"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the Sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." 1 John 3:2-3
Now we are the sons of God, do you know just how powerful this Truth is? Turn to John 5:18, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God." When Jesus said that He was the Son of God, the Jews wanted to kill Him, and I mean they really wanted to kill Him, for by saying God was His Father, because to say that Jesus was making Himself equal with God. That was a capital offense to the Jews, Jesus was breaking their law, and He knew it, yet He still said it. He had to; it was the Truth that would set the captives free! He knew how they would react, yet He still said it. We see how God is here, there is no fear within Him, there is no political correctness, His love goes beyond that, most of what He has to say will offend, yet all that He has to say is love and is freedom. This is the Spirit that abides within us. “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Here is the really powerful thing about our own lives, when Jesus taught us to pray, He said to begin the prayer with, “Our Father.” Thus Jesus is telling us to consider ourselves equal with God, and He said to do this because it is Truth, God is now our Father. That is the measure of love that God has for us, that He allowed us to be born again of Him. He used the same power that He used to bring Jesus into a body, His Spirit, and He is allowed to do it for us because Jesus was sacrificed and His Blood was shed, and there was no fault found in Him! We are not born of the will of man; we are born of God! “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name; Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13
A child does not choose to be born; he is just born. It is the parents that willed it. Well, the same is true with us, we can seek God, but He is the One Who chooses for us to be born again. Now God is not stingy, He would that all men be saved, but He knows the hearts of all men, and He sees what is Truth, and He chooses who will be born. That is a powerful Truth, because so many believe that we are the ones who do it, which is why they believe we can fall away and loose our salvation! But we are not born again by a man’s will, or by our own will, we are born by God’s Will. There is no fooling God; He has no illegitimate children, that is why Jesus said that we should pray in a way that tells the world we are equal with God! We are a chosen generation and we are a royal priesthood. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light:” 1 Peter 2:9
Next, let’s study why this hope of being a child of God is so important, “every man that has this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” Wow, pure as God is pure, and all we have to do is have this hope. But wait, we have to hope, can we do it, do we have the power, this is big stuff, pure as God, can a mere mortal, weakened by the flesh hope for such a thing? Well, I honestly believe that God has never required us to do anything that He is not within us giving us the power to do, so let’s see what the Word says? “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope; through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
Praise God, if we want to be pure like God is pure, all we have to do is have the hope that we are now His children and that when Jesus comes back we will be like Him. No problem, God, through His Holy Spirit, fills us with all joy and peace of believing, that we may abound in hope. And faith is the evidence of things hoped for, so we have the faith to live it, because God has empowered us with Himself to abound in hope, so we may abound in faith. It’s all God. But look, we may have all joy and all peace in believing, that is so awesome, peace in believing. When God says pure, as He is pure, we may have peace and joy in believing it. I have said this verse in so many churches and they have gotten so made at me. I have been asked to leave, I have been damned, I have been cursed and yelled at, but I have peace in this Truth, the Holy Spirit has given it to me. I know, because God is within me, that this is Truth. I don’t struggle with it, I don’t hesitate at it, it’s just as sure within me as the Sun will rise! Heaven and Earth will pass away, but this Truth, will last forever.
We are now the children of God, and He has sealed us with His Spirit, and there is nothing that can penetrate that seal, nothing! I didn’t fool God to start with. We aren’t used by satan to fool God into accepting us His Truth, so that we can escape back to the world and then use it against Him. God knew us, and He chose us, and we have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible!
God told us that the way we would know who was born of Him, was by the righteous acts that He would do through them. "If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him." 1 John 2:29 God not only said righteous acts, but righteousness as Jesus’ righteousness! Now that is righteous, and here in 1 John 3, we see that we are pure as God is pure. Jesus gave this to us, we were created in His image, and He is the firstborn among many brethren. But it’s so much more powerful than just being in His image, we are actually one with Him, we live because the same power that lives within Him lives within us. So it shouldn’t be a stumbling block, this should be an area of our rejoicing, because we are one, one with Him, and one with each other, and since we are one, the world will believe!
“How much more shall the Blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God? Hebrews 9:14 Remember when we studied about righteousness, that it means to be guiltless? Well so many don’t feel guiltless, so when we talk about now being God’s children and being pure as God is pure, they tend to have issues. God knows who we are, He knows what we are, Jesus was tempted in every area, just as we are, so Jesus was tempted to feel guilty. About what I don’t know, but the Bible teaches us that He was tempted as we are, so He was! And God did something about it, He sent Jesus, and God knew that the Blood of Jesus would purge our consciences from dead works. The Blood will clean all of that guilt up. I have so many things I could feel guilty over, yet I don’t. That’s not bragging on my ability that is being thankful for God’s ability! We have the Spirit of God within us, He is strengthening us to trust this, He is allowing us to believe this, and He is empowering us to live in it. The Spirit has given us the joy and peace of believing this, that we may abound in hope, and that hope has brought faith, faith Authored and Finished by Jesus!
Now one last tidbit of Truth from God’s Word, to overcome any issues of doubt concerning our purity. “But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. 1 Peter 2:9 teaches us that we have been called out of darkness into God’s Light, and 1 John 1:7 teaches us that if we are in the Light than Jesus’ Blood cleanseth us from all sin. So if you are saved and have the Spirit of God within you are pure even as He is pure! We are because of Jesus, and we have the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are now the sons of God. And His Spirit cries out from within us that we are. We know the Truth and the Truth has set us free. We are what our Father has born us to be, as He is! That is Truth, and that is good preaching brother! They may want to kill us for saying it, but man for those who find it, peace that passes all understanding and Light that drives out all the darkness are to be found!
We are blessed beyond expression through the power of God’s might that eternally abides within us!
