Bring Them Home

[Sue J Love]

“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:1-5 ESV).

This is a very passionate plea to all of you out there who are professing faith in Jesus Christ but who are still deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord and against other humans, while convinced that you are saved from your sins and on your way to heaven, and that nothing can take that away from you, regardless of how you live.

Please know that the Scriptures do not teach you can be forgiven all your sins, including future sins, while you go on living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and against other humans. For Jesus Christ died on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that by God-given faith in him we can now die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, in the power of God, by the grace of God (Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 2:24).

We are not forgiven our sins so that we can go on sinning without feeling guilt for our sins and while we just “claim who you are in Christ” in order to alleviate that guilt. First of all, you are not even in Christ unless you have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. For Jesus said we must deny self, die daily to sin (in essence), and follow him in obedience if we want to have eternal life (Luke 9:23-26).

And second of all, who we are in Christ must be who we really are, in practice, not just because we read these character traits on a list someone gives us. They don’t apply to us unless they truly apply to us, because this is how we are living. For our salvation from sin is not a status that we wear, but it is how we live. We are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns for his faithful bride, but provided we are putting sin to death and walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living, in practice, unto the very end.

[Matt 24:9-14; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Jn 8:31-32; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 11:17-24; 1 Co 15:2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Gal 5:16-21]

For, yes, the time that is past suffices for doing what the ungodly want to do (or are doing), living in sensuality, sexual immorality, sensual passions, the lusts of the flesh, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, lawless idolatry, lying, cheating, stealing, faithlessness and committing adultery, etc. These are to have no part in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. We are to put all such things out of our lives, by the grace of God, and we should now be walking in moral purity, holiness, honesty, faithfulness and obedience to God. For to this we have been called of God to live holy lives, pleasing him.

Now those who are living in sin, especially who are professing faith in Jesus Christ, may malign those of us who are taking the Scriptures seriously and who are walking in obedience to our Lord, in practice, although not in absolute perfection. For so many today are believing the lies which teach that we can live in sin, but because of God’s grace we can be forgiven it all and have heaven guaranteed us even though that means ignoring our Lord and his commands and not following him in his ways. That’s a lie!

For we are all going to have to give an account to God for what we did in this life in relation to what his word teaches us with regard to how we must live if we are going to be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God. And those who choose to continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of faithful obedience to our Lord, in holy living, they will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what their lips professed. But they will die in their sins. So this is my plea to God…

The following song is taken from the musical “Les Misérables,” a play which I don’t recommend because it has some questionable scenes, I believe. But the song is a plea coming from a man who is praying to God and pleading with God to save the life of a young man, even if it means that he, the man himself, must lose his own life. The song is extremely passionate and heart-felt. And if we would translate this into spiritual terms, this is my heart-felt plea for all who do not believe in Jesus, but especially for those who profess his name but who are still living in sin, that the Lord would save their lives from hell and bring them home to God and to heaven for eternity.

Bring Them Home
Video Talk

October 31, 2023

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Bring Him Home

By Alain Boublil / Claude Michel Schonberg / Herbert Kretzmer

God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there…

He's like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son…

You can take
You can give
Let him be
Let him live
If I die, let me die
Let him live
Bring him home

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