Salvation!

The Fire

Christ and the Writings of Moses

Christ and the Writings of Moses

"For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:46-47)

This sharp rebuke by Jesus to the Jewish leaders who were seeking an occasion to have Him executed came as the climax to a long message following His miracle at the pool of Bethesda. These Jews always made a great show of allegiance to the teachings of Moses in the Pentateuch, so Jesus pointed out that this was hypocritical, since Moses "wrote of me"--yet they refused to "believe my words."

There are many "Christian" intellectuals today who are, if anything, involved in even greater hypocrisy, professing to believe in Christ while rejecting the plain teachings of Genesis and the other books of Moses. The Lord Jesus, for example, taught that "from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female" (quoting Genesis 1:27) and also that, therefore, "shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (quoting Genesis 2:24). But these compromising Christians insist that He was quoting from two contradictory accounts of creation, and also that men and women were there not at the "beginning" of creation, but came along about 4.5 billion years after the creation of the earth and about 15 billion years a fter the beginning of the cosmos.

The Lord also taught that the Genesis Flood was global and cataclysmic (Luke 17:26-27), whereas the compromises argue that it was either local or tranquil or both. They also commonly seek to explain away the miracle of the Red Sea parting, the daily bread from heaven, and other mighty miracles recorded in the books of Moses. Rejecting Moses and his teaching to their shame, how can they really believe in Christ when they reject His words? HMM (From the Institute for Creation Research)

God works in the heart of the believers

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he trims clean so that it will be even more fruitful ... This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
(John 15:2,8)

God works in the heart of the believers, not on their outward appearances (1 Samuel 16:7). He does not sew a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old garment (Mark 2:21). He makes you a new creation, so you joyfully shout, "the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

As a result of this new life you bear fruit. The Father prunes you so you produce much fruit. We all need pruning to lay aside every weight and sin which so easily ensnares us (Hebrews 12:1). We have bad habits, like weights burdening us. We also have evil surroundings ensnaring us. Our abiding in Christ is the condition to bear fruit, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself (John 15:4). Our fruit should increase as we grow in knowing Christ.

The greatest fruit is to live victoriously, defeating Satan and having a successful witness for Christ (Acts 1:8). It glorifies the Father, since it declares the kindness of His care, the goodness of His laws and the abundance of His grace.

Jesus has chosen you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain (John 15:16). He chose you for salvation, and for a service. What an honor!

1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

Menes Abdul-Noor is from Egypt, a respected leader of the Christian Church in Cairo.

7/08/09

Which Jesus?

"The problem with 'asking jesus into your heart' is that there are millions of Jesus' who are waiting to get into your heart, but there's only one true Jesus who says 'Repent and Believe the Gospel' " Rett Copple