Isaiah 63:7-9 ESV
“I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,
the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us,
and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For he said, ‘Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely.’
And he became their Savior.
In all their affliction he was afflicted,
and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”
Now, this is regarding the children of Israel in the Old
Testament, and they were God’s people by physical birth, by being born into
this world as physical descendants of Abraham. But that doesn’t mean they all
had faith, and those who did not have faith did not enter into God’s eternal
rest. So, when we read the Old Testament Scriptures, if we want to apply them
in any way to our lives today, then we must interpret them in light of the New
Testament and the Messianic age and the New Covenant God has with his people.
For, when Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who is
the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – was crucified
on that cross, he became our Sacrifice for sins. And the Old Covenant, with all
its liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification and dietary laws and
restrictions, was done away with. But God’s moral laws remained the same, only
Jesus summarized them into two – to love God with our whole being and to love
our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40).
Now we become God’s people by God-given faith in Jesus
Christ which involves us being crucified with Christ in death to sin, and us
being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer in sin,
but now as those who have been set free from slavery to sin, and now living as
slaves to God and to his righteousness. So we are no longer to let sin reign in
our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it
leads to death, but if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to life
eternal (see Romans 6:1-23; cf. Ephesians 4:17-24).
So now we must walk (in conduct, in practice) not according
to the flesh but according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God. For to
live according to the flesh is to set our minds on the flesh, and to set the
mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and
peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not
submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot
please God. So, if we live according to the flesh, we will die, but if by the
Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, then we will live (see
Romans 8:1-14).
Therefore, our salvation from sin is not a one-time thing
which takes place in our lives, done deal, regardless of how we live. Our
salvation is progressive and continuous, and it won’t be completed until Jesus
returns to take his bride to be with him for eternity. But for us to be that
bride, we must walk no longer according to the flesh, but now according to the
Spirit, and we must walk in obedience to our Lord, and not in sin, but in
righteousness and holiness, by God’s grace, in his power, strength, and wisdom.
And we must continue in that faith steadfast until the very end.
So, even if we have professed faith in Jesus Christ, and
even if we have attended gatherings of the church, or of what is falsely being
called “church,” and even if we have been taught the Scriptures, and even if we
have done religious things and even good things, none of that guarantees us
heaven when we die or eternal life with God or salvation from sin. For
human-based faith is not what saves us. God-given faith is what saves us, and
since it comes from God it is going to obey the Lord and what his New Covenant
teachings teach us to do. For faith = obedience.
Isaiah 63:10 ESV
“But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
and himself fought against them.”
Nonetheless, many people, at least here in America, profess
faith in Jesus Christ, but by their words and their actions they deny him. For
they do not follow him in obedience, and they are not dying daily to sin and
denying self. But they are going their own way, doing their own thing, living
just like the world, and mostly ignoring the Lord or giving him only a cursory
nod here and there. And the New Testament teaches what this Scripture passage
teaches us, too. The Lord may be giving you time now to repent, but that is not
going to last forever. So, please take that to heart.
So, please pay attention to what Jesus and his New Testament
apostles taught us, for they did not teach that we could believe in Jesus and
yet still walk in deliberate and habitual sin and not walk in obedience to our
Lord in righteousness and holiness. They taught that if sin is our habit
(practice) and if obedience to our Lord and walks of righteousness and holiness
are not what we practice, that we do not have salvation from sin, and we do not
have eternal life with God, but we will face the wrath of God.
[Matt
7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23;
Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23;
Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev
21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
An Original Work / February 24, 2012
Jesus,
my Savior, full of compassion,
Glorious
in power, mighty in strength;
Gracious
Redeemer, mighty deliv’rer,
My
heart adores Him. Praise to His name!
Perfect
salvation my Lord provided
When
He died for my sins on a tree;
Crucified
my sins; conquered in vict’ry,
When
He arose, so I could be free!
I
am so thankful for His forgiveness;
Grateful
that He chose to pardon me,
Giving
me new life full in His Spirit,
So
I can serve Him; His servant be!
Walking
in daily fellowship with Him,
Obeying
Him whate’er He commands;
Forsaking
my sins, living in freedom,
I
will endure with Him to the end!
He
gives me peace and calm reassurance
In
times of sorrow, or in distress.
His
grace is sure, and oh, how sufficient
To
meet me in my need for sweet rest.
Oh,
how I love You, Jesus, my Savior.
My
heart longs for You where’er I am.
Your
word is precious; speaks to my spirit;
Brings
comfort, healing. Praise the “I AM!”
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