Whoever Follows Him
John
8:12 ESV
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”
If
we genuinely believe in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, we will not deliberately
conduct our lives in sin. Sin will not be what we practice. It will not be our
habit, our “go to.” We will no longer live according to the flesh, but we will
now walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit.
So,
from the time that we get up out of bed in the morning until the time that we
go to bed at night, we will follow Jesus Christ with our lives. He will be our
Lord (master), and our lives will be surrendered to him, to do his will, not to
do whatever we want to do without regard for him.
So,
he will be our consideration in all that we do, in all that we view, and in all
that we read or listen to or participate in. Our thought life will be
surrendered to him, and we will be allowing him to direct all our steps,
showing us the way in which he wants us to go.
So,
before we involve ourselves in any activity, or before we get on the internet
or turn on the TV set, or click on a social media site, or text others, or
watch videos or listen to music or play games, etc., Jesus should be in our
thoughts, and we should have regard for what he wants of us.
And
regarding the time we have when we are not working a job or caring for children
or others or feeding our families, etc., that time, too, is to be dedicated to
the Lord and to his service. And Jesus should be the one directing what we do
with that time, too.
And
if we have the light of life living within us, we are going to naturally be
sharing that light of life with others. We should not be able to hold it
inside. God’s love compels us to share the gospel of our salvation with others
so that they, too, can find salvation from their slavery to sin.
IF
We Abide
John
8:31-32 ESV
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”
To
abide in Jesus’ word isn’t just about reading it or studying it or memorizing
it or listening to it taught by others. Many people, I am sure, know the word
of God, but they are not abiding in it. For, abiding in his word is to remain
stable or fixed in his word, and it is to continue in his word.
To
abide in Jesus’ word means that his word becomes a permanent condition of our lives.
It means, therefore, that we are not only taking in the word daily into our
minds, but that we are walking in obedience to what it teaches us. We are
applying its truths to our daily lives in all practicality.
We
aren’t like those who look intently into the word of God only to walk away and
forget what we look like, i.e., we don’t forget what it shows us about
ourselves and where we need to change to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus
Christ. But we let Jesus change us.
Then
we are truly Jesus’ followers (his disciples). And a disciple does what his
master says for him to do or what he models for him to do. For, a follower of
Jesus is one who respects and obeys him, who abides by his word, and who makes
it his practice to keep his commands (New Covenant).
So,
if we are abiding in his word and we are truly his disciples, then we will know
the truth because we will be listening to our Lord, and his Spirit will reveal
the truth of God’s word to our hearts and minds so that we can obey the word of
the Lord.
And
that truth will set us free because we are now walking in that truth, and it
isn’t just head knowledge. We are living the word of God in our daily lives.
And so, we are now living in freedom from slavery to sin and we are walking (in
conduct) now according to God’s Spirit.
Slaves
to Sin
John
8:34-36 ESV
“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’”
When
we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, and not with man-made faith
coming from a diluted and adulterated gospel, we are crucified with Christ in
death to sin, we are reborn of the Spirit of God, and we are raised with Christ
to walk in newness of life in him.
Our
new lives in Jesus Christ are not supposed to be like our old lives, for we
died with Christ to sin, so how can we live in sin any longer? We are to no
longer walk according to our flesh, but now according to the Spirit. Sin is to
no longer have mastery over our lives.
So,
if sin is still what we practice, then we are still living in slavery to sin,
and thus our lives will end in death, not in life everlasting with God. We will
die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God unless we turn away
from living to sin to now living to God and to his righteousness.
So,
if you are believing in a gospel of salvation that gives you the liberty to
continue living in sin, you are believing a lie from hell. I’m not saying you
will never sin again, but that you should no longer be under the control of
sin. Sin should no longer be what you practice.
Nonetheless,
if we are believing the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will die with Christ to sin
and we will live to him and to his righteousness. Sin will no longer have
mastery over our lives, for Jesus delivered us from our slavery to sin so that
we might become servants of his righteousness.
Full Release
An Original Work /
April 15, 2012
Walking
daily with my Savior
brings
me joy.
Loving
Father; precious Jesus;
He’s
my Savior and my Lord.
Gently
leads me; follow Him.
I’ve
invited Him within.
Now
abiding in His presence,
oh,
what peace.
From
my self-life
He
has brought me,
By
His mercy, full release.
Hope
and comfort,
peace
and safety Jesus brings
When
I daily bow before Him;
Obey
freely; do His will.
Follow
Him where’er He leads.
Listen
to Him; His words heed.
Now
obeying his words fully,
oh,
what love
That
He gives me
through
salvation,
By
His Spirit, from above.
Loving
Father; precious Jesus,
He’s
my friend.
With
my Savior, by His Spirit,
I
will endure to the end.
Share
the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness
daily; His will do.
Tell
the world of how their Savior
bled
and died.
On
a cruel cross He suffered
So
that we might be alive.
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