“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who 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.” (Titus 2:11-14 ESV)
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be sober-minded,
dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. We
are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, and not drunkards. We are to be
those who are living morally pure, upright, and godly lives, and who lead by
example in teaching others to follow suit. And we are to be people of integrity
who live what we teach and who are not hypocrites.
Sadly that is not the case with many who profess faith in
Jesus Christ. Even many who call themselves “pastors” are not living morally
pure and godly lives. Many are living in addiction to sin, especially in sexual
immorality which is running rampant in today’s “church” here in America. And so
many who are sexually addicted have no conscience and no compassion for those
they are sinning against, so no true remorse, either.
They are like what is described to us in Revelation 18 about
Babylon. They are a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean
spirit. They are those who also lead others to commit sexual immorality with
them. And their sins are heaped high as heaven. And they have all this history
of evil stored up in their hearts and they won’t let go of it because of their
pride, and because of the stronghold that this addictive sin has on their
lives.
So, they have left the door open wide to keep adding to this
pile of sin because they will not unload all the evil which is stored up in
their hearts. And all this evil stored up in their hearts has to do with pride
and lust and hate and unforgiveness and being contemptuous and disdainful of
others who are walking in holiness and in righteousness. So they are a lot like
many of the Israelites who sinned against the Lord in the wilderness and who
died.
For in their stubbornness, and in their rebellion against
the Lord, they will not let go of what is stored up in their hearts, but they
keep adding to it, instead. And in the case of the Israelites in the wilderness
who maintained their sinful practices and would not repent, and would not
change, the Lord had them put to death. And they did not enter into his eternal
rest, because they wanted their sin more than they wanted God.
But sometimes the Lord will strip away the facades, and he
will expose to others what is stored up in the hearts of those who will not
yield control of their lives over to the Lord but who continue to sin against
the Lord and against other humans. And when this then comes out into the open and
is revealed, then the Lord uses that to move them to repentance and to getting
rid of all that is stored up in their hearts. But they still have the choice to
say “Yes!” to God or to still tell him “No!”
But this is where we need to understand the true nature of
God’s grace. For many people today are teaching and preaching a false grace, a
diluted and altered grace message which is not biblical grace. For they are
teaching that you can make a mere acknowledgment (profession, confession) of
Christ as your Savior and Lord, and now all your sins are forgiven (past,
present, and future), heaven is now guaranteed you, and nothing can take that
away.
But God’s grace is not a free ride into heaven regardless of
how we live our lives on this earth. God’s grace trains us to renounce (say “No!”
to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and
godly lives while we wait for 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 (cf. Ephesians 2:10).
So we need to understand that how we live will impact where
we spend eternity, regardless of what some people are teaching you to the
contrary. For all throughout the New Testament we are taught by Jesus and by
his NT apostles that we must die with Christ to sin, and we must now live to
him and to his righteousness. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience
to our Lord, and not righteousness, then we’ll 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]
An
Original Work / August 29, 2018
Your bond is broken with your Lord and
Savior
And your testimony is separate from
Him.
Your words not matching your actions
today.
Repent of your sin and bow down and
pray.
Live what you testify in truth always.
Purity’s lacking in your life and
witness,
For you profess one thing, but other
you do.
Not moral, spiritual. Still of the
flesh.
Not living in truth to what you
confess.
Lying about it puts you in a mess.
Living a lie is your practice, ‘tis
true of you.
Masquerade righteousness – none of it
true.
Your heart is not given to your Lord
God.
Because of how you live, you are a
fraud.
Turn from your sin and give your life
to God.
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