Protect Against All Evil

Isaiah 1:4-6 ESV

 

“Ah, sinful nation,

    a people laden with iniquity,

offspring of evildoers,

    children who deal corruptly!

They have forsaken the Lord,

    they have despised the Holy One of Israel,

    they are utterly estranged.

 

“Why will you still be struck down?

    Why will you continue to rebel?

The whole head is sick,

    and the whole heart faint.

From the sole of the foot even to the head,

    there is no soundness in it,

but bruises and sores

    and raw wounds;

they are not pressed out or bound up

    or softened with oil.”

 

Now before I get into today’s passage of Scripture I want to state that this is Old Testament, so these were God’s chosen people of old who were his by physical birth, by being descended from Abraham, but not all of them had faith. But we are not under that same exact situation today. Since Jesus died on that cross and was resurrected from the dead and ascended back to heaven, and he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell his followers, we are God’s people only by genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ.

 

So, what that means is that we have died with Christ to sin and we are now living to him and to his righteousness, by God’s grace, and we are no longer walking in sin, but we are walking (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord Jesus. Now this is not to say that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), or that we may never rebel against our Lord and need to be brought back to repentance (see Revelation 2-3). But the Scriptures do teach that if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, that we will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

[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]

 

So, if we are to apply any of this to our lives today, this could be speaking of those who did believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-given faith, but who since then have fallen back into sin and who need to be brought back to repentance. Or this could be speaking of those who make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, and so they participate in much of what is called “church,” but they never died with Christ to sin and so they were not raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, and so they give lip service only to God.

 

Either way, if they continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and if they do not come to true repentance (the forsaking of their sins), and so they do not follow Jesus in obedience, but they continue on a sinful course, living to please themselves, and doing what is evil and in rebellion against the Lord, then according to New Covenant teaching, they will die in their sins and they will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what faith in Jesus they profess with their lips (see noted Scriptures referenced above).

 

Warnings and Urgings

 

So, this serves here as a warning but also as an urging to get your hearts right with the Lord, if this describes where you are in life. For, we cannot give lip service only to our Lord and expect that he is going to receive us into his heaven. We can’t just make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ and expect that all our sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed us regardless of how we live on this earth. For that is not the gospel message that Jesus taught nor that his New Testament apostles taught.

 

But that doesn’t keep many people from believing the lies and from rejecting the truth of the gospel. For the lies permit them to continue in deliberate and habitual sin without consequence and while still giving them the hope of heaven as their eternal destiny. So the lies may sound good to those who don’t truly want to honor Christ with their lives but who want a guarantee of heaven despite how they live. But the lies, if you believe them, will send you straight to hell on the false promise of eternity with God in heaven.

 

And so, at least here in America, we have many people professing faith in Jesus Christ, believing that all their sins are forgiven, even future sins, and that they are on their way to heaven, but while they deny Jesus Christ by their lifestyles, and while they are still laden with iniquity (sin), and while they deal corruptly, and they lie to others, and they engage in all sorts of sinful acts, including sexual immorality and idolatry and adultery, often without conscience and without remorse.

 

So, whether or not their faith in Jesus Christ was ever genuine faith, it is not now, and so they have forsaken the Lord, and they have despised the Holy One of Israel, and they are utterly estranged from God. And many are estranged from their spouses, too, because they are living in adultery against them via their addiction to sexual immorality. But even if they have godly people speaking truth into their lives, and even if they may make a pretense that they accept that truth, many continue on in their sinful practices, because their sin is what they want more than anything else.

 

So don’t go there! [See noted Scriptures referenced above]

 

Courageous!  

 

An Original Work / December 24, 2013  

Based off Various Scriptures

 

The Word of God throughout taught.

Some people heard but did doubt.

Still others had faith in Christ.

By grace He purified them.

 

They turned from sin

And they obeyed Christ.

He opened up their blinded eyesight;

Turned them from darkness

To the true Light;

Forgave their sin by His might.

 

He strengthened them in their faith.

He said, “Remain my faithful.”

He called them to obedience.

By faith, they were so grateful.

 

By faith, they were to follow Jesus;

To daily sit and listen to Him;

To have such faith

That mountains could move;

To love those whom He gave them.

 

Be on your guard; courageous.

Stand firm in faith. Be thankful.

Take up the shield of your faith;

Protect against all evil.

 

Do not move from

The hope that you have.

Your faith in Jesus let it endure.

Hold to the truth;

Your conscience be clear.

Endure with perseverance.

 

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