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Psalm 2:1-3 ESV
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
So many Christians today, perhaps particularly here in America, have broken their bonds with Jesus Christ, they have cast off his boundary lines, and they have set themselves up against him, and against his gospel of salvation. And, they have gone after the gods of this world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (See 1 Jn. 2:15-17).
And a lot of this is a result, I believe, from the church in America selling itself out to the world to entertain the people of the world in order to attract the people of the world to the gatherings of “the church.” So, they turned the gatherings of “the church” into a marketplace where they market the church just like any other business. And, so they use worldly means and methods to attract the world, so the world will feel at home in “the church.”
Since they want the world to feel at home in the gatherings of “the church,” and they want them to feel comfortable and accepted there, and for them not to be offended in any way, they have also diluted the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it more attractive and acceptable to the world. So, many of them no longer talk about sin or hell or judgment or repentance or obedience to Christ, but they focus on forgiveness and the hope of heaven.
So, they sell the gospel short, and they go soft on sin, and they pervert the grace of God into a free license to live in sin without guilt and without fear of punishment. And, they convince their listeners that all they have to do is say some words after someone in a prayer, or all they have to do is acknowledge Jesus Christ and what he did for us on the cross, and then all they have to do is accept his grace and forgiveness and they are now guaranteed eternal life with God, no matter how much they sin from that point forward.
False Confessions
The result of this is that many Christians have now deserted Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, and they have now bought into the lies that tell them that they can walk in sin and it won’t impact their eternal security. Thus, many of them are living in spiritual adultery against their Lord, in idolatry, in immorality, and in taking their God-given talents and abilities and using them for evil purposes instead of for the Lord and for his purposes and will.
As well, there have been many, many false confessions of faith in Jesus Christ based on a lie (the cheap grace gospel), and so many people are convinced that salvation from sin is nothing more than forgiveness and the hope of heaven when they die, regardless of how they live their lives on this earth. Some of them have even been told that God requires nothing of them – no submission, no repentance and no obedience, and that such is works-based salvation, and thus these are to be avoided.
Thus, Jesus is not Lord of their lives, he is not the one in authority over them, or over many of these gatherings of “the church,” either, which are now businesses of men. But, the authority over their heads is the world, and lust, and pride, and immorality and wickedness and all kinds of evil. Worldliness has replaced godliness now in so many of these places of worship called “church,” too. And, marketing 101 books have replaced the scriptures, as well as have multiple books of men, not of God.
So, what we have are a lot of people called “Christians” who are living just like people who do not claim to be Christians, and some of them behave much worse than those who make no profession of faith in Christ. Thus, they are not living in freedom from slavery to sin, but they are living in habitual sin against God in direct opposition to the teachings of scripture. Thus, they have sold themselves out to the world, and to the lusts of their flesh, while they still claim heaven as their eternal destiny.
False Repentance
Another aspect of this is that many of those who are buying into the lies, and who feel liberated to live in sin, are not open about this, because they don’t want people to know what they are doing when no one else can see them. They want to appear righteous in front of other people, and so they fake their relationships with Jesus Christ, or they fake their walks of faith.
So, they make pretenses that they are in the process of rejecting sinful practices, and that they are removing from their lives what is wicked, immoral, corrupt, deceitful, and impure. But, in some or many of these cases, the opposite is true. The sins they are involved in are becoming more and more prominent in their lives, and they are sinking even deeper into sin than they were before, and so they continue to fake righteousness while what is immoral is getting even a stronger hold on their lives.
Psalm 2:10-12 ESV
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
So, here’s the deal. Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. He died that we would no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. When he died, he bought us back for God with his blood so that we would now be God’s possession, and so we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15, 21; 1 Co. 6:20; Tit. 2:11-14; Eph. 2:10).
Coming to faith in Jesus Christ, thus, means we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, we are born again of the Spirit of God, and we are given new lives in Christ Jesus, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. It means we leave our old lives of living for sin and self behind us, we are transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God away from sin to God, and we now live to Christ and to his righteousness in the power of God (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Acts 26:16-18).
What this also means is that we no longer live like we did before we believed in Jesus Christ. Now, by the Spirit of God, we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh and we are walking (in practice) according to the Spirit of God in holiness and righteousness, living godly lives pleasing to God, by his Spirit.
And, this also means that we have the hope of eternal life with God, because we are walking by the Spirit of God, and we are not living to please our flesh. Yet, it doesn’t mean we never sin again or that we are perfect, but that sin is no longer what we practice, but godliness and holiness are.
But, if this is not the case, and we are still walking (in practice) according to the flesh, it means that we don’t have eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 5:3-6).
So, don’t buy into the lies that tell you that your sins no longer matter to God. They do! And, if you walk in them, and you don’t walk (in practice) according to the Spirit of God, just know that you are not guaranteed eternal life with God. For, we are all going to reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction (decay, death). But, if we sow to please the Spirit, by the Spirit of God, then from the Spirit we will reap eternal life with God (Gal. 6:7-8; cf. Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Living Water
An Original Work / November 21, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
My people have forsaken Me,
Their Savior, who died on a tree;
Made idols, and they worshipped them;
So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.
Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.
Those who turn away from You will be shamed;
The Spring of Living Water left behind.
Living Water satisfies.
The thirsty, let them come and drink;
Believe in Jesus as their King;
The gift of Jesus given them,
So they will never thirst again.
Indeed, the Living Water flows within.
It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.
Eternal life in heaven promised them.
Living Water glorifies.
Oh people, won’t you come to Him?
Obey Him and repent of sin.
Let Jesus come and live within.
Surrender all your life to Him.
My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?
Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.
Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?
