2 Timothy 1:8-12 ESV
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do.”
Ashamed of the Testimony
Many people today professing faith in Jesus Christ are
ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, for they will not talk about him with
their friends or on social media or with their family members or even with the
body of Christ unless it is during specific times once or twice a week
designated for such discussions. Jesus is not part of their normal
conversations. And usually that means he is not really part of their everyday
lives.
As well, there is a popular teaching today within the
gatherings of what is called “church” to discourage such conversations so as
not to offend other people. One particular group, at least, who call themselves
“missional,” are (or were) teaching that we should just “be the gospel,” and we
should, but it isn’t what they really mean, though, because it has little or
nothing to do with the actual literal gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Being the gospel” to them is (or was) just being nice to
people, doing good deeds, and getting together with neighbors to pop popcorn
and to eat pizza and to watch a movie together. Now, good deeds, if they are of
God, are part of the life of the believer in Jesus Christ in showing love to
others. But they must be the good deeds of God, or be in agreement with the
character of God, and not be a worldly and fleshly creation in the minds of
humans.
Many preachers today are discouraging the gospel altogether,
and the sharing of the gospel that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught,
in favor of a diluted half-truth gospel designed to appeal to human flesh and
to tickle itching ears. For they don’t want to offend the people of the world
who they are trying to attract to their “church” gatherings. And so they are
telling Christians to “stay in your own lane” so as not to offend anyone.
So, we live in a day and time here in America, within the
gatherings of “the church,” where it is being taught and encouraged to be
ashamed of the testimony about our Lord (the whole counsel of God) and to
accept a perverted gospel of grace, instead, so as not to offend people in the world,
and so as to relieve guilt from the sinner who is deliberately and habitually
sinning against God, too. And many people are buying into that.
The Testimony of the Lord
So, what is “the testimony”? The word is used to mean a
testimony, a witness, evidence, and proof. And what is the testimony of the
Lord? It is the gospel, but the gospel that Jesus, John the Baptist, Paul, and
the other apostles taught, not what is popularly being presented as the gospel
today across America and perhaps in other countries, too. In a nutshell, it is
that Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to his
righteousness.
And it is the whole counsel of God, not a few select
Scriptures taught outside their context and made to say something they do not
say. If we want to know the truth of what the Scriptures teach, we need to read
them in their context, for then they may take on a whole new meaning other than
what you might have originally been taught. Like, for example, Ephesians 2:8-9 should
be taught inside the context of verse 10 and the whole of Ephesians.
Yes! We are not saved from our sins based on our own fleshly
works. We cannot save ourselves. We can never be good enough. Nothing we do in
our flesh will ever be good enough to be approved of God. It is only by the
grace of God that any of us are saved from our sins and are given the hope of
eternal life with God. And yes, God’s grace and the faith to believe in him are
gifted to us by God and they are not of ourselves, lest we should boast.
But if our faith is from God and it is gifted to us by God,
then it will be in line with God’s will and purpose for our lives. And his
expressed purpose all throughout the New Testament is that we must die with him
to sin and live to him and to his righteousness; that we should no longer be
enslaved to sin, but that we should now be slaves of God and of his
righteousness. For, if we hold on to our lives of living in sin, we will lose
them for eternity.
Also, although we are not saved by our good works done in
our unregenerate flesh, we are saved to good works which are the works of God
which he had planned in advance that we should walk in them. And they are
required of us for salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And this is
because our free gift of salvation is freedom from slavery to sin and it is
freedom to now walk in holiness and righteousness in obedience to God.
[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 1:21-25; 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; Matt 7:21-23; Rev. 2-3; Rev
18:1-6; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15]
2 Timothy 1:12-14 ESV
“But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”
So, for us to not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
we need to first make certain that we are believing in the true gospel and not
a half-truth false gospel created in the minds of humans which requires no
death to sin and no living to God and to his righteousness. And then we need to
be walking (in conduct, in practice) no longer according to the flesh but now
according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God.
And remember here that we are called of God to a holy
calling, and holy means to be separate (unlike, different) from the world and
unto God and to his righteousness, for we are being made into the likeness of
God. We now, by the grace of God, take on the character of God, and we now
reject the character of the world in our lives. We die with Christ to sin so
that we will no longer be enslaved to sin but to God and to his righteousness.
Then, we need to live out the life of Christ in his power
and strength, and we need to talk about Jesus and his word as part of our
normal everyday conversations with others, but it must not be just talk. We
should not be talking above what we are walking as though we are walking it if
we are not. And we must be students of the Scriptures who study them in context
and as led by God’s Spirit and not by the flesh of humans.
For many preachers today are not teaching the true gospel.
Many are teaching a diluted half-truth gospel which perverts the grace of God
into immorality and which grants the “believer” in Jesus carte blanche to
continue in his deliberate and habitual sin, only now without guilt and without
conscience. But the Scriptures teach we must forsake our sinful practices and
follow Jesus in obedience, or we don’t have eternal life.
Songs
in the Night
An Original Work / December 18, 2013
“About
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other
prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84
Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.
I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!
Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.
I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!
Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!
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