Now Many Antichrists Have Come

1 John 2:18-19 ESV

 

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

 

The word “antichrist” means to be “against Christ,” to be opposed and hostile to him and to who he is and to what he is about and to what he stands for. Yet, it isn’t the name of “Jesus” or the name “Christ” that people are so much against, at least here in America, but it is the character of Christ and who he is and what he stands for (and against) that have people opposing him. And this includes many people professing faith in him, too.

 

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8).

 

And “in the flesh” is not just a status based on no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. For it has to do with how one lives, and how one conducts his life day in and day out. For if you live according to the flesh you will die in your sins, but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, then you will live. For it is all who are led by the Spirit of God who are the children of God, not all who merely profess faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:12-14).

 

So, when this says that “they went out from us,” this is not talking about people leaving the institutional church. Please get this! The institutional church, which is largely of church denominations, and which largely is incorporated as a business under the state, and which is largely marketing “the church” to the world, is not the church. And neither is the church the building they meet in called “church.” All that is of man, not of God.

 

The true church is the body of Christ comprised of genuine followers of Jesus Christ who have died with Christ to sin and who are living to God and to his righteousness, in practice, and who are not living in deliberate and habitual sin in rebellion against the Lord. We are God’s house, his building, not buildings built by human hands. And we are the living stones making up that building, and Jesus is our cornerstone, and God is the builder.

 

Therefore, when this says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us,” this is speaking of people who were gathering together with the body of Christ (with true followers of Christ) but who were not of genuine faith in Jesus. They may have made professions of faith in Christ but they were not walking in obedience to the Lord in the forsaking of their sins.

 

Thus they were “antichrist,” because they were still living according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit. Their minds were still set on the flesh and not on the Spirit, and so they were hostile to God, and they could not please God for they would not obey God’s law (New Covenant). And so when they deserted the fellowship of the believers (followers of Christ), it became plain that they were not really part of the body of Christ (true saints of God).

 

1 John 2:20-23 ESV

 

“But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.”

 

Now, this is obviously not speaking to everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ. Just because you make a profession of faith in Christ does not mean necessarily that you are of Christ, for you could be antichrist. For we read here in 1 John 2:3-4, “By this we know that we have come to know him, IF WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

 

And then we read in 1 John 3:4-10 that no one who keeps on sinning (in practice) has either seen the Lord or known him. For whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as God is righteous. But whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For no one born of God makes a practice of sinning. And whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother (cf. Romans 6&8; Galatians 5:16-21).

 

So, who is the liar? He is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. And denying Christ goes far beyond just making a verbal denial of him, but people deny Christ by not submitting to him as Lord, by refusing to die with him to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness. They deny him when they claim that nothing is required of them by God and that they don’t have to repent of their sins and obey the Lord. Obedience to God is required!

 

1 John 2:24-25 ESV

 

“Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.”

 

Now, this is assuming that what they heard from the beginning was the truth. Not everyone is hearing the truth because not many are teaching the truth (the whole counsel of God) these days, at least they aren’t here in America. So, what is the truth that they should have heard? First, they should not have been taught that God is okay with them continuing in their sinful practices, greedy to practice every king of impurity.

 

That is not the way you should have learned Christ!— “assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Ephesians 4:17-24; cf. Luke 9:23-26).

 

And this promise that God made to his people of eternal life with him is contingent on us abiding in Christ and his words abiding (living, continuing, remaining) in us (see John 15). And it is contingent on us repenting of our sins (leaving our lives of sin behind us) and on us following our Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) in walks of holiness and righteousness, in the power of God, to the glory and praise of God.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; 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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; 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 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; Ac 26:18]

 

Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed

 

Isaac Watts/ Ralph E. Hudson

 

Alas! and did my Savior bleed

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For sinners such as I?

 

Was it for crimes that I had done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! grace unknown!

And love beyond degree!

 

Thus might I hide my blushing face

While His dear cross appears,

Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,

And melt my eyes to tears.

 

But drops of grief can ne’er repay

The debt of love I owe:

Here, Lord, I give myself away

’Tis all that I can do.

 

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,

And the burden of my heart rolled away,

It was there by faith I received my sight,

And now I am happy all the day!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyyBkfMGBvE

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Are You Married to Christ?

1 John 2:15-17 ESV

 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

 

We Are Married to Christ

 

Prior to me getting into this passage of Scripture, the Lord put in mind the song, “Dwelling in Beulah Land.” Now the word “Beulah” literally means “Thou art married.” And, it is often considered a symbol of our heavenly dwelling with our husband, Jesus Christ. We are his bride, and he is our husband. And “Beulah” is found in Isaiah 62:4, which says, “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.”

 

Now, when we get married to our spouses, what should that look like? We are supposed to forsake all others and be faithful to our spouses. The man is to leave his mother and father and cleave (cling to) his wife, and the two are to become one flesh, not just sexually, but spiritually, too. We are to be united as one, with Christ as our head (King, Lord, Master), and we are not to be united anymore with anyone in the same way as we are now united with each other.

 

Well, that is what it is supposed to look like when we believe in Jesus. For we marry Christ when we put our faith in him, and he becomes our husband and we become his bride. And we are to become one with him in every way other than physically, obviously, though our bodies are to be surrendered to him and we are to now honor God with our bodies, which should also be under his Lordship. Our bodies should no longer be given over to immorality but we should now walk in moral purity in faithfulness to our Lord.

 

So, when we marry Christ, by faith in him, we leave our old single lives behind us, i.e. we leave our lives of living in sin and for self to now unite with the Lord in heart and mind. And now we follow him in his ways according to his commands, and our desire is for him to please him in every way, and it is no longer to be to love (prefer) the things of this sinful world. For the desires (lusts, passions) of the flesh, and of the eyes, and the pride of life are now to be in our past, not in our present reality.

 

[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 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13]

 

Dwelling with Christ

 

The place where we dwell is the place where we live. It can be a physical dwelling such as a house or an apartment, or it can be a spiritual place where we live. Now where we live is not just a physical or spiritual status, for living has to do with being, existing, staying, and remaining. It is who we are in character and in thinking, believing, and behaving, as well as in our speaking. Living has to do with all that we are and do and think and speak on a day in and day out basis. It is how we walk (in conduct, in practice).

 

So, if we are dwelling in Beulah Land, that means that we are living in a marriage relationship with Jesus Christ in all that we are and do and think and speak, etc. And we are to think of our relationship with him in these terms. We don’t just “get saved” and then one day we die and we go to heaven, any more than we “get married” and then one day we die and we part ways with our spouses then. Marriage is to be forever and it is to be a continual uniting of minds, hearts, and bodies as one, who are one with Christ. And our marriage to Christ is to be along those same lines.

 

Do Not Love the World

 

So, when this passage says for us to not love the world or the things in the world of sin, this is like saying to a newly married couple, “Don’t commit adultery against your spouse, but be faithful in all ways to your spouse unto the day that one of you dies. Remain committed to one another, seeking the good of the other always unto the very end, through thick and through thin, through bad times and good times, always remaining faithful and loving and kind, always growing together in love one for the other until the end.

 

This is what the Scriptures teach our relationship with Jesus Christ should look like, too. Now Jesus, being that he is God, will always be faithful in all that he is and has said he would do. But please know that with his promises come stipulations (conditions). For not everyone who says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” is going to enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one doing the will of God the Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21-23). So we are called upon to be faithful to him, as well, in all that we do, and until the very end, as well. We can’t just name it and claim it. We have to live what we profess.

 

[Jn 8:31-32,51; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 11:17-24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 5:9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:1-5; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Matt 7:21-23; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6; Jas 1:21-25; Eph 4:17-24]

 

So, we must know here that if we love (prefer) the things of this sinful world in place of or over and above loving (preferring) our Lord Jesus in all that we are and do and say, that the love of the Father is not in us. Did you hear that? We can’t live like the world and do whatever we want to do and be dwelling in Christ (in Beulah Land). Dwelling in Beulah Land is not just a position we hold by some confession of Christ as Savior. It is walking according to the Spirit and no longer walking according to the flesh.

 

Dwelling In Beulah Land

 

By C Austin Miles (1911)

 

Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling;

Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand;

Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling;

None of these shall move me from Beulah Land.

 

Far below the storm of doubt upon the world is beating,

Sons of men in battle long the enemy withstand;

Safe am I within the castle of God’s word retreating,

Nothing there can reach me, ’tis Beulah Land.

 

Let the stormy breezes blow, their cry cannot alarm me;

I am safely sheltered here, protected by God's hand;

Here the sun is always shining, nothing there can harm me;

I am safe forever in Beulah Land.

 

Viewing here the works of God, I sink in contemplation;

Hearing now His blessed voice, I see the way He planned;

Dwelling in the Spirit, here I learn of full salvation,

Gladly I will tarry in Beulah Land.

 

I'm living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky,

I'm drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry;

Oh, yes! I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,

For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mob1aWZfApo

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Are You Being Sanctified?

I hear a lot of people claiming that if we just call on Jesus that we will be saved for eternity and that nothing can take that away from us no matter how we live our lives from that moment forward. Yes, we must call on Jesus, but that is not the whole picture. We must turn away from our sins (repent) and follow Jesus in obedience, and we must continue in those walks of faith until the very end or salvation is not ours, and neither is eternity in heaven.

 

I am reading in Hebrews 10 this morning and this is what is standing out to me. It is talking about the old order under the law and the new order under grace, but it is saying that the old order was about yearly physical sacrifices and offerings. But in talking about the new order Jesus said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God.” Amen! Jesus did away with all the Old Covenant sacrifices via his death on that cross but he did not abolish obedience to God. He upheld obedience to the Lord.

 

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

 

Do you see what this is saying here? Jesus Christ did what was necessary in order to secure salvation from sin and eternity with God for “those who are being sanctified.” We must be in that process of sanctification, of being made holy until the very end, either until we die or until Jesus returns. And it means to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made into the likeness of Christ, if we are, indeed. We are being sanctified when we live according to God’s design and purpose for our lives.

 

"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God" (2 Corinthians 7:1).

 

We must cooperate with God’s work of grace in our lives. It is not automatic just because we profess faith in Jesus. The Christian life involves daily dying with Christ to sin and to self and walking with Jesus in obedience to his commands in holiness and in righteousness, to the praise and glory of God. Yes, Jesus provided the way for us to be saved and to be made holy, and we can only be saved and made holy by the grace of God, but we must submit to Christ as Lord and forsake our lives of sin and follow him in obedience.

 

And then the passage talks about how Jesus puts his laws on our hearts and he writes them on our minds, so the New Covenant is not lawlessness. So we are to hold fast the confession of hope without wavering and we are to consider how we may stir up one another to love and good works.

 

Hebrews 10:26-27 ESV

 

“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”

 

Do we get this really? By the way so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ  live their lives I would say that many people don’t get this. I certainly did not for a long while. That is no excuse, mind you, but this is just not being taught much at all these days. Most people are teaching a surface-level “faith” in Jesus which secures them heaven for eternity regardless of how they live their lives from that moment forward. But that is just not supported with Scripture. Scripture teaches the opposite of that, in fact.

 

We can’t just claim who we are in Christ and then live however we want in all sorts of wickedness and in immorality presuming upon God’s grace that it will always be there regardless of how we live. Yes, God’s grace does forgive our sins if we are genuinely repentant and if we cooperate with God’s work of grace in our lives in putting our sin to death and in raising us with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. But if we go on sinning deliberately and habitually against God we will face the wrath of God, not his salvation.

 

Hebrews 10:32-39 ESV

 

“But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For,

 

“’Yet a little while,

    and the coming one will come and will not delay;

but my righteous one shall live by faith,

    and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.’

 

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

 

Once Saved Always Saved is not a biblical doctrine. Our salvation is conditional on the conditions that our Lord laid out for it. We must turn away from our sins and then daily by the Spirit we must be putting to death the deeds of the flesh and following our Lord in obedience to his ways, in his power and strength. We must walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and we must not obey sin but God and his righteousness.

 

When we have done the will of God we may receive what is promised. For the Lord’s righteous one must live by faith, and if he shrinks back, God has no pleasure in him. For if we shrink back we will be destroyed, but if we walk by faith in obedience to our Lord, he will preserve our souls. For we don’t “get saved” and then heaven is now guaranteed us when we die regardless of how we live our lives on this earth. How we live matters for eternity. For if we live to please the flesh, we will die in our sins, but if we live to please God, then we have the hope of eternal life with God.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; 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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; 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 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; Ac 26:18]

 

Sweet Beulah Land

 

By Squire Parsons

 

I'm kind of homesick for a country

To which I've never been before.

No sad goodbyes will there be spoken

For time won't matter anymore.

 

I'm looking now, just across the river

To where my faith, shall end in sight

There's just a few more days to labor.

Then I will take my heavenly flight.

 

Beulah Land I'm longing for you

And some day on thee I'll stand

There my home shall be eternal

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW8W7RXg6AA

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Don't Walk in Ungodly Counsel

Psalms 1:1-2 ESV

 

“Blessed is the man

    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and on his law he meditates day and night.”

 

You know that this is not speaking about just the obviously wicked. For those who stand out as obviously wicked are not as likely to deceive people into believing their lies, because their lies are more blatant. For remember how Jesus warned his disciples against the “yeast” (the spreading influence of what is typically concealed; the spreading nature of evil) of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (claiming moral standards to which one does not adhere).

 

The people we need to watch out for the most are those who appear godly and righteous and/or who are in positions of authority and leadership and influence within the gatherings of what is called church. They may be pastors, elders, deacons, Bible teachers, youth leaders and the like. And what they may be teaching may come from the Scriptures or it may sound biblical, but oftentimes it is not biblical and/or it is taken from Scriptures which are removed from their context and twisted to say something else.

 

So, does it say this in Romans 10? “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” And this? “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Yes, it does! Yet do we ignore the rest of Romans and the rest of the New Testament and build our doctrine of salvation on these few verses? Certainly not!

 

In Romans it Says

 

In Romans 1 all are warned against suppressing the truth of God by their ungodliness and unrighteousness, that the wrath of God is revealed against such as this. And in Romans 2 we are warned against hypocritical judging, i.e. against judging others and yet doing the same things that they do. Then it goes on to describe such people as those with hard and impenitent hearts who are storing up the wrath of God for themselves on the day of God’s wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. And then we are told that God will render to each one according to his works (Romans 2:6-10).

 

Then in Romans 6 we learn that by faith in Jesus Christ we are baptized into his death. We are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. For our old self is crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin but so we would be slaves to God and to his righteousness. Thus, we are to no longer let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions, for if we do, that will end in death, not life.

 

Then in Romans 8 we read that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For if we live according to the flesh, we will die. But if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the body, we will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. And to be led by the Spirit means that we are walking in obedience to our Lord and we are doing what he says to do and we are no longer living in deliberate and habitual sin.

 

Then in Romans 11, speaking to non-Jewish believers in Jesus Christ with regard to the fact that unbelieving Jews, i.e. those who do not believe in Jesus, have been cut off from God’s vine and that Gentile believers in Jesus were grafted into the vine, Paul warned that they should not be arrogant. For, he said that they were not to become proud but to fear God, for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither would he spare them. For if they did not continue in God’s grace they, too, would be cut off.

 

But we need to understand here what that grace means. For we are saved by God’s grace through faith, and this is not of ourselves lest any of us should boast. But his grace delivered us from our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we might now be slaves to God and to his righteousness. His grace granted us the faith to believe in Jesus and to repent of (turn away from) our sin, and that faith originates with God so it will submit to Christ, forsake sin, and walk in obedience to the Lord (Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Lu 9:23-26).

 

Psalms 1:3-4 ESV

 

“He is like a tree

    planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

    and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.”

 

So, we need to be very careful regarding the teachings and counsel that we receive, making sure that it is wholly biblical (in the context as a whole) and that it is not a mixture of truth and lies. And we need to test everything we hear and read no matter who it is coming from, even if the person is widely accepted and revered as godly. For remember that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness but they are wolves in sheep’s clothing out to deceive.

 

And then we need to make certain that we are walking in the truth and not in the lies and that our delight is in the counsel and the gospel of Christ and that daily we are dying to sin and to self and that we are walking in the counsel of the Scriptures (taken in context) in obedience to our Lord, and that we continue in these walks of faith steadfast until the very end. And then we have true hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God based on the truth and not on the lies and not on Scriptures taught out of context.

 

Then we are blessed of God in what we do and we will bear spiritual fruit for God’s heavenly kingdom in keeping with repentance. We will be at true peace with God and God will use us in the lives of others in the sharing with them the truth of the gospel (the whole counsel of God) and in showing them the love of God which sent Jesus Christ to die for us on that cross so that we might be delivered from our lives of slavery to sin and now serve God with our lives as slaves of his righteousness.

 

Psalms 1:5-6 ESV

 

“Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked will perish.”

 

The wicked are not just those regarded as unsaved because they make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. The wicked are all who make sin their practice, who deliberately and habitually sin in defiance of God and of his commands (New Covenant) and in rebellion against the Lord. So, you can profess Jesus as your Lord and Savior but if you do not walk in obedience to his commands but you deliberately and habitually do what your sinful heart desires, then you are wicked, not righteous in God’s sight. For the righteous are those who make righteousness their practice (1 Jn 3:4-10).

 

So, if you want to have the true hope of salvation from your slavery to sin and the hope of eternal life with God, you must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and you must walk in obedience to his commands, in practice until the end, and sin must not be your practice or you will die.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; 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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; 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 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; Ac 26:18]

 

Sweet Beulah Land

 

By Squire Parsons

 

I'm kind of homesick for a country

To which I've never been before.

No sad goodbyes will there be spoken

For time won't matter anymore.

 

I'm looking now, just across the river

To where my faith, shall end in sight

There's just a few more days to labor.

Then I will take my heavenly flight.

 

Beulah Land I'm longing for you

And some day on thee I'll stand

There my home shall be eternal

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW8W7RXg6AA

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Let the Righteous Still Do Right

Revelation 22:10-11 ESV

 

“And he said to me, ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.’”

 

The longer that we live on the earth, the closer it is for our Lord’s return. And I look forward to that day with great anticipation. But there is a sad reality to it all and that is that not everyone who says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” is going to enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 7:21-23).

 

Just because you prayed a prayer once to “receive Jesus into your heart,” or you “called on God,” or you confessed him as Lord and you believed that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, it does not mean that you have eternal salvation which cannot be taken away from you and that heaven is guaranteed you as your eternal destiny regardless of how you live your life.

 

For we cannot build our doctrine of salvation around a few select passages of Scripture taught out of context. We have to read the whole context to get the whole picture. So, just because it says to call on the Lord and you will be saved, it doesn’t mean that is all there is to it. Paul wrote the entire book of Romans as one complete letter, so we need to read the whole thing.

 

For he said in Romans 6 that we are slaves to the one we obey, and if that be sin, it will end in death, but if it be obedience, it will lead to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life (see Romans 6:16-23). And in Romans 8 he wrote that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, for if we walk according to the flesh we will not inherit eternal life (Romans 8:1-14).

 

So who are the evildoers and the filthy? Many of them are those who are professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who are claiming heaven as their eternal destiny. For the righteous are those who are living righteously, not just those who claim they are righteous. All throughout the New Testament we are taught that those who are inheriting eternal life with God are those who have and are putting sin to death and who are living holy lives in obedience to the Lord, in the power of God, in a present reality.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; 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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; 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 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; Ac 26:18]

 

Revelation 22:12-13 ESV

 

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

 

When Jesus Christ returns to the earth to judge the people of the earth and to take his bride to be with him for eternity he is going to pay each one of us for what we have done. That payment could be a reward for our walks of faith and obedience to the Lord or it could be condemnation to all who refused to bow the knee to Jesus and to obey his commands.

 

“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality” (Romans 2:6-11).

 

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8).

 

[Also: 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; Rev. 2-3; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 6:16-23; Rom 8:1-14; Jn 15:1-11; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

Revelation 22:14-15 ESV

 

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

 

You may profess faith in Jesus Christ, and you may claim heaven as your eternal destiny, but if sin is what you practice, and if righteousness is not what you practice, you will die in your sins. You will not inherit eternal life with God. For all who make sin their practice, who deliberately and habitually sin against the Lord will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 

So, if you professed faith in Jesus but if you are living in sexual immorality, lying about it to cover it up, hoping non one else will know, and if you are making self and the things and the people of this world your idols and God is not truly Lord (Owner-Master) of your life, for you do not submit to him as Lord of your life, if you do not repent of your sin and follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, then you are on the outside, not on the inside.

 

For those who have washed their robes are not those who merely give lip service to the Lord while Jesus is not their Lord, but they are those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ and who by faith in Christ are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. They are those who by the Spirit are putting to death the deeds of the flesh and who are walking in holiness and righteousness by the grace of God.

 

For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self we will lose them for eternity. But if we die with Christ to sin that we might live to Christ and to his righteousness, for the sake of Jesus, then we have eternal life (see Luke 9:23-26; cf. Ephesians 4:17-24; Romans 6:1-23; 1 John 1:5-9).

 

Also, God’s grace to us is not permission to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. For his grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to renounce (to say “No” to) ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s soon return (see Titus 2:11-14).

 

For Jesus died on that cross to deliver us from our slavery (addiction) to sin so we would now be slaves of God and of his righteousness, no longer living under the control of Satan and sin. For if we remain slaves to sin it ends in death not life eternal (Romans 6:1-23). For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24) and that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us (2 Corinthians 5:15,21).

