance, we might mimic an accent (like we do if we move to a new area of the country), or we might mimic hand gestures or other mannerisms. Ephesians 5:1 tells us “Be ye imitators or Christ as dear children.” Children love to mimic or imitate and so we should mimic Christ. Remember we do this by spending time with Him. Then we will copy His life, character and values; His very attitudes and attributes. John 15 talks about spending time with Christ in a different way. It says we should abide in Him. Part of abiding is to spend time studying Scripture. Read John 15:1-7. Here it says “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you.” These two things are inseparable. It means more than just cursory reading, it means reading, thinking about it and putting it into practice. That the opposite is also true is apparent from the verse “Bad company corrupts good morals.” (I Corinthians 15:33) So pick carefully where and with whom you spend time. Colossians 3:10 says the new self is to be “renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. John 17:17 says “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” Here is expressed the absolute necessity of the Word in our sanctification. The Word specifically shows us (as in a mirror) where the flaws are and where we need to change. Jesus also said in John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Romans 7:13 says “But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” We know what God wants through the Word. So we must fill our minds with it. Romans 12:2 entreats us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” We need to turn from thinking the world’s way to thinking God’s way. Ephesians 4:22 says to be “renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Philippians 2:5 sys “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Scripture reveals what is the mind of Christ. There is no other way to learn these things than to saturate ourselves with the Word. Colossians 3:16 tells us to “let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Colossians 3:2 tells us to “set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth.” This is more than just thinking about them but also asking God to put His desires into our hearts and minds. 2 Corinthians 10:5 admonishes us, saying “casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Scripture teaches us everything we need to know about God the Father, God the Spirit and God the Son. Remember it tells us “all we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us.” 2 Peter 1:3 God tells us in I Peter 2:2 that we grow as Christians through learning the Word. It says “As newborn babies, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby.” The NIV translates it this way, “that you may grow up in your salvation.” It is our spiritual food. Ephesians 4:14 indicates that God wants us to be mature, not babies. I Corinthians 13:10-12 talks about putting away childish things. In Ephesians 4:15 He wants us to “GROW UP IN ALL THINGS INTO HIM.” The Scripture is powerful. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “The word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” God also says in Isaiah 55:11 that when His word is spoken or written or in any way is sent out into the world it will accomplish the work it is intended to do; it will not return void. As we have seen, it will convict of sin and will convince people of Christ; it will bring them to a saving knowledge of Christ. Romans 1:16 says the gospel is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” Corinthians says “the message of the cross…is to us who are being saved…the power of God.” In much the same way it can convict and convince the believer. We have seen that 2 Corinthians 3:18 and James 1:22-25 refer to the Word of God as a mirror. We look into a mirror to see what we are like. I once taught a Vacation Bible School course entitled “See Yourself in God’s Mirror.” I also know a chorus which describes the Word as a “mirror our lives to see.” Both express the same idea. When we look into the Word, reading and studying it as we should, we see ourselves. It will often show us sin in our life or some way in which we fall short. James tells us what we should not do when we see ourselves. “If any one is not a doer he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, for he observes his face, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” Similar to this is when we say that the Word of God is light. (Read John 3:19-21 and I John 1:1-10.) John says we should walk in the light, seeing ourselves as revealed in the light of God’s Word. It tells us that when the light reveals sin we need to confess our sin. That means to admit or acknowledge what we have done and admit it is sin. It does not mean to plead or beg or do some good deed to earn our forgiveness from God but to simply agree with God and acknowledge our sin. There is really good news here. In verse 9 God says that if we but confess our sin, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin,’ but not only that but “to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This means He cleanses us from sin we are not even conscious or aware of. If we fail, and sin again, we need to confess it again, as often as necessary, until we are victorious, and we are no longer tempted. However, the passage also tells us that if we don’t confess, our fellowship with the Father is broken and we will continue to fail. If we obey He will change us, if we don’t we won’t change. In my opinion this is the most important step in sanctification. I think this is what we do when Scripture says to put off or put aside sin, as in Ephesians 4:22. Bancroft in Elemental Theology says of 2 Corinthians 3:18 “we are being transformed from one degree of character or glory to another.” Part of that process is to see ourselves in God’s mirror and we must confess the faults we see. It takes some effort on our part to stop our bad habits. The power to change comes through Jesus Christ. We must trust Him and ask Him to the part we cannot do. Hebrews 12:1&2 says we should ‘lay aside…the sin which so easily ensnares us… looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” I think this is what Paul meant when he said in Romans 6:12 not to let sin reign in us and what he meant in Romans 8:1-15 about allowing the Spirit to do His work; to walk in the Spirit or to walk in the light; or any of the other ways God explains the co-operative work between our obedience and trusting in God’s work through the Spirit. Psalm 119:11 tells us to memorize Scripture. It says “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.” John 15:3 says “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” The Word of God will remind us both not to sin and will convict us when we do sin. There are many other verses to help us. Titus 2:11-14 says to: 1. Deny ungodliness. 2. Live godly in this present age. 3. He will redeem us from every lawless deed. 4. He will purify for Himself His own special people. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says to cleanse ourselves. Ephesians 4:17-32 and Colossians 3:5-10 lists some sins we need to quit. It gets very specific. The positive part (our action) comes in Galatians 5:16 which tells us to walk in the Spirit. Ephesians 4:24 tells us to put on the new man. Our part is described both as walking in the light and as walking in the Spirit. Both the Four Gospels and the Epistles are full of positive actions we should do. These are actions we are commanded to do such as “love,” or “pray” or “encourage.” In possibly the best sermon I have ever heard, the speaker said love is something you do; as opposed to something you feel. Jesus told us in Matthew 5:44 “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” I think such actions describe what God means when He commands us to “walk in the Spirit,” doing what He commands us while at the same time we trust Him to change our inward attitudes such as anger or resentment. I really think that if we occupy ourselves with doing the positive actions God commands, we will find ourselves with far less time to get into trouble. It has a positive effect on how we feel as well. As Galatians 5:16 says “walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Romans 13:14 says “put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Another aspect to consider: God will chasten and correct His children if we continue to follow a path of sin. That path leads to destruction in this life, if we do not confess our sin. Hebrews 12:10 says He chastens us “for our profit, that we might be made partakers of His holiness.” Verse 11 says “afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.” Read Hebrews 12:5-13. Verse 6 says “For whom the Lord loves He chastens.” Hebrews 10:30 says the “Lord will judge His people.” John 15:1-5 says He prunes the vines so they will bear more fruit. If you find yourself in this situation go back to I John 1:9, acknowledge and confess your sin to Him as often as you need to and start again. I Peter 5:10 says, “May God…after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you.” Discipline teaches us perseverance and steadfastness. Remember, however, that confession may not remove consequences. Colossians 3:25 says, “He who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.” I Corinthians 11:31 says “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.” Verse 32 adds, “When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined.” This process of becoming like Christ will continue as long as we live in our earthly body. Paul says in Philippians 3:12-15 that he had not already attained, neither was he already perfect, but he would continue to press on and pursue the goal. 2 Peter 3:14 and 18 say we should “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” and to “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” I Thessalonians 4:1, 9&10 tell us to “abound more and more” and “increase more and more” in love toward others. Another translation says to “excel still more.” 2 Peter 1:1-8 tells us to add one virtue to another. Hebrews 12:1&2 says we should run the race with endurance. Hebrews 10:19-25 encourages us to continue and never give up. Colossians 3:1-3 says to”set our minds on things above.” This means to put it there and keep it there. Remember it is God who is doing this as we obey. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Bancroft in Elemental Theology says on page 223 ” Sanctification begins at the inception of the believer’s salvation and is co-extensive with his life on earth and will reach its climax and perfection when Christ returns.” Ephesians 4:11-16 says being a part of a local group of believers will help us reach this goal as well. “till we all come…to a perfect man …that we may grow up into him,” and that the body “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Titus 2:11&12 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” I Thessalonians 5:22-24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”

Many people have the mistaken idea that people are born Christians.  It may be true that people are born into a family where one or more parent is a believer in Christ, but that does not make a person a Christian.  You may be born into the home of a particular religion but eventually each person must choose what he or she believes. Joshua 24:15 says, “choose you this day whom you will serve.”  A person is not born a Christian, it is about choosing the way of salvation from sin, not choosing a church or a religion. Each religion has its own god, the creator of their world, or great leader who is the central teacher who teaches the way to immortality.  They may be similar or totally different from the God of the Bible.  Most people are deluded into thinking that all religions lead to a single god, but are worshiped in various ways.  With this sort of thinking there are either multiple creators or many paths to god.  However, when inspected, most groups claim to be the only way.  Many even think Jesus is a great teacher, but He is far more than that.  He is God’s one and only Son (John 3:16). The Bible says there is only one God and one way to come to Him.  I Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”  Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father, but through me.”  The Bible teaches that the God of Adam, Abraham and Moses is our Creator, God and Savior. The Book of Isaiah has many, many references to the God of the Bible being the only God and Creator.  Actually it is stated in the first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Isaiah 43:10&11 says, “so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He.  Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.  I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.” Isaiah 54:5, where God is speaking to Israel, says, “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord Almighty is His name – the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, He is called the God of all the earth.”    He is the Almighty God, the Creator of all the earth.  Hosea 13:4 says, “there is no Savior besides Me.”  Ephesians 4:6 says there is “one God and Father of us all.” There are many, many more verses: Psalm 95:6 Isaiah 17:7 Isaiah 40:25 calls Him the “Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 43:3 calls Him, “God the Holy One of Israel” Isaiah 5:13 calls Him, “Your Maker” Isaiah 45:5,21&22 say there is , “no other God.” See also:  Isaiah 44:8; Mark 12:32; I Corinthians 8:6 and Jeremiah 33:1-3 The Bible clearly says He is the only God, the only Creator, the only Savior and clearly shows us Who He is.  So what makes the God of the Bible different and sets Him apart.  He is the One Who says that faith provides a way of forgiveness from sins apart from trying to earn it by our goodness or good deeds. Scripture clearly shows us that the God Who created the world loves all of mankind, so much that He sent His only Son to save us, to pay the debt or punishment for our sins.  John 3:16&17 say, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…that the world should be saved through Him.”  I John 4:9&14 say, “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him…The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”  I John 5:16 says, “God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.”  Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  I John 2:2 says, “He Himself is the propitiation (just payment) for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”  Propitiation means to make atonement or payment for the debt of our sin.  I Timothy 4:10 says, God is the “Savior of all men.” So how does a person appropriate this salvation for himself?   How does one become a Christian?  Let’s look at John chapter three where Jesus Himself explains this to a Jewish leader, Nicodemus.  He came to Jesus at night with questions and misunderstandings and Jesus gave him answers, the answers we all need, the answers to the questions you are asking.  Jesus told him that to become a part of the Kingdom of God he needed to be born again.  Jesus told Nicodemus that He (Jesus) had to be lifted up (speaking of the cross, where He would die to pay for our sin), which was historically soon to occur. Jesus then told him that there was one thing he needed to do, BELIEVE, believe that God sent Him to die for our sin; and this was not true for Nicodemus only, but also for “the whole world,” including you as quoted in I John 2:2.  Matthew 26:28 says, “this is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”  See also I Corinthians 15:1-3, which says this is the gospel that, “He died for our sins.” In John 3:16 He said to Nicodemus, telling him what he must do, “that whoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life.”  John 1:12 tells us we become God’s children and John 3:1-21 (read the whole passage) tells us we are “born again.”  John 1:12 puts it this way, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to them that believe in His name.” John 4:42 says, “for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”  This is what we all must do, believe.  Read Romans 10:1-13 which ends by saying, “whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” This is what Jesus was sent by His Father to do and as He died He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30).  Not only had He finished God’s work but the words “It is finished” mean literally in Greek, “Paid in full,” the words which were written on a prisoner’s release document when he was set free and that meant his punishment was legally “paid in full.”  Thus Jesus was saying our penalty of death for sin (see Romans 6:23 which says the wages or penalty of sin is death) had been paid in full by Him. The good news is that this salvation is free to all the world (John 3:16).Romans 6:23 not only says, “the wages of sin is death,’ but it also says, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Read Revelation 22:17.  It says, “Whoever will let him take of the water of life freely.”  Titus 3:5&6 says, “not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy He saved us…”  What a wonderful salvation God has provided. As we have seen, it is the only way.  However, we must also read what God says in John 3:17&18 and in verse 36.  Hebrews 2:3 says, “how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?”  John 3:15&16 says those who believe have eternal life, but verse 18 says, “whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”  Verse 36 says, “but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”  In John 8:24 Jesus said, “unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sin.” Why is this?  Acts 4:12 tells us!  It says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  There is simply no other way.  We need to give up our ideas and notions and accept God’s way.  Luke 13:3-5 says, “unless you repent (which literally means to change your mind in Greek) you shall all likewise perish.”  The punishment for all who do not believe and receive Him is that they will be punished eternally for their deeds (their sins). Revelation 20:11-15 says, “Then 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.  And 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.  The 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.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  The lake of fire is the second death.  If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”  Revelation 21:8 says, “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.” Read Revelation 22:17 again and also John chapter 10.  John 6:37 says, “The one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out…”  John 6:40 says, “It is the will of your Father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.  Read Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-16.  If you believe you will be saved. As we discussed, one is not born a Christian but entering the Kingdom of God is an act of faith, a choice for whosoever will to believe and be born into God’s family.  I John 5:1 says, Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.”  Jesus will save us forever and our sins will be forgiven. Read Galatians 1:1-8  This is not my opinion, but God’s Word.  Jesus is the only Savior, the only way to God, the only way to find forgiveness.

