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Access to the blood: Difference between revisions
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#Cleansing by the blood of Jesus. | #Cleansing by the blood of Jesus. | ||
A question that must be asked is this - What is the status of people who claim the cleansing and protection of the blood, but who do not lead the kind of life that entitled them to receive it. | |||
Certain logical conclusions follow: If we are not walking in fellowship with our fellow believers, that is evidence that we are not walking in the light. And if we are not walking in the light, again, logically, it follows that we cannot claim the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. So we come to this conclusion: If we are out of fellowship, we are out of the light. And if we are out of the light, the blood no longer cleanses us. The blood of Jesus cleanses only in the light. | |||
Unfortunately, many Christians deceive themselves about their right of access to the blood. They keep quoting the latter part of 1 John 1:7, but in many cases they have never fulfilled the condition preceded by “if ”: walking in the light as He is in the light. | According to 1 John 1:7, the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing us is a consequence that follows after we have met a condition introduced by the word if: “If we are walking in the light.” Then two results follow: | ||
#First, we have fellowship one with another and, | |||
#Second, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. | |||
Certain logical conclusions follow: | |||
#If we are not walking in fellowship with our fellow believers, that is evidence that we are not walking in the light. | |||
#And if we are not walking in the light, again, logically, it follows that we cannot claim the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. | |||
#So we come to this conclusion: If we are out of fellowship, we are out of the light. | |||
#And if we are out of the light, the blood no longer cleanses us. The blood of Jesus cleanses only in the light. | |||
Unfortunately, '''many Christians deceive themselves about their right of access to the blood'''. They keep quoting the latter part of 1 John 1:7, but in many cases they have never fulfilled the condition preceded by “if ”: walking in the light as He is in the light. | |||
Thus, the evidence that we are walking in the light is that we are in fellowship one with another: Out of fellowship, out of the light. Out of the light, no longer under the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. | Thus, the evidence that we are walking in the light is that we are in fellowship one with another: Out of fellowship, out of the light. Out of the light, no longer under the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. | ||
Fellowship is two-directional. First, with God and, second, with our fellow believers. This makes fellowship with God, and with one another, of unique significance in our lives. The closer our fellowship, the brighter the light. As we mature in Christ, we come to a place where there are no longer any shadows, no dark corners, nothing swept under the rug, nothing covered up. That is a very frightening place for the natural man! It is a place of transparency. But that is the only place where the blood of Jesus completely fulfills its function of cleansing. To claim the cleansing of the blood of Jesus without fulfilling these prior conditions is to make the blood cheap, and the blood of Jesus is not cheap. It is the most precious thing in the universe. | |||
Fellowship is two-directional. First, with God and, second, with our fellow believers. This makes fellowship with God, and with one another, of unique significance in our lives. The closer our fellowship, the brighter the light. As we mature in Christ, we come to a place where there are no longer any shadows, no dark corners, nothing swept under the rug, nothing covered up. | |||
That is a very frightening place for the natural man! It is a place of transparency. But that is the only place where the blood of Jesus completely fulfills its function of cleansing. To claim the cleansing of the blood of Jesus without fulfilling these prior conditions is to make the blood cheap, and the blood of Jesus is not cheap. It is the most precious thing in the universe. | |||
My dear brother or sister, you have no alternative but to come to the light. What does it mean to come to the light? Confess your sins, first to God and then to any person against whom you have sinned. Bring everything out into the open. | My dear brother or sister, you have no alternative but to come to the light. What does it mean to come to the light? Confess your sins, first to God and then to any person against whom you have sinned. Bring everything out into the open. | ||
Is that a difficult thing for people to do? The answer is yes! The light seems so bright. We tend to recoil from it, saying: I could never bring that terrible thing out into the open—that awful memory, that guilty secret, that enslaving habit—I could not expose it to the light. The natural man shrinks from it. But the wonderful secret is this: When your sin is exposed to the light, the blood of Jesus washes it away and everything is clean. | |||
'''Is that a difficult thing for people to do?''' The answer is yes! The light seems so bright. We tend to recoil from it, saying: I could never bring that terrible thing out into the open—that awful memory, that guilty secret, that enslaving habit—I could not expose it to the light. The natural man shrinks from it. But the wonderful secret is this: When your sin is exposed to the light, the blood of Jesus washes it away and everything is clean. | |||
God actually says this in Jeremiah 31:34: “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” | God actually says this in Jeremiah 31:34: “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” | ||
God does not have a bad memory, but He does have a supernatural “eraser” that blots out the memory of sin once it has been forgiven. | God does not have a bad memory, but He does have a supernatural “eraser” that blots out the memory of sin once it has been forgiven. | ||
On the other hand, if you do not bring your sin into the light, your sin remains. Consider once again this tremendous principle: The blood of Jesus cleanses only in the light. | On the other hand, if you do not bring your sin into the light, your sin remains. Consider once again this tremendous principle: The blood of Jesus cleanses only in the light. | ||
Suppose that we have met the conditions: We are walking in the light, and we are in fellowship with our fellow believers. Then we have the right to make this testimony: | Suppose that we have met the conditions: We are walking in the light, and we are in fellowship with our fellow believers. Then we have the right to make this testimony: | ||
The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is cleansing me, now and continually, from all sin. | The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is cleansing me, now and continually, from all sin. | ||
It is very important to see that this is a continuing present tense. The blood cleanses continually as we walk continually in the light. They are two ongoing operations. Continuing to walk in the light, we continue to receive the cleansing of the blood. This is the total cleansing work of the blood.<ref>Derek Prince, War in Heaven: God’s Epic Battle with Evil (Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen, 2003).</ref> | |||
So walking in the light has nothing to do with following William Branham's message but it has everything to do with loving your brothers and sisters in Christ. | |||
The sad thing about the message is that it rarely reflects real love. You are accepted and "loved", if you agree with your church and with William Branham. But if you ask questions about the message, then there is no love and only rejection. This is not real love. This is not God's love. | |||
Remember the words of Jesus in Luke 6: | |||
:''If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Lk 6:32–36.</ref> | |||
Do message believers exhibit true Christian love? Agape love? | |||
Look at how they treat those that disagree with them. Isn't the answer obvious? | |||
=Did William Branham add to the Bible?= | =Did William Branham add to the Bible?= | ||