What Sort of People Ought You to Be?

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Peter 3:10 ESV)

The Day of the Lord is a day of judgment of God on the earth and on the people of the earth in the final days before our Lord returns (The Tribulation) and when he returns to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity and when he judges the earth and the people of the earth with fire. So, for those who are not watching for him, and who are not spiritually prepared for the time of judgment and for his return, they will be taken by surprise, but it won’t be a good surprise. For God will judge us all by our works.

“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:6-11 ESV)

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:19-24 ESV)

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8 ESV)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV)

Judged by our works: [Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Matt 7:21-23; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!” (2 Peter 3:11-12 ESV)

So, based on the passages of Scripture quoted and noted above, we must come to the belief and the understanding that how we live, whether for God or for self, matters for eternity. For we cannot just profess faith in Jesus Christ with our lips, and then continue in sinful lifestyles, making sin our practice, and not walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and then expect that we are going to be taken up to heaven with the rest of the saints of God who served the Lord in faithfulness and in obedience to him.

For we don’t “get saved” and now we are “good to go” and now all our sins are forgiven and heaven is now guaranteed us when we die, but regardless of how we live. For the Scriptures teach faith and salvation as progressive, not as a “one time” deal and that’s it. And that cannot be more obvious than when we read the quoted and noted Scriptures above. It’s all throughout the New Testament writings. We must deny self, die to sin daily, and walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands to have eternal life in him.

And this is not “works salvation.” For not one of us can be saved from our sins and be on our way to heaven in our own human effort. Just not possible! Only by the grace of God and by the faith which comes from God, which is persuaded of God, and which is gifted to us by God, can any of us have our sins forgiven and be assured of eternal life with God. But this faith requires that we deny self, die to sin, and walk in obedience to our Lord, as empowered by God’s Spirit now living within us, not of our flesh.

But it is us, in the power of God, living out the faith and the salvation that he provided by his grace. For that grace trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return. For Jesus 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.” “which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them,” as His workmanship.

[Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 3:23-25; Romans 5:1-2; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 2 Corinthians 6:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Ephesians 6:24; Hebrews 10:26-31; Hebrews 12:12-17; 1 Peter 2:24]  

It’s All You

Lyrics by Tosin Iyawo Ogaga & Sue Love

Music by Sue Love @ Original Works

Vocals by Tosin Iyawo Ogaga 

May 31, 2019

You are the reason I want to dance.

You are the reason I want to sing.

You are the reason, expressing myself,

I serve You in all the ways You lead me.

You are the reason my heart gives You praise.

You are the reason that I am alive.

I bring out Your best moves

Just so I do embrace You;

Sing out loud as You lead just to please You.

Let myself follow You. I don’t care who watches me.

All I want to do is to make You smile.

Let every fiber of me bring You praise.

Your love has lifted my feet to dance.

Your faithfulness leaves me singing for joy.

You, Jesus, are the reason, it’s all You.

Your grace gives me life.

https://vimeo.com/379180900