Being Saved

Video Talk

 

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV

 

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.”

 

This is Paul speaking to the church. What is the gospel he preached to them? He taught that Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and that we might live for the Lord and no longer for ourselves. He taught that by Jesus shedding his blood for us on that cross that he bought us back for God (he redeemed us) so that we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15; 1 Co 6:19-20).

 

He also taught that by faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. For our old self is crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin. So we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, and if obedience is not what we obey, it will end in death, not in life eternal.

 

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Eph 4:17-24; Tit 2:11-14; cf. Luke 9:23-26]

 

Now, if this is the gospel we believed, and in which we stand, we are being saved by it. And this is progressive salvation, which is what the New Testament Scriptures teach. They do not teach “Once saved always saved.” They do not teach that we can make a once in a lifetime profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now all our sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed us when we die, regardless of how we live.

 

They teach we are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns for his bride and he takes with him those who are walking according to the Spirit and who are not walking according to the flesh, i.e. who are not walking in sin. And that is when our salvation will be complete and our marriage to Christ consummated, and not until then, and provided that we continue to walk in obedience to our Lord and in holiness and righteousness, and not in sin.

 

[Matt 24:9-14; Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Jn 8:31-32; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 11:17-24; 1 Co 15:2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 1 Jn 2:24-25]

 

But we are only being saved IF we hold fast to the truth of the gospel which Jesus, Paul and the other apostles taught (read in context), unless we have believed in vain (useless, pointless, hopeless). So, if we don’t hold fast to the truth of the gospel, then we aren’t being saved, and so our faith is hopeless, for it is not God-given faith but of the flesh. And this means that we are not dying to sin daily and denying self and following Jesus in obedience, but we are still living to the flesh, which means we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what we professed with our lips.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aBUQL-Z8Gw

Caution: This link may contain ads

 

Full Release  

 

An Original Work / April 15, 2012

 

Walking daily with my Savior

brings me joy.

Loving Father; precious Jesus;

He’s my Savior and my Lord.

Gently leads me; follow Him.

I’ve invited Him within.

Now abiding in His presence,

oh, what peace.

From my self-life

He has brought me,

By His mercy, full release.

 

Hope and comfort,

peace and safety Jesus brings

When I daily bow before Him;

Obey freely; do His will.

Follow Him where’er He leads.

Listen to Him; His words heed.

Now obeying his words fully,

oh, what love

That He gives me

through salvation,

By His Spirit, from above.

 

Loving Father; precious Jesus,

He’s my friend.

With my Savior, by His Spirit,

I will endure to the end.

Share the gospel, tell what’s true.

Witness daily; His will do.

Tell the world of how their Savior

bled and died.

On a cruel cross He suffered

So that we might be alive.

 

https://vimeo.com/115169203

Are You Chosen by God?

1 Thessalonians 1:4-7

 

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

 

We read in Matthew 22:14 ESV: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” The many are urged to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and to leave their lives of sin behind them to follow Jesus in obedience, but the chosen are those who follow Jesus Christ in obedience and in surrender to his will, and who walk in holiness and in righteousness in the power of God. And it is obvious that they are chosen by God because their actions reveal that their faith is genuine and that it is not lip service only.

 

So, they don’t just listen to the word and then walk away and forget what they heard, but they become doers of the word and not hearers only. They apply the word of the Lord (under the New Covenant) to their daily lives, and they put it into practice in their lives. And they cooperate with the Lord in becoming like Jesus more and more, and they do not continue in deliberate and habitual sin. It doesn’t mean they never sin, but that sin is not their practice, but righteousness and obedience are what they practice.

 

Those who are truly following Jesus Christ with their lives, in surrender to his will, and in obedience to his commands (New Covenant), will be hated and persecuted, even by others who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are still walking according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit. But this can serve to actually strengthen them in their walks of faith and to make them even more determined to stay the course and to keep following the Lord in obedience and in surrender to his will for their lives.

 

And those who are walking in genuine fellowship with the Lord, and not in sin, can be an example to other believers in Christ as to how they should live for the glory and praise of God. It doesn’t mean they are perfect in every way, for we won’t reach perfection until we go to be with Jesus for eternity, but that they are walking the walk and not just talking it. They are making righteousness and holiness and obedience to God their practice, and sin is not their practice, for daily they die to sin and live to righteousness.

 

1 Thessalonians 1:8-10

 

“For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

 

Now those who are truly walking in obedience to the Lord, and in surrender to his will, are also those who are not silent about their faith in Jesus Christ and about his gospel, but they are sharing the truth of the gospel with others, and they are encouraging their fellow Christians to walk in holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to the Lord, and not in sin. But it is not talk only. They are walking the walk, and it is obvious to those who have discernment to know when faith is genuine and when it is not.

 

For when we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine faith in him, we die with him to sin and we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. So our new lives in Christ should not resemble our old lives of living in sin. Now that doesn’t mean we become perfect immediately, but there should be an obvious transformation which has taken place to where others can see that we have turned from sin and from idolatry to serve the living and true God.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Full Release  

 

An Original Work / April 15, 2012

 

Walking daily with my Savior

brings me joy.

Loving Father; precious Jesus;

He’s my Savior and my Lord.

Gently leads me; follow Him.

I’ve invited Him within.

Now abiding in His presence,

oh, what peace.

From my self-life

He has brought me,

By His mercy, full release.

 

Hope and comfort,

peace and safety Jesus brings

When I daily bow before Him;

Obey freely; do His will.

Follow Him where’er He leads.

Listen to Him; His words heed.

Now obeying his words fully,

oh, what love

That He gives me

through salvation,

By His Spirit, from above.

 

Loving Father; precious Jesus,

He’s my friend.

With my Savior, by His Spirit,

I will endure to the end.

Share the gospel, tell what’s true.

Witness daily; His will do.

Tell the world of how their Savior

bled and died.

On a cruel cross He suffered

So that we might be alive.

 

https://vimeo.com/115169203

God is Not Pleased

1 Corinthians 10:1-5 ESV

 

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”

 

I believe this can be paralleled over to the church in America today, not the part about Moses, but the whole concept of how our Lord has watched over and provided for his church, and he has given them spiritual nourishment down through the generations. But with most of them he is not pleased because they have deserted him to follow after the gods of this world and the pleasures of the flesh. They have rejected the Lord in favor of another Jesus and a different gospel other than the one they should have learned.

 

1 Corinthians 10:6-11 ESV

 

“Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.’ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

 

Now, the things that took place with the children of Israel happened as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. And they were written down for us for our instruction as a warning to us to not follow in their footsteps. For most of them were killed in the wilderness because of their rebellion against the Lord in continuing in their idolatry and in sexual immorality and in revelry and wild parties and in grumbling against the Lord and in putting him to the test. But the majority are not taking this to heart.

 

And that is because it appears that the majority have bought into a lie and they have convinced themselves that they can make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future) and they are on their way to heaven, regardless of how they live. And so they go on in their sins because they believe that their salvation and eternal life are secure and that nothing can take that away from them, not even their continued and deliberate and habitual sins. But that is a lie!

 

But many of them like that lie because it tells them that they can continue living in sin and still have heaven as their eternal destiny. And so they have no motivation to change because they have convinced themselves that change is not necessary, and that change will make no difference in where they will spend eternity. And so they profess faith in Jesus Christ, but by their lifestyles and their habits they deny the Lordship of Christ over their lives, and they become their own lords governing their own lives.

 

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 ESV

 

“Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

 

So, there are many professing Christians here in America, and in other countries, too, who think they stand secure in Christ because of a one-time confession (or profession) of Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, but while they continue in deliberate and habitual sin without regard for our Lord’s commands. So, if this is where you are, then take heed, for you are already fallen. And those whose faith is genuine need to be careful that you don’t get overconfident lest you fall, for pride comes before a fall.

 

We must all put on the armor of God daily, and daily we must all die with Christ to sin and walk in obedience to his commands. And we must be on our guard against the attacks and the temptations of the enemy, for he can be very subtle in his tactics. And we should never let our guard down thinking that we have somehow arrived. And if we are tempted to sin, then we should be ready with the armor of God to fight off that temptation in the power of God, as we are enabled by God to resist the enemy of our souls.

 

For Jesus already conquered death, Satan, sin and hell via his death and resurrection. He has already won this battle for us. He has already provided the way of escape. We just have to take the way he provided for us. We have to die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and we must walk in obedience to our Lord, by the Spirit, in walks of righteousness, to the glory and praise of God. And we must use that armor we have been given to fight off our enemy and his lies, like we truly believe that Jesus already won this.

 

Yet the many who are following after the lie and not after the truth are in for a rude awakening when they stand before the Lord one day. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. For many will stand before him on that day calling him Lord and proclaiming all the things they believe they did in his name, and he is going to say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they refused to obey the Lord and so be saved (Matthew 7:21-23).

