“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah” (Psalms 24:3-6 ESV)
There are many people these days, at least here in America, many of them very recently, who are claiming to have faith in Jesus Christ. Some of them are elected government officials and their devotees, and many are just common folk who, by the masses, now seem to be making professions of Christ as their Savior, with baptisms as evidence of genuine conversion, and the singing of “worship” songs and the waving of their arms in the air as evidence of true worship of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit.
But is that to be trusted, just from a very surface evaluation? Does it fit with the general character and teaching of the American church at large (not to include all congregations)? And/or does it fit with the teachings of the Scriptures? Can we just make a verbal profession of Christ as Savior, and then get baptized, and/or then join in “worship” of God via the singing of songs and the lifting of our hands and call that, in and of itself, genuine worship of God, and genuine salvation from sin and the hope of heaven?
No! We cannot! Why? Because the Scriptures do not support that, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Now, can any of us be saved from our sins and have the hope of eternal life with God in our own human effort? No! It is truly only by the grace of God that any of us can come to genuine saving faith in our Lord Jesus. But that grace instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return (see Titus 2:11-14).
But this faith in Jesus Christ is not man-made. It is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man, lest any of us should boast that we were saved by our own human effort. But is this salvation absent of works? No, it isn’t! For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
[Tit 2:14; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 1:12-13; Jn 6:44; Rom 6:1-23]
We cannot stand in God’s holy place unless we have genuinely repented of our sins, died with Christ to sin, and been reborn of the Spirit of God to now walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Now we are to have clean hands (righteous deeds) and pure (undefiled) hearts and minds, and we are no longer to lift up our souls to what is false (to false gods and to sinful addictions), and we are to be those who speak the truth to others and not lies and deceptions.
This does not mean we will be absolutely perfect in everything that we do and say and are, for we are all works in progress. But sin should not be our practice, and lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord. We need to be those whose hearts and lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ and are committed to serving him with our lives in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit, in the power of God. And we will receive a blessing from the Lord.
For our Lord is to be our guide who gives us counsel in how we are to live, and then we are to obey him in what he says we are to do or to not do. We are not to be those who rely on our own understanding, but whose trust is in the Lord in all things and who follow in his straight (upright) paths. For we are to be people of God who are of purity of heart and mind and who do not dabble in anything that is evil and immoral. For our Lord has delivered us out of our addiction to sin so we can now follow him in obedience to his way.
And Jesus Christ taught us that if anyone would come after him that he must deny himself (or herself), take up their cross daily (die daily to sin and self), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin (forfeit our old lives), and we follow him in walks of obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But if we deny him by how we live our lives, we will die in our sin.
Basically, it is not those who only make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, and/or who get physically baptized, and/or who sing praise and worship songs, and/or who join an institutional church, who are true worshipers of our Lord, who are saved from their bondage to sin and who have the hope of heaven when they die. We must deny self, die with Christ to sin, and now follow him in obedience to his commands. And then we must live holy and pure lives free from sinful practices, serving the Lord now with our lives.
[Ps 24:3-6; Ps 73:24; Pro 3:5-6; Pro 22:11; Is 53:6; Matt 6:22-24; Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 14:33; Lu 17:33; Jn 8:31; Jn 12:25; Jn 15:14-15; Ac 26:18; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 13:1-3; 2 Co 7:1; Gal 2:20; Heb 12:1-29; Jas 4:6-10; 1 Pet 1:22-23; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:1-12; Rev 22:1-21]
Purer in Heart – Merciful God
The Acappella Company
Purer in heart, O God,
Help me to be;
May I devote my life
Wholly to Thee
Watch Thou my wayward feet;
Guide me with counsel sweet;
Purer in heart
Help me to be.
Purer in heart, O God,
Help me to be;
Teach me to do Thy will
Most lovingly.
Be Thou my friend and guide;
Let me with Thee abide;
Purer in heart
Help me to be.
Purer in heart, O God,
Help me to be
That I Thy holy face
One day may see.
Keep me from secret sin;
Reign Thou my soul within;
Purer in heart
Help me to be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGPPD69FvIc
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