“What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
I shall lift up the cup of salvation
And call upon the name of the Lord.
I shall pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones.
O Lord, surely I am Your servant,
I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid,
You have loosed my bonds.
To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
I shall pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people,
In the courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 116:12-19 NASB1995)
Faith in Jesus Christ, which is biblical faith, is not a “God does it all and I do nothing” kind of faith. And I know that the Psalms are from the Old Testament when they were not under the New Covenant God now has with those who are of genuine faith in him. But under the New Covenant teaching we are taught that we must deny self, die to sin daily, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, in surrender to his will for our lives.
Faith in Jesus Christ is reciprocal, i.e. God does for me and I do for him what he requires of me. Because of what Jesus Christ did for us in dying on a cross and in putting our sins to death with him, and being raised from the dead, then by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him we are now able to die with him to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to the righteousness of God.
And when we believe in Jesus, this is not a free ride to heaven with no cost to us at all, where he does all the work, and where we reap all the benefits. For when we believe in Christ to be Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, our lives are now surrendered to him to do his will. For this is a covenant of marriage to Christ where he now becomes our husband, and we become his bride, spiritually speaking, and so we want to please our Lord in all we do.
It is similar to a marriage between a husband and a wife where we take vows to be faithful to our spouses and to have no other lovers. Our lives are now no longer our own to be lived however we want. Now we promise to be faithful to our Lord and Master, and to do what pleases him, according to his will and purpose for our lives. We are no longer to live like we are single, free to do what we want without consideration of what God wants for us.
Because of what Jesus did for us on that cross, by faith in him we are able to be set free from our bonds of sin, but not just to be forgiven our sins, but to be set free from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin so that we can now walk in holiness and in righteousness in obedience to our Lord. And now our desire is to please our Lord, and to be his servants and messengers, and to do what he requires of us in the way of thought, word, and deed.
This is what the Christian life should look like. This should not be all about what Jesus does for us without mention of what he requires of us, in return for what he did for us. For the Scriptures teach that our faith must result in us dying to sin and walking in obedience to our Lord, in practice, or it is not biblical faith. And, if we profess faith in Jesus, but we continue living in sin, and not in walks of obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God. So, please know what the Scriptures teach in context, and obey God.
Gospel:[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; 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]
Seek the Lord
Based off Isaiah 55
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Musical Instrumentation by Mark Bradley
“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”
You Have Loosed My Bonds
An Original Work / August 24, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
