Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (I John 3:24)
The Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, is our proof and confirmation that we are children of God. “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) We can't "see" the Holy Spirit with our eyes, nor can we "touch" Him with our hands, but we can be sure that He is in us because ...the fruit [evidence] of the Spirit [in us] is love, joy, peace, longsuffering [patience], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22) We will continue to grow in these characteristics and behaviors, as we more and more turn away from ...adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like (Galatians 5:19-21).
Two physical manifestations, or visible evidence of this change in us will be in how we treat others. The first is, By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (I John 3:16) Jesus demonstrated this first manifestation of agape love, unconditional love towards us, and expects us to demonstrate it towards each other, when He taught us, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. These things I command you, that you love one another." (John 15:13-15, 17) “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (John 10:17-18)
For those of us who live in America, we are very fortunate to live in a country where we have religious freedom, as outlined in Amendment 1 of the Bill of Rights. But there are still a large number of Christians throughout the world who are persecuted and killed everyday, just because they believe in God and try to share their belief with others, even in this country. But, we must not forget that throughout history there have been times when people, who profess to be believers of God, have also persecuted and killed people, believing that they were helping the cause of God: the Apostle Paul, before his encounter with Christ (Acts 22, 26); the "Christian" Crusades of 1095-1291; Religious Wars of 1560-1715; the Holocaust of the Jews by Hitler during WWII of 1933-1945; Catholicism of Europeans towards the Native People of America; the Civil War with the Confederate States not wanting to abolish slavery; Muslim attacks of westerners, prior to and since 9/11; Hate Crimes against gays; etc.
Any belief or religion that teaches we should oppress or kill another person or destroy a group of people is NOT of The One True and Living God, ...there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.! (I Corinthians 8:6) God spoke all these words, saying: “You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:1, 13; Deuteronomy 5:17) And He [The Lord] said: Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; (Deuteronomy 32:20, 35); For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.” (Hebrews 10:30) We are never to tolerate sin, but nor are we to tolerate injustice! As the Apostle Paul stated, our job is to tell people the Truth, but it's God's job to change them (I Corinthians 3). ...God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds” [Psalm 28:4; Proverb 24:12]: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil,... For there is no partiality with God. (Romans 2:5-9, 11);
With that being said, the second manifestation of our spiritual change is helping others: But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (I John 3:17) Jesus elaborated on this by explaining what we should do: Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And [He] will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25:37-40) “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;... For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?... And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?... Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-45, 46, 47, 48)
The long and short of it is this: My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 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. (I John 3:18-23) So [Jesus] answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27) AMEN!
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