“But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:13-18 NASB1995)
If we are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, and so by faith
we have died with him to sin, denied self, and are now walking in obedience to
his commands, in practice, we are also those who are looking for new heavens
and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. And that is awesome to think
of, too. For here we are living on this earth where corruption, evil, hate, and
the murdering of innocents is everywhere, and where immorality, lies, and
trickery abound! So a place where righteousness dwells is so welcome!
And since we are those who are awaiting the time of Christ’s
return, to when he will take us to be with him for eternity, and the time in
which we will experience the new heavens and the new earth, where righteousness
dwells, then we are to be those who are living in holy conduct and godliness,
and who are living lives which are righteous and above reproach, no longer as
slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, all in the
power of God, by his grace, through God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ.
Now Peter made reference to the apostle Paul and to his
letters, that Paul had written the same kinds of things as Peter was writing to
the church, which Paul did. Paul wrote much on the subjects of repentance,
obedience, submission to Christ, and holy living, as necessary components of
faith which saves and which promises us eternal life with God. Yet many people
today teach Paul’s words out of context, and they twist them to infer that Paul
taught a grace which was permissive of habitual sin, not against it.
So this serves as a warning to us to be on our guard against
those who teach the Scriptures out of context and who twist them to say what
they do not say if taught in the appropriate context. We are to be on our guard
so that we are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men (or women) and
fall from our steadfastness of faith in the Lord Jesus. For so many liars abound
these days who serve as preachers, pastors, and evangelists, but who are
teaching lies and not the truth of the gospel of our salvation.
So, in order to not fall prey to their lies and their
deceptions, we must be students of the Scriptures who study them in the correct
context, who then apply the teachings on Christian living to our everyday lives,
in the power of God at work in our lives. And then we are to grow in the grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus by obeying his teachings, and the
teachings of the New Testament apostles on what it means to be saved from our
sins and to have the promise and the hope of eternal life with God when we die.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny
self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if
we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity.
But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience
to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with
God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew
7:21-23).
[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; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2;
1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Have Thine Own Way, Lord
Words by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907
Music by George C. Stebbins, 1907
Have
Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou
art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold
me and make me after Thy will,
While
I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have
Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search
me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter
than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As
in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have
Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded
and weary, help me I pray!
Power,
all power, surely is Thine!
Touch
me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have
Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold
o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill
with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ
only, always, living in me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11avpKNLsA
Caution:
This link may contain ads
Be
On Your Guard!
No comments:
Post a Comment