Featured How To Be A Faithful & True Witness

It is one thing to share testimonies of what you are doing FOR the Lord of your commitments to follow Him and of your commitments to several good works, but that is not what sinners need to hear.

They want to hear what the Lord has done for you so that they can have that hope in Him too for their own lives.

Talking about your commitments and what you are doing for the Lord is something that will disheartened the sinner, seeing how sin has dominion over their lives and see no hope in themselves to make such commitments to follow Jesus nor make any such commitments to do good works FOR Jesus.

I contend that Jesus had never talked to his disciples in making commitments or promises or any kind of religious man-made bondages to follow Him because they were to be free to follow Him by faith alone. It is in that way, others sees your faith & hope in Him, not only in Him as Saviour for eternal life that you are saved, BUT in Him as your Good Shepherd in helping you to follow Him & live as His friend.

So let's see what is a false witness from a true one.

John 5:31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

Now what does John 5:31 says about talking about your commitments? Don't do it.

John 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

Now what does John 7:18 says about your commitments versus faith in Him? Your commitments exalts you and you will get the praise from men for keeping it, BUT it is unrighteousness in the eyes of God whereas speaking of your faith in Him in what He has done for you, is doing for you, and will do for you exalts Jesus Christ wherein people will praise God for His work in you & sinners may be converted to Him.

John 3:28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

So we need His help to stop talking about ourselves & our commitments & our promises but rather speak of Jesus Christ & His promises to us in seeking His glory & not our own.

Otherwise, we risk defiling ourselves by our false witnessing.

Matthew 15:7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.....18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man:

Proverbs 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

I find it significant that the Lord would have those two verses together because making commitments is testifying to being committed or in bondage to doing something for the Lord tomorrow too.

James 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

May the Lord help correct our testimonies so that we exalt Him & His promises to us for others to see our hope & faith in Him for our lives.

Psalm 19:12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage....5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Philippians 1: 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: ....11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

This is why it is written that the just shall live by faith in the Son of God and all of His promises to us, and not by keeping their commitments.

Truly, the power in living the christian life is by faith in the Son of God as our Good Shepherd that He will help us to follow Him as His disciple. Trust Him to set you free to rest in Him today that He will help you to follow Him, because He really is your Good Shepherd too.

 

Invitations sent out @John of Japan @JamesL @Santha @Iconoclast @steaver @Darrell C @Pastor_Bob @Pastor James @Pastor Timothy @PastorMark @JonC δοῦλος and @pastorsag

Just hoping the Lord will lead someone to share to confirm or to reprove on what a true witness is from a false witness in how we witness to others.

 

Just hoping the Lord will lead someone to share to confirm or to reprove on what a true witness is from a false witness in how we witness to others.

Sending our invitations to @Squire Robertsson @Salty @kyredneck @Revmitchell @Clint Kritzer @tyndale1946 @DHK @th1bill @Protestant @TCassidy @church mouse guy and @evangelist6589

 

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

If those invited need time to study and prayerfully provide that answer, that is definitely okay. I leave it to God to cause the increase. Thanks.

 

Sending an invite @Zaac

 

Hi Bill

I'm not sure what you mean in regards to the rest of your posting.

Well, that is okay because John the Baptist decrease so that He may increase. If we are telling others about ourselves that does not compliment ourselves or win the praises of men so to speak, all the while exalting Him at our expense, then that is seeking the glory of the One that sent us.

One can see our fellow forum member utilyan in the same way when he proclaims loving others is the thing we all should do, but he does it in a way where we all "must" do, which is a bit different from what you had just shared.

The point is, in the eyes of a sinner, he can't see himself as able to do the will of God nor does he want to when he is at war with his sinful nature, and half the time giving in to it when he does not want to. So his getting to where you are at is what you need to be sharing with him.

The same about our brother, @utilyan , except he is skipping over the important part as to how he came to be where he is at, which he is not acknowledging at all. The sinner will see the vanity of the religiousity of loving others to save oneself when he is knowing he is sinning against God privately. He is doing things that he knows God does not approve and is quite debilitating to himself and to those around him in his life. So just religiously loving others while one is miserable in living a life of sin is not going to last very long to a sinner trying to save himself in that way. That sinner will never have peace.

Maybe bending your will is not the correct word, but yielding is? Bending has a fleshly religious application to it that will be off putting to a sinner.

