SPELLING EDITED F-19. WHAT are NOT SINS of OMISSION? What the sin of omission is NOT! The sin of omission is NOT something that we forget to do. The meaning of the Greek word that is TRANSLATED as SIN simply means missing the MARK or the goal set by God. In other words, there is what Jesus calls being saved to receive eternal life in the world to come and something HIGHER that Jesus calls being PERFECT and the Apostle Paul calls the HIGH calling. Please read Matthew 19:16-21. “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, What good thing shall I DO, that I may have eternal life? 17. And he said unto him, Why call you me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. 18. He said unto him, WHICH? (Or WHICH commandments must I keep to receive eternal life in the world to come?) Jesus said, You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19. Honor your father and your mother: and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Please notice that Jesus listed ONLY the MORAL commandments of God as being REQUIRED to receive eternal life in the world to come. And this agrees perfectly with the two NEW Commandments that Jesus gave us under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. See Matthew 22:36-40 Romans 13:8-10, and Galatians 5:14) 20. The young man said unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: What lack I yet? (Here in this verse we can see boasting in this young man that he has kept all the moral law of God his whole life. It is like he has the attitude that surely he must do more than just keep the moral commandments to receive eternal life so he asks Jesus for MORE to do because to him, he obviously thought keeping the Moral commandment was not ENOUGH works to do in EXCHANGE for eternal life in the world to come) 21. Jesus said unto him, If you will be PERFECT, go and sell that you have and give to the poor, and you shall have TREASURE in heaven: and come and follow me.” Please notice that Jesus did NOT say, If you want to receive ETERNAL LIFE then go and sell all you have and give to the poor. But rather, Jesus said, If you want to be PERFECT then go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Also, notice that Jesus did NOT say to go and sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have ETERNAL LIFE. But rather, Jesus said, Go and sell all you have and you will have TREASURE IN Heaven. So to ME, there is a difference between receiving eternal life and what Jesus means here in this verse as being perfect. It seems to me that if we sell everything we have and give that money to the poor then we will receive TREASURES in heaven ABOVE and beyond receiving eternal life in the world to come. In other words, I myself am NOT seeing that if Christians do NOT sell all that they have and give it to the poor then they are committing a SIN of OMISSION. So then, not everything that is CALLED sin in the ENGLISH translation of the Bible is the breaking of God’s LAW. The Bible itself DEFINES sin as being the transgression of the LAW of God. And under the New Covenant written in the New Testament, the LAW of God is all the MORAL commandments of God which Jesus listed in Matthew 19:16-21 as being REQUIRED to obey to receive eternal life in the world to come. Please read 1 John 3:4. “Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the LAW: for sin IS the transgression of the LAW.” Then Paul goes on to say that WITHOUT the law there is NO sin because there is no knowledge of sin without the LAW. Romans 7:7-9. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had NOT KNOWN sin, but by the law: for I had NOT KNOWN lust, except the law had said, You shall not covet. 8. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For WITHOUT the law sin was DEAD. 9. For I was ALIVE WITHOUT the law once: but when the COMMANDMENT CAME, sin revived, and I died.” Now, obviously, Paul is speaking about the Law of God here but there is also the law and commandments that MAN imposes upon Christians. For example, MEN or people make it a LAW to THEMSELVES that if a Christian OMITS or does NOT sell all that they own and give that money to the poor then that is a SIN of OMISSION. And, therefore, to THEM, a Christian can NOT receive eternal life UNTIL they sell everything that they have and give that money to the poor. And then, when Christians FEAR that if they break those laws then they would be sinning. So it is up to each individual Christian to study God’s word on their OWN to learn what is GOD’S LAW and what are MEN’S laws. A good example of a law that MEN place upon themselves is found in Romans 14:20-23, where SOME Christians are keeping the dietary laws of Moses, contained in ordinances that were nailed to the cross and taken out of the way. And Paul is teaching them that IF those Christians who still have FEAR and DOUBT in them that IF they eat pork then they would indeed be sinning to eat pork UNLESS they eat pork in FAITH knowing that it is no longer sin because Christians are NOT UNDER the Law of Moses contained in ordinances. Please read Romans 14:20-23. “ For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offense. 21. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby your brother stumbles, or is offended or is made weak. 22. Have you faith? have it to yourself before God. Happy is he that condemns not himself in that thing which he allows. 23. And he that doubts is damned if he eats because he eats not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” In other words, some Christians have made things an LAW unto themselves which is a sin to THEM only. And what I mean by this is that when I was in the Roman Catholic Church I was taught that it was a MORTAL sin if I missed going to church on Sunday. And I BELIEVED that teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. So to ME, it would have been a sin if I missed going to church on Sunday. But in God’s eyes, I would NOT have been sinning for missing church on Sunday because God himself did NOT give that commandment. But even though God does not give a commandment there is STILL GUILT that comes to a person for breaking a law that they sincerely BELIEVE is a commandment of God even when it is NOT a commandment of God. And the same is true with SOME sins of OMISSION. When a Christian SINCERELY believes that if they even forget to PRAY then it is a SIN of omission then they feel the GUILT of committing a sin EVEN when it is NOT a SIN. I said all of that to say this, there are SOME things that are CALLED sins of omissions by some pastors and leaders in different church denominations that are NOT sins at all. The ONLY TRUE sins of omission are what we CHOOSE NOT to do when we KNOW that it is indeed the Holy Spirit specifically leading us to do something and we DISOBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is IMPOSSIBLE to commit ANY sin of OMISSION, if so be, you are indeed obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit. So do not be brought under the FALSE condemnation of committing sins of omission that MEN or Christians claim are sins. Going back to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gave us TWO new commandments under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. And if we OBEY those TWO commandments we fulfill the WHOLE LAW of God which is the ONLY REQUIREMENT to receive eternal life. Please read Matthew 22:36-40. “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37. Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40. On these TWO commandments hang all the LAW and the prophets.” In other words, if we OBEY these TWO commandments to LOVE God and LOVE our fellow man, then we will be KEEPING ALL of the LAW of God that is REQUIRED of us by Almighty God himself to receive eternal life in the world to come. Again, ALSO see Romans 13:8-10 and Galatians 5:14 because some Sabbath-keeping Christians TWIST the words of Jesus in Matthew 22:36-40 and CLAIM that Jesus is actually saying that Christians must keep ALL the Law of Moses contained in ordinances which CONTRADICTS Romans 3:8-10 and Galatians 5:14. Sabbath-keeping Christians wrongly believe that faith in Jesus and obeying Jesus to keep all the moral laws of God is NOT ENOUGH and they feel that they must do MORE to be worthy of receiving eternal life. Or they WANT to do MORE to please God. Well, that desire to WANT to do MORE can indeed be a desire that God gives to Christians who DRAW CLOSE to God. But as I have said many times in other studies that I have written, Satan can NOT prevent anyone from SEEKING God. BUT Satan can and sometimes does DERAIL so to speak some Christians by leading them to believe and obey one of the FALSE doctrines of devils. And the keeping of the Law of Moses contained in ordinances that was NAILED to the cross and taken out of the way is one of those doctrines of devils that have derailed some Christians from the truth of the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ. So then, if Christians desire to do MORE than just to obey all the MORAL commandments and they SEEK God as to what He wants them to do then that is what the Bible calls moving on to PERFECTION or to the HIGH CALLING. And those Christians who go above and beyond the call of duty so to speak to, for example, sell all that they have and give to the poor, then they will receive TREASURES in heaven along with receiving eternal life. But the keeping of the Law of Moses contained in ordinances is NOT doing MORE for God. Rather it is a slap in the face of God because you are NOT TRULY RESTING in Jesus and in what Jesus is teaching us as Christians under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. So again, the doing of MORE for God is NOT a REQUIREMENT to receive eternal life in the world to come. But rather it is a desire that God gives to us when we draw nigh to him. When we seek God and draw closer to Him then we pray things that we do not always remember exactly what we prayed. But God still honors those SINCERE prayers from our HEART to do more for Him. Here is what Paul says about pressing on to the HIGH CALLING. Philippians 3:12-16. “Not as though I had already attained, either were already PERFECT: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (At first, all Paul knew was that Jesus was crucified. But then later, as Paul drew closer to God, then God placed a desire in Paul to know the POWER of God. Paul did indeed love to preach the gospel, but then he desired to do MORE. He desired to do the same works that Jesus did. Paul sought to know the POWER of God to heal the sick. So he pressed on to the HIGH calling of God to walk after the Holy Spirit to follow God to go wherever and to do whatever the Holy Spirit led him to go and do that which was ABOVE obeying all the MORAL laws of God) 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and REACHING forth unto those things which are before, (Speaking of SEEKING those desires to do MORE that God has placed in Paul’s heart when he asked God to know the power of God) 14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the HIGH CALLING of God in Christ Jesus. 15. Let us, therefore, as many as be PERFECT, be thus minded: and if in anything you be OTHERWISE minded, God shall REVEAL even this unto you. 16. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” Things we SHOULD do but we do not always do CAN indeed be sins of omission at times but these omissions to do good deeds are not ALWAYS SINS of omission. In other words, we KNOW that it is God’s will that we help the poor. But it is NOT a sin if we do not ALWAYS help every poor person UNLESS we know that it is indeed the Holy Spirit LEADING us to help someone and we make excuses and DISOBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit. For you see, SOME Christians have SOUGHT God to help the poor. And because of THEIR prayers to God to help the poor then that was THEIR high calling from God. But other Christians have sought God to help those in PRISON and then that became THEIR high calling from God. And then there are some Christians who have NO high calling from God as YET because they are still yet GROWING and maturing in the Lord. What I am trying to show you is that not every omission or not doing good DEED to help others is a SIN, Believe it or not, there are some people, INCLUDING some Christians, who will try and take advantage of Christians. I know a Christian who was the manager of an apartment complex and there was a Christian tenant that was three months behind on paying the rent. And when this Christian manger went the fourth month to collect at least one month's rent then that Christian tenant held up her Bible and said that the Christian manager was REQUIRED by God to let him stay in the apartment for FREE because he CLAIMED that he had no money to pay the rent. He claimed that the manager would be SINNING if he evicted him. Now, in my own opinion, the Christian tenant was ABUSING God’s word to lay GUILT upon another Christian to take ADVANTAGE so he could spend his money on other things besides rent. So the manager took off the entrance door and sent it to a shop to be painted. And with NO door on his apartment, the so-called Christian renter left and the Christian manager felt NO GUILT. The Christian manager was more than fair and did not evict the Christian tenant until the tenant was four months behind in paying the rent. Again, the Bible ITSELF teaches us that IF we walk after the Spirit then we will NOT be committing ANY kind of sin INCLUDING sins of OMISSION. Romans 8:1-17 clearly teaches us that if we walk AFTER the Holy Spirit meaning that when we listen to and follow and OBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit then we will have NO CONDEMNATION. And that is HOW we can know for sure that we are NOT committing ANY sins including any sins of OMISSION. When we have PEACE with God we are not committing any sins including any sins of omission. Please read Romans 8:1-17. “There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them which are IN Christ Jesus, who walk NOT after the flesh, but AFTER the Spirit. 2. For the LAW of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (There is the law of sin and death and there is the law OF the Spirit of God. And if we obey the LAW of walking after the leading of the Holy Spirit then we are FREE from the law of sin and death. Meaning that as long as we OBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit we are NOT committing ANY sin of OMISSION. And be ASSURED that the Holy Spirit himself will NEVER lead you to believe and obey anything that CONTRADICTS what the Bible ITSELF teaches us in SIMPLICITY. In other words, it is NOT the Holy Spirit who is leading some Christians to KEEP the Law of Moses contained in ordinances that were NAILED to the cross and taken OUT of the WAY) 3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, (See Acts 15:7-24 which teaches us that ONLY Jesus was able to keep all the Law of Moses to FREE us FROM the Law of Moses contained in ordinances which none of the Hebrew people of God were able to keep) God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk NOT after the flesh, but AFTER the Spirit. 