.
I don’t want convincing or re-assuring at this moment. That is for me to figure out. I just need to vent because I feel like I have no one to go to. I grew up being Christian and my dad was a pastor. Church and Christianity was just something I grew up with, but I did try to get serious with my faith starting when I was 18. Now I’m 21 but after a slight depressive episode earlier this year, I stopped going to church, seeking God, and now I’m going through anxious thoughts of whether or not God exists, whether there is an afterlife, why God created humans in the first place, why God wants us to be with him for all eternity when at one point we didn’t exist, and why does he want to create a new world/paradise (restoration of Eden?) after the second coming? I feel like the world is crashing down on me. It seems that the online space is full of people who dismiss Christianity (and are very harsh on religion) and there seems to be a general trend AWAY from religion nowadays. However, when I go explore the online Christian space, it’s full of people who are dismissive of how you feel, forgetting that sometimes someone going through hard times doesn’t need a bible (or a reciting of the bible) in front of their face, they need a friend/mentor to just listen to them. I don’t know why I feel the need to rant, but as I’m typing this I feel that a huge burden has been lifted. I also feel too awkward to pray because I don’t want to treat God as a “what-if” or “insurance” type of thing where I’m praying just in case it helps. I don’t even KNOW what I want. I just need someone to talk to. Anyways, thank you if you read this far. Wish me luck to find peace in my belief system.
.
Christians are never true Christians. Their faith, which absolutizes themselves by arguing with words and theories, is a detestable faith, and none of them can ever be examples of light and salt. No matter how much they believe in God and pray before Christ, if they spend their whole lives only repeating sin, then such Christians are not true Christians, nor are they children of God, but only children of the devil. The greatest enemies of God, His greatest adversaries, and the antichrist on this earth are those who claim to believe in God yet endlessly repeat sin, turning themselves, their words, and their faith into God. Such people fill the world in great numbers. Their ignorant faith, which knows nothing of God’s power and shows not even a mustard seed of His might, relies only on their own opinions and judgments, denying the love of the cross to which one must give even one’s life. They are merely teachers who speak words all their lives, and followers who only listen all their lives. They have turned their own claims, which are apart from the Word of God, into the Word itself, into God Himself. Please, read the Scriptures below and enter the site called Dialogues with the Almighty to reflect on your questions and problems. Christians who repeat sin are not true Christians. This world is full of ignorance, taught and learned without even understanding or recognizing what sin truly is.
1. The Definition of Sin
Because they do not know the fundamental reason why sin arises, such prejudices and doubts inevitably appear. Today, all religions raise up banners of love, mercy, and peace, yet in reality it is extremely difficult to find a religion, a shepherd, or a believer who truly practices love and mercy, becoming an example of light and salt. Acts of social service and charity are presented by Christians as if they were the love of the cross, by Buddhists as if they were compassion, but in reality they are nothing more than worldly acts of social service and charity, mistakenly equated with the sacrificial love of the cross that gives even one’s own life. In this way, most Christians unknowingly dishonor the love of Christ. This is the standard by which all religions today measure themselves.
Human beings, though they sin, regret, and reflect, cannot escape from the evil habit of turning back and committing sin again. The inspirations and lessons of religions, which only stir awakenings, resolutions, and determinations that turn back again to commit sin, are meaningful only at the moment they are heard. As soon as one turns back, sin is repeated again. This double life—behavior inside and outside the church being different—is precisely why many people dislike Christianity and leave it. In the endless repetition of sin, no matter how much one regrets or awakens, the limits of pastors’ teachings and inspirations are not the truth in which the power of God works to lead beyond the limit of turning back again to sin. Therefore, people inevitably develop the habit of taking their sins lightly, and along with this, many pastors and believers grow increasingly bold and shameless in their sins, no longer even feeling the pangs of conscience. Moreover, among today’s pastors and believers who fail to be examples of light and salt, within a lifetime of teachings that rely only on words and a lifetime of faith that only listens, there are in fact very few who has conscience-driven faith struggling and floundering within their own limitation of endlessly repeating sin. Anyone with a conscience will realize that by human awakenings, determinations, and resolutions, one can never escape the evil habit of repeating sin.
Yet all religions, through their teachings and inspirations, try to awaken, to determine, to boast of change, as if people could be born again, transformed, or renewed. But in the forms of all these religions, which put forward only words, theories, inspirations, and lessons, we have never seen religious people who pursue the love of God that truly becomes the example of light and salt.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.(Romans 1 : 28~32)
He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him; When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.(Proverbs 26 : 24~25)
All people who live according to the instincts of the flesh, pursuing the world and the desires of the body, possess seven abominable emotions. Envy, jealousy, wrath, lust, pride, falsehood, and hatred are sins worthy of death. Yet today, there are hardly any pastors who teach this grave truth—that the seven abominable emotions harbored in the heart are sins deserving of death—and there are also very few believers who hear and learn it.
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.(1 John 3 : 14)
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.(3 John 1 : 11)
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.(James 4 : 16~17)
The words above say that even if you see a poor and needy person yet simply pass by, that too is counted as sin. The scope of sin is far greater than what is taught in the doctrines of Christianity, for the inner sins of the seven emotions of man—which do not outwardly appear—grow unchecked and unguarded, and thus become even greater sins. This is why it is written that He came to call sinners. In the vicious cycle where people sin, repent, and reflect, yet turn back and commit sin again, sin is inevitably repeated. Whether one is a believer or an unbeliever, whatever religion one belongs to, all remain bound within the same pattern and limitation, repeating sin until death. Yet all religions, all Christians, and even those who claim to have reached the heights of enlightenment and virtue, fail to teach the fundamental reason why sin is inevitably repeated and the power that could overcome it. Instead, they pursue only worldly sermons of inspiration and emotional lessons, leading believers to rely on themselves, endlessly repeating human awakenings, resolutions, and determinations. Because they do not clearly teach the fundamental reason and problem of why sin inevitably repeats, believers likewise cannot help but continue repeating sin.
2. The Fundamental Reason Why Sin Cannot Help but Arise Endlessly
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.(1 John 2 : 15~16)
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.(James 4 : 3~4)
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.(Ecclesiastes 11 : 9~10)
But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.(Ecclesiastes 11 : 8)
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.(Matthew 6 : 24)
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.(1 Timothy 6 : 9~10)
Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.(Proverbs 23 : 4)(Ecclesiastes 5 : 10)
Today, the fundamental reason why all religious people and all who live in the world alike cannot help but repeat sin is because they live according to the instincts of the flesh, following after the desires of the body. In other words, sin arises because they pursue the lusts and covetousness of the flesh—the cravings for their own happiness, blessings, success, and prosperity. What human beings call happiness and blessing is in fact nothing more than momentary joy and fleeting pleasure without true satisfaction. It is the passing delight of eating and drinking, the pleasure of seeing and hearing, the enjoyment of something tastier, more entertaining, more enjoyable, more convenient, or the satisfaction of doing as one pleases, according to one’s own will, desire, and plan. But the pleasure of man, which can never be enough, is only a momentary joy. Human joy without contentment is transient and vanishes; such fleeting pleasures are mere indulgence. And within those passing moments of joy and pleasure, the so-called happiness of man inevitably conceives sin, because unsatisfied desires continually stir up covetousness. The hopes, dreams, and ideals of men for their own happiness and success may appear just and beautiful by the standards of the world, but in reality they are happiness, blessings, and hopes born of lust and fashioned by greed. For this reason, all human beings, until the day they die, cannot help but repeat sin.
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.(James 1 : 14~15)
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.(Romans 7 : 22~25)
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.(Romans 7 : 14)
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.(Romans 8 : 5~14)
He who continues to repeat sin is a child of the devil, belonging to the flesh that has not been born again. The Word clearly declares that the children of God do not commit sin.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.(1 John 3 : 8)
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.(John 8 : 34)
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3 : 5~8)
3. The Faith of Christianity That Cannot Help but Repeat Sin Until Death
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.(Hebrews 12 : 16~17)
Today, the great majority of Christians serve God while at the same time pursuing the world and material things, and thus they teach and learn all manner of corruption, heresy, and falsehood. In other words, because they only teach and learn the inspirations and lessons of words and theories, the awakenings, resolutions, and determinations of man cannot go beyond human limits. For this reason, they cannot escape from evil habits, but must endlessly repeat sin until the day they die. Within their repeated resolutions, zeal, pride, and awakenings, sin is always bound up in self-interest and personal gain, producing nothing more than futile repentance. Yet repentance exists for the purpose of no longer committing sin. Therefore, the repentance of Christians, who have lost the very reason to repent, is not the beautiful repentance of Christ that leads to being born again, transformed, and set free from sin.
The truth of God is not the endless repetition of awakenings, resolutions, and determinations rooted in the inspirations of words that depend upon oneself, but rather it is that which leads beyond human limits—beyond mere inspirations and lessons of words—to obtain the power of God. This is a truth that pastors who spend their whole lives teaching only with words and believers who spend their whole lives only listening can never obtain. Instead, within it they pile up sin, and through the pride mingled with falsehood and pretense they no longer even feel the pangs of conscience, so that their own assertions have become the Word, have become truth, have become God.
Therefore, Christians, who spend their whole lives teaching and learning only the lessons and inspirations of man, cannot escape from the human limitation of endlessly repeating sin. This is because it is not the Spirit of truth that leads them to receive the power of God, which works within the love of God. They teach only through learning, theories, knowledge, human common sense, and human wisdom, and thus cannot teach the wisdom of God, the power of God, and the love of God that surpass human limits. For they are not those who possess the Spirit of God that leads one not to sin, but those who possess the spirit of the world and of the flesh.
