Romans 16:17-20 ESV
“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
The Judaizers
The early Christians were dealing with two different
factions of false teaching. The first one had to do with Judaizers who were
trying to convince the Christians that they needed to be more like Jews, and
that they had to be circumcised (I assume males only), and that they had to
obey and practice some of the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, and dietary
laws and restrictions. So, Paul spent a great deal of effort in refuting that
notion.
And we still have an element of Judaizers among us who are
trying to convince Christians to be more like Jews. So they raise the Jews up
above Christians as though they are superior to us in some way, and as though
they are still God’s chosen people; as though they who do not believe in Jesus
Christ as their Messiah are still God’s covenant people and as though we are to
almost worship them, in reality, and that if anyone is accused of saying anything
against them, even in teaching the truth of the Scriptures, that that person
should be put to death. Just not biblical! Please read the noted Scriptures
beginning with Galatians 3:16. Paul dispels that!!
For it is us who believe in Jesus Christ who are God’s
covenant people, whether Jew or non-Jew by physical birth. And Jesus Christ is
the promised seed of Abraham. And not all who are descended from Israel belong
to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.
It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the
children of the promise. And if we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham’s
seed, and heirs according to the promise. And now Hagar corresponds to the
present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the
Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
[Gal 3:16, 26-29; Rom 9:4-8; Gal 4:22-31; Eph 2:14-18; 1 Jn
2:22]
False Christians and False Teachers
The second one had to do with false Christians and false
teachers who had slipped in among the Christians. They were ungodly people who
pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord,
Jesus Christ (see Jude 1:4). And they were wolves in sheep’s clothing out to
deceive the Christians by introducing to them destructive heresies, and many
followed their sensuality. They had eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin,
and they enticed unsteady souls (2 Peter 2:1-22).
And we definitely have such people among us today in very
large numbers. And they are deceiving the minds and hearts of many who profess
faith in Jesus Christ. For they are those who are teaching people that they can
believe (usually not biblically defined) in Jesus, have all their sins forgiven
(past, present, and future), and that heaven is guaranteed them when they die,
regardless of what kind of lives they live on this earth.
They do not teach dying with Christ to sin and living to God
and to his righteousness. They do not teach that we must repent of (turn from)
our sins and follow Jesus in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). For they
call that “works salvation,” but it is not. It is us, God’s people, walking in
the salvation already provided for us on that cross, and walking by the faith which
has been gifted to us by God, in the power of God.
So, how do we know who is telling us the truth and who is
lying to us? How can we be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is
evil? We have to not rely on other humans to tell us the truth. Now, we can
learn from other humans, but we are to be those who are testing what we hear
and read against the Scriptures (in context) to make certain that what we are
being taught is what the Scriptures teach. And so we need to be students of the
Scriptures who are being led by the Holy Spirit of God.
And we must daily be dying with Christ to sin and following
our Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant), and walking in holiness
and righteousness, and not in sin. For if sin is what we practice, and if
righteousness and holiness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice,
then we don’t know God, he doesn’t know us, and we do not have eternal life in
him, regardless of what faith we professed with our lips.
My
Sheep
An
Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based
off John 10:1-18 NIV
My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.
So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…
They know my voice, so they follow me.
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