My Heart's Desire and Prayer

“Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:1-4 ESV)

The ”them” being referred to here are the same as those talked about in chapter 9 of Romans. They are the Jews, the Israelites of the Old Covenant. Most all of them (the majority) still have not believed in Jesus Christ. According to “Wikipedia,” less than 2% of the Israeli population claim to be Christians and about 20% do not believe in a deity. And according to “The Times of Israel,” over half of them do not even practice traditional Jewish religion but identify as secular (non-religious). Many are atheists.

So, even 2000+ years after the birth of Christ, not many Jews have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives. And so this is still an issue of great concern that not many who are Jews by natural birth have believed in their Messiah (the Christ), Jesus of Nazareth. But it isn’t just the Jews we should be concerned about, for, even though in America a high percentage claim Christianity as their religion of choice, not many are literally following Jesus Christ with their lives in obedience to his commands.

So, my heart’s desire is for all people to be saved, although I know that not all people will be saved. But particularly I am concerned for all who profess the name of Jesus but who have not literally been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, and who are no longer living as slaves to sin, but who are living as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Not many are walking in obedience to the Lord in daily living in self-denial and in holy living. Many are still very fleshly and worldly.

So, in a sense, my concern parallels Paul’s concern, for he was and I am concerned for all who make professions of “zeal for God,” but who are living in ignorance of the righteousness of God in that they are seeking to establish their own version of godliness which does not submit to God’s righteousness. For many professing Christians today are making claims of faith in Jesus Christ, convinced all their sins are forgiven, and that heaven is guaranteed them when they die, but while they still live for the pleasures of the flesh.

Now, in the case of the Jews, the majority of them were trying to earn their salvation via following the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions, including the requirement for circumcision. And they did not accept Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior, and so they had not died with him to sin and they were not living to him and to his righteousness. They were just going through the motions of religious practice, but their hearts were not surrendered to Christ as Lord.

And in the case of so many people today who claim to be Christians, many of them are believing in a gospel message which does not require that they die with Christ to sin and that they now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living. Many are teaching, in fact, that we do not have to repent of our sins and we do not have to obey God, but we are saved by giving lip service to the Lord, while nothing else is required of us. But they say that God does everything for us, but while they can continue living in sinful practices.

And even if some people are teaching the importance of repentance, often it just means a confession that they are a sinner in need of a Savior but it is not about literally dying to sin daily, by the Spirit. Or if they teach obedience to the Lord, they do not teach it as part of believing faith which is required for salvation and for eternal life with God. For they teach that we should repent and that we should obey the Lord, but they do not teach the consequences of non-obedience and of continuing in deliberate sin.

But we are not saved from our sins and on our way to heaven if we have not died with Christ to sin, and if we have not 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. And we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God if we do not deny self, die to sin daily, by the Spirit, and if we do not walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord Jesus.

So my deep concern is for all the “religious” of this world who think that they can follow after whatever religion or whatever version of Christianity that they want, that serves their purposes, but whose lives and hearts are not surrendered to Jesus Christ to obey his commands and to live holy lives, pleasing to the Lord, in the power of God. They are still in bondage to sin and they are walking in sin’s darkness, and so they still need to be delivered from their addictions to sin and now follow Jesus in obedience to his ways.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; 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 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

The Lord’s Anointed  

An Original Work / December 16, 2011

Based off Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;

Anointed to preach the Good News;

Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;

Proclaim freedom for the captives.

He sent me to preach release for pris’ners

Who are walking in sin’s darkness;

Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;

And tell them about God’s judgments;

Comfort all who mourn;

Give crowns of beauty;

Oil of gladness and thanksgiving. 

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,

A planting of our Savior, God,

For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and

They will rebuild God’s holy church.

God will renew them, and will restore them,

And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.

You will be ministers of our God, and

You will rejoice in salvation.

The Lord loves justice;

He is faithful to 

Reward those who are seeking Him.

I delight greatly in the Lord;

My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.

He has clothed me with His salvation,

And in a robe of His righteousness.

He has given me priestly garments to wear, 

As the bride of Jesus Christ.

As the garden of our Lord and Savior, 

He causes us to grow in Him.

He makes righteousness, 

Praise, and thanksgiving

Spring up before all the nations. 

https://vimeo.com/114836524