5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and PEACE. (When we OBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit we will have PEACE and NO CONDEMNATION or guilt of sinning. And IF we do disobey any MORAL law of God we will indeed be convicted of sin. And that CONVICTING of sinning is the LEADING of the Holy Spirit to REPENT and confess the sin we commit after we are first initially saved when we first believed. But sometimes our CARNAL FLESH argues with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to make excuses because our flesh wants to REMAIN living in sin.) 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9. But you are NOT in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man has NOT the Spirit of Christ, he is NONE of his. (In other words, IF you do NOT have the desire in your heart to stop sinning then the chances are that you are NOT truly saved. You are a Christians in NAME ONLY. If this is you then please read the studies under the heading >>>WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?<<<) 10. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you. 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, NOT to the flesh, to live after the flesh. (In other words, we are saved to SERVE God by walking in righteousness by OBEYING all the MORAL laws of God. And as you mature and grow in the Lord he may lead you to do MORE. God may call you to be a preacher. Or God may lead you to pay for someone’s groceries one time. But whatever God may lead you to do I am convinced that you will KNOW beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is the Holy Spirit leading you. And IF you know that it is indeed the Holy Spirit and you DISOBEY the Holy Spirit to NOT DO what he is leading you to DO then THAT is indeed a SIN of OMISSION) 13. For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you THROUGH the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. (God has given us his Holy Spirit to EMPOWER us to overcome sin in our lives. Also, God will never ask you to do something that he himself will just stand by and watch you do in your OWN strength and natural ability. But rather God will HELP you to do whatever he asks you to do. So TRUST God and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit) 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15. For you have NOT received the spirit of bondage again to FEAR; (This means that they receive the spirit of the bondage of fear of not keeping all the Law of Moses contained in ordinances correctly. So then, Sabbath-keepers have received the WRONG spirit which is NOT of God. But it also means being in the bondage of fear of the disobeying ANY law that you have been WRONGLY taught is a commandment of God when, in TRUTH, they are NOT commandments of God under the NEW COVENANT written in the New Testament. They are NOT a part of the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ) but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (And part of that witness is the PEACE of God having NO CONDEMNATION in us. We have the ASSURANCE that we ARE saved and that we are in a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Almighty God. There is NO FEAR in us that we are DISPLEASING God in any way. The Bible teaches us to be lead FORTH BY PEACE which I will cover in just a moment) 17. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; IF SO BE that we SUFFER with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Verse 17 here means that if we suffer or ENDURE the temptations that we face to NOT sin THEN we shall receive eternal life in the world to come to be a JOINT- HEIRS WITH Jesus in the world to come. Again, IF we give in to temptations to sin then all we need to do is to simply REPENT and CONFESS those sins we commit after we first believed to receive Jesus as our Savior AND as our Lord. You cannot call Jesus your Lord unless you ARE indeed saved. And you MUST call Jesus your Lord after you are saved. So those Christians who DENY the “Lordship” salvation are NOT following and obeying the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ. For you see, Jesus said that if we LOVE him then we would OBEY him. So to ME, Jesus is BOTH my Lord AND my Savior. And that means even when my flesh does NOT want to obey the commandments of Jesus I am still yet REQUIRED to obey my Lord. In other words, our receiving eternal life in the world to come is CONDITIONAL upon our OBEDIENCE to the commandments of Jesus under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. Please read the studies under the heading >>>CAN ETERNAL LIFE BE LOST?