Walk In Him
Colossians 2:6-7 NKJV
“6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
What does it look like if we receive Christ Jesus the Lord?
It means to take him as the Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, to accept all of
who he is, and what he did for us on that cross, and to apply it to our daily
walks of faith in obedience to him and to his commands. We welcome him and his
teachings and his will and purpose for our lives into our lives, that we might
become the people of God he has planned for us to become, by his grace and in
his power, via our submission to him. Now he is to be BOSS over our lives.
And what does it look like if we walk in Him, rooted and
built up in Him and established in the faith? Well, to walk in Him is to obey
him, to do what he says we ought to do, and to not do what he says we should
not do. And this coming not only from the written word in our Bibles, but as
prompted of the Holy Spirit in our spirits to go somewhere, to talk to someone,
or to write on a particular subject, or to not go here or there, or to engage
in conversation with some people, or not, i.e. to stop or to go when he says “stop”
or “go.”
And if we are established in the faith, what does that look
like? What is faith? It comes from God. It is authored and perfected by Jesus
Christ. It is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God as to his
righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with
Christ to sin and to be raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him,
no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as servants of God and of his
righteousness, in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his New Covenant
commands, by his grace.
Guard Your Hearts
Colossians 2:8-10 NKJV
“8Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”
Who are we to watch out for? We are to watch out for those
who cheat, who lie, who twist the Scriptures to their advantage, who ignore the
Scriptures they don’t like, and who embrace the “feel good” ones which are
often being taught out of context to make them say what they don’t say if
taught in the correct biblical context. And this is not saying to only center only
on the Scriptures that are hard to hear and to ignore the ones which make us
feel good, but that we should not do the opposite, and that we should not
ignore the hard truths just because they make us feel sad or uncomfortable.
So what is the most popular “philosophy and empty deceit”
being taught to prospective Christians and to professing Christians today? They
are being taught that they can “pray a prayer to receive Christ” or they can
make a verbal confession of him as Lord and claim faith in his death and
resurrection and now they are saved for eternity, regardless of how they live.
But Jesus taught that to come after him we must deny self, take up our cross
daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow him in obedience to his
commands. For if we do not, we will not be saved, and we will not have eternal
life with God.
Therefore, many people are being given the impression that
they are now saved for eternity, and that heaven is guaranteed them when they
die, but while they continue to make sin their practice and not walks of
obedience to our Lord and to his commands in daily conduct. Many professers of
faith in Jesus Christ are living in addiction to sin, many to sexual sin
(idolatry and adultery), but they are being pampered in their sin. And so they
continue, some of them for life, because that is what makes them feel good,
because that is what feeds their flesh, and that is what they crave above all
else.
The Solution
By God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own
doing, 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 righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no
longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires.
For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is
what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with
God (see Romans 6:1-23).
For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training
us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,
upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For it is not the one
who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who has
denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to
our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the
hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven (see Titus 2:11-14; 1
John 1-3).
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; 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 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
When I Was Walking
An Original Work /
January 16, 2020
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
When I was walking
along the way,
My Lord was with me,
and He did say,
“My child I’m with
you. I hear you pray,
‘Oh, help me, Lord!
Need You today!’”
He is my friend,
near to the end.
Gently leads me. His
servant be.
He helps me pray –
knows what to say.
He’s all I need. On
Him I feed.
When I am wond’ring
of what to do,
He gently leads me
to what is truth.
He is my helper. He
strengthens me.
When I’m in want,
supplies my need.
He comforts me with
all His love.
Gives me His grace
from heav’n above.
I heed His call to
watch and pray,
To guard my heart
throughout each day.
When He is calling
to come to Him,
To let Him lead you,
trust Him within,
How will you answer
to Him today?
Will you say, “Yes,
Lord, have your way”?
Do not neglect to
let Him in,
Cleanse you from
sin, made new within.
Leave all your sin,
obey your Lord,
Trust in His Word –
His mighty Sword.
Receive Christ Jesus
The Lord
No comments:
Post a Comment