| Luke 9:23-24,14:33 23 And he said to them all, "If any man desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. [To follow is to be led by the Spirit. To be led, you must persistently and patiently sit in humble silence to wait on the Lord, as you listen for his word within your heart to speak to you; then you must obey Him. Self-denial occurs by obeying the Lord's commands you hear instead of your will, (His will, not your will); this is the inward cross of self-denial. First, He will lead you out of darkness to a sinless state; to then guide your thoughts, words, and works; which works show His glory and love to the world.] 24 For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. [When you continually deny yourself and obey the Lord's commands, you will eventually die to your selfish life on the inward cross of self-denial, and thereby save your soul to live Life in union with God. You lose your life at the conclusion of your crucifixion of self, with many many acts of commanded repentance, several trials with suffering, and then the baptism of fire, which is the baptism of death. For detail on this baptism of fire and death, see the footnote to Matthew 3:12 on this site.] 33 So likewise, whoever does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.6 [Everyone who has forsaken houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit everlasting life. Mat 19:29. When you continually deny yourself and obey the Lord's commands, you will forsake your entire selfish life, and thereby save your soul to live Life in union with God.] | Hebrews 12:14 14 Pursue peace with all men, and holiness [consecration, sanctification], without which no man will see the Lord.7 [From the word of the Lord within: "You must be holy as I am holy. Pursue righteousness and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. "] | 1 Peter 1:15-16 15 But as he who has called you is holy, so you be holy in all manner of conduct;5 [So you must be holy, perfect, pure, and righteous. You must perfect holiness.] 16 Because it is written, "Be holy; for I am holy." [From the word of the Lord within: "You must be holy as I am holy. Pursue righteousness and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord."] | Matthew 5:48 48 Therefore, be perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect."8 [There are many scripture references to the requirement of perfection in the New Testament, (click to see), and in the Old Testament too! (click to see). Only the power of God can change a man to be perfect, and the completion of His perfection process of you is when Jesus appears to crush the head of the Satan under your feet. Rom 16:20. We must be righteous as He is righteous, 1 John 3:7-10. We must be merciful as He is merciful, Luke 6:36. We must become pure as He is pure. 1 John 3:3. But as he who has called you is holy, so you be holy in all manner of conduct, 1 Pet 1:15. So that we walk as he walked, 1 John 2:6, and as he is, so are we in this present world. 1 John 4:17. There is no flexibility and no equivocation in any of these stated requirements.] | 1 John 3:7-10 7 Little children, let no man deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.3 [Jesus only spoke, judged, and did as He was prompted and ordered by God; to practice righteousness we also must be able to only speak what we hear Him order us to say and only do what we are ordered to do by God. This ability only comes after we have crucified our selfish spirit, as sin has been destroyed by the Spirit through bearing the inward cross of self-denial; then we are walking the same way He walked and in the world as He was with perfection, purity, and holiness. Everyone who practices righteousness is born of him, 1 John 2:29. — The Greek in this verse for little children is Teknia <5040>; these are yet to be freed from sin and without salvation.] 8 He who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God is revealed [in us], that he might destroy [in us] the works [sin] of the devil.4 [Let no man deceive you, saying that you can still be sinning and belong to God; those still sinning serve the devil. Christ is revealed in our flesh to destroy the works of the devil, by condemning the secret sins in our heart, and then destroying even our desire to sin. Paul confirms Jesus destroying the works of the devil in each purified believer: "the God of peace shall crush Satan under your feet shortly." Rom 16:20.] 9 Whoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed [Christ] remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.5 [To be born again, you must be crucified, which destroys all desires to sin in you. As a new creature you are then raised to heaven by Jesus who shows you the Father, and then you belong to Jesus and the Father. Once you are in the Father's hand, you are protected from ever sinning again. "We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; instead God protects the one he has fathered, and the wicked one does not touch him." 1 John 5:18.] 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed [distinguished]: whoever does not live righteously is not of God, neither is he who does not love his brother. [If you are still sinning, you are a child of the devil, regardless of what your blind guide priest or minister says differently. From the Word of the Lord within: "If you are still sinning, you belong to sin and not to Me."] | |||||