“How great are your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep!
The stupid man cannot know;
the fool cannot understand this:
that though the wicked sprout like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
but you, O Lord, are on high forever.
For behold, your enemies, O Lord,
for behold, your enemies shall perish;
all evildoers shall be scattered.” (Psalms 92:5-9 ESV)
Yes, great are all the works of the Lord, especially his working of salvation from sin in the hearts and lives of all who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. For God the Father sent his only begotten Son (Jesus Christ) to the earth to be born as a baby to a human mother but conceived of the Holy Spirit, and not of man. So when Jesus lived on the earth he was fully God and fully man. He suffered like we suffer, and he was tempted in like manner as we are tempted, yet without sin.
The purpose for which Jesus came into the world was to die on a cross, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world, putting our sins to death with him so that by faith in him we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, in daily practice. So he died that we might be crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but to God and to his righteousness. And now we are to no longer walk in sin but in obedience to our Lord.
Now Jesus Christ, when he lived on the earth, made the message of the gospel of our salvation crystal clear. We must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow him in obedience if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to the Lord, then regardless of what our lips profess, we will not inherit eternal life with God. For Jesus died to free us from our slavery to sin so we would now obey him with our lives.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Hebrews 10:23-31; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
But, even though the Scriptures make the message of the gospel of our salvation abundantly clear, there are many stupid (foolish, senseless, irresponsible, impulsive, reckless, childish, and self-indulgent) people professing faith in Jesus Christ who are ignoring what Jesus taught and what his NT apostles taught, in full context, and they are altering the character of Christ and of his gospel message by abbreviating it in order to leave out the parts about dying to sin and obeying our Lord’s commands, et al.
For they are living by their feelings, and they are not walking by genuine faith in Jesus Christ. So they have obscured the truth of the gospel message in order to appease human flesh and to not offend the ungodly who they are trying to attract to their gatherings. So this is a man-created gospel message which is largely permeating the American church, and it appears it is the message that most people are accepting, which does not require us denying self, dying daily to sin, and walking in obedience to God.
So, those who are believing in this altered and abbreviated version of the character of Christ and of his gospel message never make him truly Lord of their lives, but they continue to be lord of their own lives. Although they portend genuine faith in Jesus Christ and to be in genuine relationship with him, they are still the lord over their own lives. They are still deciding for themselves right from wrong and what they are allowed to do and not. For they have this notion that they can still live in sin and go to heaven. Lie!
So, they are a lot like the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years who did not get to go into the Promised Land because of their deliberate and habitual sinning against the Lord and because of their refusal to submit to God as Lord and to give control of their lives over to him. For they are those who are always searching for things to gratify the sinful cravings of their flesh who are continually wandering and who are not submitting their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Thus, they are indeed doomed to destruction forever unless they repent in truth and in righteousness and they make that spiritual U-Turn away from living in sin and for self to now walking in obedience to the Lord in holy living. For we can’t make sin our practice and still have eternal life with God. We cannot live in sexual immorality, dishonesty, deceit, faithlessness, wickedness, hate, and disobedience to our Lord and still inherit eternal life with God and eternal salvation from the control of sin over our lives.
“The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the Lord is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” (Psalms 92:12-15 ESV)
And the righteous here are not the self-righteous who try to earn their salvation by the works of their flesh. Those who are righteous in the eyes of the Lord are those who make the righteousness of God their practice and who cease to do evil in practice, by the grace of God, in his power, and strength, and wisdom. And they flourish in the wisdom and in the counsel of the Lord in doing what our Lord commands and in ministering his love and grace to others, bearing fruit for God’s eternal kingdom.
And what our Lord commands is that we walk with him in truth and in righteousness and that we cease from walking in sin. And he commands that we obey his New Covenant commands and that we share the truth of the gospel with the people of the world and that we encourage and exhort and speak the truth in love to one another so that none of us are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness and so that none of us are led astray by the false teachings of man in their cunning, craftiness, and deceitful scheming.
[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70
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