2015.01.11_God’s Given Faith.

Faith – to Receive God’s Love

God is love. However this does not mean that love is God. God is not an abstract concept in a conceptual world. Many people try to deny God’s existence because He cannot be seen. But invisibility does not necessarily mean that something does not exist. A mother’s love is invisible and yet it is because of that love that a child is able to grow well and healthy. In the same way, our relationship with God is a reality.

God has loved us. The One who revealed that love to us is Jesus Christ, God’s Son. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus Christ carried the sin of the fallen mankind, allowing those who received His grace to become God’s children who share in His glory. Thus to believe in Jesus means to believe that God is love. Our faith is not a feeling or emotion that sprang from our own selves. Instead it is about believing in Jesus Christ whom God has given out of His love, and thus not perish but have eternal life through Him.

People crucified Jesus. Nevertheless God raised Him to life and lifted Him up into Heaven. And God sends the Holy Spirit to those who believe in this. To have received the Holy Spirit does not simply refer to being touched in one’s heart. After the Holy Spirit came, we began to speak in tongues and experienced the various gifts as written in the Bible (1 Cor 12:7). If the Holy Spirit has come within us, it means that God Himself has testified that we are His children.

Our faith life is about receiving God’s love. Whoever feels burdened by his faith life needs to check if it is not self-discipline and penance that he is practicing instead of a life of faith. There are some who isolate themselves from society by going into the mountains, where they fast and torment themselves in an effort to somehow get closer to God. However our faith is not such mysticism in which people try to build merits according to their own feelings; it is about receiving in God’s love which He has given.

Some people keep having doubts about having received God’s love. Though they are fervent in their church life, they constantly think that God has abandoned them, that God does not love them. Those kinds of people cannot boldly ask for God’s help in times when they do need His help. What they need to do is acknowledge and accept the love which God has already poured on them. If we consider how God did not spare even His own Son from us, we would be able to confidently ask God for His help.

The Holy Spirit’s Testimony of God’s Love

God is not far from those who believe in Jesus, but actually abides in them already. 1 John 3:24 says, “And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” And 1 John 4:13 says, “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” The fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in us demonstrates that we have received God’s love.

To receive God’s love is our faith. Hence the question, “Do you have faith?” is the same as asking “Have you received God’s love?” It is not possible for someone who has not received God’s love to have faith. Such a person might pretend as if he has faith but that is not real. How can a person deliver his prayers to God or succeed in his worship to God if he does not have faith? Anyone without faith cannot receive anything from God.

Jesus loved all of His disciples and loved them to the end (Jn 13:1). However Judas Iscariot did not accept that love, and the resulting effect was most serious. Even Jesus said, “It would have been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matt 26:24). If he had not been born, at least he would never go to hell. Yet to the end, he did not accept in the love of God despite following and serving Jesus for three years.

The souls who could not receive God’s love wander in Hades after they die and torment people until they go into the abyss. These spiritual beings are called demons. Through the accounts of the Bible we can identify what demons are. And this is something we can also experience by casting them out in Jesus’ name. Nowadays doctors ask patients about their family medical history when making a diagnosis. For example, they might ask if anyone in their family died of cancer. Modern medical science is beginning to discover though faintly, that demons go into people’s bodies and cause diseases.

Those who have rejected God’s love are still able to hold power and become wealthy on the earth. Yet the moment they die, everything they had will go into the hands of others. The flesh cannot possess anything forever. Even when things do not work out the way we want in this world, we must never be doubtful of the fact that we have received God’s love. The love of God has been demonstrated to us already through God’s Son, and we have received the testimony of the Holy Spirit that God’s love is within us.

We worship God because we acknowledge God’s love, and the reason we give offerings is also because we acknowledge God’s love. Whoever has not received God’s love cannot help but be miserly towards God. Some people, in spite of severe poverty and hunger, never fail to give offerings to God. They give offerings with all of their might during the toughest of times, just as the farmers would never eat nor even touch the crop seeds they need to sow and harvest the next year even if they have nothing to eat at present. Not only will such people be rewarded in Heaven, they will experience themselves as well as their children being blessed on the earth.

The Happiness of the Soul that Loves God

There is way to find out whether or not we have received God’s love. Whoever has not received God’s love cannot love God. If anyone loves God, he has definitely received God’s love. Even the offerings we give should be an expression of our love towards God. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21). Giving offerings to God in financially difficult circumstances is not even thinkable unless one loves God.

There are times when we are moved in our hearts to specifically do something for the Kingdom of God and thus decide to do so. It is regrettable however that many people quench the inspiration of the Holy Spirit because their hearts become reluctant at some point. That is why 1 Thessalonians 5:19 emphasizes saying, “Do not quench the Spirit!”

