Thoughts on Faith and Judgement

We trust that our sin is covered by Jesus Christ's blood, as we abide in Him through belief and obedience:

Romans 4:5-8 - And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (ESV)

Revelation of John 1:4-6 - John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

In Jesus Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins:

Colossians 1:13-14 - He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (ESV)

As we walk in the light, as He is in the light, that is in the Truth, walking in, believing, professing and obeying Jesus Christ in Truth, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin:

I John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (ESV)

We are sanctified in the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ, and for sprinkling with His blood:

I Peter 1:2 - according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. (ESV)

Hebrews 7:22 - This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. (ESV)

Hebrews 10:9-14 - then he added, Behold, I have come to do your will. He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (ESV)

We are ransomed:

I Peter 1:18-19 - knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (ESV)

The blood of Jesus secures an eternal redemption:

Hebrews 9:11-15 - But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. (ESV)

The eternal redemption is in Christ Jesus:

Ephesians 1:7 - In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, (ESV)

Hebrews 5:9-10 - And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. (ESV)

Ephesians 2:8 - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (ESV)

Just because we're gifted repentance to life, that doesn't mean that to go ahead and obediently repent makes the gift of repentance no longer a gift!

Acts 11:18 - When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.

The Heart of the Gospel - YouTube

We believe on Jesus Christ and receive eternal life, and we are saved through Jesus Christ. We see that Jesus Christ obeyed God perfectly and He is the light. We have our hope on Jesus to save us when we believe on Him. We should trust Jesus enough to obey His commandments when we are presented with opportunities to glorify God with our actions. God works through us as we obey Jesus.

John 3:16-19 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. (ESV)

We must hear the words of God. If we hear them then we are of God. I know I hear them. If we keep Jesus' word (obey Jesus) we will not see death:

John 8:47 - Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. (ESV)

John 8:51 - Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. (ESV)

To keep Jesus' word means to hear them and to obey:

Proverbs 7:1-3 - My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. (ESV)

Keeping means, not only having them but also keeping, obeying them:

John 14:21-24 - Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. (ESV)

I John 5:3 - For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

John 8:55 - But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. (ESV)

We are not condemned if we believe in the name of Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. That's really good news!:

John 3:18 - Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (ESV)

AMEN!!

John 5:24 - Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (ESV)

AMEN!!

II Timothy 2:11 - The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; (ESV)

Justification comes through through the righteousness of living by faith:

Habakkuk 2:4 - Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. (ESV)

Even the new believer is not condemned:

I Corinthians 3:1 - But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. (ESV)

And as we know, no-one in Christ is condemned:

Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

John Piper - "Mercy means that our obedience doesn't have to be perfect, it has to be penitent."

He paid the price for our sin:

Romans 4:25 - who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (ESV)

And we are justified and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, who we are following:

Romans 5:1 - Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Long before we ever believed in / obeyed Jesus, God had chosen us to believe in Him and to take part in His holy calling:

II Timothy 1:9 - who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, (ESV)

II Timothy 1:13 - Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

We love our neighbour the way Jesus commanded:

I Corinthians 9:21 - To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. (ESV)

Galatians 6:2 - Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (ESV)

John 13:34-35 - A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (ESV)

Jesus loved us selflessly. We should love one another selflessly:

John 15:13 - Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. (ESV)

II Timothy 2:12-13 - if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. (ESV)

Romans 8:17 - and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (ESV)

But suffering for Christ's sake should be for giving glory to Jesus:

We put our hope on Him to be our High Priest and Advocate, we obey Him as He saves us.

These should really go hand in hand:

• Believing in Jesus Christ for His finished work to receive justification and eternal life and remain in relationship with Father God and with Jesus
• Obeying Jesus Christ to be saved from the wrath of God should really go hand-in-hand.

John 17:3 - And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (ESV)

Being justified by Jesus' blood, we are saved by Him from the wrath of God:

Romans 5:9 - Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (ESV)

• Immediately we are reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
• and then we are saved from the wrath of God by His life.
• Also, we meanwhile rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ

Romans 5:8-11 - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (ESV)

Jesus' act of obedience leads to:

• justification
• life
  • I believe that the life of Jesus helps us to stop sinning

Romans 5:18 - Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. (ESV)

I Peter 2:24 - He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (ESV)

We are saved from the wrath of God by the life of Jesus Christ. I think that's in part saying that the life of Jesus helps us to repent from sin:

Ephesians 5:5-7 - For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them;

We need to obey Jesus to have the life:

John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (ESV)

Being saved by Him I think involves us becoming obedient, and faithfully obeying Jesus Christ our Lord:

Ephesians 5:5-10 - For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Eternal life is in Jesus:

Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)

I John 5:11 - And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (ESV)

We receive / walk into the eternal life through faith in Jesus:

John 10:27-28 - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (ESV)

If you hear Jesus' words which came from God and trust God then you have eternal life:

John 5:24 - Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (ESV)

John 7:16 - So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. (ESV)

II John 1:9 - Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (ESV)

I Timothy 6:3-4 - If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, (ESV)

Obedience to God is faith. Abraham went to live in the land of promise by obedience:

Genesis 12:1-8 - Now the LORD said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land. So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. (ESV)

Hebrews 11:9 says that Abraham went to live in the land of promise by faith:

Hebrews 11:9 - By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. (ESV)

We hear the gospel, and we receive salvation through faith. Reaching it is a journey of applied faith:

Hebrews 4:1-2 - Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. (ESV)

The rest goes to the one who takes Jesus' yoke and learns from Him. Obedience to Jesus will result in finding rest for your soul:

Matthew 11:28-29 - Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (ESV)

The rest goes to those who have believed. Believing in Jesus is obedience to the gospel:

Hebrews 4:3 Interlinear: for we do enter into the rest – we who did believe, as He said, 'So I sware in My anger, If they shall enter into My rest – ;' and yet the works were done from the foundation of the world,

Hebrews 4:3 - For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, As I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter my rest, although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.

We work then find rest:

Revelation of John 14:13 - And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them! (ESV)

That rest looks like living for the will of God:

I Peter 4:1-2 - Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. (ESV)

The demons have belief, but they don't have a response of love towards God:

James 2:19 - You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! (ESV)

We must know that God loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We must believe:

I John 4:10 - In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

We must obey:

II John 1:5-6 - And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. (ESV)

We must obey Jesus and love one another:

I Corinthians 16:22 - If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! (ESV)

The knowledge comes from having obeyed God's voice. Love becomes perfected in us when we abide in God:

I John 4:15-17 - Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

I John 2:4 - Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, (ESV)

John 8:55 - But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. (ESV)

I agree whole heartedly with John Piper here:

• The Blazing Center by John Piper - YouTube

Quote from John Piper:

I'm dealing with the issue of God's glory and our gladness. Can they really be one? And I'm doing that under the bigger banner of "How can I spread a passion for the supremacy of God?" because I think that phrase "passion for the supremacy of God" pulls together the two things:

1. "passion" signifies "I'm joyful" and
2. "supremacy of God" signifies "he's being magnified".

So my biggest longing in life is to be used by God to help people see him for who he really is in his magnificence, and then have emotions that are appropriate to that magnificence. Why do we watch the World Series? Why do we watch gymnastics when the Olympics rolls around? Why do we go to the Grand Canyon? Why do we go to the Alps? Why do we go to the ocean and look out over… Why do we want to get near bigness and beauty and magnificence and excellence? It's because that's what we were made for. We were not made for mirrors. So I want to be absolutely candid, the Christian Life Is War and I'm in the business of helping people know how to fight in the way that they're supposed to, namely for joy.

There's a text in 2 Corinthians 1:24:

II Corinthians 1:24 - Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. (ESV)

I was amazed when I saw that. Paul says "I'm a worker for your joy" as though Joy requires apostolic work, and if it does for him it does for me. And so yeah there are times in the ministerial life or the Christian Life when we're low. It seems like all the joy is gone we want to quit give up the ministry give up the faith, and at those moments we need to fight like heaven to hold on.

I Peter 1:17-19 - And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (ESV)

Hebrews 5:9 - And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

Acts 5:32 - And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

Acts 4:12 - And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (ESV)

It's faith in Jesus' name that is powerful, and it's with faith in Jesus' name that we are saved.

We are granted repentance to life; being a slave to righteousness leading to sanctification and at its end, eternal life. We expect to receive salvation as we have faith in Jesus Christ:

Romans 3:21-25 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

AMEN!!

Something like this:

I Thessalonians 1:3 - remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Acts 3:2-9 - And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, Look at us. And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk! And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God,

Acts 3:16 - And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Acts 4:7-10 - And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power or by what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.

Acts 4:12 - And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Keep God's word:

John 17:6 - I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. (ESV)

Be convinced and keep having and doing faith in Jesus Christ. John uses the verb for faith:

John 20:31 - but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (ESV)

His Voice in Yours: How Christ Wins the World

Jeremiah 23:5-6 - Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our righteousness. (ESV)

John 13:20 - Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

Mark 9:37 - Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.

A person may need to ask and seek to receive Jesus:

Luke 11:10 - For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

John 6:63 - It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (ESV)

Romans 8:13-25 - For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Christ died for us, so through His mercy alone, he purchased us.

Ephesians 1:13-14 - In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (ESV)

Ephesians 2:4 - But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, (ESV)

I John 4:10 - In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (ESV)

An heart of faith looks like:

• Wanting to do God's will
  • Obedience and repentance from sin: even if it just means wanting to turn from sin
  • because God makes the new heart to enable the person to obey
• Wanting to follow Jesus
• Accepting Jesus Christ as one's Lord
• Accepting through faith the atonement for sin through Jesus Christ
• Turning away from sin

Return to obedience to God through obedience to Jesus. Turn from sin:

Joel 2:12-13 - Yet even now, declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. (ESV)

God provides the new heart, and God works through us:

Ezekiel 11:19-20 - And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. (ESV)

So to be saved a person must have an obedient heart, prepared for the good works which are prepared for us to walk in:

Ephesians 2:8-10 - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

I Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (ESV)

The tax collector here has an obedient heart (yielding to Jesus), but the Pharisee in the story has a self-righteous heart:

Luke 18:9-14 - He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner! I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.his house justified, rather than the other._ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

It's those that believe in him (trust Him, receive Him, expect to receive Him, have an obedient heart towards Him) that receive forgiveness of sins through his name:

Acts 10:41-44 - not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. (ESV)

John 6:63 - It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

We must honour Jesus Christ in our bodies and in our lives - fruitful labour, so that we can be confident with John 5:24. AMEN!! We must be slaves of righteousness, leading to sanctification, which at its end is eternal life:

John 5:21-24 - For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes (G4100 pisteuo) him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

I believe John 5:24 is a true statement and that it should not be read outside of the words Jesus said directly before it (Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him).

