Why do ye not know My speech? Because
ye are unable to hear My word. Ye are of
the father the devil, and ye desire to do
the lusts of your father. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and has
not stood in the truth, because there is
not truth in him. Whenever he may speak
falsehood, form his own he speaks; for he
is a liar and the father of it. Because I speak
the truth, ye do not believe me.
John 8:43-45
(literal Greek translation).
Sin, a word tossed about by those who want to in some way, desire to trim down, decreasing its impact on their exercise of life. This is especially true of those who persist in sin. Those who persist in sin have a father: the Devil. Jesus speaks the truth, hard as it may be, it is the truth. It is not that they are just unable (as those who believe that God created some to be unjust), they do not want to believe so they are not putting themselves in a place to believe: they enjoy the culture of this world more than to be called an Authentic Christian. Those sinners who will not believe the truth, those who persist in sin, well....they have a shock coming when Jesus returns for His bride. A time is coming when God will separate the sheep from the goats: "But when the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (Matthew 25:31-34). God, from the time that by His will, decided to create made provision for all who will believe upon Him, and the One whom He sent to call sinners to repentance, the One whose blood paid our debt of sin, that sin being death that the father of lies infected this world, and by His death, death died. Now repentance means that you can claim this payment and know that it will not be removed from you by God Himself, the Son.
The Bible's teachings are not taught that God by acting as Judge are just punitive. Punitive results are often due to our bad choices, the natural consequence of our bad actions. We must remember that there is a system of cause and effect at work in our universe. A sane person will admit that this system of cause and effect are woven in the very fabric of creation. You know that this is true for it has been the result of many things in your life. The universe is not immoral: no, it is moral by nature. What we do know is that the universe that we live in that God has a kingdom and that Satan has a kingdom. Here is an undeniable fact: every person living on earth belongs to one of these two kingdoms.
Do you possess Authentic Christian Faith? If so then you have surrendered yourself to Jesus Christ and by doing so you passed from the kingdom of the Devil, that dark kingdom, into the kingdom of the Son of God, a kingdom of light: "giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us competent to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature" (Colossians 1:12-15). As Authentic Christians we love the things that God has given, His Scripture, His special day (the Sabbath), and service we do with Him, and for Him. Authentic Christians demonstrate that something has changed within them, we are not the same as before, and this occurs even before the return of Jesus for His bride. You see, you are now the bride of Christ, therefore live as His bride.
For since the beginning of the world
men have not heard, nor perceived
by the ear, neither hath the eye seen,
O God, beside Thee, what He hath
prepared for him that waiteth for Him.
Isaiah 64:4
Live now as redeemed by God
Richard L. Crumb
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