Blessed are they that do His Commandments

Originally posted by The Disciple…: ↑

Thanks for your reply. I’m genuinely glad to hear that your world feels peaceful. That’s a rare blessing these days. I agree—when we look around at the chaos across the globe, the claims that “God is on our side” are often more political than spiritual. Just saying God is with someone doesn’t make it true. Yeshua said “you will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16), and many of these nations show anything but godly fruit.
Now regarding salvation, I agree completely: it is not from ourselves—it is through Yeshua the Messiah alone. We are saved by grace through faith, as Ephesians 2:8–9 clearly says. But Scripture also teaches that genuine faith produces a changed life and an obedient heart. That’s the “direction” I was referring to.
Direction means the posture of the heart—whether someone is genuinely trying to walk toward YHWH in repentance and trust, or knowingly living in rebellion while claiming His name. For example:
If someone stumbles into sin, but confesses and turns from it, they’re still walking in the right direction.
But if someone justifies their sin, embraces it, and never repents—Scripture is clear: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left” (Hebrews 10:26, NIV).
So, no, this isn’t about being perfect. But it is about not mocking God’s mercy.
As for your previous points—I may have missed your specific examples, and if I overlooked them, that’s on me. I’ve had a few moments where I needed to pull back from certain interactions, life has been getting away from me to be honest, am way behind in business and renovations. It wasn’t personal. I’d genuinely welcome hearing them again if you’re willing to re-share. I want these conversations to be fruitful, not dismissive.

For the record, I do try to respond to anyone who replies to me directly. Sure, I might occasionally miss a post here and there, but by now you should know I usually make the effort to reply—especially if someone engages me respectfully.
If things get nasty, I’ll walk away after a bit of back and forth. I just don’t see the point in letting things spiral like that—it achieves nothing for anyone.

Thanks again for staying engaged. Despite our differences, I believe discussions like these can sharpen us all.

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Ephesians 2:8–9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
These verses say that we are saved by grace through faith as a gift from God and not by our doing.
While I agree that trying to lead an honest life in sticking to Jesus's commandments to love our neighbours as ourselves is a worthwhile goal, and one to include in our kids' education, this is not what these verses cover.
Actually, I didn't have to teach my kids this; they realised it themselves.
Of course, this kind of promise would lead Christians to try to stick to these commandments; I believe we are a species that shows gratitude when gifts are handed out and are intelligent enough to appreciate the mutual benefits that these bring. Of course, there are exceptions.