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.(1 Timothy 1 : 5)
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.(1 Corinthians 2 : 5)
For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.(1 Corinthians 4 : 20)
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.(2 Corinthians 12 : 9)
Like the pastors of Christianity today, the inspiration of words that can never bring about being born again, change, or transformation is nothing but the teaching of man—it is the leaven of the Pharisees. In other words, just as with all forms of religion, the so-called path of enlightenment that only repeats awakenings, resolutions, and determinations born of human thought and self-reliance, while ignorant of the limits of man, is neither the truth of Christ nor the wisdom of God. To this very day, all believers have been deceived by this.
The truth of God is that which leads one to obtain the power of God that surpasses human limitations, beyond what man could ever accomplish by his own strength. Yet I have never seen even a single pastor who truly leads believers to receive the power of God that transcends human limits. In other words, those who teach as though they were shepherds or the Holy Spirit, though they have not even the power, the evidence, or the fruit of a mustard seed, are people who cannot even recognize their own sins. Because they do not feel the pangs of conscience (spirit), they are becoming monsters. More and more, pastors and believers alike take their sins lightly, grow increasingly bold in their sins, shameless and brazen in their sins—worse than beasts. This is why there are no beautiful Christians who truly shine as light and serve as salt, as examples to the world. Those who do not have even the power of a mustard seed are the very ones who, in the height of arrogance, all claim that they have received the Holy Spirit—the arrogance of it pierces the heavens. It is utter tragedy itself.
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.(Matthew 17 : 20)(Mark 9 : 23)(Philippians 4 : 13)
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.(1 John 3 : 21~24)
That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:(1 Timothy 6 : 14)
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others….(Ephesians 2 : 3~7)
Today, the reason why not even the power, the evidence, or the fruit of a mustard seed appears is because sinners, who cannot but be reproved before God for their repeated sins, fail to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. The very purpose for which they believe in God is nothing other than faith for their own worldly happiness, success, blessing, and prosperity. In other words, the purpose of their faith in God is to live well in this life and, along with it, to enter heaven—a faith driven by lust. It is not the life of a true Christian who aims for the hope of Christ, pursuing the love of the cross that gives even one’s own life. Rather, it is a corrupted, heretical, and false faith that seeks to serve God while at the same time clinging to the world and to material things. It is faith that chases after the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes—worldly and fleshly dreams, hopes, ideals, and desires for one’s own happiness, blessings, success, and prosperity.
Thus it is a faith that relies only on words and theories for a lifetime, and a faith that only listens for a lifetime. It is faith that must inevitably deny the life of Christ, the life of the Spirit, that follows after the love of Christ. Therefore, the faith of the flesh, lived out in the world and rooted in the flesh, can only offer vain prayers. As the Word says, “the sorrow of the world worketh death,” so until death they seek nothing but solutions for their own happiness, success, and ideals—the problems of family, of business, of workplace, of relationships, of children, of health. Such faiths are nothing but faiths that end in the judgment of death, seeking only their own worldly sorrows throughout their lives.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.(2 Corinthians 7 : 10)
4. The Hope of Christ, Pursued in the Life of Christ That Can Be Born Again, Changed, and Transformed
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.(1 John 3 : 3~4)
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:(Psalms 146 : 5)
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.(Romans 5 : 2~10)
Only those who live the life of Christ with the hope of Christ as their goal receive the grace by which love is poured into our hearts. For God is love. In this love, one can be born again and be changed. Therefore, today’s Christians, who serve God while at the same time clinging to the world and to material things, all live by a fleshly faith that seeks only their own success, ideals, happiness, blessings, and prosperity. Because they live a fleshly life driven by the fundamental instincts and lusts of the body, which inevitably repeat sin, they can never bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;(Ephesians 4 : 1~4)
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;(Titus 1 : 1~3)(Hebrews 6 : 17~20)(Colossians 1 : 5~12)(1 Timothy 4 :7~16)(Titus 2 : 7~8)(Ezekiel 18 : 30~32)(Hebrews 10 : 22~29)
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:(Colossians 1 : 23~27)
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.(Hebrews 6 : 11~12)
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,(1 Peter 1 : 2~4)
And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.(Romans 15 : 12~13)(Titus 3 : 3~7)(1 Peter 1 : 20~25)
God is love. Whoever abides in love does not commit sin. Therefore, the very truth is to teach the power of God that leads one not to sin. The power of God’s love works as the power that restrains the members and habits of man which otherwise could only repeat sin. However, today’s Christians pursue heresy, falsehood, and corruption that seek to combine fleshly faith—bound to the world and rooted in the flesh, inevitably repeating sin—with the love of God, and for this reason the power of God does not work among them. A Christian is not a true Christian. They are those who, together with the world, seek only their own happiness and blessing, asking only for worldly sorrows. All their lives they pray only for family problems, business problems, workplace problems, relationship problems, children’s problems, and health problems—faiths of the flesh that will lead to the judgment of death.
