“Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” (Philippians 3:17-21 NASB1995)
Be careful about whose example you follow, for not all who
profess faith in Jesus Christ are of genuine biblical faith which saves. Many
are giving lip service only to God while they continue in their deliberate and
habitual sin in direct defiance to God and to his New Covenant commands. So not
all who claim to be “in Christ” are truly in Christ by genuine biblical faith
in the Lord Jesus. For by faith in Jesus, if our faith is of God, and not of
human flesh, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with
Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin
but as slaves to God.
And many do walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, for even
though they profess him with their lips, they refuse him by their lifestyles.
They profess him with their lips hoping that they can escape hell and go to
heaven when they die, but while they ignore God and his commandments (New
Covenant) and they do their own thing, and they chart their own course, and
they live however they want without regard for God and for what he requires of
those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. For they are believing the lie that
all they have to do is profess faith in Jesus and now heaven is secured them.
But what did Jesus and his New Testament apostles teach as
the gospel of our salvation? They did not teach lip service only. They taught
that, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ that we now put sin
to death in our lives and that we now surrender our lives over to the will of
God for our lives, and that we now walk in the ways of the Lord as are taught
us in the New Testament writings. Our old lives of living in sin and for self
are to now be done away with so that we can now live for God in walks of
obedience to his commands in holy living, and no longer as slaves to sin.
Yet many people who profess the name of Jesus do not honor
Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, for they are those whose god is their
appetite for sin and for self-pleasure and for the things of this sinful world
and for the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes, and the pride of life. They
want their eternal security in their pockets while they still live according to
the lusts of the flesh and not according to the will of God for their lives.
But it doesn’t work that way. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience
to God, then we do not have salvation from sin, and we will not inherit eternal
life with God.
So, don’t be like them! For that is like giving your
marriage vows to your spouse but then continuing to live as though you are
still single. And sadly, many married people are doing that. Many of them are
living in adultery against their spouses via addiction to sexually explicit videos,
movies, and the like, and via taking care of their own needs, as a result,
rather than being in a loving and faithful and intimate relationship with their
spouses. And the Bible teaches our relationship with Jesus Christ as a
marriage, with Christ as our husband, and with us who believe in him as his
bride.
So, for those whose true citizenship is in heaven, and not
in hell, we are to be those who are putting the deeds of the flesh to death, by
the Spirit, and who are walking in the ways of the Lord in obedience to his
commands, in practice. We should be a faithful bride to our loving husband,
Jesus Christ, and serve him with our lives, instead of feeding our own flesh. And
we should be sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of this world so
that many more people can die to their sins and now obey God with their lives.
Then we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God.
[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]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh,
to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This
is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly
I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus,
Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh,
to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving,
forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping
the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking
the wandering sinner to find.
O
to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy
and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly
enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing
to suffer others to save.
O
to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour
out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make
me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit
me for life and Heaven above.
Oh,
to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd
Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come
in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp
Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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Minds Set on Earthly Things
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