We Who are Called According to His Purpose

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30 ESV)

Who are those who love God? They are those who obey his commandments. If we truly love God, we are those who have, thus, been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Therefore we are not to let sin reign in our bodies to make us obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But obedience to God ends in eternal life (John 14:15,21,23; John 15:10; Romans 6:1-23).

And if we love God with this agape love, which prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to him, then we will deny self, die daily to sin, and walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, by the grace and in the power of God dwelling within us. We will prefer to live through Christ, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power. And we will choose not to deliberately and habitually sin against our Lord and against other people.

Now for us who love God in this way, God works all things together for good, for those of us who are called according to his purpose. And these would be those of us who have answered that call to deny self, leave our lives of sin behind us, and to follow Jesus Christ wherever he leads us in doing whatever he calls us to do. But “good” may not necessarily always align with human thinking. For good is whatever is good for us, which includes suffering for the sake of righteousness, but which produces in us perseverance.

So this “good” is defined by God and not by us, and it is whatever God deems is best for us in order for him to conform us to the likeness of Jesus Christ in character and in behavior. So it may not always feel good to us when we are experiencing it, but it will all work out for what is for our best, for what will lead us to be holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord. And it will produce through us what is best for those whose lives we influence by our walks of faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, according to the Scriptures, God in his sovereignty foreknew us and predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, even before he laid the foundations of the earth. He formed us in the wombs of our mothers, and in his book were written all the days that were formed for us even before one of them came into being. And he called us to a holy calling. For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. So, as obedient children, we are not to be conformed to the passions of our flesh as we once were.

[Jer 1:1-19; Psalms 139:13-16; Acts 26:18; Rom 1:6-7,18-23; Rom 6:15-21; Rom 8:28-29; 1 Co 1:9; 1 Co 12:1-31; Gal 5:13; Eph 1:3-4; 1 Thess 4:1-8; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:14-16; 1 Pet 2:9; 2 Pet 1:3] 

So, because of what Jesus Christ did for us in putting our sins to death with him on that cross, so that we will die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, then we are to die daily to sin and follow him in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit. And he made the way for us to do that, by his grace, and in his death and resurrection. So he is our model, and he is the one we are to be being conformed to his likeness. For that is why he died, that we might no longer live for self but for him who died for us.

Now all of this is the working God in our hearts and lives and does not come from anything from within our own self or our own flesh. Not one of us can be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God unless God first persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of our sins and to walk humbly in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands. But it involves us cooperating with God in his work of grace in our lives by us submitting to him and to his will.

So, even though it is Jesus Christ who justifies us and who glorifies us and who makes us right before God, this does not happen unless we bow the knee to God and we surrender our lives to him to do what he has called us to do and to be. For when Jesus justifies us he conforms us, with our cooperation and participation, to his standard, to be upright, and to be made righteous, but not in status only, but in practice. He changes our hearts, but only as we yield to him and to his work of transformation in our hearts.

For we are not marionettes with him holding all the strings and with us having no control whatsoever on the choices that we make and on the actions that we take. And we must still participate with him in his work of grace in our lives or it won’t happen. All throughout the New Testament we are instructed that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in obedience. We must put off sin and put on righteousness. Yes, we can only do this in the power of God, but we still must obey our Lord’s commands.

For if we don’t, and if we think that we can just profess faith in Jesus Christ and now we are “good to go” to heaven when we die regardless of how we live from that moment forward, then we need to know what the Scriptures teach. For they teach that if sin is our practice, and not walks of obedience to the Lord, that we will not inherit eternal life with God. And if we say we are in fellowship with God and that we know God, but we make sin our practice, and obedience is not our practice, then we are liars.

[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]

In Truth 

An Original Work / January 10, 2012

Fellowshipping with my Lord, Savior, King.

He is Lord of all; Lord of ev’rything.

He is with me through ev’ry hour of day,

List’ning to me speak, as I humbly pray.

He cares for my needs, 

and He intercedes for me,

‘cause He loves me in ev’ry way.

Obey His commands, and do all He says.

Sitting at His feet, daily in His word,

Let His word speak to me in ev’ry way,

Giving comfort and healing through each day.

Oh, how Jesus loves,

And He cares for you,

Which is why He died for our sins, in truth.

Love our Lord God, Savior, and King of kings.

Worship Him in truth, for He reigns supreme.

He created us with a plan in mind

For us to be His servants, and Him mind.

Follow Him in truth;

Go where’er He leads.

Share His love with others, and their needs meet.

Others: their needs meet. 

https://vimeo.com/125738283