Psalms 119:137-138 ESV
“Righteous are you, O Lord,
and right are your rules.
You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness
and in all faithfulness.”
Do we still have rules to obey under the New Covenant? Yes! First
of all, by God-given faith in Jesus Christ we must die with Christ to sin that
we might live to him and to his righteousness. We must no longer walk (in
conduct, in practice) according to the flesh but now according to the Spirit. And
our sinful practices are to be put away from us so that we now walk in
obedience to our Lord’s commands (New Covenant). All this is part of our faith
in Jesus.
All throughout the
New Testament we are given instructions (rules) in godly living which we are to
obey as followers of Jesus Christ. We are told multiple times what we are to
put away from our lives followed by the things we are to put on in our lives,
instead (ex: Ephesians 4:17-32; Colossians 3:5-17). Now we don’t do any of this
in our flesh but only in the power of God’s Spirit living within us, but we are
still to do it. We must obey our Lord.
Psalms 119:139-140 ESV
“My zeal consumes me,
because my foes forget your words.
Your promise is well tried,
and your servant loves it.”
When we are passionate about our Lord and his Word and our walks
of faith in him, it should disturb us greatly to see how today’s modern “church”
is mostly not following the Lord’s commands (New Covenant) but they are
following after the flesh, instead. They are mostly followers of man and not
followers of God, and followers of humanistic philosophy and not followers of
the whole counsel of God, and yet they call themselves “the church.”
So much of what is being taught in today’s modern “churches”
is a skillful blend of truth and lies in order to deceive the masses and in
order to draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings.
Since most of these “churches” are now marketing “the church” to the world, utilizing
humanistic philosophy and man-created marketing schemes and tricks, they are
also altering the gospel to make it more appealing to human flesh.
So, this should grieve us that so many claiming to be
ministers of the gospel today are not teaching the truth of the gospel but an
altered (adulterated) gospel message which makes no requirements for repentance
(turning away from sin) nor for obedience to our Lord nor for submission to him
as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives. And the reason this should grieve us so is
that massive numbers of people are making false confessions of faith in Jesus,
believing they have eternal life, when they are still dead in their sins.
And so we should be dedicated to getting the truth of the
gospel of our salvation out to the people of the world, and we should also be
dedicated to refuting the lies of Satan which so many people are believing to
their deaths. For many people are saying, “Lord, Lord,” when he is not Lord of
their lives. And Jesus is saying that they will not enter into his heavenly
kingdom because they are not obeying his commands (Matthew 7:21-23).
Psalms 119:141-144 ESV
“I am small and despised,
yet I do not forget your precepts.
Your righteousness is righteous forever,
and your law is true.
Trouble and anguish have found me out,
but your commandments are my delight.
Your testimonies are righteous forever;
give me understanding that I may live.”
Since we live in a time on this earth when so many lies are
being accepted as truth and when the truth is so prevalently now being rejected
as lies, if we are following Jesus with zeal and passion, and if we are doing
what he says, and if we are speaking the truth of the gospel, and if we are
refuting the lies of the enemy, we are going to have most people opposed to us,
not on our side. And we will be despised and persecuted for our Lord’s sake.
But we are not to let this discourage us. In fact, it should
make us more passionate about getting out the truth to the people and about
exposing the lies of the enemy for what they are, for far too many people are
embracing the lies and they are rejecting the truth, and even in the name of
Christianity and of the church. Even pastors of “churches” will oppose you if
you are holding on to the truths of the gospel and if you do not compromise
with the worldly “church” and join in with their marketing goals.
Yet, we must hold on to the truth even if all desert us and
forsake us and think evil of us because we are teaching repentance and
obedience and submission to Christ as Lord as necessary components of believing
faith in Jesus Christ. For people need to hear the truth. They need to know that
Jesus died on that cross and he rose from the dead to free us from our slavery
(addiction) to sin and to empower us to live righteously in obedience to our
Lord and so sin is to have no more mastery over us (Rom 6:1-23).
And they need to be told that if they choose to reject Jesus
as Master of their lives, and if they refuse to surrender their lives to him in
obedience to his commands, but they continue to live according to the flesh in
deliberate and habitual sin in open rebellion against God and not in walks of
holiness and righteousness that they will die in their sins. Heaven will not be
their eternal destiny. Hell will be. For it is not those who say, “Lord, Lord,”
who have eternal life with God, but it is those obeying the Lord (Matt
7:21-23).
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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