Blessed are those
whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who
keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
Psalm 119:1-3 ESV
To be blameless in God’s sight is to walk in the law of the
Lord. By the way, this is what the New Testament teaches, too. It isn’t about
never sinning again. It isn’t about sinless perfection. It is about our walks
with the Lord, our lifestyles, our habits, our practices.
Is sin what we practice? Or, is righteousness what we
practice? Do we walk (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit of God or according
to our flesh?
[See: Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-24;
Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24; Eph. 5:3-6; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Co. 6:20; 2 Co. 5:15, 21;
1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Jn. 14:23-24; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Jn. 8:31-32; Heb. 3:6-15]
We need to be living on purpose, intentionally living lives
which are above reproach. We need to not be those who consistently and
habitually and even premeditatedly live by their flesh, by their feelings, and
who habitually do what is evil in God’s sight.
Yet, many who profess faith in Jesus Christ live just like
this, according to their flesh, and not according to the Spirit of God. And,
then they claim that God’s grace covers it all.
We need to be those who live like we say we believe. It
doesn’t mean we will never sin, or that we will never fail and that we will be
absolutely perfect in all that we do and say. For, we still live in flesh
bodies, and our flesh is still at war with the Spirit of God, and we are still
tempted to sin, and we still have the propensity to sin against God.
But, this is no excuse for continued willful habitual and
premeditative sinning against God, either. Lack of perfection should never be
used as an excuse for habitually sinning against God, on purpose, while putting
up our hands and telling God “NO!” that we aren’t going to obey him, but we are
going to do what our flesh wants, instead. What a slap in the face to God!!!
So, how is all this accomplished, this walk of holiness?
Well, I can tell you that it doesn’t happen in our flesh, for the flesh is at
war with the Spirit. We can’t do this through wishful thinking or through empty
promises, either. We can’t do it through false tears and worldly sorrow,
either. We don’t change just by feeling badly that we sin on a consistent
basis. We don’t change by doing a “woe is me” thing, either. And, we don’t
change by doing the “sin confess, sin confess” thing repeatedly over and over
again, either.
So, how do we effect genuine habitual continued walks in
holiness? Only by God’s grace, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ – a faith
which surrenders to God’s will and purposes, which yields control of one’s life
over to the Spirit of God, and which submits to the Lordship of Jesus Christ,
and which does not habitually yield to the flesh, especially premeditatedly.
And which daily, by the Spirit of God, is putting to death
the deeds of the flesh, and which is walking according to the Spirit, and which
is putting on the armor of God with which to fight off the temptations and evil
schemes of Satan and his hordes (Eph. 6:10-20; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
You have commanded
your precepts
to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be
steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be
put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
Psalm 119:4-6 ESV
We have to be intentional about this way of living. We have
to be diligent. We can’t get lazy or we will fall. We can’t play with sin and
expect not to get burned. We can’t be spending our days filling our minds with
the junk of this world and then expect to combat temptation to sin. We can’t
just take life as it comes. We can’t live without a plan. We have to live
intentionally!!
The only way any of us are going to be able to live like
this is talking about, and like the New Testament teaches we must walk, too, if
we want to have eternal life with God, is if we daily die to sin and self and
moment by moment we say “NO!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and if we
live self-controlled, upright and godly lives by the grace of God (Tit.
2:11-14).
So many people who call themselves followers of Christ “struggle”
with (meaning regularly give in to) sinful practices. And, they consider that a
normal part of their Christian lives. NO! That is not how it is supposed to be!
Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He paid the
price for our sin so that we can now die to sin and live to HIM.
I am not saying we will never battle with temptation to sin
or that we won’t battle with Satan. We will! For the devil is like a roaring
lion roaming around seeking whom he may devour. And, he is out to get us any
which way that he can. And, this is all the more reason why we have to be
intentional, and why we have to be diligent about resisting him and drawing
close to Christ.
But, too many people who call themselves Christians have
resigned themselves to lives of habitual sinning against God feeling as though
they will always “struggle” with these sins and that there can be no real and
complete victory. But, that is a lie straight from hell!
Jesus died, not just to forgive us our sins, and not just to
promise us heaven when we die. He died to deliver us from our addictions to
sin, our sinful habits, and to empower us to live godly and holy lives,
pleasing to Him! Victory is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord if we will yield
to his Lordship, and if we will surrender our lives to him, and if we will
cooperate with his work of grace in our lives in conforming us to his likeness.
I will praise you with
an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
I will keep your
statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
Psalm 119:7-8 ESV
Oh, I so wish that this truth would sink into the hearts of
so many who are living defeated lives because they keep repeating the same sin
cycles over and over and over again. Victory is yours through Jesus Christ your
Lord! But, you have to cooperate with God, and you have to say “NO!” to the
flesh and “YES!” to the Spirit day by day by day, and moment by moment.
And, it isn’t about waiting until temptation comes your way,
either, for if you do, chances are you will fail, because you weren’t
intentional about not sinning. We have to follow what the scriptures teach on
this subject, and they have much to say, too.
We have to cut out of our lives everything which is leading
us into sin. So, if your sin is sexual immorality of any kind, then you need to
cut out of your life anything that might be leading you down that path. And, we
have to get radical with this. For, too many people keep repeating the same
sins over again because they aren’t willing to cut out what leads them into
sin.
Honestly, we have to live what holiness is, and what it
entails is living lives which are separate (unlike, different) from the world
of sin because we are being made into the likeness of Jesus Christ. And, too
many people who call themselves Christians aren’t willing to go to that extreme
or to be thought weird or radical or crazy. They want to be “normal,” and so
they have one foot in the world and one, they think, in the spiritual realm,
too.
And, we have to take seriously what the scriptures teach,
too, with regard to habitual sin. Scripture is real clear on this subject. If
we walk (in practice) according to our flesh, we are going to die in our sins
no matter what we profess with our lips or think we believe in our hearts. But,
if we walk (in lifestyle) according to (in agreement with) the Holy Spirit of
God, then we have eternal life with God (Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal.
6:7-8).
Too many people who call themselves Christians don’t truly
believe this, and that is why they are able to continue in their sinful
practices. They think that because they “received Christ” that nothing can
separate them from God and that eternal life with God is guaranteed them no
matter how they live. But, that is not what the scriptures teach. Please know
this!
We are all going to reap what we sow. If we sow to please
the flesh, from that flesh we are going to reap destruction (corruption, decay,
death). But, if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap
eternal life. So, believe this and stop believing the lies which tell you that
your sins won’t impact your eternal security. For, if you practice sin, you
will die in your sin, and you won’t have eternal life with God (Gal. 5:16-21;
Gal. 6:7-8).
Your
Servant
An
Original Work / September 21, 2011
Lord, I love to have You near me
As I go throughout my day,
Walking daily in Your footsteps,
As I humbly pray.
List’ning to You, hear You teaching
Me to live and work for You,
Lord, I pray You lead and guide me
Daily in Your truth.
Lord, I want to be Your witness,
Telling others of Your grace;
Telling how they can be set free
Of their sins today;
Share with them the love of Jesus,
He died on a cruel tree,
So that we’d be forgiven
For all eternity.
Lord, I want to serve You only,
As I bow on bended knee,
Making You my Lord and master,
And Your servant be.
Humbly walking in obedience,
Doing what You say to me,
Lord, may I be an example
Of one who’s set free.
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