Before we look at Paul, I want us to look at Hebrews 12:14. Some say that Paul wrote this, but it’s not clear
Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (KJV)
What does this mean? Holiness? Being set apart unto God. Does Paul teach this. Paul tells us that we are to die to self, we are to contend for the faith. Paul teaches salvation through faith, not of works.
Now does that mean that when we are commanded or requested to do a thing that because we believe in Christ that then we are exempt, having believed? But what are we believing? You say: “well in Salvation through Christ alone, of course”.
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (KJV)
What mind is this that we are to be of? Yours/Mine? Of course not — 1 Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (KJV)
Do we if we are all over the place in our beliefs
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:10 above, that what we believe should be based on the same mind and understanding, with no division. That really makes sense, because we are to be taking on the mind of Christ, and that’s Paul’s teaching. So what is he really saying about our belief? There must be more to it than Jesus, death burial and resurrection. “If you love me keep My Commandments”. Is this Jesus mind? It certainly is part of it.
Is the church’s focus on belief in the gospel way too narrow as to what we believe in and about Jesus?
Paul says that we are to be “perfectly joined together” — “that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you”. Jesus prayed for these same things (unity) for those who would believe because of what the apostles taught. Yet obviously most “Christians” are stubborn and refuse to even come together to resolve what Jesus taught the apostles in order that we might believe what He told them to pass on to us.
This is why most will not accept that Jesus and Paul both taught us to believe what Jesus had taught His disciples which Jesus had prayed would result in our unity of teaching if we had ears to hear.
Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (KJV)
This is God’s word isn’t it? But it can’t be true to most of us because it carries with it a requirement that resembles a works based salvation. To follow requires action. Peace with all means even our enemies as Jesus taught. Interesting. Holiness, that has to be a form of sanctification. The change taking place as His law, His very word is implanted within us. How? Jesus said: “you are made clean by the word that I have spoken”. “Without which no man will see the Lord”. Does that mean anything to anyone in the church today? It is new covenant scripture.
Good blessed Morning, Brother. It’s amazing sometimes to me. I read your blogs and sometimes that our thoughts are ‘kind of’ on the same track. Sometime in the near future I will be doing a post on the Ten Commandments carried over into the New Testament (New Covenant). Many people say we are not under the Ten Commandments because that is the law with which Jesus fulfilled. In your post you showed Jesus said ‘Follow my commandments’. Not that we are saved for doing so but if we are saved we should want to do so. We should also want to go and make disciples yet too many are just willing to set on the pews on Sunday, and not do anything all the rest of the week. Thanks, brother for the encouragement.
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Christian, thanks again for coming by on the weekend. I hope your work is going well, and your family are all doing well in Messiah. I do think that we who are instructed by the councilor should think more alike. Glad your my brother Christian. We all need encouragement in this way, or else we Become like Elijah, when he pleads with God against Israel. Hopefully there are more followers of Our Lord than we think. And I know that we don’t all have to think alike, but truth is still truth, and we are not the author of it. It’s there for the seeing and asking. God bless you Christian.
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Yes, Elijah is always a great encouragement to me. That the Lord kept 7000 for Himself that Elijah didn’t even know about. Soon I am going to write about how it feels that our witness falls flat in this country. Most of America and American churches are the Laodicean church. I can’t say all but too many for my taste. This makes me very sad. We are so lukewarm. Because we think we are rich and are in need of nothing. Yet we even we need a Savior. What a wretched country we truly are! God bless you brother. I pray your witness reaches others. Not falling on deaf ears.
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Appreciate your encouragement
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Faith without works is dead, faith without obedience is impossible. Love the word…
Blessings
BT
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Thanks for visiting, and my God bless you also.
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