(John 12:47-48) “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall condemn him, since I have come not to condemn the world, but to save the world: he who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.” Jerusalem Bible
(John 12:47-48) “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. Jerusalem Bible
He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” KJV
Jesus told us what commandments we are to live. And those Words that the Holy Spirit had us know are written in the New Testament. Read some of those Words and know if one does not keep them he or she is a sinner and of the devil.
(Matthew 5:48) “Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
(Matthew 5:39) “You have learnt how it was said: ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’ But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance.”
(Matthew 6:19) “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal.”
(Luke 12:33) “Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in Heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Johnlove, what about the 'hard' sayings of Jesus?
Have you sold your possessions and given alms? Do you own the computer on which you've typed your post?
How about lust?
Have you ever looked at a woman with lust?
Which eye did you pluck out?
What happened the next time you looked at a woman with lust?
If you have followed the words of Jesus to the letter, how are you seeing this post?
What you are not 'seeing' is that Jesus was not saying those things in order to get you to follow those words, but to raise the bar of the Law - it's not just in the physical act of adultery that sin occurs, but in the mind where sin occurs. Sin simply comes to fruition in the flesh. Jesus was teaching the spirituality of the Law - and in doing so was raising the bar of the Law to an even more unattainable level - pointing us to Him, not Law, for our righteousness. This was not completely understood until after the Work of Christ. That's why Jesus said,
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (from Jn. 16)
Yet He did give His disciples this to chew on beforehand:
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (from Jn. 13)
And that's what He did, through the Holy Spirit after the Ascension. The result is the writings of the Apostles, which clarify what the Work of Christ accomplished, what that means, and who we are in Christ.
One of the key things is that we are dead to the Law:
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. (from Rom. 7)
Do you see that we must be dead to the Law in order to serve God after the Cross?
It is very clear
.
And Jesus' commandment to love one another is reiterated in 1 Jn. 3:23-24:
23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
It really is that simple
.
-JGIG