“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:7-11 NASB1995)
Paul had once lived under the Old Covenant God had with his
people Israel, and he was dedicated to following all the Old Covenant
liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, circumcision, dietary, and
Sabbath laws. But when he believed in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of his
life, all those things he once prided himself in, he now counted loss for the
sake of Christ. He no longer put confidence in his own flesh and in the things
that were external only, and which he prided himself in because of his
religious zeal.
Now his life was surrendered to Jesus Christ to doing his
will and purpose for his life. He was no longer just following a set of rules,
which he took pride in for his own accomplishments, but now he had a heart
realignment of the Spirit of God so that his life was now dedicated to following
the Lord in submission, in death to sin, and in walks of obedience to the Lord
and to his commands. For this is what it means to have faith in Jesus. Faith in
Jesus Christ is not lawless. We still must obey our Lord’s commandments.
And now let me give you a modern day example of this. There
are “religious” people in this world who follow their religions and their
religious practices with precision and dedication, but their hearts are not
surrendered to Jesus Christ (to God). They attend weekly gatherings of the
church (or the false church) religiously, and they sing the songs, and pray the
prayers, and they listen to the sermons, and they may do good deeds, or they
may serve in some area of ministry, but self is still on the throne of their
lives, not God.
Yet by faith in Jesus Christ we do not become lawless. By
faith in Jesus Christ 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 to his righteousness. But we don’t serve our Lord
only in some ritualistic religious fashion as a matter of self-pride and
accomplishment. We serve and obey our Lord out of love for God and a heart’s
desire to serve the Lord Jesus with our lives in doing his will, with or
without accolades.
We want to serve Jesus Christ with our lives in doing his
will even if it means being hated and berated, and thought to be the scum of
the earth because we don’t preach the feel-good diluted gospel which appeals to
human flesh and which does not require death to sin and obedience to our Lord
and to his New Covenant commands. What other people think or say about us, though,
although it may be hurtful, will not deter us from doing the will of God for
our lives, for serving our Lord is not about getting the approval of humans.
Serving Jesus Christ with our lives is what faith is all
about, and it is about living righteously in the power of God, and not in our
own flesh. For to know Christ/God and the power of his resurrection and the
fellowship of his sufferings requires that we die with Christ to sin and that
we now walk with him in obedience to his commands in holy living, and no longer
according to the desires of our sinful flesh. And it means we will be persecuted
for our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, for we take God’s word
seriously.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22;
Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews
12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Your Servant Witness
An Original Work /
March 13, 2012
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
Humbly I bow, Lord,
before You,
Bringing my requests
to You.
May I listen; hear
You speaking.
May I follow You in
truth.
Gently lead me in
Your service.
Guide my steps and
strengthen me.
Fill me with Your
love and mercy.
May I live for Thee!
Let me be Your
servant witness,
Telling others of
Your grace.
May I always share
the gospel
With those I meet
face to face.
May I show the love
of Jesus,
Caring for the needs
of men;
Be Your servant
witness always
For my Lord, Amen!
My desire to be like
Jesus,
Living for Him ev’ry
day.
May I obey all His
teachings
Given me, so I’ll
not stray.
Love You, Jesus,
Lord, my master.
You are the King of
my heart;
Follow You where’er
You lead me;
Not from You depart!
Being Conformed to His Death
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