Our Engagement to Christ

[Christsfreeservant]

Paul is giving testimony here of his faith and of the faith of Timothy. He shared about the hardships and the persecutions they faced for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he gave witness to the fact that he and Timothy had conducted themselves with integrity and godly sincerity. He said,

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” 2 Co 1:21-22 NIV​

So, he gave all the glory to God. He knew that he and Timothy did not serve the Lord of their own wills, and of their own strength of character, but only by God’s calling on their lives, and only in his strength and power. All that they were and did was all because of God.

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Co 3:18 NIV​

Yes, this is the plight (pledge, engagement, commitment) of the believer in Jesus Christ that, now having been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, we are set free from our slavery to sin, we are now brought into union with God, and now we are being transformed into his likeness, by God, by faith.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NIV

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”​

As ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul and Timothy were being hard pressed on every side, persecuted, and struck down. But because of God’s love and grace, they were not crushed, they were not in despair, and they were not destroyed (See 2 Co 4:7-12). Paul said,

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Co 4:17-18 NIV​

Amen! This world is not our home. We are only here temporarily. Our human bodies are only our temporary dwelling place. So, our focus should not be on what is of this earth, or of our human flesh, but our focus should be on what is eternal, what is godly, and what his holy.

For God fashioned us to not be of this world, and to not have our hopes and our dreams realized in the flesh, but only in the Spirit. He created us to be like Him in true righteousness and holiness. And he also created us in Christ for good works which he prepared in advance that we should walk in them (Eph 4:17-24; Eph 2:10; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15, 21).

All that we are and do in this life should bring honor and praise to God and not to our flesh. Our lives should be for his purposes and for his glory. He is not to be just part of our lives, but he is to BE our life. And our lives are to be lived for his glory until the very end.

For, we weren’t saved from our sins just so we could escape hell and just so we could go to heaven when we die. Our engagement to Jesus Christ, although it is initiated by God, and he is the one who gives us the “engagement ring,” i.e., the Holy Spirit, it is not one-sided.

We have to do the part God assigned us to do. We don’t do it in our own strength, but in the power and strength of God’s Spirit living within us, but still we must obey the Lord. We must leave our lives of sin behind us. And we must submit to Christ as Lord and continue in Him until the end.

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:31-32, 51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:23-24; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Acts 26:18; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 1 Co 15:2; 2 Co 5:10, 15, 21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Heb 3:6, 14-15; Heb 10:26-31; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 2:24-25; 1 Jn 5:3]

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 NIV

“Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So, we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”​

Our goal in life should not be to please ourselves, but to please God. And it is not true that he is pleased with everyone who confesses to have faith in Jesus Christ. We are to find out what pleases the Lord, and we are to do what he says to do (Rom 8:8; Eph 5:10; Col 1:9-11; 1 Th 4:1; 1 Jn 3:22).

For, we must all appear one day before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. For, our Father in heaven judges impartially according to each one's deeds. And judgment begins with God’s household.

God will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

Jesus’ sheep listen to his voice, and they follow (obey) him. But if they hold on to their old lives of living in the flesh, they will lose them for eternity. If we walk by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. But if we make sin our practice, we will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Whatever we sow in this life, that we will also reap. If we sow to the flesh, from the flesh we will reap corruption (destruction, death). But if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life.

For, the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. For, not everyone who says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of God the Father who is in heaven.

[1 Pet 1:13-19; Heb 10:30-31; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; 1 Co. 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 6:7-8; Jn 10:27; Lu 9:23-26; Matt 7:21; 1 Jn 2:3-6]

Do You Love Me?

An Original Work / July 24, 2013

Do you love Me now?
Will you seek My face?
I have given you
My love and My grace.
Will you walk with Me
Ev’rywhere I lead?
Will you find in Me
All of what you need?

Won’t you meet with Me
Down upon your knees?
Will you obey Me,
And do what I please?
Will you hear My voice
Speaking now to you?
I am couns’ling you
To abide in truth.

I have died for you;
Taken all your sins –
Crucified with Me,
You have been forgiv’n.
I have set you free
From your slavery,
So that you can now
Live in victory.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

I like to follow people who teach stuff, so I can see if I agree with it. So I have been following your posts. I agree with 99.99% of what you are saying. But I want to ask you what this means to you:

For God fashioned us to not be of this world, and to not have our hopes and our dreams realized in the flesh, but only in the Spirit.

For the bible tells us:

Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

As a Christian, I may have a desire to marry, it is a heart's desire. But there are many other desires, hopes, and dreams, that are natural that God may grant.

Sure God would have many of us surrender our flesh to the likeness of his sufferings, so his glory may dwell in us. But we need to be careful to separate salvation from Godly sanctification. We live in a natural world, of which most is:

Rom 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

From childhood, we are given to earthly entertainments, and it is not easy for a believer to just suddenly ditch that attitude. For many men it can be said:

Ecc 2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

Ecc 5:19-20 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

Christian's are not sinning, by enjoying what God gives to them. Unfortunately it often becomes a trap.

Pro 30:8-9 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

I really feel your call to present the surrendered life is valid, but be careful not to swing the teaching so hard, that the surrendered life becomes all gloom and doom. For the average man:

"because God answereth him in the joy of his heart"

 

[Christsfreeservant]

I like to follow people who teach stuff, so I can see if I agree with it. So I have been following your posts. I agree with 99.99% of what you are saying. But I want to ask you what this means to you:

For God fashioned us to not be of this world, and to not have our hopes and our dreams realized in the flesh, but only in the Spirit.

For the bible tells us:

Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

As a Christian, I may have a desire to marry, it is a heart's desire. But there are many other desires, hopes, and dreams, that are natural that God may grant.

Sure God would have many of us surrender our flesh to the likeness of his sufferings, so his glory may dwell in us. But we need to be careful to separate salvation from Godly sanctification. We live in a natural world, of which most is:

Rom 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

From childhood, we are given to earthly entertainments, and it is not easy for a believer to just suddenly ditch that attitude. For many men it can be said:

Ecc 2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

Ecc 5:19-20 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

Christian's are not sinning, by enjoying what God gives to them. Unfortunately it often becomes a trap.

Pro 30:8-9 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

I really feel your call to present the surrendered life is valid, but be careful not to swing the teaching so hard, that the surrendered life becomes all gloom and doom. For the average man:

"because God answereth him in the joy of his heart"

The Scriptures teach that we are to come out from the world and to be separate. We are not to love the world or the things in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Jesus said we would be hated because we are not of this world because he called us out of the world. We live in the world, and we share the gospel with the world, but we are not of the world. We are not worldly.

Jesus said if we want to come after him we must deny self and take up our cross daily and follow him. He said if we hold on to our old lives we will lose them for eternity, but if we lose our lives for his sake, we will live. Paul said that if we walk according to the flesh that we will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live.

Our hopes and our dreams, thus, should be in conformity with God's will and purpose for our lives. They should not be of our sinful flesh, to fulfill the desires of our flesh, but they should be in conformity with the Spirit. This is not saying that we can't have human desires that are not sinful desires. We can. This is just saying that we were not made (created) by God to live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

The Scriptures teach that we are to come out from the world and to be separate.

Ok by your doctrine, what does this mean? I am not after scriptures, but rather examples. Are your examples a requirement of salvation?

 

[FutureAndAHope]

Act 15:19-20 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

The apostles saw fit to only mention abstaining from sexual immorality, and the pollution of idol worship, and blood.

Why did this question arise? Because people were adding laws to the message of Christ. Thou shalt not's. The church clarified its the stance, that gentile need only be kept "pure" from sexual immorality, and the worship of false Gods.

You have not answered, but I feel your doctrine adds all kinds of "earthly things" to that from which you abstain. That is fine if "you" wish to do that, it is noble, but it is not a faith requirement for the church.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Act 15:19-20 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

The apostles saw fit to only mention abstaining from sexual immorality, and the pollution of idol worship, and blood.

Why did this question arise? Because people were adding laws to the message of Christ. Thou shalt not's. The church clarified its the stance, that gentile need only be kept "pure" from sexual immorality, and the worship of false Gods.

You have not answered, but I feel your doctrine adds all kinds of "earthly things" to that from which you abstain. That is fine if "you" wish to do that, it is noble, but it is not a faith requirement for the church.

Please do not put words in my mouth that aren't there. My lack of response is not to be equated to an admission of anything you might accuse me of. If I choose not to respond to someone, that is my choice, and I have my reasons. Please don't try to bait me. You can read what I believe here on the daily devotions.

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
God has left amply instructions to try to prevent trials from occurring, instructions that are for all the nations, all people everywhere. Cause and effect etc.
God’s desires met with a humans heart’s desires, for example Hannah’s in 1 Samuel 1 to procure an anointing, and began a changing of ways, a time of repentance.
It may not have lasted long but that’s what I think that scripture means.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

Please do not put words in my mouth that aren't there. My lack of response is not to be equated to an admission of anything you might accuse me of. If I choose not to respond to someone, that is my choice, and I have my reasons. Please don't try to bait me. You can read what I believe here on the daily devotions.

It is fine if those words are not there, but I have a sister, who speaks very similar to you. And maybe I was looking at your words through that lens. She classes nearly everything as a sin. To the degree that even Christian rock music is a sin. That type of doctrine binds heavyweights on people, that were never supposed to be there. As we see from the first council, the gentiles were encouraged that have "no other weight", put on them than to abstain from sexual immorality, and idolatry.

Yes I was baiting you, we all need to assess if we are teaching the truth.

I also need to seek God, and assess the level that I:

1Jn 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.