The Righteous and The Evildoers

1 Peter 3:10-12 ESV

 

“Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For

 

‘Whoever desires to love life

    and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

    and his lips from speaking deceit;

let him turn away from evil and do good;

    let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

    and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’”

 

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are not to be people who get even with others. We are not to trade “tit for tat,” meaning you did something to me so I am going to do to you something just like you did to me. That is retaliation in kind and repaying evil for evil. But we are to be people who forgive others their offenses against us. We are to be those who love our enemies, who pray for them, and who do good to those who do evil to us.

 

But forgiveness is not giving the other person permission to keep on sinning. Remember Jesus’ words to the woman caught in adultery? He told her, “go and sin no more.” And when Jesus forgives us of our sins, it is not permission to keep on sinning. He doesn’t demand sinless perfection or we are out, but he does say that we must die to sin daily and that we must walk in obedience to him, and that not everyone who calls him Lord is going to enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one obeying the Lord.

 

Now when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, not like our old lives of living in sin and for self, but in dying to sin and to self and living to God and to his righteousness. For Jesus died to free us from our slavery to sin so we would now be slaves (servants) of God and of his righteousness. And now we are to walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

 

For, we cannot just make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ and thus be guaranteed full forgiveness of all sins and heaven as our eternal destiny. If we desire to love life and to see good days, we must refrain from evil and do good. We must walk in holiness and in righteousness in obedience to our Lord and not in sin. For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness, holiness, and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with God, and heaven is not our destiny.

 

And the righteous are not everyone who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and the wicked (unrighteous, evildoers) and not just those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. The righteous are those for whom righteousness is their practice. And the unrighteous are those who make sin their practice, and so they practice doing evil. And this is regardless of whether or not they profess faith in Jesus Christ.

 

So, when this says that the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and that his ears are open (or attentive) to their prayers, this is speaking of those who are living righteously, who are walking in obedience to their Lord and who are not walking in sin. Sin is not their practice. And when this says that the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, this is speaking of all those who make sin their practice, which includes many who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who by their actions deny him.

 

So, if you have professed faith in Jesus Christ, and you are convinced that all your sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and that heaven is your eternal destiny, then please know that the Scriptures teach that those who continue living in sin, making sin their practice, they will not inherit eternal life with God. And if you claim to be in fellowship with God, but you are still making sin your practice, then Scripture teaches you lie. And if you claim to know God but you are not obeying him, in practice, Scripture says you lie.

 

Therefore, please know what the Scriptures teach (in context). Read them prayerfully and carefully and in context, seeking God’s face for truth. For a lot of people are believing lies, and they are believing things the Scriptures do not teach, if taught in context. And it is because they are being taught many Scriptures out of context, which are then twisted to say what they don’t really say. And it is because many of them want to believe the lies because they want to continue living in sin guilt free. Don’t be one of them.

 

[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]

 

Follow Him  

 

An Original Work / February 21, 2013

Based off Luke 9:22-25

 

Jesus, Son of God,

Died for us on a cross.

 

Anyone who would come to Him

Must deny himself and follow.

He must take up his cross daily;

Die to sin and self each day.

 

Father, God above,

Loved us so: gave His Son.

 

If you want to save your old life;

Keep on sinning, follow your ways,

You will lose your life forever;

Hope of heaven gone away.

 

Spirit of our God

Gives us life in God’s Son.

 

Nonetheless, if you die to self;

Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,

You will live with God in heaven,

And forever praise His name!

 

https://vimeo.com/117316842