Originally posted by Benjamin:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by James_Newman:
Condemnation, judgment, whatever. If there are no consequences, your 'accountability' is nothing but idle threats.
Matthew 7:21
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
This verse clearly states that entering the kingdom is conditioned upon doing the will of the Father. How do you get around this?
The will of the Father that his Son’s blood would pay for your sins if full by having faith in Him. The people Jesus was speaking to in v21 were trying to show what good works they had done, missing the point.
I once had this conversation with a contractor who struggled with drugs and sin about the JSOC and Jesus saying He had many mansions, and also about being naked when he got there, being warm not hot or cold and wearing white linen. He said that he was weak but Jesus was strong and no one was ever going to convince him his sins weren’t paid for in full and that he would just mow the grass naked if that’s all he was capable of getting.
</font>[/QUOTE]The will of the Father is certainly that all who believe on the Son should be saved:
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
But that is not the complete will of God, that is just the beginning of your new life in Christ, and God has an even greater will than this for you. Now that you are born again, it is His will that you should walk in the spirit and not in the flesh.
1 Peter 4:1-2
1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
The Lord wants us to do good works as a testimony to the world.
1 Peter 2:15
15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
There are many things that God wants us to be doing while we wait patiently on the Lord's return.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-18
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
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.
16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
All these things and more are the will of God that He would have us do if we hope to inherit the kingdom. It is good to rest in the finished work of Christ for the gift of eternal salvation. But it is wrong to rest for the reward.
Your friend the naked lawnmower needs to realize that through Christ, he is dead to sin.
Romans 6:12-14
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Jesus is going to spew the lukewarm Christians out of His mouth. To use the excuse that we are weak is to deny that the Lord has given us the power to overcome sins through His blood as well as paid the price for our sins.