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25. Jesus said "blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy". Does this mean that if we don't forgive someone, God won't forgive us?

Forgiving someone that has hurt you is principle that will benefit the person who practises it. However if we look deeper into the Sermon on the Mount we will see some interesting insights. Jesus came to the Jews as a prophet under the law. The Sermon on the Mount was and still is the constitution for the Kingdom of Heaven and will be in place during the Millennium. He starts His sermon by saying "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy" to the discerning ear that is Law. The law is about DOING SOMETHING to RECEIVE SOMETHING from God, such as being merciful to receive mercy.

Jesus confused many that day doing something really unusual, He began to add to the law by saying "You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement." Those Jews who were listening to Jesus knew nothing other than trying to keep the law in their own strength. In an instant He made living by Law nigh impossible for them to keep perfectly, was now really impossible.

This ploy of adding to the Law of Moses was aimed at the Pharisaic legalists who were also listening to Him to find fault. He knew they couldn't fulfil the law back then, and He knows you can't do it now so don't try. He added to the law because He knew He was going to fulfil it Himself through the perfect sacrifice of His own body.

Think back, did any of us have to forgive anyone in order to receive God's mercy before we got saved? Of course not. 329

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26. Is teaching telling us to target groups, which don't adhere to Christian values correct. How can accomplish such a task to reclaim our town for Jesus?

When the preaching of the true Gospel takes place people come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, Resulting in faith being given for the hearers to receive Christ as saviour. If a preacher delivers a legalistic message to an unsaved person regarding values or keeping the law, which includes the 10 commandments, he has not preached the true Gospel of the grace of God. True evangelistic preaching is to reveal Christ' finished work on the cross and that He is the only way to the Father.

When a born-again believer hears a message from a minister of the gospel and after 15 minutes or so, he doesn't bring out the truth of "Christ in you, the hope of Glory" and He as your life, your only life, he is not ministering new creation realities. Instead of spiritual food to feed the new man, a diet of do's and don'ts and ought too's, which is behaviour modification, will be preached as a substitute That is not the true gospel, it's "another gospel" to "otherwise minded saints". Paul himself said: "…if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" Gal 1:9.

There is another gospel and it will be preached again during the millennium.. Christ will clean up this earth; Jesus ruling through His body, the church, will speak with a rod of iron and the nations will be corrected and the earth will be restored, but that's not for now. So 'kingdom now', teaching about establishing church rule on earth for God through law, is in the wrong dispensation. How can we have 'kingdom now' in a physical means without the King on His physical throne? 312

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27. A lot of people are asking whether the virgin birth actually took place and it's making me wonder whether it did or if it matters either way.

 

Well it did according to the Word of God and as a Christian that is our final authority. Sound miraculous? Of course it is, but who today would refute that miracles can and do take place? Let's give God, who created the entire universe, benefit of the doubt and trust Him in this matter of a virgin birth, He couldn't have paid the price that death required for our sin without it, Mary had to have a Divine conception. The Word of God is very plain that the seed of the Heavenly Father and not the corruptible seed of an Adamic man were placed in the womb of Mary. If Jesus was the seed of Joseph then He could not have been called the Son of God on the Divine and the Son of Man on the Human level. i.e. "And the angel answered and said unto [Mary], The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Lk 1:35.

Whether it matters or not, now that is a question, that needs answering. Sin, or the nature we all inherit through being born into this world, is passed down from generation to generation through the blood from our original parents Adam and Eve. You could say that the original sin-nature was imparted to Adam and Eve when they deliberately ate of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Jesus' blood wasn't genetically from Adam; this was vital otherwise death not life would have been in the blood of the Jesus who's body was made to be the sin sacrifice to redeem mankind. 319

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28. I don't feel I can pray to God because I just haven't been doing the things I should and I do instead a lot of so called sinful things.

 

Our bodies often desire to do things that we in our minds do not, even Paul the Apostle said "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." Rom 7 is the chapter that we all need to study, it's all explained by Paul as he discovers the liberating secret of his union with Christ. He brings this truth to light by first recalling his identification with Adam, In that first union he saw that it wasn't he who was sinful but the sinner (Satan) whom he contained in the temple of his flesh.

From that illuminating moment instead of continually thinking to himself, "Oh wretched man that I am!" he began instead to focus on the fact of his state and standing before God as a new creation, and said instead, "Thank God for Jesus!" To be spiritually minded we must continuously keep in memory the truth for "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus". Rom 8:1

How does God see it then? When Christ died on the cross, guess what, He died as you. Did Christ need to die? No, not for Himself, He was sinless, He never sinned, so for whom did He die? Us, He died as us,

When God remembers Calvary He sees the One Son die as you. Also then when Jesus was buried, He was buried as you. When He rose from the dead, He rose as you. When He ascended and sat down at the right hand of the Father, He sat down as you. When the Father sees you, He doesn't see you, but the Son of God in you. So as long as the Father sees the Son of God in you, He says, "I accept you in the beloved." 336

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29. When I've gone a week or so, living a good Christian life, the same problem pops up every time. I either lose my temper or rile up on the inside against someone who makes me angry. I've asked God to help me in this matter, but how can I solve this?

