1st John 3:23-24, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 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.”
Carefully notice two things above. First, the evidence that we are saved is the presence of God's indwelling Holy Spirit. Second, the evidence that we are abiding in God is that we keep His Commandments. Don't confuse the two! If you're saved, God abides in you; if your right with God, you are abiding in Him. That explains the Epistle of 1st John in a nutshell. I do not believe in the Calvinist false doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. I believe in the perseverance of the Holy Spirit in every believer. That is, we may not faithfully abide in God, but if we are saved He will faithfully abide in us. That is the eternal security of eternal life!
I am so happy to write this article, because I love the Holy Spirit. I want to teach you about Him in this article. Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is God with us. I don't like when theologians call the Holy Spirit the “third” member of the Godhead. I don't like when they call Jesus the “second” person of the Godhead (or Trinity). Those terms do not appear in the Bible. There is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), Who exists in the three Persons of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). Sometimes the Holy Spirit is called the Holy “Ghost,” which simply means Spirit. John 19:30, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”
The Holy Spirit is called our “Comforter.” The Lord promised that He would not leave us comfortless in life. Jesus promised that He would send The Comforter, which is the blessed indwelling Holy Spirit. John 14:16, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” John 14:18, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Cults are started by unsaved people who attempt to teach the Bible, who do not have the indwelling Holy Spirit of God in them. God is the divine Author of the Holy Bible, and if we are to correctly understand it, we need the presence of the Holy Spirit to teach us (1st Corinthians 2:14-16).
God promises in Hebrews 13:5 to never leave nor forsake us. There are 5 double negatives in this single Bible verse from the Lord, assuring us that He will never abandon us. Our family may betray and forsake us, as mine did. Our spouse may abandon and divorce us, as mine did. Our friends at church may hurt us and forget about us, as mine did at Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. But our blessed Redeemer promises to NEVER leave nor forsake us!!! Hebrews 13:5, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” The Holy Spirit is a Person, just like you or me.
“Redemption is a work of God the Son. Regeneration is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Justification is the work of God the Father as He declares the sinner righteous in the Son. Conversion then becomes the work of the church as we change the use and purpose of a life.” ―Pastor Jack Hyles, “Conversion And Salvation” (chapter 3) from his book: “Salvation Is More Than Being Saved”
The Holy Spirit is our Teacher, Who guides us into all truth. John 16:13, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin (Hebrews 12:6-8). The Holy Spirit sheds God's love abroad in our heart toward every living creature. Romans 5:5, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” The evidence that a person is saved is not performing good works, because even an unregenerate person can do that; but rather, the evidence of God's salvation is the presence of His beautiful indwelling Holy Spirit. 1st John 3:24b, “And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
The Bible teaches that the moment a person believes the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ and is saved, they are SEALED with the Holy Spirit. I love this passage...
Ephesians 1:12-15, “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,”
Oh how I wish I could reach into every person's heart who believes the heresy of Lordship Salvation, and persuade them to consider this passage. Please notice that no mention is made of repenting of one's sins to be saved. We read the precious phrases: “trusted in Christ” and “whom ye also trusted” and “ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” and “in whom also that after ye believed” and “your faith in the Lord Jesus.” There is no mention whatsoever of repenting of your sins to be saved. No one has ever been saved, who made an effort to stop sinning as part of getting saved by faith in Jesus Christ! God does not accept partial faith in Christ plus works for salvation, pardoning us on the basis of extenuating circumstances (i.e., in one's sincere ignorance). We see this truth evidenced in Matthew 7:21-23, and in Luke 13:23-24. Many people will seek to enter into Heaven someday, but the Lord said they shall not be able (Luke 13:23-24).
Understanding The Epistle Of 1st John
Many Bible students get the Epistle of 1st John very wrong. A common mistake is concluding that we must forsake our sins to prove that we are saved. Tragically, the translators of many modern Bible revisions fail to understand the Word of God, so they butcher the Scriptures to say what God did NOT say. For example:
KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB) - 1st John 3:8-9, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” [emphasis added]
ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (ESV) - 1st John 3:8-9, “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” [emphasis added]
The ESV is oh so wrong! The King James Bible doesn't teach that a believer cannot continue living in sin. As we all know, many professed Christians are living shameful lives of open sinning, living in fornication, substance abuse and covetousness. Proponents of Lordship Salvation claim that such sinners never got saved, accusing them of never having repented (i.e., turning away from their sins). That is a false gospel, which cannot produce the new birth (regeneration) in Jesus Christ! To be “regenerated” means to be born-again, re-gened from above with God's genes by His precious Holy Spirit (John 1:12-13).
The truth is that a genuine born-again child of God certainly CAN keep on sinning! Look at Samson, who chased women all his sinful life. Look at king Solomon, who lived a horrible life of sin, even allowing his hundreds of heathen wives to build high places to worship false gods, and sacrifice their children to them. Consider Demas, who forsook Paul's side in the minister, because he loved this present world. The truth is that every believer continues living in sin! Who can stop sinning? The very idea that making an effort to stop sinning is necessary to receive God's free gift of eternal life is very, very wicked. ...
“Can a child of God be disobedient? The answer has to be 'Yes' otherwise it is not faith alone in Christ alone.” —Pastor Ralph 'Yankee' Arnold, “Lordship Salvation - Part Two”
Pastor Ralph 'Yankee' Arnold (the pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida) further wisely preaches:
“'You can't tell me you can trust Christ as Savior, and then go out here and live like the Devil, and still go to Heaven!' Yes, I can tell you that! That's what the Bible says. If you don't come to the conclusion, that—Yes, you can trust Christ as your Savior and live like the Devil, and still go to Heaven when you die—you don't get grace, because that is the exact truth! That is the truth! I do not have to change my life! I don't have to stop one sin! You say, 'I've never heard a preacher say that.' You just heard one! And you listen to me—I want to live as holy and as godly as I possibly can. I am now 70 years old. I've been saved for 52 years. ... the only reason I'm going to Heaven is because, 52 years ago in a little living room, I accepted Christ as my Savior.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, a great quote from the awesome sermon, “Calvinism And Grace Are NOT Compatible | MP3”
Tragically, Bob Jones University (and hundreds more apostate institutions today) use, sell and promote the English Standard Version (ESV), which perverts 1st John 3:9 to teach that turning from sins in necessary to be saved. The Devil is smarter than anyone on this earth! That is why we must trust the inspired Word of God, yielding in obedience to the Lord (1st John 4:4). The Devil has time on his side, but we don't! We'll be dead in 30-40 years in most cases, and everyone within 100 years, but the Devil will still be here. The Satanic conspiracy to corrupt the Word of God is generational. The New World Order is generational. The corrupt modern Bible revisions are all based on the perverted Greek text of Brooke Westcott (1825-1901) and Fenton Hort (1828-1892), which they presented to the world in 1881.
Meet The Holy Spirit (Pastor Jack Hyles)
Every believer has been entrusted with the Gospel, to pass it on to our generation, and the next. 2nd Corinthians 5:19, “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” It is through faith in the Gospel that we reconcile men to God. Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” Again we see that we are justified BY FAITH; and not by repenting of our sins, as so many false teachers are preaching nowadays! What saith the Scripture? ...
2nd Timothy 1:12-14, “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.”
Paul committed his trust to the Lord. That is what the Bible means in Romans 10:11, “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” You won't be disappointed if you trust the dear Savior. The many chief rulers who believed on Jesus were ashamed of Him, afraid to confess Him (John 12:42-43). They were saved, but hadn't surrendered to Jesus as “Lord” yet. You don't have to receive Jesus as your Lord to be saved, only your personal Savior! Thank God for the awesome blessed Holy Spirit, Who lives inside the spirit, soul and body of every child of God (1st Corinthians 3:16-17; Romans 8:9).
Always remember that you are:
Braver than you believe
stronger than you seem
smarter than you think
and more loved than you know.
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