Jeremiah recorded God’s words above regarding his people in Jeremiah’s day (Jeremiah 8:7). It surely applies to many in our day.
Yes, there are of course requirements of the Lord, all that guidance God gave regarding how we are to live, all the wisdom and commands Jesus gave regarding life and what humans are to do.
There are even specific requirements for anyone hoping to be in the Kingdom of God. Yes there are, even though many have never heard them. It is certainly true that it is by grace you have been saved and not by works, so that no one can boast. Paul said that. Jesus certainly paid the price, a horrible price, for each person to have the opportunity to be saved, to be with him in the Kingdom. But Jesus said more on the subject of salvation:
- Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). A person must be born anew, or born again. They must be washed clean of all sin and receive a new spirit; in essence, God himself becomes their father. This is the transformative moment in the life of a believer in Jesus. I know this can be difficult to understand. Perhaps a great scripture that helps is this scripture from Ezekiel in which God is talking about returning the exiled Israelites to their home, the ingathering of the Jews: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
- Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). A person must do the will of Jesus’ father in Heaven; they must do God’s will (not their own independent will.).
- Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (Mark 10:15). A person must be like little children in their faith; i.e., their faith must be innocent and absolute just like the way little children believe their parents.
- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). As I have said before, this word translated believes here is absolute belief – for example, you believe there is enough oxygen in the room where you are now to keep you alive or else you would be running out. That kind of absolute belief.
Elsewhere in many other verses Jesus talks about specific behaviors and actions of people that will keep them out of the Kingdom. I’ve written about these before. Here is a specific list that Jesus covers from Revelation 22:15:
- Living a homosexual lifestyle; said another way, living a deviant or sexually immoral lifestyle. I list this first because it is so obvious in our modern society. God considers homosexuality an abomination. There are many different scriptures pointing this out, and there is no reason for anyone to miss the message unless they intentionally just don’t want to believe. Here are some key scriptures: Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 22:13, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Timothy 1:9-10, 1 Corinthian 6:9-10, and Revelation 22:15. So the LGBTQ movement is an eternal sentence to hell for its members.
- As a general overall comment on deviant sexual lifestyle, Jesus says in the last page of the Bible that the sexually immoral will be outside that Kingdom. There is even a scripture in Deuteronomy 22:5 where God describes a man’s dressing as a woman or a woman as a man as an abomination.
- Another specific behavior keeping people out of the Kingdom is practicing falsehood. Liars in other words. Perpetual liars. Habitual liars. Out government is full of those, even at the very top. So too the media. You know that. Well, there is a cost to such behavior, an eternal cost, the greatest cost imaginable.
- Idolaters will not be in the Kingdom either. Idolaters of course are people who put other things at the top of their priority list above God, like getting more and more money and more and more power as so many of our corporate top executives and highly wealthy elite seem to live today (and some of the top politicians as well.).
- Those who practice magic arts are also excluded from the Kingdom. Those are people who practice all sorts of bizarre actions to influence and control others. Another translation is sorcery.
- Jesus also says dogs are excluded, meaning ungodly people with impure minds exercising immoral ways. That is a hard word for us to understand, but that is what it means.
- Murderers too are excluded from the Kingdom.
Of course, those who are simply not believers, who do not fulfill the points I listed earlier that Jesus said are necessary to be in the Kingdom, will be excluded. So I expect that in addition to all true atheists and agnostics and followers of false religions like Islam and Buddhism and such, many of those who attend those lost and dry churches on Sunday mornings will be left out as well.
Today how many of those who say they are Christians understand at all the requirements of the Lord and live in them? How many? How often do you hear of any churches teaching any of this? For that matter, notice how so many churches never teach or operate in the Holy Spirit and his gifts. Or teach of the imminent returning of the Lord or the fullness of the gospel and all God has for us or the authority we have in Jesus. It is a power gospel, and Jesus’ believers realize that and live in it.
Well, soon the Lord is returning. Really really soon. Keep your eyes on him. Above everything else, keep your focus on Jesus. “Watch” was his command at the end of his remarks about his return. “Watch!”
Stay in the right relationship with him. Don’t drift away. Don’t backslide.
That seal is a wonderful thing to have, surely! And the Holy Spirit and his gifts are an invaluable guide through life.
Certainly if God was troubled that his people in Jeremiah’s day did not know his requirements, I expect he is troubled today by so many not knowing his requirements. The difference is that we are living at the very end of this age. It is not the Babylonians coming to take people off to their land. It is Jesus coming to take his people off to be with him, and then it is the beginning of the terrible Tribulation for those left behind.
Everyone who knows the Lord, WATCH! BE READY!
And everyone who does not know or is not sure that they are saved, get serious about it. Ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life. Ask him to forgive your sins. And seek to receive the Holy Spirit too. Find a Spirit-filled believer if you can to pray for you to receive the Spirit. Or if you can’t find such a person, just ask the Holy Spirit to come to you in power. Guidance by the Holy Spirit is a great benefit in these times.
Let me just say, we are not living in a time of discussion and conjecture about Jesus and some future return. This is the real deal now. A dividing line is being finalized, between those who truly believe and know Jesus and those who don’t. The imminent return is close at hand.
February 2023
Copyright © 2023 by John Newlin
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KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS
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