<<< But for now, let us read what the Bible teaches us about being LED with PEACE. Please read Isaiah 55:12. “For you shall go out with joy, and be LED FORTH WITH PEACE: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Have you ever experience even one time a “gut feeling” so to speak to NOT do something? Perhaps something like buying a used car you may have NOT felt GOOD about buying it. You had NO PEACE inside of you. You suspected that something was not right even though the car seemed like a really good deal. And when you OBEYED the NOT GOOD feeling then you experienced a PEACE. You had NO REGRETS for passing up what on the outside seemed like a good deal. Now, let us turn this around and let me ask you if you have ever experienced the PEACE FIRST but one the outside it seemed like NOT a good idea, BUT you did it anyway and that FEAR of making a mistake or a wrong decision went away and the PEACE grew stronger? That is the way that I interpret being LED FORTH with PEACE. In other words, God may ask you to give some money to help someone out and at FIRST, your mind is flooded with all the reasons to NOT help that person in need. But on the inside, you feel that if you TRUST God then all will be well. So you fight those NOT to do feelings by FAITH and once you make a quality decision to trust God and help that person then a PEACE comes over you and you KNOW you made the right choice. But what IF you made the WRONG choice and you could not seem to shake the REGRET or the BAD feeling of NOT doing that GOOD DEED? Now to ME, that is how you KNOW that you have committed a SIN of OMISSION. There is a bad feeling that you should have OBEYED that nudging to help that person out and trusted God that he would meet YOUR needs. So REPENT and confess those kinds of sins of omission that you know that the Holy Spirit was leading you to do but you disobey the Holy Spirit by making excuses. Let us read a passage of Scripture that deals with a CHOICE of NOT doing a GOOD work that some Christians interpret as being a SIN of OMISSION. Please read James 2:14-18. “What does it PROFIT, my brethren, though a man say he has faith, and have not works? Can faith SAVE him? (The Greek word “sozo” translated as saved here has many meanings that do NOT ALWAYS mean being saved from sin, as in, salvation. Sozo also means to be in a RIGHT relationship with God or a PLEASING relationship with God. It means to PRESERVE, to protect, to deliver, to be healed, to be made whole. Sozo also means to do well. And when we use these other meanings of the Greek word “Sozo” and we connect those meaning with the question James asks, What does your faith or your belief in Jesus PROFIT you if you have no WORKS of doing GOOD DEEDS? In other words, what TREASURES IN heaven are you NOT laying up by NOT doing GOOD WORKS of HELPING other people? Can faith PROFIT you without WORKS?) 15. If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, 16. And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be you warmed and filled; notwithstanding you give them NOT those things which are needful to the body; what does it PROFIT? (Or what TREASURE in heaven is YOUR faith in the true Gospel laying up. Is your faith PROFITING you? And NOT is your faith saving you) 17. Even so, faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone. (Meaning that without good works of helping others your faith is BARREN. It is NOT producing anything to your PROFIT of laying up treasure in faith. I use to think that IF you did NOT help the poor then you were SINNING. And the wage of sin is DEATH and NOT eternal life. But after studying what sins of omission are NOT, I can see that this passage of Scripture is NOT about SALVATION. But rather faith in Jesus is about PROFITING Christians) 18. Yea, a man may say, You have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” In other words, let your faith in Jesus SHINE like a bright light to the world BY your good DEEDS of helping others. Do not be afraid to step out in faith at times to give from your LIVING expenses to help others in DESTITUTE NEED. This does NOT mean that God REQUIRES us to meet the needs of every poor person every time lest we SIN a sin of omission if we do not always help the poor. So do not condemn YOURSELF when you want to help the poor but you are not ALWAYS able to do so. And never allow anyone to GUILT you into helping the poor. Simply obey what the Holy Spirit himself is leading YOU to do. And to those Christians who are PUSHING what God has called YOU to do on other Christians who God has NOT called. You need to STOP GUILTLING other Christians to give to your ministry and start TRUSTING God to provide the needs of the ministry that He has CALLED YOU to do. The Apostle Paul teaches us that the greatest thing that we should see is to walk in LOVE. NOT that we should not seek the other gifts of God. But rather, that anything that is NOT done in LOVE PROFITS us NOTHING. If we give to be seen of MEN then we have our reward. And if we give out of the bondage of FEAR of SINNING then we have no reward in heaven. Our faith to be like Jesus to do GOOD DEEDS becomes VAIN because we are NOT walking in LOVE. But rather we are walking in FEAR of committing a SIN of OMISSION and that is BONDAGE. And the bondage of FEAR is NOT from God. But rather it is a law that MEN place upon themselves first and then try to place on other Christians. Please read 1 Corinthians 13:2,3. “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not LOVE, I am nothing. 