Whoever Follows Jesus
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.’”
Jesus Christ is the light (truth, righteousness, revelation)
of the world. His word is truth, and the words that he speaks are truth and
righteousness. As the light, he reveals himself to humankind, and he reveals
his truth and his righteousness and holiness and his divine will and purpose
for our lives. His gospel is truth and it is light. And the light is opposite
of the darkness.
Darkness is all that is sinful, evil, wicked, corrupt, and
immoral. It is the opposite of godliness and holiness. It is the opposite of
truth and righteousness. It is lies, adulteries, fornications, sinful passions,
greed, idolatry, sexual immorality, hatred, resentment, bitterness, and the
like. And it is willful defiance of God’s moral laws and denial of Jesus as
Lord.
And to follow Jesus is to listen to him and to obey him. It
is to go where he sends us and to say what he gives us to say and to do what he
tells us to do. It is to walk in his footsteps and to be becoming like him in
heart, mind, and in character, by God’s Spirit, via our walks of obedient
faith. And it is letting him work his will and his ways in and through our
lives.
So, if we are doing the will of God, and we are following
Jesus Christ in his ways, and if we are obeying his commands, by his Spirit,
and in his power and strength, then we won’t walk (in conduct, in practice) in
darkness (sin, wickedness). Sin will not be our practice. We won’t become
idolaters, haters, adulterers, liars, thieves, users, abusers, manipulators, and
tricksters.
Instead, we will be those who are walking (in conduct, in
practice) in the light, in truth and righteousness, in obedient faith, in
holiness, godliness, faithfulness, kindness, and love. And we will be saying “No!”
to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and we will be living self-controlled, upright,
and godly lives, by God’s grace, and by His Spirit, and in his strength and
power.
If We Abide in His Word
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.’”
We can believe in Jesus intellectually but not have genuine
saving faith in Jesus Christ. James said that even the demons believe and they
shudder. So, it is not enough to just believe that Jesus existed or to believe
that he was God the Son who came to the earth and was born as a baby to a
virgin mother, conceived by the Holy Spirit with God as his Father.
It is not enough to believe that he did and said the things
that he did and said, and to believe that he was crucified on a cross for our
sins, and that he rose from the dead, and that he ascended back to the Father
in heaven, and that he then sent his Holy Spirit to indwell his followers and
that one day he will return as judge and to take his bride to be with him
forever.
It is also not enough to believe that his sacrifice for our
sins on that cross was in order to forgive us our sins, to deliver us from
hell, and to promise us an eternal home with him in heaven. Many people believe
these things, but they are not saved from their sins and they do not have the
genuine hope of eternal life with God when they leave this earth.
Jesus said to those who had believed him that IF they abide
in His word, then they are truly his disciples (his followers, his sheep). And
to abide means to stay, to remain, to continue, to last. And this isn’t about
just taking time to read his word each day. This is about what his word actually
teaches. So, when his word teaches that I must obey him, then to remain in that
word would mean that I would continue to obey him.
So, this is about putting the word of God into practice in
our lives, and to keep on in doing that, and for that to last in our lives
until the very end. For, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ means to be one of
his students, a learner, and a learner is not just one who stores knowledge in
his head but he is one who applies the knowledge that he is learning to his
life.
Also a disciple is a follower who learns from him how to
live and then who applies what he is being taught to his life and to his
actions and practices. So, where the Scriptures teach that we are to put off
the deeds of the flesh and we are to put on righteousness, then if we are
followers we will stop lying, cheating, and stealing, and we will be truth tellers,
and honest, and generous with others who are in need. We will do what His word
teaches.
And we will know the truth and it will set us free, because
this knowing is not head knowledge only but it is applied knowledge. We will
know that to follow Jesus involves us denying self and dying daily with him to
sin and to self and us walking in obedience to his commands. And we will know
that true freedom is freedom from slavery to sin, and it is freedom to live as
slaves of God and of his righteousness in his power and strength.
Because You are Not Listening
John 8:43-47 ESV
“Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
But not everyone today who professes faith in Jesus Christ
listens to the Lord and to his word (in context) and does what it says. Many do
not listen, and they do not obey, because they cannot bear to hear our Lord’s
word, because it convicts them of their sinful lifestyles, and it calls them to
forsake their sins, and it demands obedience to our Lord’s commands.
And this is because they are not truly of God because they
never surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. They never died with him to sin,
so they were never truly born again of the Spirit of God because they were not
transferred from death to life and from darkness to light because they chose to
remain in the darkness instead of remaining in God’s word.
So, their father is not God the Father, but he is still the
devil, because they never forsook their lives of sin to follow Jesus in
obedience, because they just wanted a free ride into heaven without them having
to do anything. But yes, we can’t do anything in ourselves to earn or to
deserve our own salvation, but faith in Jesus Christ is death to our old lives
and it is being reborn to new lives in Christ to be lived to him and to his
righteousness.
Therefore, if we are professing faith in Jesus Christ, and
if we are claiming heaven as our eternal destiny, but we are still walking (in
conduct) in darkness (sin, wickedness) as a matter of practice (habit)
deliberately, it is not Jesus who we are following but we are following the
devil. For, whoever is of God not only hears the word, but he is a doer of the
word of God. And he honors our Lord as Lord (owner-master) of his life.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn
15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1
Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn
1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]
By Mark Altrogge
You are beautiful
You are beautiful
beyond description
Too marvelous for
words
Too wonderful for
comprehension
Like nothing ever
seen or heard
Who can grasp Your
infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the
depth of Your love?
You are beautiful
beyond description
Majesty, enthroned
above
And I stand, I stand
in awe of You
I stand, I stand in
awe of You
Holy God, to whom
all praise is due
I stand in awe of
You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvSDuUpk2ZI
Caution: This link
may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment