Christian Living

---

IF/THEN

IF the Scriptures call it righteous, THEN it is righteous.
IF the Scriptures call it sin, THEN it is sin.

Jesus, speaking to a group of Jews who had just placed their faith upon Him and believed Him for salvation, said to them, “IF you continue in MY Word, THEN are you My disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

They bristled at the thought of freedoms opposite. They declared to Jesus that bondage was not a part of their history because they were the seed of Abraham and had never been in bondage to anyone!

They, like many of us, did not know their accurate history and neither were they conscious of their current condition.

They had 400 years of bondage to Egypt in their history, and other times of bondage as well; and they were at that time under the domination of Rome.

Jesus told them very specifically that He was speaking to them of being under the domination of sin; “I say unto you that whoever commits sin is the servant of sin; IF the son therefore shall make you free, (THEN) you shall be free indeed.”
Curiously they were erroneously focused on their position of physical birthright. They felt safe and justified because as they said it, “Abraham is our father.”

Salvation is an individual choice. Indeed our family life influences us, but faith in Jesus and the subsequent following of Him as a disciple, is an individual experience.

THEN by what measure shall be compare ourselves to be certain that our faith is validated and that we are not deceived as were the Jews whose faith was in birthright? How can we accurately discern that we are in good standing with the truth and have assurance of our salvation?
Jesus gave us the answer: “IF you continue in My Word THEN are you my disciples indeed.”

“Search the Scriptures diligently for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they that testify of Me.” John 5:39

IF we do not read the Scriptures THEN we will not live by the Word. We will sin, and we will place our faith for our secure position of salvation on unreliable sources such as family, or church affiliation, or some good deeds that we have done.

“Thinking ourselves to be wise, we become fools.”

We become those living under the domination of sinful practices and thereby are servants to sin and therefore are NOT the true disciples of Jesus.

It was Jesus Who said, “IF you continue in My Word, THEN are you My disciples indeed!”

The challenge THEN is to make it a daily practice of opening The Book and learning what information lies within its pages. IF we do that, and THEN live by its words, we will be His disciples indeed!

Ramona, 04/11/2012

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE