Trust in God, not Man

Psalms 146:3-4 ESV

 

“Put not your trust in princes,

    in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;

    on that very day his plans perish.”

 

This is a serious issue in the church (or what is falsely called church) in America today. So many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are putting their trust in human beings above trust in God and in his word. They are following the teachings of man over the teachings of the Scriptures, in particular the teachings of Jesus and of his New Testament apostles. And many people are being led astray to false doctrines and to a false gospel.

 

They are also putting their hope and trust in man-made religion and in church denominations and in institutions of man falsely called “church” over and above or in place of genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ. These man-made structures have become the “god” of many people rather than the God of the Bible. They raise these man-made structures up to God-like status and they worship them over true worship of the one and only true God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit.

 

Now, this does not apply to everyone who professes the name of Jesus, nor does it apply to every congregation of the saints of God here in America, but sadly it does represent the vast majority of them. For it is indistinguishable today between the church and the world on so many fronts. The church, overall, has adopted the ways of the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings so that they have become so much like the world and so they have lost their saltiness (their testimony, their witness for Christ).

 

And the real danger here is that these institutions of men have replaced the true church, the body of Christ, with a false church which they call “church,” but which is not the church, and which is not under the headship of Jesus Christ. They have replaced the authority of the Scriptures with the teachings of human beings, so many of which have altered the Scriptures and the gospel to make them more acceptable to the flesh of man. And so many people have, thus, believed in a false salvation and a false hope of heaven.

 

For what they are teaching is that we can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ but that it does not have to be followed with (or include) denial of self and death to sin and obedience to and submission to Jesus Christ, our Lord. So, there is no honor of God in the gospel that they are teaching, for their adherents are convinced that they don’t have to do anything for God, that they don’t have to obey him or submit to him or forsake their lives of sin.

 

Psalms 146:5-7 ESV

 

“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

    whose hope is in the Lord his God,

who made heaven and earth,

    the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever;

   who executes justice for the oppressed,

    who gives food to the hungry.”

 

If God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is our help and our hope for salvation and for eternal life with God, then that trust in him and that hope in him is going to align with the teachings of Jesus and of his New Testament apostles. And so it may not agree with the teachings of human beings if they are not teaching the truth. So this is why we have to get our truth from the Scriptures. This is not saying that we should not listen to other humans, but we should definitely test what they are saying against the Scriptures.

 

As well, our faith in Jesus Christ needs to align with the teachings on faith and on salvation taught throughout the New Testament by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles for it to be true faith, the kind that saves. For true faith is of God, and Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith, and our faith is not of our own doing, but it is the gift of God. And faith means to be persuaded by God as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of our sins and to obey his commands.

 

So, if we do not obey the Lord, and if we do not surrender our lives to him, if we do not submit to his Lordship, and if we do not forsake our lives of sin, and if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness is not what we practice, and if we do not love our fellow human beings, the Scriptures teach us that we will not inherit eternal life with God. We will not be saved from our sins and heaven will not be our eternal destiny. Jesus will deny that he knew us and he will tell us to depart from him. And that is the reality of it all!

 

[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 1:22-25; 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; Heb 10:26-27; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-10; 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]

 

So, don’t be taken in by liars and thieves who have come only to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Test the spirits to see if they are of God but test them against the Scriptures in their full context and not out of context.

 

Psalms 146:7-10 ESV

 

“The Lord sets the prisoners free;

   the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

    the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the sojourners;

    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,

    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

 

“The Lord will reign forever,

    your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the Lord!”

 

Amen! Absolutely! Our salvation from sin is about being delivered from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin, not just about being forgiven our sins, especially if that means we continue on a sinful life course. Before we believe in Jesus we are captives (prisoners) to sin. And when this song (below) says that Jesus cares when we yield to temptation to sin, this is not saying that he approves or that he looks the other way. He is grieved when we submit to sin and not to him and to his righteousness.

 

For Jesus died on that cross to deliver us from slavery to sin so that we would now be slaves of him and of his righteousness. He gave his life up for us on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who died and who was raised from the dead. For he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so that we would now honor God with our bodies (with our lives).

 

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Eph 4:17-24; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21 plus all the Scriptures noted above).

 

Does Jesus Care?

1 Peter 5:7

 

Lyrics by Frank E. Graeff, 1901

Music by Joseph L. Hall, 1901

 

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained

Too deeply for mirth or song,

As the burdens press, and the cares distress,

And the way grows weary and long?

 

Does Jesus care when my way is dark

With a nameless dread and fear?

As the daylight fades into deep night shades,

Does He care enough to be near?

 

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed

To resist some temptation strong;

When for my deep grief there is no relief,

Though my tears flow all the night long?

 

Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”

To the dearest on earth to me,

And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—

Is it aught to Him? Does He see?

 

Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,

His heart is touched with my grief;

When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,

I know my Savior cares.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbypf10Nq4Q

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