Do you celebrate Christmas?

[RustyAngeL]

I celebrate it every year..always have always will. When I was a little girl growing up it was a very happy time in our house. My dad and I would scour the malls for decorations then put them up on my birthday..Dec 12th. Our home was full of lights, trees, and the smell of cookies and other special goodies. My mom was a champion shopper and gift wrapper. I miss them so much but especially this time of year. Both are with the Lord now..It's a tough time for me but I celebrate it anyway because they would want me to. And yes I still say Merry Christmas...

[Avidan]

LAURA

I pledge

allegiance to the

flag of the

United States of

America and to

the Republic for

which it stands,

one Nation under

God, indivisible,

with liberty and

justice for all

Jesus Forbids Oaths

33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37But let your "Yes' be "Yes,' and your "No,' "No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one

[Gerioke]

LAURA

I pledge

allegiance to the

flag of the

United States of

America and to

the Republic for

which it stands,

one Nation under

God, indivisible,

with liberty and

justice for all

Jesus Forbids Oaths

33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37But let your "Yes' be "Yes,' and your "No,' "No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one

Uhhh... What's that got to do with Christmas?

[Fiosh]

LAURA

I pledge

allegiance to the

flag of the

United States of

America and to

the Republic for

which it stands,

one Nation under

God, indivisible,

with liberty and

justice for all

Jesus Forbids Oaths

33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37But let your "Yes' be "Yes,' and your "No,' "No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one

This passage refers to false oaths and those that dishonor God in some way. It is obvious that we can say, in effect, "with God as my witness" and the like. Look at Gal 1:20 & 2 Cor 1:23 for example.

Peace,

Fiosh

[Avidan]

This passage refers to false oaths and those that dishonor God in some way. It is obvious that we can say, in effect, "with God as my witness" and the like. Look at Gal 1:20 & 2 Cor 1:23 for example.

Peace,

Fiosh

Agreed Fiosh. That is what the scripture states.

if our allegiance is sworn to another entity , then we have a good chance of getting side tracked.

[His Ambassador]

This topic comes up every year. It's usually brought up by the "Keep Christ In Christmas" crowd, the "Take The Commercialism Out Of Christmas" bunch or the "How Dare They Ruin OUR Holiday" crowd.

The truth of the matter is Christmas is not a Biblically mandated holiday. So we are free to celebrate it any way we choose or not celebrate it at all. For those of us who choose to celebrate the Lord's birth on that day it's sacred (yes, we all know He wasn't born on that day). For others it's special in other ways. And since it was adapted from a pagan winter festival it is not exclusively a Christian holiday. Rather than criticizing the way others celebrate we Believers would do better to share with them what we celebrate and why.

[yomotalking]

Yeah, I suppose you're right!

[MrSealedEternal]

THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTMAS

"Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

Ezekiel 44:23

6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. 8 However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

Galatians 4:6-11

19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we? 23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.

I Corinthians 10:19-24

WHY I DO NOT CELEBRATE CHRISTMASS

Based on a booklet by Charles Halff

Up until 20 years ago, I used to celebrate Christmas as much or more than any Gentile. Although I was born and reared in a Jewish home, we always had a Christmas tree every December because it was the popular thing to do. We had our ornaments, mistle toe, holly wreath, presents, and everything else that goes along with the Christmas celebration. You see, Jewish people celebrate Christmas today, not because of Christ's birthday, but because it is a popular tradition of our present day society. And I observed Christmas for nearly 22 years of my life, until God opened my eyes to see the falsity of this pagan holiday. It's not because I'm a Jew that I don't celebrate Christmas. Now let me tell you why I no longer observe this pagan holiday.

Christmas Not In The Bible

In the first place, Christmas is not a Bible doctrine. If our blessed Lord had wanted us to celebrate His birthday, He would have told us when to celebrate it and how to do it. The apostles and the early church never celebrated Christ's birthday at any time. The Bible tells us everything we need to know relative to our spiritual life. II Tim. 3:16. We don't have to go outside the Bible for anything. God's Word tells us how we're supposed to worship, how we're supposed to give money for the Lord's work, how to evangelize the lost, how to take the Lord's Supper, and everything else pertaining to the Christian life. But not once in the Bible does God tell us to celebrate Christmas.

