Discuss Matthew 5 Page 14

In my experience, the Holy Spirit most often speaks a scripture to show me which way to go.

I was never good at wondering what other people are thinking. The Holy Spirit already knows what direction your mind is leaning towards. Might as well talk about it. No question is lame. Start some dialog.

One time He said: the Tree is known by its fruit. I read all of the fruit scriptures I could find.

Develop your TEACHER - STUDENT relationship. We need to fine tune our listening skills. Be willing to be in an position of intense listening. He is a real person who just happens to be invisible; living inside your heart.

He has so many roles towards us. Just look Him up in a Bible Encyclopedia sometime.

You will have to expound on that question. In Hebrews it says:

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,

As believers we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and He speaks to us by way of the Bible. He often works in directing our lives if we will let Him. But we no longer hear "audible" voices if that is what you are asking.

God bless

Does anyone hear the word of God?

I agree the Sabbath for Christians is Saturday, and always has been.....from the creation of this world.

Man cannot add or subtract any of the 10 commandments.

This world is evil, and there are many false religions teaching others to ignore or minimize the commandments of God.

For those out there that believe they can ignore the 4th commandment, what don't you believe in the verse's below that came straight from Christ's mouth:

John 14:21

"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

Matthew 5:17

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."

Matthew 5:18

"For 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."

Most Christians are very aware of the above stated verses....but they minimize them, because reverend so and so said this, or that, and I hear all kinds of excuse's that we can ignore this commandment or that commandment, including because Apostle Paul said this or that. Man can read the bible and twist words to mean anything that might suit their agenda.

We need to believe what Jesus said in the bible, he is speaking the words of "His Father".

John 12:49

"For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak."

John 12:50

"And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak."

Living life today, while respecting God's commandment's my be an inconvenience for all of us - at times.....but we need to strive to follow Christ, just as Christ followed his Fathers Laws. Are we any better than Christ?

Happy Sabbath Day!

God Bless

Hello Rita,

The answer to your question is no we are commanded in Exodus 20 verses 3-6 to not make any graven images.

Exodus 20:3-6 quotes, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."

We are commanded by Yahweh not to make any likeness of things that are in heaven where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father God. Jesus is in heaven above, and no person should be creating any images of Jesus Christ, because we are commanded in His Holy Word not to. No one after His death, burial, and resurrection really knows what Jesus looks like anyway, so all of the pictures people have made of Him will never do Him justice. Also, when Jesus Christ Himself came on earth in human form, He never once commanded the Jews to make any images of Him. Jesus Christ will never contradict Himself by what He says, does, or thinks, never!

Matthew 5:17, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."

Jesus Christ came to fulfill the 10 commandments and other laws in the Old Testament. So the Thou shalt not's still are in place forever.

Luke 16:17, "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail."

Wow. You shall be in my prayers. You just stated the Father, the Son(Jesus Christ), and the Holy Ghost are confused? It is clear you do not believe the Scriptures and have your own carnal idea of God. Matthew 12:32, Matthew 12:36.

Also you do not believe, or understand, the words of Christ like John 10:30?

You know God says listen to His Son right? Matthew 17:5. Even further like the Angel of the LORD in the OT. Exodus 23:20-22.

Also to glorify the Son is to glorify the Father. As they are ONE. John 14:13-14. The only way to eternal life is through the Son of God. John 14:6. 1 John 5:11-13.

God is ONE. I pray the Lord leads you to leave your own beliefs behind and trust Him and His Word.

You seem to believe in the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Though you seem to doubt who the Lord is just like the Pharisees did. Bringing Him down to "just a man". Matthew 5:20.

God Bless.

God won't leave you if you follow Him, and following Him assumes you're being obedient, but if you turn your back on Him and follow the devil the Bible doesn't say you're saved. Salvation assumes you're doing your part and actually following Him. If you can show me a verse that says otherwise, please do. But I have a mountain of verses that support this, like: Matthew 7:21, Hebrews 10:26. 3 John 1:11 says if you do evil God doesn't even know you. John 14:15 Jesus says if you love Him you will keep His commandments, that means if you don't keep His commandments you don't love Him.

Most of the warnings Jesus gave was to His Christian followers, about being careful, being on watch, on guard, parables warn of most people going to hell and being prepared, Peter talked about running the race well to the finish to get the 'prize', etc. So, was all that useless talk? If everyone is automatically saved regardless of their actions does that mean all the parables and talk was irrelevant? Or, is it more likely Jesus was right, that your actions do matter, and that maybe some men need to adjust their expectations and begin to fear God like it says so many times: Matthew 10:28.