What Is the Meaning of Life? Cruden’s Concordance defines life as “animated existence as distinguished from dead matter.”  We all know when something is alive by the evidence exhibited.  We know that a person or animal ceases to be alive when it stops breathing, communicating and functioning.  Likewise, when a plant dies it withers and dries up. Life is a part of God’s creation.  Colossians 1:15&16 tells us we were created by the Lord Jesus Christ.  Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and in Genesis 1:26 it says, “Let us make man in our image.” This Hebrew word for God, “Elohim,” is plural and speaks of all three persons of the Trinity, which means that the Godhead or Triune God created the first human life and the whole world. Jesus is specifically mentioned in Hebrews 1:1-3.  It says God “has spoken to us by His Son…through whom also He made the universe.”  See also John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:15&16 where it is specifically talking about Jesus Christ and it says, “all things were created by Him.”  John 1:1-3 says, “He made everything that was made, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”  In Job 33:4, Job says, “The Spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”  We know by these verses that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, working together, created us. This life comes directly from God. Genesis 2:7 says, “God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.” This was unique from all else He created.  We are living beings by the very breath of God in us.  There is no life except from God. Even in our vast, yet limited, knowledge we cannot understand how God could do this, and maybe we never will, but it is even harder to believe that our complex and perfect creation was just the result of a series of freak accidents. Does it not then beg the question, “What is the meaning of life?” I like to also refer to this as our reason or purpose for life!  Why did God create human life?  Colossians 1:15&16, previously partly quoted, gives us the reason for our life.  It goes on to say that we were “created for Him.”  Romans 11:36 says, “For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever! Amen.”  We are created for Him, for His pleasure. In speaking of God, Revelation 4:11 says, “Thou art worthy, O Lord to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”  The Father also says that He has given His Son, Jesus, rule and supremacy over all things.  Revelation 5:12-14 says He has “dominion.”  Hebrews 2:5-8 (quoting Psalm 8:4-6) says God has “put all things under His feet.”  Verse 9 says, “In putting all things under His feet, God left nothing that is not subject to Him.”  Not only is Jesus our Creator and thus worthy to rule, and worthy of honor and power but because He died for us God has exalted Him to sit on His throne and rule over all creation (including His world). Zechariah 6:13 says, “He will be clothed with majesty, and will sit and rule on His throne.”  Read also Isaiah 53.  John 17:2 says, “Thou hast given Him authority over all mankind.”  As God and Creator He deserves honor, praise and thankfulness.  Read Revelation 4:11 and 5:12&13.  Matthew 6:9 says, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.”  He deserves our service and respect.  God rebuked Job because he disrespected Him.  He did it by showing the greatness of His creation, and Job responded by saying, “Now my eyes have seen thee and I repent in dust and ashes.” Romans 1:21 shows us the wrong way, by how the unrighteous behaved, thus revealing what is expected of us.  It says, “though they knew God they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks.”  Ecclesiastes 12:14 says, “the conclusion, when all has been heard is: fear God and keep His commandments: because this applies to every person.”  Deuteronomy 6:5 says (and this is repeated in Scripture over and over), “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.” I would define the meaning of life (and our purpose in life), as fulfilling these verses.  This is fulfilling His will for us.  Micah 6:8 sums it up this way, “He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Other verses say this in slightly different ways as in Matthew 6:33, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you,” or Matthew 11:28-30, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.”  Verse 30(NASB) says, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Deuteronomy 10:12&13 says, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your good.” Which brings to mind the point that God is not capricious nor arbitrary nor subjective; for although He deserves to be and is the Supreme Ruler, He does not do what He does for Himself alone.  He is love and everything He does is out of love and for our good, that is although it is His right to rule, God is not selfish.  He does not rule just because He can.  Everything that God does has love at its core. More importantly, although He is our ruler it does not say He created us to rule us but what it does say is God loved us, that He was pleased with His creation and delights in it.  Psalm 149:4&5 says, “The Lord takes delight in His people…let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy.”  Jeremiah 31:3 Says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”  Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save, He will take delight in you, He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.” Proverbs 8:30&31 says, “I was daily His delight…Rejoicing in the world, His earth and having my delight in the sons of man.”  In John 17:13 Jesus in His prayer for us says, “I am still in the world so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” for us.  God loved Adam, His creation, so much He made him ruler over all His world, over all His creation and placed him in His beautiful garden. I believe that the Father often walked with Adam in the Garden.  We see that He came looking for him in the garden after Adam had sinned, but didn’t find Adam because he had hidden himself.  I believe that God created man for fellowship.  In I John 1:1-3 it says, “our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son.” In Hebrews chapters 1&2 Jesus is referred to as our brother.  He says, “I am not ashamed to call them brothers.”  In verse 13 He calls them “the children God has given Me.”  In John 15:15 He calls us friends.  All of these are terms of fellowship and relationship. In Ephesians 1:5 God speaks of adopting us “as His sons through Jesus Christ.” So, even though Jesus has pre-eminence and supremacy over everything (Colossians 1:18), His purpose for giving us “life” was for fellowship and a family relationship.  I believe this is the purpose or meaning of life presented in Scripture. Remember Micah 6:8 says we are to walk humbly with our God; humbly because He is God and Creator; but walking with Him because He loves us.  Joshua 24:15 says, “Choose you this day whom you will serve.”  In light of this verse, let me say that once Satan, God’s angel served Him, but Satan wanted to be God, to take over God’s place instead of “walking humbly with Him.”  He tried to exalt himself above God and was thrown out of heaven.  Ever since then he has tried to drag us down with him as he did with Adam and Eve.  They followed him and sinned; then they hid themselves in the garden and eventually God cast them out of the Garden.  (Read Genesis 3.) We, like Adam, have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and rebelled against God and our sins have separated us from God and our relationship and fellowship with God is broken.  Read Isaiah 59:2, which says, “your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid His face from you…”  We died spiritually. Someone I know defined the meaning of life this way: “God wants us to live with Him forever and maintain a relationship (or walk) with Him here and now (Micah 6:8 all over again).  Christians often refer to our relationship here and now with God as a “walk” because Scripture uses the word “walk” to describe how we should live.  (I’ll explain that later.)  Because we have sinned and are separated from this “life,” we MUST start or begin by receiving His Son as our personal Savior and the restoration He has provided by dying for us on the cross.  Psalm 80:3 says, “God, restore us and cause thy face to shine upon us and we will be saved.” Romans 6:23 says, “The wages (penalty) of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Thankfully, God so loved the world that He sent His own Son to die for us and pay the penalty for our sin that whoever “believes in Him might have everlasting life (John 3:16).  Jesus’ death restores our relationship with the Father. Jesus paid this penalty of death, but we must receive (accept) it and believe in Him as we have seen in John 3:16 and John 1:12.  In Matthew 26:28, Jesus said, “This is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”  Read also I Peter 2:24; I Corinthians 15:1-4 and Isaiah chapter 53.  John 6:29 tells us, “This is the work of God that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.” It is then that we become His children (John 1:12), and His Spirit comes to live in us (John 3:3 and John 14:15&16) and then that we have the fellowship with God spoken of in I John chapter 1.  John 1:12 tells us that when we receive and believe in Jesus we become His children.  John 3:3-8 says that we are “born again” into God’s family.  It is then that we can walk with God as Micah says we should.  Jesus said in John 10:10(NIV), “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  The NASB reads, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  This is life with all the joy God promises.  Romans 8:28 goes even further by saying that God loves us so much that He “causes all things to work together for our good.” So how do we walk with God?  Scripture talks about being one with the Father as Jesus was one with the Father (John 17:20-23).  I think Jesus meant this also in John 15 when He spoke of abiding in Him.  There is also John 10 which speaks of us as sheep following Him, the Shepherd. As I said, this life is described as “walking” over and over, but to understand it and do it we must study the Word of God.  Scripture teaches us the things we must do to walk with God.  It starts with reading and studying God’s Word.  Joshua 1:8 says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.”  Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.”  When we do these things we are walking with God and obeying His Word. I’m going to put this in sort of an outline with a lot of verses which I hope you will read: 1).        John 15:1-17:  I think Jesus means walking with Him continuously, day by day in this life, when He says “abide” or “remain” in Me.  “Abide in Me and I in you.”  Being His disciples implies that He is our Teacher.  According to 15:10 it includes obeying His commands.  According to verse 7 it includes having His word abiding in us.  In John 14:23 it says, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep my Word and My Father will love him, and We will come and make Our abode with him’”  This sounds like abiding to me. 2).        John 17:3 says, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You have sent.”  Jesus later speaks of unity with us as He has with the Father.  In John 10:30 Jesus says, “I and My Father are One.” 3).        John 10:1-18 teaches us that we, His sheep, follow Him, the Shepherd, and He cares for us as “we go in and out and find pasture.”  In verse 14 Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-” WALKING WITH GOD How can we as humans walk with God Who is Spirit?

6. We can walk in truth. Scripture says God’s Word is truth (John 17:17), meaning the Bible and what it commands and the ways it teaches, etc.  The truth sets us free (John 8:32).  Walking in His ways means as James 1:22 says, “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.”  Other verses to read would be:  Psalm 1:1-3, Joshua 1:8; Psalm 143:8; Exodus 16:4; Leviticus 5:33; Deuteronomy 5:33; Ezekiel 37:24; 2 John 6; Psalm 119:11, 3; John 17:6 &17; 3 John 3&4; I Kings 2:4 & 3:6; Psalm 86:1, Isaiah 38:3 and Malachi 2:6.
7. We can walk in the Light. Walking in the light means to walk in the teaching of God’s Word (Light also refers to the Word itself); seeing yourself in God’s Word, that is, recognizing what you are doing or are, and recognizing whether it is good or bad as you see examples, historical accounts or commands and teaching presented in the Word.  The Word is God’s light and as such we must respond (walk) in it.  If we are doing what we should we need to thank God for His strength and ask God to enable us to continue; but if we have failed or have sinned, we need to confess it to God and He will forgive us.  This is how we walk in the light (revelation) of the Word of God, for Scripture is God-breathed, the very words of Our Heavenly Father (2 Timothy 3:16).  Read also I John 1:1-10; Psalm 56:13; Psalm 84:11; Isaiah 2:5; John 8:12; Psalm 89:15; Romans 6:4.
8. We can walk in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit never contradicts the Word of God but rather works through it.  He is the Author of it (2 Peter 1:21).  For more about walking in the Spirit see Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:16 and Romans 8:9.  The results of walking in the light and walking in the Spirit are very similar in Scripture.
9. We can walk as Jesus walked. We are to follow His example, obey His teaching and be like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18; Luke 6:40).  I John 2:6 says, “The one who says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same manner as He walked.”  Here are some important ways to be like Christ:
10. Love one another.  John 15:17: “This is my command: Love each other.”  Philippians 2:1&2 says, “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”  This relates to walking in the Spirit because the first aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22).
11. Obey Christ as He obeyed and submitted to the Father (John 14:15).
12. John 17:4: He finished the work God gave Him to do, when He died on the cross (John 19:30).
13. When He prayed in the garden He said, “Thy will be done (Matthew 26:42).
14. John 15:10 says, “If you keep my commands, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept My Fathers commands and abide in His love.”
15. This brings me to another aspect of walking, that is, living the Christian life – which is PRAYER. Prayer falls into both obedience, since God commands it many times, and following Jesus’ example in praying.  We think of prayer as asking for things.  It is, but it is more.  I like to define it as just talking to or with God anytime, anywhere.  Jesus did this because in John 17 we see that Jesus while walking and talking with His disciples “looked up” and “prayed” for them.  This is a perfect example of “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17), asking requests of God and talking to God ANY TIME AND ANY WHERE.
16. Jesus’ example and other Scriptures teach us to also spend time separately from others, alone with God in prayer (Matthew 6:5&6).  Here Jesus is also our example, as Jesus spent much time alone in prayer.  Read Mark 1:35; Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46; Luke 11:1; 5:16; 6:12 and 9:18&28.
17. God commands us to pray. Abiding includes prayer. Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer.”  In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus taught us how to pray by giving us the “Lord’s Prayer.”  Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Paul repeatedly asked the churches he started to pray for him.  Luke 18:1 says, “Men ought always to pray.”  Both 2 Samuel 21:1 and I Timothy 5:5 in the Living Bible translation speak of spending “much time in prayer.”  So prayer is an important requirement for our walk with God.  Spend time with Him in prayer as David does in the Psalms and as Jesus did.

The whole Scripture is our guidebook to live and walk with God, but summed up it is:

1. Know the Word: 2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2. Obey the Word: James 1:22
3. Know Him through the Scripture (John 17:17; 2 Peter 1:3).
4. Pray
5. Confess sin
6. Follow Jesus’ example
7. Be like Jesus

These things I believe constitute what Jesus meant when Jesus said to abide in Him and this is the true meaning of life. Conclusion Life without God is futile and rebellion leads to living without Him.  It leads to living without purpose, with confusion and frustration, and as Romans 1 says, living “without knowledge.”  It is meaningless and totally self-centered.  If we walk with God we have life and that more abundantly, with purpose and God’s eternal love.  With this comes a loving relationship with a loving Father Who ALWAYS gives us what is good and best for us and Who delights and joys in pouring out His blessings on us, forever.

Whenever you are trying to understand a part of Scripture, there are some guidelines to follow. Study it in its context, in other words look carefully at the surrounding verses. You should look at it in light of its Biblical history and background. The Bible is cohesive. It is one story, the amazing story of God’s plan of redemption. No part can be understood alone. It is a good idea to ask questions about a passage or topic, such as, who, what, where, when, why and how. When it comes to the question of whether or not a person has committed the unpardonable sin, background is important to its understanding. Jesus began His ministry of preaching and healing six months after John the Baptist began his. John was sent by God to prepare people to receive Jesus and as a witness to Who He was. John 1:7 “to bear witness to the Light.” John 1:14&15, 19-36 God told John that he would see the Spirit descend and abide upon Him. John 1:32-34 John said “he bare record that this was the Son of God.” He also said of Him, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the son of the world. John 1:29 See also John 5:33 The priests and Levites (religious leaders of the Jews) were aware of both John and Jesus. The Pharisees (another group of Jewish leaders) began to ask them who they were and by what authority they were preaching and teaching. It seems they began to see them as a threat. They asked John if he were the Christ (he said he was not) or “that prophet.” John 1:21 This is very important to the question at hand. The phrase “that prophet” comes from the prophecy given to Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15 and is explained in Deuteronomy 34:10-12 where God tells Moses that another prophet would come who would be like himself and preach and do great wonders (a prophecy about Christ). This and other Old Testament prophecies were given so people would recognize the Christ (the Messiah) when He came. So Jesus began to preach and show people that He was the promised Messiah and to prove it by mighty wonders. He made the claim that He spoke the words of God and that He came from God. (John chapter 1, Hebrews chapter 1, John 3:16, John 7:16) In John 12:49&50 Jesus said, “I (do) not speak of my own accord, but the Father Who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.” By teaching and doing miracles Jesus fulfilled both aspects of Moses’ prophecy. John 7:40 The Pharisees were knowledgeable in Old Testament Scripture; familiar with all these Messianic prophecies. Read John 5:36-47 to see what Jesus said about this. In verse 46 of that passage Jesus claims to be “that prophet” by saying “he spoke of me.” Read also Acts 3:22 Many people were asking if He were the Christ or “the Son of David.” Matthew 12:23 This background and the Scriptures about it all connect to the question of the unpardonable sin. All of these facts come up in the passages about this question. They are found in Matthew 12:22-37; Mark 3:20-30 and Luke 11:14-54, especially verse 52. Please read these carefully if you want to understand the issue. The situation is about Who Jesus is and Who empowered Him to do miracles. By this time the Pharisees are jealous of Him, testing Him, trying to trip Him up with questions and refusing to acknowledge Who He is and refusing to come to Him that they might have life. John 5:36-47 According to Matthew 12:14&15 they were even trying to kill Him. See also John 10:31. It appears that the Pharisees followed Him (perhaps mingling with the crowds who gathered to hear Him preach and do miracles) in order to keep watch on Him. On this particular occasion concerning the unpardonable sin Mark 3:22 states that they came down from Jerusalem. They apparently followed Him when he left the crowds to go somewhere else because they wanted to find a reason to kill Him. There Jesus drove out a demon from a man and healed him. It is here that the sin in question occurs. Matthew 12:24 “When the Pharisees heard this they said, ‘it is only by Baalzebub the prince of demons that this fellow drives out demons.” (Baalzebub is another name for Satan.) It is at the end of this passage where Jesus concludes by saying, “whoso speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come.” This is the unpardonable sin: “they said that He had an unclean spirit.” Mark 3:30 The whole discourse, which includes the remarks about the unpardonable sin, is directed at the Pharisees. Jesus knew their thoughts and He spoke to them directly about what they were saying. Jesus’ whole discourse and His judgment on them is based on their thoughts and words; He started with that and ended with that. Simply stated the unpardonable sin is crediting or attributing Jesus’ wonders and miracles,especially casting out demons, to an unclean spirit. The Scofield Reference Bible says in the notes on page 1013 about Mark 3:29&30 that the unpardonable sin is “ascribing to Satan the works of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is involved – He empowered Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 12:28, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God then the kingdom of God has come unto you.” He concludes by saying wherefore (that is because you say these things) “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto you.” Matthew 12:31 There is no other explanation in Scripture saying what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is. Remember the background. Jesus had the witness of John the Baptist (John 1:32-34) that the Spirit was upon Him. Words used in the dictionary to describe blasphemy are to profane, revile, insult and show contempt. Surely discrediting Jesus’ works fits this. We don’t like it when someone else gets credit for what we do. Imagine taking the Spirit’s work and crediting it to Satan. Most scholars say this sin occurred only while Jesus was on the earth. The reasoning behind this is that the Pharisees were eyewitnesses to His miracles and heard firsthand accounts about them. They were also learned in the Scriptural prophecies and were leaders who were thus more accountable because of their position. Knowing that John the Baptist said He was the Messiah and that Jesus said His works proved Who He was, they still persistently refused to believe. Worse still, in the very Scriptures which discuss this sin, Jesus not only speaks of their blasphemy, but also accuses them of another fault – that of scattering those who witnessed their blasphemy. Matthew 12:30&31 “he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you…anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” All these things are linked together bringing Jesus’ harsh condemnation. To discredit the Spirit is to discredit Christ, thus nullifying His work to any who listened to what the Pharisees said. It eradicates all of Christ’s teaching and salvation with it. Jesus said of the Pharisees in Luke 11:23, 51&52 that not only did the Pharisees not enter in but they hindered or prevented those who were entering. Matthew 23:13 “you shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.” They should have been showing people the way and instead they were turning them away. Read also John 5:33, 36, 40; 10:37&38 (actually the entire chapter); 14:10&11; 15:22-24. To sum it up, they were guilty because: they knew; they saw; they had knowledge; they did not believe; they kept others from believing and they blasphemed the Holy Spirit. Vincent’s Greek Word Studies adds another part of the explanation from Greek grammar by pointing out that in Mark 3:30 the verb tense indicates that they kept on saying or persisted in saying “He has an unclean spirit.” The evidence indicates that they kept on saying this even after the resurrection. All the evidence indicates that the unpardonable sin is not one isolated act, but a persistent pattern of behavior. To say otherwise would negate the clear often repeated truth of the Scripture that “whoever will may come.” Revelation 22:17 John 3:14-16 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Romans 10:13 “for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” God is calling us to believe in Christ and the gospel. I Corinthians 15:3&4 “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” If you believe in Christ, surely you are not crediting His works to Satan’s power and committing the unpardonable sin. “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30&31