We do not nullify the rest of what Jesus has commanded of and asked of us. If Jesus is your judge, then I think it's wise to take on board the rest of what Jesus has said:

Philippians 1:15-22 - Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

Paul and the other faithful Apostles were exhibited as last of all, like men sentenced to death for following Jesus:

I Corinthians 4:9-13 - For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. (ESV)

God still makes apostles and prophetic people:

Ephesians 4:11-16 - And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Daniel 2:28 - but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: (ESV)

God is loving and altogether gracious:

Exodus 34:5-8 - The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation. And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

Ezra 9:13 - And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, (ESV)

Having faith in God involves following Jesus:

Hebrews 10:32-39 - But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

I agree whole heartedly with this guy:

• The 'Cheap Grace' Gospel From HELL…| - YouTube

I believe that generally-speaking, there is no difference between being a disciple of Jesus and a Christian.

There is a transformation in the heart of a born-again Christian that involves changing allegiance towards Jesus Christ, resulting in the will to obey Jesus, and God gives us the spirit to help us to obey Him.

Ezekiel 11:19-20 - And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. (ESV)

We need all of these:

• Belief in Jesus and His atoning sacrifice
• Obedience to Jesus' commandments
  • Obeying the law of Christ
• Putting a stop to sin
  • You CANNOT Keep Living Like a DEVIL| {The Cheap Gospel EXPOSED!!} - YouTube

II Chronicles 7:14 - if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (ESV)

Repentance:

• Someone who has only belief in the gift of grace and no obedience to Jesus (which is effectively hating Jesus) must repent and come to have an obedient heart.
• Someone who has only obedience to Jesus' precepts but unbelieving and unsubmissive to the righteousness of God must repent and come to have a believing heart.

John 14:21 - Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. (ESV)

If people from either category do not repent, then beware because God has the ability and jurisdiction to cast that person out - graft them out of Christ. Also, let's not become proud, but stand in awe.

God draws the person to Jesus:

John 6:44-46 - No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. (ESV)

Jesus said He will not cast people out who have come to Him, and it's His sheep who come to Him, those who follow Him:

John 6:37 - All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (ESV)

Coming to Jesus is the requirement for not being cast out, and coming to Jesus Christ means obedience and following Jesus:

Luke 18:16-22 - But Jesus called them to him, saying, Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And a ruler asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother. And he said, All these I have kept from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.

We must be a servant of Jesus to not be cast out. We must have obedience:

John 12:26 - If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. (ESV)

Coming to Jesus involves denying ourself and taking up our cross daily to follow Him:

Luke 9:23 - And he said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (ESV)

Christ Jesus judged Paul faithful - Paul was faithful, and Jesus Christ is Paul's Lord. Paul received mercy to become obedient. Paul received mercy because he was acting ignorantly - behaving in a way which came from disbelief. So then, Christ Jesus displays in Paul His perfect patience to those who would trust in Him for eternal life and be brought from ungodliness into godliness - disobedience into obedience.

I Timothy 1:12-16 - I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (ESV)

You must believe:

Romans 11:20-23 - That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

You must obey:

John 15:1-6 - I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

We must put a stop to sin:

Ezekiel 18:20-21 - The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. (ESV)

Jeremiah 4:4 - Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds. (ESV)

So I believe that Jesus saves us by giving us of His Spirit and helping us to put sin to death, through obedient faith:

1 John 3:4-9 - Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. (ESV)

Walking in obedient faith is walking in forgiveness and love towards other people, forgiveness and love that flows out from having been loved and having been forgiven.

The faith working through love towards God and other people flows out of believing in and accepting Jesus and His atoning sacrifice and from being freely forgiven by Jesus.

I think the person who has arrived at this point has repented from dead work and is now living for Jesus.

God gives us the new heart when we seek to have that new heart.

To be saved we need to have an obedient heart to God.

Will to do God's will - will to be obedient, and God will give you the heart to obey Him.

When you trust Jesus, you will to do His will.

Living as a new Creation in Christ means God has given you the heart to desire to obey Jesus' commandments. We are under Christ's law.

It means, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to no longer practice lying, adultery, idolatry, and covetousness, and to no longer dishonour our parents, and to now honour Jesus Christ in our lives and bodies.

It's going from disobedience to God (as Adam was disobedient) to obedience to God (as Christ is obedient):

Romans 15:17-18 - In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed,

I Corinthians 7:19 - For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. (ESV)

Faith works through love; we must be like Jesus - exercising sacrificial, merciful love. The term 'new creature' is used in Galatians 6 after saying we must 'put sin to death and do good', sowing to the spirit and not to the flesh. Sowing to the Spirit is obediently following Jesus:

Galatians 6:7-8 - Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (ESV)

Faith is obedient. Love is applied faith in Jesus:

Galatians 5:6 - For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (ESV)

Galatians 6:15 - For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (ESV)

No changed life salvation? Refuting Free Grace and @jacksmack77 - YouTube

Grace is free, but a person must become obedient - God gives the heart to obey, but a person must desire to do God's will to receive it.

Revelation of John 22:3 - No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. (ESV)

We must live for the will of God:

I Peter 4:1-2 - Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. (ESV)

If a person doesn't obey Jesus and His commandments then they probably are not saved because they either deny they have the spiritual circumcision which causes us to obey, or they do not have the heart to obey and receive salvation - so they are a goat, not a sheep.

John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (ESV)

This person worked - served God - and this verse guarantees that the one who tried to work for God is still saved:

1 Corinthians 3:15 - If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (ESV)

John 15:4-8 - Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

We don't try to save our worldly life. We seek the Kingdom of God:

John 12:20-26 - Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. (ESV)

AMEN!!

Obey God, obey Jesus:

Mark 10:17-21 - And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.

II Timothy 3:1-7 - But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (ESV)

Godliness (behaviour in accordance with the knowledge of the truth) has the power to change a person's life to go from being selfish to selfless.

We have knowledge of the truth through obedience to the gospel.

II Timothy 3:8-12 - Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, (ESV)

Galatians 2:14 - But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? (ESV)

II Timothy 3:13 - while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (ESV)

Change your mind and He will change your heart

The High Cost of Following Christ | Billy Graham Classic Sermon - YouTube

Luke 14:27-33 - Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (ESV)

Do not love the world:

• do not love desires of the flesh, and
• do not love the desires of the eyes, and
• do not love pride in possessions

I John 2:15-17 - Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (ESV)

Romans 12:1 - I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (ESV)

II Corinthians 10:5 - We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (ESV)

Proverbs 16:32 - Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. (ESV)

God poured out His Holy Spirit richly on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour. This would not be possible without having sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins and be raised for our justification. To be able to be justified is pure grace. To be able to have faith in Jesus is pure grace. But we must put our faith in Jesus Christ!

Titus 3:4-7 - But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (ESV)

So we should ask God to receive the Holy Spirit, and believe He will give the Holy Spirit to us:

Luke 11:13 - If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (ESV)

This says Father God gives the Holy Spirit to His children. Then we should seek to behave His children and ask Him.

I John 3:10 - By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (ESV)

Who receives the Holy Spirit? The ones who obey God!

Acts 5:32 - And we are witnesses to these things, and so is he Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. (ESV)

The Holy Spirit is received through faith:

Galatians 3:14 - so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (ESV)

We receive the spirit by getting Jesus' words into us, believing them and obeying them. Feeding on them, we get Jesus' spirit and life into us:

John 6:63 - It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (ESV)

So to receive the Holy Spirit:

• Have faith in Jesus,
  • believe Jesus,
  • obey Jesus,
• practice righteousness, and
  • ask God for the Holy Spirit!

Matthew 7:13 - Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

Matthew 7:14 - For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Luke 13:24 - Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

The Way is Jesus Christ - believing in and becoming obedient to Jesus Christ.

It's being begotten as a servant of God, a disciple of Jesus, one of Jesus' sheep.

Believe:

I John 4:9 - In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

Obey:

I John 5:3 - For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

Believe and obey:

I John 2:5 - but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him:

Jude 1:21 - keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

Either of:

• Pursuing holiness without submitting to the righteousness of God
  • This is denying Jesus and becoming guilty of sin by denying the atonement
  • John 15:22-23 - If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
• Pursuing justification without becoming obedient to God
  • This is being cast out and withering and being thrown into the fire
  • John 15:5-6 - I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

A person needs to have obedient, believing faith in Jesus Christ to take the narrow gate.

These people did not obey Jesus, and produced bad fruit:

Matthew 7:13-16 - Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

These people did not believe, and their works were not done in faith:

Matthew 7:21-24 - Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

These people didn't endure in faith:

Matthew 7:13-14 - Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

These people just sat around watching Jesus but didn't obey Him:

Luke 13:24-26 - Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us, then he will answer you, I do not know where you come from. Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!

Hebrews 3:18 - And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? (ESV)

Ezekiel 33:31 - And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. (ESV)

Jesus' sheep follow Jesus. Jesus knows them:

John 10:25-28 - Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. But you do not believe (G4100 pisteuo) because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow (G190 akoloutheo) Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. (NASB)

1: :  190  akoloutheo  ak-ol-oo-theh'-o
2: 
3:  from 1 (as a particle of union) and keleuthos (a road); properly, to
4:  be in the same way with, i.e. to accompany (specially, as a
5:  disciple):--follow, reach.
6:  see GREEK for 1

People who do not serve the Lord Jesus, and do not obey Jesus, are deceivers. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with those who serve Him, and common grace even to the one who hasn't arrived [yet] at serving Jesus.

I Peter 5:14 - Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Romans 16:17-20 - I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

II Chronicles 7:14 - if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (ESV)

Let us continue following and obeying Jesus, and not turn back:

John 6:66 - After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

Luke 9:62 - Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. (ESV)

Judas betrayed Jesus after being chosen:

John 6:70-71 - Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

Hebrews 6:4-8 - For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. (ESV)

John Piper - God's Delight in Obedience - YouTube

I Samuel 15:22-23 - And Samuel said, Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king. (ESV)

Matthew 7:13 - Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

I'm not the judge. But Jesus's words which He left us will be the judge.

II Peter 1:10 - Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. (ESV)

Hebrews 4:11 - Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (ESV)

I Corinthians 9:24-27 - Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (ESV)

Philippians 2:12-13 - Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (ESV)

Asking Jesus to save me:

I can only say that salvation was a total gift for me, an unrighteous sinner. But I'm still working it out.

Romans 10:3 - For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. (ESV)

Like the following example of the tax collector, we must submit to God's righteousness:

Luke 18:9-14 - He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner! I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

Jesus is the Lamb of God. We must accept God's forgiveness through faith in Jesus:

John 1:29 - The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

God's righteousness is received by faith - through obedience to the gospel:

• Romans 3:25 - whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (ESV)

We must receive atonement for sin through faith.

The tax collector in the story above has an obedient and believing heart. The tax collector has faith. It's not our own righteousness which is sufficient, but Jesus Christ's righteousness imputed onto us when we are in Him. We must have faith in Jesus.

I accept that I need Jesus to have mercy on me. Because my own righteousness isn't good enough. I want to obey Jesus for the rest of my life, and live for Him, and I trust Him because I believe His gospel. I know that the Holy Spirit goes to those who obey Him.

Luke 18:15-17 - Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

And I'm still trusting and having faith in Jesus Christ even up until now. So while through obedience to Jesus we are saved, Jesus is still the source of that salvation:

Hebrews 5:9 - And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

Acts 5:32 - And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

He is the Light, and He wants to give us the light of life but we have to allow Him to lead us:

John 8:12 - Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (ESV)

We have to obey Jesus and take heed to all that He has said. Those who don't take heed to His words walk in darkness:

John 3:19 - And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.

Jesus is God's Son. Jesus is the Lamb of God.

We must receive the redemption that is in Christ Jesus through faith:

Romans 3:22-25 - the righteousness of God through faith (G4102 pistis) in Jesus Christ for all who believe (G4100 pisteuo). For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

All of these I believe belong under the umbrella of faith, not works:

• Taking communion is not 'dead works'. It's obedience.
• Getting baptised is not 'dead works'. It's obedience.
• Obeying Jesus Christ's commandments are not 'dead works'. It's obedience.

Faith presses on to walk the same way Jesus walked:

Philippians 3:9-12 - and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

God will be the judge of who has had faith in Jesus; who has obeyed Him and who has trusted in Him and who has made Him their Lord and who has accepted Him as their Saviour.

John 12:48 - The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

Hebrews 10:10-17 - And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds, then he adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.

Hebrews 10:26 - For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

We must love Jesus and follow Him. Jesus is the judge. Our obedience to Jesus matters. Because the righteousness of God is received through faith. We are implored to strive to follow Jesus to our best ability:

John 5:17-29 - But Jesus answered them, My Father is working until now, and I am working. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (ESV)

II Thessalonians 1:4-8 - Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

I Peter 4:12-19 - Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Luke 20:13-18 - Then the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him. But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours. And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. When they heard this, they said, Surely not! But he looked directly at them and said, What then is this that is written: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.

I John 3:21 - Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

Hebrews 3:14 - For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

I John 4:17 - By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

But we must be walking in the light, just as He is in the light.

I John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

So the blood of Jesus covers us while we are following Him.

John 8:16-18 - Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.

Luke 6:37 - , Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; (ESV)

Jesus is also extremely merciful to the woman who was brought before Jesus:

John 8:10-11 - Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more. (ESV)

I John 1:1-3 - That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (ESV)

That is why we must believe in Him and obey His commandments:

I John 5:3-5 - For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (ESV)

John 8:21-24 - So he said to them again, I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come. So the Jews said, Will he kill himself, since he says, Where I am going, you cannot come? He said to them, You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.

We must follow Jesus for eternal life:

John 8:12 - Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Jesus knows Father God, and Jesus keeps His word. Likewise, we must follow Jesus and keep His word. Jesus is obedient to Father God. We must be obedient to Jesus Christ:

John 8:55-58 - But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

John 10:27-29 - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

Jesus is One with Almighty God and their will is in perfect alignment.

John 10:30 - I and the Father are one.

Father God keeps us in His name so that we may be one with Them:

John 17:10-11 - All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (ESV)

By posing the question, Jesus doesn't deny that he is good:

Mark 10:18 - And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. (ESV)

I believe there is only one good shepherd, and that is Jesus Christ, Immanuel (God with us, God incarnate, and not merely in the flesh, but the Word became flesh):

John 10:14-15 - I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (ESV)

John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (ESV)

Jesus makes intercession for those who draw near to God through Him:

Hebrews 7:25 - Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Likewise, the Holy Spirit is Almighty God.

Isaiah 48:16-17 - Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit. Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. (ESV)

Matthew 3:16-17 - And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. (ESV)

This quite clearly shows that Jesus Christ is Almighty God:

Zechariah 12:10 - And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (ESV)

I affirm the Nicene creed wholeheartedly:

 1: We believe in one God,
 2:       the Father almighty,
 3:       maker of heaven and earth,
 4:       of all things visible and invisible.
 5: 
 6: And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
 7:       the only-begotten Son of God,
 8:       begotten from the Father before all ages,
 9:            God from God,
10:            Light from Light,
11:            true God from true God,
12:       begotten, not made;
13:       of the same essence as the Father.
14:       Through him all things were made.
15:       For us and for our salvation
16:            he came down from heaven;
17:            he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
18:            and was made human.
19:            He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
20:            he suffered and was buried.
21:            The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
22:            He ascended to heaven
23:            and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
24:            He will come again with glory
25:            to judge the living and the dead.
26:            His kingdom will never end.
27: 
28: And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
29:       the Lord, the giver of life.
30:       He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
31:       and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
32:       He spoke through the prophets.
33:       We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
34:       We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
35:       We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
36:       and to life in the world to come. Amen.

AMEN!!

"Agnus Dei" with Michael W Smith & the First Dallas Choir & Orchestra - YouTube

Hebrews 1:3 - He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Jesus proceeded forth from Father God, and returned to Father God:

John 16:28 - I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father. (ESV)

Jesus Christ is with us in Spirit:

Matthew 28:18-20 - And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (ESV)

Jesus' Spirit may be inside us!

Galatians 4:4-9 - But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? (ESV)

John 14:26 - But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (ESV)

Jesus is sitting in power.

Hebrews 1:13 - And to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?

I affirm the doctrine of the Trinity:

Thus, the Son is not one-third of the being of God; he is all of the being of God. The Father is not one-third of the being of God; he is all of the being of God. And likewise with the Holy Spirit. Thus, as Wayne Grudem writes, “When we speak of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together we are not speaking of any greater being than when we speak of the Father alone, the Son alone, or the Holy Spirit alone” (Ibid., 252).

There is only one God. If each Person of the Trinity is distinct and yet fully God, then should we conclude that there is more than one God? Obviously we cannot, for Scripture is clear that there is only one God: “There is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other”.

Zechariah 12:10 - And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (ESV)

Isaiah 45:21-22 - Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. (ESV)

Isaiah 44:6-8 - Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any. (ESV)

Jesus was with Father God in the beginning:

Proverbs 8:22-32 - The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. (ESV)

John 1:1-2 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (ESV)

Exodus 15:11 - Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? (ESV)

Deuteronomy 4:35 - To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 - Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 32:39 - See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. (ESV)

I Samuel 2:2 - There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. (ESV)

I Kings 8:60 - that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. (ESV)

AMEN!!

Jehovah is God Almighty:

Exodus 6:3 - I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. (ESV)

Exodus 6:3 Interlinear: and I appear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; as to My name Jehovah, I have not been known to them;

I believe that Jesus Christ is Jehovah. Jesus is God the Son.

Romans 9:4-5 - They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. (ESV)

John 8:18-19 - I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me. They said to him therefore, Where is your Father? Jesus answered, You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also. (ESV)

I Corinthians 10:9 - We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, (ESV)

I John 5:20 - And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (ESV)

I John 5:11 - And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (ESV)

To have the Spirit of Christ is to have the Spirit of God:

Romans 8:9-10 - 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. (ESV)

God sends the Spirit of His Son into our heart, crying, "Abba! Father!" We experience this as our own cry. This is how we are given the assurance that we are the children of God:

Galatians 4:1-7 - I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (ESV)

Romans 8:13-17 - For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (ESV)

The Spirit in Us Cries 'Abba Father': Galatians 4:1-7, Part 5 - YouTube

I really want to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit cry 'Abba Father', and acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

I John 4:1-3 - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (ESV)

As of now (18 April '24), though, I have not actually heard that confession through the Spirit that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh - just being honest,

I still profess that Jesus Christ is the Only-Begotten Son of God who has proceeded from Father God, come from heaven to hearth in the flesh, born of the virgin Mary, was crucified and died for the sins of mankind and raised from the dead on the third day and has ascended to the Father and sits at His right hand.

But I am still seeking hearing that acknowledgement by continuing in Jesus' word, endeavoring to keep Jesus' commandments. I certainly have heard many false and deceptive voices, even blasphemy. So I mean, if the devil or evil spirits can speak lies to me then I just have total confidence that at the right time I'll hear from God. Therefore, I will continue to endeavour to keep Jesus' commandments:

John 14:21 - Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. (ESV)

So it's really important that I remain faithful to Jesus and do my best to not compromise or be swayed by people who deter me from keeping Jesus' commandments.

Jesus Christ is our God. Forever, He is Father God's revelation to us of Himself.

Revelation of John 7:9 - After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, (ESV)

Revelation of John 7:10-12 - and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen. (ESV)

Revelation of John 7:17 - For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (ESV)

Revelation of John 19:4 - And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, Amen. Hallelujah! (ESV)

Revelation of John 22:3 - No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. (ESV)

Luke 18:18-22 - And a ruler asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother. And he said, All these I have kept from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.

Proverbs 7:1-3 - My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

Jesus' word:

John 8:12 - Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

These Jews had believed but didn't abide in Jesus' words, and so prove to be Jesus' disciples:

John 8:31-32 - So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

They didn't believe they needed Jesus to set them free from sin:

John 8:33-36 - They answered him, We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, You will become free? Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

We need to believe Jesus is who He says He is:

John 8:24 - I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins. (ESV)

We need to keep Jesus' word until we are set free:

John 8:51 - Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. (ESV)

They couldn't accept that they needed to be saved:

John 8:37 - I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.

Jesus speaks of what He has seen with His Father:

John 8:38 - I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.

We need to love Jesus because He came from God, to show us the Way as the Light of the world.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life:

John 8:39-42 - They answered him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing what your father did. They said to him, We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God. Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

John 8:43 - Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

We must obey His commandments to walk in the same way He walked so we get to know Him and are sanctified by faith in the truth, which leads to eternal life:

Hebrews 5:8-9 - Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, (ESV)

Luke 9:35 - Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”

John 8:44-47 - You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

John 8:48-49 - The Jews answered him, Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.

John 5:21-24 - For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes (G4100 pisteuo) him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 8:50-51 - Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

John 8:52-59 - The Jews said to him, Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, He is our God. But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

The worldly people rejected Him. Neither did His own people receive Him.

John 1:1-13 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens (G5461 photizo) every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1: :  5461  photizo  fo-tid'-zo
2: 
3:  from 5457; to shed rays, i.e. to shine or (transitively) to brighten
4:  up (literally or figuratively):--enlighten, illuminate, (bring to,
5:  give) light, make to see.
6:  see GREEK for 5457

John 5:17 - But Jesus answered them, My Father is working until now, and I am working. (ESV)

I Corinthians 10:1-7 - I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

Revelation of John 3:8 - I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

AMEN!!

John 6:27 - Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal. (ESV)

John 7:34-39 - You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come. (ESV) The Jews said to one another, Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, You will seek me and you will not find me, and, Where I am you cannot come? On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Certainly, people are judged on their faith in Jesus:

John 5:28-29 - Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Whoever honours Jesus by obeying Him, honours Father God. Whoever hears these words from Jesus and trusts Father God has eternal life and doesn't come into judgement; When we start trusting (believing and obeying) Jesus, we have passed from death into life.

And in obeying Jesus we are performing good works which are works done in faith towards God.

John 5:17-29 - But Jesus answered them, My Father is working until now, and I am working. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (ESV)

What I mean by relationship is:

• being obedient to God,
  • abiding in Jesus
• being accountable to God,
• waiting on God,
• trusting on God,
• being led by the Spirit of God,
• etc.

Led by the Spirit of God is doing God's will:

Psalms 143:10 - Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! (ESV)

II Corinthians 3:18 - And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)

II Corinthians 3:6 - who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (ESV)

From our perspective we are obedient as we are participating in the Spirit, but God works through us:

Philippians 2:1-13 - So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (ESV)

We must obey! This obedience is being led by the Spirit.

We must look upon Jesus and stop sexual immorality and stop idolatry. The stories mentioned here are examples for us to follow:

I Corinthians 10:1-7 - I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

We must take heed of this, because we don't want to fall:

I Corinthians 10:8-13- We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

II Peter 2:2-4 - And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

II Peter 2:19-20 - They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

Therefore, the way of truth involves following Jesus and putting a stop to sin.

I agree with Billy Graham:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCrhHjQgVhA

Revelation of John 21:8 - But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (ESV)

I Peter 1:14-16 - As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.

I know I can testify to this fiery trial being a real thing:

I Peter 1:17-19 - And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (ESV)

Ephesians 5:5-7 - For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them;

Matthew 7:21-27 - Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (ESV)

Luke 6:46-49 - Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great. (ESV)

You can't have an abundant life without knowing Jesus, so we must have faith in God and follow Jesus' commandments to get to know Him:

I John 2:4 - Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

You must obey Jesus:

John 3:36 - Whoever believes (G4100 pisteuo) in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (ESV)

We must obey God. We have faith in God who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification, and having faith in God is having faith in His Son which is believing in and obeying Jesus Christ:

Romans 4:23-25 - But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe (G4100 pisteuo) in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (ESV)

We must obey Jesus' commandments to know Jesus, just as Jesus obeyed Father God's commandments, and knows Father God:

John 8:55-58 - But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

Jesus' sacrifice is the only atonement for our sin we need. It's comprehensive. It must be received through faith in Jesus Christ - and that is not mere belief but obedience:

Romans 3:25 - whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (ESV)

We have been crucified with Christ and we died to sin, as Jesus cancelled our debt, so now we must cease to walk in sin, and not go back to the vomit:

Colossians 2:13-14 - And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

We should do what is valuable in stopping the indulgence of the flesh, and not what is invaluable from human precepts, but instead we should following Christ and His teachings, and His example of what love looks like:

Colossians 2:21-23 - Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Instead, let's follow Jesus Christ's teachings:

Colossians 3:1-4 - If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

If people including free-grace Christians do not repent from sin, they will still be repaid impartially, and on account of sinful things the wrath of God comes. We have to put to death sin:

Colossians 3:5-10 - Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Absolutely:

I Peter 4:17 - For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (ESV)

Matthew 5:21-22 - You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, You fool! will be liable to the hell of fire. (ESV)

Ephesians 5:5-7 - For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them;

John 3:36 - Whoever believes (G4100 pisteuo) in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (ESV)

Colossians 3:23-25 - Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

We must serve our Lord:

Colossians 3:23-24 - Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Walk how Jesus taught us to walk, with faith in Him, and receive

I John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Be led by God's Spirit by doing God's will:

Psalms 143:10 - Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! (ESV)

We receive reconciliation through Jesus Christ who is our Lord:

Romans 5:11 - More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (ESV)

We are being made into people who walk in the light, not just intellectually but actually obeying God's commandment to love Him and to love one another:

Romans 5:19 - For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. (ESV)

Our loving obedience abounds more as we grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness which looks like stopping sin and being obedient to Jesus, letting Jesus' righteousness shine through us:

Philippians 1:9-11 - And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Follow Jesus through the new and living Way:

Hebrews 10:19-27 - Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

1: :  1941  epikaleomai  ep-ee-kal-eh'-om-ahee
2: 
3:  middle voice from 1909 and 2564; to entitle; by implication, to invoke
4:  (for aid, worship, testimony, decision, etc.):--appeal (unto), call
5:  (on, upon), surname.
6:  see GREEK for 1909
7:  see GREEK for 2564

Confessing that Jesus is Lord is becoming obedient to Him:

Romans 10:8-9 - But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”– that is, the word (G4487 rhema) of faith (G4102 pistis) which we are preaching, that if you confess (G3670 homologeo) with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe (G4100 pisteuo) in your heart (G2588 kardia) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (NASB)

It's faith in the heart which we need; obedience to Jesus Christ and belief in Jesus Christ in the heart, and belief and obedience to God who has raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

John 7:17 - If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. (ESV)

Jesus has been perfectly obedient, so Jesus speaks what Father God speaks, and when someone seeks Jesus Christ, they see Father God, because Father God has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. The Father is in the Son. The Word is God.

Also, through perfect obedience, Jesus has spoken Father God's commandment of eternal life, which is what He has said:

• "_the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak._"

Whoever has faith in Jesus, has faith in God. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father:

John 12:44-48 - And Jesus cried out and said, Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

Jesus' words bring eternal life. The commandment which Father God gave Jesus is eternal life and the commandment is the words that Jesus Christ has spoken, so we need to abide in Jesus Christ by letting His words abide in us, believing Him and obeying Him; doing what He said:

John 12:49-50- For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.

Jesus has the words of eternal life.

We need to obey Jesus Christ and walk and believe as God has commanded and spoken through Jesus:

John 14:6-11 - Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

We must believe Jesus, and have faith in Jesus Christ, obeying Jesus, and that is obeying God and having faith in God:

John 7:17 - If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. (ESV)

Therefore, to arrive at the knowledge of the truth, you've got to have an obedient heart.

How can they call on Him whom they have not had faith in?

How will they have faith in Him whom they have not heard?

How will they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10:14-15- But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!

Confess:

1: :  3670  homologeo  hom-ol-og-eh'-o
2: 
3:  from a compound of the base of 3674 and 3056; to assent, i.e.
4:  covenant, acknowledge:--con- (pro-)fess, confession is made, give
5:  thanks, promise.
6:  see GREEK for 3674
7:  see GREEK for 3056

John 7:17 - If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. (ESV)

Romans 16:26 - but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith — (ESV)

Isaiah 11:2 - And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Even after Jesus has come, the fear of the Lord is still important in getting God's attention. We still must obey God by obeying Jesus:

Psalms 34:11-22 - Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

We make it our aim to please him:

II Corinthians 5:9-12 - So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart.

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 2:5 - then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 8:13 - The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 9:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Proverbs 10:27 - The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.

Proverbs 14:27 - The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Proverbs 15:33 - The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 19:23 - The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.

Paul the Apostle met James, brother of Jesus:

Galatians 1:15-20- But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! )

Interestingly, James believes that a person is justified not by faith alone, but by works of faith:

James 2:21-24 - Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Fear-of-God:

Romans 4:5-8 - And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.

AMEN!! But this doesn't mean the other elements of working faith can't play a part.

We may rest from our labors when we die in the Lord:

Revelation of John 14:13 - And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them! (ESV)

Circumcision of the flesh does not matter:

Romans 4:9-12 - Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe (G4100 pisteuo) without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

We must share the faith of Abraham to receive the grace:

Romans 4:13-17 - For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, I have made you the father of many nations—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

In hope, Abraham believed against hope. He didn't weaken in faith, even when it seemed impossible. He trusted and believed God, and grew strong in his faith and gave glory to God. We should do the same.

We must believe on Him (God) who raised Jesus from the dead, with the faith that Abraham had - Abraham's faith was working, but it wasn't the works that justified Him, it was the faith.

If a person lives their life as a living sacrifice to honour and serve Jesus Christ, which is honouring and having faith in God, then all of that is analogous to Abraham's works of faith.

We must trust God in hope against hope, and not weaken in faith, and trust God's promise, and honour Jesus Christ with our lives - that is what I believe.

The most important thing is this faith - but God certainly uses our works of faith:

Our salvation comes from faith alone in God for the promise of forgiveness from sin and hope of eternal life with Christ Jesus for those who believe in God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

It's because of what Jesus Christ has done that we are justified, not because of anything we have done. We must trust in God to justify us we hold to our faith.

Romans 4:18-25 - In hope he believed (G4100 pisteuo) against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, So shall your offspring be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe (G4100 pisteuo) in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Therefore, do not put your hope on how little faith you can have for Jesus Christ to scrape through (because Jesus Christ is the judge), but instead live for Him sincerely, doing as He has instructed us.

To follow and obey Jesus Christ with the same type of faith that Abraham had - that is what we should be doing - that's saving faith, I think. Our justification is based on what Jesus Christ has done.

Now as we live by faith, we are justified by this faith and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ who we are believing, following, obeying and honouring.

And we only have access to the grace if we have faith:

Romans 5:1-2 - Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Faith involves obeying Jesus Christ:

I John 2:3 - And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

I John 5:3-4 - For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Acts 5:32 - And we are witnesses to these things, and so is he Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. (ESV)

Galatians 3:14 - so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (ESV)

Jesus says you must obey God to be part of His family:

Luke 8:21 - But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

Jesus implies you must obey Him (Jesus) to be part of His family:

John 7:16 - So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.

So obeying Jesus Christ is having faith in God:

Romans 4:23-25 - But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe (G4100 pisteuo) in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (ESV)

Repentance from sin, obeying Jesus Christ, making Jesus your Lord and Saviour:

Luke 19:1-10 - He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (ESV)

Hebrews 6:20 - where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (ESV)

Matthew 5:20 - For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (ESV)

If we are led by the spirit then we are not under the Mosaic law. So we should stop sinning as it is described by such works of the flesh as listed:

Galatians 5:18 - But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The law (Mosaic law) is laid down for those who are lawless and disobedient!:

I Timothy 1:9 - understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, (ESV)

Sin is lawlessness:

I John 3:4 - Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (ESV)

We are under Christ's law, not the Mosaic law:

I Corinthians 9:21 - To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

In His flesh the emnity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances is abolished:

Ephesians 2:14-16 - For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. (NASB)

Instead of being under the law, we seek to live for Christ, and follow Christ's teaching:

Galatians 6:12 - It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. (ESV)

Within Christ there is peace:

Galatians 5:13 - For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (ESV)

We follow Jesus and obey His commandments:

Galatians 5:14 - For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (ESV)

Galatians 6:2 - Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (ESV)

We must feed on His flesh to abide in Him:

John 6:53 - So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. (ESV)

John 6:55-56 - For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. (ESV)

Jesus' flesh is the way into the holy places:

Hebrews 10:19-20 - Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, (ESV)

Jesus suffered in the flesh, and we should too, and stop sinning:

I Peter 4:1 - Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, (ESV)

Colossians 1:24 - Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, (ESV)

We're justified by our faith in Christ. We simply follow Jesus:

Galatians 5:4 - You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (ESV)

There are lawless spirits (spirits which work things like idolatry, and falsehood; anything which is against the truth):

II Thessalonians 2:7-13 - For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. (ESV)

Lawlessness includes idolatry:

I Peter 4:3 - The time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. (ESV)

If idolatry is lawlessness then so is falsely witnessing, so is sexual immorality, adultery, murder/hate, etc. And the Apostles in the New Testament and Jesus, and the Bible generally testifies that we must stop being lawless!

Lawlessness includes hate/murder:

Matthew 24:10-13 - And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (ESV)

We are commanded by Paul the Apostle to present our members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification - that's called repentance from sin, folks!:

Romans 6:19 - I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. (ESV)

We were purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ and we are supposed to be changed and purified to no longer being lawless!

Titus 2:14 - who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (ESV)

We must not allow ourselves to be conformed to or carried away by the error of lawless people. The error is their lawlessness:

II Peter 3:17 - You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. (ESV)

We must follow Jesus, and obey Jesus and stop sinning!

Matthew 7:21-24 - Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (ESV)

Part of the will of Father God is that we repent from sin:

I Thessalonians 4:3-7 - For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. (ESV)

James 2:11 - For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. (ESV)

Romans 13:9 - The commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (ESV)

John 8:44 - You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (ESV)

Matthew 15:19 - For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (ESV)

Romans 1:26-32 - For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (ESV)

I John 3:15 - Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (ESV)

I John 3:12 - We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. (ESV)

Revelation of John 22:15 - Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (ESV)

Revelation of John 9:21 - nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. (ESV)

Isaiah 30:9-13 - For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD; who say to the seers, Do not see, and to the prophets, Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel. Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant; (ESV)

1 Samuel 15:23 - For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king. (ESV)

Jeremiah 14:7 - Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you. (ESV)

Jeremiah 14:10 - Thus says the LORD concerning this people: They have loved to wander thus; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. (ESV)

Jeremiah 14:14 - And the LORD said to me: The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. (ESV)

Isaiah 32:6 - For the fool speaks folly, and his heart is busy with iniquity, to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning the LORD, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink. (ESV)

Psalms 36:2 - For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. (ESV)

Psalms 10:10-11 - The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. He says in his heart, God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it. (ESV)

Isaiah 13:11 - I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. (ESV)

Ezekiel 13:22 - Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, (ESV)

Isaiah 31:2 - And yet he is wise and brings disaster; he does not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the helpers of those who work iniquity. (ESV)

Isaiah 59:4-8 - No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. They hatch adders' eggs; they weave the spider's web; he who eats their eggs dies, and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched. Their webs will not serve as clothing; men will not cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace. (ESV)

Jeremiah 23:14 - But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah. (ESV)

II Samuel 7:14-15 - I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. (ESV)

Psalms 53:1 - The fool says in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. (ESV)

Leviticus 19:8 - and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from his people. (ESV)

I Samuel 3:13 - And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. (ESV)

I John 3:4 - Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (ESV)

Isaiah 53:6 - All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 9:7 - Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. (ESV)

Joshua 1:18 - Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 13:5 - But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. (ESV)

I Samuel 15:23 - For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king. (ESV)

Isaiah 59:7 - Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. (ESV)

Colossians 1:21 - And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 4:3 - But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. (ESV)

Jeremiah 21:12 - O house of David! Thus says the LORD: Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds. (ESV)

Colossians 1:19-23 - For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (ESV)

Isaiah 57:17 - Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. (ESV)

Isaiah 59:4 - No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. (ESV)

Jeremiah 16:18 - But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations. (ESV)

I Corinthians 10:7 - Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. (ESV)

I Corinthians 10:8-9 - We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, (ESV)

Revelation of John 21:8 - But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. (ESV)

We have peace with God:

Romans 5:1 - Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

The same Apostle Paul wrote these:

Romans 5:1-2 - Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:6-9 - For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Romans 5:9 - Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (ESV)

The way that Jesus went is the way that we go. The new and living way is the Jesus way:

• self denial
  • Matthew 16:24 - Then Jesus told his disciples, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (ESV)
• obedience
• sacrifice
• death

We are sanctified by the Father in the way that Jesus was made perfect. We are made perfect the same way He was made perfect, by the sufferings that come through obedience to God's will.

Hebrews 2:10-11 - For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, (ESV)

Matthew 26:39-42 - And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. (ESV)

Thee same way Jesus went is the Way, the new and living way, the Jesus way:

Hebrews 5:8-9 - Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, (ESV)

Receiving this is a mixture of belief and obedience towards Jesus. Faith is a mixture of belief and obedience.

I Peter 2:21 - For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. (ESV)

Obedience to God is an act of faith: (Hebrews 11). On the flip side, disobedience flows from unbelief/faithlessness:

I Timothy 1:13 - though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, (ESV)

Acting in accordance with faithlessness is sinful behaviour:

1Ti 1:13 - even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted (G4160 poieo) ignorantly (G50 agnoeo) in unbelief (G570 apaistia, faithlessness, disobedience);

1: :  570  apaistia  ap-is-tee'-ah
2: 
3:  from 571; faithlessness, i.e. (negatively) disbelief (lack of
4:  Christian faith), or (positively) unfaithfulness
5:  (disobedience):--unbelief.
6:  see GREEK for 571

bibletools.org - apaistia

faithlessness

The wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience:

Ephesians 5:5-7 - For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them;

That means that justifying faith involves obeying Jesus:

Romans 5:8-11 - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

The free gift of justification is received through faith.

And I believe we need an obedient heart towards Jesus to receive.

It's not about obedience to the law but about obeying Jesus / loving Jesus / trusting Jesus.

The justifying work is finished - Jesus finished it, now we follow Him through the same way he went, by obeying Him.

Now we need faith to receive it and I believe that faith necessitates love for Jesus, which includes obedience to Jesus, and it's the heart that matters most, because all the work may be burned up but we are still saved, because it's not the work that saves, it's faith, but I believe that faith necessitates love/obedience to Jesus, as one of His sheep.

Romans 3:21-25 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (ESV)

We had faith in him. We had a faithful, obedient heart, and were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit:

Ephesians 1:13-14 - In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (ESV)

I Corinthians 12:13 - For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (ESV)

Paul 'hears of their faith' (their working faith; faith works; otherwise, what is to hear about) and their love toward the saints. (ESV)

Faith in the Lord Jesus means obedience:

Ephesians 1:15-16 - For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, (ESV)

Knowledge of Him results in the heart being enlightened:

Ephesians 1:17-20 - that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, (ESV)

Names have power. Jesus' name is above every other name:

Ephesians 1:21 - far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (ESV)

Acts 4:12 - And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (ESV)

Philippians 2:9 - Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, (ESV)

The New Commandment of Christ: 'Love One Another As I Have Loved You' | Desiring God

We must love (not just any way you believe it's defined) but in the same way that Jesus loved us:

John 13:34 - A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (ESV)

I enjoyed this video, but I still am of the opinion that following the full Mosaic law is not necessary, (but not prohibited, so long as it is pursued by faith and submits to God's righteousness):

Public Debate - Should Christians Keep The Law? - YouTube

Relying on the 'works of the law' for one's righteousness puts a person under a curse:

Galatians 3:10 - For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.

The whole world is accountable to God over the law of God:

Romans 3:19-20 - Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (ESV)

The law is still used in judgement, but the one who has faith in Jesus is not condemned.

The law is good and just and Jesus both obeyed it flawlessly, but He also fulfilled it like a prophesy.

The Didache's estimated range of dating is 50-120 A.D, according to earlychristianwritings.com.

What I like about the Didache is that it upholds righteous living and following God's Great commandments and precepts.

Didache: The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations

I think it's important to live righteously out of love for God and one's neighbour, and out of faith.

That being said, I think God does justify through faith, and I believe faith works. And working may indeed be called faith if the work is done in faith. I also think God likely saves through works because it may be their way of demonstrating faith to Jesus.

Through faith we are justified, but we should absolutely stop sinning

We are sanctified by the Spirit and faith in the truth (taking God's words as True and using them to combat lies):

II Thessalonians 2:13 - But we should always give thanks (G2168 eucharisteo) to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning (G746 arche) for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith (G4102 pistis) in the truth (G225 aletheia). (NASB)

• And the Spirit is the Truth
• And God's Word is Truth
  • God's Words are Truth
  • Jesus is the Truth
• We must have faith in the truth (i.e. believe and trust in the truth)

Deuteronomy 13:4 - You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

Think of Jesus here:

• keep His commandments
• obey His voice
• serve Him
• hold fast to Him

Christians must do this.

It's Jesus' words are forever true:

Matthew 24:35 - Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (ESV)

We will be judged by Jesus' own words which God gave Him, unless we accept Him, and accept His words:

John 12:48 - The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

I believe the following indicates the law exists pretty much forever - there probably isn't an expiry date:

Luke 16:17 - But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

Psalms 119:160 - The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. (ESV)

John 17:17-19 - Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (ESV)

Those who are in the faith can't do anything against the truth.

I think the Apostle here understands that we must test ourselves to see if we are in the faith, and encourage others to test themselves. But interestingly, he says, "not that we may appear to have met the test", and "though we may seem to have failed", as if it may appear and seem as though others have failed, but that we should test ourselves.

Though there may seem to be apparent paradoxes, and apparent contradictions in the Scripture, I think they either resolve or we rest in God, not relying on our own understanding. But I confidently affirm God is True, though I don't understand everything, and I affirm that my spiritual eyesight is getting cleaned up by the Spirit, through faith, and by the washing of the word, and I have confidence that Jesus Christ is in me:

II Corinthians 13:5-8 - Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.

Because truth is truth, it is imperishable:

I Peter 1:23-25 - since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (ESV)

I Corinthians 15:51-58 - Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (ESV)

Stop sinning by faith in the truth - by faith in Jesus, and trusting obedience in God's words:

1 Thessalonians 4:3 - For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; (ESV)

Mark 10:19 - You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. (ESV)

1 John 3:4-9 - Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. (ESV)

Jesus' words will not pass away:

Matthew 24:35 - Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (ESV)

John 6:68 - Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, (ESV)

I Peter 1:23 - since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

I Peter 1:25 - but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Ephesians 1:13,14 - In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (ESV)

Adhering strictly to the Mosaic law is not needed to be justified by God if we believe in and follow Jesus:

Galatians 3:15-18 - To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, And to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, And to your offspring, who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

The Mosaic law is not really in the same category as the 10 commandments, I believe. The 10 commandments if obeyed in truth from the heart would result in a clean heart, I think. So it serves to describe what a pure heart looks like, and the laws we should always try to keep whether Gentile or Jew.

We obey the Truth. We obey Jesus Christ. We obey God. We believe and trust God, even for His finished work on the cross:

I Peter 1:22 - Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

Even belief must be in the heart:

Romans 10:10- For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (ESV)

Matthew 15:19 - For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (ESV)

Matthew 5:28 - But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Yes, adultery includes looking at pornography, and fantasizing over it. Yes, adultery includes looking at AI-generated pornography as well.

Revelation of John 2:23 - and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve.

Similarly, the heart can be trained in greed, always looking to make more money from people. That's sinful thinking too:

II Peter 2:14 - They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!

II Corinthians 5:11-12 - Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart.

We are given the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts by faith. As we obey Jesus, going against the resistance, our hearts are being cleansed:

Acts 15:8-9 - And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

If we have faith in Jesus then we obey Jesus' commandments when presented with opportunities. We walk by faith, not sight. When other people discourage you from following Jesus' commandments, but you choose to obey Jesus anyway, this is overcoming the enemy by faith:

II Corinthians 5:7 - for we walk by faith, not by sight. (ESV)

Do what Jesus says and receive eternal life - obey Jesus:

Romans 6:13-23 - Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed*, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 - He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. (ESV)

God through Jesus is the source of our personal righteousness, and He is our righteousness:

Philippians 1:9-11 - And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

We are set free from sin and become slaves of God (so we obey God!!) and the obedience leads to sanctification, and leads to righteousness:

Romans 6:16 - Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (ESV)

We are saved from our sins, and from our evil practices.

Jeremiah 7:9-10 - Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered!—only to go on doing all these abominations? (ESV)

We are made a new man in Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 12:33 - Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. (ESV)

John 10:27 - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (ESV)

• Holiness Demanded - Charles Spurgeon Sermon - YouTube
• Eternal Security - Charles Spurgeon Sermon - YouTube

We must simultaneously make the tree good (abide in Jesus) and make the fruit good (be sanctified and glorify God and Jesus in our hearts, minds, bodies and actions).

Matthew 12:33-37 - Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. (ESV)

As we make the tree good, we make the fruit good!

I still think the 10 commandments are special, and following them in truth is repenting from sin.

Mark 10:19 - You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. (ESV)

Acts 15:28-29 - For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.

Luke 18:8 - I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

Will anyone be believing and obeying Jesus?

God's law is still used in judgement, but the one who has faith in Jesus is not condemned because they abide in Jesus, are Jesus' sheep, and are led by the Spirit, obeying and following Jesus' voice:

• Whoever is actively believing/trusting/obeying Jesus is not judged.
• Whoever is disbelieving/distrusting/disobeying Jesus is judged even now.

John 3:18 Interlinear: he who is believing in him is not judged, but he who is not believing hath been judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 3:18 - He who believes (G4100 pisteuo) in Him is not judged; he who does not believe (G4100 pisteuo) has been judged (G2919 krino) already (G2235 ede), because he has not believed (G4100 pisteuo) in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (NASB)

If people including free-grace Christians do not repent from sin, they will still receive the wrath of God:

Colossians 3:5-10 - Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

1: :  2919  krino  kree'-no
2: 
3:  properly, to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially); by
4:  implication, to try, condemn, punish:--avenge, conclude, condemn,
5:  damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law,
6:  ordain, call in question, sentence to, think.

1: :  2235  ede  ay'-day
2: 
3:  apparently from 2228 (or possibly 2229) and 1211; even now:--already,
4:  (even) now (already), by this time.
5:  see GREEK for 2228
6:  see GREEK for 2229
7:  see GREEK for 1211

John 3:19 - This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. (ESV)

Matthew 12:36-37 - I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

When one speaks evil against a brother, they become a judge of the law.

James 4:11 - Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. (ESV)

Eternal judgement:

Hebrews 6:2 - and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

When we repent from sin we allow Jesus' holiness to shine through us increasingly.

Therefore, it's really not our own holiness or power that is responsible for miracles that happen through us or in cooperation with us, but it is Jesus' power and holiness.

Jesus is the True Vine. We are the branches. AMEN!! We can do nothing apart from Him. AMEN!!

Acts 3:12 - And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? (KJV)

Everyone who names the name of the Lord must depart from iniquity:

I Corinthians 6:17-20 - But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

II Timothy 2:19-22 - But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: The Lord knows those who are his, and, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Our bodies are a vessel for Jesus' holiness to shine out of. It's the vessel of the Holy Spirit:

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 - For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own (G1438 heautou) vessel (G4632 skeuos) in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; (NASB)

We should not deceive our brothers by lying about the matter of sanctifying our bodies:

I Thessalonians 4:6-7 - and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. (NASB)

Jesus is the light in us, and we must let our light shine:

Luke 8:14-16 - And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. , No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. (ESV)

Matthew 5:15 - Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. (ESV)

Luke 8:21 - But he answered them, My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.

The power comes from Jesus:

Luke 8:46 - But Jesus said, Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.

When we repent and clean ourselves up, we allow Jesus' light to shine through us. The sanctification process is like cleaning a muddy window.

Luke 6:40 - A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Luke 6:41-42 - Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

John 15:5 - I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Luke 6:43 - For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,

We are the temple of God:

I Corinthians 3:17 - If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. (ESV)

Philippians 2:15-16 - that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. (ESV)

We must receive Jesus' words through faith, walk in them through faith and come to know in truth (we must truly know) that Jesus came from God, and continue in faith, continuing to be sanctified.

We must practice the truth.

John 3:21 - But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Hebrews 10:14 - For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

This is what we must come to know in truth - that Jesus came from Father God, and that Father God sent Him - it is Father God's will:

John 17:8 - For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (ESV)

Philippians 3:19 - Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. (ESV)

II Thessalonians 2:1-2 - Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. (ESV)

He is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

Yes, but that means we must have faith in Him, obeying Him and becoming like Him, and that brings us confidence, because He's in us, and we don't have our lamp hidden, but are cleaned up:

I John 4:17 - By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. (ESV)

We are wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 3:15 - and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

We must put our trust in Jesus and believe Him and obey Him, and be cleaned up, shining His light:

I Corinthians 1:28-29 - God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Psalms 5:5 - The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. (ESV)

The cross means a changed life, becoming like Jesus, keeping Jesus' commandments:

Galatians 6:13-15 - For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (ESV)

I Corinthians 7:19 - For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. (ESV)

Jesus is the source of our personal righteousness, and He is our righteousness.

