God's Kingdom

[NoahK]

Christ tells us to seek first the kingdom of heaven (a kingdom of righteousness). So how have you sought righteousness in your life?

 

[Hopeful 2]

Hey All,
That is not quite what John wrote.
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
Those who walk in darkness, falsely professing a relationship with Jesus, lie.
But John also said:
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

It is the same people addressed in verse 6 and 10 !
Those who walk in darkness !
They can not say they have fellowship with God, or that they have so sin, or that they have never sinned.
1 John 2:3-6 also shows that those who walk in darkness cannot say they even know God.

If we, we as in John included, say we have no sin, that is also self deception. We lie to ourselves and the truth is not in us.
So, I ask you Hopeful 2, how is your declaration of "no sin" not a self deception?

I walk in the light, and in God there is no sin !

Based upon John's teachings here, if you declare yourself to have "no sin," you are lying to yourself and subsequently to the rest of us.

Do you think anyone walks in God, who is the light ? (1 John 1:5)

As long as we are new creatures within our sinful flesh, the struggle Paul talks about in Romans will continue.

New creatures don't have sinful skin and bones.
2 Cor 5:17..."Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

John is not denying that struggle in his letter.
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
John does not want us to sin.
But recognizes that we, even as believers, will sin occasionally.
Sometimes we will lose the struggle.
And John tells us what to do when we do sin.

In 1 John 2, John is pointing out to those who have already used the Advocate that He is there for those who have not yet availed themselves of Him.

One final note, when Jesus taught the Lord's prayer, did He say don't worry about sin because you have no sin?

Jesus walked among men who could not yet be reborn of His Father's seed.
They all walked in the flesh, and not in the Spirit like we can today.

Or did Jesus say " . . . forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matt 6:12

He did say it.
To men who still committed sin.
Jesus' resurrection changed that.
Having been given the gift of repentance from sin, we can now turn from sin permanently !
That gift, plus the Holy Ghost, can keep us walking in the light without end.
Thanks be to God !

Our model prayer recognizes our need for continuing forgiveness.
We get that by asking for it.

If that is your model prayer, you are still in the OT.

I believe God left us in these sinful flesh envelopes so that we never take God's grace for granted.

Well don't believe it anymore, because He didn't.
He made us new creatures, gendered from His own Father's seed.

So I try to do two things every day.
Thank God for my life.
And ask for forgiveness.
As long as I do those two things, I have my joy.
1 John 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
That is what works for me.

Wouldn't walking in complete obedience to God make you more joyous ?

 

[Exeter]

Called to serve? Are you a pastor? Seems the moderators here are very well-versed in Scripture. My experience has been only pastors have that kind of depth of understanding about Scripture is why I asked.

I have done quite a bit of pastoring, preaching, and administration since graduating from Ministry Training College in 1989. My wife and I are in our 70s now so not as active in leadership as we used to be. I must say all followers of Christ are called to serve in some way, but you know that.

 

[NoahK]

The qualifier is verse 5, where John first differentiates between those who walk in darkness and those who walk in the light.

Sure, in fact, lots of verses reference perfect obedience to God.
Here is a sampling of the more than twenty that I keep handy...
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” (Rom. 6:6-7)
"Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." (Rom 6:18)
"But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." (Rom 6:22)
One more..."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;" (1 Peter 4:1)

Where you baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of past sins ?
If "yes", couldn't you have said you had no sins as you came up out of the water ?

Free from sin doesn't mean you can sin without consequences. The Israelites learned that lesson the hard way. Old Testament is full of accounts where things went well when they turned to God after sinning. Then they sinned again and things didn't go so well for them until they repented of their sin. Again and again. And God, because the Israelites were His people, forgave them. Just as He forgives us when we repent of our sin today.

 

[Hopeful 2]

Free from sin doesn't mean you can sin without consequences.

You are right, but being free from sin infers abstaining from sin.

The Israelites learned that lesson the hard way. Old Testament is full of accounts where things went well when they turned to God after sinning. Then they sinned again and things didn't go so well for them until they repented of their sin. Again and again. And God, because the Israelites were His people, forgave them. Just as He forgives us when we repent of our sin today.

Yeah, but even today folks have not seen that pattern, and continue to commit sins.
The last chapter of God's book will manifest who understood that pattern and changed...to the glory of God !

 

[NoahK]

You are right, but being free from sin infers abstaining from sin.

Yeah, but even today folks have not seen that pattern, and continue to commit sins.
The last chapter of God's book will manifest who understood that pattern and changed...to the glory of God !

True, in my daily Scripture readings I am currently reading Revelation. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Hopeful 2]

True, in my daily Scripture readings I am currently reading Revelation. Thanks for sharing.

As an aside...what part of Illinois are you from ?
I have lived in Salem, Collinsville, from 1960 to 1968, and Glen Ellyn from '68 to '74 and again from 1980 to 1982.

 

[Josef]

Hey All,
We are not free from sin.
That is the point of 1 John chapter 1.
There is no us and them in this chapter.
There is only we, you, your, us, and our; or ourselves.
(Using the KJV)

V4. We, you, your
V5. We, you
V6. We, we, we
V7. We, we, us
V8. We, we, ourselves, us
V9. We, us, our, us
V10. We, we, we, us

All are inclusionary pronouns.

1 John 1:5-6 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

If say we have fellowship, and we don't, then we are lying.
Can a believer, not walk in fellowship and still be called a believer?
Obviously not.
We cannot have a relationship with someone we do not know.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

This is pretty self-explanatory.
If we love God, and one another, we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus from all sin.

But watch what John is setting up.

1 John 1:8-9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We can not live a lie and be saved.
If we love God and one another, we are cleansed from all sin.
OK, I love God, and my neighbor as myself, but I still sin.
Does that mean I am not saved because I still sin?
No it does not.

In fact, anyone who says they do not sin is a liar.
That's not me, that's John talkin.
So, in fact, saying "I don't sin" is saying ya do.
So saying, "I do sin" is the truth for all believers; even the apostle John.
Don't deny your sin, own it.
Its mine.
I am not proud of it.
In fact, I am embarrassed by it.
I have been a believer for over sixty years and I still make mistakes.
How do you think that makes me feel?
"Sixty years plus, and he still can't get it right."
I must be mentally challenged if I cannot get it right by now.
I have come to the conclusion that this is me.
God saved me when I asked Him.
And to be sure, I have sinned my fair share and beyond since then.
But by owning them, I also own the truth.
And when I own the truth, I am cleansed from "all" unrighteousness.
It feels good to be clean.

The truth is I don't want to sin.
Sometimes my flesh gets the better of me, and I do sin.
However, the sin I do does not affect my salvation.
It affects my relationship with God.
Think of the prodigal son.
His stupidity affected his life.
But he was still the man's son.
He never stopped being the man's son.

That is the point John is making.
We, WE, will make mistakes.
As long as we confess them, we are cleaned from all, ALL, unrighteousness.

Amen.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

 

[Hopeful 2]

Hey All,
We are not free from sin.
That is the point of 1 John chapter 1.
There is no us and them in this chapter.
There is only we, you, your, us, and our; or ourselves.
(Using the KJV)

V4. We, you, your
V5. We, you
V6. We, we, we
V7. We, we, us
V8. We, we, ourselves, us
V9. We, us, our, us
V10. We, we, we, us

All are inclusionary pronouns.

1 John 1:5-6 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

If say we have fellowship, and we don't, then we are lying.
Can a believer, not walk in fellowship and still be called a believer?
Obviously not.
We cannot have a relationship with someone we do not know.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

This is pretty self-explanatory.
If we love God, and one another, we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus from all sin.

But watch what John is setting up.

1 John 1:8-9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We can not live a lie and be saved.
If we love God and one another, we are cleansed from all sin.
OK, I love God, and my neighbor as myself, but I still sin.
Does that mean I am not saved because I still sin?
No it does not.

In fact, anyone who says they do not sin is a liar.
That's not me, that's John talkin.
So, in fact, saying "I don't sin" is saying ya do.
So saying, "I do sin" is the truth for all believers; even the apostle John.
Don't deny your sin, own it.
Its mine.
I am not proud of it.
In fact, I am embarrassed by it.
I have been a believer for over sixty years and I still make mistakes.
How do you think that makes me feel?
"Sixty years plus, and he still can't get it right."
I must be mentally challenged if I cannot get it right by now.
I have come to the conclusion that this is me.
God saved me when I asked Him.
And to be sure, I have sinned my fair share and beyond since then.
But by owning them, I also own the truth.
And when I own the truth, I am cleansed from "all" unrighteousness.
It feels good to be clean.

The truth is I don't want to sin.
Sometimes my flesh gets the better of me, and I do sin.
However, the sin I do does not affect my salvation.
It affects my relationship with God.
Think of the prodigal son.
His stupidity affected his life.
But he was still the man's son.
He never stopped being the man's son.

That is the point John is making.
We, WE, will make mistakes.
As long as we confess them, we are cleaned from all, ALL, unrighteousness.

Amen.

Keep walking everybody.
May God bless,
Taz

If we walk in the light-God, it is evident that we are not committing sin.
If we are committing sin, we are walking in darkness.
We can't walk in both at the same time.
It is up to us to keep walking in the light !

Thank God for the ability to do so, and for scriptures like..."There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Cor 10:13)
Look for the escapes !
They re there, thanks be to God.

 

[journeymanisnothing]

If we walk in the light-God, it is evident that we are not committing sin.

This is right,

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Rom.6:1-2 NKJV

It's interesting also because there's much controversy over when "the 1st resurrection" occurs. When does the Kingdom of God appear? The Messiah said,

The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Lk.17:20-21 NIV

Why couldn't the religious elite see Gods' Kingdom among them already? The Messiah said,

Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. Jn.3:3 NIV

Paul clearly compared being born again, coming to faith in Jesus with the first resurrection,

The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Rom.6:10-11 NIV

 

[NoahK]

As an aside...what part of Illinois are you from ?
I have lived in Salem, Collinsville, from 1960 to 1968, and Glen Ellyn from '68 to '74 and again from 1980 to 1982.

Was raised half way to Iowa LOL in Aurora. Now not too far from Schaumburg.

 

[JLB]

I am sure glad you can finally see that !
Many can honestly say they have no sin.
But, it is contingent on a continued walk in God who is the light of 1 John 1.
It is those who walk in darkness who can never say they have no sin.

Please post scripture to make your point.

 

[Hopeful 2]

Was raised half way to Iowa LOL in Aurora. Now not too far from Schaumburg.

My sister and niece live in Aurora.

 

[Hopeful 2]

Please post scripture to make your point.

God is the light. (1 John 1:5a)..."This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light,"

If we are in the light, we are in God.

There is no sin in God. (1 John1:5b)..."and in him is no darkness at all."

People who walk in God-the light have had all their sins washed away by the blood of Christ. (1 John 1:7)..."But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

Darkness is sin. "The way of the wicked is as darkness:" (Pro 4:19a)

Those who walk in darkness cannot walk in God. (1 John 1:5)..."This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. "

They cannot say they have fellowship with God. (1 John 1:6)..."If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:"

They cannot say they know God. (1 John 2:3-4)..."And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

 

[Hopeful 2]

This is right,

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Rom.6:1-2 NKJV

It's interesting also because there's much controversy over when "the 1st resurrection" occurs. When does the Kingdom of God appear? The Messiah said,

The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Lk.17:20-21 NIV

Why couldn't the religious elite see Gods' Kingdom among them already? The Messiah said,

Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. Jn.3:3 NIV

Paul clearly compared being born again, coming to faith in Jesus with the first resurrection,

The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Rom.6:10-11 NIV

The first resurrection will occur when satan is cast into the bottomless pit. (Rev 20:1-6)

 

[journeymanisnothing]

The first resurrection will occur when satan is cast into the bottomless pit. (Rev 20:1-6)

I was taught this too for many years.
The "bottomless pit" isn't a physical place. It's a "place" in the sense of sinful lifestyle that can never be filled and satan is "cast there" whenever a sinner "comes to life" in Christ.
If satan is now free, then 1Jn.5:18 cannot be true,

We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. 1Jn.5:18 NKJV

 

[Hopeful 2]

I was taught this too for many years.
The "bottomless pit" isn't a physical place. It's a "place" in the sense of sinful lifestyle that can never be filled and satan is "cast there" whenever a sinner "comes to life" in Christ.

You are philosophizing.

If satan is now free, then 1Jn.5:18 cannot be true,
We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. 1Jn.5:18 NKJV

It is true, thanks be to God: but not because the devil hasn't been cast away yet.
It is true because after a true repentance from sin, when we are baptized into Christ, and into His death and burial, we can be raised with Christ to walk in newness of life. (Rom 6:3-4)
We have the power to resist all temptations now, in spite of the devil's location !

 

[NoahK]

My sister and niece live in Aurora.

Graduated from West Aurora about 6 decades ago. lol

 

[Hopeful 2]

Graduated from West Aurora about 6 decades ago. lol

I graduated from Glenbard East, (Lombard, IL), in '72.

 

[journeymanisnothing]

You are philosophizing.

I'm showing that God has always had power over death. Before He was crucified. He proved it after being crucified.

It is true, thanks be to God: but not because the devil hasn't been cast away yet.

Cast away from where? Where exactly is the devil being cast away from?

It is true because after a true repentance from sin, when we are baptized into Christ, and into His death and burial, we can be raised with Christ to walk in newness of life. (Rom 6:3-4)

Paul is making the comparison between "walking in newness of life" with being "resurrected like Christ."

Jesus regarded people as either living or dead as He spoke to them... depending on whether they believed or not. <---Interpret
scripture this way --->not the way the world views the living and dead.

We have the power to resist all temptations now, in spite of the devil's location !

Yeah,

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Lk.10:19 KJV

Immortalized now.

 

[journeymanisnothing]

When we start seeing "Gods' Kingdom" as everywhere and everything in existence (simply because He made and owns it) then it makes sense why believers must be preserved in His Spirit before He returns in Person, because unrepentant sinners are removed from His Kingdom

The earth is the LORD'S... Psa.24:1 KJV

the meek shall inherit the earth Psa.37:11

the wicked shall be cut off from the earth...Pro.2:22 KJV

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth Mt.5:5 KJV

Believers own this world now because our Father now owns it. There is no pride in believing this so much that you know it.
There in no reason for us to be proud because we're all adopted and anyone can be. For now...not later.