Hello Everyone!
I was thinking today about the character of God according to the Bible. It refers to what happens supernaturally in the heart of a person when the Holy Spirit comes inside to dwell in the person through faith in Jesus. Why would our God’s Spirit be called holy?
The issue of whether or not homosexuality is right in God’s eyes provokes one to consider the character of God. Is the God of the Bible pure? (See Psalm 119). Yes! The God of the Bible is pure, and clean, and holy—when someone becomes a Christian a miracle happens by the work of the Holy Spirit—the seed of Christ is planted in that person’s heart by a mighty work of regeneration, and the righteousness of Jesus is imputed on that person through a work of God.
1 John, chapter 3 and verse 9 reads: “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.” Then, this wonderful book of the Bible goes on to mention much about love—the whole book was written to people who were professing to be Christians, but who were really not followers of Christ.
The Bible says that Satan is a great deceiver, and he blinds the eyes of people…many people will say, “…Lord, Lord…” and God will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you…” It is interesting that they are calling him “Lord.” Yet, sadly, these people are not saved—they have been deceived to think they are Christians when really there has never been any regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 7:21-23 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name?’…and I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me you workers of iniquity.’”
Yes, the Bible teaches that all it takes is faith in Jesus for salvation. But there is a difference in the Jesus of the Bible (who talked more about hell than He did heaven, by the way) and a “Jesus” who is a figment of one’s own imagination. 2 Corinthians 11:4 says that there is more than one Jesus being preached.
When someone becomes a follower of Jesus, they are saved—not by works—but for good works. Saving faith is accompanied by repentance, a hatred for sin, a love for the Bible, and a walk in newness of life empowered by the Holy Spirit. God does not take away our weaknesses when we get saved, but He is glorified through them, and He draws us closer to Him through obedience. The life of a Christian is not free from temptation. I have spoken to some homosexuals who seem to think that God is not doing His job if He does not “zap” them with some sort of magic wand where they will automatically not have the same temptations and struggles—there is no teaching for this in the Bible. God says in our weakness, He is strong. Victory over sin means a total surrender to the Lord and allowing Him to teach us what He wants us to learn through our repentance (turning from sin).
As the old hymn says “Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” God will make a person want this exciting life in Jesus when they are truly saved. The Bible says demons believe and tremble (James 2:19), so not all faith is saving faith.
See Isaiah 47:10: “You felt secure in your wickedness…your wisdom and your knowledge they have deluded you.”
The Bible says to examine ourselves to make sure we are in the faith. Are you convicted by sin? Would you like to live in newness of life, or are you contented to go on sinning? Do you have a longing for the word of God? Do you love all of the Bible, including the verses which are in opposition to your own desires, or do you only believe the verses which do not challenge you to repent? The whole entire Bible is loved by true Christians—those who are not true Christians believe only the verses that suit them and renounce the others that go against their own fleshly desires. This is because the Holy Spirit inspired the entire Bible, and the Holy Spirit lives inside the heart of a person when they are truly saved. Therefore, the person loves what the Holy Spirit loves and hates what He hates as a result of true regeneration.
Do you love Jesus, or are you like Judas who walked with Him, knew much about Him, but was only using Him for personal gain or show? How sad the thought—especially when everything else outside of this precious Truth (see John 1) is a lie.
The book of 1 John was written to let people know the difference between a follower of Christ and someone who is deceived to think they are saved (apostate or nominal Christians) when really there has been no work of regeneration in the person’s heart after all.
The Bible says no one understands without the Spirit of God. (Romans 3:11). As Stephen Bennett puts it, that is why unsaved people just don’t “get it” when they hear a riveting testimony from someone who was once a practicing homosexual, and who has been made new in Christ to walk in newness of life! (Read Stephen’s testimony at www.sbministries.org).
The verse, 1 John 3:9, refers to an enjoyment of sin—someone who finds sin pleasurable vs. a saved person who has been made new to love purity and hate sin. This is all the work of God and indicative of that Seed being planted in the heart and that person being sealed with a promise by the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13). It teaches God’s responsibility to sanctify his own to a lifestyle of holiness.
See Romans 8:7—“because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God…” Please continue reading Romans 8 to find the difference in someone who is a slave to sin and a Christian who has been set free from sin. By the way, the occult is all about freedom—freedom to sin. Jesus sets us free from it.
Glory to His name!
When Jesus prayed for His own, he prayed: “I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” –John 17: 14-15
Love in Christ to everyone,
Dwayna
