“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
Instructions to The Church
These instructions are to the church, the body of Christ, to
those who have been born of God by God-given faith in Jesus Christ, who have
been crucified with Christ in death to sin and who have been raised with Christ
to walk in newness of life in him (Romans 6:1-23). These are God’s elect, “according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit,
for obedience to Jesus Christ..” (1 Peter 1:1-2).
So, if this describes us, then as obedient children of God,
via genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ, we are to no longer be conformed
to the passions of our former ignorance (from before we believed in Jesus). And
these passions include lust, inordinate (unrestrained, wild) desire, and passion
built on strong feelings (urges, impulses, compulsions). So they are of the
world, and they are the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of
life. So they are sinful passions to which we are to no longer be conformed.
For our Lord has called us to be holy as he is holy, and to
be holy in all our conduct. Well, to be holy as God is holy is to be morally
pure, upright, godly, honest, trustworthy, faithful, and righteous, and to be
self-controlled under the control of the Holy Spirit, i.e. not out of control
(not unrestrained). And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from
the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. So it
is to take on the moral and righteous character of Jesus Christ, by the Spirit
of God.
Observations
Now I am going to insert an observation here which I believe
to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, but at this point I do not have enough
information to state too many facts, so I am going to mainly express what I am
seeing based on what little information I have, and then, perhaps, you might
look out for some of these things and be watchful of them, for I do believe
they are concerning. For they involve human emotion and impressions based a lot
on emotion, and emotion is related to passion, and things based on emotion can
lead us in the wrong direction and we can become misguided.
It began with what is being called “The Asbury Revival.” Now
I am not there in person so I can’t say with any great amount of knowledge what
actually took place there or what may yet be lingering. But from what I
observed via videos and testimonies and listening to others’ observations, I
saw a great deal of emotionalism and singing the same words over and over again
and the swaying of bodies and hands, and I am not against physical expressions of
praise and worship done respectfully and worshipfully.
So, I am making no judgments because I was not there, so I
cannot say whether or not true revival took place there. I hope it did, and I
hope it is true revival of God which appears to be spreading, for I pray for revival
regularly and for the genuine transformation of human hearts and minds away
from their lifestyles of living in sin to now having their lives surrendered to
Jesus Christ in walks of obedience and in submission and in living holy lives,
pleasing to God. This is my hope and prayer.
But then I think it was a week later when the movie, “Jesus
Revolution,” opened in the theatres. And so I watched many clips of that movie,
and interviews with the actors and a producer, I think, too, and I have read
many reviews and articles about the lead character in the movie (the real
person being played by an actor in the movie). And from what I have observed,
so far, I see another movement which seemed to have been based much in
emotionalism (passion) and not much in actual biblical doctrine.
Okay, so I am 73 years old, so I was a teenager when the
Jesus movement took place, which was taking place in my town, too, and I knew
people involved in it, so I do have some firsthand knowledge of the situation.
And my impression back then was that it was very emotionally driven and that
there was not much in the way of solid biblical teaching happening, and that
there was a lot of sinful behaviors being permitted in the name of love and
freedom and in the name of Jesus and God’s grace, as it is today, too.
Now, again, these are my observations, so I am not declaring
anything here that says without a doubt that my observations are factual. But
the Holy Spirit does give us a sensitivity about such things, and we are taught
that we are to be discerning, and that we are to test the spirits to see if
they are of God, so that is what I am doing, and right now I am still in the
process of making observations and collecting information and being concerned
that this might all have all been orchestrated.
Need for Discernment
Okay, so why am I bringing this up? Because this Scripture
is teaching us to not be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance, and
it is teaching us to be holy as God is holy, and to be holy in all our conduct,
and that is not the message I am getting from either of these situations, but
again, I am making observations from afar. So I could be wrong, but I don’t
think I am wrong about the movie.
So, we need to be discerning about such things as this for
Satan is at work, and he is going after young people right now, it appears, and
he is trying to convince everyone, really, that we can have a religion based on
our feelings and emotions and a religion where we are all called “God’s
children,” whether or not we truly believe in Jesus, and where sinful behaviors
are not condemned, and where dying with Christ to sin and walking in obedience
to his commands are not being taught or stressed, and where “the church” is
just a large gathering of people from the world, and where no one judges anyone
else so that everyone is accepted no matter what.
But as God’s chosen people, we are to live lives which are
separate from the world, and we are to be holy in all our conduct, and we are
not to live in our former ignorance and in the passions and emotions of the
flesh. For Jesus Christ ransomed us from the futile ways inherited from our
ancestors (including from at least some of the ways of the Jesus movement of
the 1960’s and ‘70’s). And he did this by dying on a cross, taking upon himself
the sins of the world, and by putting our sins to death with him so that we can
now die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.
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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