There has always been a path to being near to God. In the OT in 2 Chronicles 15:1-4, God tells us that “the Lord is with us, when we are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, if you forsake Him, He will forsake you”. Hebrews 11 tells us that “God is a rewarder of those who seek Him”. Proverbs 8:17 tells us “I love those who love Me, and those who diligently seek Me will find Me”.
To have the Lord with us- means that we must be with the Lord, we must choose His side and His requirements. And we must love Him and obey Him, He says that He loves those that love Him. It says that He will forsake those who forsake Him. What does that mean for us today.
In the case of our current situation with leaders who are falling into sin, or are covering sin, it is my belief that if there is no real repentance, they will fall into the category of Matthew 7:23 when Jesus says to those who have done things for the Lord, “Depart from me I never knew you”. It could be that many of those had valid things happen in the beginning of their ministry but for years have been running on hype and on the power of the soul. (Latent Power of the Soul– Watchman Nee)
We clearly see that in the OT and the NT that God can forsake us at some point if we are not careful. This is where my thoughts on Romans 11:29 come in. “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”. This verse is about God’s call on the descendants of the man Israel, and that God will not change His mind on that. He was not talking about the nation of Israel, but as it says in Romans 9:1-8, “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” this means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring”. He was talking about those descendants who come to God thru the faith that is portrayed in the life of the man, Israel. Jews and gentiles, that through Jesus have come to faith in Him. The “spiritual” descendants of the man Israel are the one who will be “as the stars in the heavens and the sand as the sea”, brought in from all the nations. That is God’s plan from the beginning.
God scattered the nation of Israel and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem forty years after they crucified Jesus! A horrible devastation. Not one stone left upon another. 2 Chronicles 15 “If you seek Him, He will be found by you, if you forsake Him, He will forsake you”. God forsook the nation of Israel.
All my life I have heard people say that if a preacher falls into sin, he still has his spiritual gifts and power. I do not believe that, I believe that people have a soul power that mimics the Spirit and we cannot discern it. We are enamored with a “celebrity” status type minister, we are sucked in by the music and the hype.
Even Samson in the OT in Judges 16:20 “Did not know that the Lord had left him”. King Saul in 1 Samuel 16:14, it says “Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear”. King David in Psalm 51:11 “Do not cast me away from Thy presence, and do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me”. Should we be surprised at what Jesus said in Matthew 7:23 “Depart from Me I never knew you”? A man’s ministry may have started good, and they depend on those works at the end of the age, but they may have left the path of righteousness as they got older.
It is sin and disobedience that causes God’s Spirit to leave us. In our modern Christianity it is difficult to discern because there is so much “soul” power on display in our meetings. Hebrews 4:11-13 “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do”.
Discerning between what is Spirit and what is soul can only be done through the Word of God. The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil”. Our leaders must abstain from every form of evil, if they do not, I believe that something gets projected through their teaching, out of their soul power, into those who follow them. We must abstain from evil! I can not stress this enough, so many ministries are functioning through the power of the soul.
A W Tozer saw it coming years ago when he said “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference”. This what we are facing today!
Please consider all of this, I may not have it all right but I feel there is enough evidence in the scripture to have this conversation.
In this age of political upheaval and divisive politics, the church has lost its uniqueness. The modern church is splintered, and it is difficult to even talk about the unity of the brethren. What we see in the church today is a mirror of what we see in the country. Our politics have bled into all areas of church life. The church divides over all sorts of issues including not only politics, but also over different ministries and beliefs.
There is a vast number of teachers, prophets, apostles and evangelists online that you can follow. I once saw a sign in front of a church that said “We have three kinds of worship- contemporary, traditional and blended. One Just right for you!”. There you have it! You can pick and choose who to follow online, there is “one just right for you”. What a twisted thing we have made the church.
When we look in the scriptures at the ‘last supper’, we see men who were radically changed by Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Think about it, you have Simon the Zealot and Matthew the traitor sitting at table with Jesus. Can you wrap your head around that?
The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism that sought to incite the people of Judea Providence to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First Jewish-Roman war(66–70).
