1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 ESV
“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”
What instructions did they give? They taught us to put away
our former lives of living in sin and for self, and to put on the new self in
Christ Jesus created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. They
taught us that faith in Jesus Christ means being crucified with Christ in death
to sin and being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. And they
taught us that we must no longer live according to the flesh but now according
to the Spirit, for if we live according to the flesh we will not inherit
eternal life.
They taught us to put away all that is fleshly and sinful
and to put on righteousness and holiness by the grace of God and in his
strength and power. For Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live
to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for
ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us and who was raised from the
dead. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to
redeem us) so that we would now be God’s possession and so we would honor him
with our lives (with our bodies). For sin is to no longer have dominion over
us.
[Eph 4:17-32; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Co
5:15,21; 1 Co 6:19-20; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Col
3:5-10]
1 Thessalonians 4:3-6 ESV
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter...”
It is not God’s will that we profess faith in Jesus Christ
and then continue to live in deliberate and habitual sin, although this is the
message that is widely being spread here in America under the guise of “the
gospel.” But God still sees when we sin, and it grieves him. And he is still
calling out sin and calling people to repentance and to obedient walks of faith
in him. He has not changed! He still hates sin and what it does to us which is
why he gave his life up for us on that cross to free us from our slavery
(addiction) to sin.
But the church largely, in America, compromised with the
world and with sin, for she was attracted to evil, and so she decided to unite
with what is evil and to not expose sin for what it is, but rather to embrace
it. And so she altered the gospel of Jesus Christ to make room for sin to
continue to reign over the life of the person professing faith in Jesus Christ.
And she made it to where she narrowed the gospel down to a decision to believe
in Jesus followed by a promise (a guarantee) of heaven when we die.
And she largely removed from the gospel or she chose to
ignore God’s requirements for repentance (turning away from sin) and for obedience
to the Lord and to his commands, and for us to submit to him as Lord
(Owner-Master) of our lives. And she chose to ignore or to delete what the
Scriptures teach regarding our walks of faith, and that if we walk in sin we
will not inherit eternal life, but if we walk in righteousness and holiness, in
obedience to our Lord and to his commands, that we will live for eternity with
our Lord Jesus. And she did this in order to compromise with the world.
For she wanted the world to like her and to accept her and
she wanted to be able to join in with the ungodly in some of their ungodly
deeds. She wanted to be able to continue living in sin without it impacting her
eternal life. And so she altered the gospel and she compromised with evil and
she refused to expose sin for what it is and to call out those who are teaching
what is false, but she gave evil a place to abide within the life of the church.
And so she changed sin to “I messed up,” as though it was like spilling a glass
of milk. And she convinced the addicted to sin that they will always be addicts.
But that is not what the Scriptures teach us. They teach us
that God’s will for us is that we be sanctified, that we be made holy, and that
we live holy lives separate (unlike, different) from the world of sin, and that
we not become like the ungodly but that we now become like Jesus in character.
And they teach us that we must abstain from sexual immorality. They do not
teach us that sexual immorality is an illness or that it is something we will
never be able to totally conquer or that we will always be addicted to sexual
immorality. God is not okay with you continuing in sexual immorality!
But yet in today’s church many are convinced that they can
believe in Jesus and be on their way to heaven and still live in sexual
immorality, in practice. But that is a lie from hell! We are taught in
Scripture that we can, by the Spirit, control our own bodies in holiness and
honor, and that this is the will of God for our lives, and that we are not to
live in the passionate lusts of the ungodly who do not know God. And we are not
to sin against one another. And husbands and wives are to love and to be
faithful to one another.
1 Thessalonians 4:6-8 ESV
“…because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”
Contrary to what many people are teaching in the church today,
we cannot be in genuine relationship with Jesus Christ and have heaven
guaranteed us when we die if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against
God and against others, and if we do not forsake our sinful practices to follow
our Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). We can’t blend
Christianity in with the world and make compromises with the world and expect
God to be okay with that. He does not put his stamp of approval on that. For he
requires us to live separate (different) from the world.
So, just know that the Scriptures teach that we are all
going to be judged by what we do in this life, and that we are all going to reap
what we have sown. So, if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will
reap destruction. But if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will
reap eternal life. And, if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and
obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, and if we don’t love others,
but we deliberately sin against them, instead, in practice, then we don’t know
God and we are not born again of the Spirit of God, and we DO NOT have eternal
life with God.
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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