Psalm 2:1-3 ESV
Why do the nations
rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth
set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed,
saying,
“Let us burst their bonds
apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
So many Christians today, perhaps particularly here in
America, have broken their bonds with Jesus Christ, they have cast off his
boundary lines, and they have set themselves up against him, and against his
gospel of salvation. And, they have gone after the gods of this world – the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (See 1 Jn. 2:15-17).
And a lot of this is a result, I believe, from the church in
America selling itself out to the world to entertain the people of the world in
order to attract the people of the world to the gatherings of “the church.” So,
they turned the gatherings of “the church” into a marketplace where they market
the church just like any other business. And, so they use worldly means and
methods to attract the world, so the world will feel at home in “the church.”
Since they want the world to feel at home in the gatherings
of “the church,” and they want them to feel comfortable and accepted there, and
for them not to be offended in any way, they have also diluted the gospel of
Jesus Christ to make it more attractive and acceptable to the world. So, many
of them no longer talk about sin or hell or judgment or repentance or obedience
to Christ, but they focus on forgiveness and the hope of heaven.
So, they sell the gospel short, and they go soft on sin, and
they pervert the grace of God into a free license to live in sin without guilt
and without fear of punishment. And, they convince their listeners that all
they have to do is say some words after someone in a prayer, or all they have
to do is acknowledge Jesus Christ and what he did for us on the cross, and then
all they have to do is accept his grace and forgiveness and they are now
guaranteed eternal life with God, no matter how much they sin from that point
forward.
False Confessions
The result of this is that many Christians have now deserted
Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, and they have now bought into the lies
that tell them that they can walk in sin and it won’t impact their eternal
security. Thus, many of them are living in spiritual adultery against their
Lord, in idolatry, in immorality, and in taking their God-given talents and
abilities and using them for evil purposes instead of for the Lord and for his
purposes and will.
As well, there have been many, many false confessions of
faith in Jesus Christ based on a lie (the cheap grace gospel), and so many
people are convinced that salvation from sin is nothing more than forgiveness
and the hope of heaven when they die, regardless of how they live their lives
on this earth. Some of them have even been told that God requires nothing of
them – no submission, no repentance and no obedience, and that such is
works-based salvation, and thus these are to be avoided.
Thus, Jesus is not Lord of their lives, he is not the one in
authority over them, or over many of these gatherings of “the church,” either,
which are now businesses of men. But, the authority over their heads is the
world, and lust, and pride, and immorality and wickedness and all kinds of
evil. Worldliness has replaced godliness now in so many of these places of
worship called “church,” too. And, marketing 101 books have replaced the
scriptures, as well as have multiple books of men, not of God.
So, what we have are a lot of people called “Christians” who
are living just like people who do not claim to be Christians, and some of them
behave much worse than those who make no profession of faith in Christ. Thus,
they are not living in freedom from slavery to sin, but they are living in
habitual sin against God in direct opposition to the teachings of scripture. Thus,
they have sold themselves out to the world, and to the lusts of their flesh, while
they still claim heaven as their eternal destiny.
False Repentance
Another aspect of this is that many of those who are buying
into the lies, and who feel liberated to live in sin, are not open about this,
because they don’t want people to know what they are doing when no one else can
see them. They want to appear righteous in front of other people, and so they
fake their relationships with Jesus Christ, or they fake their walks of faith.
So, they make pretenses that they are in the process of
rejecting sinful practices, and that they are removing from their lives what is
wicked, immoral, corrupt, deceitful, and impure. But, in some or many of these cases,
the opposite is true. The sins they are involved in are becoming more and more
prominent in their lives, and they are sinking even deeper into sin than they
were before, and so they continue to fake righteousness while what is immoral
is getting even a stronger hold on their lives.
Psalm 2:10-12 ESV
Now therefore, O
kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with
fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the
way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who
take refuge in him.
So, here’s the deal. Jesus died on that cross that we might
die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. He died that we would
no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. When he
died, he bought us back for God with his blood so that we would now be God’s
possession, and so we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co.
5:15, 21; 1 Co. 6:20; Tit. 2:11-14; Eph. 2:10).
Coming to faith in Jesus Christ, thus, means we are
crucified with Christ in death to sin, we are born again of the Spirit of God,
and we are given new lives in Christ Jesus, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness. It means we leave our old lives of living for sin
and self behind us, we are transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God
away from sin to God, and we now live to Christ and to his righteousness in the
power of God (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Acts
26:16-18).
What this also means is that we no longer live like we did
before we believed in Jesus Christ. Now, by the Spirit of God, we are putting
to death the deeds of the flesh and we are walking (in practice) according to
the Spirit of God in holiness and righteousness, living godly lives pleasing to
God, by his Spirit.
And, this also means that we have the hope of eternal life
with God, because we are walking by the Spirit of God, and we are not living to
please our flesh. Yet, it doesn’t mean we never sin again or that we are
perfect, but that sin is no longer what we practice, but godliness and holiness
are.
But, if this is not the case, and we are still walking (in
practice) according to the flesh, it means that we don’t have eternal life with
God (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph.
5:3-6).
So, don’t buy into the lies that tell you that your sins no
longer matter to God. They do! And, if you walk in them, and you don’t walk (in
practice) according to the Spirit of God, just know that you are not guaranteed
eternal life with God. For, we are all going to reap what we sow. If we sow to
please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction (decay, death). But,
if we sow to please the Spirit, by the Spirit of God, then from the Spirit we
will reap eternal life with God (Gal. 6:7-8; cf. Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Living
Water
An
Original Work / November 21, 2013
Based
off Various Scriptures
My people have forsaken Me,
Their Savior, who died on a tree;
Made idols, and they worshipped them;
So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.
Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.
Those who turn away from You will be shamed;
The Spring of Living Water left behind.
Living Water satisfies.
The thirsty, let them come and drink;
Believe in Jesus as their King;
The gift of Jesus given them,
So they will never thirst again.
Indeed, the Living Water flows within.
It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.
Eternal life in heaven promised them.
Living Water glorifies.
Oh people, won’t you come to Him?
Obey Him and repent of sin.
Let Jesus come and live within.
Surrender all your life to Him.
My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?
Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.
Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?
Living Water sanctifies.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
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