The Tax Collector in the Roman world was an official that was often greedy, and usually took the position from love of money. They would frequently extort unjust dues, especially from the poor. Such tax-collectors were infamous among the Jews. As Cornelius a Lapide points out, the Jews “maintained that they, as a people dedicated to God, ought not to pay tribute to the Romans, who were Gentiles and idolaters: for this was contrary to the liberty and dignity of the children of God.” To associate with tax-collectors and sinners was considered sinful behavior for Jews. Tradition stated: “Let not a man associate with the wicked, not even to bring him to the Torah” (Mechilta).
The natural tension between Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector would be obvious! Matthew would have been considered a traitor and Simon would despise him. What happened to them that they were now sitting at table together in fellowship? Jesus happened!! Jesus and the Holy Spirit had a profound effect on them and changed them forever.
Jesus is the great leveler! The things of this world do grow strangely dim when we experience His love and forgiveness. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we become part of the ‘Kingdom of God’! This world loses its glitter! We have a greater inheritance, and Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. Let us live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, preferring one another in love. And may God grant us a unity that is based on His love for us. We are to be unique in the world, not like the world! We are to be holy, that is- set apart, different, showing forth His attributes.
There have been a few questions about changes in theology over the last 20 years. Since I am now an older man, I have seen and experienced quite a bit of change over the years in my own beliefs, as you all are now experiencing. Let me first say, this is normal. As you all mature, have families and deal with issues, you change. “Your senses are being trained to discern good and evil Heb 5:14”. In my early days of coming out of the Jesus Revolution, we young people had an attitude toward older people. I did see these same things coming out of BRSM and FIRE. In our youthful zeal, we had the attitude God was anointing us as a new generation, WE had the anointing. I co-pastored a church in 1977 that was a charismatic church, I was 27 at the time. The average age of our congregation was 17 years old. It took me about three years to realize that I needed to sit under some older men that I knew, so I left the ministry to attend another church. Over the years I began having the realization that there were many men of God who were not charismatic and but had a powerful anointing. I was reading books by Leonard Ravenhill, Watchman Nee, AW Tozer and others. I stayed away from the current charismatic books that focused on the gifts of the Spirit, tongues, prophecy and other sorts of charismatic teachings. It did strike me, that after going to a Billy Graham rally, that this man had an anointing from God and was not charismatic. Charismatics would criticize AW Tozer because he didn’t have the Spirit. They would say, “Just think how powerful he would be if he had the Spirit”, Leonard Ravenhill called those people out saying, “Show me one charismatic preacher who could write a book like Tozer”. If you read Tozer’s books, he believed in the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I you read DL Moody’s book Secret Power, it is all about him receiving the Spirit, just not in the charismatic way. We must realize that all through history there were great men and great movements that were led by people who were not filled with the Holy Spirit in the same way that charismatic circles teach. People like Jonathan Edwards, Andrew Murray, DL Moody, William Booth, George Fox, Augustine, George Whitefield and the Wesleys all had a level of the Holy Spirit that gave them power for ministry. John Dowie had a huge healing ministry in the late 1800’s, long before the Azuza Street revival, and he did not embrace it. We need to ask the question; how did these men get power with God? Secret power comes from secret prayer. So rethinking your theology is a good thing, we need to mature as we learn to discern.
Just the other day I was talking with a pastor friend of mine who made the comment that he had heard of 17 major ministries that had ‘fallen’ in the last few years. While this is nothing new, it appears that there is a growing moral problem that is more pervasive than any time in history. At no other time have we faced the temptation of being able to privately view ‘filth’ anywhere and at any time we desire on our personal phones. The porn industry is one of the largest industries in the world. Whoever gave it the name ‘web’ didn’t realize how prophetic they were in describing its power to grip its prey and not let go.
This generation came ‘out of the closet’ years ago and brazenly flaunted what previous generations had practiced but primarily kept hidden. All this to say we live in a sin sex-soaked society that no longer has any sense of shame in what they do or say. Unfortunately, many current leaders have had to battle with what is now a cultural norm.
With that in mind this brings me to the recent scandals plaguing the Body of Christ. While I am not personally acquainted with most of these men, I am familiar with one of them having spent several years ministering in the same organization. While it is not my purpose to further comment on these individuals, I do want to address what I feel is a double standard when it comes to passing judgment on them.
