Easy Believism

“…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Rom. 10:9-10 ESV

I believe this passage of scripture in Romans is one of the most often quoted passages of scripture when someone is teaching “easy believism.” And, I will explain what I mean by that in a few minutes here. But, I want to first look at what this passage is really saying, in context.

First of all, we can’t pull two verses out of context and build an entire doctrine of salvation from sin from them, yet many do. Also, we can’t interpret these two verses apart from the whole of the book of Romans, for it was written to the church in Rome by the Apostle Paul as one complete letter, so we must interpret these two verses in light of the whole book.

And, again, we must compare scripture with scripture, which is what a topical study does, in order to get the complete picture.

So, with that said, let’s look at what this is really saying.

Confess what?

We must confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. He is God. He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He is the promised Messiah of Israel. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is Lord of lords and King of kings. He is our creator God. He is completely sovereign over all things that he has created. And, nothing can thwart his purposes.

As Lord, he is owner-master of our lives. He has full reign. Our lives are surrendered to him. We are in submission to his will for our lives. We live to serve him. He’s the boss! And, we are his servants, his bond-slaves – slaves to God and slaves to righteousness, since he delivered us from our slavery to sin. Thus, we have died with him to sin that we might live with him to righteousness. Our lives are no longer our own, for we were bought back for God with the price of Jesus’ blood. So, we now honor God with our lives.

We must confess, out loud, in front of other people, that Jesus is now king of our hearts and that our lives are now surrendered to him for his service. But, this can’t be just words or the confession will mean nothing. It must be genuine. He must truly be the owner now of our lives, and we must be following him in surrender to his will and to his ways. For, if we profess it, but we don’t mean it, it will hold no weight at all. It is just hot air.

And, believe what?

We must believe that God raised him from the dead. But, this entails so much more, for to believe that, we have to believe that he died, that he rose again, as he said he would, that he ascended back to heaven, that he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell his followers, and that one day he is coming again to take us to be with him forever.

And, if we believe in all that, we must also believe in who he is and why he had to die, and what his death and resurrection mean for us. Thus, we will believe that he died that we might die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. We will believe that his death on that cross put our sin to death, and when he rose from the dead, he rose victorious over sin, hell, Satan and death, on our behalf.

Since we have confessed him as Lord, as God, then we believe that it was God who took on human flesh and became a man and who died to take away the sins of the world. And, too, we will believe that his death meant for us that we could be delivered from our slavery to sin, and his life means that we can live holy lives pleasing to him. For, if we believe him, and we believe in what he did for us, then we will submit to him as Lord of our lives, too.

Faith and Confession

Another thing this teaches us, too, is that faith and confession with our mouths go hand in hand. It appears that we can’t have one without the other, which makes perfect sense. For, if we truly believe Jesus to be who he is, and if we truly believe that he provided the way for us to be free from our slavery to sin, then why wouldn’t we want to share that with others?

There is a scripture where Jesus said that if we are ashamed of him that he will be ashamed of us when he comes back. If we deny him before others, he will deny us. If we don’t take up our cross daily and follow him, then we are not truly his disciples. For, if we want to be Jesus followers, then we must deny self, take up our cross daily and follow (obey) Jesus.

So, it isn’t enough just to say we believe in him. And, it isn’t enough just to make a profession of faith in him, either, especially if it is not genuine. Our actions and our faith work together. For, what we do is evidence of what we truly believe. And, confession of him as Lord is not just us mouthing the words, either, and confession, as well, is not just with words. For, if what we profess with our mouths and what we do are opposite, our actions will indeed speak louder than our words.

Persecution

I want to look at one more thing here before I talk about easy believism, and that is I want us to consider who the people were of Paul’s day who were being given these instructions, and what the mood of the day was with regard to belief in Jesus Christ.

Some of them were Jews by birth, and some of them were Gentiles by birth. So, for the Jew to confess Jesus as Lord would have been considered an outrage, and it could have meant much persecution and/or certain death. The same may have been true for the Gentiles, as all Christians were under persecution at that time, as far as I can recall.

But, let’s look at our day and time. In many countries throughout the world such a belief in Jesus, and such an outward and verbal confession of him as Lord, as God, does mean great persecution for the follower of Christ, and in many cases it means it could cost them their lives. So, they don’t take such faith or such a confession lightly, at all. They are quite committed to Christ Jesus as Lord of their lives, in order for them to put their lives on the line.

In America

I live in America, so it is what I am familiar with. Your country may be similar, I don’t know. But, in America, if someone confesses faith in Jesus Christ with their mouths or calls him “Lord,” no one brings out the firing squads. The name “Jesus” is actually quite acceptable here, as is the term or the title “Lord.” Not many are threatened by that at all. For, we are often referred to here as a “Christian” nation.

So, telling an American that all he has to do is to believe Jesus was raised from the dead and to confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, it doesn’t have to mean anything. It doesn’t have to change anything in that person’s life. And, so to teach these two verses as the gospel message absent of all the other scriptures on what it means to be a believer in Jesus, is teaching “easy believism.” It doesn’t mean a heart transformation ever took place.

But, many people are using these two verses as their gospel message, and that is reducing the gospel to a mere profession of faith. But, it doesn’t tell the people who are believing that that is all they have to do, that belief in their hearts and a confession with their mouths, is so much more than that.

It doesn’t tell them what Romans 6 and Romans 8 tells them about death to sin and walking in holiness as required by God for salvation from sin and eternal life with God. It doesn’t tell them that “Lord” means Jesus is now the boss of our lives. It doesn’t tell them what Ephesians 4:17-24 tells them about how they are not to live like they did before, and how they must forsake their self-life and their sin-life to follow Jesus Christ in obedience, if they want that hope of heaven when they leave this earth.

And, thus it is “easy-believism” because it short circuits the true gospel message and it leaves the “believer” with the idea that if he just acknowledges Jesus, and if he just believes (intellectually) in his death and resurrection, that he is saved from his sins, heaven is guaranteed him, and what he does from this point forward doesn’t matter.

But, the truth is that we must die daily to sin and self, we must be walking in obedience to our Lord, we must leave our old lives of sin behind us, and we must surrender our lives to Jesus and to his will for our lives. For, this is what it means to believe. And, the truth is that if we don’t give up our lives of sin, and we don’t follow our Lord in obedience, then eternal life is not guaranteed us at all. It is not saying we have to be perfect, but that sin should no longer be our master. Jesus is to be our only Lord.

So, don’t buy into the “easy-believism” message that tells you that a mere confession of Christ as Lord and a mere acknowledgement of Jesus and what he did for us is going to secure heaven for you no matter how you live your life. For, that is a lie straight from hell. Read all of Romans. Then, you will know the truth which will set you free.

[See: Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 2 Co. 5:15, 21; 1 Pet. 2:24.]

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

Man-Made Faith

Romans 10:1-4 ESV

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

As I, as led by the Spirit of God, am presently examining the subject of our salvation from sin, the Lord has directed me to this passage of scripture from Romans 10, for this is yet another passage of scripture which has been misinterpreted to mean something it does not mean.

So, what is the crux of this passage of scripture? It is that the Jews, or most of them, had rejected God’s plan of salvation for their lives, which was through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and they were seeking to establish their own gospel of salvation from sin based on their own man-made criteria. But, their ignorance was not out of lack of knowledge of the truth, but out of a refusal to believe and to follow the truth.

And, so it is today within the institutional church, too. Many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ are following a man-made gospel, which is a substitute or a replacement for the true gospel of Christ. They do so either out of true ignorance or due to willful ignorance so as to establish their own gospel of salvation from sin intended to gratify the flesh and to give them liberty to continue in their sinful practices without guilt or remorse.

For, whether you are following a works-based salvation that seeks to earn one’s salvation via works of the flesh, or you are following a gospel message entirely absent of good works and which says we do nothing and God does it all, both are still of the flesh, and they both seek to establish their own path to righteousness with God. And, they are both wrong!

Why are they both wrong? Because they are both opposed to what Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught regarding our salvation from sin. They are both of the flesh, they are both man-made, and they both seek to win God’s acceptance through means other than what God has established. And, that really is the bottom line. For, they don’t submit to God and to his purposes, but they make up their own gospel to suit their own purposes.

The Cheap Grace Gospel

Ok, so the cheap grace gospel people interpret this passage of scripture to say we no longer have to obey God’s commandments, and that it is only by faith that we are saved, and so we do nothing. We don’t have to repent of our sins and we don’t have to walk in obedience to Christ, nor do we have to submit to the Lordship of Christ over our lives. All we do is just “believe” and God does the rest, and now we are guaranteed heaven when we die.

With all deception, though, there are elements of truth in the mix, so this isn’t entirely wrong. But, it isn’t all right, either. So, if something is intentionally half true and half false, it makes it false, because the intention is to deceive naïve minds who don’t know any different.

So, let’s break this down. First of all, they are ignorant of the righteousness of God. And, what is his righteousness? It is holiness, godliness, moral purity, faithfulness, truthfulness, sobriety, self-control, and uprightness, etc. So, they are either unaware, which no one is (see Romans 1), or they are unfamiliar or unaccustomed to his righteousness, due to refusal to submit to Christ’s righteousness for their lives. So, they seek to establish their own.

In the case of the cheap grace gospel, they have devised a gospel which requires no righteous living on our part at all, and they get away with it by accusing such righteous living as being works-based salvation, which it is not. Again, let me remind everyone here that the standard here for righteousness is God’s standard, and the dividing line between a true gospel or a false gospel is whether or not that gospel teaches a way to salvation from sin according to what God has established.

Lastly, they did not submit to Christ’s righteousness, and this is where “the rubber meets the road,” because the cheap grace gospel doesn’t submit to Christ’s righteousness, but it submits to the flesh of man, instead. It is all about appeasing the flesh of humans, and it has nothing to do with submitting to Christ’s righteousness, because they think they don’t have to.

Jesus, the End

So, Jesus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For, he is the completion or he is the fulfillment of the law. For, the law (Mosaic) was put in place to lead us to Christ. And, now we have Christ. But, this does not mean we don’t have to obey Christ’s commands to us. We aren’t free from having to follow his commands and his instructions to us or his moral laws. The New Testament scriptures make that abundantly clear.

But, we don’t obey to earn or to deserve our own salvation. We are not trying to be good enough to win God’s approval. We obey because the faith that God requires of us for salvation is God-given faith which submits to God’s will and purposes for our lives. And, his will and purpose is that we live godly and holy lives, pleasing to him. It is, too, that we forsake our former lives of living for sin and self, that we are born anew of the Spirit of God, and that we now walk (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit of God.

[See: Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1:5-9]

So, here’s the deal. We can’t do anything to earn or to deserve our own salvation. Nothing we can do, in our flesh, will ever be good enough to meet with God’s approval. So, it is absolutely the truth that it is only by God’s grace through God-given faith in Jesus Christ, which are both gifts from God, that any of us can be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God.

BUT… and this is where it gets critical here that we know what the scriptures teach… it is also true that the faith it takes to be saved from our sins, and to have eternal life with God, submits to God’s purposes for our lives (see: “Saved by Grace through Faith”).

And, again, we have to read scriptures in context to get the true picture of what they are saying. For, Romans 10 has to be read in the context of the whole of Romans, and most especially in the contexts of Romans 6 and 8. For there we learn more completely God’s plan of salvation for our lives. It requires that we die with Christ to sin and that we live with Christ to his righteousness if we want to have eternal life with God.

In fact, in chapter 8 it states that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk, not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. And, this really is the crux of it all. For, the difference between a man-made gospel and the true gospel is that the true gospel submits to Christ’s righteousness. True belief in Jesus Christ surrenders our lives over to Jesus Christ, and we are no longer the ones controlling our lives, but Christ is.

Yet, there are a lot of folk who plead ignorance to this truth, and they have established their own way to God. Some will perform well for others so that people will think well of them, and so they will give off the impression that they are living righteously, but they are not. Behind closed doors they are secretly addicted to all sorts of wickedness, just like the Pharisees.

Others feel the liberty to keep on in their sinful practices without guilt, and so they don’t hide that fact, for they feel God’s grace gives them free license to keep on in their sinful practices while promising them heaven as their eternal destiny. For, they have convinced themselves that God’s grace requires nothing of them other than some obscure “faith” which is not biblical faith at all, for it does not submit to God or his purposes.

And, so we have a whole lot of people in our church congregations who are living for the flesh convinced that heaven is their eternal destiny and that God is smiling on them even in their willful rebellion against him. But, the scriptures make it quite clear that if we walk (in practice, in lifestyle) according to our flesh, we are going to die in our sins, no matter what we profess with our lips. So, don’t be fooled! We will all reap what we sow (See: Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8).