I believe the answer to your question lies in the Scripture.  As regards any doctrine or teaching, the only way we can know if what is being taught is “truth” is to compare it to the “truth” – the Scriptures – the Bible. In the Book of Acts (17:10-12) in the Bible, we see an account of how Luke encouraged the early church to deal with doctrine.  God says all Scripture is given to us for our instruction or as an example. Paul and Silas had been sent to Berea where they began to teach.  Luke complimented the Bereans who heard Paul teach, calling them noble because, besides receiving the Word, they examines Paul’s teaching, testing it to see if it was true.  Acts 17:11 says they did this by “searching the Scriptures daily to see if these things (they were being taught) we so.”  This is exactly what we should do with every and all things anyone teaches us. Any doctrine you hear or read should be tested.  You should search and study the Bible to test any doctrine.  This story is given for our example.  I Corinthians 10:6 says that Scripture accounts are given to us for “examples for us,” and 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is for our “instruction.”  New Testament “prophets” were instructed to test each other to see if what they said was accurate.  I Corinthians 14:29 says “let two or three prophets speak and let the others pass judgment.” Scripture itself is the only true record of God’s words and is therefore the only truth with which we must judge.  So we must do as God instructs us and judge everything by the Word of God.  So get busy and start studying and searching God’s Word.  Make it your standard and your joy as David did in the Psalms. I Thessalonians 5:21 says, in the New King James Version, “test all things: hold fast what is good.”  The 21^st Century King James Version translates the first part of the verse, “Prove all things.”  Enjoy the search. There are several online websites that may be very helpful as you study.  On biblegateway.com you can read any verse in over 50 English and many foreign language translations and also look up any word every time it occurs in the Bible in those translations.  Biblehub.com is another valuable resource.  New Testament Greek dictionaries and interlinear Bibles (that have the English translation underneath the Greek or Hebrew)  are also available on line and these also can be very helpful.

After reading your questions and comments it appears that you have some belief in God and His Son, Jesus, but also have many misunderstandings.  You seem to see God through only human opinions and experiences and see Him as Someone Who should do what you want, as if He were a servant or on demand, and so you judge His nature, and say it is “at stake.” Let me first say my answers will be Bible based because it is the only reliable source to truly understand Who God is and what He is like. We cannot ‘create” our own god to suit our own dictations, according to our own desires.  We can’t rely on books or religious groups or any other opinions, we must accept the true God from the only source He has given us, the Scripture.  If people question all or part of Scripture we are left with only human opinions, which never agree.  We just have a god created by humans, a fictional god.  He is only our creation and is not God at all.  We might as well make a god of word or stone or a golden image as Israel did. We want to have a god who does what we want.  But we can’t even change God by our demands.  We are just acting like children, having a temper tantrum to get our own way.  Nothing we do or judge determines Who He is and all our arguments have no effect on His “nature.”  His “nature” is not “at stake” because we say so.  He is Who He is: Almighty God, our Creator. So Who is the real God.  There are so many characteristics and attributes that I will only mention some and I will not “proof text” all of them.  If you want to you can go to a reliable source such as “Bible Hub” or “Bible Gateway” online and do some research. Here are some of His attributes.  God is Creator, Sovereign, Almighty.  He is holy, He is just and fair and a righteous Judge.  He is our Father.  He is light and truth.  He is eternal.  He cannot lie.  Titus 1:2 tells us, “In the hope of eternal life, which God, WHO CANNOT LIE, promised long ages ago.  Malachi 3:6 says He is unchangeable, “I am the LORD, I change not.” NOTHING we do, no action, opinion, knowledge, circumstances, or judgment can change or affect His “nature.”  If we blame or accuse Him, He does not change.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Here are a few more attributes: He is everywhere present; He knows everything (omniscient) past, present and future.  He is perfect and HE IS LOVE (I John 4:15-16).  God is loving, kind and merciful to all. We should note here that all the bad stuff, disasters and tragedies which occur, occur because of sin which entered the world when Adam sinned (Romans 5:12).  So what should our attitude be toward our God? God is our Creator.  He created the world and everything in it.  (See Genesis 1-3.)  Read Romans 1:20&21.  It certainly implies that because He is our Creator and because He is, well, God, that He deserves our honor and praise and glory.  It says, “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor gave thanks to God, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” We are to honor and thank God because He is God and because He is our Creator.  Read also Romans 1:28&31.  I noticed something very interesting here: that when we do not honor our God and Creator we become “without understanding.” Honoring God is our responsibility.  Matthew 6:9 says, “Our Father Who art in heaven hallowed be Thy Name.”  Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Thou shalt love the LORD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  In Matthew 4:10 where Jesus says to Satan, “Away from me, Satan!  For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” Psalm 100 reminds us of this when it says, “serve the Lord with gladness,” “know that the Lord Himself is God,” and verse 3, “It is He that made us and not we ourselves.”  Verse 3 also says, “We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.”  Verse 4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”  Verse 5 says, “For the Lord is good, His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.” Like Romans it instructs us to give Him thanks, praise, honor and blessing! Psalm 103:1 says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.”  Psalm 148:5 is clear in saying, “Let them praise the Lord for He commanded and they were created,” and in verse 11 it tells us who should praise Him, “All kings of the earth and all peoples,” and verse 13 adds, “For His name alone is exalted.” To make things more emphatic Colossians 1:16 says, “all things were created by Him and for Him” and “He is before all things” and Revelation 4:11 adds, “for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”  We were created for God, He was not created for us, for our pleasure or for us to get what we want.  He is not here to serve us, but we to serve Him.  As Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and praise, for you created all things, for by your will they were created and have their being.”  We are to worship Him.  Psalm 2:11 says to, “Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling.”  See also Deuteronomy 6:13 and 2 Chronicles 29:8. You said you were like Job, that “God formerly loved him.”  Let’s take a look at the nature of God’s love so you can see that He does not stop loving us, no matter what we do. The idea that God stops loving us for “whatever” reason is common among many religions.  A doctrine book I have, “Great Doctrines of the Bible by William Evans” in talking about God’s love says, “Christianity is really the only religion that sets forth the Supreme Being as ‘Love.’ It sets forth the gods of other religions as angry beings who require our good deeds to appease them or earn their blessing.” We only have two points of reference with regard to love: 1) human love and 2) God’s love as revealed to us in Scripture.  Our love is flawed by sin.  It fluctuates or can even cease while God’s love is eternal.  We can’t even fathom or comprehend God’s love.  God is love (I John 4:8). The book, “Elemental Theology” by Bancroft, on page 61 in speaking about love says, “the character of the one loving  gives character to the love.”  That means that God’s love is perfect because God is perfect.  (See Matthew 5:48.)  God is holy, so His love is pure.  God is just, so His love is fair.  God never changes, so His love never fluctuates, fails or ceases.  I Corinthians 13:11 describes perfect love by saying this, “Love never fails.”  God alone possesses this kind of love.  Read Psalm 136.  Every verse talks about God’s lovingkindness saying His lovingkindness endures forever.  Read Romans 8:35-39 which says, “who can separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation or distresses or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?” Verse 38 continues, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God.”  God is love, so He can’t help but love us. God loves everyone.  Matthew 5:45 says, “He causes His sun to rise and fall on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  He blesses everyone because He loves every one.  James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with Whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning.”  Psalm 145:9 says, “The LORD is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.”  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” What about bad things.  God promises the believer that, “All things work together for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28)”.  God may allow things to come into our life, but be assured that God has allowed them only for a very good reason, not because God has in some way or for some reason chosen to change His mind and stop loving us. God may choose to allow us to suffer the consequences of sin but He may also choose to keep us from them, but always His reasons are coming from love and the purpose is for our good. LOVE’S PROVISION OF SALVATION Scripture does say God hates sin.  For a partial list, see Proverbs 6:16-19.  But God does not hate sinners (I Timothy 2:3&4).  2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord…is patient toward you, not wishing for you to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” So God prepared a way for our redemption.  When we sin or stray from God He never leaves us and is always waiting for us to return, He does not cease to love us.  God gives us the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 to illustrate His love for us, that of the loving father rejoicing in his wayward son’s return.  Not all human fathers are like this but our Heavenly Father always welcomes us.  Jesus says in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will not cast out.”  John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world.”  I Timothy 2:4 says God “desires all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.”  Ephesians 2:4&5 says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” The greatest demonstration of love in all the world is God’s provision for our salvation and forgiveness.  You need to read Romans chapters 4&5 where much of God’s plan is explained.  Romans 5:8&9 says, “God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”  I John 4:9&10 says,”This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His One and Only Son into the world that we might live through Him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  I John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down His life for us…”  It is here in I John that it says “God is Love (chapter 4, verse 8).  That is Who He is.  This is the ultimate proof of His love. We need to believe what God says – He loves us.  No matter what happens to us or how things seem at the moment God asks us to believe in Him and His love.  David, who is called a “man after God’s own heart,” says in Psalm 52:8, “I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.”  I John 4:16 should be our goal.  “And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.  God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.” God’s Basic Plan Here is God’s plan to save us. 1) We have all sinned.  Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Romans 6:23 says “The wages of sin is death.”  Isaiah 59:2 says, “Our sins have separated us from God.” 2) God has provided a way.  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son…”  In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man comes unto the Father, but by Me.” I Corinthians 15:1&2 “This is God’s free gift of Salvation, the gospel which I presented by which you are saved.”  Verse 3 says, “That Christ died for our sins,” and verse 4 continues, “that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day.”  Matthew 26:28 (KJV) says, “This is My blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sin.”  I peter 2:24 (NASB) says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.” 3) We cannot earn our salvation by doing good works.  Ephesians 2:8&9 says, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”  Titus 3:5 says, “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us…”  2 Timothy 2:9 says, “who 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.” 4) How God’s salvation and forgiveness is made your own:  John 3:16 says, “that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”  John uses the word believe 50 times in the book of John alone to explain how to receive God’s free gift of eternal life and forgiveness.  Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 10:13 says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Assurance of Forgiveness Here is why we have assurance that our sins are forgiven.  Eternal life is a promise to “everyone who believes” and “God cannot lie.”  John 10:28 says, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”  Remember John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to them that believe on His Name.”   It is a trust based on His “nature” of love, truth and justice. If you have come to Him and received Christ you are saved.  John 6:37 says, “Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out.”  If you haven’t asked Him to forgive you and accepted Christ, you can do that this very moment. If you believe in some other version of Who Jesus is and some other version of what He has done for you than the one given in Scripture, you need to “change your mind” and accept Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world.  Remember, He is the only way to God (John 14:6). Forgiveness Our forgiveness is a precious part of our salvation.  The meaning of forgiveness is that our sins are sent away and God does not remember them anymore.  Isaiah 38:17 says, “You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”  Psalm 86:5 says, “For You Lord are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.”  See Romans 10:13.  Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  Jeremiah 31:39 says, “I will forgive their iniquity and their sin will I remember no more.” Romans 4:7&8 says, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”  This is forgiveness.  If your forgiveness is not a promise of God then where do you find it, for as we have already seen, you can’t earn it. Colossians 1:14 says, “In Whom we have redemption, even the forgiveness of sins.”  See Acts 5:30&31; 13:38 and 26:18.  All of these verses speak of forgiveness as part of our salvation.  Acts 10:43 says, “Everyone that believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name.”  Ephesians 1:7 states this also, “In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” It is impossible for God to lie.  He is incapable of it.  It is not arbitrary.  Forgiveness is based on a promise.  If we accept Christ we are forgiven.  Acts 10:34 says, “God is not a respecter of persons.”  The NIV translation says, “God does not show favoritism.” I want you to go to 1 John 1 to show how it applies to believers who fail and sin.  We are His children and as our human fathers, or the father of the prodigal son, forgives, so our Heavenly Father forgives us and will receive us yet again, and again. We know that sin separates us from God, so sin separates us from God even when we are His children.  It does not separate us from His love, nor mean we are no longer His children, but it breaks our fellowship with Him.  You can’t rely on feelings here.  Just believe His word that if you do the right thing, confess, He has forgiven you. We Are Like Children Let’s use a human example.  When a little child disobeys and is confronted, he may cover it up, or lie or hide from his parent because of his guilt.  He may refuse to admit his wrongdoing.   He has thus separated himself from his parents because he is afraid they will discover what he has done, and afraid they will be angry with him or punish him when they find out.  The closeness and comfort of the child with his parents is broken.  He cannot experience the safety, the acceptance and the love they have for him.  The child has become like Adam and Eve hiding in the Garden of Eden. We do the same thing with our heavenly Father.  When we sin, we feel guilty.  We are afraid He will punish us, or He may stop loving us or cast us away.  We don’t want to admit we are wrong.  Our fellowship with God is broken. God doesn’t leave us, He has promised never to leave us.  See Matthew 28:20, which says, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  We are hiding from Him.  We can’t really hide because He knows and sees everything.  Psalm 139:7 says, “Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?”  We are like Adam when we are hiding from God.  He is seeking us, waiting for us to come to Him for forgiveness, just as a parent just wants the child to recognize and admit his disobedience.  This is what our Heavenly Father wants.  He is waiting to forgive us.  He will always take us back. Human fathers may cease to love a child, although that seldom happens.  With God, as we have seen, His love for us never fails, never ceases.  He loves us with everlasting love.  Remember Romans 8:38&39. Remember nothing can separate us from the love of God, we do not cease to be His children. Yes, God hates sin and as Isaiah 59:2 says,” your sins have separated between you and your God, your sins have hidden His face from you.”  It says in verse 1, “the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear,” but Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” I John 2:1&2 tells the believer, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”   Believers can and do sin.  In fact I John 1:8&10 say, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” and “if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”  When we do sin God shows us the way back in verse 9 which says, “If we confess (acknowledge) our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We must choose to confess our sin to God so if we don’t experience forgiveness it is our fault, not God’s.  It is our choice to obey God.  His promise is sure.  He will forgive us.  He cannot lie. Job Verses God’s Character Let’s look at Job since you brought him up and see what it really teaches us about God and our relationship to Him.  Many people misunderstand the book of Job, its narrative and concepts.  It may be one of the most misunderstood books of the Bible. One of the first misconceptions is to assume that suffering is always or mostly a sign of God’s anger at a sin or sins we have committed.  Obviously that is what Job’s three friends were sure of, for which God eventually rebuked them.  (We’ll get back to that later.)  Another is to assume that prosperity or blessings are always or usually a sign of God being pleased with us.  Wrong.  This is man’s notion, a thinking which assumes we earn God’s kindness.  I asked someone what stood out to them from the book of Job and their reply was, “We don’t know anything.”  No one seems sure who wrote Job.  We don’t know that Job ever understood all of what was going on.  He also did not have Scripture, as we do. One cannot understand this account unless one understands what is occurring between God and Satan and the warfare between the forces or followers of righteousness and those of evil.  Satan is the defeated foe because of the cross of Christ, but you could say that he has not been taken into custody yet.  There is a battle still raging in this world over people’s souls.  God has given us the book of Job and many other Scriptures to help us understand. First, as I stated earlier, all evil, pain, sickness and disasters result from the entrance of sin into the world.  God doesn’t do or create evil, but He may allow disasters to test us.  Nothing comes into our lives without His permission, even correction or allowing us to suffer the consequences from a sin we committed.  This is to make us stronger. God does not arbitrarily decide not to love us.  Love is His very Being, but He is also holy and just.  Let’s look at the setting.  In chapter 1:6, the “sons of God” presented themselves to God and Satan came among them.  The “sons of God” are probably angels, maybe a mixed company of those who followed God and those who followed Satan.  Satan had come from roaming around on earth.  This makes me think of I Peter 5:8 which says, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  God points out his “servant Job,” and here is a very important point.  He says Job is His righteous servant, and is blameless, upright, fears God and turns from evil.  Note that God is nowhere here accusing Job of any sin.  Satan basically says that the only reason Job follows God is because God has blessed him and that if God took those blessings away Job would curse God.  Here lies the conflict.  So God then allows Satan to afflict Job to test his love and faithfulness to Himself.  Read chapter 1:21&22.  Job passed this test.  It says, “In all this Job did not sin, nor blame God.”  In chapter 2 Satan again challenges God to test Job.  Again God allows Satan to afflict Job.  Job responds in 2:10, “shall we accept good from God and not adversity.”  It says in 2:10, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Note that Satan could do nothing without God’s permission, and He sets the limits.  The New Testament indicates this in Luke 22:31 which says, “Simon, Satan has desired to have you.”  The NASB puts it this way saying, Satan “demanded permission to sift you as wheat.”  Read Ephesians 6:11&12.  It tells us to, “Put on the whole armor or God” and to “stand against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Be clear.  In all this Job had not sinned.  We are in a battle. Now go back to I Peter 5:8 and read on.  It basically explains the book of Job.  It says, “but resist him (the devil), firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”  This is a strong reason for suffering, plus the fact that suffering is a part of any battle.  If we were never tried we would just be spoon fed babies and never become mature.  In testing we become stronger and we see our knowledge of God increase, we see Who God is in new ways and our relationship with Him becomes stronger. In Romans 1:17 it says, “the just shall live by faith.”  Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please God.”  2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”  We may not understand this, but it is a fact.  We must trust God in all this, in any suffering He allows. Since the fall of Satan (Read Ezekiel 28:11-19; Isaiah 14:12-14; Revelation 12:10.) this conflict has existed and Satan desires to turn every one of us from God.  Satan even tried to tempt Jesus to mistrust His Father (Matthew 4:1-11).  It started with Eve in the garden.  Note, Satan tempted her by getting her to question God’s character, His love and care for her.  Satan implied that God was keeping something  good from her and He was unloving and unfair.  Satan is always trying to take over God’s kingdom and turn His people against Him. We must see Job’s suffering and ours in light of this “war” in which Satan is constantly trying to tempt us to change sides and separate us from God.  Remember God declared Job to be righteous and blameless.  There is no sign of an indictment of sin against Job thus far in the account.  God did not allow this suffering because of anything Job had done.  He was not judging him, angry with him nor had He stopped loving him. Now the friends of Job, who obviously believe suffering is because of sin, enter the picture.  I can only refer to what God says of them, and say be careful not to judge others, as they judged Job.  God rebuked them.  Job 42:7&8 says, “After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has.  So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves.  My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.  You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.’”  God was angry with them for what they had done, telling them to offer up a sacrifice to God.  Note that God made them go to Job and ask Job to pray for them, because they had not spoken the truth about Him as Job had. In all their dialog (3:1-31:40), God was silent. You asked about God being silent to you.  It really doesn’t say why God was so silent.  Sometimes He may be just waiting for us to trust Him, walk by faith, or really search for an answer, possibly in Scripture, or just be quiet and think about things. Let’s look back to see what’s become of Job.  Job has been struggling with criticism from his “so called” friends who are determined to prove that adversity results from sin (Job 4:7&8).  We do know that in the final chapters God rebukes Job.  Why?  What does Job do wrong?  Why does God do this?  It seems as if Job’s faith had not been tested.  Now it is severely tested, probably more than most of us will ever be.  I believe that a part of this testing is the condemnation of his “friends.”  In my experience and observation, I think that judgment and condemnation form other believers is a great trial and discouragement.  Remember the word of God says not to judge (Romans 14:10).  Rather it teaches us to “encourage one another” (Hebrews 3:13). While God will judge our sin and it is one possible reason for suffering, it is not always the reason, as the “friends” implied.  Seeing an evident sin is one thing, assuming it is another.  The goal is restoration, not tearing down and condemnation.  Job becomes angry with God and His silence and begins to question God and demand answers.  He begins to justify his anger. In chapter 27:6 Job says, “I will maintain my righteousness.”  Later God says Job did this by accusing God (Job 40:8).  In chapter 29 Job is doubting, referring to God’s blessing him in the past tense and saying God is no longer with him.  It’s almost as if he is saying God formerly loved him.  Remember Matthew 28:20 says this is not true for God gives this promise, “And I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Hebrews 13:5 says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  God never left Job and eventually spoke to him just as He did with Adam and Eve. We need to learn to continue to walk by faith – not by sight (or feelings) and to trust in His promises, even when we can’t “feel” His presence and haven’t received an answer to our prayers yet.  In Job 30:20 Job says, “O God, you do not answer me.”  Now he is beginning to complain.  In chapter 31 Job is accusing God of not listening to him and saying he would argue and defend his righteousness before God if only God would listen (Job 31:35).  Read Job 31:6.  In chapter 23:1-5 Job is also complaining to God, because He is not answering.  God is silent – he says God is not giving him a reason for what He has done.  God does not have to answer to Job or us.  We really can’t demand anything from God.  See what God says to Job when God speaks.  Job 38:1 says, “Who is this who speaks without knowledge?”  Job 40:2 (NASB) says, “Wii the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?”  In Job 40:1&2 (NIV) God says that Job “contends,” “corrects” and “accuses” Him.  God reverses what Job says, by demanding that Job answer His questions.  Verse 3 says, “I will question you and you will answer me.”  In chapter 40:8 God says, “Would you discredit my justice?  Would you condemn me to justify yourself?”  Who demands what and of whom? Then God again challenges Job with His power as his Creator, for which there is no answer.  God essentially says, “I am God, I am Creator, don’t discredit Who I am.  Don’t question My love, My justice, for I AM GOD, the Creator.” God does not say Job was punished for a past sin but He does say, “Don’t question Me, for I alone am God.”  We are not in any position to make demands of God.  He alone is Sovereign.  Remember God wants us to believe Him.  It is faith that pleases Him. When God tells us He is just and loving, He wants us to believe Him.  God’s response left Job with no answer or recourse but to repent and worship. In Job 42:3 Job is quoted as saying, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things to wonderful for me to know.”  In Job 40:4 (NIV) Job says, “I am unworthy.”  The NASB says, “I am insignificant.”  In Job 40:5 Job says, “I have no answer,” and in Job 42:5 he says, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.”  He then says, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”  He now has a much greater understanding of God, the correct one. God is always willing to forgive our transgressions.  We all fail and don’t trust God sometimes.  Think of some people in Scripture who failed at some point in their walk with God, such as Moses, Abraham, Elijah or Jonah or who misunderstood what God was doing as Naomi who became bitter and how about Peter, who denied Christ.  Did God stop loving them?  No! He was patient, longsuffering and merciful and forgiving. Discipline It is true that God hates sin, and just like our human fathers He will discipline and correct us if we continue to sin.  He may use circumstances to judge us, but His purpose is, as a parent, and out of His love for us, to restore us to fellowship with Himself.  He is patient and longsuffering and merciful and ready to forgive.  Like a human father He wants us to “grow up” and be righteous and mature.  If He didn’t discipline us we would be spoiled, immature children. He might also let us suffer the consequences of our sin, but He does not disown us or stop loving us.  If we respond correctly and confess our sin and ask Him to help us change we will become more like our Father.  Hebrews 12:5 says, “My son, do not make light of (despise) the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and punishes everyone He accepts as a son.”  In verse 7 it says, “for whom the Lord loves He disciplines.  For what son is not disciplined” and verse 9 says, “Moreover we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.  How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live.”  Verse 10 says, “God disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness.” “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful, however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” God disciplines us to make us stronger.  Though Job never denied God, he did distrust and discredit God and say God was unfair, but when God rebuked him, he repented and acknowledged his fault and God restored him.  Job responded correctly.  Others like David and Peter failed too but God restored them also. Isaiah 55:7 says, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, for He will have mercy upon him and He will abundantly (NIV says freely) pardon.” If you ever fall or fail, just apply 1 John 1:9 and acknowledge your sin as David and Peter did and as Job did.  He will forgive, He promises.  Human fathers correct their children but they can make mistakes.  God does not.  He is all knowing.  He is perfect.  He is fair and just and He loves you. Why God Is Silent You raised the question of why God was silent when you pray.  God was silent when testing Job too.  There is no reason given, but we can only give conjectures.  Maybe He just needed the whole thing to play out to show Satan the truth or maybe His work in Job’s heart wasn’t finished yet.  Maybe we aren’t ready for the answer yet either.  God is the only One Who knows, we must just trust Him. Psalm 66:18 gives another answer, in a passage about prayer, it says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me.”  Job was doing this.  He stopped trusting and began questioning.  This can be true of us also. There can be other reasons also.  He may just be trying to get you to trust, to walk by faith, not by sight, experiences or feelings.  His silence forces us to trust and seek Him.  It also forces us to be persistent in prayer.  Then we learn that it is truly God Who gives us our answers, and teaches us to be thankful and appreciate all He does for us.  It teaches us that He is the source of all blessings.  Remember James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ”  As with Job we may never know why.  We may, as with Job, just recognize Who God is, that He is our Creator, not we His.  He is not our servant that we can come to and demand our needs and wants be met.  He does not even have to give us reasons for His actions, though many times He does.  We are to honor and worship Him, for He is God. God does want us to come to Him, freely and boldly but respectfully and humbly.  He sees and hears every need and request before we ask, so people ask, “Why ask, why pray?”  I think we ask and pray so we realize He is there and He is real and He does hear and answer us because He does love us.  He is so good.  As Romans 8:28 says, He always does what is best for us. Another reason we don’t get our request is that we don’t ask for His will to be done, or we don’t ask according to His written will as revealed in the Word of God.  I John 5:14 says, “And if we ask anything according to His will we know He hears us…we know that we have the request we have asked of Him.”  Remember Jesus prayed, “not my will but Yours be done.”  See also Matthew 6:10, the Lord’s Prayer.  It teaches us to pray, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Look at James 4:2 for more reasons for unanswered prayer.  It says, “You do not have because you do not ask.”  We simply don’t bother to pray and ask.  It goes on in verse three, “You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives (KJV says ask amiss) so you can consume it on your own lusts.”  This means we are being selfish.  Someone said we are using God as our personal vending machine. Maybe you should study the topic of prayer from Scripture alone, not some book or series of human ideas on prayer.  We can’t earn or demand anything from God.  We live in a world that puts self first and we regard God as we do other people, we demand they put us first and give us what we want. We want God to serve us.  God wants us to come to Him with requests, not demands. Philippians 4:6 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”  I Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”  Micah 6:8 says, “He has showed you O man, what is good.  And what does the LORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Conclusion There is much to learn from Job.  Job’s first response to testing was one of faith (Job 1:21).  Scripture says we should “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).  Trust God’s justice, fairness and love.  If we question God, we are putting ourselves above God, making ourselves God.  We are making ourselves the judge of the Judge of all the earth.  We all have questions but we need to honor God as God and when we fail as Job later did we need to repent which means to “change our minds” as Job did, get a new perspective of Who God is – the Almighty Creator, and worship Him as Job did.  We need to recognize that it is wrong to judge God.  God’s “nature” is never at stake.  You cannot decide Who God is or what He should do.  You can in no way change God. James 1:23&24 says God’s Word is like a mirror.  It says, “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”  You have said God stopped loving Job and you.  It is evident that He did not and God’s Word says His love is everlasting and does not fail.  However, you have been exactly like Job in that you have “darkened His counsel.”  I think this means you have “discredited” Him, His wisdom, purpose, justice, judgments and His love.  You, like Job, are “finding fault” with God. Look at yourself clearly in the mirror of “Job.”  Are you the one “at fault” as Job was?  As with Job, God always stands ready to forgive if we confess our fault (I John 1:9).  He knows we are human.  Pleasing God is about faith.  A god you make up in your mind isn’t real, only the God in Scripture is real. Remember in the beginning of the story, Satan appeared with a great group of angels.  The Bible teaches that the angels learn about God from us (Ephesians 3:10&11).  Remember too, that there is a great conflict going on. When we “discredit God,” when we call God unfair and unjust and unloving, we are discrediting Him before all the angels.  We are calling God a liar.  Remember Satan, in the Garden of Eden discredited God to Eve, implying He was unjust and unfair and unloving.  Job eventually did the same and so do we.  We dishonor God before the world and before the angels.  Instead we must honor Him.  Whose side are we on?  The choice is ours alone. Job made his choice, he repented, that is, changed his mind about Who God was, he developed a greater understanding of God and who he was in relation to God.  He said in chapter 42, verses 3 and 5: “surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know…but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”  Job recognized he had “contended” with the Almighty and that was not his place. Look at the end of the story.  God accepted his confession and restored him and doubly blessed him.  Job 42:10&12 says, “The Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before…The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.” If we are demanding of God and contending and “thinking without knowledge,” we too must ask God to forgive us and “walk humbly before God” (Micah 6:8).  This starts with our recognizing Who He is in relationship to ourselves, and believing the truth as Job did.  A popular chorus based on Romans 8:28 says, “He does all things for our good.”  Scripture says that suffering has a Divine purpose and if it is to discipline us, it is for our good.  I John 1:7 says to “walk in the light,” which is His revealed Word, the Word of God.

You ask, “Why can’t I understand the Word of God?  What a great and honest question.  First of all, you must be a Christian, one of God’s children to really understand Scripture.  That means you must believe that Jesus is the Savior, Who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.  Romans 3:23 clearly says we all have sinned and Romans 6:23 says the penalty for our sin is death – spiritual death which means we are separated from God.  Read I Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53 and John 3:16 which says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son (to die on the cross in our place) that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”  An unbeliever cannot truly understand the Word of God, because he does not yet have the Spirit of God.  You see, when we accept or receive Christ, His Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts and one thing He does is instruct us and help us understand God’s Word.  I Corinthians 2:14 says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” When we accept Christ God says we are born again (John 3:3-8).  We become His children and as with all children we enter into this new life as babies and we need to grow.  We do not come into it mature, understanding all God’s Word.  Wonderfully, in I Peter 2:2 (NKJB) God says, “as new born babies desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby.”  Babies start out with milk and gradually grow to eat meat and so, we as believers start out as babies, not understanding everything, and learn gradually.  Children don’t start knowing calculus, but with simple addition.  Please read I Peter 1:1-8.  It says we add to our faith.  We grow in character and maturity through our knowledge of Jesus through the Word.  Most Christian leaders suggest starting with a Gospel, especially Mark or John.  Or you could start with Genesis, the stories of great characters of faith like Moses or Joseph or Abraham and Sarah. I’m going to share my experience.  I hope I helps you.  Don’t try to find some deep or mystical meaning from Scripture but rather just take it in a literal way, as real life accounts or as directions, such as when it says love your neighbor or even your enemy, or teaches us how to pray.  God’s Word is described as light to guide us.  In James 1:22 it says to be doers of the Word.  Read the rest of the chapter to get the idea.  If the Bible says pray – pray.  If it says give to the needy, do it.  James and the other epistles are very practical. They give us many things to obey.  I John says it this way, “walk in the light.”  I think that all believers find that understanding is hard at first, I know I did. Joshua 1:8 and Palms 1:1-6 tell us to spend time in the Word of God and meditate on it.  This simply means to think about it – not fold our hands together and mutter a prayer or something, but think about it.  This brings me to another suggestion I find very helpful, study a topic – get a good concordance or go online to BibleHub or BibleGateway and study a topic like prayer or some other word or topic like salvation, or ask a question and look for an answer this way. Here is something which changed my thinking and opened Scripture for me in a whole new way.  James 1 also teaches that the Word of God is like a mirror.  Verses 23-25 say, “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.” When you read the Bible, look at it as a mirror into your heart and soul.  See yourself, for good or bad, and do something about it.  I once taught a Vacation Bible School class called See Yourself in God’s Word.  It was eye opening.  So, look for yourself in the Word. As you read about a character or read a passage ask yourself questions and be honest.  Ask questions such as:  What is this character doing?  Is it right or wrong?  How am I like him?  Am I doing what he or she is doing?  What do I need to change? Or ask: What is God saying in this passage?  What can I do better?  There are more directions in Scripture than we can ever fulfill.  This passage says to be doers.  Get busy doing this.  You need to ask God to change you.  2 Corinthians 3:18 is a promise.  As you look at Jesus you will become more like Him.  Whatever you are seeing in Scripture, do something about it.  If you are failing, confess it to God and ask Him to change you.  See I John 1:9.  This is the way you grow. As you grow you will begin to understand more and more.  Just enjoy and rejoice in the light you have and walk in it (obey) and God will reveal the next steps like a flashlight in the dark.  Remember that God’s Spirit is your Teacher, so ask Him to help you understand Scripture and give you wisdom. If we obey and study and read the Word we will see Jesus because He is in all the Word, from the beginning at creation, to the promises of His Coming, to the New Testament fulfillment of those promises, to His instructions to the church.   I promise you, or I should say God promises you, He will transform your understanding and He will transform you to be in His image – to be like Him.  Isn’t that our goal?  Also, go to church and hear the word there. Here is a warning: don’t read a lot of books about man’s opinions of the Bible or man’s ideas of the Word, but read the Word itself.  Allow God to teach you.  Another important thing is to test everything you hear or read.  In Acts 17:11 the Bereans are commended for this.  It says, “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”  They even tested what Paul said, and their only measure was the Word of God, the Bible.  We should always test everything we read or hear about God, by checking it out with Scripture.  Remember this is a process.  It takes years for a baby to become an adult.

We have our own human view of what are “big” sins, but I think that our view may sometimes differ from God’s. The only way we have forgiveness from any sin is through the death of the Lord Jesus, which paid for our sin. Colossians 2:13&14 says, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh has He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you ALL transgressions; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.” There is no forgiveness of sin without the death of Christ. See Matthew 1:21. Colossians 1:14 says, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. See also Hebrews 9:22.

The only “sin” that will condemn us and keep us from God’s forgiveness is that of unbelief, rejecting and not believing in Jesus as our Savior. John 3:18 and 36: “He that believes on Him is not condemned; but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God…” and verse 36 “He that believes not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.” Hebrews 4:2 says, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” If you are a believer, Jesus is our Advocate, always standing before the Father interceding for us and we must come to God and confess our sin to Him. If we sin, even big sins, I John I:9 tells us this: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He will forgive us, but God may allow us to suffer the consequences of our sin. Here are some examples of people who sinned “grievously:” #1. DAVID. By our standards, probably David was the greatest offender. We certainly consider the sins of David as big. David committed adultery and then premeditatedly murdered Uriah to cover up his sin. Yet, God forgave him. Read Psalm 51:1-15, especially verse 7 where he says, “wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” See also Psalm 32. In talking about himself he says in Psalm 103:3, “Who forgives all thine iniquities.” Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Read 2 Samuel chapter 12 where the prophet Nathan confronts David and David says, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan then told him in verse 14, “The Lord also has put away your sin…” Remember, though, God punished David for those sins during his lifetime:

1. His child died.
2. He suffered by the sword in wars.
3. Evil came to him from his own house. Read 2 Samuel chapters 12-18.

#2. MOSES: To many, Moses’ sins may appear trivial compared to David’s sins, but to God they were big. His life is clearly spoken of in Scripture, as was his sin. First, we must understand the “Promised Land” – Canaan. God was so angered with Moses’ sin of disobedience, Moses’ anger at God’s people and his misrepresentation of God’s character and Moses’ lack of faith that He would not let him enter the “Promised Land” of Canaan. A great many believers understand and refer to the “Promised Land” as a picture of heaven, or eternal life with Christ. This is not the case. You must read Hebrews chapters 3 & 4 to understand this. It teaches that it is a picture of God’s rest for His people – the life of faith and victory and the abundant life He refers to in Scripture, in our physical life. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” If it were a picture of heaven, why would Moses have appeared with Elijah from heaven to stand with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9)? Moses did not lose his salvation. In Hebrews chapters 3&4 the author refers to Israel’s rebellion and unbelief in the wilderness and God said that the whole generation would not enter His rest, the “Promised Land” (Hebrews 3:11). He punished those who followed the ten spies who brought back a bad report of the land and discouraged the people from trusting God. Hebrews 3:18&19 says they could not enter His rest because of unbelief. Verses 12&13 say we should encourage, not discourage, others to trust in God. Canaan was the land promised to Abraham (Genesis 12:17). The “Promised Land” was the land of “milk and honey” (abundance), which would provide them a life filled with everything they needed for a fulfilling life: peace and prosperity in this physical life. It is a picture of the abundant life Jesus gives to those who trust Him during their life here on earth, that is, the rest of God spoken of in Hebrews or 2 Peter 1:3, everything we need (in this life) for “life and godliness.” It is rest and peace from all our striving and struggles and rest in all of God’s love and provision for us. Here is how Moses failed to please God. He stopped believing and went to doing things his own way. Read Deuteronomy 32:48-52. Verse 51 says, “This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.” So what was the sin which caused him to be punished by losing the thing that he spent his earthly life “working for” – entering the beautiful and fruitful land of Canaan here on earth? To understand this, Read Exodus 17:1-6. Numbers 20:2-13; Deuteronomy 32:48-52 and chapter 33 and Numbers 33:14, 36&37. Moses was the leader of the children of Israel after they were rescued from Egypt and they traveled through the desert. There was little and in some places no water. Moses was required to follow God’s directions; God wanted to teach His people to trust Him. According to Numbers chapter 33, there are two events where God works a miracle to give them water from the Rock. Keep this in mind, this is about the “Rock.” In Deuteronomy 32:3&4 (but read the whole chapter), part of the Song of Moses, this proclamation is made not only to Israel but to the “earth” (to everyone), about the greatness and glory of God. This was Moses job as he led Israel. Moses says, “I will proclaim the Name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! HE IS THE ROCK, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just, a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.” It was his job to represent God: great, right, faithful, good and holy, to His people. Here is what occurred. The first event concerning “the Rock” occurred as seen in Numbers chapter 33:14 and Exodus 17:1-6 at Rephidim. Israel grumbled against Moses because there was no water. God told Moses to take his rod and go to the rock where God would stand before it. He told Moses to strike the rock. Moses did this and water came out from the Rock for the people. The second event (now remember, Moses was expected to follow God’s directions), was later at Kadesh (Numbers 33:36&37). Here God’s instructions are different. See Numbers 20:2-13. Again, the children of Israel grumbled against Moses because there was no water; again Moses goes to God for direction. God told him to take the rod, but said, “gather the assembly together” and “speak to the rock before their eyes.” Instead, Moses becomes harsh with the people. It says, “Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff.” Thus he disobeyed a direct order from God to “speak to the Rock.” Now we know that in an army, if you are under a leader, you do not disobey a direct order even if you don’t fully understand. You obey it. God then tells Moses his transgression and its consequences in verse 12: “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will NOT bring this people into the land I give them.’ ” Two sins are mentioned: unbelief (in God and His order) and disregard for Him, and dishonoring God before God’s people, those he was in command of. God says in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. God wanted Moses to exemplify this faith to Israel. This failure would be grievous as a leader of any kind, as in an army. Leadership has great responsibility. If we desire leadership to gain recognition and position, to be put on a pedestal, or to gain power, we seek it for all the wrong reasons. Mark 10:41-45 gives us the “rule” of leadership: no one should be a boss. Jesus is talking about earthly rulers, saying their rulers “Lord it over them” (verse 42), and then says, “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant…for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…”Luke 12:48 says, “From everyone who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” We are told in I Peter 5:3 that leaders should not be “lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” If Moses’ leadership role, that of directing them to understand God and His glory and holiness were not enough, and disobedience to such a great God were not enough to justify his punishment, then see also Psalm 106:32&33 which speaks to his anger when it says Israel caused him to “speak rash words,” causing him to lose his temper. Additionally, let’s just look at the rock. We have seen that Moses recognized God as “the Rock.” Throughout the Old Testament, and the New Testament, God is referred to as the Rock. See 2 Samuel 22:47; Psalm 89:26; Psalm 18:46 and Psalm 62:7. The Rock is a key subject in the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy chapter 32). In verse 4 God is The Rock. In verse 15 they rejected the Rock, their Savior. In verse 18, they deserted the Rock. In verse 30, God is called their Rock. In verse 31 it says, “their rock is not like our Rock” – and Israel’s enemies know it. In verses 37&38 we read, “Where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in?” The Rock is superior, compared to all other gods. Look at I Corinthians 10:4. It is talking about the Old Testament account of Israel and the rock. It says clearly, “they all drank of the same spiritual drink for they were drinking from a spiritual rock; and the rock was Christ.” In the Old Testament God is referred to as the Rock of Salvation (Christ). It is not clear how much Moses understood that the future Savior was THE Rock which we know as fact, nevertheless it is clear that he recognized God as the Rock because he says several times in the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is THE ROCK” and understood He went with them and He was the Rock of Salvation. It is not clear if he understood all the significance but even if he didn’t if was imperative for him and all of us as God’s people to obey even when we don’t understand it all; to “trust and obey.” Some even think it goes farther than that in that the Rock was intended as a type of Christ, and His being struck and bruised for our iniquities, Isaiah 53:5&8, “For the transgression of My people was He stricken,” and “Thou shall make His soul an offering for sin.” The offence comes because he destroyed and distorted the type by striking the Rock twice. Hebrews clearly teaches us that Christ suffered “once for all time” for our sin. Read Hebrews 7:22-10:18. Note verses 10:10 and 10:12. They say, “We have been sanctified through the body of Christ once for all,” and “He having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” If Moses striking the Rock was to be a picture of His death, clearly his striking the Rock twice distorted the picture that Christ needed to die only once to pay for our sin, for all time. Whatever Moses understood may not be clear but here is what is clear: 1). Moses sinned by disobeying God’s orders, he took things into his own hands. 2). God was displeased and grieved. 3). Numbers 20:12 says he did not trust God and publicly discredited His holiness before Israel. 4). God said Moses would not be allowed to enter Canaan. 5). He appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and God said he was faithful in Hebrews 3:2. Misrepresenting and dishonoring God is a serious and grievous sin, but God forgave him. Let’s leave Moses and look at a couple of New Testament examples of “big” sins. Let’s look at Paul. He called himself the greatest sinner. I Timothy 1:12-15 says, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” 2 Peter 3:9 says God does not want anyone to perish. Paul is a great example. As a leader of Israel, and knowledgeable in the Scriptures, he should have understood who Jesus was, but he rejected Him, and greatly persecuted those who believed in Jesus and was an accessory to the stoning of Stephen. Nevertheless, Jesus appeared to Paul personally, to reveal Himself to Paul to save him. Read Acts 8:1-4 and Acts chapter 9. It says he “made havoc of the church” and committed men and women to prison, and approved of the slaughter of many; yet God saved him and he became a great teacher, writing more New Testament books than any other writer. He is a story of an unbeliever who committed great sins, but God brought him to faith. Yet Romans chapter 7 also tells us he struggled with sin as a believer, but God gave him victory (Romans 7:24-28). I want to mention also Peter. Jesus called him to follow Himself and be a disciple and he confessed who Jesus was (See Mark 8:29; Matthew 16:15-17.) and yet enthusiastic Peter denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:31-36 & 69-75). Peter, realizing his failure, went out and wept. Later, after the resurrection, Jesus sought him out and said to him three times, “Feed My sheep (lambs),” (John 21:15-17). Peter did just that, teaching and preaching (see the Book of Acts) and writing I & 2 Peter and giving his life for Christ. We see from these examples that God will save anyone (Revelation 22:17), but He also forgives the sins of His people, even the big ones (I John 1:9). Hebrews 9:12 says, “…by His own blood He entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Hebrew 7:24&25 says, “because He continues ever…Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them.” But, we also learn that it is a “fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). In I John 2:1 God says, “I write this to you so that you will not sin.” God wants us to be holy. We should not fool around and think we can just keep sinning because we can be forgiven, because God can and will often require us to face His punishment or consequences in this life. You can read about Saul and his many sins in I Samuel. God took his kingdom and his life from him. Read I Samuel chapters 28-31 and Psalm 103:9-12. Don’t ever take sin for granted. Even though God forgives you, He can and often will enact punishment or consequences in this life, for our own good. He certainly did that with Moses, David and Saul. We learn through correction. Just like human parents do for their children, God reproves and corrects us for our good. Read Hebrew 12:4-11, especially verse six which says, “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON HE RECEIVES.” Read all of Hebrews chapter 10. Read also the answer to the question, “Will God forgive me if I keep on sinning?”