The Holy Spirit moves our hearts, yet He does not go beyond the words of the Bible. Thus the works which the Holy Spirit inspires us to do are what God has revealed through the Bible already. One of them is observing the Lord’s Day. Some people decide in their hearts to observe the Lord’s Day properly according to God’s word. However they are quick to change their minds upon hearing that their friend’s wedding is on the next Lord’s Day. We must understand that God’s commandments are eternal. The Holy Spirit helps us obey those commandments. Hence if we follow our own thoughts and disobey God’s commandments, we are disobeying the Holy Spirit. Concerning this Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt 12:31-32).

Before we grumble that our prayers are not being answered, we need to check if we ourselves are not disobeying the Holy Spirit. 1 John 5:14 says, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” If anyone does not love God, his prayers will not be delivered. Hence we should not disobey the Holy Spirit. We must also never hinder the works which the Holy Spirit desires to do. We should not quench the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. God has given us faith, and the faith we have He guarantees by the Holy Spirit. Now we must live by the Holy Spirit (Jn 3:5).

Why are people’s hearts filled with fear in spite of having faith? A person who hinders, disobeys and quenches the Holy Spirit is always full of fear. So then how can his spirit be blessed and happy? On the contrary, there is no fear in the person who receives God’s love and loves God (1 Jn 4:18). In order for our spirits to be blessed and happy, we must neither hinder the working of the Holy Spirit, nor disobey nor quench the Holy Spirit. God demonstrated His love by giving us His Son, and has sent the Holy Spirit to us who have accepted His love. It is when we acknowledge God’s love and love God in turn, that our spirits will truly be blessed and happy through the Holy Spirit.

Many different thoughts, especially those of my last preparations, continuously circulate my mind since much time has passed from and eternity is nigh.
I will leave this world one day. However, I am not departing like an unbeliever, leaving his life to fate and allowing foolish conscience to judge himself. I believe only in the blood and the works of Jesus Christ and also all the promises of God. Those who depend their future on an idol that cannot even speak just immerse themselves in idolatry. Yet, I try to immerse myself in God because I believe God is the only true eternal Spirit, and His word and power have eternal life.

A fortune-teller’s words are full of discomfort and fear, but the Word of God is full of hope. Do you think God sent Jesus Christ to destroy us? Do you think He sent the Holy Spirit to curse us? I do not know why some people are so foolish. To me, the truth is only one, Jesus Christ. I live believing that His love is the blessing and glory in my life.

People dress the deceased in a shroud, believing that he must be well dressed for his journey after death. Nonetheless, people who are of the truth have already been clothed with Christ Jesus. For a believer, the flesh immediately returns to rotting dirt as the spirit departs and the spirit already enters Paradise. Paradise is not the Father’s house yet. To be clear, the flesh remains in this world whereas the spirit remains in Paradise after death until the first resurrection. If this world were to be compared to a path that a traveler takes, then Paradise would just be a hotel that provides a temporary resting place. The soul will wait there until the Lord returns.

When the Lord returns, those in Paradise and the holy saints remaining in the world will partake in the first resurrection. Then, the tribulation will begin soon after, the dreadful apocalyptic event that could almost cause the extinction of the human race. Thus, it would definitely be difficult to preserve one’s faith during the tribulation. On the other hand, the surviving nation of Israel will remain in the world for one thousand years after the tribulation and partake in the second resurrection. Yet, the second resurrection is the resurrection of judgment. They will be judged according to their works, not faith. Therefore, those who believe will not receive judgment whereas those who are under the law will receive judgment. The unbelievers have already received judgment and thus, there will only be the lake of fire for them.

Unnecessary profit to funeral home businesses such as high quality shrouds on saints’ body should be prevented. Few days ago, wicked funeral home businessmen were charged with fraud and arrested for selling a shroud as an expensive one costing from 3,000,000 won (approx. 3,000 dollars) to 15,000,000 won (15,000 dollars) that originally cost only 40,000 won (40 dollars). Hence, we as saints must definitely not be deceived.

I clarify this. “Do not ever dress me in a shroud. Instead, please dress me in clothing that I wore for the Lord’s Supper, which is the holiest communion. Dress me in clothing that I enjoyed and cherished the most. Please awaken your mind and follow me. I beseech you. A saved soul has already been clothed with a white garment provided by the Lord.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

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Outline and Summary translated by Sarah Nam
Letter translated by Jada Shim
Interpretations by Sarah Nam

Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee