"THE MISSING FACTOR"
In the Majority of Christianity
MF BLUME
DECEMBER 26, 1999 am
Hebr 9:24-28 For Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of
the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest
entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then
must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now
once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebr 10:9-14 Then said he, Lo, I come to
do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the
second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. And every priest standeth
daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. For by
one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Most people who profess to be born again live a very pressured life
for the Lord.
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They feel an urge to constantly "better" themselves.
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And that is where the majority of "christianity" has gone wrong.
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I say majority of christianity, with the thought in mind that many will
say "Lord, Lord" but will never get into the Kingdom.
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Not every one who claims christianity is involved in true Christianity.
The truth of the matter is that one who is saved according to Acts 2:38
cannot better themselves one iota.
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There is not one sacrifice we can make that will make ourselves better
in the eyes of God.
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The Bible says that Jesus' sacrifice was "once for all."
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That means nothing can improve upon that afterwards.
We need to read some verses in the Bible that are not stressed enough.
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And these are the very verses that will correct the misconception of feeling
a need to better ourselves.
A brother came to me and told me that in years before he had prayed and
asked the Lord to take him.
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He felt that there was no possible way for him to live a victorious Christian
life.
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So he felt the only way he could ever go to heaven was for him to be taken
in death right there and then.
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But he said that after he heard me preach about having everything when
we are first saved, and only needing to see what we have, it turned his
entire thinking around.
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He said the words that made such a difference to him were the words of
Paul:
Ephe 1:18-20 The eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope
of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in
the saints, And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought
in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right
hand in the heavenly [places],
We have everything God could possibly give us, right now.
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We just need to see what He gave us.
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Too many do not know what they have.
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When he told me that, I realized how much more I have to preach and preach
and preach these truths, because so many have the same misconception this
brother had.
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As a preacher, I need to preach the pressure out of people.
Ephe 1:2-6 Grace [be] to you, and peace,
from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed [be] the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ: According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of
his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the beloved.
These words above include the thoughts that we have received grace and
peace from God.
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That means we are not at odds or at war with Him now.
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Everything between us and God is alright.
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By Jesus' sacrifice, God gave us grace and peace.
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All spiritual blessings that God can ever give anybody at our our disposal
right now, because we are included in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is your acceptance before God.
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God made us accepted in the beloved.
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The man Jesus Christ alone is acceptable to God.
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God said, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,"
when Jesus Christ was baptized..
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In His incarnation as a man, Jesus is spotless before God.
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AND WE ARE ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.
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We are IN HIM.
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We were baptized into Him and that makes us accepted to God, because Christ
alone is acceptable to God, and we are IN HIM.
Verse 6 says that we WERE MADE ACCEPTABLE.
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That means that someone else did the work.
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We did not make ourselves acceptable.
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We never could make ourselves acceptable.
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We WERE MADE ACCEPTABLE BY GOD.
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God adopted us to Himself (verse 5).
That is the reason we read, "To the praise of the glory of HIS GRACE."
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God deserves all the praise because He gets all the credit.
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He did all the work.
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He made us acceptable.
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If we were supposed to make ourselves acceptable, to any degree at all,
or to split the work between ourselves and God, then God would not get
all the praise.
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Some of it would go to us.
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But the Bible says that the praise of His glory goes to God alone.
The CHURCH will be to the praise of His glory because it is the one
thing made totally acceptable by God's work alone.
Ephe 1:12 That we should be to
the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In the world, you have "self-bettered" people.
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You have a "self-bettering" society.
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But the Bible doesn't say the world will be to the
praise of God's glory.
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If we were supposed to be pressured to better ourselves
as Christians, we would see the issue of self-betterment promoted in the
Bible.
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But we don't.
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And we would see the world's self-betterment praised.
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But we don't.
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All we see is the Church being to the praise of God's
glory.
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And we read that God made everyone in the Church
accepted by putting them IN the Beloved -- Jesus Christ.
Ephe 2:13 But
now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ.
We are made CLOSE to God, not by our efforts, but
by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Ephe 2:14 For
he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition [between us];
Jesus Christ is our peace.
Ephe 2:16 And
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby:
Jesus did the work!
ULTIMATE PRAISE TO GOD is not accomplished by
bettering ourselves.
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God cannot be given all the praise if we bettered
ourselves.
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Ultimate praise to God is present when God did all
the work.
HERE IS THE CRITICAL POINT THAT ALL OF YOU
ARE ASKING AT THIS MOMENT:
Someone once asked me, "Why are we directed
to live better lives if we are already acceptable to God?"
The Bible does indeed teach us to live better
lives.
For example, in Ephesians we also read:
Ephe 4:2-3
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another
in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Why would we have to be told to do these things if
we are already fully acceptable to God?
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We do have to live better lives, and that makes people
feel pressured to believe that we are not good enough before God unless
we "better" ourselves.
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But the truth of the matter is the context in which
God says we must do these things.
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And the context is NOT TO BETTER OURSELVES.
Ephe 4:1 I
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of
the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Read this again carefully.
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It is saying that we are already fully acceptable
to God, by the sacrifice of Jesus -- God's work.
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BUT WE SIMPLY HAVE TO LIVE A LIFE SUITABLE
TO THAT FACT.
That is a far cry from saying we have to act better
so that we will be more acceptable to God.
The following verses teach the same thing.
Phil 1:27 Only
let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that
whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs,
that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the
faith of the gospel;
Colo 1:10 That
ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being
fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
All three of these verses say that we are already
complete and accepted to God, and cannot improve upon that, but we must
simply ACT LIKE IT NOW.
That is what the Bible means when it says:
Colo 2:10 And
ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
If we were in need of bettering ourselves before
God, then we would not be COMPLETE.
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But the Bible says that we are complete in Him, because
we are accepted IN THE BELOVED.
Let me explain it this way.
Have you ever seen a man act like a woman?
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I have seen too many of them!
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They are as physically a man as a man can be.
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Does making a feminine acting man act more like a
man, make him any more of a man physically?
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No.
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He is as physically a man as a man can be.
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BUT HE SIMPLY NEEDS TO ACT MORE LIKE WHAT HE IS.
That is exactly the picture of the saint of God.
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You cannot be more acceptable to God than you are
when you are in Christ.
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BUT YOU CAN ACT MORE LIKE IT.
We must do good deeds, BUT NOT TO BECOME MORE ACCEPTABLE
TO GOD.
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We simply must live a life that SUITS what we already
are.
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We are already 100% acceptable to God.
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Just act like it.
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THIS IS THE MISSING FACTOR IN TOO MANY CHRISTIANS'
LIVES!!
Hebr 9:24 For
Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are]
the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us:
All Jesus' good qualities that make Him so acceptable
to the Father ARE OUR'S!
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Put yourself in the place of Jesus, and being as
good as Him and as righteous as Him and as holy as Him.
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Wouldn't it feel good to stand before God like that?
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THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THIS VERSE IS SAYING.
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WE ARE AS GOOD AS HE IS BECAUSE WE ARE IN HIM, AND
HE STANDS BEFORE GOD FOR US -- OR IN OUR PLACE.
THIS IS THE MISSING FACTOR IN CHRISTIANS' UNDERSTANDING!!
There are two levels of Christians.
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Immature Christians.
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Mature Christians.
BOTH OF THEM ARE COMPLETE IN JESUS CHRIST.
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One is no more holy than the other.
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Both are 100% holy because Jesus gave them HIS HOLINESS.
But the immature Christian does not understand this.
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Their eyes of understanding are not opened.
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They do not realize that Jesus gave them HIS OWN
RIGHTEOUSNESS.
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(Read Matthew 6:33 -- seek GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS).
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When you expect to sin, you are going to find
a way to do it!!
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So, because these people do not understand that they
are complete in Jesus Christ, they invariably think they must IMPROVE UPON
THEMSELVES.
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And they will sin and sin and sin and have to repent
every time over and over again.
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But the good news is that, though they sin, if they
repent they go back to the same ONE sacrifice of Jesus everytime, and they
are renewed to be just as perfect as they were when they were first saved.
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The same blood we believed God for when we were first
saved is the same blood we go back to when we make a mistake and sin.
But the mature saint of God knows he/she is complete
in Jesus.
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And they understand that since they have power over
sin in Christ, they do not have to sin all the time, neither do they expect
to do so.
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So they sin far less.
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And this may shock you, but some of them have come
to a place of faith where they really believe and experience Romans 6:14.
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(Figure that one out for yourself!)
But both the immature and the mature are 100% righteous
before God.
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Its just that the mature knows it.
The task of an enlightened preacher is to preach
to people who they are, when these people think they already know who they
are.
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Most people do not listen to a preacher tell them
who they are in Christ, because they think they already know.
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And they MISS IMPORTANT TRUTHS, because THEY DON'T
KNOW WHO THEY ARE!!
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How many understood they were 100% righteous the
very second they were saved?
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Or how many had the misconception that they need
to become more holy?
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We are as holy as holy can be, its just that we need
to ACT more holy.
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But we already are holy.
I have been accused of preaching that we need to
live perfectly.
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Wrong.
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I preach that we already are perfect!!
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We just need to act like it now.
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(This does not mean we cannot make a mistake and
sin. But the word PERFECT in the Bible does not mean what most people
think it means. It means COMPLETE).
Always be willing to learn more of the truth.
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The history of denominations hs been that some received
genuine revelation from God and shared it with others in their denomination,
but many of those others REFUSED it.
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So these enlightened ones had to leave.
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Many of them started a new denomination around that
revelation.
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And then, amongst them, some got even more revelation.
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They shared it and the others refused it, thinking
the revelation they received was the last one anybody would ever get.
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And on and on it goes.
The best way to stop the Holy Ghost from working
in your life is to think you do not need to learn anything else, and that
you already know it all.
John 16:13 Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that]
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
The Spirit's purpose is to GUIDE US INTO ALL TRUTH.
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And if we think we know it all, then the Spirit cannot
do what He is purposed to do.
And the attitude that we know it all stems from a
desire to glorify ourselves.
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We feel good in thinking WE know everything.
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And that uplifts flesh and self.
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And that is antichrist.
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Antichrist is anything that takes glory from God
and gives it to man.
It is antichrist when people say, "I've been in this
denomination for so many years, and I will die in this denomination.
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THAT IS ANTICHRIST.
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They feel that a certain length of time involved
in a denomination proves the denomination is perfect.
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That is nonsense!
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The Buddhist religion is older than Christianity.
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Is it true?
The Gospel teaches that man does NOT have an indomitable
spirit.
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Man is born in sin and needs God.
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Every man DOES NOT have a bit of God in him already.
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Man is an alien to God and needs to be reconciled
to God by Jesus Christ.
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And when man is reconciled, man is 100% righteous
and 100% holy in the eyes of God.
You would think the world would break our doors down
to accept this gospel!
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But no.
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Why?
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Because it has to admit it is not as good as it thinks
it already is, in order to accept the Gospel.
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The antichrist spirit that began in man when Satan
told Eve, "You shall be as gods," is still in man.
Let us never have that antichrist spirit in us!
Let us always lean upon Jesus Christ and remain
IN HIM, so that we are 100% complete and perfect before God!
The reason so many have backslidden and went back
into the world of sin is because they missed this FACTOR.
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They thought they had to become better before God,
and felt they could not do it.
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So they went away from 100% righteousness, and they
never knew it!
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Others begin to try to make themselves better, although
they are 100% righteous already, and by taking over the task of making
themselves better, they leave all the righteousness of God and are lost!
Don't let anyone fool you into thinking you are not
already 100% before God.
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And don't think that you have no responsibility to
ACT LIKE IT, either.
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Sin is still sin, and when we sin, we MUST repent
and sincerely seek God to forgive you.
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And He once again makes us 100% righteous in His
eyes.