Good morning. Abraham
is our father. If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as
it is you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I
heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your
father. Remember that they had just said that Abraham was their father. Now
they say: we were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God. At least
when they are young, children tend to act like one of their parents. If God
were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from
God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you
not understand what I’m saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. And now
Jesus says something that would get anybody mad. You are of your father the
devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in
him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar
and the father of lies. That’s pretty harsh, since Jesus said that the devil
was their father. If their father is a liar, it’s a good possibility that they
are too. Because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. If someone is a
liar, they don’t want to even hear the truth, much less believe in it. Which
one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He
who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them,
because you are not of God. Next time we will see that they get very defensive.
Father thank You that the reader hears and believes in the truth. He/she shares
that truth with others around him/her.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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