The churches are in dire need of understanding this!

[Veteran]

Now, as we are entering into the end times, the time is short indeed for believers
to become true believers … by starting to obey Jesus’ commandments!

Please also see my first thread, “Have you been deceived by Satan through your church?”

The Holy Spirit, God’s angels, and Satan’s angels (demons) can all speak to us (spiritually),
i.e. they can place thoughts into our minds (but demons cannot read our thoughts).
The Holy Spirit will dwell INSIDE the true (obedient) believer …
but this thread is not really about this point, so I will only list some references:
John 14:15-24, John 15:1-10, Acts 5:32, 2 Cor 13:5, 1 John 3:24, 1 John 4:12-16.
Now, on to the purpose of the thread: Obedience results in the believer remaining “in Christ”.

John 14 (NLT, 2007)
[SUP]15 [/SUP]If you love me, obey my commandments.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth ... you know him,
because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
[SUP]20 [/SUP]… you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
[SUP]21 [/SUP]Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me.
And because they love me, my Father will love them.
And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.
[SUP]23 [/SUP]All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them,
and we will come and make our home with each of them.
[SUP]24 [/SUP]Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me.
Jesus says believers who love Him and obey His commandments – are “in me” (v.20).
This is what being “in Christ” is all about.

1 John 2:3-5 (NLT, 2007)
[SUP]3 [/SUP]And we can be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments,
that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.
[SUP]5 [/SUP]But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him.
That is how we know we are living in him.
John says believers who know and love Jesus and obey His commandments – are “in him” (v.5).
This is what being “in Christ” is all about.

I have summarized Jesus’ warnings in John 15 …
John 15 (NLT, 2007)
[SUP]1[/SUP] I (Jesus) am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.
[SUP]2 [/SUP]He (Father God) cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit …
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it
is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
[SUP]5 [/SUP]Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.
Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers.
Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]Remain in my love.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love,
just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
Please note that “every branch of mine” (v.2), and “you” (v.5), refer to believers in Jesus.
Jesus says those who obey His commandments “remain in my love” (v.10).
This is what being “in Christ” is all about.
And He says those who “do not remain in me” are thrown away and burned (v.6).
So, remaining in Jesus (through loving and obeying Him) is mandatory for final salvation!

“To remain in Christ means to love him, to obey him, to pray to him, to worship him.
In other words, to remain in Christ means to be joined to him spiritually, just as a branch
is joined to a vine. If we remain joined to Christ in this way, we will be like living branches.
And just as the sap of the vine flows into the branches and gives them life, so will Christ’s
Spirit flow into us and give us spiritual life. In order to bear fruit, we must remain in Christ.
If we do not remain in Christ, we shall not bear fruit. Not only that, we shall wither and die (v.6).
… There is only one thing that can separate us from Christ: sin. Sin is like a disease that
eats at the base of the branch. We will surely lose our union with Christ, if any known sin
remains in our lives for which we have not repented. … We can say that in our Christian
lives two main things are necessary: first, Christ through the Holy Spirit, must remain in us;
and second, Christ’s words, that is the words of the Bible, must remain in our hearts. …
In the Christian life, we always find two things appearing together: promises and conditions.
If we fulfill the condition, God will fulfill His promise. God has never given a promise without
also stating a condition along with the promise … To remain in Christ’s love (v.9,10) is the
same as to remain in Christ. … To remain in Christ’s love, we must love him. To love him,
we must obey him (see John 14:15). As long as we continue to obey Christ,
we shall remain in his love, and he and the Father will abide in us (see John 14:21).”
… Dr. Thomas Hale, medical missionary (The Applied New Testament Commentary,1996)

All through the Epistles, people in the churches are condemned …
if they are involved in habitual sin (note: they have not remained “in Christ”).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has made me free from
the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2, NKJV)
Those who have remained “in Christ” are free from the law of sin and death …
because they are continually having their sins washed away through repentance!
“But remember, even though we believers have escaped condemnation, sin still remains
in our lives. Therefore, we are still guilty of sin and deserving of punishment. But if we repent
of our sins, God will not count our sins against us; He will not judge us guilty (see 1 John 1:9).”
… Dr. Thomas Hale (The Applied New Testament Commentary,1996)

