WHAT THE FATHER REQUIRES IS THAT WE MOVE FORWARD IN FAITH.

GOSPEL CORNER

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
“…but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father.”
John 14:31, NLT

WHAT THE FATHER REQUIRES
As Jesus approached the time of the cross, He said the prince of this world was coming but had no power over Him. Then He added in today’s Scripture, “But I will do what the Father requires of Me.” That last part is the key. We’re all going to face attacks, trouble, and opposition. The enemy will come, and he has no power over us, but we have to do what the Father requires. We can’t sit back and say, “Why did this happen? This is not fair.” What the Father requires is that we move forward in faith.

Don’t let fear hold you back. The only tools the enemy has are deception and lies. The only power he has is the power you give him by believing his lies. He’s called the father of lies. There is no truth in him. Don’t believe the lie that a setback or illness is permanent. Don’t water down your dreams. The enemy is defeated. Now get your passion back and go after what God put in your heart.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that I can guard my heart and keep it free from all the lies and deceptions that try to keep me intimidated and living worried. Thank You that I can ignore the lies and believe the truth of Your Word. I declare that I will obey and do what You require. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

SECTION TWO

The apostle Paul tells believers who have been born again in Christ that God the Father “has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13–14).

Notice that there has been a change of location. You used to be under the power of darkness. But the moment you believed in Jesus, you were moved and placed under the blood of Jesus, where there is perpetual forgiveness of sins.

To understand the total forgiveness of sins, we have to understand the value of the person Who sacrificed Himself on the cross for us. He alone, because He was sinless, could pay for all the sins of every man.

When our Lord Jesus died at Calvary, He took all of humanity’s sins with one sacrifice of Himself at the cross. He took the judgment, punishment, and condemnation for all sins upon Himself. That’s the value of the one Man, Jesus. He is an overpayment for all our sins.

Now, does that mean that everyone is automatically forgiven? Of course not! While everyone’s sin is paid for, every individual needs to make a personal decision to receive the forgiveness of all their sins by receiving Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

Jesus is the only way to salvation. There is no other way except through Jesus and His shed blood.

There is no ambivalence in scripture as to how a person becomes a born-again believer in Christ. To be saved, you have to confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.

Therefore, anyone who tells you that everyone’s sin is automatically forgiven and that you don’t need to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior in order to be saved is scripturally inaccurate. Such teachings are heretical and are lies from the pit of hell.

There is no salvation without Jesus. There is no forgiveness without the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. There is no assurance that all our sins have been forgiven without the resurrection of Jesus.

But today, as born-again believers in Christ, there is forgiveness and the amazing assurance that our salvation is secure and we will never be put to shame! This is our reality today—we can enjoy His presence, His righteousness, and His help every day and in every season.