Philippians 1:9-11 - And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

• Lust is super bad, even after born-again.

I John 2:15-17 - Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

II Peter 2:19-21 - They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Deuteronomy 11:13 - And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deuteronomy 30:6 - And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Joshua 22:5 - Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Luke 10:27 - And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

Leviticus 19:18 - You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

I Peter 2:10 - Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Luke 6:36 - Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

We have to submit to God's righteousness, accepting that we are sinners, and accept God's forgiveness through the atonement that comes through Jesus, and be obedient to God through being obedient to Jesus.

Mark 2:17 - And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Luke 5:32 - I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Romans 10:3-4 - For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (G4100 pisteuo has faith in Jesus). (ESV)

Philippians 3:8-11 - Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (ESV)

Hebrews 10:8 - When he said above, You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings (these are offered according to the law),

Hebrews addressed the same passage which Jesus addressed:

Matthew 12:3-8 - He said to them, Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.

Psalms 31:23 - Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. (ESV)

Luke 6:46-49 - Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great. (ESV)

I John 2:4 - Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

Even the demons are subject to the authority of Jesus Christ.

So are you are demon or are you one of Jesus' sheep?

John 6:70 - Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil. (ESV)

You can't have only half of Jesus. Jesus both protects us and disciplines us:

Psalms 23:4 - Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (ESV)

I believe a heart must be both believing and obedient to receive the grace through faith, since I believe true faith is both obedient and believing.

After receiving justification (counted not guilty) through obedient and believing faith, we should continue in obedient and believing faith but the work we do is to be tested and is not essential to our justification:

1 Corinthians 3:15 - If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (ESV)

We love (obey) because He loved us first, and through obedience we are sanctified, which leads to eternal life.

Heresies:

• free grace without Lordship (without sanctification by the Spirit)
  • the person in this category abides in Jesus extremely precariously, and only if they are actively trusting in Jesus.
  • Trusting and obeying Jesus qualifies, but belief without obedience or trust in the heart doesn't qualify.
• Lordship without free grace (working to be forgiven, without belief in the truth)
  • Well, I mean, they are actually trusting in Jesus if they are following Jesus and doing what He said.
  • But if they are just doing good works to get to heaven then I think that's not really right.

I believe that either of these heresies fall under this strong delusion category:

2 Thessalonians 2:11-13 - Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. (ESV)

I Timothy 6:3-11 - If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. (ESV)

II Peter 2:6 - if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

Jude 1:4-5 - For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

• 2 Peter 2 Destructive Doctrines- guidance from the Word - YouTube

I'd rather be a doer than merely a hearer.

Correct Christology is important, but so is obeying Jesus' commandments, and obeying Jesus' commandments is possibly even more important than belief:

Matthew 21:28-31 - “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.

We must keep ourselves in the love of God by obeying Jesus Christ's commandments, because we're awaiting to receive eternal life:

Jude 1:21 - keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. (ESV)

Keeping Jesus Christ's commandments is a requirement to inherit eternal life:

John 15:10 - If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. (ESV)

Whoever truly believes Jesus trusts in and is obedient to Jesus. We must obey Jesus Christ, and that obedience means being a slave of righteousness, leading to sanctification, which leads to eternal life:

John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (ESV)

Submit to God's will:

James 4:7 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (ESV)

Proverbs 3:6 - In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (ESV)

Submit to Jesus' lordship:

Matthew 16:24 - Then Jesus told his disciples, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (ESV)

Sow your own life as an investment for Jesus' sake:

Matthew 16:25 - For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (ESV)

John 12:24-26 - Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. (ESV)

Seek God:

Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (ESV)

Accept God's plans:

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (ESV)

Psalms 23:3-4 - He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (ESV)

Desire to do the will of God, and allow God's word to teach you what that is:

Romans 12:2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

Actually practice faith, and don't over-intellectualise God:

Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (ESV)

John 5:39-44 - You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (ESV)

Yield to God:

Isaiah 45:9 - Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, What are you making? or Your work has no handles? (ESV)

Luke 14:33 - So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (ESV)

Matthew 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)

Fear of God or love for Him in obedience or thankfulness is work which comes out of belief. But faith works, even saving faith works. Saving faith especially requires obedience, I think. Faith without work doesn't exist I think because the work of God is to believe on who He has sent - Jesus.

Exodus 14:14-16 - The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

Jesus' blood applied to us can sanctify us:

Hebrews 13:12 - So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. (ESV)

With Lazarus - Jesus performed the miracle so the people watching could believe and have faith. Jesus wept before he raise Lazarus from the dead, and many other people believed in Jesus and were saved, I assume.

John 11:41-42 - So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.

I Corinthians 13:13 - So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

John 11:35 - Jesus wept.

John 11:41-42 - So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.

And Jesus is able to save a person out of Jesus' own will, as he resurrected Lazarus.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=49JgVR30bLA

John 11:43 - When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”

The account of Jesus itself when it's read, and Jesus' words, are enough to inspire faith. Therefore, faith comes by hearing the word of Christ.

Jesus calls persistent endurance a work. It's also required to keep our confidence:

Hebrews 10:35-36- Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

Faith is like Peter stepping out on the water. Faith works. But I think sometimes to create faith someone just has to actually believe Jesus because Jesus performs the miracle / the work.

The LORD did something similar for the Israelites when He parted the Red Sea. The Israelites obeyed God, and their obedience led them to sure belief. Obedience, belief and trust are all important in faith.

Revelation comes as we do what God commands us:

John 7:17 - If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. (ESV)

And I feel like we just need to start obeying God and obeying Jesus in order to be saved. Obedience is steps of faith.

Exodus 14:14-16 - The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

Exodus 14:21-30 - Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

Exodus 14:31 - When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed (H539 'aman) in the Lord and in His servant Moses.

 1: :  539  'aman
 2: 
 3:  a primitive root; properly, to build up or support; to foster
 4:  as a parent or nurse; figuratively to render (or be) firm or
 5:  faithful, to trust or believe, to be permanent or quiet;
 6:  morally to be true or certain; once (Isa. 30:21;
 7:  interchangeable with 541) to go to the right hand:--hence,
 8:  assurance, believe, bring up, establish, + fail, be faithful
 9:  (of long continuance, stedfast, sure, surely, trusty,
10:  verified), nurse, (-ing father), (put), trust, turn to the
11:  right.
12:  see HEBREW for 0541

Exodus 15:2 - The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Salvation is the gift, and faith implies an obedient heart. Works can be dead works when they're not done in faith. Faith is what justifies. But faith works. Faith requires obedience to God. Faithless works do not justify:

Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV)

Luke 8:21 - But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

• The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey Jesus.
• The Holy Spirit is given to those who have faith in Jesus.

You can't have faith without obedience.

Keith Green - To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice (live)

Acts 5:32 - And we are witnesses to these things, and so is he Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. (ESV)

Galatians 3:14 - so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (ESV)

I Corinthians 13:2 - And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (ESV)

 1: Faith-in-God = Hope-from/in-God * Work/Love
 2: 
 3: Hope-from/in-God = Belief(believing God) * Truth(God's word is truth)
 4: 
 5: Work/Love = Obedience * Faithfulness * Fear-of-God * Response-of-love-to-Jesus * Patient-Endurance(time)
 6: 
 7: Obedience = Submitting to the Righteousness of God * Turning from sin, loving, showing mercy, etc.
 8: 
 9: Fear-of-God = e.g. The poor in spirit recognise their need of God's mercy and tremble at His Word: "beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
10: 
11: Response-of-love-to-Jesus = e.g. praise, thankfulness, obeying His commandments
12: 
13: L ∝ f
14: Love is proportional-to the baggage which has been forgiven
15: Love ∝ forgiven-baggage
16: 
17: Obedience ∝ Love
18: 
19: F = H * L
20: Faith = Hope * Love
21: 
22: Faith-in-God when tested by God is found to be true Faith in God.
23: Faith-in-God must submit to the Righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ,
24: Jesus Christ having paid the price of sin, enabling a relationship with God.

Something like this:

I Thessalonians 1:3 - remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

As the LORD's works are done in faithfulness, our work should be done in faithfulness towards God. Everything we do should be done in faithfulness to Him.

Psalms 33:4 - For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. (ESV)

Even after arriving at the true knowledge through obedience, faith is further supplemented/nourished/aided by virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love:

II Peter 1:3-7 - His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. (ESV)

The true knowledge of Jesus grants us everything pertaining to life and godliness, allowing us to partake in the divine nature. We should then reinforce the divine nature with such things:

II Peter 1:3-4 - seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (NASB)

Because, having arrived at the true knowledge of Jesus, we are partakers of the divine nature, in order to be fruitful we should supply to our faith those qualities:

II Peter 1:8 - For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge (G1922 epignosis) of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1: :  1922  epignosis  ep-ig'-no-sis
2: 
3:  from 1921; recognition, i.e. (by implication) full discernment,
4:  acknowledgement:--(ac-)knowledge(-ing, - ment).
5:  see GREEK for 1921

Deeds, love, faith, service and perseverance are not mutually exclusive. They're all important to God and overlap:

Revelation of John 2:19 - ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.

There is a relation here:

I Corinthians 13:7 - Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Timothy 1:5 - The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (ESV)

I Corinthians 13:13 - So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Belief and action are like a vector.

