Walk to Please God

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 ESV)

We believe in Jesus Christ, not just so we can get our sins forgiven so that when we die we get to go to heaven. Our salvation from sin is not just all about what God did for us and what he will yet do for us. Jesus planned for us that, by faith in him, we will deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his commands. His design for our lives is that we now live in submission to his Lordship, in surrender of our wills to his will, in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, and that we cease from sin.

And contrary to what so many people are telling you these days, we do have to live our lives to please God. We are not pleasing God by merely giving him lip service. We please him when we walk in obedience to his commands and we do the things that he has called us to do as his followers. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance for us that we should walk in them. We are not saved by our own fleshly works, yet our salvation is not absent of works that God has for us.

And the New Testament writings are filled with instructions to us who profess faith in Jesus Christ with regard to what we should not be doing and regarding what we should be doing, and how we should be living as followers of Jesus Christ who have died with Christ to sin and who have been raised with him to walk now in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And we are to conduct our lives in a manner which is pleasing to God according to the Scriptures.

But not only should we presently be living our lives to please God, in the power of God, but we should be doing this more and more. Our faith should be increasing, and we should be growing closer to our Lord in deeper commitments to him and to his service the longer that we know Jesus and the longer that we walk in his ways and in his truth and righteousness. For the will of God is our sanctification, that we be made holy, different from the world, because we are being made to be like Jesus in character.

Therefore, as followers of Jesus Christ we are no longer to walk in sin, making sin our practice. We must abstain from sexual immorality, and each one of us should learn how to control our own bodies in holiness and in honor, and not in the passions of lust like those who do not know Christ as their Lord and Savior. For Jesus died to free us from the passions of the flesh so that we will now be passionate about serving our Lord in holy living. And he will empower us to live righteously and to no longer walk in sin.

Sadly, so many people today professing faith in Jesus Christ, at least here in America, are addicted to sexual sin in one form or another. Many are addicted to pornography or to viewing anything that is sexually explicit or that is even sexually and immorally suggestive. Some are having extra-marital flirtations or affairs. Some are engaged in even worse forms of sexual perversion. And with so many having smartphones in their possession, it just makes it so much easier to engage in immorality.

But, as those who make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, we are to cease from making sin our habit, and we are now to serve Jesus Christ with our lives in holy living. And we are not to sin against God, and we are not to sin against our fellow humans, especially those who belong to the family of God. And this is not saying that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin should no longer be our practice. Instead, holiness, righteousness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness and obedience to God should be our practice.

And then notice with me that Paul, in saying these things, is letting those who profess the name of Jesus know that the Lord is the avenger in all these things. And so he was warning them against taking God’s grace for granted, thinking that they could now continue living in sin and not in obedience to the Lord. And we should not take God’s grace for granted, either, for if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of obedience to our Lord, then we will not inherit eternal life with God. Hell will be our destiny.

So, don’t buy into the lies which tell you that once you “believe” in Jesus that all your sins are forgiven and now heaven is guaranteed you when you die, but regardless of how you live or how often you choose to sin against the Lord. For all of God’s promises come with conditions that must be met by us. So if we claim to be in fellowship with the Lord but while we walk in sin, we are liars. And if we say that we know God, but while we do not walk in obedience to his commands, we are liars. So please take God seriously!

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 5:9; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6; Gal 6:8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 5:10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 1 Thes 2:4; 1 Thes 4:1; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:4,21; Tit 2:11-14; Tit 3:8; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; Jas 2:17; 1 Jn 3:22]

You are Loving and Forgiving 

An Original Work / February 19, 2012

Based off Psalm 86

You are loving and forgiving,

Jesus, Savior, King of kings.

You provided our redemption.

By Your blood You set us free.

You are gracious; full of mercy.

No deeds can compare with Yours.

Great are You; there is none like You.

Glory be to Your name.

Teach me Your way, and I’ll walk in it.

O Lord, I will walk in Your truth.

May I not have a heart divided,

That Your name I give honor to.

I will praise You, O Lord, my Savior,

For great is Your love toward me.

You have delivered me from my sins.

Your grace has pardoned me.

You, O Lord, are full of compassion,

Slow to anger, bounteous in love;

Faithful to fulfill all You promise;

Glory be to Your name above.

Hear, O Lord, and answer Your servant.

You are my God. I trust in You.

Turn to me and grant Your strength to me.

You are my comforter. 

https://vimeo.com/117066958