Don't you think that if God had wanted us to observe Christmass, He would have told us about it at least one place in the Bible? God's people are supposed to be Bible people. So the very fact that Christmas is never mentioned in the Bible is sufficient reason why we shouldn't celebrate it.

No one knows the exact day when Jesus was born. The birthday of Jesus is a secret with God the Father, and God would have told us the exact day of His Son's birth if He wanted us to know it!

Unscriptural Traditions

There are many unscriptural traditions that have cluttered up the story of the birth of our wonderful Savior. For instance, many people believe that the wise men of the East and the shepherds were together in Bethlehem at the time our Lord was born. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The shepherds came to Bethlehem to see Jesus at His birth. The wise men came to Nazareth to see Jesus when He was almost two years old. If you will read Matthew 2:7-11 carefully, you will see that the star led the wise men to Nazareth, not to the stable in Bethlehem where our Lord was born. Verse 9 tells us that they found Jesus in "the house" where He had lived with Mary and Joseph since He was 91 days old. (Luke 2:7, 21-39) This "house" was in Nazareth, the place where Joseph and Mary lived.

It all becomes very simple if you will keep in mind that the shepherds came to Bethlehem and found an infant in a manger. The wise men were led to Nazareth and found a child living in a house.

Herod knew that the Christ child was nearly two years old when he inquired of the wise men, and that's why he ordered all the children from two years old and under to be put to death.(Matthew 2:16) So never confuse the visit of the shepherds and the visit of the wise men. They were two entirely separate and distinct events.

Another thing, there is nothing said in the Bible about three wise men coming to visit Christ. The fact is that the Bible does not give their number at all but merely states that there were wise men. There may have been two, there may have been three, there may have been four, there may have been a dozen - we don't know. Yet ninety-nine people out of a hundred think that there were three wise men. That's the way tradition has it. What does the Bible say? It simply says that "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." Matthew 2: 1-2.

Christ Not Born In Winter

That brings me to the next reason why I don't celebrate Christmas, and that is because Christ was not born on December 25th. Notice: "In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night." Luke 2:8.

Now this verse tells us very plainly that the shepherds were in the fields taking care of their flocks on the night Jesus was born. As the shepherds were watching their sheep, the message came to them of the birth of Jesus. Now it is a well known fact that December is the rainy season in Palestine and the sheep were kept in the fold at that time of the year. The shepherds always corralled and brought their flocks from the mountain sides and fields not later than October l5th, to protect them from the cold, rainy season that followed that date. So the birth of Christ could not have taken place at the end of December. Then, if you will turn to the second chapter of Luke, you will find that at the birth of Christ every woman and child was to go to be taxed at the city where they were citizens. This could not have been in winter. Augustus, the king of Rome, would certainly not call for such a taxing in the depth of winter. Therefore, Christ could not have been born in December. Actually, Christ was born some time in the first part of October. This is deduced from the fact that His earthly ministry lasted 3 1/2 years, and He was crucified on the l4th day of Nisan which corresponds to our April. See John 19:31; Leviticus 23:5. If we go back 3 1/2 years to the time when Jesus was 30 years old (when He began His public ministry), we come to the month of October. This was probably the month when our blessed Lord was born into the world.

Of course, the date of Jesus' birth is not too important. The important thing is that He was born and that He died for our sins. We're not worshiping a helpless infant lying in a manger, but we're worshiping a risen and exalted Christ who has all power in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18.

Origin Of Christmas

In the next place, I don't celebrate Christmas because Christmas is of heathen origin. Christmas started with the Sun worshipers in the time of Nimrod, the man who built the Tower of Babel. Around 375 A.D. the Catholic church (which was birthed from the merger of paganism with Christianity) announced that the birth date of Christ would be celebrated on December 25 also, and allowed some of the older celebrations, such as feasting, dancing and the exchange of gifts, to be incorporated into the observance of Christmas.

The pagan year usually has four cardinal days, or periods, for celebration; fall; midwinter; spring; and midsummer. The Winter Solstice was the period of days in winter when the days are shortest and the nights longest. This is generally a time of drunkenness, revelry and debauchery. The pagan Romans called this celebration Saturnalia, in honor of their god Saturn, and the festival lasted from the 17th to the 24th of December, with gifts exchanged, especially on the last two days. Then, on the 25th, they celebrated "The Birth of the Unconquerable Sun," as the days began to lengthen and the sun began to regain its dominance (it has been generally believed among pagans that the sun dies during winter solstice, and then rises from death).

