Luke 12:4-5 ESV
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”
Professers of Faith
The fear of the Lord is something that is all but lost in
the teachings within the gatherings of “the church” in America (and elsewhere).
The grace of God has been reduced to mere forgiveness of sin based on a mere
confession of faith in Jesus Christ, but absent of repentance, obedience, and
submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Thus, we have many professers of faith in Jesus Christ who have
established themselves in control of their own lives, living for
self-indulgence and self-gratification, turning their eyes, hearts, and minds
toward what is wicked and immoral, instead of toward what is righteous, pure
and holy.
Some professed Christians are obstinately and boldly
claiming that faith in Jesus Christ frees them from having to obey the Lord’s
commands, and that a profession of faith in Jesus Christ alone saves them from
their sins and assures them of eternal life with God, while they continue
living in their sin.
Other professed Christians are living hypocritical lives,
professing faith in the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and even verbally
discounting the cheap grace gospel, while they also continue living in sin, choosing
the way of wickedness over the way of righteousness.
They may give an appearance of humility and of submission to
Christ and to his Lordship, but it is a sham, for show only, like the
Pharisees. For truly their thinking is warped, perverse, and immoral. Thus,
they can’t sustain the appearance of righteousness.
Sooner or later the righteous facade covering over their
true character will fall, which will then reveal their true character and their
inability to endure for the sake of righteousness. And it will reveal their cowardice
in not being able to withstand temptation to sin without giving in.
So, what this reveals is that their faith is not genuine
God-given faith which dies with Christ to sin and lives to Christ and to his
righteousness, but that they are faking genuine faith in Jesus Christ. And, it
is to cover-up their evil deeds, again, like the Pharisees. They are frauds, not
genuine believers in Jesus Christ. He is just being used by them as a cover-up
for evil.
The Fear of God
Again, these professers of faith in Jesus Christ, who are
frauds, live like they do because they have no fear of God. They don’t really
believe that God will cast them into hell. For they are deluded into thinking
that their sins no longer matter to God, or that their habitual sinning will
not impact their eternal life with God.
But that is either because they have convinced themselves of
that so that they can continue in their sin, and/or it is because they have
believed a false gospel based on Scriptures taken out of context, and they have
not bothered to examine what they are being taught against the truth of
Scripture. Or, some of them know the truth, but they choose the lie over the
truth.
Many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ believe that
how they live in this life will not impact where they end up for eternity. For,
they believe they are saved, secure, and bound for heaven, and that nothing can
take that away from them, for they claim they have been forgiven their sin.
So, what do the Scriptures teach on that subject? They teach
that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who WALK not
according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, and that if we make sin
our practice we will not inherit eternal life with God (Rom. 8:1-17; Gal.
5:16-21).
They teach that whatever we sow we will also reap. If we sow
to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction, but if we sow to
please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. And, they teach that
for those who
are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there
will be wrath and fury (Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8).
As well, they teach that we are slaves of the one whom we
obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to
righteousness. And, if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by
the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live (Rom.
6:16; Rom. 8:13).
So, walk in the fear of the Lord. Submit to his Lordship
over your life. Leave your sinful lifestyles behind you and follow Jesus Christ
in obedience to his commands for us, his saints. Do not continue living in sin
thinking your sins don’t matter to God. For, one day you may hear, “Depart from
me. I never knew you!”
Luke 12:8-9 ESV
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”
Acknowledgment of Jesus Christ is not outward only. For
remember that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants
masquerade themselves as servants of righteousness. So, it is not enough to
just verbally acknowledge Jesus before other people. Many liars and deceivers do
this.
To acknowledge (confess) Jesus has a verbal form of
expression but it begins first in the heart. We must agree with our Lord and
with his teachings and with his gospel (the whole counsel of God). We must come
to the same conclusion as Jesus about our sin and regarding the remedy for our
sin.
And, Jesus’ remedy for our sin is not just to forgive us our
sins, and not based on a mere profession of faith in him. His remedy is also
not to ignore future sins and not to not call us to account. And, his remedy
for our sin is not to forgive our sins so that we can keep on living in sin
without guilt.
Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin
and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live
for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. And, he died to deliver
us from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin and to empower us to live godly
and holy lives while we wait for his return (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15; Rom.
6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14).
So, to confess Jesus before others is to agree with God in
our hearts and in truth and by our lifestyles that our salvation from sin means
us leaving our lives of sin behind us, being changed in heart and mind of the
Spirit of God, surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ, making him Lord
(owner-master) of our lives, and walking in obedience to his commands in his
power.
Thus, denying our Lord before others is to speak and to do
the opposite of what it means to agree with him. It is to proclaim with our
words and/or by our practices (our deeds) that we don’t have to repent of our
sins, that we don’t have to submit to Christ as Lord, and that we don’t have to
walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, but that we can still be saved from
our sins, and we can still have eternal life with God guaranteed us.
So, we must not fear what others fear. We must walk in the
fear of God and in holiness and in purity of devotion to our Lord, in his
power, and he will lead us to victory in Christ our Lord over the flesh, Satan,
and sin. And he will empower us to live godly and holy lives while we wait for
his return.
There’s A Rainbow in The Cloud
by Alton Hardy Howard
As I journey here mid the toils and tears,
There’s a rainbow in the cloud;
He will safely lead, I must have no fear,
There’s a rainbow in the cloud.
There’s a rainbow that is shining,
There’s a rainbow in the cloud;
When life’s race is run and the victory’s won,
There’s a rainbow in the clouds.
*Caution: This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment