“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:11-16 ESV)
If we are people of God, it is because we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior of our lives. Thus, we have died with him to sin and we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Therefore, we are no longer to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to life eternal.
[1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26; Titus 2:11-14; Acts 26:18]
So we are to be people of God who have fled what is sinful and is of the flesh; who have fled false doctrines of faith in Christ which coddle people in their sins rather than instruct them in the ways of God and to forsake their sinful practices. We are to flee all harmful desires of the flesh which are opposed to God and to his righteousness. We are to flee letting pride and the lusts of the flesh rule over our lives. And we are to flee all that is contrary to the will of God for our lives and which is opposed to his righteousness.
And we are to be people of God who are now pursuing righteousness, godliness, God-persuaded faith, agape love (prefers what God prefers), steadfastness of biblical faith, and gentleness (reserved strength; meekness). We are not only to forsake our sinful practices, dying to sin daily, by the Spirit, but we are to be those who are walking (in conduct, in practice) in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord and to his New Covenant commands – all in the power of God, by his grace.
And to fight the good fight of faith has to do with us resisting the devil and his temptations and fighting off his attacks and tricks he uses against us to try to discourage us from following the Lord in obedience. And it has to do with us walking in obedience to the Lord in holy living, by his Spirit. And it has to do with us pursuing God and his righteousness and us desiring to do his will and now walking in his ways and being his servants and witnesses in taking the message of the gospel to the people of the world.
But it isn’t just that. For when we follow the Lord Jesus in surrender to his will for our lives, and we go where he sends us, and we say all that he commands us to say, by his Spirit, in agreement with the Word of God, we are going to be opposed, and not just by those who make no claims to faith in Jesus Christ. But we will be opposed by many who call themselves Christians but who take a much lighter approach to Christianity and who are accepting of an altered character of God and of his gospel of salvation.
And so we will have to contend for the faith and for the truth of the gospel that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught, and we will have to oppose the lies of the enemy and call out the false gospels which are being taught and which are deceiving so many people. And this is because so many people are believing the lies and they are being deceived by the enemy that they can still live in sin, and not in walks of obedience to God, and that they can still have heaven secured for them when they die.
But the Scriptures teach clearly that if we profess that we are in fellowship with God/Christ, but while we walk (in conduct) in darkness (sin), we are liars. And if we claim that we know God, but while we do not make it our practice to obey his New Covenant Commandments, we are liars. And they teach us that if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of obedience to our Lord, that we do not have eternal life with God. For lip service only to God will not secure heaven for us. We must obey Him.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Songs in the Night
An Original Work / December 18, 2013
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84
Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.
I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!
Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.
I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!
Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!
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