Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,859
“Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:25-32 NASB1995)
So many people today are being taught that all they have to do is give a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ, in one form or another, and now all their sins are forgiven, and heaven is guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of what they do with Jesus from that moment forward, and regardless of how they live in conduct and in practice. For they are being taught that not being saved by our own works means that nothing else is required of them, and that no works at all are required of them. But…
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” “For Jesus “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:14 NASB1995)
So, there are works, which are of the flesh, and there are works which are of God which he had prepared beforehand that we should walk in them as part of our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. Yes, we are not saved by our own works, of our own doing, thinking that we can earn our own way into heaven. But our salvation is deliverance from the power of sin over our lives so we will now walk free from addiction to sin. And it is empowerment of God to walk in obedience to his commands, too.
So, all throughout the New Testament writings the church was taught that they must die to sin and obey God as part of the God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ which saves. And if they were straying from that, they were exhorted over again that they must put their old lives of sin to death, by the Spirit, and that they must now walk in obedience to the Lord and to his commands in holy living, in the power of God. And we are warned that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we have not life with God.
Therefore, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we must put sin away from our bodies, by the Spirit, and we must walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands. This doesn’t mean we will be perfect in every way from that moment forward or that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2). But God does “draw a line in the sand,” so to speak, when he lets us know that if sin is our deliberate and habitual practice, and obedience to God is not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God, no matter what we profess.
And so that is why we have many repetitions of what this is teaching us here in Ephesians 4:17-32, where we are being taught the kinds of things which must be put out of our lives, and the kinds of things which then must be put on in our lives in place of the things that we got rid of. For many people will try to stop sinning, in practice, in their own strength, but then they will go right back to living how they lived before. Why? Because nothing changed in their hearts, for one, and because they were not becoming someone new.
So, by faith in Jesus Christ, we put out of our lives all that is of the flesh and of sin, and we replace those sinful practices with practices which are godly, honest, faithful, morally pure, upright, and committed to the Lord and to doing his will in what pleases him. But we do this in the power of God living within us and not in our own human strength. And we must keep on putting sin to death, by the Spirit, and walking in obedience to the Lord in doing what is good and upright and faithful in service to God and loving and kind.
For it is possible for us to grieve the Holy Spirit of God if we go on living in sin and for self and by the flesh, and if obedience to our Lord is not what we practice. And if we choose to ignore our Lord’s exhortations to put sin to death in our lives and to now obey him and his commands, we are warned that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, that we will not have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father.
[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]
Trust and Obey
Words by John H. Sammis, 1887
Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887
When we walk with the Lord
in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise,
not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear,
not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
But we never can prove
the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Out With the Old, In With the New
An Original Work / April 30, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
So many people today are being taught that all they have to do is give a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ, in one form or another, and now all their sins are forgiven, and heaven is guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of what they do with Jesus from that moment forward, and regardless of how they live in conduct and in practice. For they are being taught that not being saved by our own works means that nothing else is required of them, and that no works at all are required of them. But…
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” “For Jesus “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:14 NASB1995)
So, there are works, which are of the flesh, and there are works which are of God which he had prepared beforehand that we should walk in them as part of our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. Yes, we are not saved by our own works, of our own doing, thinking that we can earn our own way into heaven. But our salvation is deliverance from the power of sin over our lives so we will now walk free from addiction to sin. And it is empowerment of God to walk in obedience to his commands, too.
So, all throughout the New Testament writings the church was taught that they must die to sin and obey God as part of the God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ which saves. And if they were straying from that, they were exhorted over again that they must put their old lives of sin to death, by the Spirit, and that they must now walk in obedience to the Lord and to his commands in holy living, in the power of God. And we are warned that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we have not life with God.
Therefore, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we must put sin away from our bodies, by the Spirit, and we must walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands. This doesn’t mean we will be perfect in every way from that moment forward or that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2). But God does “draw a line in the sand,” so to speak, when he lets us know that if sin is our deliberate and habitual practice, and obedience to God is not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God, no matter what we profess.
And so that is why we have many repetitions of what this is teaching us here in Ephesians 4:17-32, where we are being taught the kinds of things which must be put out of our lives, and the kinds of things which then must be put on in our lives in place of the things that we got rid of. For many people will try to stop sinning, in practice, in their own strength, but then they will go right back to living how they lived before. Why? Because nothing changed in their hearts, for one, and because they were not becoming someone new.
So, by faith in Jesus Christ, we put out of our lives all that is of the flesh and of sin, and we replace those sinful practices with practices which are godly, honest, faithful, morally pure, upright, and committed to the Lord and to doing his will in what pleases him. But we do this in the power of God living within us and not in our own human strength. And we must keep on putting sin to death, by the Spirit, and walking in obedience to the Lord in doing what is good and upright and faithful in service to God and loving and kind.
For it is possible for us to grieve the Holy Spirit of God if we go on living in sin and for self and by the flesh, and if obedience to our Lord is not what we practice. And if we choose to ignore our Lord’s exhortations to put sin to death in our lives and to now obey him and his commands, we are warned that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, that we will not have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father.
[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]
Trust and Obey
Words by John H. Sammis, 1887
Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887
When we walk with the Lord
in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise,
not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear,
not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
But we never can prove
the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Out With the Old, In With the New
An Original Work / April 30, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
