“Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
“And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:1-5 NASB1995)
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be those who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as servants of Christ Jesus, and of his righteousness, in walks of surrender and in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. Our old lives of living in sin and for self are to be put behind us so that we can now follow the leading of God’s Holy Spirit in directing us where we are now to go, and in how we are to live for the glory of God.
For the way we all should have learned Christ is this: “if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:21-24 NASB1995)
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:11-14 NASB1995)
In other words, dying to sin and living to God and to his righteousness, in obedience to his commands in holy living, in the power of God, by the grace of God, is what our salvation from sin is all about. For Jesus Christ put our sins to death with him on that cross so we will, by God-gifted faith in him, die to sin and now walk in obedience to his commands, empowered by God and not by our human flesh. For he didn’t die on that cross, and rise from the dead, so that we could continue living in sin now without conscience.
So, we cannot just profess faith in Jesus Christ and then keep on in malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander, sexual immorality, adultery, and idolatry, and the like, convinced all our sins are forgiven and that we on our way to heaven. For if we continue living in sin, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, we will die in our sin, and we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips confess. For Jesus died to free us from our addiction to sin, not to comfort us and leave us in our sinful practices.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
Therefore, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are to be committed to our Lord to serving him with our lives and to obeying his commands. We all should be students of the Scriptures who study them in their correct biblical context, and who, by the Spirit, are putting the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles into daily practice in our lives. We should be those who are resisting the devil, who are fleeing temptation, and who are drawing near to God in full assurance of faith.
And then we should be those who are sharing the truths of the Scriptures with the people of the world, and with our fellow Christians in the body of Christ, and with the worldly and adulterous church, too. For that is what all of us are called to do within the body of Christ, to speak the truth of God’s Word to one another, to help one another to grow to maturity in Christ, and to warn of false teachers and false gospels, and so none of us will be led astray by sin’s deceitfulness. For we are all to be ministers of Jesus Christ.
[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:11-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
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The Kindness of The Lord
An Original Work / November 13, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