The Letters

An Original Work / December 17, 2013

Based off Revelation 2-3

To the angels of all the churches write:

These are the words of your Lord and your God.

I know all your deeds, and your witness, too,

And who holds to My words and tells what’s true.

I know all your hard work and your perseverance,

Yet I hold against you: you’ve forsaken Me.

Listen to what I say to you.

You have people there who deny My name,

And who put the cross of Christ up to shame.

They entice the people to Me, profane,

And their worship of Me is all in vain.

They are so adult’rous as they chase their idols,

And you put up with them easily enough.

Listen to what I say to you.

You give off an image of godliness,

But what you present is so fraudulent,

Or else you lack passion for Jesus Christ,

So you look to others to tell what’s right.

I say turn from your sin, or you will face judgment.

He who overcomes will have eternal life.

Listen to what I say to you.

I know your afflictions and poverty;

How you suffer for your Lord patiently.

Do not fear the devil and company.

You be faithful to your Lord endlessly.

I know all your weakness and your dedication.

You have kept My Word and not denied your Lord.

I will write on you My new name.

https://vimeo.com/114655138

Saved by Grace through Faith

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Eph. 2:8-9 ESV

This passage of scripture is a foundational scripture to the Christian faith, but it is probably the most widely misinterpreted and misunderstood passage of scripture with regard to our salvation from sin by God’s grace.

And, that is because it is often taught out of context – out of both the immediate context, and out of the context of the whole of the book of Ephesians, as well as out of the context of the consistent teachings on salvation throughout the New Testament.

So, let’s break it down and see what it is really saying, in context.

First of all, let’s look at the meaning of the word “grace.” It means God’s favor, his kindness extended towards us, which is a gift to us. That means there is nothing we can do to deserve or to earn it. He gives it freely of himself. So, not one of us can boast that somehow we did something in our own flesh to accomplish our own salvation from sin. We did not! We can’t!

But, do we have a part in it? Yes, we do! We have to believe in Jesus Christ and in what he did for us on that cross in providing the way for us to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God. Yet, I believe, contextually, that both God’s grace and the faith to believe in Jesus Christ are gifts from God. We just have to accept them into our lives and apply them in the ways that God’s Word teaches that we must apply them.

For, even the meaning of this word “faith” bears that out. The word means to be persuaded, and in this case to be divinely persuaded by God as to his will for our lives (1). So, not only is God’s grace to us not of ourselves, but the faith to believe in him is also not generated within ourselves. They both come from God, but they must both be activated within our hearts and lives. This is our heart response to God to what he freely has given us.

So, the faith that is required for us to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God, because it is divinely persuaded, and because it is gifted to us by God, will submit to our Lord and to his will for our lives. If it doesn’t, then it is not genuine faith. So, if you are told that you can believe in Jesus and that you don’t have to repent of your sins or walk in obedience to his commands, then that is not genuine faith. It is not from God!

What is the gift?

And, that brings me to the next point here which is the immediate context of these verses. Too many people freely quote these two verses and try to communicate that we have no part in our own salvation whatsoever, but that isn’t true. Can we produce it ourselves? No! Can we do anything to earn or to deserve it? No! Is it a gift from God? Yes! It is! But, what is the gift? That is the big question. And, the way to answer it is in the context.

For example, verses 8 and 9 are most always quoted alone, as though they stand alone, but do they? What about verse 10? It is part of the context.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

So, here we have the crux of it all. Yes, we are saved by God’s grace. And, yes, even the faith to believe in him is gifted to us by God. But, what are we saved from? And, what are we saved to? Those are the big questions.

Well, we have to look at other scriptures to tell us what we are saved from, but it is clear here what we are saved to. When we truly trust in Jesus Christ to be our Lord (owner-master) and Savior (from sin), we are yielding our lives now over to the control and ownership of Almighty God. For, when Jesus shed his blood for us on that cross, he did so in order to buy us back for God, so that we would now be God’s possession, so that we would now honor God with our lives and no longer live for ourselves (See: 1 Co. 6:20; Titus 2:14; 2 Co. 5:15, 21).

So, what are we saved to? To now be God’s possession, for him to be Lord (owner-master) of our lives, for us to now be his workmanship, and to do the good works which God prepared beforehand that we should not just do, but in which we are to walk (in lifestyle, in practice, as a matter of course in our daily conduct). And, we can learn what those good works are by reading the New Testament of the Bible one verse at a time.

