John
King James Version (KJV)
Discuss John 14 Page 3
Viewing page: 3 of 67
< Previous Discussion Page Next Discussion Page >
Do you have a Bible comment or question?
Posting comments is currently unavailable due to high demand on the server.
Please check back in an hour or more. Thank you for your patience!
I just finished praying for you. One thing I know for sure, (due to supernatural experiences I've had) the more that you spend time with Christ, AND invite the presence of the Holy Spirit to your atmosphere, your relationship (with them) will grow stronger. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." James 4:8 KJV.
Intimacy with Christ peels away the layers of mysteries in everyday challenges and obstacles. Don't give up...Stay strong. Endure to the end.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27 KJV.
"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
John 14:13
"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
Psalms 55:17
"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice."
Blessings
Part 1
Thank you for your reply, I certainly do not mind. I understand that this subject is delicate, and I am blessed to have brothers and sisters on this site willing to discuss it. Revelation is a challenging book, and I am looking forward to Jesse getting through it.
You have listed some exciting verses, and I hope to share my thoughts on them and your post, not to determine who may be right, but rather to view the discussion as a nudge to pray and study. On the verses you listed, John 12:49-50, Jesus is saying the Father gave Him a commandment and what the Father told Him to say, Jesus was obedient.
John 8:28-29, the Pharisees were debating with Jesus who He was, and He said that in verse 28-29 when He is lifted up/crucified, they will know who He is. We see in Matthew 28:54 when Jesus died and those things that happened, the centurion and those who were there greatly feared and said, "Truly this was the Son of God.
John 7:16-19, the gospels, reveal the glory of the Father who sent Jesus; all that Jesus did was accomplished by the Father through the Holy Spirit, with which Jesus was anointed without measure.
In John 4:34, John 5:19, John 5:30, and John 8:26 all say that it is the Father, not Him, on in John 14:10 Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in Him this was from the time Jesus was anointed without measure the Holy Spirit when He was baptized and made the Messiah.
Jesus was and is the Word of God; John 1:14. God was in the flesh in Jesus through the Holy Spirit, just like these verses say. The beginning in John, many understand it as the beginning of creation, my understanding is the beginning of Jesus' ministry, as we see in Mark 1:1, Luke 1:2, and 1 John 1:1.
To me, Jesus was the first in the plan of God, Revelation 3:14, and everything was created in Jesus, not by Him, and all was created for Jesus and the purpose of the Father. Revelation 13:8 and 1 Peter 1:18-21.
See part 2
John 10:30 I and my Father are one. Should we not consider other verses, John 17:11, John 17:20-23, John 14:28. These verses, Numbers 23:19, John 20:17, 2 Corinthians 11:31, Ephesians 1:3, Ephesians 4:4-6, and 1 Peter 1:3. Then, in Revelation 21:22-23 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
God wanted to be with His people, He first instructed Moses to build a tabernacle, which was symbolic of Jesus. Jesus was born without sin, not by man but of the seed of a woman whose Father was God. God could dwell in Him. Like the tabernacle, Jesus was holy, not defiled. Jesus became the light of the world, the Shekinah Glory manifested in Him and God again dwelt with man in the flesh of Jesus, to me that is John 1:14.
I do thank you for your reply, and I hope and pray I do not offend anyone who reads what I post; our discussions should only inspire us to study, not to win or demean, if so, we all lose.
I will stop here; I do not want to get ahead of Jesse's work in Revelation. You are always welcome to reply to me GiGi.
God bless,
RLW
Your interpretation of Rev. 1:1 intrigued me.
I think that our interpretations of God giving this revelation to Jesus is linked to the way we think of how the Father and Jesus interact with one another in Scripture.
For me, I think of what Jesus said in these verses:
Jn. 12:49-50
For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment,
whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak."
Jn. 8:28
"Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."
Jn. 7:16
"Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me."
Jn. 4:34
"Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work."
Jn. 5:19
"So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[a] does, that the Son does likewise."
Jn. 5:30
"I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."
John 8:26
"I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world."
John 14:10
"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works."