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

What’s Important?

 

Christian brother, where are you?

Christian sister, and you, too.

What’s important? Do you know?

Does it matter? Does it show?

 

Your intentions, what are they?

Read your Bible, kneel and pray?

Have devotions here and there?

Share the gospel anywhere?

 

Some of you are quite sincere,

Follow Jesus, have Him near.

Hearts are given o’er to Christ.

Now to sin NOT are enticed.

 

Follow Jesus where He leads,

On His word you daily feed.

Share the gospel, Christ to know,

Hearts sincere, and not for show.

 

But while others fall in sin,

Not the souls of folks to win.

Self-absorbed and self-defiled,

Self-indulgent all the while.

 

Make professions, not in fact,

Their confessions not intact.

Love their idols, play their games,

And they remain just the same.

 

So, the calling here is this,

Don’t let your faith be amiss.

Turn from your sins, follow God,

Righteousness now you applaud.

 

Faithful you in service be,

Walking with Christ tenderly,

Follow Him in what He says,

Your faith in Him now express.

 

An Original Work / October 1, 2022

Accepting a Different Gospel?

Video Talk

 

2 Corinthians 11:1-4 ESV

 

“I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.”

 

Paul was a servant of the Lord who shared with the people the gospel of Jesus Christ. And not only does the gospel teach us that by faith in Jesus Christ we must die with Christ to sin, and we must live to him and to his righteousness, in obedience to his commands, but when we believe in Jesus we enter into a marriage covenant with him, and now he is our husband and we are his bride. But this is like the Jewish marriage of the Scriptures.

 

So, the Jewish marriage covenant of the Scriptures involved the couple signing this covenant of marriage so that essentially they were now married, but now the husband had to go prepare a place for his bride and then he would come back and take her to live with him, and it was then that the marriage was consummated and not until then. In the meanwhile, they were to remain pure virgins.

 

Well, Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us and one day he is going to return for us who love him and who are walking in obedience to his commands and who are living in righteousness and not in sin. And he is going to take us to be with him for eternity, and then our marriage to him will be consummated (completed), which is when our salvation will be completed, too, and not until then. But while we are waiting, we are to remain pure in our relationships with our Lord (Titus 2:11-14).

 

So, this is why Paul said he had betrothed the believers to one husband, Jesus Christ, to present them to Christ as pure virgins. For he was instrumental of God in introducing them to Christ via the preaching of the gospel. And Paul definitely taught purity of devotion to Christ and dying with Christ to sin and living to God and to his righteousness, in obedience to the Lord. But now he feared that they might be being led astray from their pure devotion to Christ.

 

For there were people among them who were teaching them another Jesus than the one Paul and the other apostles proclaimed, and a different gospel from the one that they had originally accepted. And they were not resisting these false teachings or these false teachers, but they were putting up with them easily enough. And so Paul had legitimate cause for concern.

 

And sadly this parallels over to the present condition of much of the church here in America today where so many people now who profess faith in Jesus Christ have adopted another Jesus and a different gospel from the Jesus and the gospel that Jesus lived and taught and that the apostles taught and lived. For they are believing that they can make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now all their sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed them when they die, regardless of how they live their lives.

 

But Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow him in obedience. For if he hold on to (try to save) our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we lose our old lives, i.e. we die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, in obedience to his commands (New Covenant), then we will save our lives for eternity (Luke 9:23-26; cf. Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14).

 

And he said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. For many are going to stand before him one day claiming all the things they believed they did in his name, but he is going to say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they refused to obey the Lord and to do what he said (Matthew 7:21-23).

 

So, please know that a mere confession or profession of faith in Jesus Christ is not enough to secure you salvation from sin or heaven as your eternal destiny. You must walk (in conduct, in practice) no longer according to the flesh but now according to the Spirit. Sin must no longer be your practice, your habit, but now righteousness and obedience to our Lord must be your practice. This is not saying, however, that you will never sin again, but that sin is not what you live by, but you now live by faith in Jesus Christ, for the Lord Jesus Christ in walks of surrender to the Lord and in obedience to him.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhUxY_qW_G8

Caution: This link may contain ads

 

I Pray for Them

 

An Original Work / June 4, 2013

Based off John 17

 

“Glorify Your Son, that Your Son

May glorify our God in heav’n.