But, we don’t do them in our own flesh, and we don’t do them to earn or to deserve our own salvation from sin. We are only able to do them in the power of God’s Spirit now living within us, under the guidance and direction of our Lord. So, they are God working through us, but as we cooperate with his work and we do what he says to do in his power and strength.

So, what is the gift? What are we saved from? And, what are we saved to? Well, surely we are saved from hell (eternal punishment and damnation) and we are saved to have eternal life with God. But, is that all there is to it? No!

From and To

Ok, here is where we look at the context of Ephesians, as a whole, and then compare that to other scriptures in the New Testament that say the same thing. But, there is not space here to discuss all of Ephesians, so I will focus on a few key verses in chapter 4 which tell us exactly what we are saved from and what we are saved to, i.e. what this free gift entails.

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph. 4:17-24 ESV

So, what is this saying? The way we should have learned Christ, if we were taught the truth in him, is that we should no longer live in sin like we did before we believed in Jesus with God-given faith. That is pretty clear, isn’t it? Our lives should no longer be given over to sensuality, greed and every kind of impurity and evil practice. Why? Because Jesus saved us from that life. He redeemed us back for God. He delivered us from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin by his grace, through God-given faith in him.

The truth in Christ Jesus, i.e. the way in which we come to know him, which is by God’s grace, through God-given faith in him, is by putting off our old self-life by dying with Christ to sin – to all that is of the flesh which is corrupt through deceitful desires. These are to no longer be a part of our lives. And, then we are to be transformed (metamorphosis) of the Spirit of God away from those old lives of living for sin and self to new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord, which are created in Christ Jesus to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. This is God’s gift of grace to us!

But, this is not the only place it says this. This is taught all throughout the New Testament, over and over and over again. We are taught that Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24). We are taught that he died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us (2 Co. 5:15). And, we are taught that belief in him means we are crucified with Christ in death to sin so that we might walk with Christ in his righteousness (See: Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Tit. 2:11-14, etc).

And, we must understand here, as well, that this is not optional. And, we need to understand, too, that our salvation is not past tense only. We are saved (past), but we are being saved (present and ongoing), and we will be saved (future) when Christ returns for us and our salvation is complete.

Thus, scripture teaches that salvation is not some one-time experience, we then live our lives, and one day we go to heaven. Scripture teaches our salvation from sin as continuous, and as a walk of faith in Jesus Christ whereby we die daily to sin and self, and whereby we daily put on the armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us, and whereby daily we walk (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit of God and not according to our flesh. And, this must happen if we want to have eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8).

So, if we want to be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God, and if we want to apply Ephesians 2:8-9 to our lives, then we must understand what it is saying, and we must apply it in the context in which it is written, and we must compare it to other scriptures on the subject of salvation. For, it is the truth which will set us free. So, know the truth, believe the truth, and walk the truth in obedience with your Lord, and you will be saved from your sins and you will have eternal life with God.

Your Servant  

An Original Work / September 21, 2011

Lord, I love to have You near me

As I go throughout my day,

Walking daily in Your footsteps,

As I humbly pray.

List’ning to You, hear You teaching

Me to live and work for You,

Lord, I pray You lead and guide me

Daily in Your truth.

Lord, I want to be Your witness,

Telling others of Your grace;

Telling how they can be set free

Of their sins today;

Share with them the love of Jesus,

He died on a cruel tree,

So that we’d be forgiven

For all eternity.

Lord, I want to serve You only,

As I bow on bended knee,

Making You my Lord and master,

And Your servant be.

Humbly walking in obedience,

Doing what You say to me,

Lord, may I be an example

Of one who’s set free.

https://vimeo.com/126318100

(1)       https://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm

P.S. If you have questions about any of this, you are free to ask away and I will do my best, by God’s grace, and in his power at work within me, to answer your questions. Your comments are welcome, as well.

What's Our Part?

Hebrews 4:1-2 ESV (Read vv. 1-10)

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

The rest this is speaking of is God’s eternal rest promised to us who are trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. It is our salvation from bondage to sin and from the punishment of sin (eternal damnation). And, it is eternal life with God beginning at the moment we believe in Jesus, which is evidenced by our turning away from our lifestyles of sin to follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his will and to his ways.