 1: 
 2:        Faith plane                 __
 3:        Serving God plane            /|
 4:                                    /                       From past
 5:                                   /                          baggage          o     _
 6: An obedient    __              __/                         persecuting       /       /|
 7: and believing   /| 1x Love      /|    2x Love               Jesus           /       /
 8: heart          /               /                           to receiving    /   →   /
 9:   _           /               /                             forgiveness   /       /
10:   /|         /               /                             and loving   |/_      /
11:  o          o               o                                Jesus              o
12: 
13: --------------------------------------------+-------------+----------------------------
14:                                             |  Dead faith |    Impossible to be
15:       Faithless plane                       |             |     simultaneously
16:       Serving yourself plane                |      o      |
17:       Justifying yourself plane             |             |   yoked to God  _
18:            __                               | disobedient |  (led by)       /|
19:             /| Dead works                   +-------------+                /
20:            /                                              |    while      o
21:           /                                               |              /
22:          /            These are entirely worthless        |            |/_
23:         x                                                 |  (led by)
24:                                                           |   yoked to money

Faith has 'substance/magnitude' and may be described as a vector:

• The origin of hope/belief is represented by the point.
  • On the Faith plane, positive magnitude comes from trust in God
• Hope-from/in-God is the direction.
• Work/Love/Obedience is the magnitude.

I want to be clear, having faith in Jesus Christ is not dead faith. Dead faith is precisely not having faith in Jesus Christ.

An obedient heart is required for it to not be 'dead faith'.

John 7:17 - If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

Faith in the wrong thing:

• On the Faithless plane, positive magnitude comes from trust in something else, i.e. money or self

But it's God that tests the faith, and God that justifies. That's why I don't like making an assertion on the exact way that God justifies, because God is the justifier.

Galatians 5:5 - For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

Galatians 5:18 - But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

We must be doing the will of God to not be under the law:

Psalms 143:10 - Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! (ESV)

John 6:63 - It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

John 8:12 - Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Righteousness is the free gift to be received through obedience:

Romans 5:17 - If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Jesus made the Way - He is the Way:

Romans 5:18-19 - Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

The Way is available to walk for everyone who is obedient.

Doing the will of Father God:

• obedience to Jesus leads to righteousness - obedience/faith to receive the gift, even of the Spirit
  • led by the Spirit, obeying Jesus' words
    • being led by the Spirit and obeying Jesus' words are in alignment and do not contradict
• slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification
  • at its end, eternal life
• sanctification leading to eternal life
  • sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth
  • knowledge of the truth
  • justification

Romans 6:13-23 - Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed*, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The love of the truth must be received and accepted to be saved:

II Thessalonians 2:10 - and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. (NASB)

People will trust in what is false:

II Thessalonians 2:11 - For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe (G4100 pisteuo) what is false (G5579 pseudos), (NASB)

Those people who did not have faith in the truth but took took pleasure in unrighteousness may be condemned:

II Thessalonians 2:12 - in order that all may be condemned who did not believe (G4100 pisteuo) the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

But God chose some to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth:

II Thessalonians 2:13 - But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

So that they may be obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ:

II Thessalonians 2:14 - To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We live by the Spirit:

Ephesians 2:18 - For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

We are made alive by the Spirit so we should walk by the Spirit:

Galatians 5:25 - If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

If we walk by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh:

Galatians 5:16 - But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

There are sinning people that alienate themselves from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart:

Ephesians 4:18-29 - They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

But having been taught in Jesus, the truth which is in Jesus, to put off the old self and to be renewed in the spirit our our mind, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness:

Ephesians 4:21-24 - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Speak the truth and do not sin:

Ephesians 4:25-27 - Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

Ephesians 1:17 - that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

The outcome of being set free from sin and becoming a slave to God is receiving the gift of eternal life:

Romans 8:33 - Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. (ESV)

Romans 6:22-23 - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (BSB)

A person must do the will of Father God (not their own will); They must be obedient. Faith and obedience are inseparable.

To be fruitful, a person must be further obedient after arriving at the knowledge of the truth and supplement their faith with Christian virtues:

II Peter 1:8 - For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge (G1922 epignosis) of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 4:9-10 - For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.

II John 1:5-6 - And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. (ESV)

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 - The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (ESV)

Acts 10:2 - a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

II Corinthians 9:7 - Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

1 John 2:10 - Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. (ESV)

Mark 14:36 - And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.

Learning God's will through submission to God's Word.

Ephesians 5:24 - Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

James 4:7 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

All things are possible for those who have faith.

Mark 9:22-27 - It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes (G4100 pisteuo).” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.” After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.

Matthew 17:20 - He said to them, Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.

Matthew 19:26 - But Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Mark 10:27 - Jesus looked at them and said, With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.

Luke 1:37 - For nothing will be impossible with God.

Luke 18:27 - But he said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.

It's impossible to please God without faith, but with faith all things are possible.

Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

The law doesn't save:

Galatians 3:21-24 - Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. (ESV)

Paul seems to refer to the Mosaic law as the ministry of death, and Paul refers to the ministry of the Spirit of Christ as giving life:

II Corinthians 3:6-9 - who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. (ESV)

Jesus Christ was and is sinless:

I Peter 2:22 - He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. (ESV)

Jesus was sinless, and it is because Jesus was sinless that we have hope of an eternity in heaven. If Jesus were not sinless, there would be no sacrifice for sin.

And we are also cleaned up through faith in Jesus, being led by His Spirit, following His commandments, helping us to meet the requirement of the law, not by trying to be justified through perfect Mosaic law-keeping but instead by having faith in Jesus Christ, following Christ's law:

Acts 13:38-39 - Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through (G1223 dia) Him forgiveness (G859 aphesis) of sins is proclaimed to you, and through (G1722 en) Him everyone who believes (G4100 pisteuo) is freed (G1344 dikaioo) from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. (NASB)

Due to Jesus, forgiveness is proclaimed:

1: :  1223  dia  dee-ah'
2: 
3:  a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through (in very
4:  wide applications, local, causal, or occasional):--after, always,
5:  among, at, to avoid, because of (that), briefly, by, for (cause) ...
6:  fore, from, in, by occasion of, of, by reason of, for sake, that,
7:  thereby, therefore, X though, through(-out), to, wherefore, with
8:  (-in). In composition it retains the same general importance.

Forgiveness: Pardon, freedom.

1: :  859  aphesis  af'-es-is
2: 
3:  from 863; freedom; (figuratively) pardon:--deliverance, forgiveness,
4:  liberty, remission.
5:  see GREEK for 863

Together with him, everyone who has faith (continues in faith) in him is freed from all things from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses:

 1: :  1722  en  en
 2: 
 3:  a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or
 4:  state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or
 5:  constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519
 6:  and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, +
 7:  almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+
 8:  all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to,
 9:  -wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly,
10:  one, X quickly,
11:  X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on),
12:  through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while,
13:  with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same
14:  import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate
15:  direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different)
16:  preposition.

Faith is how we receive the propitiation by His blood. God justifies the one who has (continues having) faith in Jesus. The law of faith is what we keep:

Romans 3:20-27 - For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

Yes, the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do something i.e. walk according to the spirit.

Romans 8:4 - in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The mind set on the spirit submits to the law:

Romans 8:5-7 - For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.

See, Jesus actually taught people to practice, but without hypocrisy:

Matthew 23:2-7 - The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. (ESV)

The law is not of the flesh. The law is spiritual:

Romans 7:14 - For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. (ESV)

But the Spirit helps us to put to death the deeds of the flesh.

Galatians 5:19 - Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

Romans 8:10-13 - 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. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

If I understand correctly, the Law, which is spiritual, was weakened by our flesh, but Jesus Christ's flesh was rent on the cross in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who don't walk according to the flesh, but who walk according to the Spirit:

Romans 8:3-4 - 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, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (ESV)

Paul says that pursuing the righteousness that is by Mosaic law, is placing confidence in the flesh:

Philippians 3:4-7 - though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (ESV)

But to put confidence in the Spirit is to not to abandon obedience, but to seek instead to know Christ Jesus, our Lord, with obedient faith to Jesus:

Philippians 3:8-11 - Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (ESV)

So we still must/should stop sinning after getting born-again, but the Holy Spirit helps us to do that. God saves us from sin by giving us immediate justification through faith to be in relationship with Him, plus the strength to stop sinning.

II Peter 2:2-4 - And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

II Peter 2:19-20 - They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

Therefore, the way of truth involves following Jesus and putting a stop to sin.

The Hidden Parable of Moses that Few Christians Understand - YouTube

Matthew 19:16-26 - And behold, a man came up to him, saying, Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? And he said to him, Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments. He said to him, Which ones? And Jesus said, You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, All these I have kept. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him, If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

The guy was still coveting his possessions. To find life, one needs to let go of covetousness:

Luke 12:15 - And he said to them, Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. (ESV)

Matthew 28:18-20 - And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

I Peter 1:14-16 - As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.

Ephesians 5:5-10 - For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Hebrews 12:6-8 - For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

1 John 2:21 - I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. (ESV)

• Eve listened to another voice

Genesis 3:4 - The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! (ESV)

I Timothy 2:14 - And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (ESV)

I Corinthians 14:31-33 - For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, (ESV)

Psalms 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (ESV)

Psalms 119:142 - Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true. (ESV)

Acts 17:11 - Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (ESV)

II Corinthians 10:5 - We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (ESV)

Zechariah 10:2 - For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd. (ESV)

Jeremiah 23:25-28 - I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed! How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. (ESV)

Woe to the shepherds who strengthen the hands of evildoers so that no one turns from his evil. They continually say to those who despise the word of the LORD, "It shall be well with you."

They preach against repentance from sin.

Jeremiah 23:1-40 - Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them. Then they shall dwell in their own land. Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD and because of his holy words. For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right. Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the LORD. Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery paths in the darkness, into which they shall be driven and fall, for I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment, declares the LORD. In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, It shall be well with you; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, No disaster shall come upon you. For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened? Behold, the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly. I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed! How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, declares the LORD. Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, What is the burden of the LORD? you shall say to them, You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the LORD. And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, The burden of the LORD, I will punish that man and his household. Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, What has the LORD answered? or What has the LORD spoken? But the burden of the LORD you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. Thus you shall say to the prophet, What has the LORD answered you? or What has the LORD spoken? But if you say, The burden of the LORD, thus says the LORD, Because you have said these words, The burden of the LORD, when I sent to you, saying, You shall not say, The burden of the LORD, therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten. (ESV)

Jeremiah 27:9 - So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, You shall not serve the king of Babylon. (ESV)

Jeremiah 29:8 - For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, (ESV)