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#86 Everyone's free choice
From Meditations on the Epistles of John, by Samuel Froehlich
I John 1:3-5:
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have
fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His
Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be
full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto
you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
The invitation of John to "fellowship with us" refers to the Christian church or
congregation that is the body of Christ, whose Head He is in heaven at the right
hand of the Father, whither He has ascended so that He might fill all by His
Spirit and His fulness is the church (His body), which is also with Him in
heaven, for what He is and has, that He is and has for it. It is a fellowship of
the Spirit and the saints (not of the flesh); it, to be sure, is also a
fellowship of the body, but this body of Christ, as well, is spiritual and holy
as He Himself is. However it is one body and one Spirit in the entire body and
one hope for all the members. (Ephesians 4):
... When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts (of
His Spirit) unto (believing) men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he
also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
and appeared in our human and a servant’s form so as to take, indeed as the Son
of man, His prey away from the strong one so that the devil could not complain
about the might and injustice.
Yes, up to this time, Christ leaves it to everyone’s free choice whether he
wishes to become converted or would prefer to remain in Satan’s power.
Therefore, Christ lets the Gospel be proclaimed and each one must choose and
decide his eternal destiny for himself. No one is forced to be saved or to be
condemned, but because all belong to the devil by nature, none are incorporated
in Christ without conversion (John 6). Christ has indeed bound and overcome the
strong one, but only for the obedient (the believers); for the others, the devil
is not bound, but loose, as can be seen in all the world. Who then can be saved
and what must we do to be saved and not be condemned with the world?
But the world in this respect is careless and secure and takes a chance on it
until death. They then all hope to be saved, but wrongly so and without
foundation, for the world is unsaved and shall be condemned. But we must be sure
about the matter as it concerns us ourselves; here no uncertainty is permitted:
it is a question of eternal salvation or eternal damnation and everyone faces
one or the other. (Hebrews 9:27 ff.)
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for
him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Therefore, we must ask in earnest and must know who will and who cannot be
saved. John gives us the right answer: Whoever has fellowship (in the Spirit)
with the living God (Father and Son) will be saved and is already saved and has
eternal life in him.
However, no one enters into fellowship with God according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit, as a new creature, and the condition thereunto is faith
in the Gospel of the apostles, upon which baptism follows. (Matthew 28; Acts 2)
The way to God has not changed in 1,800 years, that one could now come into His
fellowship according to the flesh, and every modification which occurs in the
way is not from God but from the devil. Each one must himself answer the
question, whether he belongs to Christ and has His life in him so as to be saved
and any preacher who cannot rightly solve the question, who will be saved and
who damned, is a deceiver and the blood of the lost is upon him; but he who
answers it so plainly that everyone can understand it and choose, has saved his
soul.
View all episodes
By Timeless FaithFrom Meditations on the Epistles of John, by Samuel Froehlich
I John 1:3-5:
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have
fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His
Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be
full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto
you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
The invitation of John to "fellowship with us" refers to the Christian church or
congregation that is the body of Christ, whose Head He is in heaven at the right
hand of the Father, whither He has ascended so that He might fill all by His
Spirit and His fulness is the church (His body), which is also with Him in
heaven, for what He is and has, that He is and has for it. It is a fellowship of
the Spirit and the saints (not of the flesh); it, to be sure, is also a
fellowship of the body, but this body of Christ, as well, is spiritual and holy
as He Himself is. However it is one body and one Spirit in the entire body and
one hope for all the members. (Ephesians 4):
... When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts (of
His Spirit) unto (believing) men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he
also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
and appeared in our human and a servant’s form so as to take, indeed as the Son
of man, His prey away from the strong one so that the devil could not complain
about the might and injustice.
Yes, up to this time, Christ leaves it to everyone’s free choice whether he
wishes to become converted or would prefer to remain in Satan’s power.
Therefore, Christ lets the Gospel be proclaimed and each one must choose and
decide his eternal destiny for himself. No one is forced to be saved or to be
condemned, but because all belong to the devil by nature, none are incorporated
in Christ without conversion (John 6). Christ has indeed bound and overcome the
strong one, but only for the obedient (the believers); for the others, the devil
is not bound, but loose, as can be seen in all the world. Who then can be saved
and what must we do to be saved and not be condemned with the world?
But the world in this respect is careless and secure and takes a chance on it
until death. They then all hope to be saved, but wrongly so and without
foundation, for the world is unsaved and shall be condemned. But we must be sure
about the matter as it concerns us ourselves; here no uncertainty is permitted:
it is a question of eternal salvation or eternal damnation and everyone faces
one or the other. (Hebrews 9:27 ff.)
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for
him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Therefore, we must ask in earnest and must know who will and who cannot be
saved. John gives us the right answer: Whoever has fellowship (in the Spirit)
with the living God (Father and Son) will be saved and is already saved and has
eternal life in him.
However, no one enters into fellowship with God according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit, as a new creature, and the condition thereunto is faith
in the Gospel of the apostles, upon which baptism follows. (Matthew 28; Acts 2)
The way to God has not changed in 1,800 years, that one could now come into His
fellowship according to the flesh, and every modification which occurs in the
way is not from God but from the devil. Each one must himself answer the
question, whether he belongs to Christ and has His life in him so as to be saved
and any preacher who cannot rightly solve the question, who will be saved and
who damned, is a deceiver and the blood of the lost is upon him; but he who
answers it so plainly that everyone can understand it and choose, has saved his
soul.