Posted on 01/15/2013 7:24:14 PM PST by xzins
11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation: Test #5 - Do you Love Christ and eagerly await His Return?
SO4J ^ | John MacArthur
Posted on 01/07/2013 6:02:58 AM PST by xzins
Test #1 of Series: 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation: Test #1 - Do you enjoy Fellowship with God and Christ?
Test #2 of Series: 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation: Test #2 - Are you Sensitive to Sin in your Life?
Test #3 of Series: 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation: Test #3 - Do You Obey God's Word?
Test #4 of Series: 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation: Test #4 - Do you Reject this Evil World?
Is It Real? 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation by John MacArthur - 11 Questions to help one see if they are Biblically Saved. Helps to Examine Their Faith with God's Word (2 Cor 13:5) to see if one is Biblically Saved. How Can I Know I Am Saved
- 2 Cor 13:5 (NASB) "TEST YOURSELVES to see if you are IN the FAITH; EXAMINE YOURSELVES! Or do you NOT recognize this about yourselves, that JESUS CHRIST is in you—unless indeed you FAIL the TEST?"
- 1 Cor 11:31-32 (NASB) "But if we JUDGED ourselves RIGHTLY, we would NOT be JUDGED. But when we are JUDGED, we are DISCIPLINED by the LORD so that we will NOT be CONDEMNED ALONG with the WORLD."
Test #5 - 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation: Do You Love Christ and Eagerly Await His Return?
Further along in 1 John 3:2-3, we come across a fifth test of salvation: "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And every one who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure". If you're a true Christian, you will have hope in your heart, and your hope will be focused on Christ's return. That hope will purify your life.
Do you love Christ so much that you eagerly await to see Him face-to-face at His return and be made like Him? Scripture tells us that is the Christian's blessed hope and supreme joy. Romans 8 declares that the whole creation groans in anticipation of the glorious manifestation of the children of God. First John 3 says that it involves three things: Christ appears, we see Him, and we're instantly made like Him.
"Our citizenship is in heaven," Paul said, "from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself" (Phil 3:20-21). Are you waiting for that? Do you despise the sin in your fallen flesh and long to be like Christ? Can you feel the thrill of Paul's saying, "Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly"? (1 Cor 15:49)
Such a hope has ethical power, for John said it purifies the one possessing it. Paul implied as much to Titus: "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus" (Titus 2:11-13). This is a sensible hope leading to sensible living. It is not an inordinate kind of anticipation in which you are irresponsible with your earthly responsibilities. Being so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good is a contradiction in terms. The hope of Christlikeness will compel you to act more like Christ in reaching out to others and fulfilling all that God has set out for you to do.
If you find yourself longing for the return of Jesus Christ, that's evidence of salvation. It's an indication of a new nature within, which longs to be delivered from a body of sin while becoming like the perfect Christ. If you have such holy longings and affections, you've passed an important test indicating the reality of your eternal salvation.
Great distortion of what Paul was saying. Check to see if “we” measure up? Why must the world always place works with grace.
Let me see if I have this straight. Christ died to allow us to prove ourselves worthy through testing?
Paul says "2 Cor 13:5 (NASB) "TEST YOURSELVES to see if you are IN the FAITH; EXAMINE YOURSELVES! Or do you NOT recognize this about yourselves, that JESUS CHRIST is in you—unless indeed you FAIL the TEST?"
Jesus spoke of tares sown with the wheat.
Also, He said in Matthe 7:21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
Shouldn’t we be concentrating on living life right now according to Christ’s instruction rather than worrying about whether we’ll be saved or not? Jesus spent his entire three-year ministry preaching about one topic, and that topic wasn’t ‘getting saved’.
Spooky...I was listening to my GTY Podcast as the scanned this.
“He said in Matthe 7:21”
1. This specific chapter in Matthew was discussing false prophets.
2. Salvation through the administration of grace was not yet available in Matthew.
Titus 3:5:
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”
Galatians 2:21:
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
If you believe in a salvation by preparation, so be it. I choose not to live a life in bondage to legalism.
Gods grace, Brother
Any such self-evaluation will be self-serving and pointless. Much better to rest our case on the testimony of Ephesians 2:8-9, and of course John 3:16.
The world (human beings) has great difficulty accepting God’s gift, preferring to rely on our own personal, self-annointed goodness. Confessing that we all are sinners in need of confession and redemption is so “demeaning.”
Note that Christ Himself said
Next, Jesus taught grace from the beginning.
First, salvation by grace is the only way salvation ever has been obtained.
"Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" is a really broad hint.
Ex 22:25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer , neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. 26 If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge , thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down : 27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep ? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear ; for I am gracious.
Exodus 33: 12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See , thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said , I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14 And he said , My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest . 15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated , I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. 17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken : for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. 18 And he said , I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. 19 And he said , I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious , and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy
"Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."
"1How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! 2How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!"
Proverbs 3: 31 Envy thou not the oppressor , and choose none of his ways. 32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous. 33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. 34 Surely he scorneth the scorners : but he giveth grace unto the lowly . 35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Moses did fairly well, but God was going to kill him anyway, that is, until his wife saved him with a circumcision.
Proving to us God’s omniscience. He’ll do the same with us.
Exactly right.
However, your quotes overlook what Jesus said about who will be saved: Matthew 25.
Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'
sounds like some of them who are getting let into heaven don't even know Jesus personally, but he left them in anyway.
Where are they found ? In YHvH's WORD ?
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
What are Yah'shua's commandments ?
The passage says, "the least of my brothers."
That isn't particularly significant, but idea is about those who help "brothers of Jesus", even the least significant of them.
Let's say, Doc, that I help your family BECAUSE I've heard of you. In short, I am identifying with you. That means I'm SIDING with you.
Especially when Christ tells us- " I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing"
A phenomenon (Greek: φαινόμενoν, from the Greek word 'phainomenon', from the verb 'phanein', to show, shine, appear, to be manifest (or manifest itself)),[1] plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence.[2] Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences< p>Thiis all started when I onced asked The Lord " Show me that your are real without a doubt for me. " What happen after this confirmed my belief in Christ. I had a profound experiences right after this in days. It would be too long right now to explain all. Remember Our Lord declared if we ask and you shall recieve if you mean it with your whole heart.
So ever since then I have been engage with events that can not be explaind normally at times. I believe Christ was showing how he allows us to be tested. This is some of the things that I have encountered in this walk we have in this life. Here is something fom another comment I wrote on these very verses.
Matthew 13:12
Do not forget to entertain STRANGERS, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
I have personally met people asking for money. I give a couple of bucks. I looked down at business scanner that beeped then up again. They totally disappeared. I had this happen several times in my life. You could not explain it otherwise. it was milliseconds. Once I even debated in the eighties with a friend in my house about how we entertain angels unawares. He thought I was nuts. While we are debating a man appeared disheveled knocks at the door for food. I let him in made a sandwich gave some money. He left. The friend first thinks I am crazy letting the man in the house. Then I pointed out what are the coincides that he came while we debated. I never had any homeless come to the door before. He is a firm believer now. The Lord is amazing he loves us.
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Heavenly Father, we ask you to open our eyes to see what these words mean for all of us. So we can respond they way you want to us to respond. We ask in thy Holy Name of Jesus. Eternal Father, we offer Thee the merits of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Thy Beloved Son and my Divine Redeemer, for all my relations, friends and enemies, for the poor, the sick, and those in tribulation, and for all those for whom Thou willest I should pray, or knowest that I ought to pray.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Who hath saved us by His Precious Blood!
amen
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