We cannot finish by the flesh what was begun in the Spirit. Our testimony needs to be clarified in the ears of those living in a religious world to avoid a double-mindedness that even I was under when trying to keep that former commitment to follow Christ. I would be doing the best I can and being miserable about it, feeling like a fraud, and yet being thankful when He helps me when I call, but I go to show my appreciation by turning around again and doing the best I can again, and failing again. So like a yo yo, a miserable circle in my walk with Him, He finally set me free from my yoke of keeping that commitment to follow Him by resting in Him and all His promises to me that He will help me to follow Him.

And He is doing it as I get to know Him and the power of His resurrection as my personal Good Shepherd in helping me to follow Him.

I believe that a person that lives by faith is leaning on God to do His will as he lives his life in trusting Jesus Christ in being their Good Shepherd.

That is what a sinner needs to hear is our hope in Jesus Christ for living as His and not just in Him as our Savior for the free gift of eternal life.

Thanks for sharing and participating in this thread, brother.

 

I am not sure I am following the rest of your post to what you have posted above.

You say it is not what we do, but in order to see that faith, you have given examples of what you do as well as by your good conversation. So I think I am not understanding your post, and so I need to ask for clarification please?

However, my point about being a good witness to others is testifying of what Christ has done for you so that by declaring your faith in Him for what He has done for you in not only having saved you, but helping you to follow Him, sinners may have that hope when they believe in Him too.

 

So a sinner that hates everybody, because of what people have done to him in his life, he might as well give up trying to save himself in that way?

How many people out there have been betrayed, molested, raped, seriously injured, blinded, maimed, had a loved one killed in front of him or her, robbed, defrauded, defamed, and still being bullied is ever going to hear your gospel message that you can save yourself by loving others?

When the devil gets a grip on that sinner's anger, where is his or her hope in Christ when you are not talking about your hope IN Christ but your hope IN yourself in loving others to save yourself?

 

But how did he become that light?

How is he even able to show that light?

How can others obtain that light?

By faith in Jesus Christ?

Or by making a commitment to follow Christ?

Luke 1:78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

John 8:12Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Matthew 5:
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Is it really our good work or His good work in us that enables us to do good works that men shall praise God the Father for?

Your commitment speaks of you. They will pat you on the back for you keeping that commitment. You did it. God did not help you. It is your commitment and you kept it by your own power and you are following Jesus by your own will and merit that religious people can relate to.

Keeping a commitment can be found in the million man march, Alcoholic Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Freemasonry, and just about every religion in the world because it is a rudiment of the world.

In AA & NA, you can pick whatever higher power you want, be it Christ, Allah, a tree, a turtle, a diva, or whatever.... and although attendees will give credit to their higher power, do you really think the attendees will give glory to that higher power when each one of them are being awarded by keeping their commitment?

So a commitment is like a promise or a vow. God's word says that you have to do everything out of your mouth; Numbers 30:2 A commitment is a work of your hands; not God's. Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 It also causes your flesh to sin. Romans 3:19-20 This is why Jesus said not do it;

Matthew 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

And why James did too. James 5:12

Paul warned against finishing by the flesh what was begun in the Spirit ( Galatians 3:1-3 ) and making a promise to do that which we are supposed to be resting our confidence in Christ to finish by faith ( Philippians 1:6-11 ), is about the biggest letter of the law in light of the rebuke towards circumcision which is the smallest letter of the law, and yet Paul said that if one does that, they are entitled to do the whole law.

Galatians 5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

So that is why I had asked Jesus to set me free from my commitment to follow Him to rest in Him that He will help me to follow Him by faith alone.

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage....5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Thanks to Jesus Christ as my Good Shepherd, I can claim these verses above as part of my testimony of my faith in Jesus Christ for all things.

It may draw religious men into making commitments, but it will not draw them to the hope of the gospel.

John 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

Billy Graham is "famous" for how many he leads to Christ by making that commitment to follow Christ for the "assurance of their salvation".

Billy preaches the gospel in this wise; "it is not keeping the ten commandments that is going to save you. It is not by going to church every Sunday is what is going to save you. it is all those that call upon the name of the Lord."

Sounds good, right? Now comes the altar call which is the exact opposite of what he had just preached.

"If you are not sure you are saved, come forward and make a commitment to follow Christ."

Whatever happened to "if you are not sure you are saved, if you have called upon the name of the Lord, believe that you are saved." ?

But no. Since what Jesus teaches is higher than the works of the law, it is like keeping the ten commandments and MORE in order to keep that commitment to follow Christ. It also means going to church every Sunday is also a means in keeping that commitment to follow Christ so they can obtain the assurance of their salvation.