I shall now quote from the Encyclopedia Americana, 1942 Edition, vol. 6, page 623, concerning its report of the origin of Christmas:

"Christmas - It was according to many authorities NOT celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian Church as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth. A feast was established in memory of the birth of the Savior in the FOURTH Century. In the Fifth Century the Western Church (Roman Catholic) ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman Feast of the birth of Sol. The holly, the mistletoe, the yule log and the wassail bowl are of pre Christian times. The Christmas tree has been traced back to the Romans. It went from Germany to Great Britain."

Any reputable encyclopedia will tell you that our modern day Christmas customs came out of paganism. Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say: "Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ) was not among the earliest festivals of the church."

Any good encyclopedia will verify the fact that Christmas came out of paganism, that the exchanging of gifts, the making use of holly, the mistletoe and the yule log, the Christmas tree and the singing of carols, the dancing and the feasting are all of pagan origin and were all gradually grafted into the so-called "Christian" church during or after the fourth century A. D. Tertullian and others tell how exchanging of gifts was a part of the Saturnalia celebration. And the hymns they sang at that pagan feast were predecessors to the Christmas carols. Says Pysher "Many pagan carols were adopted but were given a Christian meaning. Carols and dancing were kept out of the festival of Christmas for many centuries." The Americana declares: "The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log and the wassail bowl are relics of pre Christian times." The historian Hislop confirms these findings: "The wassailing bowl of Christmas had its precise counterpart in the 'Drunken festival' of Babylon," says Hislop; "and many of the other observances still kept up among ourselves at Christmas came from the very same quarter. The candles, in some parts of England (and America), lighted on Christmases, and used so long as the festive season lasts, were equally lighted by the Pagans on the eve ot the festival of the Babylonian god, to do honor to him . . . The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm tree; in Rome it was the fir." - The Two Babylons, page 97.

Now, beloved, God's people are not supposed to have anything to do with pagan customs or pagan doctrine. The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 10: 2, "Learn not the way of the heathen." KJV But somehow the Christian has learned it just the same. Some will say, "We can't help it if we were born into a pagan world. We can't help it if we were reared and steeped in pagan doctrines and customs" Oh, yes you can! Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."

There is only one righteous thing that you can do with these pagan holidays and that is to repudiate them and have no part in them. The virgin birth of Christ is a blessed fact, but the Christmass celebration is a wicked and an ungodly thing.

Christmas A Catholic Holiday

Another reason why I don't celebrate Christmas is that Christmas is a Catholic holiday. Why should I steal Christmas from the Catholics? They got it from the pagans and I'm happy to let them keep it. Sometimes you hear the slogan, "Let's Put Christ Back Into Christmas." Well, beloved, how can you put Christ back into something when He was never there?

Even the name "Christmass" is an abomination to the Lord. Christmass is a combination of two words, "Christ" and "Mass." Christ is the divine title of our Lord. "Mass" is from the Roman Catholic sacrament of the mass. Certainly born-again Christians shouldn't have anything to do with masses. The mass is a Roman Catholic invention. The mass is a prayer that is read or sung for the soul of a dead person.

Every time you say "Merry Christmas," you are actually mixing the precious and holy name of Christ with a demon holiday. The Lord tells us in no unmistakable language that we are not to mix His name with any pagan holiday or with a pagan god. The Lord says in Ezekiel 20: 39, "As for you, O house of Israel," thus says the Lord GOD, "Go, serve everyone his idols; but later you will surely listen to Me, and My holy name you will profane no longer with your gifts and with your idols.

The World And Christmas

The next reason why I don't celebrate Christmas is that Christmas is of the world. We are commanded in I John 2:15, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. "

One fact alone proves to me that Christmas is not of God. It is this: The world which hates Christ and His blood atonement for sin makes more fuss about Christmas than any other holiday. Now beloved, if December 25th were really the birthday of Jesus, don't you know that the world would have nothing to do with it?