Having watched numerous YouTube videos of spiritual pundits who seem all too eager to throw the first stone; I’ve concluded that these pundits show little brokenness or sorrow toward these individuals but rather seem to delight in having been provided with more fodder to keep their own ministry on the air. Let’s face it, without these scandals they would have nothing to talk about.
When it comes to addressing Church problems, one would profit greatly from the advice and wisdom of Dr. G. Campbell Morgan in his book ‘The Letters of Our Lord.’ In the first chapter dealing with the Church of Ephesus he wrote the following.
‘Is it more than likely that their very opposition to false men and doctrine partook of the nature of lack of love? I would speak very cautiously at this point, for the Lord commended these things, and they were right, but I am quite sure that there may be right things done in a wrong spirit. I seldom find men strenuously fighting what they are pleased to call heterodox teaching, and in bitter language denouncing false doctrine, without being more afraid for the men denouncing than for the men denounced. There is an anger against impurity which is impure. There is a zeal for orthodoxy, which is most unorthodox. There is a spirit that contends for faith, which is in conflict with faith. If men have lost their first love, they will do more harm than good by their defense of the faith. Behind the denunciation of sin there must always be the tenderness of first love if that denunciation is not to become evil in its bitterness. Behind the zeal for truth there must always be the spaciousness of first love if that zeal is not to become narrowed into hate. There have been men who have become so self-centered in a narrowness that they are pleased to designate as holding the truth, that the very principle for which they contend has been excluded from their life and service. All zeal for the Master that is not the outcome of love to Him is worthless.’
My father use to say that “Jesus wept before He whipped” I don’t see too many tears from these pundits, but their whippings seem endless. I wonder if these fallen leaders were family members if they would be so quick to judge them?
Now please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not trying to treat these things in a lighthearted manner -they are tragic for all concerned. I can’t imagine the pain and shame their wives and family must be going through not to forget their church family who are now wrongly labeled guilty by association. Nor can I imagine being a victim and having to suffer the pain and shame of being taken advantage of by a so called ‘man of God’.
Now here is where I’m having trouble. Do I believe these individuals should be quarantined or placed in the penalty box? Yes I do! The question is for how long? Most pundits seem to agree ‘forever’ is the right discipline. Here is where I’m struggling. God exhorts us in His Word to judge righteous judgment. If the ‘lustful look ‘is akin to adultery as Jesus clearly taught us, then 95% of all ministers should step down immediately and permanently.
In the case of King David’s adultery, deceit and subsequent death of Uriah God took the life of King David’s and Bathsheba’s firstborn. However, when David’s pride caused him to number the size of his army; God’s judgement cost him seventy thousand men! His sin of passion cost him only one life, his sin of pride seventy thousand. (Interestingly enough when David was confronted and acknowledged his sin with Bathsheba he stated “I have sinned against the Lord.” However, when acknowledging his sin of pride David said, “I have sinned greatly or exceedingly.”)
I personally believe that while the sexual or sensual actions of these men was sinful and without excuse their pride was even more hideous in God’s sight. You can’t tell me that leading a mega church or large successful movement, doesn’t cause one to fall prey to pride, then you are totally ignorant of how the enemy works. When the disciples returned from a day of casting out demons Jesus warned them not to brag about their accomplishments but rather rejoice in His work of grace in their lives alluding to the fact that it was pride that brought about Satan’s fall and could also lead to their own.
There is a very insightful message from Saint Thomas Aquinas who wrote sometime around 1550. “..in order to overcome their pride, God punishes certain men by allowing them to fall into sins of the flesh, which though they be less grievous are more evidently shameful…pride is the worst of all vices; whether because it is appropriate to those who are of highest and foremost rank, or because it originates from just and virtuous deeds, so that its guilt is less perceptible. On the other hand, carnal lust is apparent to all, because from the outset it is of a shameful nature: and yet under God’s dispensation, it is less grievous than pride. For he who is in the clutches of pride and feels it not, falls into the lusts of the flesh, that being thus humbled he may rise from his abasement.
From this indeed the gravity of pride is made manifest. For just as the wise physician, in order to cure a worse disease, allows the patient to contract one that is less dangerous, so the sin of pride is shown to be more grievous by the fact that, as a remedy, God allows men to fall into other sins.”
Now back to my dilemma. Does sexual sin in a leader result in his permanent forfeiture of all future ministry? Is sexual sin a type of some unpardonable sin? If upon genuine remorse, repentance and restitution a leader is forever banned from ministry then his forgiveness is only partial and not complete. This would be akin to the prodigal joining the other servants but banned from every wearing the best robe, sandals and ring etc. If pride is overlooked as some minor issue but sexual sin results in total banishment from ministry, then we have failed to judge righteous judgement.
I have to ask myself, would I rather sit under the leadership of some successful pastor who has never fallen, but inwardly relishes thinking “I thank God I’m not like that man” or would I gain more by listening to another’s story of Amazing Grace from a truly repentant leader who walks with a limp? Just a thought!
Just the other day I was talking with a pastor friend of mine who made the comment that he had heard of 17 major ministries that had ‘fallen’ in the last few years. While this is nothing new, it appears that there is a growing moral problem that is more pervasive than any time in history. At no other time have we faced the temptation of being able to privately view ‘filth’ anywhere and at any time we desire on our personal phones. The porn industry is one of the largest industries in the world. Whoever gave it the name ‘web’ didn’t realize how prophetic they were in describing its power to grip its prey and not let go.
This generation came ‘out of the closet’ years ago and brazenly flaunted what previous generations had practiced but primarily kept hidden. All this to say we live in a sin sex-soaked society that no longer has any sense of shame in what they do or say. Unfortunately, many current leaders have had to battle with what is now a cultural norm.
With that in mind this brings me to the recent scandals plaguing the Body of Christ. While I am not personally acquainted with most of these men, I am familiar with one of them having spent several years ministering in the same organization. While it is not my purpose to further comment on these individuals, I do want to address what I feel is a double standard when it comes to passing judgment on them.
Having watched numerous YouTube videos of spiritual pundits who seem all too eager to throw the first stone; I’ve concluded that these pundits show little brokenness or sorrow toward these individuals but rather seem to delight in having been provided with more fodder to keep their own ministry on the air. Let’s face it, without these scandals they would have nothing to talk about.
When it comes to addressing Church problems, one would profit greatly from the advice and wisdom of Dr. G. Campbell Morgan in his book ‘The Letters of Our Lord.’ In the first chapter dealing with the Church of Ephesus he wrote the following.
‘Is it more than likely that their very opposition to false men and doctrine partook of the nature of lack of love? I would speak very cautiously at this point, for the Lord commended these things, and they were right, but I am quite sure that there may be right things done in a wrong spirit. I seldom find men strenuously fighting what they are pleased to call heterodox teaching, and in bitter language denouncing false doctrine, without being more afraid for the men denouncing than for the men denounced. There is an anger against impurity which is impure. There is a zeal for orthodoxy, which is most unorthodox. There is a spirit that contends for faith, which is in conflict with faith. If men have lost their first love, they will do more harm than good by their defense of the faith. Behind the denunciation of sin there must always be the tenderness of first love if that denunciation is not to become evil in its bitterness. Behind the zeal for truth there must always be the spaciousness of first love if that zeal is not to become narrowed into hate. There have been men who have become so self-centered in a narrowness that they are pleased to designate as holding the truth, that the very principle for which they contend has been excluded from their life and service. All zeal for the Master that is not the outcome of love to Him is worthless.’
My father use to say that “Jesus wept before He whipped” I don’t see too many tears from these pundits, but their whippings seem endless. I wonder if these fallen leaders were family members if they would be so quick to judge them?
Now please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not trying to treat these things in a lighthearted manner -they are tragic for all concerned. I can’t imagine the pain and shame their wives and family must be going through not to forget their church family who are now wrongly labeled guilty by association. Nor can I imagine being a victim and having to suffer the pain and shame of being taken advantage of by a so called ‘man of God’.
Now here is where I’m having trouble. Do I believe these individuals should be quarantined or placed in the penalty box? Yes I do! The question is for how long? Most pundits seem to agree ‘forever’ is the right discipline. Here is where I’m struggling. God exhorts us in His Word to judge righteous judgment. If the ‘lustful look ‘is akin to adultery as Jesus clearly taught us, then 95% of all ministers should step down immediately and permanently.
In the case of King David’s adultery, deceit and subsequent death of Uriah God took the life of King David’s and Bathsheba’s firstborn. However, when David’s pride caused him to number the size of his army; God’s judgement cost him seventy thousand men! His sin of passion cost him only one life, his sin of pride seventy thousand. (Interestingly enough when David was confronted and acknowledged his sin with Bathsheba he stated “I have sinned against the Lord.” However, when acknowledging his sin of pride David said, “I have sinned greatly or exceedingly.”)
I personally believe that while the sexual or sensual actions of these men was sinful and without excuse their pride was even more hideous in God’s sight. You can’t tell me that leading a mega church or large successful movement, doesn’t cause one to fall prey to pride, then you are totally ignorant of how the enemy works. When the disciples returned from a day of casting out demons Jesus warned them not to brag about their accomplishments but rather rejoice in His work of grace in their lives alluding to the fact that it was pride that brought about Satan’s fall and could also lead to their own.
There is a very insightful message from Saint Thomas Aquinas who wrote sometime around 1550. “..in order to overcome their pride, God punishes certain men by allowing them to fall into sins of the flesh, which though they be less grievous are more evidently shameful…pride is the worst of all vices; whether because it is appropriate to those who are of highest and foremost rank, or because it originates from just and virtuous deeds, so that its guilt is less perceptible. On the other hand, carnal lust is apparent to all, because from the outset it is of a shameful nature: and yet under God’s dispensation, it is less grievous than pride. For he who is in the clutches of pride and feels it not, falls into the lusts of the flesh, that being thus humbled he may rise from his abasement.
From this indeed the gravity of pride is made manifest. For just as the wise physician, in order to cure a worse disease, allows the patient to contract one that is less dangerous, so the sin of pride is shown to be more grievous by the fact that, as a remedy, God allows men to fall into other sins.”
Now back to my dilemma. Does sexual sin in a leader result in his permanent forfeiture of all future ministry? Is sexual sin a type of some unpardonable sin? If upon genuine remorse, repentance and restitution a leader is forever banned from ministry then his forgiveness is only partial and not complete. This would be akin to the prodigal joining the other servants but banned from every wearing the best robe, sandals and ring etc. If pride is overlooked as some minor issue but sexual sin results in total banishment from ministry, then we have failed to judge righteous judgement.
I have to ask myself, would I rather sit under the leadership of some successful pastor who has never fallen, but inwardly relishes thinking “I thank God I’m not like that man” or would I gain more by listening to another’s story of Amazing Grace from a truly repentant leader who walks with a limp? Just a thought!
For a long time, scriptures have been used to promote a certain person’s own agenda. I remember years ago, and on many occasions, seeing how scriptures can be misused. It all started when a certain pastor was wanting to build a bigger church. He used Proverbs 29:18 to guilt people in to giving more money, “where there is no vision, the people perish”. Many who were not mature, and many who were, were sucked in by it. They were “sold” the “vision” and bought in to the hype that went along with it. I encourage you all to study that verse and look at the various translations.
I discovered there were Christian leaders who were “taking God’s name in vain” and very few people saw it. (Not that I am anything special) When a man twists the scripture to make you do something, that is “taking His name in Vain” because he is not doing it for the Lord, but for himself or for the “vision” for the church. Many prophetic words were given over Brownsville, BRSM and FIRE. Most of all those “words” never came to pass. I remember Past Cho from Korea proclaiming that the Brownsville revival would last until Jesus comes, everyone went crazy! Keep in mind, the command to not “take His name in vain”, was given to God’s people. So, when an unbeliever swears, it really doesn’t apply to that. It was given to the people of God; we are the ones who risk “taking His name in vain”. Some leaders can, and do, use scriptures to their own end, albeit not by the Spirit.
