"And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments."
Lots of the time, people like to stress the grace of God in salvation to such an extent that they obscure the
imperative that we must obey His commands. It truly boggles the mind. Jesus is our Savior, but He is also our
Lord. And what good is it, calling Him Lord, if we disregard His laws? It is preposterous! Just read all of 1 John,
read James. Read the Gospels, for cryin' out loud! You can't get around it. God does not deliver us from the
read James. Read the Gospels, for cryin' out loud! You can't get around it. God does not deliver us from the
judgment our sins deserve, only to give us the "freedom" to pursue those same sins. I mean, see here:
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know
that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
we too might walk in newness of life." - Romans 6:1-4
We clearly see throughout the bible that there is an expectation that christians will obey the law of God! Once
again, read the Psalms, the Proverbs... It's all over the place. One specific thing I would draw your attention to
is this: Jesus never said that all we have to do is "ask Him into our heart", and then we'd be good to go. He said,
"Follow Me". He also said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". And what does one repent of but sin?
At the same time, I must have at least one disclaimer here, to avoid a misunderstanding. All this is not to say
that if you sin, you are not really a christian. Christians sin. That is reality. What this does mean is that a true
christian, i.e., a person that has repented of his sin and depends entirely on Christ for his hope and salvation,
also has a desire for, and a growing inclination towards, righteousness. This person knows that there is nothing
good in his old nature, and that he must obey the One who is his only source of life, for He says, "Follow Me"!
again, read the Psalms, the Proverbs... It's all over the place. One specific thing I would draw your attention to
is this: Jesus never said that all we have to do is "ask Him into our heart", and then we'd be good to go. He said,
"Follow Me". He also said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". And what does one repent of but sin?
At the same time, I must have at least one disclaimer here, to avoid a misunderstanding. All this is not to say
that if you sin, you are not really a christian. Christians sin. That is reality. What this does mean is that a true
christian, i.e., a person that has repented of his sin and depends entirely on Christ for his hope and salvation,
also has a desire for, and a growing inclination towards, righteousness. This person knows that there is nothing
good in his old nature, and that he must obey the One who is his only source of life, for He says, "Follow Me"!
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