“Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” (John 8:47)
The church claims that “Christians” are those who belong to God. Essentially, the church message claims that if you are a “Christian” then you are a child of God. The Word of God however reveals that those who accept Jesus’ teaching and wholeheartedly follow Jesus’ teaching, are those who belong to God. (John 8:31-32) In a utopia, which we are far from, a Christian would indeed describe someone who has accepted the One true, full Gospel message and follows Jesus. Unfortunately, in a fallen world such as ours, a “Christian” can also describe anyone who accepts any one of the various false gospels being preached today. So, the question is, is it the Christian label that makes one a child of God, or is it only those who wholeheartedly follow the teaching of Jesus Christ that does? My suggestion to you is that you seek God for that answer, and NOT your pastor or priest! (Matt. 16:5-12, Matt. 23:13-15)
The Word of God reveals that the “Christian” label was given to identify those who followed the Way — disciples of Jesus, the Christ. The question that I have is, do Christians now believe that you can not follow Jesus (not obey His commands, and not do what He says in His Word) and still belong to God simply because of a label that you give yourself? According to the church, yes; but not according to God’s Word! (Matt. 7:21-23) God’s Word reveals that His children will follow Jesus, obey His teaching — remain faithful to His Word. (Rev. 3:8-10) Your pastor/priest however claims that those who follow their teaching are children of God — even when what they “teach” completely contradicts God’s Word! So, whose message must you follow to belong to God? God’s Word, or your pastors/priests — the “Christian religion?” (Jer. 7:21-28, Jer. 17:5-7)
The Word of God makes clear who those are that belong to God, and who those are that belong to the prince of this world (Satan). (John 14:21-24, 1 John 3:6-10) The Word of God clearly reveals that those who belong to Him are those who: fear the consequence of rejecting God’s commands, love the Lord with all their heart, regard others above themselves, give their lives to God (obey His commands — turn from sin and wickedness), serve His will (surrender their will to Him — self-denial), and follow Him (pick-up their cross, diligently strive to mature, become complete, in Christ). (Ps. 25:14, Luke 12:5, Matt. 22:34-40, Matt. 10:37-39, Rom. 12:1-2, 1 John 2:3-6, 2 Peter 1:5-11, John 8:51, John 21:18-19)
The Word of God makes clear that you cannot be included IN HIM unless you have done these things from your heart, which will be evident in your walk. (Rom. 8:5-13, Matt. 7:16-20) The Word of God not only states that you cannot attempt to “climb in by some other way” (claim that you can be included in Him without doing what He says in His Word), but God actually warns against attempting to do so! (Matt. 7:13-14, John 10:1, 2 Pet. 2:1-22) The Word of God states that there will be many false teachers and false gospels that attempt to suggest that you can avoid following the Word of God as Truth, and still be accepted by God. But God states that those who attempt to do so will not be commended by Him! (2 Cor. 10:18) “For God does not show favoritism.” (Rom. 2:11)
The Word of God states that those who have met His conditions from the heart will be included in His family; God states that His Spirit living in them will be a testimony to their being reconciled to Him. (Rom. 8:16, 1 John 3:24) The power, freedom from the bondage to sin (addiction), peace, joy, comfort, and contentment that the children of God express will be evidence of the complete transformation, the new creation, brought about by receiving the Lord’s Spirit. (1 Cor. 4:14-20) Indeed, there is power and freedom in the Spirit of the Lord! (2 Cor. 3:17) But you cannot receive His Spirit without giving Him your life (becoming God’s slave — dying with Christ to sin) and wholeheartedly following His commands! (John 14:15-17, Rom. 6:1-13, 2 Thess. 1:8-10, Heb. 5:8-10)
Those whom the Father will call His children are those who agree with God about sin and accept his/her responsibility and accountability as it relates to turning from darkness and following Jesus in His Light. (2 Tim. 2:19, John 3:19-21) The child of God will continue to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that living by the Truth (living according to the Word of God) is their salvation! The child of God will hunger for the Lord and seek Him in His Word, as serving the Lord’s will has become his/her food! (John 4:32-34) The child of God will reject a false teaching, as he/she knows the Truth and will run from the enemy’s deception — the stranger’s voice. (John 10:2-5) But the church message today is full of the stranger’s voice, promising “peace and safety” to all who reject God’s commands and follow the spirit of the world! (1 Thess. 5:1-3, Mal. 2:17, 1 John 2:15-17)
The church message today promises “salvation” without ANY cost, condition, or requirement to follow Jesus (obey His commands) whatsoever! This is a blatant rejection of the Word of God! (Luke 14:25-35) The Word of God says that there is a cost to following Jesus. Jesus says, “those who do not give up everything cannot be my disciples.” Yet the church message somehow claims that there is no cost, nothing to give up. According to the church, a genuine repentance and full surrender of your will to God are no longer required to be included in Jesus. Nope! All you must do is simply inform Jesus that you are going to allow Him to forgive you — “accept Christ as your Savior.” The false teaching and idol worship within the church today must be detestable to the Lord!
The question is, can you truly belong to God if you reject the very Word of God and follow a fairytale gospel that promises “salvation” through the wide gate, a phony “jesus,” one who does not have ANY cost associated with the “salvation” message that Satan’s servants deliver? (2 Cor. 11:1-15) Harsh? No, hell is harsh! And according to the Word of God that is where all who reject His Truth will spend eternity. (John 12:48-50)
Unless the church is delivering the One true, full Gospel message, then the supposed “house of God” is only serving as the synagogue of Satan! Time is short, the end is near! It is time for those believers of Truth who hear this message, and accept God’s Word, to “come out from her and be separate.” (2 Cor. 6:17-18) This is a call for the children of God to unite, repent, fast, and pray! Those who belong to God must reject the complete garbage coming from the church today, stand for Truth, and get back to obeying the One true Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Share this post on social media
You are yelling at me. Please consider that when I open your post, I am already interested in what you will say to me and that my ears and heart are open. (answering rhetorical questions and exclamation points are what I mean by yelling)
I believe that in paragraph you have enumerated what “cost” is- am I right? Then in paragraph 6 you discuss the manner in which I should deliver my part of the cost, I think.
I am asking because it’s important. If I only take away those two points from your post, I can consider my life and beliefs against that standard.
Tom, thank you so much for your feedback, I appreciate it very much. I was going to put an exclamation point there but I didn’t want to offend you. 🙂 Ha, I’m just playing. But seriously, I am sorry for how you have taken all my explanation points and I believe that you have provided a fair criticism. In my defense, I would suggest that those explanation points reflect my passion and are there to demonstrate a sense of “urgency” in my message more than “yelling,” but point taken. As far as the cost, my point is that we must accept the responsibility and meet the conditions attached to God’s promise of receiving His Spirit and eternal salvation. Without turning from sin (repentance) and surrendering our will to serve His, our profession and other man-made traditions that were put in place in an effort to replace what must be done from the heart only alienates us from Christ and proves our profession to be nothing more than shallow lip-service to the Lord. He knows our heart, it is SIN that we must make a decision about; and following Jesus is to no longer walk in willful, deliberate sin. The child of God is wholeheartedly committed to growing in the image of Christ, not continuing to follow the spirit of the world. Out battle is spiritual in nature, whose spirit you follow determines who you are a child of. Thank you my friend.
A very meaningful blog. I always appreciate the scriptural references. Thank you