Father, You granted Him all power

And all authority over men,

That He might give eternal life

To all those whom now

You have given Him.”

 

“This now then is eternal life:

That they may know You,

Father, and Your Son;

That they may know the only true God,

And Jesus Christ whom the Father sent.

I have brought You the glory by

Finishing the work that You’ve given Me.”

 

“I have shown You to those whom

You gave to Me out of the world;

They were Yours. You gave them to Me

And they have obeyed Your words

And they accepted them. They knew

That I came from You, and they believed

With certainty, I was sent.”

 

“Holy Father, I pray for them by the

Power of Your name: Protect them,

So that they may be one as we are,

For they are still living in this world.

I have given them Your word;

Because of Your word, the world

Has hated them.”

 

“I pray they may have the full measure of

My joy now living within them.

Father, I pray You sanctify them

By Your word; truly Your word is truth.

As You sent Me into the world,

I send them to tell the world to repent.”

 

https://vimeo.com/116141024

When They Heard This

Many signs and wonders were regularly being done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

 

Acts 5:19-21 ESV

 

“But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ‘Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.’ And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.”

 

I always love reading this Scripture passage! It does my heart good!! For if God opens a door, no man (or woman) can close it, and if he closes a door, no man (or woman) can open it. For our God is still fully sovereign over all that he created. He is still the one in control. No devil nor demons nor any human nor any creature on this earth can thwart God’s will and purposes and plans for us. And if we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, well that is within his sovereign will, too.

 

But the other thing I love about this is that the apostles showed no fear. Even though they had been arrested and put in prison, when the angel of God spoke to them and told them to go stand in the temple and speak to the people the words of life, they did exactly what the angel told them to do, knowing full well that they might be arrested again or beaten or killed.

 

But when the religious rulers gathered together and they sent to the prison for the apostles, the officers did not find them in the prison, and this was reported to the council, which then had the council members perplexed. And then they were told that the apostles were standing in the temple teaching the people. Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

 

Acts 5:27-32 ESV

 

“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.’”

 

And, of course, I love this, too! For the apostles were not threatened at all by their opponents’ threats. For they knew that God was in control of the situation. So, even though they were reminded that they had been instructed to not teach in the name of Jesus, they did it anyway. And so the apostles answered them, “We must obey God rather than men.” Amen! And then they went on to proclaim the gospel message.

 

The apostles told them that the man Jesus, who they had killed by hanging him on a tree, God had raised from the dead, and he exalted him as Lord and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. But they didn’t stop there, but they went on to tell of the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to all those who obey him. Amen! There you have it! Repentance and obedience are critical to both the true message of the gospel and to our salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

 

So, two things here. First, when God has called you, and he leads you to speak his words to the people, his instructions trump any orders from human beings. But let me say this here. It is best to do this in submission to the authorities if at all possible. And where that is not possible, sometimes the Lord leads us to just leave and to go someplace else where we can share the truth of the gospel. But in times of severe persecution, where we are not given permission anywhere to share the gospel, then the Lord may direct us to go against the authorities in order to get the truth out to the people, even if it means our arrests or persecution or even death.

 

Secondly, when sharing the gospel message, make certain that you are sharing the whole counsel of God and not a diluted feel-good message that promises people salvation from sin, all sins forgiven, and heaven as their eternal destiny without repentance and without obedience required. For if repentance and ongoing obedience to our Lord are not required, then it is not the true gospel of our salvation, but an attempt by humans to dilute the gospel to make it more appealing and acceptable to human flesh.

 

For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow him in obedience. For if we hold on to (save) our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we lose our old lives for the sake of Jesus, i.e. if we die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, then we have eternal life with God and the hope of heaven when we die, providing we continue in those walks of faith steadfast to the very end.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

I Pray for Them

 

An Original Work / June 4, 2013

Based off John 17

 

“Glorify Your Son, that Your Son

May glorify our God in heav’n.

Father, You granted Him all power

And all authority over men,

That He might give eternal life

To all those whom now

You have given Him.”

 

“This now then is eternal life:

That they may know You,

Father, and Your Son;

That they may know the only true God,

And Jesus Christ whom the Father sent.

I have brought You the glory by

Finishing the work that You’ve given Me.”

 

“I have shown You to those whom

You gave to Me out of the world;

They were Yours. You gave them to Me

And they have obeyed Your words

And they accepted them. They knew

That I came from You, and they believed

With certainty, I was sent.”