More people get drunk at Christmas than at any other time during the year. There's more big parties and more selfish spending at Christmas than at any other season. Doesn't that prove that it's of the world and not ot God? If it were of God, the world wouldn't have anything to do wlth it. The very fact that the world observes it proves that it isn't of God. Furthermore, Jesus said, "And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. " Luke 16:15. Jesus said anything which men highly esteem is abomination to God. Well, don't people esteem Christmas more highly than almost anything else! The vilest sinner in town will run over you if necessary in order to celebrate Christmas. If you have any doubts as to whether the world loves Christmas or not, just go into any big department store or dime store during the last few frantic hours ot the Christmas shopping season, and see how many people run over you and what a mad house it is. Why, they'll elbow you practically to death. A person must surely be blind it he can't see that the modern day Christmas celebration is of the world.

What About The Christmass Tree?

I do not celebrate Christmas because the Christmas tree is condemned by the Bible. Notice: Jeremiah 10:2-4"Thus says the LORD, "Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens Although the nations are terrified by them; For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. "They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter. 8 But they are altogether stupid and foolish In their discipline of delusion--their idol is wood!

Here you have a perfect description of the Christmas tree, called by God the way of the stupid and foolish nations. We are commanded not to learn that way or follow it. It is also viewed in this passage as idolatry. The fifth verse says that these trees cannot speak - cannot walk - must be carried. Some people misread this to make it say there is no harm in having a Christmas tree, but that is not what it says at all. Rather, the prophet Jeremiah tells us that it is vanity and foolishness and says "learn not the way of the heathen." Some people will stay up all night to work on an old dead tree. They'll trim it all up, and stand off a little ways and admire their handiwork. Some of you will sit up all night and look at that old Christmas tree.

The tree in paganism represents the male sex organ, and pagans routinely worshipped the male phallus as a god. Throughout the Bible we read about the obelisks or pillars that were present among the pagan worshippers, and even today we find these symbols at the Vatican, as well as our Nations Capitol in the Washington Monument. The pagans would decorate the trees with silver and gold, as the venerated shaft of baal the sun god, otherwise known as Lucifer, "the light bearer."

I hope some of you preachers will get up in the middle of the night and throw that old tree out of your house and out of your church right at Satan's head. Well, I realize some of you will just gnash your teeth and call me "narrow minded." Well, you can call me narrow minded it you want to, but I'm just giving you the Word of God.

I'd like to leave this little thought with you. Did you know that the green tree is mentioned 14 times in the Bible, and in every instance it is linked with idolatry. There isn't one place in the Bible where God commends the use of the evergreen in connection with true worship.

Merry Making And Gifts

Perhaps the most important part of the Christmas celebration is the buying and exchanging of gifts. Now beloved, I do not celebrate Christmas because the custom of exchanging gifts has nothing to do with the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ. When people exchange gifts, they're not bringing them to Christ; they're giving them to one another. You have got to keep a list of the people who sent you presents last year and each year your list grows longer and longer, and before long you're in such a heavy debt buying Christmas presents that you've got to start saving money right after one Christmas in order to buy presents for the next Christmas. Beloved, I can't understand why anyone would went to be in bondage to such an expensive custom. Jesus is supposed to be the cause of Christmas, and yet people give their gifts to everybody but Jesus.

Perhaps some of you are asking, "Didn't the Wise Men give gifts to Jesus?" They certainly did, but they didn't give them to one another. And their gifts were not birthday gifts because the Wise Men did not come to visit Jesus until he was nearly two years old. The Shepherds came to visit Jesus at His birth, but the Wise Men came to see Him nearly two years later.

Did you know that giving gifts to a king was a common custom in the Far East? That's the reason why the Wise Men brought gifts to Jesus - because he had been born to be King of the Jews. But they were not birthday gifts. So there is no connection between Christmas and the birthday of Jesus in this respect.

Some conscientious mothers raise this question, "Don't you think we ought to give the children a good time? They don't understand." Let me ask you this question, mother - is it necessary to drag the holy name of our blessed Lord down to the low level fleshly gratification and drunkenness to show the kiddies a good time? A thousand times, No! Let's teach our children the truth about Christmas. God's Word says ( Ephesians 6:4) to bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and why should we dishonor the name of Christ in such manner under the pretense of showing the children a good time? There are 364 more days in the year during which we can give gifts to our children.

