“Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” (1 Timothy 1:8-11 ESV)
Now, as followers of Jesus Christ, we all have to obey our Lord’s commands under the New Covenant. Obedience to our Lord and to his commands is one of the necessary components of genuine faith which saves. The other is the forsaking of our sins and the putting of sin to death daily, by the Spirit. The New Testament is filled with instructions for us from God which tell us what we are to stop doing and what we need to be doing, instead, if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine believing faith which is continuous and active.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 8:51; John 10:27-30; John 14:15-24; John 15:10; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:16; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Philippians 2:12-13; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 5:9; 1 Peter 1:1-2; James 1:21-25; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6,15-17; 1 John 3:4-10,24; 1 John 5:2-3; 2 John 1:6]
We are not, however, under the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification and dietary laws and restrictions, including the requirement of circumcision of all males. Those were done away with when Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross and he brought us into a New Covenant relationship with him. But the New Covenant is not lawless. We still have commands of God we must obey, which are primarily his moral laws. We, as his followers, must obey our Lord, in practice.
Now, not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is presently walking in obedience to his commands. Many are they who are living in deliberate and habitual disobedience to God. They are the idle and the slothful, the vain and the worthless, who are lovers of intoxication to sin. They are the self-indulgent who think only of themselves and their sinful cravings without regard for who it impacts and who it hurts. They are settled in their dishonesty, immorality, wickedness, maliciousness and utter selfishness.
They are the sexually immoral, those who practice homosexuality, and those who are liars, deceivers, and tricksters. For they are lovers of intoxication to sin who put their sinful cravings above God and above their spouses and their children, for they are thinking only of themselves and what they want. And so they turn their backs on those they are to love and protect so that they can get their “fix.” And so they shut out God and their spouses so that they can indulge in their sinful activities in secret and then cover them up.
Many of them live in a world of fantasy, filling their minds with one fantasy after another after another without regard for God or for their family members and their needs. For everything is about them and what they want. And so they are resistant to change. And so they keep putting off what they know is necessary for them to walk in freedom from slavery to sin and to be faithful and loving to God and to their spouses and children. And they do not surrender their lives to Christ to walk in his ways and in his truth.
And even though many of them know the truth of what God’s word teaches us regarding his commands and with regard to what will happen to us if we do not surrender to our Lord, and if we do not obey him, and if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, without conscience, and without remorse, they still turn their backs to God and to their spouses (and children) and they continue in their self-indulgence, even knowing that it will land them in hell, and not in heaven, but they block that reality out of their minds.
And with regard to murderers, there are many ways in which one might murder another. One of the most severe ways presently is via abortion, i.e. the taking of human life while the child is still in the womb of the mother. They deliberately and willfully murder the child before they remove the child’s body parts from the womb. But they cover it up by calling it something else. But that is hypocritical. For if the mother kills the child it is not regarded as murder, but if someone else does it, it is called murder.
And then there are those who willfully abuse others for their own advantage. And this may be physical abuse, or it may be mental and emotional abuse, or it may be sexual abuse, or it may be spiritual abuse. And the abusers can be anyone, including pastors of “churches” and heads of governments and the news media and parents and children and spouses and doctors and lawyers and anyone in any position of power and influence over other people. And much abuse is unprovable unless the abuser confesses.
And these who commit all these horrific sins are not all who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, many who make no professions of faith in our Lord live more morally pure lives than some (or many) of those who make professions of Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives. For in our day and time it is barely distinguishable between the church and the world anymore. So many professers of Christianity are living not much differently from those who make no professions of faith in our Lord.
So, we need to understand here that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ will not secure heaven for anyone. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father. Many will stand before our Lord on the day of judgment proclaiming what they did in his name, and he will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they would not obey the Lord (Matthew 7:21-23).
Jesus Christ also taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to 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, by the Spirit, and walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in the power of God, then we have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For if we are ashamed of Christ in this life, he will deny us when he returns.
[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]
I Will Call Upon the Lord
Words and music by Michael O'Shields
I will call upon the Lord
Who is worthy to be praised
So shall I be saved from my enemies
The Lord liveth and blessed be the Rock
And let the God of my salvation be exalted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZIigMiXfuE
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