Monday, January 23, 2017, 8:52 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Zeal for Your House.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Ephesians 4
(Select vv. NASB).
Walk Worthy (vv.
1-6)
Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to
walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with
all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another
in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one
hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of
all who is over all and through all and in all.
If you are a believer in Jesus
Christ, you have been called to holiness. To live a holy life means to be
separate (unlike, different) from the world, because you are becoming like
Jesus. Jesus died for you to set you free from slavery to sin so that you might
become a servant of his righteousness, i.e. that you might die to sin and live
to righteousness. And, he died that you might no longer live for yourself, but
for him who gave his life up for you. His grace, which brings salvation,
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
(See: Ro. 6:1-23; 1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15, 21; Tit. 2:11-14).
So, we are to walk (in
lifestyle) in a manner worthy (commendable) of this calling to holiness and
righteousness. If we are truly in Christ Jesus, by faith, we should no longer
walk (in lifestyle) according to our sinful flesh, but we should now be walking
(conducting our lives) according to the Spirit of God (See: Ro. 8:1-14). And,
it should be evident that God’s Spirit is now living within us, transforming us
away from lifestyles of sin and selfishness to living for God in obedience to
Christ and to his commands (his Word). His fruit should also be apparent in our
lives, not that we will immediately be perfect, but it should be obvious that a
transformation of heart and mind has taken place, and that we truly are new
creatures in Christ Jesus. As well, we should have a change of attitude,
purpose and direction toward God.
When we believe in Jesus
Christ to be our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit of God comes to live within
us, so that we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit, where God dwells.
Collectively we form one body, which is the church, the body of Christ, yet we
will meet in various locations because we are spread out throughout the earth.
Yet, if we are baptized as believers in Jesus, no other baptism with water is
needed, i.e. we don’t need to be baptized by a particular denomination, for we
only need one believer’s baptism. We are also members of the church when we
believe in Jesus Christ, so we don’t need additional membership in local
fellowships. And, if we truly believe in Jesus Christ, we are Christians,
period. We are not Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, et al, for all that
divides the church.
Deceitful Scheming (vv. 11-16)
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets,
and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of
the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the
fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here
and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery
of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we
are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom
the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies,
according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of
the body for the building up of itself in love.
Where God is at work in
growing his followers to maturity in Christ, Satan is also at work trying to
contradict him, and is trying to get Christ’s followers to disavow him and to
follow the ways of the world instead. Although the first six verses of this
passage refer to the words tolerance and unity, in the correct context, these
same words are used by the enemies of God to try to pull us away from our pure
devotion to Jesus Christ.
You see, the kind of
tolerance meant here is that of showing patience, understanding, and endurance
in our relationships with others, even with other believers, because we are
imperfect people, mere clay vessels in the potter’s hands, and we’re going to have
times when we rub each other the wrong way, even unintentionally. This is not
speaking of tolerating or being lenient about sin, i.e. this is not about
accepting sin in others, as though it is ok to sin against God, nor is it about
accepting that all religions are viable and/or that we all worship the same
God.
And, the unity spoken of here
is unity with the Spirit of God, not with human thinking, reasoning, morals and
values, and especially not with people of all religions or all walks of life.
And, yet, the enemy of our souls is pushing this kind of unity with the world,
and this tolerance (acceptance of) of all religions and lifestyles on
Christians, and some of this teaching has even infiltrated into the church, and
it is destroying the church from within.
The vast majority of the
church here in America has become one with the world, and she has turned the
church into businesses of men, which are marketed just like any other
human-based businesses. “Worship” services have largely become nothing more
that big shows to entertain the world so that the people of the world will want
to come to these “churches,” i.e. to these businesses. In other words, the
church (institutional) is being marketed to the world, so their leaders often
pattern their meetings after the flesh of humans in order to appeal to the
world so that the world will feel at home in the “church.” Thus, they have also
diluted the gospel of Jesus Christ so as not to offend the people of the world,
i.e. their customer base, although they don’t mind at all offending, rejecting
and ostracizing mature followers of Christ, it would appear, as they are being
trained to weed us out and to target the unchurched who they can mold into
their image.
The New Self
(vv. 17-24)
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that
you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their
mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their
heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to
sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you
did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been
taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former
manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in
accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of
your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been
created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Our new self is not to be just
like the old self, only cleaned up a little, and now attending institutional
church services once a week, and even serving in some kind of function within
the “church.” Jesus Christ did not die on a cross just so we could escape hell,
if hell is even mentioned at all, and just so we can go to heaven when we die. He
died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He didn’t just forgive
us our sins, but he delivered us out of slavery to sin in order that we might
become bond-slaves of his righteousness. “Lord” means “owner-master,” which
means we are his bond-slaves. Jesus bought us back for God with his blood, so we
are not supposed to live like we did before we believed in Jesus Christ. And,
faith in Jesus Christ does not give us the right to follow our Lord according
to our own time-schedule and according to what we will agree to do or not do.
If we truly are in Christ
Jesus, by faith, and we have been born anew of the Spirit of God, then we have
been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we have been resurrected with
Christ to newness of life, to be lived in the power of the Spirit within us,
and to be lived to Christ’s holiness and righteousness. This means that we have
willingly laid aside our old self, that we have chosen to no longer live for
sin and self, that we have been radically and drastically transformed in heart
and mind of the Spirit of God, and we have put on our new self in Christ, which
is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. So, we no longer
live to please our sinful flesh, right? For if we do, the Bible says we will die
in our sins, and it says we are liars if we claim to have fellowship with God (See:
Lu. 9:23-25; Ro. 8:1-14; 1 Jn. 1:6).
So, don’t get caught up in
the lies of those who would lead you astray with their deceitful scheming, and
who would tell you that being a Christian does not require repentance,
obedience and submission to God/Jesus Christ. Do not trust their words when
they try to get you to tolerate sin and to unite with the ungodly in order to
bring “peace” to the world, either. And, do not join in with those who tolerate
(allow for) the wicked, who worship false gods (idols of men), who have turned
the church upside down, and who promote the flesh of humans as a way to “reach”
the people of the world. The church is not a business, nor a corporation under
the federal government, nor is it a building or an organization of human
origin, but it is Christ’s body, his holy people, who listen to him and who
follow (obey) him.
Zeal for Your House
An Original Work / August 1,
2016
Based off Jn. 2:17; Ps. 69:9
Zeal for Your house, it
consumes me.
Lord, I love my times with
You.
I love to worship You and
sing Your praises.
Time in Your Word brings me
closer to You,
List’ning to You speaking to
me,
Gently guiding me in truth.
Lord, You are my life’s
example,
Showing me how I should live.
I love to walk with You
where’er You lead me.
No greater joy have I when
serving You.
Loving, giving, resting in
Your strength,
I’m yielding to Your will.
Zeal for Your house, it
consumes me.
See the church turned upside
down:
Marketing ventures taking
place of worship,
Men of the gospel turning
into clowns.
Gospel message made
appealing,
So the world will feel at
home.
Lord, we need a great
revival.
Turn their hearts, Lord, back
to You.
Open the blind eyes, turn
them all from darkness,
Lord, to the light. May they
return to You,
Turn from their sin, forsake
idols,
Be restored to God again.
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