What does the New Testament say about being like Jesus? Read these passages & make your conclusions considering what God himself states in his Word.
Couple of years ago, I wrote a letter: Can Christians be as Jesus was on Earth? See the link below. Here I focus more on New Testament scriptures on this very important truth.
There I quoted many Bible verses from the Old & the New Covenant that state clearly what God says in His Word regarding that question.
It is extremely good for our Soul, to read the Scriptures carefully, & loud enough so that we can hear what we are reading & ask the Spirit of the Lord, who duels within us, to help us understand what He means. Let’s bear in mind that the Holy Spirit within us does lead us to all truth!
Jn 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Counting on those promises, we can rest assure the Spirit of God is guiding us!
Of course I am writing to those who love God & want to do His Will, and also to those who believe the Bible is the Word of God & are open to examine what may be to them “new revelations”, but using the Bible as the final authority to whether something is from God or not. Also, I am reaffirming every argument with several passages that confirm the same thought.
While Jesus was here on Earth, He preached & taught to people that were still under the Old Testament, not even his disciples were filled with the Spirit of God, as He hadn’t yet been glorified.
Jn 7:38-39 He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Now the night before Jesus was crucified, at the Last Supper, Jesus started explaining to his disciples what the New Pact of God means to us, His Children, those that believed in Him as the Christ, things that even nowadays most churches seem not to have understood still, even though these statements are as clear as can be.
Mat 26:27-28 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the NEW TESTAMENT, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Jn 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If a man loves Me, he will keep My Word. And My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
Jn 14:18-20 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world does not see Me any more. But you see Me. Because I live, you shall live also. At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
Jn 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him: but ye know Him; for He dwells with you, and shall be in You!
Jn 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Jn 15:26-27 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
Memorizing the above passages is the best way to understand them. But if you read them carefully, you will see that we, are indwell by the Father, by Jesus & by the Holy Spirit. In other words: God dwells within us. This is so powerful, that it is life changing.
Jesus told his disciples then…
Jn 16:12-13 I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, He shall speak. And He will announce to you things to come.
That night He prayed for his disciples & those who will believe in Him, through their testimony, meaning you & I…
Jn 17;20-23 And I do not pray for these alone, but for those also who shall believe on Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And I have given them the glory which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one, I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me…26And I made known to them Your name, and will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.
I have read those passages for years & years, but it didn't sink in... “I am one with the Father & Jesus, I have the glory that the Father gave to Jesus, & I am in perfect unity with God!
That prayer has all to do with the… many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now...
Okay, the question is: What happens when one is filled with God?
The next passages make it very clear…
Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes.
Jn 14:11-14 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the very works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, He who believes on Me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these he shall do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you may ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Can you see it? Jesus stated that because the Father dwells in Him, it is the Father who did the works He did, when He was here. But then Jesus turns around & states that us, those who believe in Him will do the same & greater things that He did, see if you believe, why? because we are inhabited by God Himself. How much power does God lose when He is inhabiting one of His Sons? Could God Almighty use us in a powerful way? Let’s read some more...
Mat 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in Earth. Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen.
Mar 16:15-20 And He said to them, Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will be well. Then indeed, after speaking to them, the Lord was taken up into Heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And going out, they proclaimed everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word by miraculous signs following. Amen.
When Jesus sent his disciples to reach all the world, He reassured us that He is with us everyday. That’s why those signs, casting out demons, speaking new tongues, laying hands on the sick & healing them, can happen, why? Because He is with us! It is the Power of the Holy Spirit working through us. Jesus reassured us that...
Act 1:8 But you shall receive POWER, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you...
Definition of power...n. The ability or capacity to perform or act effectively. n. A specific capacity, faculty, or aptitude. Often used in the plural: her powers of concentration. Strength or force exerted or capable of being exerted; might.
The Holy Spirit Power is the POWER of God Himself doing his WILL through us, helping us to do what Jesus sent us to. Which is...? And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Now in the following passages, we see some of what the Holy Spirit revealed to the apostles after the resurrection of Jesus & He having gone to Heaven sat at the Right Hand of God, following what He had promised to his disciples of when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. Heb 1:1-4
2Co 5:17-21 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Read also Gal 3:13-15
In other words, WE ARE NOT ANYMORE OLD SINNERS SAVED BY GRACE, now WE ARE SONS OF GOD, we are reconciled with God, and the same ministry that Jesus was doing here on Earth, the Ministry of Reconciliation is the one God has given to us, so we are Ambassadors of God, for which He made us the Righteousness of God in Him!
Now the question is, can we continue doing the same ministry that Jesus had, devoid of the power He had? Of course not, but it is understandable that when we are born again into God’s Family, we need to grow & mature into the full stature of Christ.
Eph 4:13 And this until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 15-16 But that you, speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ; from whom the whole body, fitted together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of each part, producing the growth of the body to the edifying of itself in love. Pleas read Col 1:9-14 also.
Important to bear always in mind that the main characteristic of Jesus was His Great Love. 1Jn 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
So everything we do has to be motivated by the Love of God in order to really be of God. 1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn’t love his brother remains in death.
Going back to the fact that we need to mature spiritually, we could ask ourselves & how do we do that?
Rom 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The more I hear His Words, the more my carnal mind thinks with the mind of Christ within us, 1Co 2:16.
Heb 5:12-14 For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a child. But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
Jas 1:22-25 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deceiving your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
Well there it is, if you read the Word & you don’t put into practice what you read, then, you will never become the kind of man/woman God wants you to be.
There are many more passages that confirm the above, here I only add a few.
1Jn 4:16-17 We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is, even so are we in this world. Think about that… as He is, so are we! Wow.
Rom 8:28-32 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be the First-born among many brothers. But whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, those He also justified. And whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Truly He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Next time you leave your home and see someone lost or in need, or sick, let the Spirit of the Lord, that dwells in you, work through you by drawing close to the person & telling him/her of the good news of the Gospel, let them know that God's love is for them if only they will receive it, command with strength and with the authority that God has given us, in the name of Jesus, the diseases that people may have, to come out of their bodies, as we read in the New Testament that Jesus and the disciples did, and see God work through you. Remember that it is your faith that pleases God. When we go out to do what we have learned in His Word, we have to venture out trusting by faith, that God is going to do His part which is what we cannot do, it is He who dwells within us, then & there, God has the opportunity to move and show Himself strong in our lives.
Love in Jesus... Alejandro
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