Now we are the sons of God, do you know just how powerful this Truth is? Turn to John 5:18, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God." When Jesus said that He was the Son of God, the Jews wanted to kill Him, and I mean they really wanted to kill Him, for by saying God was His Father, because to say that Jesus was making Himself equal with God. That was a capital offense to the Jews, Jesus was breaking their law, and He knew it, yet He still said it. He had to; it was the Truth that would set the captives free! He knew how they would react, yet He still said it. We see how God is here, there is no fear within Him, there is no political correctness, His love goes beyond that, most of what He has to say will offend, yet all that He has to say is love and is freedom. This is the Spirit that abides within us. “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Here is the really powerful thing about our own lives, when Jesus taught us to pray, He said to begin the prayer with, “Our Father.” Thus Jesus is telling us to consider ourselves equal with God, and He said to do this because it is Truth, God is now our Father. That is the measure of love that God has for us, that He allowed us to be born again of Him. He used the same power that He used to bring Jesus into a body, His Spirit, and He is allowed to do it for us because Jesus was sacrificed and His Blood was shed, and there was no fault found in Him! We are not born of the will of man; we are born of God! “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name; Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13
A child does not choose to be born; he is just born. It is the parents that willed it. Well, the same is true with us, we can seek God, but He is the One Who chooses for us to be born again. Now God is not stingy, He would that all men be saved, but He knows the hearts of all men, and He sees what is Truth, and He chooses who will be born. That is a powerful Truth, because so many believe that we are the ones who do it, which is why they believe we can fall away and loose our salvation! But we are not born again by a man’s will, or by our own will, we are born by God’s Will. There is no fooling God; He has no illegitimate children, that is why Jesus said that we should pray in a way that tells the world we are equal with God! We are a chosen generation and we are a royal priesthood. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light:” 1 Peter 2:9
Next, let’s study why this hope of being a child of God is so important, “every man that has this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” Wow, pure as God is pure, and all we have to do is have this hope. But wait, we have to hope, can we do it, do we have the power, this is big stuff, pure as God, can a mere mortal, weakened by the flesh hope for such a thing? Well, I honestly believe that God has never required us to do anything that He is not within us giving us the power to do, so let’s see what the Word says? “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope; through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
Praise God, if we want to be pure like God is pure, all we have to do is have the hope that we are now His children and that when Jesus comes back we will be like Him. No problem, God, through His Holy Spirit, fills us with all joy and peace of believing, that we may abound in hope. And faith is the evidence of things hoped for, so we have the faith to live it, because God has empowered us with Himself to abound in hope, so we may abound in faith. It’s all God. But look, we may have all joy and all peace in believing, that is so awesome, peace in believing. When God says pure, as He is pure, we may have peace and joy in believing it. I have said this verse in so many churches and they have gotten so made at me. I have been asked to leave, I have been damned, I have been cursed and yelled at, but I have peace in this Truth, the Holy Spirit has given it to me. I know, because God is within me, that this is Truth. I don’t struggle with it, I don’t hesitate at it, it’s just as sure within me as the Sun will rise! Heaven and Earth will pass away, but this Truth, will last forever.
We are now the children of God, and He has sealed us with His Spirit, and there is nothing that can penetrate that seal, nothing! I didn’t fool God to start with. We aren’t used by satan to fool God into accepting us His Truth, so that we can escape back to the world and then use it against Him. God knew us, and He chose us, and we have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible!
God told us that the way we would know who was born of Him, was by the righteous acts that He would do through them. "If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him." 1 John 2:29 God not only said righteous acts, but righteousness as Jesus’ righteousness! Now that is righteous, and here in 1 John 3, we see that we are pure as God is pure. Jesus gave this to us, we were created in His image, and He is the firstborn among many brethren. But it’s so much more powerful than just being in His image, we are actually one with Him, we live because the same power that lives within Him lives within us. So it shouldn’t be a stumbling block, this should be an area of our rejoicing, because we are one, one with Him, and one with each other, and since we are one, the world will believe!
“How much more shall the Blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God? Hebrews 9:14 Remember when we studied about righteousness, that it means to be guiltless? Well so many don’t feel guiltless, so when we talk about now being God’s children and being pure as God is pure, they tend to have issues. God knows who we are, He knows what we are, Jesus was tempted in every area, just as we are, so Jesus was tempted to feel guilty. About what I don’t know, but the Bible teaches us that He was tempted as we are, so He was! And God did something about it, He sent Jesus, and God knew that the Blood of Jesus would purge our consciences from dead works. The Blood will clean all of that guilt up. I have so many things I could feel guilty over, yet I don’t. That’s not bragging on my ability that is being thankful for God’s ability! We have the Spirit of God within us, He is strengthening us to trust this, He is allowing us to believe this, and He is empowering us to live in it. The Spirit has given us the joy and peace of believing this, that we may abound in hope, and that hope has brought faith, faith Authored and Finished by Jesus!
Now one last tidbit of Truth from God’s Word, to overcome any issues of doubt concerning our purity. “But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. 1 Peter 2:9 teaches us that we have been called out of darkness into God’s Light, and 1 John 1:7 teaches us that if we are in the Light than Jesus’ Blood cleanseth us from all sin. So if you are saved and have the Spirit of God within you are pure even as He is pure! We are because of Jesus, and we have the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are now the sons of God. And His Spirit cries out from within us that we are. We know the Truth and the Truth has set us free. We are what our Father has born us to be, as He is! That is Truth, and that is good preaching brother! They may want to kill us for saying it, but man for those who find it, peace that passes all understanding and Light that drives out all the darkness are to be found!
We are blessed beyond expression through the power of God’s might that eternally abides within us!
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