Living Water sanctifies.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
So many Christians today, perhaps particularly here in America, have broken their bonds with Jesus Christ, they have cast off his boundary lines, and they have set themselves up against him, and against his gospel of salvation. And, they have gone after the gods of this world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (See 1 Jn. 2:15-17).
And a lot of this is a result, I believe, from the church in America selling itself out to the world to entertain the people of the world in order to attract the people of the world to the gatherings of “the church.” So, they turned the gatherings of “the church” into a marketplace where they market the church just like any other business. And, so they use worldly means and methods to attract the world, so the world will feel at home in “the church.”
Since they want the world to feel at home in the gatherings of “the church,” and they want them to feel comfortable and accepted there, and for them not to be offended in any way, they have also diluted the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it more attractive and acceptable to the world. So, many of them no longer talk about sin or hell or judgment or repentance or obedience to Christ, but they focus on forgiveness and the hope of heaven.
So, they sell the gospel short, and they go soft on sin, and they pervert the grace of God into a free license to live in sin without guilt and without fear of punishment. And, they convince their listeners that all they have to do is say some words after someone in a prayer, or all they have to do is acknowledge Jesus Christ and what he did for us on the cross, and then all they have to do is accept his grace and forgiveness and they are now guaranteed eternal life with God, no matter how much they sin from that point forward.
False Confessions
The result of this is that many Christians have now deserted Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, and they have now bought into the lies that tell them that they can walk in sin and it won’t impact their eternal security. Thus, many of them are living in spiritual adultery against their Lord, in idolatry, in immorality, and in taking their God-given talents and abilities and using them for evil purposes instead of for the Lord and for his purposes and will.
As well, there have been many, many false confessions of faith in Jesus Christ based on a lie (the cheap grace gospel), and so many people are convinced that salvation from sin is nothing more than forgiveness and the hope of heaven when they die, regardless of how they live their lives on this earth. Some of them have even been told that God requires nothing of them – no submission, no repentance and no obedience, and that such is works-based salvation, and thus these are to be avoided.
Thus, Jesus is not Lord of their lives, he is not the one in authority over them, or over many of these gatherings of “the church,” either, which are now businesses of men. But, the authority over their heads is the world, and lust, and pride, and immorality and wickedness and all kinds of evil. Worldliness has replaced godliness now in so many of these places of worship called “church,” too. And, marketing 101 books have replaced the scriptures, as well as have multiple books of men, not of God.
So, what we have are a lot of people called “Christians” who are living just like people who do not claim to be Christians, and some of them behave much worse than those who make no profession of faith in Christ. Thus, they are not living in freedom from slavery to sin, but they are living in habitual sin against God in direct opposition to the teachings of scripture. Thus, they have sold themselves out to the world, and to the lusts of their flesh, while they still claim heaven as their eternal destiny.
False Repentance
Another aspect of this is that many of those who are buying into the lies, and who feel liberated to live in sin, are not open about this, because they don’t want people to know what they are doing when no one else can see them. They want to appear righteous in front of other people, and so they fake their relationships with Jesus Christ, or they fake their walks of faith.
So, they make pretenses that they are in the process of rejecting sinful practices, and that they are removing from their lives what is wicked, immoral, corrupt, deceitful, and impure. But, in some or many of these cases, the opposite is true. The sins they are involved in are becoming more and more prominent in their lives, and they are sinking even deeper into sin than they were before, and so they continue to fake righteousness while what is immoral is getting even a stronger hold on their lives.
Psalm 2:10-12 ESV
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
So, here’s the deal. Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. He died that we would no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. When he died, he bought us back for God with his blood so that we would now be God’s possession, and so we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15, 21; 1 Co. 6:20; Tit. 2:11-14; Eph. 2:10).
Coming to faith in Jesus Christ, thus, means we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, we are born again of the Spirit of God, and we are given new lives in Christ Jesus, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. It means we leave our old lives of living for sin and self behind us, we are transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God away from sin to God, and we now live to Christ and to his righteousness in the power of God (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Acts 26:16-18).
What this also means is that we no longer live like we did before we believed in Jesus Christ. Now, by the Spirit of God, we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh and we are walking (in practice) according to the Spirit of God in holiness and righteousness, living godly lives pleasing to God, by his Spirit.
And, this also means that we have the hope of eternal life with God, because we are walking by the Spirit of God, and we are not living to please our flesh. Yet, it doesn’t mean we never sin again or that we are perfect, but that sin is no longer what we practice, but godliness and holiness are.
But, if this is not the case, and we are still walking (in practice) according to the flesh, it means that we don’t have eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 5:3-6).
So, don’t buy into the lies that tell you that your sins no longer matter to God. They do! And, if you walk in them, and you don’t walk (in practice) according to the Spirit of God, just know that you are not guaranteed eternal life with God. For, we are all going to reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction (decay, death). But, if we sow to please the Spirit, by the Spirit of God, then from the Spirit we will reap eternal life with God (Gal. 6:7-8; cf. Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Living Water
An Original Work / November 21, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
My people have forsaken Me,
Their Savior, who died on a tree;
Made idols, and they worshipped them;
So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.
Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.
Those who turn away from You will be shamed;
The Spring of Living Water left behind.
Living Water satisfies.
The thirsty, let them come and drink;
Believe in Jesus as their King;
The gift of Jesus given them,
So they will never thirst again.
Indeed, the Living Water flows within.
It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.
Eternal life in heaven promised them.
Living Water glorifies.
Oh people, won’t you come to Him?
Obey Him and repent of sin.
Let Jesus come and live within.
Surrender all your life to Him.
My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?
Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.
Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?
Living Water sanctifies.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