3. And though I bestow ALL my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have NOT LOVE, it PROFITS me nothing.” When I read the New Testament to see what is REQUIRED to be saved and to see what is REQUIRED to receive eternal life in the world to come, then I find that FAITH alone is required to be initially saved and that OBEDIENCE to obey all the MORAL laws of God and to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit is REQUIRED to receive eternal life in the world to come. And NOWHERE, except for one passage of Scripture, do I find words that can be interpreted as LOSING one’s SALVATION for NOT doing GOOD DEEDS. And that passage of Scripture is a PARABLE that Jesus taught in Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus will separate the sheep and the goats in the world to come when Jesus shall sit on the throne of his glory. Now this passage of Scripture can be INTERPRETED as Jesus separated the righteous from the unrighteous AT his coming to RAPTURE the righteous IN Jesus Christ and then cast the unrighteous who are NOT IN Jesus Christ into outer darkness. OR this passage of Scripture can be INTERPRETED as Jesus separating the sheep and the goat DURING his yet future 1000 year reign in the world to come. In other words, Matthew 25 AFTER the parable of the TEN VIRGINS, which is AFTER those who are IN Jesus Christ at his coming have already receive eternal life to rule and reign WITH Jesus in the throne of his glory, apply only to those during the Millennium who do NOT receive eternal life AT the coming of Jesus. In other words, this parable is speaking of the FINAL Day of Judgment at the END of the 1000 year reign of Jesus and NOT the judgment seat of Christ AT the time of the RAPTURE of the church at his second coming. Let us read Matthew 25:31-46. “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32. And before him shall be gathered ALL NATIONS: and he shall separate THEM one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: 33. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the KINGDOM prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (The Bible teaches of TWO kingdoms in the world to come. There will be the kingdom down on the surface of the earth that will be RESTORED to the REMNANT of Israel, God’s chosen people. And then there is the Kingdom of HEAVEN which will be for those who are granted the right to enter into the CITY of God, the New Jerusalem DURING the 1000 year reign of Jesus to rule and reign WITH Jesus over the MORTALS down of the surface of the earth. And all those who SURVIVE this FIRST HALF of God's WRATH at the coming of Jesus who are NOT faithful Christians will be cast into OUTER DARKNESS. And they will gnash their teeth and there will be weeping as well. Outer darkness in this context means that they will NOT be allowed into the City of God where God and the Lamb is the LIGHT. And the remnant of the nations will SERVE the remnant of Israel DURING the Millennium which is even more darkness to those left alive of the nations because they will be SLAVES to the children of Israel. BOTH the sheep and the goats will be in the Millennial kingdom down on the earth but only the remnant of Israel will INHERIT the kingdom to rule OVER the nations that persecuted them. God will BLESS the children of Israel for their suffering persecution in that last days during the great tribulation. I personally do NOT believe that God will resurrect all the Jews from the cross to the time of the last Jew dying during the first half of the wrath of God. I personally believe that ONLY a remnant of Jews who are LIVING after the first half of God's wrath will inherit the Kingdom of God during the Millennium and those left alive of the nations will be subject servants under the children of Israel. Now, please understand that outer darkness can and also does indeed mean being cast into the holding place of the wicked dead where the wicked await their Day of Judgment to be cast into the lake of fire to be destroyed. All I am saying is that outer darkness can mean different things depending on the context. For example, when God CONCLUDED all of Israel to be under sin every single olive branch was CUT OFF and all the Jews who did NOT accept Jesus as their Messiah and those Jews were CAST OUT of the kingdom of God. And what I mean by this is that under the New Covenant Jesus is the ONLY way to enter into the kingdom of God. So everyone who is NOT a born-again Christian is in OUTER DARKNESS. They have no light. But we, as Christians have been translated out of DARKNESS and into the LIGHT.) 35 For I was hungry, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: 36. Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came unto me. 37. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you hungry, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave you drink? 38. When saw we you a stranger, and took you in? or naked, and clothed you? 39. Or when did we see you sick, or in prison, and came unto you? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42. For I was hungry, and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: 43. I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited me not. 44. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto you? 45. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. 46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Let us compare the being CAST OUT of the Kingdom of HEAVEN to the going into another kingdom that will be on the surface of the earth during the Millennium. Matthew 8:11,12. “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. (Speaking of the RAPTURE of the church at the second coming of Jesus when he shall sit as King on his throne of glory in the world to come) 12. BUT the children OF the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” In the world to come there will be those good and faithful Christians who will have received eternal life to rule and reign WITH Jesus over the KINGDOM down on the surface of the earth. And the children OF the KINGDOM are the children of Israel, God's CHOSEN people who will inherit the KINGDOM down on the surface of the earth. In other words, they will NOT receive eternal life at the time of the rapture of the church. But rather, they will be cast OUT into outer darkness because they REJECTED Jesus as their Messiah DURING THIS PRESENT world. They will repent during the WRATH of God and pray to be DELIVERED. God will then lift his wrath and all the nations will be gathered together and Jesus will sit on his throne as King to TEACH the mortals down on the earth about Yahweh. Now, some Christians INTERPRET being cast into outer darkness as ALWAYS meaning the destruction in the lake of fire on the final Day of Judgment. But in some verses, the outer darkness simply means NOT being allowed into the CITY of God where God and the Lamb are the LIGHT. And no one who rejects Jesus as their Messiah, not even God’s chosen people the Jews. will enter into the city of God AT the second coming of Jesus to receive eternal life to rule and reign WITH Jesus. So then, it should be obvious to all Christians that Jesus will be ruling and reigning over SOMEONE during his 1000 year reign. And since WE will be reigning WITH him then that means that someone must be CAST OUT into OUTER darkness that does NOT have the same INTENSE bright LIGHT that is in the CITY of God. And that OUTER darkness OUTSIDE of the CITY of God will be the RESTORED Kingdom to Israel down on the surface of the earth. The KINGDOM down on the surface of the earth will be RESTORED to ISRAEL and the rest of the NATIONS left alive after the WRATH of God will SERVE the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel will be JEALOUS because the Gentiles who were LAST are will be the FIRST up in the Kingdom of HEAVEN. Matthew chapter 25 is divided into THREE parables. The first parable is the parable of the TEN virgins and only the five virgins who have OIL in the lambs are allowed to ENTER the Kingdom of HEAVEN and then the door of the Kingdom of HEAVEN is SHUT. Then AFTER the kingdom of HEAVEN is SHUT comes the parable of the TALENTS where a man traveling to a far country calls his OWN servants and he delivered unto THEM his goods. And after a long time, the lord of THOSE servants came to reckon with THEM or to judge them. And his good and faithful servants were granted to ENTER INTO the joy of their lord. But the wicked servant said that he KNEW that his lord was a HARD man. Now seeing that this parable comes AFTER Jesus pours out the WRATH of God to rule the nations with a ROD OF IRON it is clear to me that the parable of the talents and the next parable are BOTH referring to the 1000 year reign of Jesus. Now, this does NOT mean that we are not to learn what is good and right to do. But at the same time, we should NOT teach that these two parables that FOLLOW the parable of the Kingdom of HEAVEN being SHUT apply to the CHURCH as being SINS of OMISSION if a Christian does NOT do GOOD DEEDS of helping others listed in the second and third parables. Christians should not be teaching that Christians will LOSE their salvation and be cast into the lake of fire for sins of OMISSION of doing GOOD DEEDS that are listed on the second and third parables in Matthew