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James 1:19-25 ESV
As those who are followers of Jesus Christ, and not in profession only, but in action and in truth, we are to be those with attentive ears and hearts to hear what the Lord wants to teach us through his word. And what is his word? It is the Bible (Genesis to Revelation). But do we have to obey every word of it? Only what applies to us who are believers in Jesus Christ. And then it needs to be taken in context, for many false teachings stem from Scriptures removed from their context and made to say what they don’t say, in truth.
But this doesn’t mean that we negate the Old Testament. For “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” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV). We just need to read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament and in light of the Messianic age and the death and resurrection of Christ and where we are now under the New Covenant, but again, in context and in truth.
For example, we are not under the Old Covenant like the Jews of old were. So, we don’t have to obey all those old liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification and dietary laws and restrictions that the Jews had to obey. But we don’t become lawless. For Jesus died to free us from all lawlessness. So, we still have to obey our Lord’s commands, but they are his commands under the New Covenant, according to the gospel of our salvation, but the full gospel message and not the half-truth gospel so many are teaching now.
So, context is critical to correct biblical interpretation, but we also need to be led by the Holy Spirit and be those who are listening to the Lord as he speaks to our hearts through his Word. For intellectual analysis of what the Scriptures are teaching will get us nowhere spiritually. We need to be those with attentive ears and hearts to hear what the Spirit wants to say to us both collectively and individually through his written word. For there is always a lesson to be learned or to be reinforced.
And with regard to the gospel of our salvation and to salvation and to eternal life with God, there is one common thread throughout the Scriptures. For one, our salvation is provided by God and it does not come from ourselves, not of our own fleshly “good works.” We can do nothing in ourselves to be pleasing to God and to earn or to deserve our own salvation. All of us throughout history have only been saved by the grace of God through genuine faith in him. But that faith is always obedient to the Lord.
That faith, Old or New Testament, also requires us dying to sin, forsaking our sinful practices, and now following our Lord in obedience to his commands, in practice, and living godly and holy lives pleasing to God in his power and strength. And that is why in the New Testament we are reminded of the children of Israel when they were wandering in the wilderness, and of their disobedience and their immorality and idolatry, so that we don’t become like them, and so that we don’t end up in hell and not in heaven.
[1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16]
So, this is why it is critical that we be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. For we don’t just “get saved” once and now we are good to go for eternity regardless of how we live our lives on this earth. Yes, we can do nothing in and of ourselves to earn our salvation, but the faith required of us for salvation from sin, which is of God, and which is gifted to us by God and is persuaded of God, requires that we obey our Lord and we do what he says, and that we live holy lives pleasing to him, and not in sin.
So, if we get this idea that we can make a once in our lives profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and now we are good to go for eternity, regardless of how we live, then we are believing a lie. For Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) the Lord. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we die to sin and live to righteousness, we have eternal life.
So, we are to be those who look into the “perfect law, the law of liberty,” and we are to persevere in not only hearing the word of the Lord, but in doing what his word teaches us we must do. And we must not be those who just read it and then don’t apply it to our daily lives. But we must walk in obedience to our Lord in righteousness and in holiness, and no longer in sin. For if sin is our practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with 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]
Sound the Battle Cry!
By William F. Sherwin, pub.1869
Sound the battle cry! See, the foe is nigh;
Raise the standard high for the Lord;
Gird your armor on, stand firm every one;
Rest your cause upon His holy Word.
Strong to meet the foe, marching on we go,
While our cause we know must prevail;
Shield and banner bright, gleaming in the light,
Battling for the right we ne’er can fail.
O Thou God of all, hear us when we call,
Help us one and all by Thy grace;
When the battle’s done, and the vict’ry’s won,
May we wear the crown before Thy face.
Rouse, then, soldiers, rally round the banner,
Ready, steady, pass the word along;
Onward, forward, shout aloud, “Hosanna!”
Christ is Captain of the mighty throng.