 

So, if your faith in Jesus is in profession only but you are still walking according the flesh and not according to the Spirit, please know that the Scriptures do not teach that you will inherit eternal life. We must die with Christ to sin that we might live to him and to his righteousness. Only those who are practicing righteousness are righteous. Those who make sin their practice will not inherit eternal life (see 1 John 3:4-10).

 

But for those of us who are walking according to the Spirit, by the Spirit, and who are not walking according to the flesh, we have that hope of eternal life with God, and so we can look forward to his return with great anticipation.

 

Until Then

 

By Unknown

 

My heart can sing when I pause to remember

A heartache here is but a steppingstone

Along a trail that's winding always upward,

This troubled world is not my final home.

 

The things of earth will dim and lose their value

If we recall they're borrowed for a while;

And things of earth that cause the heart to tremble,

Remembered there will only bring a smile.

 

This weary world with all its toil and struggle

May take its toll of misery and strife;

The soul of man is like a waiting falcon;

When it's released, it's destined for the skies.

 

But until then my heart will go on singing,

Until then with joy I'll carry on,

Until the day my eyes behold the city,

Until the day God calls me home.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4SaKgGZijM

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Do We Rejoice in Our Sufferings?

Romans 5:1-2 ESV

 

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

 

What does it mean to be justified? It means to be made righteous, to be made right with God via God-given faith in Jesus Christ. And it means to be conformed to a proper standard, i.e. to be made upright. By faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with him in death to sin and we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. But this is not just a status, for the Scriptures teach that whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as God is righteous.

 

And what is faith? Well, Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith, so this faith conforms to his righteousness. And faith is gifted to us by God, and we can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he persuades us as to his righteousness and holiness and of our sinfulness, and of our need to turn from our lives of living in sin and for self to walks of obedience to him and to his commands. And faith is obedience, for the Scriptures teach that disobedience is unbelief.

 

But it isn’t just that, for we have many examples in the Scriptures of people living out their faith and that faith involves obedience. In Hebrews 11, which is often regarded as the faith chapter of the Bible, we have many examples of people who by faith obeyed the Lord and did as he commanded. And then we have the teachings in the Scriptures which tell us that if we do not obey the Lord and if we do not walk in his righteousness that we do not have eternal life with God, so there again obedience is necessary to our faith.

 

And faith is not a one-time thing which takes place in our lives and now our eternal salvation is secured us no matter how we live our lives. Faith has to be ongoing and it has to be present, not just past, and it has to continue until the very end or we do not have the hope of heaven as our eternal destiny. As well, our salvation is not a one-time thing which takes place and now we are “good to go.” Every day we must die with Christ to sin and walk in obedience to his commands, as a matter of life practice.

 

And our salvation is not going to be complete until Jesus Christ returns and he takes his bride to be with him forever. So, we are saved (past), we are being saved (present), and we will be saved (future) provided that we continue in Christ steadfast to the end in the forsaking of sin and in walks of obedience to our Lord and in walking in his righteousness and holiness and in loving our fellow humans. For if we walk in deliberate and habitual sin, instead, we will not enter into the kingdom of heaven, no matter what we profess with our lips. If we don’t obey God, heaven is not our home.

 

So, just know here that you can’t just claim to believe in Jesus and now you are made righteous in God’s sight and now heaven is your eternal home regardless of how you live your life on this earth. True faith involves true repentance (dying to sin daily) and walking in obedience to our Lord, and it must be continuous until the end. But the good news is that when our faith is genuine, and when we are walking by that faith, we do have peace with God. Amen!

 

And one more thing here. God’s grace to us is not permission to keep living in deliberate and habitual sin, for if we do, we will not enter into the kingdom of heaven, but hell will be our eternal destiny, instead. For God’s grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to renounce (or to say “No” to) ungodliness and fleshly lusts (passions), and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; 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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; 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 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; Ac 26:18]

 

Romans 5:3-5 ESV

 

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

 

The Scriptures teach us that we are blessed who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. We are blessed of God when others revile us and persecute us and utter all kinds of evil against us falsely on the Lord’s account. We will be hated for the sake of the name of Jesus who follow Jesus Christ in obedience and who do as he commands. Especially if we are those who are proclaiming the truth of the gospel and who are testing the spirits and who are exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness, we will be opposed.

 

But persecution is not the only suffering we will face. We will face all kinds of sufferings. We will get hurt, be in pain and agony, grieve, go through trials and tribulations, and face all kinds of difficult circumstances. But all these are for our good to produce in us steadfastness, perseverance, endurance and godly character and hope. And suffering helps us to grow to maturity in Christ and that we might share in God’s holiness. Through suffering we learn to rely on God and not on ourselves and we gain compassion for others.