You will never obtain perfection, as concerning the deeds of your body, on this side of Christ's coming; so don't let yourself come under false condemnation. The sin of the believer is trying to be a good Christian or trying to be Christ-like by self-effort. We're not meant to be Christ-like, instead our purpose for 'being' is to contain Christ.

The more we try to become Christ-like, the more unlike Christ we become. Trying certainly messes up our testimony and lands us in the dilemma of Rom 7 "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do" vs19. As we attempt 'Christ-like status' the law whacks us to remind us of our inability to keep Law perfectly and to diffuse the 'LIE' inherent in the human psyche.

Now, if we expect God to accept us through our own righteousness we will be sadly disappointed, as was Cain. Instead our "robes of righteousness" will be seen as filthy rags to God, as in all 'religions'. We are never accepted on the basis of our 'doings', which always falls short of His perfect holiness. The law is the holiness of God. By us attempting, to match God's holiness by our self-effort is deception that needs correcting. This problem is solved 'IN THE SPIRIT' the moment we see, by revelation, the finished work of Christ and "..receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ". Rom 5:17 305

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30. Why doesn't God work miracles through Christians in an even greater way, so much so that it will catch the whole world's attention and lead to a revival? If only a blind eye opening could be caught on camera!

Even if miracles were evident at every evangelistic meeting it still wouldn't be enough to convince the doubters. That blind eye opening caught on camera would be labelled as trick photography.

The healing side of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth was specifically to the Jew to make an unmistakeably impression on them that He was their promised Messiah. The greatest miracle in this church age is when the Holy Spirit convicts a person of their sin and the need to receive Christ as their personal saviour, causing them to be born-again.

When the emphasis in preaching is always to see outer miracles to prove that God is real, we lose the very thing that is important, which is for a Christian's mind to be renewed to fact of the in-dwelling Christ.

Without renewing the mind to the "isness" of God, we can witness people being raised from the dead and still be ignorant to the "good, acceptable and perfect will of God". Outer miracles are impressive but possibly can hinder a person from receiving an inner knowing and that's why Paul the Apostle said, 'know this'; "knowing that", "keep in memory"; "looking not unto the things that are seen but the things that are not seen" and "holding the head".

I still lay hands on the sick in my meetings and expect the "gift of healings" to be operational. But what's more important in my estimation is having the power of the Spirit in manifestation whereby the light of revelation truth is operating in the minds of the hearers. 300

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31. I've spent most of my bible reading time in the four Gospels. Someone said that these are the best books to read, as they are all about what Jesus did. Is this true?

 

The four gospels are all about Jesus of Nazareth, what He did, and in the book of John - Who He was and is. The synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are historical accounts of Jesus who came to the Jew as a Prophet under the law.

John's gospel is the last of the books in the Bible to be written. John, who was with Jesus, now also had a working revelation of Paul's "mystery gospel"; that's why his account begins in a different dimension than the synoptic gospels, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God".

John gives greater insight of "Christ Jesus the Lord", than Mathew, Mark or Luke. John's gospel detailed Christ as the 'now' resurrected and Glorified Lord. He received the same revelation, as did Paul who called this revelation, 'my gospel' or the 'mystery gospel'.

That's why John's Gospel is more in keeping with the Pauline epistles and is the best place to start as a new believer and continue to read as a Christian. The greatest truths and where we as believers find the "Doctrine of Christ" for our daily walk is in the books called the "General and Prison epistles" of Paul. There we delight in the discovery of truth in books like Romans, Ephesians, Colossians and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.

Ultimately Paul's 'my gospel' must become our gospel and the next time we read one of the four gospels, we'll be able to divide it correctly, knowing what applies to me as a New Creation and what does not, and John's account will be seen as being more than a history lesson. 313

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32. What sort of things should I say to a Christian who has backslidden? Paul

 

The term backsliding refers only to Israel as in Jer 3:22 "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God" and is not mentioned in the New Covenant. When you think about it in a "New Creation" context, it's impossible to 'backslide' from Him who is in you as your only life.

You can however 'backslide' from religion or your church's teaching or the pastor's audio teaching tapes, but you can't "backslide" in the same way as did Israel from God.

