1 Peter 1:22-25 ESV
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“‘All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.’
“And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
Obedience to Christ Jesus
Obedience to God, to Christ, is what faith in Jesus Christ
is all about. It is our lives surrendered to Jesus Christ in dying with him to
sin and in living to him and to his righteousness, in the power of God, not
just once but daily. Daily by the Spirit we are to be putting to death the works
of the flesh and we are to be walking in the Spirit according to the Word of
God, growing and maturing in our walks of faith and in obedience to our Lord
Jesus Christ.
[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet
2:24; Jn 8:51; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:10; Matt 7:21-23; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1
Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 5:9; 1 Pet 1:1-2,22; Jas
1:21-25; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Php 2:12-13; etc.]
And since we are to be obedient to the truth, then we need
to know what that truth is. And the truth is found in the Word of God which
must be studied in context. For many people today are pulling select Scriptures
out of their context and they are twisting them to say what they are not saying
at all. And context can be an entire chapter in the Bible, or it can be a whole
book, or it can be the whole of the New Testament or the Bible, as a whole.
It is best to read Scriptures prior to and following after a
select passage of Scripture to get the context, but sometimes you will have to
expand further than that to get the correct context. The other thing is that,
as Christians, we are not under the Old Covenant, but that does not mean we are
free to be lawless or that we don’t have to obey the Lord and the New Testament
Scriptures written down for us under the New Covenant. We do!
Pure Hearts, Pure Love
If we are truly walking in obedience to our Lord in all
things, and we are not just choosing what we will obey and what we won’t obey, and
if our obedience is to the Lord, and not just to following a set of rules, i.e.
our lives are truly surrendered to him and he is Lord (Owner-Master) of our
lives, then our love for him and our love for others should be the love which
comes from God, which is a pure love and is that which prefers what God
prefers.
Since God is love, and love comes from God, if we love with
this kind of love, we will love God and others like God loves, and according to
the divine nature and character of God, who is love. Now, this is not saying
that our love will always be perfect, but that if we are surrendered to Jesus
Christ, and if we are walking in obedience to him, out of that should flow a
sincere and pure love coming from pure (unadulterated, untainted) hearts.
So our love for others should consider what is truly best
for them, in the eyes of God, i.e. what will benefit them spiritually in their
walks of faith or in their knowledge of God and of the gospel so that they can
believe in Jesus Christ and be delivered from their lives of sin to now walk in
obedience to the commands of God (New Covenant). And we should never
deliberately and/or habitually commit evil acts against anyone.
Born Again
When we come into this world, we are born physically in
flesh bodies, in sin, and in the image of Adam. And we all fall short of
attaining God’s divine approval and acceptance and his righteousness and
holiness. We can do nothing in ourselves to earn or to deserve God’s approval
and salvation and eternal life with God. It is only because of Jesus’ blood
sacrifice for us on that cross, by the grace of God, that any of us can be
saved from our sins.
Jesus Christ, God the Son, although he knew no sin (he was
sinless), he became sin for us on that cross so that when he died our sins died
with him, and when he was raised from the dead, he rose victorious over sin,
death, Satan, and hell, on our behalf. So, by faith in Jesus Christ we are,
thus, crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to
walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness, to the glory and praise of God, in his power, strength, and
wisdom.
And this is what it means to be “born again.” First we are
born physically, and now, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are born spiritually into
the family of God. For, our old self was crucified with Christ in order that
the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be
enslaved to sin, but so we might now become slaves of God and of his
righteousness. By grace we are saved through faith, and this is a gift of God,
not of ourselves. But that gift is deliverance from enslavement to sin, and it
is empowerment of God’s Spirit to now live holy and godly lives, pleasing to
God.
[Rom 3:23; Rom 5:12-19; 1 Co 15:21-22,42-49; Rom 6:1-23; Rom
8:1-17; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15,21; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Lu 9:23-26]
All Flesh is like Grass
Being born again, thus, is a spiritual birth, and it is of
God, not of man. Thus, the gospel which teaches us how to be born again of God
must also come from God and not from man. And the place where we learn that
gospel is in the New Testament Scriptures in the Bible (Matthew-Revelation).
But we must read them in context, for many people today are teaching a false
gospel of men that is not consistent with the Scriptures and which is not of
God. And they teach Scriptures out of context and they twist them.
For example, Ephesians 2:8-9 must include verse 10, and it
should be read in the context of the whole of Ephesians. The same applies with
Romans 10:9-10. We can’t build our doctrine of salvation around just those two
verses, though many people do. Read all of Romans word for word, prayerfully,
listening to the Lord, and you will see that our salvation entails so much more.
And John 10:28-30 must be read along with verse 27 which tells us who has these
promises. Context is critical to biblical interpretation.
So, don’t rely on other humans to tell you the truth, for
there are many liars and deceivers out there who are mere charlatans and wolves
in sheep’s clothing whose goal it is to deceive and to manipulate and to twist
the truth to their advantage. And so the primary gospel now being taught in
America is not the true gospel, for it requires no death to sin nor obedience
to Christ and to his word, nor does it require submission to Christ as Lord. So,
human flesh withers, but the Word of God remains forever. Believe The Word!
For
Our Nation
An
Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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