God has made provision for forgiveness for all of us. God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sins by His death on the cross. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” When unbelievers accept Christ and believe He paid for their sins, they are forgiven for All their sins. Colossians 2:13 says, “He forgave us all our sins.” Psalm 103:3 says that God “forgives all your iniquities.” (See Ephesians 1:7; Matthew 1:21; Acts 13:38; 26:18 and Hebrews 9:2.) I John 2:12 says, “Your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.” Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Christ’s death not only gives us forgiveness of sin, but also the promise of ETERNAL LIFE. John 10:28 says, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall NEVER perish.” John 3:16(NASB) says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Eternal life begins when you accept Jesus. It is eternal, it does not end. John 20:31 says, “These are written unto you that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His Name.” Again in I John 5:13, God says to us, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the Name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” We have this as a promise from the faithful God, Who cannot lie, promised before the world began (see Titus 1:2.). Note also these verses: Romans 8:25-39 which says, “nothing can separate us from the love of God,” and Romans 8:1 which states, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.” This penalty was paid in full by Christ, once for all time. Hebrews 9:26 says, “But He has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 10:10 says, “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” I Thessalonians 5:10 tells us we will live together with Him and I Thessalonians 4:17 says, “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” We know also that 2 Timothy 1:12 says, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” So what happens when we do sin again, for if we are truthful, we know that believers, those who are saved, can and still do sin. In Scripture, in I John 1:8-10, this is very clear. It says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,” and, “if we say we have not sinned we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” Verses 1:3 and 2:1 are clear that He is talking to His children (John 1:12&13), the believers, not the unsaved, and that He is talking about fellowship with Him, not salvation. Read 1 John 1:1-2:1. His death forgives in that we are saved forever, but, when we sin, and we all do, we see by these verses that our fellowship with the Father is broken. So what do we do? Praise the Lord, God has made provision for this also, a way to restore our fellowship. We know that after Jesus died for us, He also rose from the dead and is alive. He is our way to fellowship. I John 2:1b says, “…if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Read also verse 2 which says this is because of His death; that He is our propitiation, our just payment for sin. Hebrews 7:25 says, “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for us.” He intercedes on our behalf before the Father (Isaiah 53:12). The good news comes to us in I John 1:9 where it says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgives us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Remember – this is the promise of God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2). (See also Psalm 32:1&2, which tells that David acknowledged his sin to God, which is what is meant by confession.) So the answer to your question is that, yes, God will forgive us if we confess our sin to God, as David did. This step of acknowledging our sin to God needs to be done as often as necessary, as soon as we are aware of our wrongdoing, as often as we sin. This includes bad thoughts that we dwell on, sins of failure to do the right thing, as well as actions. We should not run away from God and hide as Adam and Eve did in the garden (Genesis 3:15). We have seen that this promise of cleansing us from daily sin comes only because of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and for those who are born again into God’s family (John 1:12&13). There are plenty of examples of people who sinned and fell short. Remember Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God also demonstrated His love, mercy and forgiveness for all of these people. Read about Elijah in James 5:17-20. God’s Word teaches us that God does not hear us when we pray if we regard iniquity in our hearts and lives. Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” Yet here we have Elijah, who is described as “a man of like passions as we are” (with sins and failures). Somewhere along the way God must have forgiven him, because God certainly answered his prayers. Look at the forefathers of our faith – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. None of them were perfect, all of them sinned, but God forgave them. They formed God’s nation, God’s people and God told Abraham that his offspring would bless the entire world. All were people who sinned and failed just like us, but who came to God for forgiveness and God blessed them. The nation of Israel, as a group, was stubborn and sinful, continuously rebelling against God, yet He never cast them away. Yes, they have often been punished, but God was always ready to forgive them when they sought Him for forgiveness. He was and is longsuffering to forgive over and over. See Isaiah 33:24; 40:2; Jeremiah 36:3; Psalm 85:2 and Numbers 14:19 which says, “Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquities of this people, according to the greatness of Thy mercy, and as Thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” See Psalm 106:7&8 also. We have talked about David who committed adultery and murder, but he acknowledged his sin to God and was forgiven. He was punished severely by the death of his child but knew that he would see that child in Heaven (Psalm 51; 2 Samuel 12:15-23). Even Moses disobeyed God and God punished him by forbidding him entry to Canaan, the land promised to Israel, but he was forgiven. He appeared with Elijah from heaven on the mount of transfiguration, and was with Jesus. Both Moses and David are mentioned with the faithful in Hebrews 11:32. We have an interesting picture of forgiveness in Matthew 18. The disciples asked Jesus how often they should forgive and Jesus said “70 times 7.” That is, “uncountable times.” If God says we should forgive 70 times 7, we surely can’t outdo His love and forgiveness. He will forgive more than 70 times 7 if we ask. We have His unalterable promise to forgive us. We only need to confess our sin to Him. David did. He said to God, “Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy site” (Psalm 51:4). Isaiah 55:7 says, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him and to our God for He will freely pardon.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 says this: “If My people, who are called by My Name shall humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” God’s desire is to live through us to make victory over sin and godliness possible. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God IN Him.” Read also: I Peter 2:25; I Corinthians 1:30&31; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 3:9; I Timothy 6:11&12 and 2 Timothy 2:22. Remember, when you continue to sin your fellowship with the Father is broken and you must acknowledge your wrongdoing and come back to the Father and ask Him to change you. Remember, you cannot change yourself (John 15:5). See also Romans 4:7 and Psalm 32:1. When you do this your fellowship is restored (Read I John 1:6-10 and Hebrews 10). Let’s look at Paul who called himself the greatest of sinners (I Timothy 1:15). He suffered through the problem of sin the same as we do; he kept sinning and tells us about it in Romans chapter 7. Maybe he asked himself this same question. Paul describes the situation of living with a sinful nature in Romans 7:14&15. He says it is “sin that dwells in me” (verse 17), and verse 19 says, “the good that I would, I do not and I practice the very evil that I do not wish.” In the end he says, “who shall deliver me?”, and then he learned the answer, “Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (verses 24&25). God doesn’t want us to live in such a way that we are confessing and being forgiven for the same particular sins over and over again. God wants us to overcome our sin, to be like Christ, to do good. God wants us to be perfect as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48). I John 2:1 says, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin…” He wants us to stop sinning and He wants to change us. God wants us to live for Him, to be holy (I Peter 1:15). Although victory starts with acknowledging our sin (I John 1:9), we like Paul cannot change ourselves. John15:5 says, “Without Me you can do nothing.” We must know and understand Scripture to understand how to change our lives. When we become a believer, Christ comes to live in us through the Holy Spirit. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Just as Romans 7:18 says, victory over sin and real change in our lives comes “through Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 15:58 says this in the exact same words, God gives us the victory “through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Galatians 2:20 says, “not I, but Christ.” We had that phrase for victory in the Bible School I attended, “Not I but Christ,” meaning, He accomplishes victory, not I in my self-effort. We learn how this is done by other Scriptures, especially in Romans 6&7. Romans 6:13 shows us how to do this. We must yield to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to change us. A yield sign means to allow (let) another person have the right of way. We must let (allow) the Holy Spirit to have the “right of way” in our life, the right to live in and through us. We have to “let” Jesus change us. Romans 12:1 puts it this way: “Present your body a living sacrifice” to Him. Then He will live through us. Then HE will change us. Don’t be fooled, if you continue to sin it will affect your life, by missing out on God’s blessing and it could also result in punishment or even death in this life because, even if God forgives you (which He will), He may punish you as He did Moses and David. He may allow you to suffer the consequences of your sin, for your own good. Remember, He is just and righteous. He punished King Saul. He took his kingdom and his life. God will not allow you to get away with sin. Hebrews 10:26-39 is a difficult passage of Scripture, but one point in it is very clear: If we continue to willfully sin after being saved, we are trampling on the blood of Christ by which we were forgiven once for all and we can expect punishment because we are disrespecting Christ’s sacrifice for us. God punished His people in the Old Testament when they sinned and He will punish those who have accepted Christ who deliberately keep on sinning. Hebrews chapter 10 says this punishment could be severe. Hebrews 10:29-31 says “How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Read I John 3:2-10 which shows us that those who are God’s do not continually sin. If a person continues to sin purposefully and go their own way, they should “test themselves” to see if their faith is really genuine. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 11:4 indicates there are many “false gospels” which are not the Gospel at all. There is only ONE true Gospel, that of Jesus Christ, and which is totally apart from our good works. Read Romans 3:21-4:8; 11:6; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:4-6; Philippians 3:9 and Galatians 2:16, which says, “(We) know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law., because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” I Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” If you are trying to get away with sinning, deliberately continuing to sin, you probably have believed some false gospel (another gospel, 2 Corinthians 11:4) based on some form of human behavior or good deeds, instead of the real Gospel (I Corinthians 15:1-4) which is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Read Isaiah 64:6 which says our good deeds are just “filthy rags” in God’s sight. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 2 Corinthians 11:4 says, “For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” Read I John 4:1-3; I Peter 5:12; Ephesians 1:13 and Mark 13:22. Read Hebrews chapter 10 again and also chapter 12. If you ARE a believer, Hebrews 12 tells us God will rebuke and discipline His children and Hebrews 10:26-31 is a warning that “The Lord will judge His people.” Have you really believed the true Gospel? God will change those who are His children. Read 1 John 5:11-13. If your faith is in Him and not your own good deeds, you are His forever and you are forgiven. Read I John 5:18-20 and John 15:1-8 All these things work together to deal with our sin and bring us to victory through Him. Jude 24 says, “Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” 2 Corinthians 15:57&58 says, “But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Read Psalm 51 and Psalm 32, especially verse 5 which says, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”