2 Corinthians 3:16-18 ESV
“But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
Prior to us surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ and
repenting of our sins and turning to the Lord to walk in obedience to his
commands, we were all in a state of spiritual blindness, symbolized here by a
veil. We were not able to enter into the presence of Almighty God for our sins
separated us from God. For we are all born into this world with sin natures in
the image of Adam, and thus we have all sinned, and we have all come up short of
attaining God’s divine approval and acceptance, and his righteousness.
[Rom 3:9-26; Rom 5:12-19; 1 Co 15:21-22,42-49]
But when we turn to the Lord in repentance and in obedient
faith in Jesus Christ, and we die with Christ 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, then that veil is removed. We are no longer the
spiritually blind for our eyes have now been opened to our sin and to our Lord’s
righteousness and holiness and of our need to and of God’s requirement that we
die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, by his grace.
[Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Acts 26:18; Jn 6:44; 1 Pet 2:24; 2
Co 5:15]
Now faith in Jesus Christ is not just a get-out-of-jail-free-card.
By faith in Christ we die with him to our old lives of living in sin and for self
so that we can now live for him in obedience to his commands in holy living. 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 to sin but
to righteousness. So, we are to not let sin therefore reign in our mortal bodies,
to make us obey its passions. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23).
And a walk of faith in Jesus Christ involves us daily being
transformed into the likeness of character of Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Daily by the Spirit we are to be putting to death the works of the flesh (the
deeds of the body) and we are to be walking in obedience to our Lord and no
longer after the sinful pattern of this world of ours. For our minds are to no
longer be set on the things of this world and on the flesh, but now our minds
are to be set on Christ and on living holy lives, pleasing to our Lord (Romans
8:1-14).
2 Corinthians 4:1-2 ESV
“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.”
As followers of Jesus Christ, and as ministers of the true
gospel of our salvation, which we are all to be who believe in Jesus Christ, we
are to renounce all disgraceful and underhanded ways, and we are not to be
those who practice cunning and craftiness in deceitful scheming. But we are to
be those who are living godly, holy, and upright lives in all integrity of
heart and mind, for the glory and praise of God. And we are to be those who
speak the truth in love, one to the other, and who do not lie in practice.
Also, we are not to be those who tamper with God’s word, but
we are to be those who rightly handle the word of truth, to the best of our
understanding, as guided and directed by the Holy Spirit. And to do this we
need to be students of the Scriptures who study the Scriptures in their context
prayerfully, praying for the Spirit to reveal to us all truth. But we also have
to be open and willing for the Lord to show us things we have gotten wrong or
beliefs we have adopted into our lives via false or misguided teaching.
And then we must be willing to put off those false concepts
and beliefs and practices and to replace them with the truth of the Scriptures
in practice in our daily lives. Even though I had good sound biblical teaching
growing up, not everything I was taught was the truth. Now I don’t believe my
pastors back then willfully lied to me, but I believe they were misguided in
some areas because of what they were taught early on, and at that point they
just had not unlearned them but they were carrying them on in their teaching.
In our world today it is a different story. So many pastors
and church planters are being trained in deceptive practices and in cunning and
craftiness in deceitful scheming. They are being trained in manipulative
tactics and in marketing strategies and in trickery in order to attract the
world to their gatherings and in order to get the people to go the direction
they want them to go. For so many of them have bought into business marketing
strategies on how to plant and to grow their “churches,” which are really
businesses of men being marketed to the world.
And, thus, many of them are not following the Scriptures in
truth, and they are not following the example of Jesus Christ, and so they are
also not being led by the Holy Spirit, because marketing books and books and
seminars taught by marketing strategists and by people who are compromising
with the world are what many of them are following, instead. And so they are
leading their people to follow suit and to follow after a diluted gospel and to
accept man-created “churches” in place of the true body of Christ.
But as followers of Jesus Christ, and as ministers of the
true gospel of our salvation, we are to have no part in man-made “churches” and
in man-created gospels which are tickling itching ears and which are patterned
after the ways of this sinful world in order to draw in large crowds of people
from the world. But we are to remain true to the teachings of the Scriptures
(in context) in our beliefs and in our practices. And we are to gather together
with the body of Christ for our mutual encouragement in our walks of faith.
[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn
14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:42-47; Acts 26:18; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Rom.
10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 1:22; Eph 2:19-22; Eph 4:1-16; Eph
5:17-30; Col 1:18; Col 2:19; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Pet. 2:4-9,21]
An Original Work / September 26, 2011
When in the stillness of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord, I humbly pray.
Be my desire, set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in fellowship with You,
Listening to You; sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently, guiding me in Your
truth.
While we are waiting for Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts be King today.
Help us to live for you ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from your word within
us,
Help us obey You, Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment, Lord, in Your
presence,
Our offerings to You bring.
Help us to love You, Lord, our master;
Be an example of Your love,
Helping the hurting, lift up the
fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You, follow You
always,
Bearing their cross and turning from
sin;
Walking in daily fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.
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