Most people will go to hell, and Jesus predicted that many will be surprised they're not going in, and cry out 'Lord, Lord'... You can't earn heaven, people are saved by grace, but this assumes you're a Christian- which is a verb that means following Christ and not sinning and being a light to the world through good deeds, because that's what Christians should do. It doesn't mean its impossible to sin, but Christians must avoid sin at all costs! Matthew 5:30 I think many who call themselves Christians will be shocked on judgment day and have deep regret for their actions and not taking Christianity seriously. God bless...

As you stated. If it may be the way we word things we post that may seem we might not see eye to eye. I don't think we are far off from each other. Though really the most important thing is that we are both with the Lord. As some of my other brothers and sisters here may not agree with me fully on everything. That's ok though. Again the most important thing is Jesus Christ. It is good for us to converse and if we do not agree on a certain point that's ok. We are still of the body of Christ and only trying to help one another.

Just for a couple other Scriptures with some things that are "above", of God, and "agathos" is not used:

Matthew 5:16 and Matthew 13:37-38. About letting your light shine before men of your "good" works to glorify our Father. That the "good" seed are the children of the Kingdom sowed by the Son of Man.

John 10:11. Jesus Christ stating He is the "good" Shepherd.

1 Timothy 2:3. Things being "good" and acceptable in the sight of God.

Titus 2:14. That we who are redeemed by the Lord be zealous of "good" works.

Hebrews 6:5. How the Word of God is "good".

James 2:7. The "worthy" name by which we were called.

To end I liked this one. Galatians 5:22. Both "agathos.." and "chrestotes" are fruits of the Spirit.

As I really can't differentiate that only "agathos.." is of the Spirit of God. That being the word Jesus used in Mark 10:18 does not mean to me this is only for Him. As other words like "excellence, righteous, honorable, wonderful, amazing, almighty, glorious, holy, beautiful, perfect, integrity, etc". To me this does not mean we would have to pick only one of these words for God. All of them fit Him perfectly. As I believe in the Greek, and most other languages, they have different words with somewhat of the same meaning.

God Bless.

Hi Jesse,

Thank you for your added detail.

I'm not sure where you get this idea though: "There is a difference, and God will only reward us for one of these two."

It sounds like you interpret good works to be bad unless you feel a certain spiritual confirmation before or during the good work activity? How exactly did you come to this understanding and what Bible sources can you cite to say this?

I find this unusual, because I find life as a Christian has a spiritual component that is hard to separate. I believe something of the 'flesh' is easier to identify, because it usually involves unpure motives and sin. But it sounds like you're suggesting that obeying Jesus (such as doing good works to help others) has unpure motives and you put a screening layer in place which you have to navigate through in order to feel good about obeying Jesus.

My perspective is different. I feel that obeying Jesus by default is good, and that helping others by default is good, and already is done via spirit and not fleshly. It would be really hard to convince me that doing good is bad, because doing good is all through the Bible. Galatians 6:9, Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 2:10. We're created to do good works and be the light of the World are we not? James 2:14-17, James 4:17, Micah 6:8. I don't think my motives or my mood even matters sometimes, it's not about me, but serving others and being obedient. Selflessness.

So, my question is: does someone have such a strong filter for all other aspects of life or only when it comes to obeying Jesus and help others? Brushing teeth? Eating a meal? Gassing up a car? Going to work? Watching movies? If the strong filter is only on doing good works, but not on neutral activities, or bad works, then I would think such a perspective seems off balance. Because why should we hesitate only when it comes to doing good and have to pass certain criteria, but have no problem doing anything other than good?

Let me know if I have misinterpreted your meaning and where you got the idea about good works requiring certain criteria for God to like it? God bless...

Hello Bro Barney,

Naturally, I disagree with your interpretation of the scripture and the assumptions made.

I believe the argument of once saved always saved contradicts itself. Here's how:

1. Someone believes God gave them freewill.

2. Someone believes all Christians are already 'saved' and that status never changes.

3. Then they are asked about Luke 12:10 blasphemy of the holy ghost.

4. They then claim it doesn't apply to Christians, that Christians can't, that they don't even have the freewill to sin, despite many documented cases of Christians doing exactly that both in the Bible and in the world today. Isaiah 14:12-14 shows that even angels in heaven have freewill to sin and blaspheme.

