Without Excuse

Video Talk

Colossians 2:6-8 ESV

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

When we receive Christ Jesus the Lord, right there it says that he is Lord, and Lord is Owner/Master of our lives. “Lord” is not just part of his name or a title that we give him, but it is the position he holds in our lives. And since he is Lord, then we are to honor him as such, and we are to bow to him in obedience, and we are to forsake our lives of sin, and to now live holy and godly lives, in his power and strength, to the glory and praise of God.

We do not receive Jesus into our lives just so that he will forgive us of all our sins, so that we will not be punished for our sins, and so that we can go to heaven when we die. That is a half-truth gospel, and therefore it is a lie, not the truth. When we receive (accept, take, welcome) Jesus Christ into our lives, we are receiving and welcoming him into our lives to be Lord of our lives and for us to now forsake our sins and to follow him in obedience.

And this is an essential truth which we all must get and put into practice if we want to have the hope of eternal life with God and heaven as our eternal home. For we don’t “receive” Jesus and then go on living in sin, doing what we want to do, without regard for God and what he wants us to do. If we have truly received him into our lives, our desire should now be for him to do his will, and we should want to walk in him. We shouldn’t be trying to make up excuses to get out of having to obey the Lord. For, according to Romans 1:18-32, we are without excuse if we do not obey the Lord.

And we should have been taught that we are to walk in him, no longer according to the flesh, but now according to the Spirit; no longer in sin, but now in righteousness and holiness. We should have been taught that receiving Jesus means dying with him to sin and living to him and to his righteousness, not just once, but daily in our walks of faith putting sin to death, by the Spirit, and walking in obedience to our Lord, by the Spirit. And we are to continue in those walks of faith until Jesus comes to take us home.

So, we should guard our hearts and minds against these modern teachings of today which are being spread through many (not all) preachers and their messages, and which are being spread through much (not all) “gospel” and “praise and worship” music, and which are being spread through some (not all) social media memes, etc. And we are to see to it that no one, not even anyone famous or well admired, takes us captive by philosophy and empty deceit.. and not according to Christ. So test the spirits, all of them.

For there are many people serving in positions of pastor in “churches” who are charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing, and some of them are men who are greatly admired and followed and respected in the Christian community, and some of them are now deceased. But no matter who they are or were, still test their words against the Scriptures in their full context, for not all of them taught the full gospel message, and many of them were and are teaching an altered gospel message, which is a lie from hell.

[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] 

Test the spirits: [Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SWamt1Ts6c

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My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263