The Nugget:
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (KJV) 2Co 5:17 Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (Noyes NT)
My Comment:
In my preceding “Daily Bible Nugget” I discussed Romans 12:2, and the fact that we must be “transformed by the renewing” of our minds. That process takes place once we become rightly related to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many people think they are Christians. One of the tests to know if you really are a Christian is to check whether what is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5:17 is really true of you. In your life, have the “old things” truly passed away? Have “all things” become new?
If you truly belong to Christ, there should be some rather clear or obvious results that can be seen in your life. Genuine believers in Christ have an insatiable hunger for the Word of God. They are eager to feast upon the spiritual food, the spiritual nourishment, found in the Bible (1 Peter 2:2). They take time to read the New Testament regularly. They are on a path that brings about spiritual growth (2 Peter 3:18).
If you truly are properly related to Jesus Christ, the power of His Holy Spirit is producing the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23) in your life. What Paul calls “the works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19, 20, 21) no longer characterize you.
Your friends will notice the change that has taken place in your life. They “are astonished that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot” (1 Peter 4:4), and they may say evil things about you.
Now it may be, if you have been a genuine Christian for a long time, perhaps since you were quite young, it may not be so much a change that friends and associates and acquaintances may notice, but they can tell you are not like them. If such people do not notice that you are any different from them, that may be evidence that you are not really walking close enough to Jesus Christ for them to notice, and you really need to draw closer to Him by reading and obeying His word.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments…
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
AND
Galatians 3:29 And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Dear Anon,
I’m not sure whether “anon” is short for “anonymous” or not, but you have posted some very good verses regarding the need to keep the commandments of God, or the commandments of Christ.
I will address this issue in my next “Daily Bible Nugget,” which will be #404, on 1 John 5:13.
The test of true belief is obedience to Christ.
It is interesting that the set of Scriptures you have posted (John 15:10; 1 John 5:3; Revelation 14:12 AND Galatians 3:29) corresponds to the argumentation I have experienced from Seventh-day Adventists. I am currently studying carefully a new scholarly book I just purchased for my Logos 6 Bible software on the Ten Commandments, a work that is part of a NAC series (New American Commentary) of scholarly works on important Bible subjects. I am as far as just beginning to read about the Fourth Commandment.
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