 

“Holy Father, I pray for them by the

Power of Your name: Protect them,

So that they may be one as we are,

For they are still living in this world.

I have given them Your word;

Because of Your word, the world

Has hated them.”

 

“I pray they may have the full measure of

My joy now living within them.

Father, I pray You sanctify them

By Your word; truly Your word is truth.

As You sent Me into the world,

I send them to tell the world to repent.”

 

https://vimeo.com/116141024

We're Not Of the World

John 17:12-19 ESV

 

“While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

 

Jesus Christ prayed this prayer to God the Father right after Judas went out to betray Jesus and right before Jesus was falsely arrested, put on trial, and put to death on a cross. This prayer which Jesus prayed for his disciples actually begins in verse 6, so I encourage you to read the entire prayer.

 

Jesus knew that his time on this earth was coming to a close and that he was about to be put to death on a cross, and so he was praying to God the Father for him to watch over his disciples because Jesus would no longer be here to do that, although he did rise from the dead, and he did visit with his disciples for a short period of time after his resurrection before he ascended back to the Father in heaven. So, he did have a little more time with them.

 

But this prayer wasn’t just for them, for I believe it covers all the Lord’s true disciples from the time right before Jesus’ crucifixion to our present day and beyond, until Jesus returns for his bride and he takes us to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation will be completed, and not until then. And this is provided that we walk in obedience to our Lord, and not in sin, and that we live holy and righteous lives, to the glory of God, in his power and strength, until the day we go home to be with Jesus.

 

It is encouraging to know that God is watching over us and that we are not on our own, make it or break it. But we have to cooperate with God’s work in our lives. We have to walk in obedience to his commands. He doesn’t do it for us. He empowers us to live godly lives, but he doesn’t turn us into puppets on a string, and he pulls the strings, and therefore we perform. By God’s grace we must walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. For if we walk in sin, instead, we don’t have eternal life with God.

 

Now Jesus Christ has given us his word, too. In fact, we have the written word of God that we can pick up and read for ourselves, at least here in America we do. And I know not everyone has that. But with the internet, I would think that the Scriptures would now be more readily available to more people. At least, I hope they are. But for those of us of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, we have the Word living within us in the person of the Holy Spirit who was given to us to teach us all things pertaining to the Word.

 

But because we have the Word living within us, and because we have the written word of God, and because we are applying the truths of God’s word to our lives, and we are walking in obedience to our Lord, and many (or some) of us are sharing the truths of God’s word with others, the ungodly of this world who are still walking in sin are likely to reject, hate, and even persecute us for righteousness’ sake. And many of the ungodly are those who also profess faith in Jesus Christ, some of whom are pastors.

 

Now, I think this next subject can be a little confusing if we do not explain it well. Jesus has sent us out into the world to love the people of the world and to share the gospel of our salvation with them, i.e. to be Christ’s representatives to the people of the world. But we are not to be of the world. We are not to participate in what is evil and wicked and ungodly. We are not to be like the world. We are not to immerse ourselves in our culture. But we are to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ, if indeed we are.

 

So, being separate from the world is not a physical separation but a spiritual separation. The physical aspect of it would only be in the sense that we are not to be partners with the world. We are not to be in fellowship with the world. We are not to join in with the world in agreement with them and their philosophies and beliefs and practices. We are to live in the world, and we are to associate with the people of the world, but we are not to be like the world in thought, character, and deed.

 

So, Jesus’ prayer to the Father was not that he physically take us out of the world, but that we would be kept from the evil one. For when we live among the people of the world we are going to be exposed to all sorts of evils which we must guard our hearts and minds against, and which we must refuse to be party to. There will be all kinds of temptations thrown our way, but we must resist them in the power of God’s Spirit, and by God’s grace we must continue to walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

 

And then Jesus’ prayer for his disciples was that we would be sanctified (made holy, purified) by the truth of God’s Holy Word. And this indeed is what we are to be, God’s holy people. And “holy” means to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. And so it is critical that we are in the Word, drinking in from the Word the truths of the gospel of our salvation, and that we then, by God’s grace, are living out those truths in our daily lives.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Full Release  

 

An Original Work / April 15, 2012

 

Walking daily with my Savior

brings me joy.

Loving Father; precious Jesus;

He’s my Savior and my Lord.

Gently leads me; follow Him.

I’ve invited Him within.

Now abiding in His presence,

oh, what peace.

From my self-life

He has brought me,

By His mercy, full release.

