obedience

Blog for Podcast #234 (Obedience is Required)

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Intro

This is Dreamwalker1960. As a reminder you can read the transcripts of all my podcasts at dreamwalker1960.com. You can use most podcast platforms if you wish to listen. All you need to do is do a search for Dreamwalker1960.

Discussion

1 Peter 1:13-19 AMP – So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed. [Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel]. But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living. For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. [Lev. 11:44, 45.] And if you call upon Him as [your] Father Who judges each one impartially according to what he does, [then] you should conduct yourselves with true reverence throughout the time of your temporary residence [on the earth, whether long or short]. You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver and gold, But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot.

Within these verses is a very clear statement. A statement that is direct in its declaration. It is made by the one that denied Christ three times before His crucifixion.

Before I continue, a sidetrack. A story of the twelve. The chosen apostles. One rejected Him for mammon. Mammon is riches, money, possessions, property. 10 ran and hid. Of these 10, one outright denied Him three times. Then one and one alone stood courageously. Standing before the cross as Christ died.

The one who rejected Him for mammon hung himself. The ten that hide died horrible deaths. The one that denied Him was hung upon a cross upside down. However, they preached the True Word of God until their murders. The one that stood strong before Him as He died for all our sins lived to die of natural causes. Even though he was poisoned and even placed into boiling oil. This last one also was given the blessing of writing what would become the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, in the 90s AD.

“[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel].

“Live as children of obedience to God.”

Obedience. This is spelled out at the end of the sentence.

“When you did not know the requirements of the Gospel.”

So, there are requirements given in the Gospel. Let’s define the word “requirement.”

Requirement – something that you must do, or something you need.

“Something you must do.” These words bring us to this from the Word of God.

Matthew 5:17-19 NKJV – “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

This clearly states that the laws given to us by the Prophets of the OT as well as the commandments written down within the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus that were not removed by the cross ARE still in effect. The only laws removed were those that dealt with sacrifice. How we live our daily lives are still in effect. How we dress, not getting tattoos are still in effect.

Deuteronomy 6:1-2 NKJV – “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 NKJV – You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

 Deuteronomy 6:17-19 NKJV – You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the LORD swore to your fathers, to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.

Deuteronomy 6:24-25 NKJV – And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.’

Deuteronomy 11:1 NKJV – “Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.

Deuteronomy 11:13-19 NKJV – ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’ Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the LORD’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you. “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Deuteronomy 15:1-5 NKJV – “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD’s release. Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, except when there may be no poor among you; for the LORD will greatly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— only if you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today.

Deuteronomy 15:9-11 NKJV – Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become sin among you. You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand. For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’

Deuteronomy 16:18-22 NKJV – “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God is giving you. “You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the LORD your God. You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 NKJV – “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.

Deuteronomy 27:15-26 NKJV – ‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ “And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s bed.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ “

The laws that are still in effect from the book of Leviticus start in chapter 18 and go from there. Know that they’re still in effect. Know that most are ignored.

Abandoned by even those that profess to being “Christian” the most. Yes. You heard that correctly. Most that now profess to being followers of Jesus Christ say the laws are no longer needed. The moment they say this they call the Word of God a lie, thus calling God Himself a liar.

It is truly sad. The time for repentance is now. For if you don’t repent now, it will be too late. For time is nearly up. The first and smallest rapture shall occur soon. Sooner than most ever expect or know. Downsizing is required and ordered from the Word of God itself. Most live in luxury and deny this requirement and make themselves lukewarm. Seen as worse than those that outright deny God. But they refuse to acknowledge this Truth. Truly and completely sad.

God Bless, if you truly listen.

The free-will dilemma: The Judas factor

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Judas is one of the most known and obvious examples of free-will ever in Christianity, but he is the one person I personally have never heard anyone ever talk about in this manner. Why? Most likely due to that fact that doing so they loss anyway of escaping the truth. The truth that we can due to our free-will choice decide to literally betray Jesus Christ and ultimately His Father the Creator of the universe.
We must remember that Jesus Christ picked out those that were to be His disciples. Each one had the potential of doing great things in the in service of God. We must also remember that the Bible clearly states that ALL the disciples did miracles. It did not say eleven of them did and Judas was off to the side watching, it was ALL of them. So per the Bible when the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being of Satan it says this:
Matthew 12:24 – But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devilsp l  by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
So since all of the disciples performed miracles and cast out demons in the name of Jesus all were one with Christ and God.
Yet would Judas be allowed into heaven? Those that preach “once saved always saved,” must say yes, nevertheless they can’t for it is made clear that Judas is seen as unclean as is shown in the beginning of the book of Acts.
This in absolute clarity makes it shown that the man-made doctrine of “once saved always saved” is a creation of humanity. A creation that permits and allows sin to live on and not lead to salvation but to the same damnation that Judas is to suffer.
Judas desired the world over Christ, for he sought out worldly compensation for his act of betrayal against the Son of God. This is the same sin that most now suffer from. They seek after worldly comforts and rewards, not realizing that they are in fact rejecting their Savior. Why? Because they do not realize they are doing so for people are not saying what needs to be said and what needs to be heard. Which is why the once proud nation of the United States of America is in dire straits.
Most are living in a religion they think is “Christian,” but in reality it is not. In most places that were once called “churches” people glorify their power over the world and seek out more and more rewards from the creation than from the Creator, when it is Christ they should be asking for help from. In many of these buildings sins are be allowed into them. Sins that caused entire cities to be destroyed in a rain of fire several thousand years ago, yet those within them think they are one with God, when in reality they are one with the betrayer of the Creator of all the universe.
This is all due to our free-will. A free-will that is both a curse and a blessing. A free-will that should be used to place God at the center of every single action that we do. From simple things like driving down the road and following the speed limit. To difficult things like picking a servant leader to not only head our church but our nation. For people have not been correctly taught that God MUST be involved in every decision that we make, not just those that have to deal with a group of people that call themselves a “church,” but from how we speak to others to how we choose to live in a modest house instead of a seeking after luxury.
God and His Son must be in every single thing we do. We must ask ourselves will this glorify God, will this please God, will this honor God? Trust me. This is hard to do. It is something I struggle with every single day of my life, but it is the way we are to be if we truly wish to serve the Creator of ALL the Lord our God through His Son the true Savior, Jesus Christ.

What is the law that we are not held too in the Bible?

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Here is another one of those things that people have either not been taught correctly or at all. In Romans there is a major section of this letter that deals with the “law” and how those that follow Christ are no longer in need to follow. Many think this means they do not need to follow the Bible at all, others think you do not need to follow the Old Testament, others feel you are free to do as you please as long as they say they are one with Christ.
All of these ideas are false.
What is going on in Romans is an explanation on the need to not give sacrifices at the temple any longer. No longer is the need to prepare food a certain way. No longer necessary is the requirement to follow this ritual or that ritual which have been set forth by the Pharisees. One of the main reasons for this is by the time that Christ walked the earth many un-needed things had been added by humans and not God. So in actuality the original law was not even being truly followed as Christ Himself point out but a type of man-made legalism.
Now what is important Jesus clearly said He came to fully the law and not replace it. So this means that sacrifices were not necessary due to Him going to the cross and being beaten, bleeding as well as dying for us upon it. This very act states that there was, is and will be sin that only His blood can wash away, but due to free-will those that ask Christ into their life’s must repent of their sin.
Now here is the key word: “repent” which means to turn away from. In other words stop doing. If you ask God into your life and you continue to live in sin and do nothing to end nor feel any need to stop sinning. Then per the Bible itself those that continue to be of the world, which sin is a part of, then they choose the world over God and are not even welcome in heaven.
Let’s allow that to sink in a moment.

In several passages within the Bible it is made clear that it is either, or, not both. It is either sin or God, it is either the world and those things of the world or God. It is either do as the Bible says and accept all that the Bible says, which includes what is and what is not a sin, or do whatever makes you happy.
It clearly states within the Bible that for those that choose God their life will not be an easy life. There will be pain suffering and sometimes as is now happening in the Middle East things much worse. Torture, beheading, crucifixions and other terrible things. This what you signed onto when you accepted Jesus.
If any promise you riches and happiness in this world they are of this world not God’s world and you should leave them to their happiness. For they have chosen their rewards here upon this earth in this life that will last nearly one hundred years. Those that truly follow Christ are promised their rewards in the eternal life, a life that will last billions of years, which sounds more interesting? My answer? The eternal life.

Don’t get them confused

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There is obedience and there is legalism.
Legalism is following rituals and formulas of behavior, a prime example of this is Catholicism.
Obedience is just that obeying, but what is there to obey? The Bible sets out a certain type of lifestyle that we are to live. This lifestyle is not legalistic it is as I already said, obedience. This is something that should be something you desire to do if you truly follow Christ for they are His own teachings.
He came here to fulfill the rules of obedience not to replace them, so if any says you do not have to follow the teaching of the Bible just because you have received the grace of God’s salvation through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, then they have either lied to you or have no true understanding of the Bible and its teachings.
You cannot live in sin and say you are a “Christian” period. Sure we all sin, but those that try to avoid it and feel remorse when they do it are striving to be obedient to God. Those that live in sin and care only for their own desires and happiness are disobedient. It is that simple.