Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Sunday, January 21, 2018

We Once Walked

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Eph. 2:1-3 ESV

Before any of us believed in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we were dead in our sins, without God, without hope, going nowhere, having no real purpose, wandering, doing what we want, and coming up short of attaining God’s divine approval. We walked (lived, conducted our lives) according to (in agreement with) our flesh, giving in to our sinful cravings.

THIS should describe where we WERE. THIS should NOT describe where we ARE. If it does, then we need to repent of our sins, humble ourselves before God, and turn (or return) to follow (obey) Jesus Christ with our lives.

Making it Practical

THIS, too, should NOT now describe us: You get up in the morning, get yourself ready, go to work, or work at home, but without even (or barely) acknowledging God, and without spending time with him in his Word, listening to him speak his words to your heart, in order to hear what he has for you for the day, with the purpose and intent in mind to obey him.

You go about your day, operating in the flesh, thinking worldly, fleshly, and perhaps even lustful thoughts, and acting accordingly. No one would single you out as a model Christian, for they can see your lifestyle doesn’t match your profession of faith.

Continuing on with that thought… Then, you come home, or you are home, and all you can think about is eating and watching your favorite TV shows or movies, or getting on Facebook or Twitter, or playing your favorite games, or surfing the internet, or getting on pornography, or chatting with a “love interest,” when you are married to someone else.

Granted, you have responsibilities, too, which you fulfill, but you are consumed largely with self, and with what is pleasing to your flesh, and God is really not important to your life, in the scheme of things, although you may profess that he is.

Then, before you go to bed, you spend your time watching TV, getting on the internet, and on social media, or playing games, or viewing porn, or chatting with a secret love interest, but again, God is not even on your radar, or if he is, it is for the purpose to perform religious exercises, perhaps to give the appearance that you are following him, when truly you are not.

Then, you go to sleep for the night, get up the next morning, and the worldly and fleshly cycle continues until Sunday. So, you go to a church service, and you may even be an elder or a deacon or a small group leader or a Bible teacher, or even the pastor. And, you raise your hands in praise to God during a worship service, and you put on the religious mask, but then as soon as church is over, it is back to business as usual.

Again, if this is what describes your life, or if you relate in some way, maybe not to these specific illustrations, but to being driven largely by your flesh, then you need to bow before God, humble yourself, repent of your sins, and turn (or return) to follow (obey) Jesus Christ with your life from now on.

Made Alive with Christ

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Eph. 2:4-7 ESV

For, you see, Jesus Christ did not give up his life for us on that cross merely to forgive our sins, to free us from punishment, and to give us the hope of heaven when we leave this earth. 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 (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15).

He died on that cross so that we would no longer be dead in our trespasses, but not just positionally, but practically, too. For, if we walk according to the flesh, we will DIE in our sins, not live with Christ for eternity, no matter what we profess to believe or to practice. For Jesus gave his life up for us to deliver us from these bodies of sin and to give us NEW lives in Christ Jesus, no longer sold as slaves to sin, but now sold out to God as servants of his righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; Lu. 9:23-25).

God’s grace to us is not a free license to continue in sin, following after the lusts of our flesh, without guilt, and without remorse. His grace to us is for the purpose to deliver us out of bondage (addiction) to sin, and to free us to walk in his holiness, godliness, purity and righteousness. His grace, which brings us salvation, in fact, instructs (commands) us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and worldly (fleshly) passions (lusts), and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we await Christ’s return.

Saved by Grace

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:8-10 ESV

For by God’s grace (his kindness; his favor) we have been saved, both from the punishment of sin (eternal damnation), and from slavery (addiction) to sin. By grace we have been saved through faith, which is divine persuasion. In other words, even the faith to believe is not of ourselves, but it is a gift of God, lest we should boast in ourselves.

We cannot even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless the Father first draws us to Christ. In this drawing us to Christ he divinely persuades us as to God’s righteousness and holiness, his purity, his justice, and as to his mercy. He persuades us, too, as to what he did for us in dying on the cross for our sins, and of our need to humble ourselves before him, to repent of our sins, and to turn to him to walk with him in obedience, in surrender to his will for us.

All this is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives in moving our hearts to respond to God’s salvation, so that we now say “No” to our old lives of living for sin and self, and so we say “Yes” to walking, by faith, according to the Spirit, and empowered by the Spirit, in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. We cannot do any of this apart from God, in our own flesh. Our entire transformation from that of dead in sin to alive in God is the working of God in our lives, yet we must yield to God, and submit to his will, and we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and do what God and his Word say.

When we believe in Jesus Christ, through divine persuasion, thus we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to newness of life, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. The old has gone. The new has come. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus, and since we are his creation, we were also created to do good works, but not the works of the flesh to earn our salvation, but works of the Spirit, which are evidence that we have true salvation in Christ. And, by the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit of God we are to walk in these, in doing what God and his Word say, living godly and holy lives, pleasing to God, and no longer living (in practice) to please our sinful flesh.

Have Thine Own Way, Lord
Adelaide A. Pollard / George C. Stebbins

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!


Sunday, January 21, 2018, 4:51 p.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from your Word. May we take this truth to heart and apply it to our lives.


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