But, it will not be complete until Jesus returns for us, his bride, and he takes us to be with him for forever, and our marriage to him is then consummated. That is when our salvation, our eternal rest, will be complete, when we enter into God’s Holy presence face to face.

So, how do we enter this rest? We do so by faith in Jesus Christ who gave his life up for us on a cross so that we could die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. This faith to believe in him is a gift from God and it is divinely persuaded by God, for not one of us can come to faith in Jesus Christ unless the Father in heaven first draws us to Christ.

Thus, this is not something we do in our own flesh or in our own willpower. We can’t do anything in and of ourselves to earn or to deserve our own salvation. Thus, this is the work of the Holy Spirit in persuading us to believe in Jesus and in transforming our hearts away from our sin to follow our Lord in obedience. But, it requires us to submit to the Lord and to cooperate with his work of salvation in our hearts and lives (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).

“Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden your hearts.” V. 7

For, combining the message of the gospel we have heard with faith cannot happen if we continue in lifestyles of disobedience to our Lord. So, this is a warning to all who think they believe in Jesus, and who think they have heaven secured, to not take God’s grace for granted, and to not take lightly his words to us when he says that we must die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness if we want to have eternal life with him (Lu. 9:23-25).

Hebrews 4:11-13 ESV

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Ok, this sounds like works-based salvation, but it isn’t. Our salvation is the working of the Holy Spirit of God from beginning to end. We cannot be saved from our own sins or enter into God’s eternal rest by striving in our own flesh in trying to be good enough for God. We have to let go and let God. We have to humble ourselves, repent of our sins and trust the Lord Jesus now with our lives, and walk in his ways in the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

For Jesus didn’t die that horrible death on a cross, becoming sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God, just so we can escape hell and go to heaven when we die. And, this is where a lot of people get off track, I believe. They have this whole wrong concept of God’s grace to us. It is not just a get-out-of-jail-free card. It is deliverance from our self-life, from our sin-life, and it is empowerment of the Spirit of God to walk in holiness.

This is the purpose why Jesus gave his life up for us that we might die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness; that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. For, his grace to us is not carte blanche to continue in sinful practices without guilt. His grace, instead, instructs us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ to return (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15, 21; Tit. 2:11-14; Eph. 4:17-24; Rom. 8:1-17).

We don’t “get saved” and then heaven is secured us no matter how we live our lives from that moment forward. God is not oblivious to continued sin in our lives, either. He still sees when we sin, which is evidenced by all the warnings and instructions written to the church in scripture regarding sin in their lives and within the church congregations. And, he says that if we continue to make sin our practice, we DON’T have eternal life with God, and we won’t enter into his rest (Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:19-21).

All of us are going to reap what we sow in this life. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction (decay, death). But, if we sow to please the Spirit of God, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life (Gal. 6:7-8). So, don’t take these warnings lightly. God means business about sin!

Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Our Lord is not without sympathy to what we go through every day and the struggles we face and the temptations which present themselves to us on a daily basis. For, when Jesus walked this earth, he suffered like we suffer, and he was tempted in all ways in which we are tempted, yet without sin.

Yet, that is why he made that way of escape for us. That is why he put his life on the line for you and for me so that we don’t have to be in bondage to sin, but we can walk in victory over darkness. His grace provided that way out from underneath the weight of sin, yet not just the punishment of sin, but the addiction to sin. And, his grace gives us the empowerment to now live for God and to walk in his righteousness and to please him.

So, the grace we need to help us in time of need and in time of temptation is not a pat on the back to make us feel better, or an assurance that it is ok if we sin, or for us to just claim who we are in Christ to relieve the guilt of our disobedience. No! His grace that helps us in our time of need is that which strengthens us to say “NO!” to the flesh, to resist Satan, to flee temptation, and to walk with God in holiness, in honesty and in purity.

So many liars and deceivers these days are trying to convince people they can be saved from their sins and still walk in darkness, i.e. that they can still hold on to their sinful practices. They teach God’s grace as though it is fire insurance against hell while they continue to operate their lives like hell. And, so they have a whole lot of people convinced they are saved from their sins and going to heaven when they die while they still live in the flesh.

So, this passage of scripture, and others like this, dispel that theory, and they warn those who profess faith in Jesus Christ to make sure they don’t fall short of entering into God’s eternal rest because of disobedience. For, genuine faith in Jesus Christ dies with Christ to sin and it lives with Christ to righteousness. It walks (in lifestyle) not after the flesh but according to the Spirit of God. So, we must continue to walk with our Lord in obedience to his will if we want to have eternal life with God and to enter his rest (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Tit. 2:11-14).

