Are You Living for Jesus Christ?

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

‘Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

    on the day of testing in the wilderness,

where your fathers put me to the test

    and saw my works for forty years.

Therefore I was provoked with that generation,

and said, “They always go astray in their heart;

    they have not known my ways.”

As I swore in my wrath,

    “They shall not enter my rest.”’

 

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’” (Hebrews 3:7-15 ESV)

 

It is assumed that the apostle Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, so I will use his name as the author, but truly the author was God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. And whoever it was who physically wrote down these words was just a servant of the Lord, a messenger of God whom God used to pen his words to us, his people.

 

Now the book of Hebrews appears to be written to the Hebrew Christians, which could have well included those who only professed faith in Jesus Christ but who were not committed to following him with their lives. For the wording indicates that these are those who are holy brethren, who share in the heavenly calling, and there is a warning here to them against falling away from the living God, which they could not do if they weren’t already in relationship with Jesus Christ. So it is safe for us to apply these words today to all who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord.

 

And the reason that we can safely apply these words to us who believe in Jesus Christ is that we are taught this kind of message all throughout the New Testament. For our salvation from sin is not a one-time decision we make to “believe in Jesus” and then we are good to go to heaven when we die, but regardless of how we live. For if our faith is genuine, we have died with Christ to sin and we have been 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. But if sin is what we practice, we will not have eternal life.

 

So, if we have believed in Jesus Christ, in truth and in righteousness, then we are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns for his faithful bride, which is when our salvation will be complete, and not until then, but provided that we continue in Christ in walks of faith and obedience to him and to his commands, and that we do not continue to walk in sin. For our salvation is progressive and it won’t be finished until we who are walking with him in obedience to him go to be with him for eternity.

 

And this is why, all throughout the New Testament, we are taught that we must walk (in conduct, in practice) in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord and to his commands and no longer in sin if we want to have salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. So what Hebrews 3 is teaching here is fully consistent with the whole of the teachings in the New Testament on the subjects of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. We must guard our hearts against getting spiritually lazy and slack, thinking our salvation is a sure thing, then end up falling away.

 

So we do need to pay close attention to these words, and we must guard our hearts against hardening our hearts against the Lord and against his commandments (New Covenant) and against falling back into sinful lifestyles, making sexual immorality, impurity, lying, cheating, stealing, and committing adultery, etc., what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, and not submission to him as Lord of our lives. For if we walk in deliberate and habitual sin, it won’t matter what we profess with our lips. We will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

So this is why we must exhort one another, as Christians, EVERY DAY, so that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. And the original confidence must be based in the truth of the Scriptures which teach that faith in Christ that is genuine results in us dying with Christ to sin and us now walking (in conduct, in practice) in holy living and in obedience to his commands, and not just once, but daily, in practice. So do not take this lightly, for walking in the truth results in eternal life with God.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; 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 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 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; 2 Tim 1:8-9; 1 Pet 1:5; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-29; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]  

 

Our Awesome God

 

An Original Work / May 25, 2011

 

I praise and adore You, Father,

I worship and praise You, Lord.

You are such an awesome God,

Who loves us so much, You implore

Us to follow You each moment

Of the days we have on earth,

So that we might live forever

With You, ‘cause of our new birth.

 

I praise and adore You, Jesus.

You died on a cruel tree,

So that we might be forgiven

Of our sins; You set us free

To love and obey You only,

While we bow on bended knee,

As we humbly walk before You,

Serving freely; You to please.

 

I praise and adore You, Spirit,

You came in to live with me.

Jesus sent You to abide

Within us, and our comfort be.

You guide and direct and counsel

Us in all of our God’s ways,

So that we can live for Jesus,

To follow Him all our days.

 

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