And in light of what Jn. 1:1-3 says of Jesus as the Word who was with God in the beginning and is God. Vs. 2-3 says
"The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
And Heb. 11:3
"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
We thank You in advance for answer to prayer In Jesus Christ Name above all other names, Amen
It is a meaning you are back her on the site, Lord Jesus bless you forever and ever with all spiritual blessings in the Heavenly world, Amen. John 14
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Blessings
God bless,
RLW.
Truth,Justice,Life n Light are Greater, than lies corruption death and darkness
in similar way,when a light is turned On in a room
darkness is expelled
its evryones personal choice to turn the Jesus light On
or be left in the dark
Because I'm just saying, I couldn't dare to ask for anything, if it's not a prayer in Jesus' Holy Name. Thank you very much for your patience with your writings that are well-formulated. My interest is to follow God's Word as far as my understanding has taken me. And I don't think we become less wise with age, but perhaps forgetful.
John 14:12-14
2 John 1:2 - For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
Verse 2 in the Greek text says, On account of the truth. That's the literal translation. It's the premise, the basis. On account of the truth, which is dwelling in us, and shall be with us forever. Of course, he's personifying truth. Jesus said in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you have Christ, you have life. If you have Christ, you have the truth. We have the truth that dwells in us, and the truth will be with us forever!
2 John 1:4 - I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
He says, I rejoiced greatly that I have found of your children walking in truth. He keeps repeating it over, and over again. But he's doing it for a purpose. He says I have greatly rejoiced that I have found of your children walking in truth.
Walking is a Participle, showing a way of life, a habit of life. It is very rare to find these days. That's why John says I greatly rejoiced when I found out that your children are walking in the truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
2 John 1:5 - And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
And now I beseech thee, lady, and the word beseech which usually means appeal, in this instance, it means request. He's not commanding them. He's not appealing to them. He says now I make a request of thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we should be loving one another.
Again, notice that it's not a command. We who know Christ, if indeed we are saved, then we should be loving one another. That's the evidence of being saved. It's not something that we have to practice doing.
This passage of scripture reminds me of
John 14:16-21.
Blessings!
1 John 1:2 - (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
For the life, and notice it doesn't say the word of life. It says for the life, and that would be Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life. The life was manifested. That means He appeared. And we have seen, and we are bearing witness, and we show, or literally we declare unto you that eternal life, and basically in Chapter 5, Jesus Christ is said to be the eternal God and He is eternal life. And if you have Christ, you have eternal life.
It says we declare unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;
So right away, in the first two verses, he's presenting the fact that he is an eyewitness account of the physical presence, and the ministry of the eternal God who is now in human form. And he (John) was there!
1 John 1:4 - And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
The word full is what is called the Perfect Tense which means a condition. It's a continuous condition of having your joy full. And remember I shared that the word joy in Greek is the Greek way of expressing satisfaction.
Some people apply it to the human and talk about "happiness" and "bubbly joy" that we're supposed to have all of the time. But it's not applied to the flesh. This is for the spirit to be satisfied at its fullness. So, he says to have fellowship with Christ, and with us. And then secondly, that you'll be satisfied with Him so that you don't chase after the other things.
If ye love me, keep my commandments. ( John 14:15).
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. ( Galatians 5:22-23).
Sin is sin and it's end is basically the same. There are different reasons for our actions; and the intent of the heart is always factored in to any actions man does; whether outwardly good or bad. Trusting the Lord is a key issue as well; whether say a man falls into sin through sexual sin for physical gratification primarily and a woman for emotional security; both are trying to bring an end through a means that is displeasing to God.
The world; of course sends us constant signals that immediate gratification is of paramount importance. The fruits of that are obvious; broken families; poor health; greed; covetousness and all the other sins indicated as warnings to us of those who will NOT enter the Kingdom of heaven if they make that their lifestyle. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. ( 1 Corinthians 6:10-11).
One thing which needs to be admonished is that the very real joy in the Spirit that is produced by those pleasing God is not to be sought out in order to enhance an emotional experience as it regards the opposite sex. The only means to that is a legitimate marriage covenant; and that by default negates facilitating anything outside of God's boundaries including another man's wife. We are not to jump the gun either by pursuing actions ahead of legitimate marriage also
We live in a fallen unperfect world, I believe God wants us to have this understanding that things are not what they seem. It is written:
"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." 2 Timothy 2:19 KJV
God knows all those who belong to Him, from each generation since he created man and his kind. I believe it comes down to who really loves God, because God is love. It is written:
"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15 KJV
Even when I read God's word I am humbled and search and inquire within myself, like a self assessment or self evaluation to discover if I am keeping God's commandments. It's a personal salvation only between a believer and God. Since it is written:
"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Corinthians 13:5 KJV
A person or believer knows himself or herself no one else can judge someone else based on God's law about someone else's own personal salvation, because it is written:
"And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;" Acts 15:8 KJV
God knows the heart of every man, and that includes woman.
The kingjamesbibleoneline.org website is a good place to search scriptures about God knowing the heart of man, discernment, judgement and love. Even though God can enable someone to discern character of another the scripture supports love and compassion towards those that are lost at the same time it calls believers to be an example of love and compassion towards all. Scripture doesn't support believers being indifferent towards believers and non-believers.
If I may offer up a different perspective on prayer, I read over the scriptures you gave and the message that Jesus is presenting to His disciples have nothing to do with prayer being answered or not being answered. In John 13:12-20, we are given the purpose of the foot washing. In context, this message was given as an example of service and how His people should serve Him. This would also apply to believers today.
There are several teachings in the bible on prayer, and out of all the teachings, there's one place in the bible that seems to be a summary statement of all the teachings on prayer. It is found in 1 John 5:14-15 which reads, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
The term "we have" in Verse 15 is present, ongoing. When we pray for something for His will to be done, we have our answer already, now and continuing in the future. God answers every prayer when we ask according to His will.
When we ask for the Lord's will to be done, we are expressing our submission to Him with whatever He does. We are to let go of the situation knowing that we have the answer to our prayer. Whatever it is, it's His answer!
I share this not as an argument, but to show that we as believers can know without a doubt that God will answer every prayer that we ask of Him when we ask for His will to be done in whatever it is we are asking.
Blessings to you in Christ!
Remember, when Moses wrote Exodus, there were no verses or chapters. Read verse Exodus 20:4 and verse 5 together, and you will understand that God is saying "Thou shalt not make to thee any graven image, &, so as to worship it."
Ask yourself, Did Moses sin when he built the Ark? I mean, he sanctioned the cherubic forms above the mercy-seat, the brazen serpent, and the lilies and pomegranates of the golden candlestick.
Solomon placed lions on the steps of his throne. He had palm-trees, flowers, and cherubim on the walls of the Temple, "within and without" (1Ki_6:29). Surely, Solomon was not in sin when he built the temple.
So, an image of its self is not wrong, it's when it becomes a graven image, which means idol, that it becomes a sin.
Psalms 115:4-7 and Psalms 135:15-17. Idols of silver and gold. Eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear, mouths that do not speak, feet that do not walk, they have no breath in them.
Colossians 1:15 tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. John 14:9, Jesus-speaking says, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father"
Having an image is not the sin, it's when it becomes a graven image, "idol of worship" is the sin.
There is so much more to say on this topic, but running out of room. God Bless.
1 John 5:11-12 reads And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
If you trusted and received Jesus you have eternal life right now!
John 14:6 reads "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and THE LIFE: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Those are the words of Jesus who cannot lie!
Do you believe him?
If so here's Paul.
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Romans 10:8-11.
I hope this helps.
God bless
Thanks for posting this series on the Last Supper Discourse.
In Part 2 you said several ideas that I don't find supported by the text or the teachings of Scripture concerning Jesus Christ.
In the passage that speaks of "giving eternal life" it states that Jesus was given power and authority by the Father AND that "he" (Jesus) gives eternal life. It is true that it is God who gives eternal life, but Scripture states clearly that both the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ give eternal life --- John 10:28; 1 John 5:11-13; 20; John 6:27, 54; 1 John 1:2.
John 17:2
"even as You (the Father) gave Him (Jesus, the Son)authority over all flesh, that to all whom You (the Father) have given Him (Jesus), He (Jesus)may give eternal life."
When we look at the truth of this verse it clearly states that Jesus give eternal life to all the Father gives Him.
To say of this verse that it is the Father who gives life is not exegeting this verse properly and it diminishes the deity of Jesus.
Also, you state that it was through the Holy Spirit that Jesus knew the Father's will and what to say. But this is not what Scriptures say. In John 14:31 it says that Jesus does all that the Father commands Him (Jesus) to do. No mention of the Holy Spirit here. John 5:19 says that Jesus does all that He sees the Father do. So He knows what the Father's will is and what God is says and does through His own divinity and not through the Holy Spirit.
In His human nature, Jesus relied on the Holy Spirit to be obedient to the Father, but His divinity, being unified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, knew all the will of God, all that the Father does, all that the Father says.
John 10:15 says that "even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."
To speak as though Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to know what He was to do or say denies His divinity and oneness with the Father. See part 2
John 17:1-5,
All pre-existed in the mind, thoughts, reason, and doctrine of our God the Father, the definition of logos. Revelation 3:14, the beginning of the creation of God, the starting point, the predetermined position of authority that God would give to His Son at the point in time that God planned before creation.
Jesus understood all the Scriptures that foretold the glory destined for Him in the mind of God the Father before creation. God's thoughts and plans began with Jesus, who became the tabernacle of God in flesh on earth. Through Him, eternal life can be bestowed upon all who believe in Him. Every word Jesus spoke was God's word: John 7:15-16, John 12:49, John 14:24.
How should we understand verse 3? Jesus, in prayer to the Father, states that eternal life is dependent on knowing the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the Messiah whom God sent.
Jesus knew who He was. He said in John 20:17, He had a Father and a God. Jesus is praying to His Father, He had no power of himself; all he did and said was the Father working in him. Jesus perfectly submitted to God's will by choice and obedience; the glory Jesus was praying for was yet to be realized, only in the knowledge He had from Scripture and the Holy Spirit He was anointed with, without measure of what it would be.
We must confess Jesus is the Son of God.
I am sorry for this long post; read it, study it, or ignore it. I love you guys.
God bless,
RLW
Part 6
Trust and dependence on the Son of God, believing in His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection, Romans 5:8-10. Titus 1:2 states that God has promised eternal life to us from before creation, but it is our future hope in Jesus through faith, as seen in Romans 1:16. This hope has been established for us in Jesus before time; this hope is eternal life. It is not seen or enjoyed now; that is not hope, Romans 8:24-25.
Is Jesus praying for just the disciples or also future believers? This was determined before the foundation of the world, as we see in John 14:3, and Paul confirms it in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. We will see the glory of Christ that the Father has given Him when He returns to establish the kingdom.
Ephesians 1:4 tells us that God chose us in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, and salvation was part of God's plan. The word " chose, " from the Greek word eklego, means to pick out for oneself, to choose, elect, or select. God's plan and purpose for humanity was for us to have eternal life in Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:19-20 explains that Jesus, through His obedience to the Father and His sinless life as a lamb without blemish and spot, shed His blood for us. This was foreordained before the foundation of the world. The word " foreordained " is derived from the Greek word proginosko, meaning to know beforehand, representing the foreknowledge of God, a plan manifested in the last times for us. Various verses refer to the foundation of the world, meaning from the creation of the earth and humanity.
Matthew 25:34 speaks of the glory in God's plan, in the mind of God, encompassing all things from beginning to end, something we as humans cannot fully comprehend. We see the culmination of this verse in Revelation 20:11-15.
See part 7.
Part 4.
4. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Jesus tells His Father He has finished the work that the Father gave Him to do. Jesus was obedient to the Father in everything; He lived a life doing the Father's will, not His own, John 4:34, John 5:30. Jesus glorified His Father by living a sinless life, fulfilling the law, and completed the works of the Father by the Spirit of God, John 14:10.
