Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,522
I am reading in the book of Galatians today. The primary thrust of this writing is to correct error in the church. For there were false brothers among the people who were trying to convince the Gentile Christians that they had to be more like Jews and that they had to obey some of the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, dietary, and circumcision laws as part of their faith and as part of their salvation. But in Jesus’ death on that cross he did away with the Old Covenant, and he brought the people of God, who trusted in Jesus Christ, into the New Covenant he had promised them, both Jew and Gentile.
But now we have people today who are distorting this by teaching that under the New Covenant that we don’t have to obey God and his commandments. It is true that we do not have to obey the Old Covenant liturgical, sacrificial, ceremonial, purification, dietary, and circumcision laws. But we are not lawless under the New Covenant, which is the secondary theme of the book of Galatians. Just because we are not under the Old Covenant does not mean that God did away with all the commands and that we are no longer required to obey him. We are required to obey his New Covenant commands.
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:13-15 NASB’95)
So, contrary to what some people are teaching today, faith in Jesus Christ is not a mere profession of faith in Jesus whereby all your sins are forgiven and now heaven is guaranteed you when you die, end of story. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God the Father. And many are going to stand before him on the day of judgment calling him “Lord” and professing what they did in his name, and he will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” who did not obey the Lord.
So, just because we are not under the Old Covenant, it does not translate to “we can now live however we want.”
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:16-21 NASB’95)
So, if we are now walking by the Spirit, and no longer in accord with our flesh, what should that look like? How should our lives be different? What is the evidence that we have the kind of faith which saves, which will result in salvation from sin and eternal life with God? The Bible states it very plainly. If sin is what we practice (our habit, our addiction), the thing we keep going back to over again, and if walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living is not what we put into practice, then we don’t know God, we are not in relationship with him, and we will not inherit eternal life with God.
But some people will profess faith in Jesus Christ and yet hold on to their sinful habits, convinced that they are saved and that heaven is secured them for eternity. And some of them might have all sorts of excuses for why it is okay for them to continue in their sinful practices. Someone might say, “I want to change, but then I get tempted and I give in,” and this is habitual. But if we really want to change we will change. And this doesn’t apply to everything obviously. Just because you want to be an astronaut it doesn’t mean you will be an astronaut. You may not qualify for the job.
But the point here is.. let me give you an example. Let’s say you are working for an employer but your sinful habit is theft. And so you keep stealing from the company. Your boss has confronted you with your behavior, more than once, and he has had much mercy on you, and he has given you many chances to change. And so he confronts you again, but you tell him, “I really want to be faithful and honest and to not steal.” Is he going to accept that? I don’t think so! He has bent over backwards many times to try to help you. But he can’t do that anymore. There is a time in which he has to fire you.
It is the same with God. His grace is awesome! He gives us so many chances to obey him. Just read the Scriptures, Old Testament and New. God was notorious for giving his people warnings after warnings that if they did not repent of their sins, and if they continued to rebel against him, that he would come against them, and he did. In the wilderness he put to death the majority of the Israelites who would not obey him, but who continued in their sins, and they did not get to go into the promised land, and they did not enter into God’s eternal rest because of unbelief = their disobedience.
So, God’s grace to us under the New Covenant is not carte blanche to continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and to ignore his commandments under the New Covenant. He told us plainly that if sin is our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God. Believe Him! He means it!
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
There’s a New Song in My Heart
By John W. Peterson
Once my life was filled with discord, sadness reigned within,
For my heart was heavy laden with a weight of sin.
What a wondrous transformation in my life was wrought
When I trusted Christ as Savior and His pardon sought.
Someday, I will go to heaven where the angels sing,
And I’ll join their happy chorus, praising Christ the King.
I shall never cease in praising Jesus Christ my Lord
For the wonderful salvation that He did accord.
There’s a new song in my heart
Since the Savior set me free;
There’s a new song in my heart,
‘tis a heavenly harmony!
