Out of Darkness Into Light

[Sue J Love]

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10 NASB1995)

Jesus Christ, in his death on that cross, put our sins to death with him so that, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him, which comes from God, and which is not of our own doing, we might die with him to sin and live to righteousness, in his power. So, when we believe in him as Lord and Savior of our lives, we are crucified with him in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to him.

For Jesus Christ did not die that horrible death on that cross just to forgive us our sins so that, when we die, we get to go to heaven. He died and was resurrected from the dead in order that he might change us, and transform us, to make us more like him, and to free us from our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives in walks of surrender and obedience to him and to his will and purpose for our lives. We are saved from our sins so that we can now live for him to do his will for our lives.

Thus, if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine biblical faith, we should no longer be those who are walking in deliberate and habitual sin without regard for God and for his righteousness. Sin must no longer be what we practice. Now righteousness and obedience to our Lord are to be what we practice. But if we profess faith in Jesus, and claim him as our Lord and Savior, but we make sin our practice, and obedience to God is not our practice, then we don’t know God, and we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life.

And this is the message of the gospel of our salvation. For our salvation is not a one-time profession of faith in the Lord, but it includes our daily walks of faith in obedience to him, i.e. the working out of our salvation as God works his will and purpose in our lives, as we cooperate with him in his work of grace. For his grace is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return, which is when our salvation will be complete.

This is the message of the gospel that we should be proclaiming to the people, “if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:21-24 NASB1995). And this:

By God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. Thus, we are no longer to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience is what we obey, it results in sanctification and its end is eternal life with God.

And that was a summary of Romans 6:1-23. And then we have Jesus’ words in Luke 9:23-26 where he taught that if we are to come after him that we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living our lives in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, and by the Spirit we are putting sin to death, and we are walking in obedience to his commands, then we have salvation from sin and eternal life with God, if we continue in this faith.

So many people today are not teaching this as the gospel, but it is the gospel taught by Jesus Christ and by his New Testament apostles, which you will come to realize if you study the Scriptures for yourselves in their appropriate context. For many of the false gospels being spread today come from Scriptures taught out of context and thus made to say what they do not say if taught in context. And multitudes who profess faith in Jesus are following after the lies and not after the truth, because it is easier.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Your Grace Divine

An Original Work / November 6, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

All I have is Yours, Lord.
You gave all to me,
When You died at Calv’ry
On that cruel tree.
Crucified for my sins;
You paid what I owe,
So I’d be forgiven;
My God come to know.
All I have is Yours, Lord.
You gave all to me,
When You died at Calv’ry
On that cruel tree.

Lord, I am so thankful
For Your grace divine.
I invited You, Lord,
In this heart of mine.
I have been forgiven
For all of my sins,
So I’d live with Jesus;
His grace flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful
For Your grace divine.
I invited You, Lord,
In this heart of mine.

Growing in Your grace, Lord;
Live for You each day;
How I love to worship
You throughout my day.
Sitting at Your feet, Lord,
List’ning to You speak,
Leads me to love You, Lord,
More throughout the week.
Growing in Your grace, Lord;
Live for You each day;
How I love to worship
You throughout my day.

Out of Darkness Into Light
An Original Work / April 19, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love