Christians still need to face judgment day like everyone else. Only after can someone be actually saved. If we genuinely follow Christ we can be assured of salvation, but the Bible warns us plenty of times to obey, to run the race, to persevere, to abide in the doctrine of Christ 2 John 1:8-9, it paints a much different picture than that I get from others who claim its ok to sin, that you can't sin, that you can be in the world and do whatever you want with zero penalty, and don't even have to worry about turning your back on Christ or blaspheming, because you can't do that. That's the opposite message of what Jesus said. Hebrews 6:4, John 14:15, Matthew 5:13, MATTHEW 7:23.

If once saved always saved is true, does that mean Christians can commit mass murder and still go to heaven? violence? rape? blasphemy? Or that their freewill is restricted so it's impossible for that to happen? Judas betrayed Jesus, and many Christians leave the faith and reject Jesus, unfortunately. There's a forum on Reddit called ex-Christian if you don't believe it. So, are all ex-Christians who reject Jesus still saved then?

Which is more likely: that satan, the father of lies is deceiving Christians into obeying God more than necessary, or that committing unlimited sin is ok?

Dear Steve,

God saves and forgives sin of those who genuinely follow and obey Him. But the fact that you're asking this says to me that you think it's wrong. If you think it's wrong why continue to do it? If you're a Christian why not do everything you can to please God and treat your body as a holy temple? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Matthew 5:30

To Doris, if this is the first marriage for both, you are one flesh with your husband for life. No more twain, but one flesh, said Lord Jesus; never again two. a spiritual union that lasts until the death of one. This is why marrying is very very important to the Lord as it represents His marriage union with the Church whom He does not divorce. Have ever heard of the ''betrothal'' (a sort of engagement pior to the marriage itself, a spiritual bounding contract, see Deuteronomoy 22 about a virgin bride) and what it means to marriage?

How many times in life we are not doing what Jesus said...? He is patient with us to repent even until we die.

The exception in Matthew 5:32 and 19:8 is for fornication, meaning Not adultery (modern lexicons have added to the meaning in the past 200 years to include all sorts of sins other than fornication), but unchastity before the marriage itself. And in 1 Corinthians 7:15, ''not bound'' is coming from the word ''douloo'' in Greek which means ''servant/slave'', and it means not bound in the matrimonial duties, but still bound in the one flesh for life. Apostle Paul says that a woman who has a husband is bound to her husband for life until he dies and if she marries another she is an adulterress ( Romans 7:2-3, 1 Corinhians 7:29, 39).

In case of abuse , extreme, separation can be a solution, but divorce and remarriage is against thr Word of God and adulterers do not inherit God's Kingdom ( 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21).

Don't let modern interpretations mislead you about marriage, if it's a first for both, it is for life.

Hi Cary, at the personal response level, you're quite correct in saying that repaying evil for evil doesn't make one any better than the perpetrator. However, we also need to study the Scripture & context.

Jesus, in Matthew 5:38,39, was referring to the Old Testament commandments that God gave ( Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21). These directions were given for the proper judicial outcomes when God's Laws were disobeyed. So if it was found (by confession, by clear evidence or by witnesses) that a murder had taken place, then it was the proper judgement to mete out similar punishment as the crime. And this applied to a whole variety of offences, but such judgement was in the domain of the judges.

What was happening amongst the Jews in Jesus' day, was that those Scriptures were being applied to personal vengeance & retribution. The classic case is found in John 8:3-11, with the woman being accused of adultery to which the law required death. We see three things here: it was the religious leaders that demanded & would oversee the stoning rather than her going through an official judicial process (The Jewish Sanhedrin or the Roman Govt, depending on the crime). The person who should have cast the first stone (a large stone to the head to kill or bring to near death the criminal, & then others with smaller stones casting them at the lifeless body) failed to come forward. Jesus Word brought conviction: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Fortunately for the woman, the leaders & the people realized that they were sinners, as she was, & were not entitled to administer punishment. And since none accused her, the matter was dropped & didn't make it to the judiciary.

So the "eye for an eye" rule was not to be carried out by the people filled with anger, set upon vengeance, but from a legally constituted system (though they too could have erred in judgement). Likewise, we too, cannot repay evil with evil rather with good.

