Be Steadfast, Immovable

“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“’Death is swallowed up in victory.’

‘O death, where is your victory?

    O death, where is your sting?’

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:50-57 ESV)

When this says here that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” it is speaking not only of the fact that our physical bodies on this earth are not what are going to heaven, if we are true followers of Christ, but that if we are still of the flesh, not physically speaking, but spiritually speaking, and so we are still walking in sin and not in holiness and obedience to the Lord, we cannot and we will not inherit the kingdom of God (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 6:1-23; Galatians 5:16-21; 1 John 3:4-10).

Now when Christians’ physical bodies die, and physically they are no longer with us, the Scriptures speak of them as being in a state of sleep. But when Jesus Christ returns for his faithful ones, those of us who have been faithful in service to our Lord, who have walked in obedience to his commands, not necessarily perfectly, but consistently and habitually, whether we are asleep (dead physically) or awake (alive), we will all be changed and we will all now have glorified bodies, not like the bodies that we have on this earth.

We who are now alive physically will no longer be in these flesh bodies, these bodies which were born into this world with sin natures in the image of Adam, and which go through sufferings and trials and difficulties and temptations and persecutions, etc. We will no longer be in pain physically and emotionally. And whatever difficulties we may now be facing in this life will all be gone. They will disappear. They will be no more. Praise Jesus! But the victory is ours now, not just when we die or when Jesus returns.

For there is both a physical and a spiritual aspect to what this is talking about. For if we are without genuine faith in Jesus Christ whereby we have been 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, then spiritually speaking we are dead. We are dead in our sins, and heaven will not be our eternal destiny, even if we profess faith in Jesus Christ with our lips. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).

And the victory being spoken of here is not just victory over sin so that we can have eternal life with God, but it is victory over all of life’s obstacles that the devil puts in our paths to try to trip us up, and to try to get us to be afraid, and to try to get us to give up and to stop serving the Lord, and to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and to stop sharing the truth of the gospel of our salvation. For he will try all sorts of methods to try to discourage us and to make us afraid so that we will retreat.

But we must remain faithful to our Lord despite all the persecutions and rejections and betrayals and false accusations. And we must keep moving forward despite the obstacles thrown in our pathways. Even knowing that what awaits us ahead could be more of the same, or worse, we must keep moving forward. We must keep obeying the Lord and sharing the truth of the gospel so that many will come to know the Lord Jesus, and so that they will be saved from their sins and have eternal life with God, too.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

A Believer’s Prayer 

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray 

To be Yours, and Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You, and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride, I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

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