“(the uncondemned) no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the Spirit.
… So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to (eternal) death. But,
letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” (Romans 8:4-6, NLT)
“We cannot live according to the sinful nature and according to the Spirit at the same time;
we must live according to either one or the other (see Galatians 5, etc.).”
… Dr. Thomas Hale (The Applied New Testament Commentary,1996)

“For if you live by its (the flesh’s) dictates (desires), you will die (eternally).
But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,
you will live (eternally). For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
(Romans 8:13-14, NLT)

 

[dcontroversal]

Time for believers to become true believers.......OOOKKKKKK then.......

One either is a believer or not........I.E. a believer born of the Spirit by faith dia grace....

 

[shrimp]

Time for believers to become true believers.......OOOKKKKKK then.......

One either is a believer or not........I.E. a believer born of the Spirit by faith dia grace....

I think what he is trying to say is believers need to stop being lukewarm and back on fire for God. Listen to Him and spend time in prayer and doing His work.

 

[unobtrusive]

I think what he is trying to say is believers need to stop being lukewarm and back on fire for God. Listen to Him and spend time in prayer and doing His work.

We are definitely in the church age of Laodicea.

 

[Muzungu256]

we have been in the end times for 2000 years.....

1peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

 

[Willie-T]

we have been in the end times for 2000 years.....

1peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

THANKYOU! It seems a very few on here have their heads about them. How dumb can people be to actually believe God set the end times to begin 2,000 years AFTER it actually began, just "happening" to coincide with the time you and I are living in. And how arrogant of us to think all this was set up for just us.

But, that is exactly what every generation (of 50 generations) has been saying since Jesus left here.

 

[Blain]

I can understand that one is either a believer or not but one must also take into consideration that it is not always so black and white as that. For instance consider the parable of the wheat and the tares Matthew 13:24-30
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Wheat and tares to the untrained eye look exactly the same and in this generation it is even hard to distinguish a person who says they are Christian and a person who truly is Christian as I have said before there is a vast difference from a Christian by title and a Christian by heart.

And yes the end times has been here since 2000 years ago however if you pay attention to the signs you can see that we are nearing the end of the end times, it is easy to dismiss the fact that we are in very dangerous end time prophecy because after all how long has people been saying such things? However that is exactly the mindset that was said to happen when sudden destruction would come and why Jesus spoke of the parable of the thief in the night. Think of this if you will, farmers have to know the signs of weather constantly because weather is perhaps the most threatening thing to their crops, today we have weather reports on t.v. and here in Oklahoma the weather can be especially unpredictable and fickle we can get a report saying that it will rain all day and yet we only see drought like weather however a farmer prepares for this regardless if the weather man is accurate or not.

We should be likewise like the farmer, we cannot simply dismiss the warnings of the end times simply because we are told there will be rain when there is not a single cloud in the sky

 

[p_rehbein]

From OP:

Now, as we are entering into the end times, the time is short indeed for believers
to become true believers … by starting to obey Jesus’ commandments!


Do you personally obey ALL of the Commandments of Christ?

 

[pottersclay]

My pastor always said "if you can't live for Christ today, what makes you think you can die for him tomorrow?

 

[Karraster]

we have been in the end times for 2000 years.....

1peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

We are told to watch. There must be a good reason. My sweet little grandma expected Jesus and she passed when I was 12! I always thought highly of her. She lived every day like her savior would return. Call me crazy, but I expect Him in my lifetime too.

 

[Locutus]

The "end time" was the end of the old covenant age in the the 1st century AD.

Peter stated that the end of "all things" was at hand in his days, not out days:

1 Pet 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

That's one helluva "hand" that extends from Peter's time till now.

 

[jb]

Time for believers to become true believers.......OOOKKKKKK then.......

One either is a believer or not........I.E. a believer born of the Spirit by faith dia grace....

Yep, that's what I thought to!

LOL!

 

[heartofdavid]

They stopped teaching the pretrib rapture.

One mistake

The worship leaders no longer know what their job is

Another mistake

The Holy Spirit and his power are shelved for another "important" agenda

Three strikes.

