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“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ (*on His cross, and by the very power of God!) were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (*right here, right now!). For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection (*right here, right now!): knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him (*right here, right now!)… [*Romans 6: 1-8 (KJV)]”
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again [*BORN AGAIN!] unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you… [*1 Peter 1: 3, 4 (KJV)]”
The power of God abides in the simplicity of Christ, in the simplicity of the Gospel. Christians do not seek the praise of God, or the honor that comes from God alone; but rather, the praise of men… this is what christians love, and seek… and this, for their own financial gain and reward. Christians love the praise of men, far more than they show any interest in the praise of God. And what happens when everyone is seeking the praise and adoration of one another? You have an endless, meaningless atmosphere of competition… of everyone trying to out-do one another; and with little, next to no genuine love at all, in our hearts, for one another… even, as it is today.
“And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. [*Luke 7: 31, 32 (KJV)]” Talent shows, and pity parties (*revolving around “our truth”)… this is, pretty much, all that is being made available unto most people today; but where is our love for the truth of the Gospel, and one another?
Christians cringe when I make these statements; and over the years, they’ve completely ostracized us from their “social gatherings” or Saturday & Sunday Social Clubs. Yet nevertheless, “14” or the number “fourteen” is the Biblical number signifying “salvation”; which makes perfect sense, because we were all crucified and died together with Jesus on His cross, on the fourteenth day of the first month: “He that is dead is freed from sin.” See, we were all “saved” from our sin and sins when we all died together with The Lamb, on His cross; not when we “prayed” some “sinner’s prayer”! This is a revelation… of the righteousness of God. And, we were all “born again” when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of our Father. See how “saved,” and “born again,” are not the same thing!…
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