“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’” (Mark 9:42-48 ESV)
It is a grave sin to willfully (purposefully, deliberately)
do or say what you know is going to lead a brother or a sister in Christ to sin
against the Lord, particularly those who are young in the faith or who are not
yet matured in their walks of faith in the Lord Jesus. So all those pastors out
there who are telling the people that all they have to do is profess faith in
Jesus and now they are “good to go to heaven,” and that they don’t have to
repent of their sins, and they don’t have to obey God, are in BIG TROUBLE with
God!
All throughout the New Testament Scriptures and the
teachings on what constitutes the gospel of our salvation, we are taught that
we must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily (in practice), that sin
is no longer to be what we practice, and that we must now walk in obedience to
our Lord and to his New Covenant commands if we want to have salvation from sin
and eternal life with God in heaven. But not to earn our salvation, but living
out the salvation already provided for us in the power of God at work within
us.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14;
Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians
4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1
Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
So, it is not okay with God for us to deliberately and
habitually pursue sinful pleasures and not walks of obedience to our Lord. We
who believe in Jesus, in truth, should be those who take sinning against God
seriously to the point to where we do everything we know, as directed by the
Lord, according to His word, to die with him to sin daily and to pursue
righteousness, godliness, holy living, uprightness, honesty, moral purity,
faithfulness and obedience to our Lord’s commands – all in the power of God, by
his Spirit.
So, as drastic as it may sound, you will be a whole lot
better off if you are missing an eye or a hand or a leg or a foot, but you
maintain a holy and pure walk of faith in the Lord Jesus until he returns for
his faithful ones, which is when our salvation will be complete. Yet, I tend to
take this passage of Scripture less literally and more figuratively when it
comes to cutting off body parts. For our eyes are our judgments (discernments),
and our hands are our deeds (behaviors), and our feet are our walks of faith or
in sin.
So, to me, this is really talking about cutting out of our
lives all actions and thinking and behaviors which are contrary to the will of
God, and which are sinful, so that we can live holy and morally pure lives in
the power of God. And it is cutting out of our lives the things we take into
our eyes and minds and hearts and ears on a daily basis which might tempt us to
sin against the Lord and lead us into sin. And we replace them with all that is
godly and morally pure and loving and kind and submissive and obedient to God.
For the Scriptures are very clear on this subject. We are
not saved and on our way to heaven on the basis of lip service only to the
Lord. We must deny self, die to sin daily, and walk in obedience to our Lord
and to his commands, in his power. For if sin is what we practice (our habit,
addiction), and if walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands are not
what we practice (deliberately and habitually), then we will not inherit the
kingdom of heaven, regardless of what faith in Jesus we have professed with our
lips.
The Spirit Calling
An Original Work / November 12, 2019
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Hear the Spirit
calling.
He’ll keep you from
falling.
Tenderly He’s
calling,
“Come and follow
Him.”
Walk with Jesus
daily.
Don’t give in to
lazy.
Folks may call you
crazy.
Fellowship with Him.
Follow where He
leads you.
Eat what Jesus feeds
you.
His love will renew
you
If you follow Him.
Do what Jesus tells
you.
Don’t let your faith
fail you.
His love will avail
you
If you walk with
Him.
Jesus, Lord and Savior,
Reigneth now
forever.
He gave us His favor
So we’d live with
Him.
Turning now from our
sin,
Holy Spirit live-in.
Holiness we walk in,
Purified by Him.
Cut! Cut! Cut!
An Original Work / January 29, 2025
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