chapter 25 because those parables are referring to the world to come. Now, obviously, there are indeed sins of OMISSION that WILL cause a person to be lost and cast into the lake of fire on the final Day of Judgment. For example, the SIN of omitting to BELIEVE in Jesus as your Lord and Savior will most certainly cause a person to REMAIN dead in their sins And then a sin of omission for Christians is to omit FORGIVING others. For you see, Jesus said that IF we do NOT forgive those who trespass against us then God will NOT FORGIVE us of our trespasses. Matthew 6:14,15. “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15. But if you forgive NOT men their trespasses, NEITHER will your Father forgive your trespasses.” But I myself, am not seeing that NOT doing ALL of the GOOD DEEDS listed in Matthew 25:31-46 applies to Christians in this present world as being REQUIRED lest we SIN. Rather I see that IF SO BE that God CALLS a Christian into a certain specific ministry, such as VISITING those in PRISON, then it would be a SIN to those who have been given that PARTICULAR HIGH CALLING of visiting those in prison. In other words, it would NOT be a sin to other Christians who have been given a high calling in a DIFFERENT SPECIFIC ministry such as feeding the poor if they did NOT visit those in prison. To say this another way, it is only a SIN to those who are NOT OBEYING THEIR SPECIFIC calling or ministry that they KNOW that God has called THEM to do. However, I sincerely believe that EVERY Christian should do their best to have the mind of Jesus Christ to ESTEEM others better than themselves. But it is not a sin UNTO DEATH if we fall short of doing this all the time, every time. In other words, we MISS the MARK which is translated as SIN and those MISSES are NOT sins unto death. They are simply shortcomings that help us to LEARN obedience as we are GROWING in the Lord. Please read 1 John 5:16-18. “If any man sees his brother sin a SIN which is NOT unto DEATH, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin (A SIN that is) NOT unto death. There IS a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. (In other words, there are MISSES that we commit that we SHOULD be doing but those kinds of MISSES are NOT sinning that lead to the SECOND death in the lake of fire. But we should still PRAY for Christians to GROW in their faith who are committing these MISSES that are NOT unto death so that the eyes of understanding will be opened to draw even closer to God to receive a HIGH calling of God and to stop being a “pew warmer” so to speak) 17. ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IS SIN: (Or all the unrighteous ACTS of breaking any MORAL law of God IS SIN indeed that leads to DEATH if those kinds of sin are NOT repented of and confessed by asking God for forgiveness) AND there is a sin NOT unto death. 18. We know that whosoever is born of God sins not; (Meaning that no truly born-again can break any MORAL commandments of God without being CONVICTED of sinning by the Holy Spirit dwelling IN them) but he that is begotten of God KEEPS himself, and that wicked one touches him not.” And the WAY that we KEEP ourselves in a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God is that we EITHER stop breaking the MORAL commandments and never again do any unrighteous ACTS. Or we REPENT and CONFESS any and all sins that we commit after we have first believed in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. And that is why I implore Christians to repent and confess their sins QUICKLY. For you see, whether you believe it or not, IF and when we sin, we OPEN the door to Satan to oppress us. But if we KEEP ourselves in a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God by confessing our sins quickly, then the evil one can NOT touch us. We remain abiding in the shadow of the Almighty as Psalm 91 teaches us and NO EVIL will come nigh to our dwelling place. The hedge of God's protection remains around us when WE REMAIN in a right relationship with God by keeping sin out of our lives. With that being said this brings us to another study in God's word called “WHAT DOES WALKING AS JESUS WALKED MEAN?” So thanks again for reading and may God BLESS and PROFIT you richly as you put on the mind of Jesus Christ to esteem others better than yourself by DOING good DEEDS unto others to lay up TREASURES in heaven to go along WITH your receiving eternal life to rule and reign WITH Jesus in the world to come. For you see, what kindness and love we do to others we do unto Jesus. So walk in love toward others not ONLY to NOT do evil things which God requires of us. But ALSO strive to do your best to do GOOD DEEDS unto others as well. For this is having the mind of Jesus Christ who went about doing GOOD healing those who were OPPRESSED by the Devil. Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark. RETURN TO HOMEPAGE AT |
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