The eye for an eye ......... Verse.how do I explain to somebody that you can't kill somebody that kills or can't steal from somebody that stole from you? Etc. I tell them you might feel like getting back at them but you would be just as bad

Women can do other important ministry: equipping the (young) saints.

Every Christian is called to do the work of an evangelist. Men and women & teens.

Why not read up on ideas other street ministries are doing. Just Google that. It can be done in your own neighborhoods. Now I like Chick Tracts; they're like little comic books but with a hefty message. There is the sinners prayer on every one of them that can help someone pray to become a Christian.

Everyone teach and learn John chapter 3. Practice quoting a verse to each other. Memorize.

Always evangelize on city property right of way for the public. Parks, or door to door on their streets, skateboard parks or on a sidewalk near a door. People love those comic books. :D

Put the tract in the persons hand, and in a friendly manner ask if you can read it to them; or ask if they have a need you can pray with them for. The prayer of agreement is between

2-3 people, asking God to come alongside and answer that request.

Write your church name and phone number on the back page of the tract.

Most people will keep that comic book in their home. Ask the Lord of the Harvest to cause them to look at it often.

There is a Crown in Heaven, called "The Crown of Rejoicing", awaiting all those who lead unbelievers into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. They are given out at the Bema Seat of Jesus Christ in Heaven's rewards ceremony.

This is honorable ministry work. Special offerings to buy more tracts should be taken as the need arises. Or pocket sized New Testament give away Bibles.

Leave them on bus stop benches, park benches by the monkey bars, on the ground outside a goodwill store, skate board parks. Safe places.

Kids should work in pairs or 3's, as did the disciples in the Bible. To be a friend of Christ, one must be friendly.

Always have a moment of prayer before leaving the church to go evangelize.

Can women serve in the Lords church?

Preaching, deacons, elders

Here's some more for you Gerald. Matthew 5:10-12.

Gerald,

Maybe Matthew 5:10 might be what you are looking for, which says "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

This is just a guess on my part. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful!

You might be thinking of Matthew 5:20?

Hello Benito, Likely there have been "evil brutes" for a long time already. I am re-posting a point of a confession of faith from 1632 from Christians that suffered torture and death at the hands of the Roman Church, my children are in part blood decedents of the same.

14. Of Revenge

"As regards revenge, that is to oppose an enemy with the sword, we believe and confess that tha Lord Christ has forbidden and set aside to His disciples and followers all revenge and retaliation, and commanded them to render to no one evil for evil, or cursing for cursing, but to put the sword into the sheath, or, as the prophets have predicted, to beat the swords into ploughshares. Matthew 5:39 ; Matthew 5:44 ; Romans 12:14 ; 1 Peter 3:9 ; Isaiah 2:4 ; Micah 4:3.

From this we understand that therefore, and according to His example, we must not inflict pain, harm, or sorrow upon anyone, but seek the highest welfare and salvation of all men, and even if necessity requires it, flee for the Lord's sake from one city or country into another, and suffer the spoiling of our goods; that we must not harm anyone, and when smitten, rather turn the other cheek also, than to revenge or retaliate.

And moreover, that we must pray for our enemies, feed and refresh them whenever they are hungry or thirsty, and convince them by well doing, and overcome all ignorance. Romans 12:19-20

Finally, that we must do good and commend ourselves to every man's conscience; and, according to the law of Christ, do unto others that which we would have others do into us". Matthew 7:12

To Joanne Jones. People will tell you its ok to kill in certain situations but, you quoted what God said about it. Thou shalt not kill, no exceptions there. Matthew 5:39, Romans 12:17, Romans 12:21. These scriptures speak against self-defense and so do these; 1 Thessalonians 5:15, (See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.) to be a Christian is to be Christ like hear is what Jesus did, ( 1 Peter 2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

1 Peter 3:9

Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. I will take Gods Word over mans anytime, God bless and always listen to your heart because Jesus will never lead you wrong.

One more quote from the Bible doctrine book in the same vein:

"One should not endeavor to transpose Old Testament details into the New in a way that undermines or infringes on the tenor of the gospel.

Then again, the liberty of the New Testament should not be considered to minimize the holiness of God as set forth in the Old. Jesus did not destroy the validity of the Old Testament; He fulfilled it ( Matthew 5:17). There must be a balanced spiritual understanding of the relationship of the two testaments."

That the four corners of our hearts have equal amounts of the breath of God.

Page 1.

