Sue J Love
Loyal
1 Peter 1:17-21 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“17Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot. 20He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake. 21Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.”
The Empty Way of Life
So, what does this “empty way of life” look like? Well, empty can mean “vacant, hollow, void,” i.e. having no real substance to it, devoid of truth and righteousness and holy living because no genuine faith in Jesus Christ ever took place in the person’s life, whether or not they ever professed faith in the Lord Jesus. And this can be a result of what “gospel” message many people are believing or are not believing. For many people today are teaching a false and empty gospel devoid of truth and righteousness.
Many people are teaching “the gospel of Christ” as though all it consists of is Jesus’ death and resurrection, and a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ by human beings, after which they are now promised forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny, but regardless of how they live; regardless of whether or not they obey God and His commands and if they leave their lives of sin behind them. Many are teaching that God does not require death to sin and obedience to His commands, which is a bold lie!
But those who are living in addiction to sin will often adopt this false and empty gospel message because it promises them forgiveness of sin and eternal life with God regardless of how they live, in practice. But they are being given a false promise of eternal life with God which will not end up in heaven but in hell. It will not end in the salvation of their lives, but in their deaths for eternity. And that is a very sad reality which breaks my heart! I fear for those who are relying on this empty “gospel” to save them.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to His commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
1 Peter 2:1-3 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Rid Yourselves Of..
Sadly, there are many people today who are professing faith in Jesus Christ who are believing that all their sins are forgiven and that heaven is guaranteed them as their eternal destiny, but who are still making malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander, moral impurity, manipulation, faithlessness, and fakery their life practice. But they lie about what they are doing or are not doing as a way to hide the reality of how they are living from other humans. And they may even present themselves to others as righteous.
And they do this out of pride, i.e. they are swelled with pride, and so they do not want to admit that they are living in moral failure, and so they present outwardly that all is well, or that they are living for the Lord and that they are walking in His ways and that God does hear and answer their prayers, etc. And they put on a performance that they are ridding themselves of all of these types of sins mentioned above, but they are faking it. Instead, they are deteriorating and worsening and declining morally. Sad to see!!
Like Newborn Babies
Now this is not suggesting that we act immaturely like babies, but that if our faith in Jesus Christ is of God, and if it is genuine biblical faith which requires death to sin and obedience to our Lord’s commands, that we should crave the teachings of the Scriptures, the Word of the Lord, and we should long to follow our Lord in walks of obedience to His commands, to do what pleases Him. Our heart’s desire should be to do what pleases our Lord and no longer what pleases our sinful flesh. We should hunger for truth and righteousness!
Sadly, far too many who profess faith in Jesus Christ do not hunger after the Lord in the way in which a baby hungers after his or her mother’s milk. Far too many have drifted from the teachings of the Scriptures on what it means to be followers of Christ, those born again of the Spirit of God, who now have an inheritance with God. Far too many professers of faith in the Lord are living still for the flesh and in sinful practices and not in surrender to Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives while they claim to be In Christ.
But if we are to be of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, we must surrender our lives to the Lord. We must deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord and His commands (New Covenant) in life practice. Sin must no longer be our habit, our lifestyle. This is not to say, though, that we will never sin (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin is to not be our practice. And we must obey God in practice. For if we continue living in sin, in disobedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, even if we do profess faith in Jesus Christ with our lips.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; 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 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
Redeemed From the Empty Way of Life
An Original Work / October 1, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
The Heart of Man
Based off Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23
An Original Work / April 4, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Listen to me ev’ryone and
Understand this teaching of Christ:
Why do you break the commands
Of God for the sake of tradition?
When you follow the ways of man,
And don’t obey the words of Christ,
You nullify the words of God,
And you hold to the ways of man.
What comes out of a man’s mouth is
What makes him unclean and dirty.
The things that come out of the mouth
Come from the heart, from within him.
The heart of man is so sinful;
From his nature, out comes evil:
Lying, cursing, greed and malice,
Lust and lewdness, deceit, slander.
Jesus calls us to obey Him;
Turn from our sins; follow His ways.
Yet, His people honor Him with their lips,
but their hearts not with Him.
Their worship of God is in vain.
Their teachings are rules taught by man.
Jesus calls us; gently leads us
To return and follow His truth.