The Letters

An Original Work / December 17, 2013

Based off Revelation 2-3

To the angels of all the churches write:

These are the words of your Lord and your God.

I know all your deeds, and your witness, too,

And who holds to My words and tells what’s true.

I know all your hard work and your perseverance,

Yet I hold against you: you’ve forsaken Me.

Listen to what I say to you.

You have people there who deny My name,

And who put the cross of Christ up to shame.

They entice the people to Me, profane,

And their worship of Me is all in vain.

They are so adult’rous as they chase their idols,

And you put up with them easily enough.

Listen to what I say to you.

You give off an image of godliness,

But what you present is so fraudulent,

Or else you lack passion for Jesus Christ,

So you look to others to tell what’s right.

I say turn from your sin, or you will face judgment.

He who overcomes will have eternal life.

Listen to what I say to you.

I know your afflictions and poverty;

How you suffer for your Lord patiently.

Do not fear the devil and company.

You be faithful to your Lord endlessly.

I know all your weakness and your dedication.

You have kept My Word and not denied your Lord.

I will write on you My new name.

https://vimeo.com/114655138

It's Sad!

An Original Work / October 26, 2019

It’s sad, you know,

Watching someone you love

Wandering so,

Seeming to go nowhere.

Each day’s no

Different from the other.

It’s the same old, same old

Day after day after day.

No purpose or direction

Seems to be found.

Just existing,

Putting in their time.

Sleep, awake, eat, play.

What you going to do today?

Same old, same old.

Not much new.

Same old patterns

Come into play

Day after day

After day.

So empty, it seems,

So focused on self-pleasure.

Not much giving out of oneself

To help another.

Seems to be no

Motivation to change direction.

Seems content just

Going through a daily routine.

Sad to see, you know.

So sad to see.

Lovers of Self

2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

The people this is speaking about are not just out in the world. They are within the gatherings of the church, too. And, they are among the leaders of the church congregations, as well. They are many who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and who give off an image of godliness, while they engage in all sorts of evil and wickedness when they think no one is looking.

But, this is not anything new. This has been going on since the church was first formed. For, there are many warnings in scripture about such as this. But, in our day and age, it has become epidemic within the gatherings of the church, as well as out in the world. For, being lovers of self is what today’s culture is all about. We live in a Me-Me society and culture, even within the gatherings of the church.

Even the gospel of Jesus Christ has been altered to gratify the sinful cravings of our flesh and to allow us to live self-consumed lives while claiming heaven as our eternal destiny. We no longer are required to die to sin and self and to follow our Lord in obedience. Instead, we can go on in our sinful addictions without guilt while claiming that God’s grace covers it all.

And, everything seems to be centered around self-pleasure and us being entertained, even within the gatherings of the church, and even in what are supposed to be “worship” services, giving true honor and praise to God. In America, at least, most homes have TV sets and most people now have smart phones, which are little pocket computers which give access to a whole world of evil at one’s finger tips in the privacy of a corner in a room.

Even conversations among those who profess to be followers of Christ are often centered around entertainment – social media, games, movies, TV shows, videos, sports, and music, etc. They say they are followers of Christ, but by their conversations you would not know it. It sounds more like they are followers of the world, instead, thus denying God’s power in their lives.

2 Timothy 3:6-9 ESV

For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

There are many false shepherds of the people who capture the minds of those who are weak spiritually, who are naïve, and who are gullible and vulnerable to being led astray. And, they are able to do this because so many people today are caught up in the world of entertainment and this whole Me-Me culture, and thus they are looking for what is going to gratify their flesh.

Our whole culture, both in the world and in today’s modern church sets the stage for this. This whole diluted cheap grace gospel sets the stage for this, too. For, if we have this belief that nothing is required of us other than some surface-level acknowledgment of Jesus as Savior of the world, and that we are not required to die to sin and live to Christ to have eternal life with God, then that opens the door wide for us to live with an entitlement mindset.

So, these wolves in sheep’s clothing are welcome in the churches (the majority of them) because they have messages to give the people which will tickle their itching ears, and which will appease their flesh, and which will not make them uncomfortable about the fact they are still living in sin. And, the people are so duped by them they don’t even realize that the truth is being opposed and that what they are believing is a lie straight from hell.