He manifested His Father's love, goodness, justice, mercy, and truth, as Jesus in John 14:7-11 told the disciples, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father, I am in the Father, and the Father in me, the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Later in this chapter, Jesus says more than once, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us', "that they may be one, even as we are one".
Jesus knows He must face His crucifixion, and stating that He has glorified the Father and fulfilled His work is not a boast but a reflection of His love and dedication to God's purpose. Jesus prays this prayer in front of His disciples to demonstrate the importance of obedience, emphasizing that all we do is to glorify God.
See part 5.
Part 2.
2, As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Jesus confirms that the Father has given Him power over all humanity and that, through His redemptive work, God grants eternal life to all those whom He has given to Jesus. Jesus understood the Scriptures, including what had been said about Him and what He would do and suffer, as illustrated in Isaiah 53:1-12. This indicates that all of humanity has been entrusted to
Christ, beginning with the lost sheep of Israel, and that anyone who believes in Jesus will not perish but will have eternal life.
This was God's plan to make salvation possible, man had to pay the penalty, the only way humanity can be reconciled to Him, as indicated in John 14:6. The word " power " is derived from the Greek word " exousia, " meaning authority. Through the Spirit of God, He granted His power and authority to Jesus Christ over humanity, John 3:34-35, John 5:26-27, Acts 10:38.
The Holy Spirit enabled Jesus to speak the words the Father had given him to speak, John 14:24. After God raised Jesus from the dead, the Father placed all heaven and earth under Jesus, Matthew 28:18, Ephesians 1:19-23, and Philippians 2:9-11.
Jesus's mission was to do the will of the Father. In John 5:19-23, Jesus says He can do nothing by Himself, same in John 5:30. God has committed all judgment unto the Son. The word committed is the Greek word didmi, to give, to grant, to bestow; it was deliberately transferred to Jesus to do the will of the Father who sent Him.
This highlights God's plan being fulfilled, emphasizing Jesus' role as the Messiah appointed and given authority by the Father.
See part 3.
I am temporarily interrupting my study in Matthew which started as insight on Christ's perfect manhood and Divinity.
Recently I have studied and seen several videos regarding revivals since the 1700's. I believe that there were instances of genuine conviction; weeping in particular due to conviction of the Spirit but also that sadly most of these movements if not immediately soon had clear evidences of false manifestations of demons which were taken to be "moves of the Spirit".
One of the more disturbing things which I see popping up today is the so called "fire of God". The verse I saw used and no doubt has been in several establishments is the idea of God being a "consuming fire". Whether it refers to the Lord transforming the earth after the Tribulation or at the end of the Millennium the context is pretty clear this is God's JUDGMENT. We must remember the Spirit comes as the helper ( John 14:26). Seeking the gifts of the Spirit is one thing; but to ask for more of the Spirit isn't what Luke 11:13 means it states how much more will He give you the Holy Spirit. To grow in grace and truth and in a way be more powerful spiritually comes through our obedience and love of Christ and His commandments. It isn't in other words an issue with God not willingly giving the Spirit which of course starts at salvation; or even more spiritual gifts but there is no scripture indicating we are to pray to the Spirit which proceeds from the Father ( John 15:26) and this is to testify of Him. Primarily it is as John 16:8 that describes the Spirit's role revealing sin; righteousness and judgment to come. We also must look inwardly as it is our sinfulness that led Him to the cross so any true experience should remind us as Peter said to Christ-depart from me for I am a sinful man ( Luke 5:8). The Spirit doesn't focus attention inward but outward to fulfill the Great Commission; albeit some things are meant for the Body only.
There is too much in these chapters to cover in this study. The rest of Chapter 5 gets into the law and the further extent that is expected in regard to men's minds where man's sin nature imagines all sorts of evil and where only grace will suffice. One Old Testament example of this is David with Bathsheeba. Having her husband deliberately sent to the front lines to die and committing adultery would according to the law warrant the death penalty. Chapter Six and seven get into subjects regarding how we are not to judge others (and also how to help others by having our own lives cleaned up); how to fast and pray and finally it ends with the judgment to come warning of those who don't DO what Christ says to do; reminding us of John 14:15 about loving Christ and following His commandments. In the end it is said Jesus taught with authority ( Matt. 7:29) not like the teachers of the law; which was also said about His synagogue teachings early on in His ministry.