“17Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot. 20He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake. 21Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.”
The Empty Way of Life
So, what does this “empty way of life” look like? Well, empty can mean “vacant, hollow, void,” i.e. having no real substance to it, devoid of truth and righteousness and holy living because no genuine faith in Jesus Christ ever took place in the person’s life, whether or not they ever professed faith in the Lord Jesus. And this can be a result of what “gospel” message many people are believing or are not believing. For many people today are teaching a false and empty gospel devoid of truth and righteousness.
Many people are teaching “the gospel of Christ” as though all it consists of is Jesus’ death and resurrection, and a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ by human beings, after which they are now promised forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny, but regardless of how they live; regardless of whether or not they obey God and His commands and if they leave their lives of sin behind them. Many are teaching that God does not require death to sin and obedience to His commands, which is a bold lie!
But those who are living in addiction to sin will often adopt this false and empty gospel message because it promises them forgiveness of sin and eternal life with God regardless of how they live, in practice. But they are being given a false promise of eternal life with God which will not end up in heaven but in hell. It will not end in the salvation of their lives, but in their deaths for eternity. And that is a very sad reality which breaks my heart! I fear for those who are relying on this empty “gospel” to save them.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to His commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
1 Peter 2:1-3 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Rid Yourselves Of..
Sadly, there are many people today who are professing faith in Jesus Christ who are believing that all their sins are forgiven and that heaven is guaranteed them as their eternal destiny, but who are still making malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander, moral impurity, manipulation, faithlessness, and fakery their life practice. But they lie about what they are doing or are not doing as a way to hide the reality of how they are living from other humans. And they may even present themselves to others as righteous.
And they do this out of pride, i.e. they are swelled with pride, and so they do not want to admit that they are living in moral failure, and so they present outwardly that all is well, or that they are living for the Lord and that they are walking in His ways and that God does hear and answer their prayers, etc. And they put on a performance that they are ridding themselves of all of these types of sins mentioned above, but they are faking it. Instead, they are deteriorating and worsening and declining morally. Sad to see!!
Like Newborn Babies
Now this is not suggesting that we act immaturely like babies, but that if our faith in Jesus Christ is of God, and if it is genuine biblical faith which requires death to sin and obedience to our Lord’s commands, that we should crave the teachings of the Scriptures, the Word of the Lord, and we should long to follow our Lord in walks of obedience to His commands, to do what pleases Him. Our heart’s desire should be to do what pleases our Lord and no longer what pleases our sinful flesh. We should hunger for truth and righteousness!
Sadly, far too many who profess faith in Jesus Christ do not hunger after the Lord in the way in which a baby hungers after his or her mother’s milk. Far too many have drifted from the teachings of the Scriptures on what it means to be followers of Christ, those born again of the Spirit of God, who now have an inheritance with God. Far too many professers of faith in the Lord are living still for the flesh and in sinful practices and not in surrender to Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives while they claim to be In Christ.
But if we are to be of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, we must surrender our lives to the Lord. We must deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord and His commands (New Covenant) in life practice. Sin must no longer be our habit, our lifestyle. This is not to say, though, that we will never sin (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin is to not be our practice. And we must obey God in practice. For if we continue living in sin, in disobedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, even if we do profess faith in Jesus Christ with our lips.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; 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 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
Redeemed From the Empty Way of Life
An Original Work / October 1, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
The Heart of Man
Based off Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23
An Original Work / April 4, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Listen to me ev’ryone and
Understand this teaching of Christ:
Why do you break the commands
Of God for the sake of tradition?
When you follow the ways of man,
And don’t obey the words of Christ,
You nullify the words of God,
And you hold to the ways of man.
What comes out of a man’s mouth is
What makes him unclean and dirty.
The things that come out of the mouth
Come from the heart, from within him.
The heart of man is so sinful;
From his nature, out comes evil:
Lying, cursing, greed and malice,
Lust and lewdness, deceit, slander.
Jesus calls us to obey Him;
Turn from our sins; follow His ways.
Yet, His people honor Him with their lips,
but their hearts not with Him.
Their worship of God is in vain.
Their teachings are rules taught by man.
Jesus calls us; gently leads us
To return and follow His truth.
The Heart of Man 1
This is "The Heart of Man 1" by Sue Love on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
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