Printer-Friendly          E-mail this page

Choosing to Be Like Christ
(From Forerunner Commentary)

John 3:16  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) On the surface, it appears that God will save people on the basis of simply accepting of Jesus Christ as Savior. But now look at verses 31-36. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth [the worldly person]. He who comes from heaven [Christ] is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony [no one believes it]. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure [Jesus perfectly knew and understood the truth of God and taught it to these people in the power of His Spirit, and they should have believed what He said]. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:31-36) These are very ominous words. In terms of faith, John's words give this chapter a quite different perspective. Everyone hearing God's Word is confronted with a choice: believe and obey it, or take the chance of dying the eternal death. John W. Ritenbaugh Faith (Part 4)

Romans 12:1-2  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) If a person has no specific spiritual goal for life, then he will be forced by circumstances to turn all of his attention regarding his life goals and ambitions to the material and the secular. There is no way to avoid this because people will, by nature, conform to the world around them. Now if his spiritual goal is the common Protestant view of immediately being born again at conversion and going off to heaven at the end of his life, he can make a few preparations for life after death. However, only the right goal can fully encourage the right preparation. Not being conformed to this world but to Christ requires consciously choosing to be like Him! This is vastly different from what it is like when we were born into this life. We had no choice then. We were by nature a slave of Satan the Devil and of the society around us. When God intervenes in our lives, calling us to Him, He begins to reveal Himself to us. He frees us from is our bondage to Satan so we can consciously choose to be conformed to the image of His Son—and we will not be unconsciously weaved into the mold of this world. This means that our part in His creative process is to come to the knowledge of God. We are to analyze and to understand its practical application according to the commands and the intent of His Word, and consciously choose to do it. This is the pathway that, by the grace of God, will result in our being born again as His very sons in His Kingdom! John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 2)

 

XML RSS  feeds available		The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 50,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Email Address:     King James VersionNew International VersionNew King James Version
We respect your privacy. Your email address will not be sold, distributed, rented, or in any way given out to a third party. We have nothing to sell. You may easily unsubscribe at any time.

Printer-Friendly          E-mail this page