Philippians 2:14-16 ESV
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
You know, life can be really hard at times, and perhaps for
some people it is hard all the time, while others may have it a little more
easy, as a general rule, at least from all outward appearances. But no matter
what we are going through, whether in good times or in bad, if we are followers
of Jesus Christ, then we should take refuge in him, and we should not be those
who grumble and fight and complain. Nothing good ever comes out of that anyway.
But we are to be people of peace who trust God with our lives.
Now, when we are in Christ by genuine God-given faith, and
we have thus been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we have been
raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, and so we are walking in
holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, and not in sin (Romans
6:1-23), our Lord cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). But that does not make
us sinless (1 John 2:1-2). For we still have the propensity to sin. And this is
why we have so many instructions about putting off sin and putting on
righteousness, holiness, and godliness, all throughout the New Testament.
So, if we want to be blameless (not guilty of sinning) and
innocent (of deliberate sin), then we need to lay aside every weight, and sin
which clings so closely, so that we can run with endurance the race God set
before us to run, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith
(Hebrews 12:1-2). And we are to put off our old self, which belongs to our
former manner of life, and we are to put on the new self, created after the
likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:17-24).
And while it is true that no human being is absolutely
perfect (sinless), that is never to be used as an excuse for continued and
deliberate and habitual sin. For our Lord does “draw a line in the sand,” and
he makes a definite distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous. And
it is not just that one believes in Jesus and the other does not, but it is
that one is living righteously, in obedience to the Lord, and not in sin, and
the other is not living righteously, is not walking in obedience to the Lord,
and is still walking in sin, making sin his or her practice.
So, we need to people of God who are living righteously, who
are walking in obedience to our Lord, and who are not living in sin, making sin
our practice. Then we can shine as lights (beacons) of truth and righteousness
for Jesus Christ in this present crooked and twisted generation, many of whom
are making professions of faith in Jesus Christ but who are convinced they do not
have to submit to Christ as Lord, and they do not have to repent of (forsake)
their sins, and they do not have to obey our Lord.
And the way that we do this is first of all by walking the
walk and not just talking it. We must be people of integrity who are truth tellers,
who are trustworthy, who are living morally pure lives, and who are walking in
obedience to our Lord and not in sin. Our lives must be surrendered to Jesus
Christ, and we must be following him in his ways, and no longer should we be
conformed to the ways of this sinful world. For if our lights are just barely
flickering, how can we shine our lights brightly to others?
Then, secondly, we need to be children of God who are
proclaiming the excellencies of God who called us out of darkness into his
wonderful light. And we need to be sharing the truth of the gospel (the whole
counsel of God) and not this diluted and altered gospel which is permeating the
church in America today, and which is giving its adherents carte blanche to
continue in deliberate and habitual sin while promising them heaven when they
die. We need to be teaching what Jesus taught, that we must deny self, die
daily to sin and to self, and follow Jesus in obedience (Luke 9:23-26).
I
Take Refuge
An Original Work / September 1, 2018
Based
off Psalm 71
O, Lord, I take refuge in You,
For You are my God.
Turn Your ear now to me.
Be my Rock and Fortress
To which I do go.
Deliver me, God. You’re my hope.
My lips now give praise to You, God.
I always have hope,
Since You saved me from sin.
My enemies speak evil
‘gainst me, O God.
Oh, help me, O Lord, rescue me.
The path of my life has been hard.
For, I have had troubles
Too many to bear.
But, You will increase honor,
Restore again.
Your faithfulness, Lord, comforts me.
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