 

Although suffering is difficult and it is painful, if we respond properly to our suffering in faith and in trust in the Lord and in his sovereignty over our lives then we will reap the benefits of suffering. And suffering also serves to test the genuiness of our faith to either prove that we are not in the true faith or to prove that we are, and if it proves we are not, then we need to repent of our sins and turn to follow Jesus Christ with our lives in obedience and in submission to him as Lord. And one day we will be with him forever.

 

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12]

 

How Beautiful Heaven Must Be

 

Songwriters: Cordelia J. Whiteside Bridgewater, 1920 / Andy Pickens Bland

 

We read of a place that's called heaven,

It's made for the pure and the free;

These truths in God's word He has given,

How beautiful heaven must be.

 

In heaven no drooping nor pining,

No wishing for elsewhere to be;

God's light is forever, there shining,

How beautiful heaven must be.

 

How beautiful heaven must be

Sweet home of the happy and free;

Fair haven of rest for the weary,

How beautiful heaven must be

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCfHh-Ra1N8

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Examine Yourselves! Test Yourselves!

2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV

 

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

 

How to Examine Ourselves

 

Back when I was in school I used to have to take tests (exams) based on what had been taught me in the class, and on what I had learned in studying the materials given, and on me performing the required tasks. The exams tested my knowledge of what I was supposed to have learned to see how well I had learned it or if I had learned at all what had been taught me.

 

Well, in the case of what is being taught here, it is ourselves who we are to examine. But based on what? Based on the teachings of the Scriptures, and more specifically the New Testament where we are taught what it means to believe in Jesus Christ and what it means to be in him and in the true faith. But it is a must that we read the Scriptures in their full context.

 

And the reason that I say that is that so many people are teaching the Scriptures out of context, and they are twisting them to say what they want them to say. So, if we just cherry pick the Scriptures we like, and then we examine ourselves based on those, we probably will not have an accurate measurement of whether or not we are in the true faith.

 

Now obviously there is not the space here to cover the entirety of the New Testament teachings on salvation and faith, so if you are to examine yourselves you will need to read the New Testament books in context so that you make certain that you are getting a consistent picture of what it means to be of the faith. Here I will share select Scriptures, but ones which agree with one another and coming from several different Bible books.

 

Are You in the Faith?

 

Let’s start with the teachings of Jesus. Jesus taught that to come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him, in practice. For, he said that if we save (hold on to) our lives (of living in sin and for self) that we will lose them (for eternity). But if we lose our lives (die with him to sin and follow him in obedience), for his sake, that we will save them (for eternity) (see Luke 9:23-26).

 

Jesus also taught that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does (is doing) the will of God the Father who is in heaven. For, he said that on that day many will say to him, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then he will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (see Matthew 7:21-23).

 

Jesus also taught that if we love him that we will keep (obey) his commandments (New Covenant). And we will be loved by the Father, and Jesus will love and manifest himself to us, and God the Father and the Son will come to us and make their home with us. And he said that his sheep hear his voice (they listen to him), he knows them, and they follow (obey) him, and he gives them eternal life, and they will never perish (see John 14:15-24; John 10:27-30).

 

And then let’s move on to John and to what he taught. He said that it is by this that we know that we have come to know Christ, if we keep (obey) his commandments. For whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. And he also said that if we say we have fellowship with God while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness) that we lie and do not practice the truth (see 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 1:5-9).

 

And John continued by saying that no one who abides in Christ/God keeps on (habitually, in practice) sinning, and that no one who keeps on sinning, in practice, has either seen Jesus/God or known him. For whoever practices righteousness is righteous, but whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. And no one born of God makes a practice of sinning, and whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God (see 1 John 3:4-10).

 

And what did Paul say? He said that we (who believe in Jesus) were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (in him). He said that we know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved (addicted) to sin but so we would live as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For we are slaves of the one whom we obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness (see Romans 6:1-23; cf. Romans 8:1-17; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14).

 

And then we have all the Scriptures that let us know that if sin is what we practice and if righteousness and obedience to the Lord are not what we practice, that we will not have eternal life with God. We will not enter into God’s heavenly kingdom, but hell will be our eternal destiny. For we are all going to be judged by what we do, and if we live to please the flesh, we will die in our sins, but if we live to please God, then we have eternal life.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:3-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Matt 7:21-23; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Did you pass or fail?

 

Now, again, I know this is not an exhaustive list of Scriptures so you will have to study them in context for yourselves, but this gives us a pretty good snapshot of what it means to be in Christ and to have him in us and for us to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For we can’t just pray a prayer to receive Christ, or just acknowledge who Jesus is and what he did for us, or just accept his love, grace, and forgiveness and then just apply them to our lives out of the context of what the Scriptures teach.

 

We must be those who are daily by the Spirit putting the deeds of the flesh to death and who are walking (in practice, in conduct) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. For God’s grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for his return. We cannot claim Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives and heaven as our eternal destiny and yet continue in deliberate and habitual sin against God (see Romans 8:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; Galatians 5:16-21; 1 John 3:4-10).

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

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Look Out for the Evildoers

Philippians 3:2 ESV

 

“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh."

 

A “dog” is often a symbol of a false teacher, and figuratively speaking is a spiritual predator who feeds off others. So, a “dog” is anyone who uses manipulation, trickery, lies, fear tactics, and the twisting of Scripture in order to pressure or to persuade others to follow a particular belief system that is contrary to what Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught.

 

These spiritual predators will use all sorts of deceptive tactics in order to persuade people their way. They can appear harmless and sincere when it is all an act in order to deceive. They will make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, but not in truth. For they have to first of all gain the trust of the Christian community by convincing Christians they are one of them.

 

So, depending upon whom they are trying to fool with their trickery, they may make confessions of sin and confessions of faith in Jesus Christ and of changed lives. They may give testimonies of sordid lives now in their pasts and of changed hearts and minds away from those sinful lifestyles when they may still be holding on to their lives of living in sin and for self.

 

For they are the self-indulgent, the intoxicated to sin whose sins are piled high to heaven. They are those who wander aimlessly who have sinful appetites and longings which rage within them. They are liars, deceivers, and manipulators by practice, so their words can’t be trusted. And they are hypocrites who profess one thing outwardly while they do another.

 

They profess faith in Jesus Christ but they do not honor Christ as Lord. They do not submit to his Lordship. They treat the Lord’s reconciliation of sinners as though it is not important, as though it has no value. They treat the covenant relationship between the Lord and his people as though it has no significance. For they go on in their sin as though it is no big deal.

 

And they don’t really want to be reconciled to God, in truth. They want to keep holding on to their sinful cravings. And so they will fight against the truth of the gospel, and they will refuse God’s true gift of deliverance from slavery (addiction) to sin. And then they will lead others to follow them in doing the same. And so this is a warning to us to watch out for those who treat God’s true salvation with disdain. But we should pray for them.

 

Philippians 3:3-4 ESV

 

"For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh — though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.”

 

When we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-given faith we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness; no longer as obedient slaves to sin but now as obedient followers of Jesus Christ, who is now our life.

 

Our old lives of living in sin and for self are to be a thing of the past, in truth, and not in performance or profession only. For we died with Christ to sin, so how can we live in it any longer? Now our lives are to be given over to Christ to be lived for his glory and in holiness and righteousness in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant).

 

Now we walk (in conduct, in practice) no longer according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Daily we are dying with Christ to sin and to self and we are living for our Lord in doing his perfect will. Our desire is now to please our Lord with our lives and to no longer live to please our flesh. And we don’t put on a show of righteousness and then continue in deliberate sin.

 

We do not accept a gospel of men who say that we don’t have to repent of our sins and that we don’t have to obey the Lord Jesus, for we know better. We are not persuaded to conform to the ways of this sinful world and to reject the holiness and righteousness of God. And we are not persuaded that we can claim Jesus as Savior and Lord and heaven as our eternal destiny and yet then go on living in deliberate and habitual sin.

 

For we take God and his word seriously. We do not treat God’s covenant as no big deal, as though we don’t have to follow what it says. We don’t take God’s grace for granted, either, just assuming that he will forgive all continued and deliberate and habitual sin and as though it is optional if we obey him or not. But we are dying to sin and we are walking in obedience to our Lord in his power and strength.

 

And one day, when Jesus returns for his bride, we will be received into his eternal kingdom. But the dogs and all those who do evil, in practice, and who do not follow Jesus in obedience, they will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what others have promised them. They will be cast out into utter darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth because they refused our Lord’s great salvation, in truth.

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; 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; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10]

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

 

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

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