Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael The Disciple
Can we know we are going to make it into the Kingdom? Certainly! How?
4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:17
If we are like Jesus we can have boldness in the day of judgment. If we are not like HIM we have no assurance of the Kingdom. |
Are you like Him because YOU are exactly like Him in behavior? That means that you have to claim that not only are you now sinless...but also that you have never sinned. Thus being like Jesus is an impossibility. Unless...He imputes His likeness and nature to you by virtue of your faith because He dwells in you and you in Him. Now your nature has changed, you are a new creature. Sure, your behaviors don't always line up with your nature, but you are what you are. For example, when my son was born I didn't hope he'd become a human being. He was a human being by birth. Even when he acts like a little animal, he's a human being. Same with the believer. The believer has been "born again" a new creation. You are a saint, a child of God, a partaker in the divine nature. All the holiness and righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to you. You are one with Him. What He is... you are. And what you are... He was upon that cross. Oneness. It's more than a theology... it's the grand revelation of what it means to be a Christian. Sure, your behaviors don't always line up with the nature that dwells in you. But that is why your mind must be renewed through the Word of God. It aligns your soul and your spirit, making you whole in Christ. Your spirit is already regenerated, sanctified, and holy by virtue of His indwelling presence. It's your soul, your mind, that needs to become tuned into this reality by appropriating your idenity in Christ Jesus by faith. When you don't behave like a saint, your walking after the flesh. Appropriate who you are in Christ Jesus by BELIEVING what the Bible says you are. Reshape your mind, your way of thinking, put on the mind of Jesus Christ. Then you'll experience victory. This truth also illustrates why the Bible speaks of us being sanctified in Christ, past tense... and why it also speaks of the process of sanctification, on going. Your spirit is regenerated, sanctified, sealed, delivered. It's your soul, your mind, that needs to be sanctified daily by the Word of God so that you can be 100% who you are in Christ Jesus.
If I live in contual sin... or if I depart from the faith... I was never truly a part of Christ's body. You have reason to question if I ever allowed Christ to fully regenerate me. Because God will always finish what He started.
I cannot glory in anything but the cross. My works are produced out of His abiding presence and my love for Him. They don't earn my salvation at all. In fact... they cannot.
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