Monday, October 31, 2016, 11:26 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Gift of God.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read Psalm 103
(Select vv. ESV).
He is Our Redeemer (vv. 1-5)
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that
is within me,
bless his
holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget
not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals
all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns
you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your
youth is renewed like the eagle's.
It is awesome what God has
done for us. Amen? We were all born into sin. God could have just left us
there. He was under no obligation to save us from our sins. Jesus didn’t have
to come to the earth, and humble himself, and take on human form. He could have
stayed in heaven. He is God! And, he could have said “No” to the cross, except
for the fact that it was God the Father’s will for him to leave heaven, to come
to earth, to humble himself and then to die for our sins, and he was always submissive
to the Father.
God doesn’t owe us salvation
from sin. We don’t deserve his grace. We can do nothing to earn his forgiveness,
either. He doesn’t have to put up with us. He could have wiped all humans from
the earth a long time ago, if he had wanted to. He could have come in judgment
many years ago, and poured out his wrath on the earth and on humankind. God is
under no obligation to wait around for us to believe in him, and/or to follow
him in obedience. And, he won’t wait forever, either. One day he is coming to
judge. And, then the door will be closed to his salvation, and there will be no
more chances. Yet, he is completely faithful to all his promises, and he will be
true to his word.
The psalmist understood all this.
He didn’t have an entitlement mindset that so many people have today. So many
people today act as if God should be grateful that we chose to believe in him,
as though we were doing God a favor. They act as if, too, that God is obligated
to provide us with all his benefits now that we professed him as Savior of our
lives, even if we fail to acknowledge him or to follow him from that point
forward. So many of these people, as well, feel no sense of commitment to Jesus,
and no desire to do his will. They see their salvation merely as a “get out of
jail free card,” that gives them their free ticket to heaven, while they
continue in sin (lifestyle).
With that kind of mindset,
the fear of the Lord is lost. They have no problem at all just keeping on doing
what they were doing before they were “saved.” Since they are taught that God
requires nothing of them – no repentance, no obedience, and no surrender to
Christ and his cross – they feel no sense of obligation to God to follow him or
to even be humbled at the knowledge that God Almighty loved us so much that he
sent his Son to die for us on a cross.
They see God as owing them
everything, and them as owing him nothing. And, so they can’t possibly comprehend
what God/Jesus really did for us. They also don’t have the humility of heart
and mind to be so thankful that God loved us enough to give his life up for us,
so we can be free from the pit of hell, and free from slavery to sin. Instead,
they take God’s grace for granted, and keep on sinning, while claiming all his
benefits for themselves.
Those Who Fear Him (vv. 8-14)
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to
anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he
keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us
according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is
his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does
he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord
shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers
that we are dust.
But, thanks be to God, he is
merciful to us, and gracious, and he is slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love. I am so thankful for his mercy to me, for his patience towards
me, and for his steadfast love. I do not deserve all that he has done for me. I
am humbled greatly that he would choose me, and that he would use me for his
purposes and for his glory. It amazes me often. But, this was his plan, to use
human beings to bring forth his word, and to share the light of his gospel.
And, it was his plan to save us, to purify us, to make us holy, and to
transform us into the likeness of Christ.
So, according to this passage
of scripture, God’s steadfast love, his pardon for sins, and his compassion are
designated for those who fear him. So, that sounds like something is required
on our part. Yet, is this what the New Testament teaches? And, what does it
mean to fear God; to fear the Lord?
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands;
no one seeks for God…” “There is no fear
of God before their eyes” (Ro. 3:10-11, 18). “So we make it our goal to please
him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due
us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we
know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is
plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience” (2 Co. 5:9-11). “Since
we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement
of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Co.
7:1). “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be
shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and
awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29).
According to these passages
of scripture in the New Testament, to fear God means to seek him, to walk in
his righteousness, to follow him in obedience, to make it our goal to do what
pleases him, and to reverence, honor and respect him. It means, as well, to
cleanse our lives from what defiles us, and to bring holiness to completion in
the fear (reverence, respect) of God. To be holy means to be separate (unlike,
different) from this sinful world because we are becoming like Jesus. And, what
defiles (ruins) us is sin, so this is talking about leaving our lives of sin
behind us and turning to walk in obedience and in surrender to God and to his
will for our lives. We are also to offer to God acceptable worship, with
reverence and awe. Our acceptable worship to God is that we give our lives to
him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, and that we are no longer
conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but that we are transformed in the
renewing of our minds.
Who Keep His Covenant (vv. 15-18)
As for man, his days are like grass;
he
flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place
knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting
to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his
righteousness to children's children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember
to do his commandments.
Here it says that his
steadfast love is eternally on those who fear him, and his righteousness is
forever to those who keep his covenant and do his commandments. Does the New
Testament teach this, as well?
Jesus said that if we want to
come after him, we must deny self, and take up our cross daily (die daily to
sin and self) and follow (obey) him. He said if we hold on to our old lives (of
living for sin and self), we will lose them, but if we lose our lives (die with
Christ to sin), we will gain eternal life (Lu. 9:23-25). Paul said that the
righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk (in lifestyle) not
according to the flesh, but who walk (conduct our lives) according to the
Spirit. For, if we walk according to the flesh, we will die (without Christ),
but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live
(with Christ for eternity) (See: Ro. 8:1-14).
John said that if we say we
have fellowship with God, but we walk (in lifestyle) in darkness (sin), we are
liars, and the truth is not in us (1 Jn. 1:6). He also said this about obeying God’s/Christ’s
commandments:
“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we
keep His commandments. 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; but whoever
keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we
know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to
walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 Jn. 2:3-6). “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he
in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit
he gave us” (1 Jn. 3:24). “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his
commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in
love” (2 Jn. 1:6).
So, if we want to have the
assurance of eternal life with God, and the hope of heaven when we die, we must
walk in the Spirit, and no longer according to the flesh. We must walk in the
fear of the Lord, and not to please ourselves by continuing to live sinful lifestyles.
And, we must walk in obedience to Christ and his Word, not thinking that
nothing is required of us. We must understand that Jesus did not die just so we
could escape hell and have heaven when we die. He died that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness; that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for
him who gave his life up for us. His grace is not a free license to continue in
sin. His grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and
to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s
return.
Gift of God
/ An Original Work / October 25, 2016
Based off Various Scriptures
Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Died for us on a cross;
Conquered death, sin, and
hell,
So, with Him, we would dwell.
For, by His grace, we are
saved.
He set us free from all sin.
Thanks be to God for His
Gift.
Through faith in Him, we’re
forgiven.
Holy Spirit of God,
Given to us who believe,
Gives us new life in Christ;
Made to be just like Him.
We died with Christ to our
sin.
New lives in Him we begin,
Walking with Christ day by
day.
We read His Word, and we
pray.
Jesus, He is our Lord.
Follow Him where He leads.
Tell the world of His grace.
We’ll see Christ face to
face.
Soon He is coming again.
We’ll be forever with Him.
He’ll wipe our tears all
away.
Oh, what a wonderful day!
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