The New Creation!
We live in a day that is almost completely void of anyone seeking out God's righteousness or desiring Purity of heart. Yet this was the FIRST thing Jesus proclaimed as He introduced the New testament message: Matt5:6,8 "Blessed are the PURE of heart, Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness!"
Yet FEW, (very few) have any hunger whatsoever for either one, purity or righteousness. They think Grace will make up for their lack of heart purity and obedience to the truth of God's Word. But they are sadly mistaken. Although many big name teachers & preachers are telling them don't about worry living a holy life in Christ, because it's NOT of works, it's only faith that matters. The SOLID foundation of Christ stands, 2Tim2:15, They may 'believe' themselves sealed with the Spirit unto the Day of redemption, but the REAL SEAL is stated here, "ANYONE who names the Name of Christ MUST depart from iniquity!" (It's not an optional feature of grace)
If only someone could convey to you the vital importance of awaking out of your spiritual slumber and start taking the things of eternity seriously before it's too late. But the delusion is very strong and God isn't going to force you out of your complacency. He asks you to OBEY from the heart, Rom6:16, Make every effort to enter by the Narrow Gate, Luke13:24, & Work out your own salvation with fear & trembling! Phil2:12.
The gift of forgiveness is free yes, but that doesn't release you from the responsibility set forth in scripture. You must enter into newness of life by Obedience to the truth, there is no other way. God has ordained the Law of Faith, Working in concert with His own Word, to Redeem your soul from the corrupting influence of sin, BUT it all turns on FREE CHOICE! You must CHOOSE to Obey Him from your heart. He cannot obey for you. (Eph2:8-10, Rom3:27, 6:6, 16-18, 1Thess1:13, Titus2:11-14, John14:15)
Then by His Word you are:
1) Set free from sin! Rom6:18
2) Made Pure in heart! 1Pet1:22
3) Set on the Path of Righteousness, Eph4:24
4) Able to stand against the wiles of satan, Eph6:13
5) And remain steadfast to the end! Col1:22-23
If this is not the driving force in your life, you are only fooling yourself, (James1:22) If Christ is NOT at the center of your entire being, directing your ways, remolding your behavior, weaning you from the world & burdening you with His mission for lost souls, YOU are LOST! Christ Himself said ONLY those who build on the Solid Rock of Truth will stand, Matt7:24-27 (And that solid foundation is stated throughout scripture in reference to turning from sin! 2Tim2:15)
You may have a form of godliness, yes. (2Tim3:5) But without the Power to put away sin or turn from worldly lust. (1Jh2:16-17) You may very well have it all! Church membership, popularity among the brethren, sing in the choir, take part in all the activities, a nice person, don't curse, drink, smoke or commit sexual immorality. You're doing your share of religious duties and have some degree of assurance of your salvation in Christ. But inwardly you are VOID of Life! You take no joy in the Deep study of God's Word, you have NO hunger for His Righteousness, no desire to share with lost & dying souls and certainly no burden over the sleeping & Lukewarm church.
When someone confronts you about holiness or obedience to the truth your natural tendency is to argue with them that no one is perfect and we are 'saved' by faith, not by works. You defend your lack of commitment by believing Grace will make up the difference. The fact that your heart is defiled by wordily endeavors & vain amusements is of no consequence to your eternal well being. There's safety in numbers and almost everyone you know, in church, is of similar disposition, comparing themselves with themselves & complacent about sin. (2Cor10:12)
But if you could see yourself through a looking glass, standing at the Great Judgment of God, stripped of every excuse, your conscience laid bare and the secrets of your heart exposed, would it move you to enlightenment? (Matt7:21-23, Rom2:16) The Angels look on in wonder that you continue to neglect so Great a Salvation from God! (1Pet1:12, Heb2:1-3)
Measure yourself once against the Truth of Scripture & Examine your heart before God:
Gal2:20-21 "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life I know live in the flesh I live by Faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the Grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law then Christ died in vain!"
Gal2:17 "But if while we seek to be justified by Christ we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin!? GOD FORBID!"
Gal5:24 "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions & desires."
Rom6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin!"
Rom6:11 "Likewise, you also reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ!"
Rom6:14 "For sin shall not have dominion over you!"
Eph2:10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works!"
Eph1:18-20 "That the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead & seated Him at the right hand in heavenly places."
Now you tell me, can any of this mean that a real Christian will remain in bondage to sin? That he is only saved from the outward corruption of sin and NOT the inward defilement of his own heart? What is the exceeding greatness of His Power but to deliver us from the corrupting influence of ALL SIN!!! Inward & outward. That our hearts be made PURE from every defilement & deceitfulness of sin. Isn't the PURPOSE of the Commandant, Love, from a Pure Heart, from a good conscience from sincere faith? 1Tim1:5 Could this be less than genuine heart purity toward God and man? Scripture explains how this works:
Eph4:22-24 "Put off the concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts and be RENEWED in the spirit of your mind, and Put on the New man which was created according to God in righteousness & true holiness."
Matt15:16-17 "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach & is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and they defile a man!"
Rom10:10 "For with the HEART one believes unto Righteousness!"
Heb8:10 "I will put My laws in their minds and WRITE them on their Hearts and I will be their God and they shall be My people!"
2Cor5:17 "If any man be in Christ he is a NEW CREATION....!!!"
1Pet1:22 "Since you have Purified your hearts by obedience to the truth..."
1Pet4:1-2 "Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the SAME mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God."
Phil2:5 "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus!"
Can you see the simplicity in God's Word? By Obeying the Truth & Taking on the mind of Christ, you:
1) Escape the corruption that is in the world through lust! 2Pet1:4
2) You Walk in Newness of Life with Christ, crucified to the world! Rom6:6-7
3) You Share in the Power of His resurrection & are conformed to His death, Phil3:9-11
4) Your life is now hidden with Christ in God! Col3:3
5) AND anyone who has this Hope in HIM, purifies himself, as HE is Pure! 1John3:3
Where does any of this imply that the Redeemed children of God sin everyday in thought, word and deed? Yet talk to anyone from your local church about these things and they think that Grace gives them permission to seek out their worldly endeavors, be successful in life & indulge themselves with vain abutments throughout their sojourn on earth. NEVER are they obligated to God in the least to Serve Him, Deny themselves, forsake sin & live holy righteous lives in the midst of a wicked & perverse generation. Yet Scripture warns them about JUST such conduct and Testifies that this is the TRUE GRACE of God in which you stand! 1Pet5:12
Do you Stand in His True Grace or in your own? Let's see what scripture has to say:
1Pet1:15-17 "But as He who called you is Holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy for I AM holy. And if you call on the Father who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout your sojourning here in fear!"
1Pet2:11-12 "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, ABSTAIN from fleshly lusts which war against your soul, conduct yourselves with honor among the nations."
Phil2:14-15 "Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless & harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked & perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."
1Pet2:15 "For this is the Will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men."
1Pet3:15-16 "But sanctify the Lord God in your heart, & always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness & fear, having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed."
Heb2:1,3 "We must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation!?"
Many people in the modern church have 'believed' for a while, Luke8:13, but have since fallen away to various temptation & snares. They live in daily bondage to sin and their spiritual guides in the pulpits are telling them not to worry about it. Their conduct is destitute of true holiness, or any semblance to Biblical Christianity and they have no desire to improve. They go about their daily lives oblivious to the things of God, ignorant of His Word and belligerent toward admonishment. Like the Pharisees of old, they disagree with the written Word and have an excuse for every command & warning. They have shut up the Kingdom of heaven against men, neither going in themselves or allowing others to do so.
They have ears and cannot ear, eyes but do not see, and a heart that WILL NOT yield! (Matt13:14-15) The deceitfulness of sin has hardened them in their rebellion to God. Heb3:11-14 They see no need to repent or anything to repent for. Satan has ensnared them in his perfect trap & seared their conscience with the hot iron of self-deceit.
Matt13:14-15 "Hearing you will hear & shall not understand. And seeing you will see & not perceive; For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, So that I should heal them."
1John5:13 "These things I have written to you who 'believe' in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may CONTINUE to believe."
John3:36 "He who believes on the Son has everlasting life, he who does not OBEY the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."