That brings me to “love believes all things”. I have heard it a few times in these posts. When a person must use that scripture to convince you of something, it is wrong. And then to point out that you are not loving if you don’t believe that person, that is wrong. The scriptures should never be used by a person to prove his innocence, to validate his “vision” or anything else for that matter, that is the flesh. May we all continue to learn from these things.
I have been a musician since 1965 and I have been involved with writing Christian music since 1971. I am a product of the Jesus Revolution. If you saw the movie, it is a story about my wife and I, there are so many similarities. We were part of a group of newly saved young people, and we had a key role in starting a church in the early 1970’s in northern Illinois. I played at church, and I played in a Christian band that played in parks, campgrounds and coffeehouses all around the Midwest. In 1977, the band traveled to Denmark and Sweden for a 5-week outreach. Those were exciting times for us. It was all about outreach and preaching the Gospel.
It wasn’t until about 1981 that I had ever heard the term “worship leader”. Someone we were visiting told us we needed to come to church with them because they have a great worship leader. I had never heard of that before. In those days, we just had an overhead projector and a bunch of musicians sitting off to the side.
I have always thought that “worship leader” was such a lofty title. Can you be a worship leader and not be a worshiper of God? Yes you can! In many churches you can be hired to lead purely based on your talent. It used to be in church that you could be a minister of music, someone who led the congregation in praise unto God. But that is not such a lofty title.
Recently, there have been famous worship leaders who have come out and said they now doubt Christianity. Huh? How did they get a worship leader position? When churches hire musicians, is it based more on talent rather than their real walk with the Lord? I think so! We are now so far removed from what real worship is that if you ask someone, there are like deer in headlights.
The modern church has thrown praise and worship into the same bucket, we make no distinction between the two. We have minimized what true Biblical worship is, to our own hurt. I used to hear it all the time, people go to specific churches because they like the worship there. I then ask them; you mean you like the music?? Invariably, that is really what they mean, and it is OK to prefer what you like, but lets not call it worship, call it praise.
Being a true worshiper of God has nothing to do with what you like, or your taste in music. It has to do with what your walk with the Lord, your obedience, your sacrifice, taking up the cross daily, preferring one another in love and bowing before Him. When Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, when he was going on the hill to worship, the was no music. We are losing our understanding of what Biblical worship is! If that is lost, we are at peril.
If you love to praise the Lord, do it with gusto with your preference of music. Enjoy it! But let’s rethink worship and how much more serious it is. When it comes to worship, God sets the standard. When it comes to praise, we have liberty to have music we prefer.
Is it possible to know God? We are far removed from the days when Jesus walked the earth. It would have been wonderful to see Him, to see Him having mercy on people and healing them. And His wisdom when He spoke would have been unsurpassed. And to see Him after He rose from the dead, that would have been amazing. It would have been much easier to believe in Him then than it is now, in our troubled world. In John 20 when Thomas still doubted, he saw Jesus risen from the dead. Jesus told Thomas to put his hand in His side and Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God”. What did Jesus say then? Verse 29 says “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed”.
It is a prophetic word to our generation, to all of us who did not see what Thomas saw, “Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed”. For those of us who have believed in Jesus without seeing Him in the flesh, Jesus has pronounced a blessing, a blessing on us! We are blessed when we come to know Him.
How do we really know that we have come to know Him? This how we know, if we accept Jesus and obey His commands set forth in the scriptures. 1 John 2:3-6 says “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked”.
When I came to know Him, the way that I walk changed! I used to walk to please myself, doing whatever was good for me. When I came to know Him, I wanted to walk as He walked on the earth. We are to keep His commandments. If we keep them, that is how we know that we have come to know Him. In our hearts, we desire to be like Jesus. It is a hard saying, “If you say you have come to know Him but do not obey Him, you are a liar”. Those are His words, not mine. It is possible then to have some religious beliefs and not really know Him. There is a kind of Christian religion that embraces some of the moral aspects of the teachings of Jesus, but in reality does not fully obey Him. Matthew 7:21 says “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter“.
We should search our hearts and seek to know Him better thru understanding His words. And we should work toward being obedient to those words. Let those words of Jesus spread in to all areas of our lives, and live in a manner worthy of the calling that He has on us.
Niels Prip - Blog 