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."

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

We Die Daily


John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

God the Father loved us so much that he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, God the Son, to die on a cross for our sins, so that we might be delivered out of our slavery to sin and so that we might now become slaves of him and of his righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24).

He did this so that whoever believing (present tense belief) in him would not die in his sins, but so he would have eternal life with God. And, this belief is a gift from God to us, and it means to be persuaded by God. So, since this belief in Jesus is of God, it submits to Christ as Lord, it dies with Christ to sin, and it lives to Christ and to his righteousness, in the power of God’s Spirit (Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Lu. 9:23-26).

So, this saving faith, which is God-given and divinely persuaded, is much more than just an acknowledgment of Jesus, or some words we repeat after someone else in a prayer. It is much more than just a decision to receive his grace, his forgiveness, and his salvation from sin. It is choosing to die with Christ to sin, and it is choosing to now walk with him in obedience.

For, the Scriptures teach us that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And, they teach us that if we say we have fellowship with God, but yet we walk (in practice) in darkness (wickedness) that we lie and we do not live by the truth (Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Lu. 9:23-26).

And, they continue by telling us that if we walk in darkness, according to the flesh, that we will die in our sins, because we did not die with Christ to our sins. And, we will not have eternal life with God (Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6).

John 3:17-18 ESV

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Some people misinterpret these words here and so they think that Jesus condemns no one to hell, and/or that he doesn’t judge our wrongdoing. So, they also interpret these words to say that Jesus accepts us just the way we are, even if we are living in open rebellion against him in willful, adulterated, lustful and sensual desire. And, some of them also go so far as to say that once we “get saved,” that God can’t even see our sins. He only sees Jesus.

They think if they mouth empty words of “belief” in Jesus, which produces no fruit of repentance and obedience to Christ, that it gives them full liberty to now live however they want without condemnation. But that is not what the Scriptures teach! They teach that it is those who WALK according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, who are not under condemnation, and who have the promise of eternal life with God (Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

Also, although it is true that Jesus, in his first coming to the earth, did not come to bring condemnation upon us, but to save us from our sins, it is not true that he did not speak words of condemnation to many people who refused him, and who chose to reject him and to not obey him.

Jesus spoke the hard truths to the people when he walked the face of this earth, which is why they killed him. He confronted sin in sinful humans, he called them to repentance and obedience, and he warned them of divine judgment and of condemnation if they refused to turn away from their lifestyles of sin, and if they refused to honor him as Lord of their lives.

If he just went around “loving on” everyone, making them feel good about themselves, even in their sin, being Mr. Nice Guy so that everyone would like him, they wouldn’t have crucified him on that cross. They killed him because he told them the truth, and they didn’t like it. And, they killed him because he didn’t bow to them and to their man-made religion, either.

John 3:19-21 ESV

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

And, here we have the crux of the matter. Jesus Christ – the Light of the world, the righteousness of God, and the Word of Truth – came into the world. But those who rejected him, who rejected his truth, did so because they loved the darkness (wickedness) rather than the light (Jesus, the Word, righteousness, the Truth). And, this was because their deeds were evil.

Yet, we need to understand here what that means. This is not talking just about people who profess no faith in Jesus Christ at all. This is talking about people who reject Jesus and his righteousness by their life choices, by their actions. They choose not to die with Christ to sin, and not to live to Christ and his righteousness, because they want to hold on to their sinful practices.

So, with their lips they may confess him as Savior and Lord, but by their actions they deny him. And, our actions are what matter, not what we profess with our lips. For, our actions speak louder than words, and our actions are what reveal if we truly do believe in Jesus Christ for our salvation from sin, or if we are just looking for an “easy out” from hell (Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; 2 Co. 5:10; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Rom. 8:1-17).

Therefore, we have many people these days teaching a cheap grace gospel which requires no dying with Christ to sin, no submission to Christ and his cross, and no walks of obedience to his commands. For, they want to remain in their sins. They don’t want to have to give up their sinful practices. They just want God to forgive them of their sins so that they don’t have to feel guilty when they continue in sin, and so that they don’t have to fear hell.

But this is not the gospel that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught. And, yet it has become very popularized in my lifetime, and it has grown more and more blatantly defiant against the Lord and against his doctrine of salvation in recent years.

So, just know this. We are not saved from our sins and guaranteed eternal life with God based on a one-time decision in our lives to accept Jesus into our hearts to be our Savior. We must die with Christ to sin, and we must live to Christ and to his righteousness if we want to be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God. For, salvation is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing and daily decision to die to our sins and to live to our Lord.

[Rom. 8:24; Rom. 13:11; 1 Co. 1:18; 1 Co. 15:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:5; Jn. 8:31-32; Rom. 11:17-24; Col. 1:21-23; II Tim 2:10-13; Heb. 3:6, 14-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-11; I Jn. 2:24-25]

Though Your Sins Be as Scarlet

Frances J Crosby, 1880
William H. Doane, 1876

“Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson,
They shall be as wool!”
“Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow.”

Hear the voice that entreats you,
Oh, return ye unto God!
He is of great compassion,
And of wondrous love;
Hear the voice that entreats you,
Oh, return ye unto God!

He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more;
“Look unto Me, ye people,”
Saith the Lord your God!
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more.

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