{"id":7206,"date":"2019-04-25T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/?page_id=7206"},"modified":"2022-12-20T16:33:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T22:33:32","slug":"friends-brothers-and-sisters","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/friends-brothers-and-sisters","title":{"rendered":"Friends, Brothers and Sisters ***"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRIENDS, BROTHERS, SISTERS AND FOLLOWERS<\/strong>
\nFacebook uses the terms “Friend” and “Follower” to describe relationships. Twitter uses the term “Follower. Facebook and Twitter also use the term “like” to describe when friends, followers and other readers approve of posts.<\/p>\n

Some Christians like to call their co-religionists brother or sister. They speak warmly of each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord. And they like to think of Jesus as their friend<\/a> whom they love and follow. They think about friendship with Jesus and their co-religionists the same way that they think about their non-religious friends and family, often giving it a spiritual spin by combining Christian friendship with agape love<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This kind of talk is all very well-accepted in religious circles. But it misses Jesus’ definition of brotherhood, friendship, and love. Here is what Jesus said:<\/p>\n

Matthew 12:50:<\/a> “For whoever\u00a0does\u00a0the\u00a0will\u00a0of My\u00a0Father\u00a0who is in\u00a0heaven, he is My\u00a0brother\u00a0and\u00a0sister\u00a0and\u00a0mother.”<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY: What it means to do God’s will is best summarized this way: Obey his verbal commandments\/laws.<\/p>\n

God’s verbal commandments, however, are not the written words of the Bible<\/a>. His verbal commands contain the full depth of God’s character in a way that the written Bible cannot possibly do. His verbal commands are contained only in God’s spiritual laws<\/a> which he writes on the hearts<\/a>\u00a0(i.e. in heaven<\/a>) of New Covenant disciples. These commands are heard in the heart<\/a> by New Covenant disciples who have ears to hear God’s spoken voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See\u00a0The Law<\/a> for a detailed discussion of laws, commands, ordinances, and precepts which all comprise God’s verbal commands.<\/p>\n

Jesus is the perfect example of a New Covenant disciple. In his character and ministry<\/a>, we have the perfect example of what it means to obey God’s will.<\/p>\n

This contrasts with religious people who believe that doing the will of God is obedience to religious laws<\/a> based on the literal words of the Bible. Not understanding that God’s written laws and God’s verbal laws are not the same<\/a>, they do their best to obey the written law through religious activity: Go to church regularly; pray often; pay tithes; volunteer, and do their best to avoid breaking the Ten Commandments. These activities are all approved and praised by co-religionists<\/a>, but they are not what God wants. In fact, they are actually the opposite of what God wants<\/a>. They are religious activities — not acts of faith<\/a>. People who base their religion on the written words of the Bible have stumbled over the law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Practicing religion, therefore, is not the will of God. In fact, in God’s view, religion is sin<\/a>. That is why Jesus warned people about practicing religion in public<\/a> and gave many rebukes\u00a0to Pharisees <\/a>who made and enforced religious laws<\/a>.\u00a0The Bible says the motivation for public religion is the desire of religious people to make names for themselves, <\/a>and to be seen acting religious<\/a>,\u00a0<\/a>which is something religious people are eager to do because religion fuels their pride<\/a>. This is why religion is hypocrisy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Considering these truths, it must be said that religious people do not do the will of God. Everything they do is contrary to God’s will because God hates religion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The question of who Jesus’ brothers, sisters and friends are is further clarified in the following logic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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