Pathetic. The churches get an F

 

[heartofdavid]

The op centers on end times.

The next event,besides the alignment of the nations and natural disasters birth pangs,is the gathering of the bride,the rapture.

The groom in Mathew gathers half. The worthy ones go,the game players stay.

 

[Veteran]

Time for believers to become true believers.......OOOKKKKKK then.......
One either is a believer or not........I.E. a believer born of the Spirit by faith dia grace....

Sorry, there are all varieties of believers.
E.G. Paul was writing ONLY to FAITHFUL BELIEVERS in Ephesians (1:1) and Colossians (1:2).
He was not writing to believers who were not obedient.
He was not writing to believers who were habitual sinners.
etc.

 

[Veteran]

Sin’s Power Is Broken – is the heading for Romans 6 (New Living Translation)
[SUP]6 [/SUP]so that sin might lose its power in our lives
[SUP]6 [/SUP]we are no longer slaves to sin
[SUP]7 [/SUP]we were set free from the power of sin
[SUP]10 [/SUP]he died once to break the power of sin
[SUP]11 [/SUP]consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin
[SUP]12 [/SUP]do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires
[SUP]13 [/SUP]do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin (a la Mark 9:43)
[SUP]14 [/SUP]sin is no longer your master
[SUP]16 [/SUP]you can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or …
[SUP]16 [/SUP]you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living
[SUP]18 [/SUP]you are free from your slavery to sin
[SUP]19 [/SUP]you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy
[SUP]22 [/SUP]you are free from the power of sin
[SUP]22 [/SUP]do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life
[SUP]23 [/SUP]for the wages of sin is death
All of the above are direct quotes from the New Living Translation (NLT).
The time is running very short for you to REPENT and get with God’s will for your life!
Repenting of a sin (this what the Lord requires of you):
• have sorrow over doing it
• confess it before the Lord
• ask the Lord for forgiveness
• stop doing it

 

[unobtrusive]

The "end time" was the end of the old covenant age in the the 1st century AD.

Peter stated that the end of "all things" was at hand in his days, not out days:

1 Pet 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

That's one helluva "hand" that extends from Peter's time till now.

Are we living in the millennial period now? Why are we still here in this corrupt world? Do we, or do we not have a mission, or is it all done?

 

[posthuman]

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has made me free from
the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2, NKJV)

. . .

“(the uncondemned) no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the Spirit.
… So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to (eternal) death. But,
letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” (Romans 8:4-6, NLT)

. . .


“For if you live by its (the flesh’s) dictates (desires), you will die (eternally).
But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,
you will live (eternally). For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
(Romans 8:13-14, NLT)

left a bit out there, didn't you?
why?

let's have a look at what you omitted:

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.
(Romans 8:3)

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
(Romans 8:9-12)
​

interesting to compare how this reads compared to the narrative of the OP.

it's not so hard to make scripture seem like it's saying one thing or another, if you edit it, not presenting the whole picture, right?

 

[posthuman]

Repenting of a sin (this what the Lord requires of you):
• have sorrow over doing it
• confess it before the Lord
• ask the Lord for forgiveness
• stop doing it

how is "stop doing it" a necessary qualification of whether repentance is genuine or not, when Jesus said that if a brother sins against you 490 times and repents each time, you should forgive him?

you are telling me that Jesus is a liar -- that this hypothetical person didn't actually repent 489 of those times, because in each of those instances he failed to "stop doing it"

should Christ have said instead, if a person 'pretends to repent' 489 times and actually repents the 490[SUP]th[/SUP] time... ??

does this make sense?
is omniscient God guilty of poor phrasing?

 

[posthuman]

Sorry, there are all varieties of believers.
E.G. Paul was writing ONLY to FAITHFUL BELIEVERS in Ephesians (1:1) and Colossians (1:2).
He was not writing to believers who were not obedient.
He was not writing to believers who were habitual sinners.
etc.

everyone in Ephesus & Colossae was perfectly sinless and completely faultless in every way?

wow, Christ didn't have to die then. any one of those people could have been the sacrifice for all our sins. such a pity omniscient God wasn't aware of that.