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22nd April 2024
MondayReflection
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NeverThirsty,
the website of Like The Master Ministries.
God Knows Everything About You
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Luke 16:15 warns us that God knows our hearts and God has a different standard for behaviour than we do.
And He said to them,
"You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
Luke 16:15 (NASB)
We have discovered that God knows our thoughts and hearts.
As a result, He can and will judge our motives, words and deeds.
No one can hide from God.
Matthew 6:6 says that God sees everything that is done in secret.
There is no escape.
This is bad news if you are trying to make God think you are a good person.
What is worse is that Jesus tells us that only God is good.
Matthew 19:16 (NASB)
Jesus said He is the great I AM or God.
Every person must believe that Jesus told the truth when He repeatedly said that He was God.
We must also believe that Jesus died for our sins on a cross and returned to life three days later.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you ... unless you believed in vain ... For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received
1 Corinthians 15:1-7 (ESV)
Notice that the passage says one can believe in vain.
That is, someone can believe in Jesus but their "belief" does not result in eternal life.
This reveals that there are two kinds of faith - real faith and empty faith.
Therefore, let's discover what is true or real faith.
In order to go to heaven or have eternal life we must be repentant of our sins.
This is a characteristic of true faith.
I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
Luke 5:32 (NASB)
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
Acts 17:30 (ESV)
We already know that Jesus is God, He knows our hearts, and will judge each person equally against His absolute standards.
Since there are no exceptions, this truth should cause fear because we are sinners.
God commands us to repent or be sorrowful because of our sins and want to be changed.
True faith results in sorrow over our sins.
True faith results in repentance over sins and a willingness to turn one's life over to God.
That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Romans 10:9 (NASB)
God considers Christians a special group of people because they have believed in Jesus. Yet, we are told that God predestined or chose some to become Christians.
This was an act of love by God, because we would not have come to Him on our own
Christians are told that God has adopted them as family members.
That is, God has chosen some to be Christians.
We are told that anyone who believes will never perish and are promised eternal life.
God says that if someone believes in Jesus, their sins will be forgiven.
These two truths seem to be in conflict, but this does not change either truth.
Only God knows how both can be true.
Some think that they have the solution, but the apostle Paul did not understand how both can be true
(Romans 9:18-20).
So then, God has mercy on anyone he wishes, and he makes stubborn anyone he wishes.
But one of you will say to me, "If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?"
20 But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, "Why did you make me like this?"
God is impartial. He is not a respecter of persons.
It does not matter how famous, how rich, or how politically connected a person is.
If they do not believe in Jesus they are going to hell.
Those who are Christians will go to heaven.
God's standard applies to everyone Christians and non-Christian.
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This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
Our Purpose at NeverThirsty
Our purpose of 'NeverThirsty' is to explain the Bible verse-by-verse and answer your Bible questions so that you may have eternal life and grow spiritually.
We believe that the Holy Bible or the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the verbally inspired Word of God, written by men under the control of the Holy Spirit, inerrant and infallible
John Calahan
I am a retired pastor of a non-denominational church now devoting myself full-time to the on-line teaching ministry of 'NeverThirsty.org'
I attended BIOLA University, a Christian university, believing that God wanted me to be a pastor.
While working in the secular world, the Lord Jesus called me to be an elder at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California under the pulpit of John MacArthur.
My wife and I attended Grace Community Church for seventeen years. I was an elder there for almost ten years.
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