All my sins are washed away
by the blood of Calvary;
O what peace and joy nothing can destroy:
There’s a new song in my heart!
Caution: This link may contain ads
Not an Opportunity for The Flesh
An Original Work / April 7, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
But now we have people today who are distorting this by teaching that under the New Covenant that we don’t have to obey God and his commandments. It is true that we do not have to obey the Old Covenant liturgical, sacrificial, ceremonial, purification, dietary, and circumcision laws. But we are not lawless under the New Covenant, which is the secondary theme of the book of Galatians. Just because we are not under the Old Covenant does not mean that God did away with all the commands and that we are no longer required to obey him. We are required to obey his New Covenant commands.
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:13-15 NASB’95)
So, contrary to what some people are teaching today, faith in Jesus Christ is not a mere profession of faith in Jesus whereby all your sins are forgiven and now heaven is guaranteed you when you die, end of story. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God the Father. And many are going to stand before him on the day of judgment calling him “Lord” and professing what they did in his name, and he will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” who did not obey the Lord.
So, just because we are not under the Old Covenant, it does not translate to “we can now live however we want.”
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:16-21 NASB’95)
So, if we are now walking by the Spirit, and no longer in accord with our flesh, what should that look like? How should our lives be different? What is the evidence that we have the kind of faith which saves, which will result in salvation from sin and eternal life with God? The Bible states it very plainly. If sin is what we practice (our habit, our addiction), the thing we keep going back to over again, and if walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living is not what we put into practice, then we don’t know God, we are not in relationship with him, and we will not inherit eternal life with God.
But some people will profess faith in Jesus Christ and yet hold on to their sinful habits, convinced that they are saved and that heaven is secured them for eternity. And some of them might have all sorts of excuses for why it is okay for them to continue in their sinful practices. Someone might say, “I want to change, but then I get tempted and I give in,” and this is habitual. But if we really want to change we will change. And this doesn’t apply to everything obviously. Just because you want to be an astronaut it doesn’t mean you will be an astronaut. You may not qualify for the job.
But the point here is.. let me give you an example. Let’s say you are working for an employer but your sinful habit is theft. And so you keep stealing from the company. Your boss has confronted you with your behavior, more than once, and he has had much mercy on you, and he has given you many chances to change. And so he confronts you again, but you tell him, “I really want to be faithful and honest and to not steal.” Is he going to accept that? I don’t think so! He has bent over backwards many times to try to help you. But he can’t do that anymore. There is a time in which he has to fire you.
It is the same with God. His grace is awesome! He gives us so many chances to obey him. Just read the Scriptures, Old Testament and New. God was notorious for giving his people warnings after warnings that if they did not repent of their sins, and if they continued to rebel against him, that he would come against them, and he did. In the wilderness he put to death the majority of the Israelites who would not obey him, but who continued in their sins, and they did not get to go into the promised land, and they did not enter into God’s eternal rest because of unbelief = their disobedience.
So, God’s grace to us under the New Covenant is not carte blanche to continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and to ignore his commandments under the New Covenant. He told us plainly that if sin is our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God. Believe Him! He means it!
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
There’s a New Song in My Heart
By John W. Peterson
Once my life was filled with discord, sadness reigned within,
For my heart was heavy laden with a weight of sin.
What a wondrous transformation in my life was wrought
When I trusted Christ as Savior and His pardon sought.
Someday, I will go to heaven where the angels sing,
And I’ll join their happy chorus, praising Christ the King.
I shall never cease in praising Jesus Christ my Lord
For the wonderful salvation that He did accord.
There’s a new song in my heart
Since the Savior set me free;
There’s a new song in my heart,
‘tis a heavenly harmony!
All my sins are washed away
by the blood of Calvary;
O what peace and joy nothing can destroy:
There’s a new song in my heart!
Caution: This link may contain ads
Not an Opportunity for The Flesh
An Original Work / April 7, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
