15 Anyone who hates another brother or sistert is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
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This is awesome because we were trying to find this verse in D-group the other day...we found this mentioned in Matthew during the sermon on the mount...hating a brother is equivalent to murder...this says that murderers don't go to heaven. This can be used to talk to someone about Christ and the reality that Jesus loves us and sees past the sin and is waiting for us to repent and go to him....even the murderers...Turn and repent from all your sins are follow Christ!
1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1
ReplyDeleteThe other night at formal we had som interesting cirumstances and i was very frustrated at the situation. I then came back and read the bible and these were the first words i read. It just was so amazing because in that moment nothing mattered anymore other than the fact that the Father loves us sooo much. The toils of this world are only temporary but because of the Fact that God loves us unconditionally we are saved and need not get caught up in the troubles of this world. So amazing.
18-19 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;
ReplyDeleteBecoming a Christian has been so misconstrued in today's culture. It is not about who we pledge allegiance to with our voices, but whether or not we have been transformed by the renewing, resurrecting blood of Jesus Christ? That is the essence of what it means to be a follower of Christ.
When following Christ is watered down to just words and nothing more, the authority, majesty, dominion, and greatness of Jesus Christ is disrespected and deminished. He is worthy and deserving of complete devotion for who He is and what He has done.
This is what John is saying. He is removing the possiblity for nominal Christianity. Following Christ is anything but nominal. It requires your life. Therefore, those who are truly washed by the blood of Christ will display this devotion.
If we are going to call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, why are we not surrendering everything to the One who is worthy of all things?
If we have truly been transformed by the Spirit of God through Jesus Christ, we will be changed forever; our lives will reflect it. Therefore, if your life doesn't reflect "Christ in you the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27), have you ever truly committed your life to Him?