2 Timothy 3:10-13 ESV

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

This, however, should be what describes true followers of Jesus Christ. We should be those who follow the teachings of Jesus and of his New Testament apostles. We should be those whose conduct reflects that of a follower of Jesus, and whose aim in life is to do what our Lord says for us to do, and to bring glory to his name. We should be those whose faith is not of the flesh but of the Spirit of God, and thus it submits to God and to his will for our lives. And, we should be those who are steadfast in faith and in love and who do not give the devil a foothold in our lives.

We should not be those that the world or the worldly church loves. The world and the worldly church should hate us. They should reject us and persecute us because we are different, because we do stand on the truth of God’s Word, and because we don’t compromise truth or morality in order to be accepted by others. We should be those who not only live the truth, but who speak the truth in love, and so we shouldn’t be popular and well liked.

And, while this is happening, those who are imposters, who only make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, while in secret they engage in all sorts of evil, they secretly entice others to sin against God, too. And, they promise them heaven when they die, even though they tell them that they don’t have to die to their sins or live for the Lord to have eternal life with God.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 ESV

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So, the encouragement to us here, who profess faith in Jesus Christ, is to not be like those who are led astray and who feel they don’t have to obey Jesus Christ. We should be those who are committed to Christ and to his service and to walking in obedience to him because we love him. We should be those who are daily putting sin and self to death, by the Spirit of God. And, the Lord should be truly Lord (owner-master) of our lives, and we should be slaves to his righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).

We should daily be in the Word of God, studying it in context, ready and willing to obey whatever the Lord has to teach us through it. We should be continually in a spirit of prayer to where we can hear the Spirit speaking to us at any moment and to where we can speak to the Lord any time of the day or night concerning what is on our hearts. And, we need to be doers of the Word and not hearers only, for we must put the Word in practice.

For, Jesus Christ is not just our Savior. He is not just our Lord. He is to be our life! And, he is the one to be directing our lives, not the culture, and not the world, and not these wolves in sheep’s clothing who are leading the people to follow their flesh rather than to follow God. Our lives should be about God and our desire should be to live for him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in all circumstances with all people. And, this is because we love HIM.

The Letters

An Original Work / December 17, 2013

Based off Revelation 2-3

To the angels of all the churches write:

These are the words of your Lord and your God.

I know all your deeds, and your witness, too,

And who holds to My words and tells what’s true.

I know all your hard work and your perseverance,

Yet I hold against you: you’ve forsaken Me.

Listen to what I say to you.

You have people there who deny My name,

And who put the cross of Christ up to shame.

They entice the people to Me, profane,

And their worship of Me is all in vain.

They are so adult’rous as they chase their idols,

And you put up with them easily enough.

Listen to what I say to you.

You give off an image of godliness,

But what you present is so fraudulent,

Or else you lack passion for Jesus Christ,

So you look to others to tell what’s right.

I say turn from your sin, or you will face judgment.

He who overcomes will have eternal life.

Listen to what I say to you.

I know your afflictions and poverty;

How you suffer for your Lord patiently.

Do not fear the devil and company.

You be faithful to your Lord endlessly.

I know all your weakness and your dedication.

You have kept My Word and not denied your Lord.

I will write on you My new name.

https://vimeo.com/114655138

The Senses

The Senses

An Original Work / October 25, 2019

What’s that you hear?

Whispers in the darkness,

Rumors flying everywhere,

Truth not to be found.

What’s your response?

Listen with attention?

Engaging yourself in it?

Or, do you walk away?

What’s that you see?

Sexual innuendos

So loaded with perversion,

Purity not found.

Do you give answer?

Or entertain it?

Join in with laughter?

Or, you reject it?

What’s that you taste?

More food than needed –

Wisdom not heeded,

Our lust we feeded.

What can we do?

Say “No” to extras,

Remove from table,

Know Christ is able.

What’s that you touch?

Self with perversion,

Idols in making –

Wisdom not taking.

How to get out it?

Trust God, don’t doubt him.

Do what he tells you.

Surrender to Him.

What’s that you smell?

Sweet sacrifices?

Or, your devices?

For sin entices.

How can you lick it?

His Word, stick to it.

No hesitation.

Give Him ovations.