Christian Living

We are responsible to God for all that we do, say or think. It is our responsibility to love God with all our hearts, our soul, our mind, and our strength, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It is our responsibility to repent and believe; to turn to God from sin; to walk in the straight and narrow pathway of righteousness and holiness; and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. We are to work out our own salvation with great fear and trembling, pray and seek God’s face, worship in spirit and in truth, and order our lived down here on earth in the fear of the Lord.

There is not a single word that God has spoken that can be compromised or that we are to treat as a joke. God can not be mocked. God has mapped a way of life for all who claim to be His children and that standard can not be lowered to suit our own desires. In all we ever think or do, we ought to remember that God is holy and righteous, and no doubt, if we are indeed His children, made bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh, we must also be holy.

There are those who say that if God has chosen a man to be saved, that man will be saved no matter he does or does not do. According to 2 Thessalonians 2:13 this is wrong. It reads, “…God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation and sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (KJV). It is very true that God chose them to be saved, but they must be sanctified by the Holy Spirit as well, and then they must BELIEVE the truth, who is Christ. Without this, that person can never go to heaven. For if a man does not believe the truth, he will perish, just as Jesus warns here in Luke 13:3 “unless you repent, you shall also perish”. Therefore, if a sinner does not repent, he shall not be saved.

Then there are those who say that if a man is a real Christian, no matter how he may live in the future, no matter how far or how long he may backslide, no matter what sins he may commit, he is still very sure of going to heaven. No, this is not true. The bible teaches us otherwise. For a man to get in heaven, he must walk in the only pathway that leads there - the pathway of righteousness and true holiness. God did not save us to give us liberty to walk in the indulgences of the flesh. Ephesians 1:4 says, “long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes” (NLT). And Hebrews 12:14, “try to live in peace with everyone, and seek to live a clean and holy life. For those who are not holy will not see the Lord”.  And Romans 6:18 says, “Now you are free from your old master sin and you have now become a slave to your new master righteousness”. This means that we are now under the compulsion of walking in righteousness and failure to obey this master of ours automatically earns us the punishment, an eternal punishment in the fires of hell. According to 2 Timothy 1:9, “God saved us and chose us to live a holy life”. There is no way you can separate salvation from righteousness and holiness.

There are those who claim to be Christians but their lives do not differ from that of thousands of nonbelievers. Their walk is thoroughly ungodly, but they are quite sure they are bound for heaven. They say the accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior so many years ago, and “once saved, always saved” is their comfort. But if this is their basis for eternal life, they are on sinking ground. They are lost and need to repent, which is completely turning from living a sin-filled life. God’s word does not teach a man can be saved and then continue to live in his sins, his worldliness, and his self-will; for our God gives no such salvation. He saves us from our sins and not in them.

And then someone says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1. But note what verse 5 says; “those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit”. And in verses 12 and 13, “dear brothers and sisters, you have an obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you keep on following it you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live”. The apostle Paul was writing to believers and not nonbelievers. In face, he says “they were called to belong to Christ” Romans 1:6.

There are those who also say, “Will God punish His beloved children in hell forever?” No, God’s children can never be found in hell. John 1:12 says, “But to all who believed in Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God”. Have you noticed it? The bible says he gave them the “RIGHT” to “BECOME” children of God. He did not make them His children, no, God points to our responsibility after we have believed and accepted Him. We now have the choice to become children of God. And God’s children must bear His character. That is the only way you can tell who their father is. While our Lord was preaching, he told his listeners that those who do evil have a different father. “For are the children of your father the Devil and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language. For he is a liar and the father of lies” John 8:44. Simply accepting Jesus as your Lord and savior will not make you a child of God when you do things centrally to what your Father does. In Romans 8:14, the bible adds, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God”. And the Holy Spirit will not lead you to tell lies, to steal, to commit adultery, to fornicate, to gossip, and to do any kind of evil, but it will only lead you to live a righteous and holy life. “You must display a new creature because you are a new person, created in God’s likeness – righteous and holy” Ephesians 4:24.

Others say, “The Lord knows them that are His”, quoting 2 Timothy 2:19 which says, “But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this seal: The Lord knows them that are His. But the last part of this verse reads, “And those who claim to be in Lord must turn away from all wickedness”. The proof that I am in Christ is that I am daily departing from sin and not wallowing in it, calling myself a carnal Christian.

Hebrews 3:14 says, “For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Once we are saved, we must strive to see that don’t loose it. As it written in Matthew 24:13, “only those who endure to the end will be saved". If you doubt me, here is Luke’s account in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 14:21-22 says, “After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned again to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia, where they strengthened the believers… They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that they must into the kingdom of God through many tribulations”.

God’s grace does not give us the liberty to walk in sin. After you have known the truth of God’s word, you must walk in it. If you continue in your old nature, you are trampling the blood of Jesus, the very blood that redeems you. What then will you be left with to wash clean your filth? What foolishness! “Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received full knowledge of the truth, there is no other sacrifice that will cover these sins. There will be nothing to look forward to but a terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies” Hebrews 10:27-28. And “When people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them. They make these proverbs come true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit’, and ‘A washed pig returns to the mud’” 2 Peter 2:20-22. Jesus also told his disciples in Luke 9:62 that “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God”.

God finds it needful to warn us during this our time about such teachings that demean the value of salvation, a priceless gift, and teachings that compromise God’s grace. I warn everyone who reads these words. Stop sinning and from saying peace to your soul by calling yourself a carnal Christian; cease from your bitterness and unforgiving spirit, stop harboring hatred and resentment against others. For this will not lead to your salvation. Our God says in Hebrews 10:38 that “But if a man draws back, my soul shall not be pleased with him”.

In Luke 17:32, our Lord tells us not to forget what happened to Lot’s wife. “Remember what happened to Lot’s wife”. Do you remember? She looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. She went to hell. Jesus was referring to the Genesis 19:17 account “Run for your lives! The angel said. Do not stop anywhere in the valley. And do not look back! Escape to the mountains, or you will die”. Then in verse 26, “But Lot’s wife looked back and she turned into a pillar of salt”. She perished, she went to hell! What a warning for us today. God has called us out of the world and he commands us “Don’t look back”. But some want to look back to the world and its pleasures. Outwardly, they are out of Sodom, but their hearts are left back in that world. Think about the person giving this warning! He is so full of mercy and grace, His love for us endures forever, He does not want anyone of us to perish. But in His sovereign love he deems it necessary to give us this warning, “Remember what happened to Lot’s wife” she looked back and went to hell. Judas Iscariot, the disciple who did not heed this warning from Jesus indeed went to hell.

“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God” Hebrews 3:12. 

Until then, let the peace of God reign in your hearts and minds.