You know what this is REALLY all about? It is all about ABIDING in Christ, STAYING there with Christ...
If you die in a state of REBELLION against God you arent going to Heaven because you were not ABIDING in Christ. He isnt just a Guest for a night... You open the door and LET HIM IN!
1Jn:2:28: And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
How do we show that we "abide" in Him? Note that the verses below explain how to tell whether or not you are "abiding" in Jesus and He in you:
1Jn:3:6: Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
"If a man love Me," Christ said, "he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." John 14:23.
To "abide" in Christ, you must "die to self" and no longer walk in the flesh... Jn:12:24: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (that would be the fruits of the Spirit)
1Jn:3:14: We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
1Jn:2:10: He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
1Jn:3:24: 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.
1Jn:2:6: He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
You do not see any "just believe" there do you? What we hear about abiding in Christ is... he who sinneth not, he who keeps My words, he who dies to self, he who loves the brethren, he who keeps the commandments, he who walks as Jesus walked... it is THEY who are abiding in Christ! Remember, John clearly said that ONLY if you abide in Him, will you have confidence at Jesus' second coming! The wicked shall be consumed with the glory of His brightness. 1Jn:2:28: And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
2Thes:2:8: "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." Sin and all those who cling to sin will be consumed!
The wicked, they who choose to cling to their sins and not let them go, will be heading for the hills and begging the mountains to fall on them to shield them from Christ! They will NOT have confidence. And why? ...obviously because they were NOT abiding in Him!
Luke 23:27-30: "And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us."
Isaiah 2:16-21: "And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth."
You are either going to get rid of your sins and your idols NOW or else you will do it LATER, when it is too late! And if you expect to have confidence before God in that day, you MUST abide in Jesus... ALONE!
Let me put this in very simple terms. You MUST cling to Jesus alone for merit, for salvation. You MUST not trust to your own works for salvation. Anything you offer to God in the way of good works to gain salvation will be rejected as "filthy rags". Period! HOWEVER, you CANNOT cling to Jesus with one hand and cling to sin with the other! Drop it! Cling to Jesus with BOTH HANDS! Let His Holy Spirit dwell in you, abide in you and you abide in Him... CLING TO HIM... and the fruits of the Spirit (love, etc) will appear... NOT SIN!
1Jn:3:7: Little children, let no man deceive you: he that DOETH righteousness IS righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn:3:18: My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Brothers and Sisters, LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU! Do not allow anybody to convince you that works have nothing to do with your salvation. This is a terrible deception, and this "works do not matter" lie comes from Satan himself.
Someone who commits suicide or murder at time of death is no different than someone who is just clinging to their idols and refusing to let them go.
And people can use all these extreme examples of suicide all they want but all they are trying to do is to make it appear that it is OKAY to depart from God.
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