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“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
As those who are followers of Jesus Christ, and not in profession only, but in action and in truth, we are to be those with attentive ears and hearts to hear what the Lord wants to teach us through his word. And what is his word? It is the Bible (Genesis to Revelation). But do we have to obey every word of it? Only what applies to us who are believers in Jesus Christ. And then it needs to be taken in context, for many false teachings stem from Scriptures removed from their context and made to say what they don’t say, in truth.
But this doesn’t mean that we negate the Old Testament. For “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” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV). We just need to read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament and in light of the Messianic age and the death and resurrection of Christ and where we are now under the New Covenant, but again, in context and in truth.
For example, we are not under the Old Covenant like the Jews of old were. So, we don’t have to obey all those old liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification and dietary laws and restrictions that the Jews had to obey. But we don’t become lawless. For Jesus died to free us from all lawlessness. So, we still have to obey our Lord’s commands, but they are his commands under the New Covenant, according to the gospel of our salvation, but the full gospel message and not the half-truth gospel so many are teaching now.
So, context is critical to correct biblical interpretation, but we also need to be led by the Holy Spirit and be those who are listening to the Lord as he speaks to our hearts through his Word. For intellectual analysis of what the Scriptures are teaching will get us nowhere spiritually. We need to be those with attentive ears and hearts to hear what the Spirit wants to say to us both collectively and individually through his written word. For there is always a lesson to be learned or to be reinforced.
And with regard to the gospel of our salvation and to salvation and to eternal life with God, there is one common thread throughout the Scriptures. For one, our salvation is provided by God and it does not come from ourselves, not of our own fleshly “good works.” We can do nothing in ourselves to be pleasing to God and to earn or to deserve our own salvation. All of us throughout history have only been saved by the grace of God through genuine faith in him. But that faith is always obedient to the Lord.
That faith, Old or New Testament, also requires us dying to sin, forsaking our sinful practices, and now following our Lord in obedience to his commands, in practice, and living godly and holy lives pleasing to God in his power and strength. And that is why in the New Testament we are reminded of the children of Israel when they were wandering in the wilderness, and of their disobedience and their immorality and idolatry, so that we don’t become like them, and so that we don’t end up in hell and not in heaven.
[1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16]
So, this is why it is critical that we be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. For we don’t just “get saved” once and now we are good to go for eternity regardless of how we live our lives on this earth. Yes, we can do nothing in and of ourselves to earn our salvation, but the faith required of us for salvation from sin, which is of God, and which is gifted to us by God and is persuaded of God, requires that we obey our Lord and we do what he says, and that we live holy lives pleasing to him, and not in sin.
So, if we get this idea that we can make a once in our lives profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and now we are good to go for eternity, regardless of how we live, then we are believing a lie. For Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) the Lord. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we die to sin and live to righteousness, we have eternal life.
So, we are to be those who look into the “perfect law, the law of liberty,” and we are to persevere in not only hearing the word of the Lord, but in doing what his word teaches us we must do. And we must not be those who just read it and then don’t apply it to our daily lives. But we must walk in obedience to our Lord in righteousness and in holiness, and no longer in sin. For if sin is our practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with 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]
Sound the Battle Cry!
By William F. Sherwin, pub.1869
Sound the battle cry! See, the foe is nigh;
Raise the standard high for the Lord;
Gird your armor on, stand firm every one;
Rest your cause upon His holy Word.
Strong to meet the foe, marching on we go,
While our cause we know must prevail;
Shield and banner bright, gleaming in the light,
Battling for the right we ne’er can fail.
O Thou God of all, hear us when we call,
Help us one and all by Thy grace;
When the battle’s done, and the vict’ry’s won,
May we wear the crown before Thy face.
Rouse, then, soldiers, rally round the banner,
Ready, steady, pass the word along;
Onward, forward, shout aloud, “Hosanna!”
Christ is Captain of the mighty throng.