Thank you for your reply, Ron - much appreciated. If I could just address a couple of your points:

a. "If Jesus did not have the sinful flesh that came from the first Adam and Jesus was incapable of sin what did He fulfill?" You clearly referred to Matthew 5:17. Using the Greek words for 'abolish & fulfil', their meanings are: abolish = to destroy, abrogate, or to deny Divine Authority. And 'fulfil' = to complete, fill up what was predicted, accomplish what was intended by it.

When we read it as given, then we see that the Lord, in His 'sinless' condition, could indeed fulfil the Law, because His coming was not to prove His ability to be obedient to the Law but was for the purpose to bring the Law to its planned & proper completion. And this He did as the One Who not only was the Word of God (as the Word/Law/Prophecies) given to Israel, but also Who came now in human form (that Word made Flesh) to bring the Law to finality by His death, resurrection & bringing in of a better Covenant ( Hebrews 8:6,7).

b. Romans 8:3. "in the likeness of sinful flesh". Many look at this phrase as supporting the belief that Jesus had sinful flesh as we have. If that were so, then he would have the sin nature in Him as 'sinful flesh' speaks of that, in one respect. In the other respect, it could also mean that Jesus came in human flesh, resembling (likeness of) sinful flesh that he partook of flesh, or the nature of man, but without any of its sinful propensities or desires. Why would that be? Because the sin nature, which is common to man, was not found in Him. Satan's great desire was to replicate what he did to the first Adam - but the last Adam withstood him disallowing sin to enter thereby imputing the sin nature.

Hello,

I feel to reply to your post and expand to what Carleton stated. In this wicked world we live in one of the most important questions we, those who follow Christ, can ask ourselves when a situation occurs is "what would Jesus Christ do"?

It is right that the truth be spread and exposed. What is right and wrong. A big problem is the evil powers of this world own pretty much everything to do with mass communication. T.V., radio, internet, schools, etc and many people are brainwashed and deceived. Only a very small portion can be trusted to follow truth in whatever way. Although the devil mixes lies with truth to make it even harder for people to denote one from the other.

As I have been following what has been going on with the powers that be in the world for probably the last decade. Violence and fighting physically accomplishes nothing but more violence and blood shed. What the evil one wants. People to destroy themselves, by dividing them in any way, for their gain.

We, who follow Christ, are to live in peace. To turn the other cheek. To love and have mercy even on our enemies. Who I do not see as any other "person". It is the devil and the evil powers that be who control people in this world. That is what/who I hate. Not people. As I feel sorrow that they are being led to damnation. Hoping, and praying, one day in their lives they shall see the light and give themselves to the Lord. One more repentant sinner who has been saved.

Here are a couple verses from the OT and NT for you. With Romans 12:21. Reading Romans 12:17-21 gives a better view. Fear not those who can destroy the body, but Him who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna/Hell.

Matthew 10:27-28.

Ecclesiastes 5:8

Micah 6:8

Matthew 5:39-45

Ephesians 6:11-17

They that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Matthew 26:52.

Jesus Christ is the only way. Not fighting for this, or any, "country". "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."

With respect. God Bless.

Hello Skip,

No, it's not just you. I often feel the same way. But who are we but broken vessels needing to be mended? I believe that mending (KATARTIDZO) is a lifetime process. God is mending us each and every day. All we have to do is submit to Him and be faithful, as He is faithful in His promises to us.

I'd like to share with you from a biblical Greek perspective what I've learned about loving the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Our English bible makes it sound like the Lord is commanding us to go out and do these things. But how can we? We can't. That word love is the word AGAPE. In the flesh we cannot produce that type of love. Only God's Spirit can produce that love.

In the Greek text, those two "commandments" are not written in the command form. They are written as statements of fact. What it is telling us is that when God's Spirit comes into our lives, we will love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. And we will love our neighbor as ourselves. It's a statement of fact.

We often think that God commanded us to go out and love our neighbor. So what do we do? In the flesh, we go out and try to fulfill that love. And then we fail because the flesh cannot produce that type of love. You see, God is not commanding us to go out and love. He's telling us that we will love. It's a statement of fact. It's His Spirit that gives us the capacity to love Him and to love our neighbor.

Yes, Matthew 5:48 says "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." The Greek word for perfect means to function in purpose. You see, Jesus gives the example that God the Father, He makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust. He is no respecter of persons.