Adhering to the method of God's calling of His chosen sheep; Jesus preached to multiple individuals with a general message; much as John the Baptist did. There were clearly individuals involved throughout His travels that He would challenge but again one basic point I see in scripture is that individuals were never targeted for a challenge to come to Christ or be saved. The closest I can find is with Paul speaks to Agrippa in Acts 26:28. That is the result of one of Paul's courtroom testimonies where scripture is quoted to a great extent to Festus and others. The seeds were cast forth and they would prosper who they would.
In every crowd there are those who would hear the Word and then it would fall to the wayside; or be in shallow soil with no root and a few would have good soil and produce good fruit. One major characteristic of the Lord is He didn't reveal Himself to just anyone and the Parables were designed that way. Likely explains Matthew 7:6.
Grace is not unmerited favor, it is the spirit of conviction your heart to obey. (G5485) it's NOT "legalism" it's LOVE ( 1 John 5:3) We've got to be obedient to his 2 covenants of promise (10 commandments and rainbow covenat "eat clean") thats what Christ(Yeshua) magnified and made honorable, just like his very own character and life was pleasing unto God(Yahovah) he opened the door for all nations to enter that covenant verbally presented and agreed to at the rock at Horeb, and *then* written in stone at Mt Sinai. but Israel had already transgressed that agreement ( Exodus 19 & 20) when Moses came down with the 10 commandments in writing. *then* the sacrificial law was added until Christ(Yeshua) would finish the punishment with a perfect sacrifice, effectively restoring the original covenant (10 commandments.) Moses prophesies about ending the punishment of the sacrificial law here in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 but never did the eternal 10 comandments go away. now because the 10 northern tribe were scattered into all the world via mixing seed(mixed offspring) the covenant is open to ALL nations and people. There's many false gospels and dangerous doctrines of men, mixing holy and profane, teaching traditions as commandments while tossing out the actual commandments, ( Matt 24)
this is why he said "narrow is the path, few will find it." - Matt 7:14
Love your neighbor according to scripture - James 2:8 what scripture? Leviticus 19:15-18.
(straitisthegate dot net)
My COGIC WORSHIP: 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV
I Worship a God that is Holy,Word,life and resurrection.God that saves.God of obedience to listen.God of love one to another.
In light of yesterday's comments that I posted; surely this verse shows the works that are done with the proper attitude. Ephesians 2:10 describes works prepared for us from the Lord. In short it is His works done THROUGH us and His love should constrain us ( 2 Corinthians 14; also read verse 15). This passage read to verse 21 shows how we then evangelize to reconcile others toward God as we were.
Going back to the moment of salvation; it is rare to hear someone preach the fact these days that we are enemies of God ( Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21 and many like passages). Someone coming to true faith should have some realization of this; but preaching about only the love of God (and that far short of what "Agape" means much of the time) naturally makes people hearing that message assume that we would fall head over heals for Him; especially if there are no "strings" attached. Being a slave of righteousness certainly isn't too popular either; or frankly the concept that His Spirit "possesses" us. I have emphasized that TRUST has to be there in our walk with Christ for it to be real. That is a crucial link to obedience because to really believe we assent that His Word can be trusted; AND council where the Lord is present is often how He ministers to us through discipleship. That of course assumes we are in a Biblically sound fellowship to begin with; and doesn't mean we aren't Bereans or always trust what any man can say. Nonetheless God has a purpose for the structure of His church and we should trust Him to lead us to such a fellowship and give us opportunities for wise counsel for ourselves as well as us toward others.
Of course we are commanded to love one another ( John 13:34-35). In the fellowship of the saints in particular we should see that if we offend our brothers and sisters we are doing it to the Lord. Sometimes if we don't love fellow saints we need to ask God to give us Agape.