Romans 13:8-10 ESV
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
If we love God, and if we love other humans with this kind
of love, we will not deliberately nor habitually sin against them, especially
knowing that what we are doing is bringing harm to them. We will not lie to
them or about them. We will not cheat them or steal from them. And we will not
commit sexual immorality and adultery against them, but as God defines adultery,
which includes lusting after others in our minds and in our hearts.
For this kind of love being spoken of here is all about
preferring what God prefers, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his
power. So, if we are loving others with this kind of love, our lives will be
committed to our Lord, to moral purity, to righteousness, to holiness, to honesty,
to faithfulness, and to turning away from our sin, and to following our Lord in
obedience, and to submitting ourselves to his Lordship over our lives.
But the vast majority of today’s church in America, at least
the institutional church, has this all backwards. Their idea of love is that of
consoling people in their sin and of giving them carte blanche to continue in
their sinful practices in doing willful harm to others. For they don’t want to
offend them or to make them feel judged or uncomfortable. For they want them to
continue to come to their “church” gatherings and to feel at home there.
They are more concerned with offending the sinner than they
are with offending God and his righteousness. They are more concerned about
making sure that the sinner doesn’t feel judged for his sin than they are about
those who are being harmed by their sin. And they are more concerned about the
comfort of the sinner than they care about what their sin is doing to those
whom they are sinning against.
It is all being twisted today to appease and to gratify the
sinful cravings of the flesh, while God’s righteous requirements for salvation
and for eternal life with God are being largely ignored and/or fought against
and attacked. While purportedly trying to avoid “works-based salvation,” they
have turned the message of the gospel into a license for immorality, to no
works required, and to lawlessness, believing they do not have to obey God at
all.
Romans 13:11-14 ESV
“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
Now, when this says that our salvation is nearer to us than
when we first believed, it is letting us know that our salvation is in process,
and it will not be completed until Jesus returns to take his bride to be with him
for eternity, but provided that the believer continues in his belief steadfast
and immovable to the very end, in faithfulness and in obedience to his Lord.
For, if we do not continue in such faith, we will not inherit eternal life with
God.
[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; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 11:17-24; 1
Co 15:2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet
2:20-22; 1 Jn 2:24-25]
So, this is why the urgent call to wake up from sleep, but
not physical sleep, but spiritual slumber (laziness, apathy, lukewarmness). It is
because our Lord’s return is nearer, and when he returns, he will take with him
those who have remained faithful, who have been walking in obedience to his
commands, and who have been putting sin to death daily, by the Spirit. And for
some, this may be at the last minute, but not for all.
And that is why we have these instructions here to the
church to cast off the works of darkness, for evidently some of them either
never left their sinful lifestyles, or else they returned to some of them, and
so they are being strongly urged here of the importance of casting those sinful
practices out of their lives for good. Why? Because we are still in the process
of being saved, and if we keep on sinning and if we do not repent, it will end
in death for us.
So, we are being instructed here to walk properly as in the
daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, and not in sexual immorality and
sensuality, and not in quarreling and jealously. But we are to put on the Lord
Jesus Christ and his righteousness and holiness by walking according to the
Spirit and no longer according to the flesh, and by saying “No!” to ungodliness
and fleshly lusts, and by living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.
And we are to make no provision for the flesh, to gratify
its desires. So this goes to those passages of Scripture that teach us to throw
off all that hinders and to cut off whatever is leading us into sin. Many
people continue on a sinful course, first of all because they want to, and
secondly because they make provision for the flesh by leaving doors wide open
for them to continue in their sin and by not closing any doors that lead them
to sin.
So, what’s the bottom line here? It all goes back to the
gospel. Faith in Jesus leads to us dying with Christ to sin and living to God
and to his righteousness, or it isn’t genuine faith. For if we continue walking
in sin, according to our flesh, and not according to the Spirit, in disobedience
to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God. Many will hear Jesus
say one day, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity. I never knew you.”
[Matt
7:21-23; 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; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col
1:21-23; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn
2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15]
A
Believer’s Prayer
An
Original Work / July 31, 2012
With my whole heart, Lord, I pray
To be Yours, and Yours always.
Lead me in Your truth today.
May I love You, and obey.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
When I sin, may I confess;
Bow before You when I pray;
Live for You and You always.
Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.
Life with You will never end.
You are with me through each day,
Giving love and peace always.
You will ne’er abandon me.
From my sin You set me free.
You died on that cruel tree,
So I’d live eternally.
Soon You’re coming back for me;
From this world to set me free;
Live with You eternally.
Oh, what joy that brings to me.
I will walk with You in white;
A pure bride, I’ve been made right
By the blood of Jesus Christ;
Pardoned by His sacrifice.
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