Santa Claus

It is plain to see that there isn't a single thing connected with Christmas that is Biblical. Let's just take Santa Claus as an example. The name Santa Claus is a corruption of the name Saint Nicholas who is none other than Old Nick, the Devil. And yet thousands of parents will encourage their children to write to dear old St. Nick or dear Santa. Now if you're a Christian, you should be ashamed of yourself if you lie to your children by telling them that there is a Santa Claus. Through the year you punish your children for lying, and then you turn right around and lie yourself by telling your children that there is a Santa Claus. Is it any wonder when they grow up and learn the truth that they begin to believe that God is a myth too?

The Bible says in Colossians 3:9, "Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, " We are commanded in Ephesians 4:25, "Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. "

Beloved, I say again I don't know of a single thing connected with Christmas that is Biblical. You have to go outside of the Bible to learn of the Christmas tree, Santa Claus, the holly wreath, mistletoe, yule log and all other things that go along with the Christmas celebration. Let's be honest before God and admit that this is a pagan holiday and a trick of the Devil.

Beloved, anyone with any sense at all ought to be able to see that Christmas is good for only one thing - to make money for the department stores and the business merchants. Any simpleton should be able to see that Christmas makes dollars and dollars make Christmas. But, does it make any sense?

No, there's no reason why anyone has to celebrate Christmas. It's not in the Bible. Jesus was not born on December 25th. And we can remember the birth of our wonderful Savior 365 days a year.

Other Pagan Practices Incorporated Into Christ'smass

Mistletoe. Mistletoe was sacred to the Druids, and was worshipped by them. They also used it to cast spells, the principal belief being that if they held it over a woman's head she was powerless to resist, and they could then have their way with her sexually. From this comes our custom of hanging it over doorways, and the tradition that if a girl is caught under the sprig of mistletoe she may be kissed and may not resist.

The Yule Log. The Yule Log tradition comes to us from Scandinavia, where the pagan sex and fertility god Jul, or Jule (pronounced "Yule"), was honored in a twelve-day celebration in December. A large, single log (generally considered to have been a phallic idol) was kept with a fire against it for twelve days, a different sacrifice to Jul being offered in the fire on each of the twelve days.

Yuletide, or the Twelve Days of Christmas. The period of twelve days, now counted as the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6th), was originally the period in which twelve daily sacrifices were offered to the Yule Log, honoring the fertility god Jule (Yule). When we send "Yuletide Greetings", this is what it means; we are sending greetings in the name of this Scandinavian fertility god and his festival.

Elves.

An elf is considered a tree demon. A spirit who lives in the trees of evergreens and a few select others. Druids and common Celtic folk have worshipped evergreens and their spirits that live in them. They go by different names depending on the culture such as: Dryads, pixies, genii, jinn, huldefolk, dwarfs, pixies, trolls, etc.

Observing Days Forbidden

Finally, I don't celebrate Christmas because God's Word absolutely forbids the (spiritual ) observance of any holy days in this dispensation of grace. Listen:You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain." Galatians 4:10-11.

That sounds like the observance of Christmas, doesn't it? Here the Apostle Paul absolutely forbids the ( spiritual ) observing of days, months and seasons. To the Christian there are no special holy days. Every day should be alike, holy unto the Lord. If you are a Scriptural believer you will not "esteem one day above another." Romans 14:5. If you are truly saved, you will remember the birth, the life, the death, the burial and the resurrection of your wonderful Savior 365 days a year. Yes, I am glad to serve a real and a living Christ who lives all year round. Let us as born-again Christians use our money this season of the year, not for foolish and unnecessary presents, but to spread the Gospel message to this lost and dying world.

Oh Christian, I beseech you, turn from the world and its holy days, touch not the unclean thing; associate not the birth of the holy Son of God with the fables of the world and apostate Christendom. Hear His pleading voice, "COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord."

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 17 "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. 18 "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.

2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.

1John 2:3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone 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. 24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,

[His Ambassador]

Hey sealed:

I'd be interested in knowing the point you're trying to make but I'm 73 years old and may not have enough time left to read something that long.

[Gerioke]

Hey sealed:

I'd be interested in knowing the point you're trying to make but I'm 73 years old and may not have enough time left to read something that long.