Don't Be Carried Away With Lies

2 Peter 3:10-16 ESV

 

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

 

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

 

“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

 

Life on this earth as we know it is temporary. Not one of us knows if he will live through tomorrow or even to the end of today. But one day this earth will be no more. It is not going to last forever, and neither will we. So, we should be taking stock in how we are living our lives on this earth, i.e. we need to be carefully thinking about our lives and how they are being lived, and then we need to make the necessary adjustments to make our lives count for Jesus Christ in the time we have left.

 

So, if we are true followers of Jesus Christ, what should that look like? What is a follower? A follower is someone who follows another. So, if we are following Jesus with our lives we will emulate his character. We will pattern our lives after his example. But we don’t do this in our own strength, but only in the strength of the Lord. And we will follow his leading, and we will do what he says we ought to do, and he will be Lord of our lives and we will serve him and not ourselves.

 

We should be living holy lives, pleasing to our Lord. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus in character. So we should no longer be living like the world, joining in with them in all the things that they do and watch and say. We should stand out as different, and it is perfectly okay to be different. You don’t want to be like everyone else, and you don’t want to blend in with your culture so that you are socially acceptable. You want to be like Jesus.

 

So, be diligent to be found by Christ without spot or blemish, and at peace. No longer walk in sin. No longer live your lives for the sinful pleasures of this flesh and to please yourselves only. Don’t make compromises with the world so that the world will love you. Stand out as different. Stand for Jesus Christ and for his gospel of salvation, and for moral purity, uprightness, honesty, faithfulness and dedication to the Lord and to his calling upon your lives. And surrender your lives fully to Jesus Christ to do his will.

 

And know here that the Apostle Paul is not the “cheap grace guru” that many people have made him out to be. Many people today twist his words, too, and they try to teach that Paul taught that you can just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now you are saved for eternity regardless of how you live. Paul was very clear throughout all his writings that if we walk in sin we will die in our sins. If sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life. He couldn’t have been more clear.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

2 Peter 3:17-18

 

“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

 

So, don’t buy into the “cheap grace gospel” which leads you to believe that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ is enough to save you from your sins and to secure heaven for you for eternity. We have to walk now according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Sin must no longer be what we practice, but righteousness and obedience to our Lord must be what we practice. Daily we must die with Christ to sin and walk with him in obedience to his commands. And then we need to keep growing and maturing in him, remaining steadfast in him unto the very end.

 

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

 

Words by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907

Music by George C. Stebbins, 1907

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after Thy will,

While I am waiting, yielded and still.

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Search me and try me, Master, today!

Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,

As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Wounded and weary, help me I pray!

Power, all power, surely is Thine!

Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Hold o'er my being absolute sway.

Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see

Christ only, always, living in me!

 

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