So basically keeping that commitment to follow Christ is how you save yourself in according to Billy Graham.

Is that what Billy Graham meant? In an interview with Tony Snow, Billy Graham doubted to be received by Christ because by that commitment, he judged himself as not always being a good christian.

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/graham2.html

"SNOW: When you get to Heaven, who's going to speak first, you or God?

GRAHAM: When I get there, I'm sure that Jesus is going to say that he will welcome me. But I think that he's going to say: Well done, our good and faithful servant. Or he may say: You're in the wrong place.

SNOW: You really worry that you may be told you're in the wrong place?

GRAHAM: Yes, because I have not -- I'm not a righteous man. People put me up on a pedestal that I don't belong in my personal life. And they think that I'm better than I am. I'm not the good man that people think I am. Newspapers and magazines and television have made me out to be a saint. I'm not. I'm not a Mother Teresa. And I feel that very much."

So has that commitment to follow Christ has given Billy Graham any assurance of salvation? Seems pretty clear this vain attempt has not.

No good tree will produce an evil fruit and no evil tree will produce an good fruit. Commitment is a rudiment of the religious world and not of Christ.

It is the Father that draws all men unto the Son John 6:44 It is the Father that reveals His Son to us ( Matthew 11;25-27 ) and our believing in the Son, even in His name, is the work of the Father ( John 3:18-21 ) as the Father is the One that gives us to the Son ( John 6:39 ) as it is the Son that keeps us. ( John 6:39 again )

It is our faith, our hope, our confidence, and our trust in Jesus Christ, not only as our Savior but as our Good Shepherd that the Father will draw all men unto the Son for in hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News to man. Christ is our light that the Father draws all men to.

Thanks for participating in this thread. Yours is a common religious practice in the christian circle, but I thank the Lord that He has delivered me from that vanity to a more trusting relationship with the Lord as my Good Shepherd as my joy has been made fuller, bearing more fruit by Him.

 

But to receive that power of the Holy Ghost to be witnesses unto Jesus Christ, you needed to believe in Him; to receive Him by faith, whereby you would have that confidence in Him to help you be witnesses unto Him to the world.

So Jesus Whom is that Light, helps me to show that Light to the world in the way I live in following Him by my faith in the LIght.

 

But Jesus is God. Are you insinuating that we can make ourselves God as well by following His conduct? Jesus being God was and is how He is doing everything good because God is good.

Sinners are not good. There is nothing good in our sinful flesh, except when we get born again, and that is when we receive Christ Jesus by faith and then He is the only good that is in us that helps us to love others, even our enemies.

You can't be a christian unless you are saved by Jesus Christ first by believing in Him and that God raised Him from the dead.

Then the priority of a christian is to love others, and believe me, we even need His help to love others when they do bad things to us, and they are not stopping either.

You promote an impossibility. You promote putting the cart before the horse. Sinners do not have power to love the way Christ loves until they have Christ in them. Sinners cannot love God unless God had loved them first to help them believe in Him to be saved so he can love as God loves, and not the way the world loves.

Yes.. Christ says I can do it through Him in me.

So how is a sinner going to do it when Christ is not in Him yet?

 

One could say that about keeping a promise to God and say the power in keeping that promise to God is through Him, but His words says no. Numbers 30:2 & Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 & Matthew 5:36 & James 5:12 & James 4:13-17 & Galatians 3:1-3 & Galatians 5:1 & Galatians 5:5

Paul was just talking about his faith in Jesus Christ; that is his good profession.

Paul knows all about making vows. So did Jesus. Not once did either one say make a vow to follow me.

I used the scripture. You didn't really since you added to the scripture of what was written. If it was really okay, you would have a reference plainly teaching your p.o.v., but there isn't, and so you are left with reading your practice as you see it inbetween the lines.

So I guess I can see why you see this as an argument rather than a discussion in sharpening one another in the word. I shall not tag you again, brother. I cannot say I am disappointed since another member with Rev in his nick name seems to pass on any discussion into the scripture as well, and has asked me not to tag him also. I suppose it would be embarrassing if someone else stumble on a nugget of truth that has been largely overlooked by the church and the ministry degree circle.

And yet our leaders always say that they can never stop learning about Christ in His words.

I can always hope the Lord will lead you otherwise, since you offer more than the other one did, and you did it in Christ's love too, up to a point, but I shall comply in not tagging you again, brother.

Thanks for sharing what you had, though.