If you speak to so called 'backslidden' Christians, you will find that the majority still love the Lord and want to talk about Him, but they don't want to go to ant more legalistic church meetings. When they come into the freedom that the truth brings, that we are the church and that we don't have to go to church to meet with God, Then we will find them desiring to be around people of like minds, that's church. As we should all know by now, church isn't a building but an elect people saved by Grace through faith.

They don't want religion that's all and when we confirm to them that it's okay - not having have to go to church, and tell them instead that God's love is unconditional, you won't be able to get them out of church.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom 8:38-39 300

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33. Is there someone that could pray for the bad thoughts (possible demons) to vacate my mind, body & soul? I have badly sinned so much in my past and find myself still caught up in a terrible frame of mind and awful ideas. I know one should confess your sins to God, although I am sure he knows it all. Karien

It is obvious that you are under a mental attack from the enemy. Somewhere along the line you opened the door to your mind by sinful acts. Just be honest with God and confess your sins and believe by faith that He hears you. I Jn 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness".

If you have already acted on the truth of 1Jn 1:9, and have ceased in the sins that you mentioned, then it is a problem of faith or lack of it that's keeping you in condemnation. Accept by faith on receiving this answer that your sins are blood washed and righteousness is once again yours. It is not your "doing" but your "knowing" that is important now.

As for the terrible frame of mind and awful ideas that you still have these can only be sorted by replacing the sense knowledge thoughts with revelation knowledge truths regarding your state and standing before God as a New Creation believer. Eph 6:10-18 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." 303

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34. I lost the path and desperate in finding it again. I have forsaken my God more than once. I believe there is no hope for me. I have 3 children and 3 grandchildren who I am so scared might suffer for my sins!

Always keep in mind that for a Christian the path or way is a person and that person is Christ. For Jesus himself said in Jn 14:6 …"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me". With that truth in mind and that Jesus also said as stated in Heb 13:5 that He would "never leave or forsake us". how then can we fail. It's not us finding Him, but He finding us, and once found, BE ASSURED He will not let you go.

As for your children and grandchildren commit them to Lord in prayer and stop worrying about your past life effecting them in a negative way. Christ not only suffered for the sins of your children and grandchildren and yes - the sins of the whole world. You are most probably referring to the Old Testament scripture of Exodus 20:5 "…. I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations". This is where God instructed the people in the Law which He gave to Moses. This is for a people in a different dispensation called Law. We in this Church age are under an opposite mandate to the Israelites; we are in the Dispensation called Grace. The Word says this regarding the Law. 1Ti 1:9 "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners…" This also isn't for you as you are made righteous in Christ Jesus. 303

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35. How does one become a born-again believer? Michael

 

Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ said to a man named Nicodemus, "You must be born again" That was the beginning of a message, which has revolutionized the lives of untold millions and secured for them the hope of eternity. Soon after that conversation Jesus fulfilled His destined role and became the sacrifice for sin by dying a death by crucifixion on a wooden cross at a place called   Golgotha.

Through this one act of obedience to His Fathers will, Jesus made the way possible in Himself for all to have access to eternal life and forgiveness of sins. This free gift of salvation has to be received by faith, and when you hear the "Good News" it's up to the individual to make the choice whether to receive Christ or not. This decision for Christ is the one thing necessary for Him to enter into the life of the individual and prepare that one for eternity.
The gospel message is so simple; all that is necessary is a hearing ear, humility of heart and a willingness to accept by faith the words of Jesus. After that He will do the rest, even providing the faith to make that step towards Him. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin nature and the need for His righteousness to be imparted to us. My prayer for you is that you will make the right decision and become a part of God's family as I did.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation". Rom 10:9-11 301

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36. Who is Jesus? I 'm a non-believer.

 

Discrepancy regarding the identity of Jesus of Nazareth has always been a debate. Many believe that he is a great prophet who is equivalent to Mohammed Buddha, Confucius, and others. Some give him tribute for being a thoughtful moral teacher. Others are of the opinion that he was a loving, somewhat weak man, who unfortunately got killed for a cause that was decent, but misplaced.
These are people's opinions but are they accurate? Or are some significant details left out? People in this day and age require intellectual and honest answers to their search for truth, and so they should. So to, regarding who Jesus is, it is necessary to have the facts before choosing to believe for, or against, his claim. Jesus claimed to be God, the Creator of the universe, the one and only way by which we can enter into the presence of the Heavenly Father,

Many are confused about the subject of Jesus by the many voices proclaiming themselves as an alternate way to God. The safest counsel I would give to those searching for the true path, is to personally and directly ask the main head power.

Over the years I have learnt to demand to speak to the owner of the business, thus avoiding middle management, if I am to get a result regarding my problem, The religious middle management are the numerous gurus and self-appointed clerics. How much more then, in the case of eternal life should we ask God Himself if Jesus Christ is His Son and above all other claimants to the throne,

"And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 Jn 5:11-12
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