His Benefits Have Conditions

Psalms 103:1-5 ESV

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,

    bless his holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits,

who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”

Yes, we should be so thankful to the Lord Jesus for all that he did for us in dying on that cross, and in taking our sins upon himself, and in putting our sins to death with him so that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, no longer living as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, and for the glory and praise of God (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21). 

Nonetheless, we must know that this salvation, and this forgiveness of sins, and this promise of eternal life with God are conditional on us walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living, and on us not walking in sin.

Psalms 103:11-14,17-18 ESV

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

    he remembers that we are dust.”

“But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

    and his righteousness to children's children,

to those who keep his covenant

    and remember to do his commandments.”

Now the fear of the Lord is not just Old Testament teaching. The fear of the Lord is also New Testament teaching. And to fear God is to revere, respect, honor, worship, and obey him. To fear God involves believing that what he says he will do, that he will do it, whether promises of blessings or promises of judgments, and then to act accordingly in obedience to him. It means to do what is right and acceptable to him and to make it our goal to please him. And it involves acceptable worship of God and cleansing ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion. 

[Matt 10:28; Luke 1:50; Acts 9:31; Acts 10:34-35; Rom 3:10-18; Rom 12:1-2; 2 Co 5:6-11; 2 Co 7:1; Php 2:12-13; Heb 5:7; Heb 12:28-29; Rev 11:18; Rev 14:7; Rev 15:4] 

The New Testament also has much to say on the subject of obedience to our Lord Jesus. We must follow the Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). If we love him, we will keep (obey) his commandments. And God will love us and they will make their home with us. And we will abide in God’s love. And we will have the hope of entering into the kingdom of heaven when we are doing the will of God the Father. But if we do not obey the Lord it will result in eternal condemnation and in the wrath of God. For if we claim to know him, but we are not doing what he says, then we are liars.

So, what we need to understand from all of this is that we are not saved from our sins and guaranteed heaven when we die based on giving lip service only to the Lord Jesus. We must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer living as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Sin must no longer have mastery over our lives, for if sin is what we obey it will end in death, not in life eternal. But if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, that will lead to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 8:51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:10; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 10:1-22; Php 2:12-13; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 5:9; Jas 1:21-25; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]

So, when this passage of Scripture in Psalms 103 lets us know that God’s promise of forgiveness of sins and of removing our sins far from us is conditional on us walking in the fear of the Lord, we need to take that seriously, and we need to not write it off as Old Covenant teaching and thus as if it does not presently apply to us, for it does.

Therefore, contrary to popular belief, we don’t just “get saved” once in our lives and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future) and now heaven is guaranteed us when we die. That is not what the New Testament Scriptures teach. That is the teaching of human beings who are teaching Scriptures out of their context and who are making them say what their tickling ears want to hear. We have to read all of the New Testament if we want to get an accurate picture of what it means to be saved from our sins and to have the hope of eternal life, for it has conditions for us to meet.

And one of those conditions is that we must obey the commands of the Lord under the New Covenant, in practice, not necessarily in absolute perfection. But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and against other humans who we are supposed to love and care about. And the other main condition is that we must not walk in sin. Sin must not be what we practice. 

So we must walk in obedience to our Lord and not in sin, and we must live holy lives, too. And then we must remain steadfast in those walks of faith until the very end.

[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] 

My Jesus, I Love Thee

Hymn lyrics by William R. Featherstone, 1864

Music by Adoniram J. Gordon, 1876

My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;

For thee all the follies of sin I resign.

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I love thee because thou hast first loved me,

And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;

I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say, when the death-dew lies cold on my brow,

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight;

I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;

I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHrF4_1r-qA 

Caution: This link may contain ads