One with God the Father, Jesus & one another, 17
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When Satan’s demise is near, he’ll send a flood to destroy God’s Elect, but God will open the earth and swallow it. (See Rev 12:12-18) Remember last study and how the Egyptians were destroyed.
Why were the Israelites stubborn, prone to look to other gods and desire a king like the pagan nations? Why do pagans worship god’s heavenly created bodies, statues and images? Why do people prefer worshiping a god of their imagination and attempt to make our Creator fit an image to their liking? THE ANSWER IS everyone inherited Adam’s lawless nature, that desires what seems right to the fleshly mind. SO, the reality is; “people MUST have a nature change,” a changed outlook in order to be mature in God‘s View; be born from above in order to inherit eternal life. See John 3:3-8.
Nicodemus ask Jesus about His performances and teaching. (John 3:3-8; Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.)
Nicodemus first thought Jesus was talking about a second physical birth, when He was in fact referring to a new spiritual birth: how can this be?
(John 3:10-12; Jesus answered, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
Jesus said, “as the wind blows, so is everyone born of the spirit.” It’s a miracle that we don’t know how the desire came, or how our minds changed from a fleshly outlook to a spiritual one. When we’re called God reveals our despicable inherited from Adam nature to us, its result being eternal death, and grants our desire to turn - repent.
Jesus continued; (John 3:13-16; No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven, ‘the Son of Man.’ Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.)
It’s by God’s grace when we believe, by grace we’re saved, and we must be gifted with a nature change in order to believe IN Jesus as He manifested Himself to be. The many believe a deity exist, many use Jesus’ name, but only the called are gifted with the desire for a supernatural nature change, ”thus able to truly BELIEVE IN.”
(John 3:17-18; For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. The one who believes IN Him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.) Each recipient of God’s spirit is saved through Jesus’ shed blood ‘His life’ and His being our Mediator. We must be gifted to abandon what seems right, and adapt to what Jesus says is right.
(John 3:19-21; Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds ‘desires’ were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.)
People hating the light want to live and practice deeds according to their fleshly desires. Thus the love of money is the root of all evil. Jesus gave Paul to understand and Jesus reveals to the called.
(Romans 8:5-11; For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, (followers of Jesus) however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the One who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through His Spirit who lives in you.)
Until called and supernaturally born from above, each person is an unbeliever that can’t please God, because their inherited nature is hostile to God’s Way. Unbelievers are a stubborn lot, but believers desire a oneness relationship with God.
Since Adam people have been choosing to live according to the dictates of their inherited from Adam nature, rather than looking to their Creator for guidance. The few exceptions are, a people chosen by promise for God‘s purpose. Luke 3:23-38; gives the chronology of Jesus’ physical ancestors, and those desiring a oneness relationship with God. These had little in common with the world, as Jesus was in, but not of the world.
Friendships with communities are strained, when we believe IN God. It’s natural that many called out people try to straddle the fence for a time, only to find; “sooner or later they’re as strangers.” By God’s calling and our believing IN Jesus’ blood sacrifice for the remission of sin, Jesus is able to presents us holy, blameless and without blemish before God the Father on that day. NOT a faith in some denomination, but “believing IN God faith.” A Faith that waits on Jesus’ promises. Paul taught, we individually need to prove, examine all things and have faith that the Father will make us holy, IN Jesus.
(1Thess 5:16-24; Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. Stay away from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is trustworthy, and He will in fact do this.)
Jesus’ Gifted Faith, teaches us; “God does it all!” Followers of Jesus are asked to pray for, have patience with denominationalist and those weak in faith. Paul taught it to Believers IN Jesus at Rome and around the world.
(Romans 15:1-6; But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. For even Christ did not please Himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on Me.” For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.) (Insults of those who insult Believers have fallen on Jesus, is a quote from Psalms 69.
After we’re called, a continual examination of self in Jesus’ Light begins. A responsibility of each Believer IN Jesus is to; “overcome our inherited nature to the end.” After gifted with a belief IN Jesus, we’re spirit led to overcome our self serving inherited nature! that yields to our fleshly nature’s pulls, those bad examples to the world. The Psalmist realized this and shared his Faith.
(Psalms 69:6-9; Let none who rely on You be disgraced because of me, O sovereign Lord and king! Let none who seek You be ashamed because of me, O God of Israel! For I suffer humiliation for Your sake and am thoroughly disgraced. My own brothers treat me like a stranger; they act as if I were a foreigner. Certainly zeal for Your house consumes me; I endure the insults of those who insult You.)
Followers of Jesus soon discover, “Having a zeal for God’s Way causes insults from unbelievers. Remember Jesus’ words, “they will hate you because they hated Me.”