Continue In The Faith

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Ryan Vegh

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Now that you know the truth,
Make sure that you continue in the truth
And bear fruit for God
There is so much deception in the world
So many things that can turn us off course from following God
But we need to fix our eyes on Jesus
And keep trusting and obeying Him
Even though obedience isn't the root of our salvation
(That is, we can never be good enough to earn our salvation
And free ourselves from our slavery to sin and our eventual judgment)
Obedience is a fruit of our salvation
What I mean is
The Holy Spirit inside of us changes our lives so much
That our very desires change
So that we want to obey God
He leads us into all truth
Convicts us when we sin
And produces a new life in us of goodness and rightness
Purity and holiness
These are all fruits of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives
Jesus told His disciples that we need to remain in Him
If we want to bear all of this good fruit
He said that He is like a vine
And we are like branches
We need to remain connected to Him
In love and obedience
So He can produce His fruit in our lives
But Jesus also said that if any one us is a branch that doesn't produce any fruit
The Father cuts off that branch
In fact, He said that if we do not remain in Him
We are like branches that are thrown away and wither
Now, that branch is no longer good for anything
So it is thrown into the fire and burned
But Jesus didn't call us out of our old lives just so that we could burn
He chose us so that we would bear fruit and God would receive glory
Because of the amazing work He does in our lives
Let me put it to you this way
God's message
(This Good News that I've been sharing with you)
Is like a seed
And each one of us can be a different kind of ground
Some of our hearts are hard like pavement
The seed tries to get in and plant itself in our hearts
But it can't find any good crack within the pavement
The seed doesn't sprout at all
Instead, birds come by and eat the seed
This is you if you hear this message but don't understand it
Others of you will hear this message, and you will love it
But just like a seed planted in rocky ground
The seed won't take deep root in your heart
As soon as this message starts to bring you trouble or persecution
Maybe from friends or family or the government
You will abandon the faith
Just like a plant without much root being scorched by the sun
Yet others of you will hear this message
And you will be excited about it for a while
But soon, you'll start thinking about other things
All the worries and concerns of this life
And how to be successful here
Money, possessions
The message in you will be just like a seed that
As it sprouts and grows
Gets choked up by thorny ground
And you will not bear fruit for God
But some of you will hear this message
And you will understand it
And you will go deep with God
And build a real relationship with Him
Where you love Him
And He loves you
And you are eager to do what He says
And tell others about Him
It won't matter who comes against you
Or who speaks bad about you
It won't matter if this message causes you pain or suffering
Or if you end up in jail for the message
Or even if you die for Jesus
All that will matter to you is loving your God and Savior
And you will endure all the way to the end
And bear a lot of good fruit
Just like a seed planted in good soil
Which grows and grows and produces a big harvest
And know this
As we are working out this new life
God is likewise working in us
He doesn't leave us stranded
He loves us and is eager to complete the work He's started in us
So I urge you, search your heart
Salvation isn't only about one decision you make one day
And then the rest of your life is just the same as it was before
If I've been saying anything
I've been saying that truly being saved means God gives you a new life
Where the whole course of your life is now changed
As the apostle Paul said
"Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord
Continue to live your life in Him"
So, remain in Him
Obey His voice
He is saying
"This is my command
Love one another"
And if you remain in Him
He will bear fruit in your life

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