So He says that we, under the influence of God's Spirit, should be just like Him, Jesus, because that is what Jesus does. And so He is the representative of God's love.

Thanks for sharing that we are His sheep. Amen!

Hello, maybe you've already made up your mind on this which is different than how some others interpret it. The verses you quoted before don't indicate anything different and support my interpretation. Scripture like 1 Peter chapter 1 are clear to me and countless other verses instruct Christians to not sin.

"They are not able to live according to their old nature."

Some believe that for Christians it's impossible to sin, which I think is a misinterpretation of the Bible that plays into the hand of the enemy. There are Christians who sometimes look at pornography- so does that mean that's not a sin, or some cheat on their wives- not sin? Some have probably even killed- not sin? Seems like a tough argument to make to claim that sin isn't sin. Or that Christians no longer have freewill to sin? We all likely know Christians who have drifted from the faith and have sinned or even denounced the faith.

Not sure if you believe this, but I think the belief of "impossible for Christians to sin" originates from 1 John in 1 John 3:9 and 1 John 5:18, but if you read the context it doesn't say what some are assuming it says. The keywords are who is born of God don't 'practice' sin. Genuine followers won't continue to sin on an ongoing basis.

If you read the whole book of 1 John it explains and shows the context, like right out of the gate in 1 John 1:8-10. So, which is it, can a Christian sin or not?

In chapter 3, it clarifies that its only those who follow commandments. So, an action is required for Christians. It's not like you already won and can disobey and do whatever sin you want. ( 1 John 3:23-24) says that to dwell in Jesus the Christian must obey. If it was a given (automatic) then Jesus wouldn't have kept telling his followers (Christians) to avoid sin. He absolutely pounded this message in them. A true follower should not sin, they should hate it and avoid it at all costs. Matthew 5:30, John 14:15. God bless.

Bil,

The key is found in Matthew 15:19. Jesus said it is out of the heart that murders come from. He's telling the Jews that it is nice that you can control yourself in society and not kill people, but you are still angry and God sees it as murder.

Matthew 5:21-26 gives us the correct understanding of murder. Verse 21 is a Key Verse brought over from Exodus 20:13.

Jesus said, "You have heard," and then He says in Verse 22 "but I say to you." Now that's trouble because He says "You have heard." And so He is making reference to murder and about killing.

He says "You have heard that it was said by them of old times, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you."

It sounds like He is canceling it out, but He's saying that this is what you've been told, but I say unto you. And then He presents three stages of anger. He says anybody that is angry with his brother, and in this case "brother" has to do with a Jew, somebody who is a fellow covenant member.

And then it says, without a cause," is in danger of the judgment, literally the judge!

Secondly, anybody that says Raca is in danger the council. In Greek, RAKA means good for nothing. It's an insult! So first you have inward anger. And then you begin to express it, and it becomes an insult, "you good for nothing!"

And then you say "thou fool," and if you say thou fool, that is slander. That's the Greek word MOREH where we get our word moron from in English.

So you go from inner anger, to insult, and then it comes to slander when you say you fool or you moron. You are in danger of hell fire.

When you say Raca, you are in danger of the council, the supreme court of the Jews, the Sanhedrin. If you say "thou fool" or "you moron," you are in danger of hell fire.

You see, the Jews never heard that before. They can say, "I never killed anybody." Have you ever been angry? If you have been angry, you have killed him already. Now, what are you going to do?

The Law is the power of sin. Sin is transgressing(change the seat/order) of the law through actions. Not one Jot or title of the power of sin will change until the harvest(Judgement Day).

Sin takes hold when we disobey the Most High, the fruit of Knowledge of good and evil contains the knowledge of the power of sin. Sin hurts us. In order to act on it we must change the order of the Law that says man is safe from sin. Instead we are placing an order that makes us vulnerable to the power of sin. Committing sin lets sin take power over us and we are not capable of controlling the sin on our own.

God Bless. May you continue to grow in goodness and mercy.

Thank you for your resourceful (and beautiful) website. May God richly bless you!

Brother Dan;

Jesus said to keep "His commandments" in a similar way that "He" Jesus has kept "His Father's commandments".

Jesus both kept and totally satisfied his father in perfect flawless obedience to the law "including the ten commandments!"

After doing this, Jesus put away the first to establish the second! Christ nailed the ten commandments to his cross'

and blotted them out forever! Now, he gives us two commandments, namely, "HIs Commandments" !