 

Hope and comfort,

peace and safety Jesus brings

When I daily bow before Him;

Obey freely; do His will.

Follow Him where’er He leads.

Listen to Him; His words heed.

Now obeying his words fully,

oh, what love

That He gives me

through salvation,

By His Spirit, from above.

 

Loving Father; precious Jesus,

He’s my friend.

With my Savior, by His Spirit,

I will endure to the end.

Share the gospel, tell what’s true.

Witness daily; His will do.

Tell the world of how their Savior

bled and died.

On a cruel cross He suffered

So that we might be alive.

 

https://vimeo.com/115169203

Call on the Lord in Truth

Psalms 145:17-20 ESV

 

“The Lord is righteous in all his ways

    and kind in all his works.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,

    to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;

    he also hears their cry and saves them.

The Lord preserves all who love him,

    but all the wicked he will destroy.”

 

God is good, all the time. Even though he allows us to go through times of difficulty, and even though he permits us to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake, he is still good. And even though he sets boundaries for us, and he insists that we obey his commands (New Covenant), he is still good. And even though he establishes requirements for his promises to be fulfilled, and even though he sets stipulations regarding who can enter into his eternal kingdom and who can’t, he is still good, and he is kind (gracious).

 

And even though this passage is from the Old Testament, it is teaching what is taught in the New Testament, too. For the Lord is indeed near to those who call on him in truth. For if we do not call on him in truth, but we fake it, or we are misled, or we are self-deceived, or we embraced the lies because the lies let us keep on in our sin, then he is not near to us. For if we do not come to him in genuine God-given faith, but our faith is of the flesh, and so it does not lead us to die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, then we are not in relationship with our Lord Jesus.

 

And who are they who fear the Lord? They are those who honor him with their lives, who take his word seriously, and who apply its truths to their daily lives. They believe the Lord, and they believe that what he says he will do, he will do according to his word, whether it be promises, conditional upon us doing what he says, or whether it be warnings of judgment if we do not do what he says. So, they give the Lord the respect that is due him, and they worship him in truth by surrendering their lives to him to be lived for his purposes and for his glory and praise.

 

So, the Lord fulfills the desire of us who fear him, and that is because when we fear him, his desires become our desires. We desire him and his will for our lives, and we want to do what pleases him, and we want to obey his teachings and those of the New Testament apostles. And our will is to do his will and to go wherever he sends us and to do whatever he calls us to do.

 

He also hears our cries when we are going through times of difficulty and/or when we are being mistreated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake. And he preserves the lives of us who love him. And to love him is to obey him. And to preserve us is to protect, maintain, and sustain us by his love and by his power at work within our lives, as we cooperate fully with his work of grace in our lives, and we do what he says for us to do. He helps and he counsels and he strengthens us so that we can keep moving forward even against many obstacles and opposing forces.

 

But all the wicked he will destroy. And who are the wicked? They are all who practice wickedness. They are evildoers who make sin and evil deeds their practice, and for whom righteousness, godliness, and obedience to our Lord are NOT what they practice. And many of them may be those who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who are convinced that all their sins are forgiven and that heaven is their eternal destiny. But they deny Jesus Christ by their lifestyles and by their refusal to submit to him as Lord and to walk in obedience to his commands. So, they will be destroyed in the end.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

I Pray for Them

 

An Original Work / June 4, 2013

Based off John 17

 

“Glorify Your Son, that Your Son

May glorify our God in heav’n.

Father, You granted Him all power

And all authority over men,

That He might give eternal life

To all those whom now

You have given Him.”

 

“This now then is eternal life:

That they may know You,

Father, and Your Son;

That they may know the only true God,

And Jesus Christ whom the Father sent.

I have brought You the glory by

Finishing the work that You’ve given Me.”

 

“I have shown You to those whom

You gave to Me out of the world;

They were Yours. You gave them to Me

And they have obeyed Your words

And they accepted them. They knew

That I came from You, and they believed

With certainty, I was sent.”

 

“Holy Father, I pray for them by the

Power of Your name: Protect them,

So that they may be one as we are,

For they are still living in this world.

I have given them Your word;

Because of Your word, the world

Has hated them.”

 

“I pray they may have the full measure of

My joy now living within them.

Father, I pray You sanctify them

By Your word; truly Your word is truth.

As You sent Me into the world,

I send them to tell the world to repent.”

 

https://vimeo.com/116141024