5. The Repentance of Christ That Brings New Birth Is the Repentance in Which the Power of Love Appears and One Is Surely Set Free from Sin.
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6 : 17~23)
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.(Romans 8 : 19~21)
To lead people to receive the love of God is the work of a true shepherd of God, and that is the truth. The Word declares that the love of God comes and supplies us with love. Yet today, there is not a single Christian who truly lives according to such a Word. In other words, what they call the Word, the Spirit, prophecy, tongues, and truth, comes from those who do not have even the evidence, the power, or the fruit of faith as small as a mustard seed. Do not follow the teachings of man that exalt only the inspiration of words, without the evidence appearing as the Scripture says. Instead, follow the true shepherd who leads so that the evidence and the fruit described below will surely appear.
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.(Ephesians 4 : 15~16)
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.(Colossians 2 : 18~19)
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works…(Titus 2 : 11~15)
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.(Titus 3 : 3~7)
The love of God comes into our hearts and nurtures us. If there is a Christian who does not understand this meaning, then depart quickly from that church and from that pastor. For God is love. Any spirit, gift, power, tongues, or prophecy that does not abide in this love of God is 100% the spirit of Satan—it is the work of demons, pretense, falsehood, corruption, and heresy.
“For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.” (2 Corinthians 13:4)
Just as this Word declares, to lead believers to receive the gift of power by which love is supplied is the work of God’s shepherd, the truth of God, and the gift of God. Faith and belief that do not show even the power, the fruit, or the evidence of a mustard seed are nothing but dead faith, the faith of the adversary, and the fleshly faith that stands as an enemy against love.
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.(1 John 4 : 7~21)
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.(2 Timothy 3 : 16~17)
All the words of God, His visions, His power, and His truth exist in order to make us children of love, resembling God who is the source of love. It is not by the will or zeal of man born of the flesh, but by pursuing the love of God and receiving the supply of the power of His love, that He leads us to fully do good works. Therefore, a true Christian neither lives nor dies for himself.
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.(1 Timothy 4 : 6)
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.(Romans 14 : 7)
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.(Romans 13 : 8~10)
Do not follow the teachings of man that, failing to lead you to receive the love of God in which the power of God works, only stir up awakenings, resolutions, and determinations by relying on oneself through the inspiration of words throughout a lifetime. The teachings of man, which endlessly repeat awakenings, resolutions, and determinations but can never go beyond the limits of man, only puff up the hearts of believers like leaven that soon dies out when one turns away. They are nothing but intellectual, academic, theoretical, and emotional values that twist and falsify the interpretation of the Scriptures. By such means, one can never escape the limits of the flesh, and no matter how much one learns, hears, perceives, or knows, whoever follows the teachings of man is nothing but a child of the devil who only repeats sin.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.(2 Corinthians 10 : 3~6)
As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.(2 Peter 3 : 16~17)
Whoever continues to repeat sin, no matter who they are, is nothing but a child of the devil. Remember that He came to call sinners. Repent, as He commanded: Repent! Receive the power of God’s love that puts to death the evil habits of man that can only lead to the repetition of sin. Please, read the Scriptures. Truly, though you have eyes you do not see, and though you have ears you do not hear—you are blind guides.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.(1 John 3 : 8)
Many people exalt religion and the buildings of churches in order to justify and excuse their fleshly lives. Because they cannot even discern whether they believe in religion or in God, they fail to become examples of light and salt. What you believe for is what matters most. In short, everything is determined by this: whether one serves God while clinging to the world and to material things—faith of the flesh that seeks only blessings, happiness, success, and prosperity born of the desires of the body—or whether one makes the love of Christ, the hope of Christ, and the life of Christ the goal of life, sacrificing all and even denying one’s own life.
Whether it is faith of the flesh or faith of the Spirit is revealed by what one seeks. Those who ask only for worldly sorrows—family problems, business problems, workplace problems, relationship problems, children’s problems, health problems—are fleshly, for such worldly sorrows end in judgment and death. But the children of love who abide in God’s love, following the love of Christ, receive the gift of God’s power: the power that supplies love which leads them beyond the human limitation of endlessly repeating sin, even though they may awaken, resolve, and determine all their lives. To lead believers to obtain this divine power that surpasses human limits is the work of a true shepherd of God. Sermons of pastors that only stir awakenings, resolutions, and determinations, chasing the inspiration of words while leaving believers bound to repeating sin, are not the truth itself. For more, ask your questions in Dialogues with the Almighty. Take heart!