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There are alot of people seeing God as an Indian Giver when it comes to salvation, but we must all remember that we need Jesus to help us understand His words.
Matthew 5:17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Trying to keep all the hard saying in contexts: no one can surpass the rightousness of the scribes and the Pharisees to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Certainly, a child cannot, and yet Jesus says this:
Mark 10:13And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
So how can a child enter in but not anyone who does not surpass the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees? Can a child keep the law in surpassing the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisesses?
All they can do is this: trust the Lord as it is faith in His righteousness that brings us Home. Jesus fulfilled the requirement of the law for sin.
So then when we read verse 19. we see any that break his commandments and teach other so shall be least in the kingdom of heaven.
Now the reference to the surpassing of the scribes and the Pharisees is an example of what is apart from Him... those trying to obtain righteousness by the deeds of the law.
Matthew 5:21Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
So when He says "therefore" He refers to those that are of Him... even the least in the kingdom of heaven to correct themselves with His help, of course.
Matthew 5:23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
One cannot be cast into hell because there is no coming out, so there would be no way it could be paid, but He said it will be paid and they will be coming out when it is paid, thus the call to reconcile to thy brother to avoid being chastened by the Lord.
Then He goes back to the law by reference to compare those seeking still to obtain righteousness under the law as apart from Him. He goes a step further beyond the law to deal with the inside of a man's heart: his sin.
Matthew 5: 27Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 31It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
These are clear examples of the futility of a sinner seeking to obtain righteousness by the deeds of the law when we need the Saviour to save us from our sins so that we shall no longer live in them.
All emphasis on the reader in obtaining righteousness is referring to man's lack of ability to do so because of his sinful nature.
Granted there are other hard sayings of Jesus: but then in context: how can we break the least of His commandments and still be considered least in the kingdom of heaven?
How can a child receive the Kingdom of God and yet we have to surpass the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees to enter in?
Because Jesus is making a contrast between the reader seeking to obtain righteousness by the law and Jesus fulfilling the requirment of the law for sin.
What can a child do so that we can receive the kingdom of God?
John 6: 28Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Psalm 118: 8It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
Ephesians 2: 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Philippians 1: 6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: ....
9And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. 11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Colossians 1: 20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
1 John 3:3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Jude 1:24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Now we can see how we can become like a child to receive the kingdom of God... and that is by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we are forever bought with a price and sealed as His, may we trust Jesus as Our Good Shepherd to lead us away from temptation and deliver us from the evil one for He will finish the work in us as we trust Him that we are His to rest in Him for eternal life.
Matthew 9:17Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.
Hebrews 12: 1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
So God is not an Indian Giver when it comes to salvation. It is not to His glory to save someone only to lose them. He would not have bothered to save them then nor draw them unto the Son, but He did, and they are His. Not all will inherit the first fruits of the resurrection, but the power of God in salvation will be seen even in the vessels unto dishonour in God's House.. the least in the kingdom of heaven, thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 6: 38For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
There are alot of people seeing God as an Indian Giver when it comes to salvation, but we must all remember that we need Jesus to help us understand His words.
Matthew 5:17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Trying to keep all the hard saying in contexts: no one can surpass the rightousness of the scribes and the Pharisees to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Certainly, a child cannot, and yet Jesus says this:
Mark 10:13And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
So how can a child enter in but not anyone who does not surpass the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees? Can a child keep the law in surpassing the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisesses?
All they can do is this: trust the Lord as it is faith in His righteousness that brings us Home. Jesus fulfilled the requirement of the law for sin.
So then when we read verse 19. we see any that break his commandments and teach other so shall be least in the kingdom of heaven.
Now the reference to the surpassing of the scribes and the Pharisees is an example of what is apart from Him... those trying to obtain righteousness by the deeds of the law.
Matthew 5:21Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
So when He says "therefore" He refers to those that are of Him... even the least in the kingdom of heaven to correct themselves with His help, of course.
Matthew 5:23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
One cannot be cast into hell because there is no coming out, so there would be no way it could be paid, but He said it will be paid and they will be coming out when it is paid, thus the call to reconcile to thy brother to avoid being chastened by the Lord.
Then He goes back to the law by reference to compare those seeking still to obtain righteousness under the law as apart from Him. He goes a step further beyond the law to deal with the inside of a man's heart: his sin.
Matthew 5: 27Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 31It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
These are clear examples of the futility of a sinner seeking to obtain righteousness by the deeds of the law when we need the Saviour to save us from our sins so that we shall no longer live in them.
All emphasis on the reader in obtaining righteousness is referring to man's lack of ability to do so because of his sinful nature.
Granted there are other hard sayings of Jesus: but then in context: how can we break the least of His commandments and still be considered least in the kingdom of heaven?
How can a child receive the Kingdom of God and yet we have to surpass the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees to enter in?
Because Jesus is making a contrast between the reader seeking to obtain righteousness by the law and Jesus fulfilling the requirment of the law for sin.
What can a child do so that we can receive the kingdom of God?
John 6: 28Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Psalm 118: 8It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
Ephesians 2: 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Philippians 1: 6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: ....
9And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. 11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Colossians 1: 20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
1 John 3:3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Jude 1:24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Now we can see how we can become like a child to receive the kingdom of God... and that is by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we are forever bought with a price and sealed as His, may we trust Jesus as Our Good Shepherd to lead us away from temptation and deliver us from the evil one for He will finish the work in us as we trust Him that we are His to rest in Him for eternal life.
Matthew 9:17Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.
Hebrews 12: 1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
So God is not an Indian Giver when it comes to salvation. It is not to His glory to save someone only to lose them. He would not have bothered to save them then nor draw them unto the Son, but He did, and they are His. Not all will inherit the first fruits of the resurrection, but the power of God in salvation will be seen even in the vessels unto dishonour in God's House.. the least in the kingdom of heaven, thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 6: 38For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
I truly pray that people are taking the time to read all this. Very good...
Children conceive God to be their Heavenly Father, filled with Love, who always reaches out to them His Hand of support and protection. In a similar way they also believe that all adults are good and helping, and only after many warnings and bad experiences they realize that it is not so. These bad experiences, and this resulting distrust, are also projected upon God. The image of God disappears with the childlike faith. A few people manage to distinguish between both things, and they keep up an absolute faith, full of trust, a faith we call "blind faith."
That faith which we call childlike, but which is true faith, suffers through our process of maturation that actually is a process of estrangement and alienation, where concepts become supposed realities, where we learn how to open our eyes without seeing.
An experiment to try is to look at everything as if you have just seen it for the first time, just like a child.
This supposed process of maturation is a process of freezing, tearing us away from the shelter of our families, and exposing us to the cold wind that others blow against us. And as good citizens do, we learn to copy that behavior and blow in the same way. The child’s faith wastes away, becoming the embryo of what it once used to be, waiting for the warmth of love to grow again. And it is the Father's Love that incubates it. Although distrust may be a vital attitude for survival amongst men, it is an absurd attitude in front of the Heavenly Father. We can only win, we cannot lose anything. It is that lack of trust, which lifts up the barriers of ice around the soul, and it may be the cause why the warm Love of God needs so much time to open up a way to our heart.
There are alot of people seeing God as an Indian Giver when it comes to salvation, but we must all remember that we need Jesus to help us understand His words.
Matthew 5:17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Trying to keep all the hard saying in contexts: no one can surpass the rightousness of the scribes and the Pharisees to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Certainly, a child cannot, and yet Jesus says this:
Have you ever looked into exactly what Jesus berated the scribes and Pharisees about? It is clear that you haven't because they were in no way righteous....they didn't teach the law God gave them but a shallow version of it....they also taught their oral traditions were law over Gods law (Jews still do this today). This was the point Jesus was making....anyone can follow Gods law...they just have to follow it.
Matthew 15
1Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2"Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."
3And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
4"For God said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.'
5"But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,"
6he is not to honor his father or his mother.' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
7"You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
9'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"
As a side note: The Saducees were fierce followers of Gods law and never prescribed to the oral traditions of the scribes and Pharisees...they shunned them....why is it that Jesus never berated them???
Have you ever looked into exactly what Jesus berated the scribes and Pharisees about? It is clear that you haven't because they were in no way righteous....they didn't teach the law God gave them but a shallow version of it....they also taught their oral traditions were law over Gods law (Jews still do this today). This was the point Jesus was making....anyone can follow Gods law...they just have to follow it.
Matthew 15
1Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2"Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."
3And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
4"For God said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.'
5"But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,"
6he is not to honor his father or his mother.' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
7"You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 9'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"
The King James Bible has it as teaching the doctrines the commandments of men: and this is Jesus point about being identified as righteous by keeping the law.
Matthew 15: 7Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 10And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.... 18But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20These are the things which defile a man:
John 5:31If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
John 7:18He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. 19Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
Romans 3:19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Romans 3: 26To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Romans 4: 1What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Quote:
As a side note: The Saducees were fierce followers of Gods law and never prescribed to the oral traditions of the scribes and Pharisees...they shunned them....why is it that Jesus never berated them???
Again:
John 7:18He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. 19Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
Matthew 16:6Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 8Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
There are more words spoken against the Sadducees. Do a word search at Bible Gateway and see for yourself.
I find it interesting that Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, but to His disciples, He drew them apart and "expounded all things" to them. (Mark 4:34)
It lets us know that there's a need to draw close in order to know His words - for you must go through His heart to hear them.
I find it interesting that Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, but to His disciples, He drew them apart and "expounded all things" to them. (Mark 4:34)
It lets us know that there's a need to draw close in order to know His words - for you must go through His heart to hear them.
Absolutely and you must go in Faith with the expectation that you will hear Him as well.
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Very good...
