Authentic Bible Discusion Forum

True Salvation (Part 300);
(Continuation)
‭‭Romans 7:14;
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

‭Ezekiel 20:25;
“Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live;

Previously, we saw that the Israelites cried when the law was read to them in Nehemiah 8:9-10. When they listened keenly to the law and thought deeply about their deeds, they realized that they were doomed. They cried because they were able to realize that nobody could keep the law; and so through the law, they were condemned to hell fire! Many people look at the law of God vaguely and think that they can keep it, and so they keep trying to keep the law. We already saw that nobody can keep the law, not even one.

The devil knows so well that nobody can keep the law, but he blinds people to think they can. Trying to keep the law makes people to keep saying that they are sinners. The devil knows so well that sinners belong to him and that God doesn't listen to sinners (1 John 3:8, John 9:31, Isaiah 59:2). By making people live trying to keep the law, he knows so well that none can be righteous through the law. Many, therefore, spend their entire life confessing sin and asking to be forgiven sin, and eventually, when they die, they go to hell fire where sinners belong (Hebrews 9:27-28, Matthew 13:43). Through the law, the devil wants people to be perpetual sinners so that many can eventually join him in hell fire.

Before the law was written, God sent Moses to ask the Israelites if they could keep it. The devil blinded them to the fact that nobody can keep the law of God except God Himself, and they all told Moses to bring the law. Moses then took the report to God, and the law was then written on tablets of stone (Exodus 19:7-8). When Moses eventually came down from the mountain with the law, the same people who had said that they could keep the law had broken all. They were worshipping a golden calf, and by breaking even one law, they had broken all (Exodus 32:19-21, James 2:10). God already knew that nobody could keep the law, and so by giving the holy law, he was setting up man for failure. He wanted man to stop trusting in himself, but sadly, many are still clinging to the law. This makes them to be sinners every day and every second, and they are headed straight into hellfire if they do not get to know the truth. Are you still keeping or trying to keep the law of God?.......(to be continued).

Mtakatifu.

True Salvation (Part 299);

‭Nehemiah 8:9-10;
And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Many people keep trying to keep the law without knowing that nobody can be justified before God by the deeds of the law (Romans 3:19-20, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 3:11, Galatians 5:4). This only makes such people to be perpetual sinners who keep confessing their sins and asking God to forgive their sins every minute or daily. They also don't know that sinners belong to the devil and that God doesn't listen to sinners (1 John 3:8, John 9:31, Isaiah 59:2). When one looks at the law of God without thinking deeply, he thinks that he can keep it. A certain young rich man came to Jesus and boasted of how he had kept the whole law since he was a child only to realize he had kept none. Jesus told him to go sell everything, give it to the poor, and only then could he boast of keeping the law (Luke 18:18-27). How could he be rich with all the poor people in the world and around him? Had he loved his neighbors as himself? Were they all rich like him? Jesus actually never wanted him to sell anything but only wanted him to realize that he couldn't keep the law and seek for His grace and mercy. He wanted the man to know his true filthy image so that he could be in need of a savior.

For instance, let us look at the two greatest laws given by Jesus. ‭
Matthew 22:35-40;
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Looking at these two greatest laws or commandments without thinking deeply, one may think that it's very easy to keep them. But think about it, can you love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind? Don't you love your spouse, your children, your brothers, your sisters, your parents, money, your job, etc. What percentage of your heart do these other things occupy? Can God for sure take 100% of your heart or even mind? Without thinking, one may say, "I love God with all my heart!" Is this really practical or possible? What about loving your neighbor as yourself? If you have a car, they should have one, if your children school at Braeburn or Peponi School, they should school there too, if you are eating meat daily, they should eat meat too, if you have two pairs of shoes, they should have two pairs too, etc. Is this possible? Why did the Israelites weep when the law was read to them by Ezra in the book of Nehemiah? .......to be continued.

Mtakatifu.

True Salvation (Part 295);

Jeremiah 50:20;
In those days and in that time,” says the Lord, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve.

Hebrews 10:17;
Then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

Romans 4:8;
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.

Israel and Judah are shadow images of God's chosen people who today are the believers. How can God say that their sins will be sought for, but there will be none found? How can we be without any sin or iniquity in this wicked world? For instance, when we lust, we already have committed adultery (Matthew 5:27-28); when we hate, we have already killed (1 John 3:15). How, then, is it possible for our sins as believers to be sought and none be found? Can any minute pass without us finding ourselves being sinful even in our thoughts? We for sure know that God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Who is that person who has a clean heart, and who will be found without sin at all in their heart? Is this possible for a human being?

What prophet Jeremiah meant is that Jesus would be born and would take away all our sins once and for all (Matthew 1:21, John 1:29, John 19:30, Hebrews 10:12). Jeremiah had seen Jesus, who would come to take all the sins of the world. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, all our past, present, and future sins were paid for. This means that God doesn't remember them anymore and doesn't count our sins against us. It is true that even now, we have gone astray, and we have all followed our own ways, but all our sins were laid on Jesus 2024 years ago (Isaiah 53:6). The reason why Jeremiah said that the sin and the iniquities of Israel and Judah would be sought and none be found is because he had seen Jesus who would come and wash all sin. We are not clean because of the good we do, but because of believing in the finished work of the cross by Jesus (John 15:3, John 5:24, John 3:16-18).

We do not confess sin as believers, Jesus our advocate has already taken care of all sin (1 John 2:1). Our sins were all already forgiven by Jesus, and we became holy or sanctified once and for all, which means forever (Hebrews 10:10). Through His blood, we obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). Eternal means forever, and redemption means forgiveness of sin (Colossians 1:14). All our sins have been laid on Jesus and we now have the righteousness of God in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 10:1-4). The wages of sin is death, not prayers or asking to be forgiven sin. Sinners belong to the devil, and God doesn't listen to sinners (1 John 3:8-9, John 9:31, Isaiah 59:2). Jesus already died and made us righteous. His death paid for the wages of sin, and so no sin or iniquity is left in the world! The only sin that will take people to hell is unbelief - for those who do believe in the finished work of the cross and they keep confessing sin and asking to be forgiven sin (John 16:9). Jesus took away all sin and finished it on the cross (John 19:30). If you are still finding or seeing your sin; and if you still keep confessing sin, you haven't believed in the true Jesus! The true Jesus shed all His blood, which covered all our sins forever (Romans 4:7, Matthew 26:28). Amen.

Mtakatifu.