Stop Lying! Speak Truth!

Ephesians 4:25

“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”

The Lord Jesus is leading me this morning to take a slightly different approach to this passage of Scripture than usual, but the result will be the same. For there is a very specific falsehood he wants me to address this morning, and that is the lie of the enemy being scattered far and wide concerning his gospel of salvation, and that is widely being embraced by many of those who profess the name of Jesus Christ. And this is the falsehood he is wanting his people to put away, to discard, to get rid of. 

For there is a half-truth gospel which is permeating the American church of today, though perhaps not in every gathering of the church. And what it is teaching is in direct opposition to the gospel of the Scriptures which Jesus Christ and his NT apostles taught. For it cuts short the grace of God and it cuts short the gift of salvation, and it cuts short the gospel (Word) of Christ. For it also cuts short moral purity and divine love which prefers what God prefers, which is what is holy, upright, honest, morally pure, and faithful.

But in many cases, it isn’t just cutting short the truth of the gospel and the message of our salvation, and moral purity, holiness, godliness, honesty, and faithfulness, but it is literally cutting these things out of the gospel. And those who are spreading this godless and cheapened form of the gospel are speaking over the truth, i.e. they are drowning out the truth with their lies, and the truth is getting snuffed out while the lies are being widely accepted and embraced and adhered to by many professers of faith in Christ Jesus.

So, what are we to do? We are to reject the lies, and we are to put them away, and then all of us are to speak the truth of the gospel to one another. 

So, what is the BIG LIE? It is that we can profess faith in Jesus Christ once in our lives and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is guaranteed us when we die, and nothing can take that away from us, regardless of how we live, and despite the fact that so many are being encouraged that they can continue in deliberate and habitual sin and that it will not be charged against them. And many are even being told that they don’t have to repent of their sins and they don’t have to obey the Lord.

And what is the true message of the gospel of Christ? Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, trying to save our own lives, we will lose them for eternity. But, if for the sake of Jesus, we lose our lives, i.e. we die with Christ to sin and we live to him and to his righteousness, in his power, then we have eternal life with him (see Luke 9:23-26; cf. Romans 6:1-23).

And what is the true message of God’s grace? It is that his grace instructs (trains) us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works, which are the works God prepared for us to walk in (see Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:10). For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness (1 Peter 2:24; cf. Romans 6:1-23).

For what is the true message of our salvation? It is that by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Therefore we are not to let sin reign in our bodies any longer to make us obey its passions. We are not to continue in sin now that we are under grace. For if sin is what we obey, it will end in death, but if obedience to God is what we obey, it will end in eternal life with God (Romans 6:1-23).

So, does God’s grace to us give us permission or the freedom to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin? God forbid! No, it teaches us to forsake our lives of sin and to now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). It tells us to cast off the fruitless deeds of darkness and now to walk in holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, and no longer in sin. For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips have professed.

[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 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Nonetheless, many professing Christians today are deserting the true faith, the truth of the gospel of Christ, and they are abandoning the Christ of the Scriptures. And they are deviating from what the Scriptures teach (in context), and they are abandoning the commandments of the Lord under the New Covenant, and they are charting their own course, instead. So they are wandering, going through life aimlessly while they embrace the lie of the enemy and while they cooperate with the enemy of our souls.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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