Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,044
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8 ESV)
There are many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips, but whose hearts are far from him. They say that they believe in Jesus. They claim him as their Lord and Savior. But they are still living for themselves, still doing what their flesh desires, and not what God requires of them in thought, in word, and in deed. They may call on God for help, and for wisdom, but they don’t accept his counsel, so they continue in their sin.
For they are the childish, the self-indulgent, lovers of intoxication to sin living for themselves and for their own selfish desires, regardless of the impact of their actions on other people, and especially not with regard to how they treat those who they are to love and to give honor to and to value and to care for. For their sinful pleasures trump all else. It doesn’t matter to them who gets hurt in the process, as long as they can get their fix.
Their sinful practices are not usually out in the open for anyone else to see, though. They perform them in secret where no one else can see what they are doing, except for God, and except for AI which spies on pretty much anything we do or say that is associated with the internet. And for many, this is in the area of sexual immorality, and the viewing of illicit material on the internet, resulting in lustful and immoral thoughts and behaviors.
Since they profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they may, at times, call on him for help, but then they refuse the help he provides, and they go it their own way instead, which always ends with the same bad results. So, if they are married, they end up committing adultery against their spouses on a consistent basis, which then just separates them from the marital union that they are biblically to have with their spouses. For sin always trumps that.
So what does this passage teach us? Those who live like this are like waves of the sea driven and tossed by the winds. What winds? The winds of false faith and temptation to sin and to go it their own way and to ignore God and his New Covenant Commands, and to ignore their marital vows of fidelity and the honoring of their spouses and of their marriages. And for what? To feed their own sinful and lustful desires. So they are the double-minded, unstable in all their ways, who will not receive anything from the Lord.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22-25 ESV)
But if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine God-persuaded and God-gifted faith, which comes from God, and which is not of our own doing, then we will be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. For the faith to believe in Jesus, which comes from God, results in us dying with Christ to sin and us being 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.
But so many of today’s modern “churches” are not teaching that faith = obedience to God and death to sin. So many of them are teaching that all we have to do is to make a profession of faith in Jesus, and now all our sins are forgiven, and we are on our way to heaven, but regardless of how we live. Do we do “good works” to earn our salvation? No! But we are saved to do the good works of God which he prepared for us in advance, that we should walk (in conduct, in practice) in them. But no obedience = no salvation.
God did not give us his instructions under the New Covenant just for show, or just as a mere suggestion or recommendation. And if obedience to God and the forsaking of (dying to) sin is not what we practice, by the Spirit, then we don’t know God, and we are not in fellowship with Christ, and we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For faith in Jesus, which comes from God, results in us putting sin to death in our lives and us now walking by the Spirit in obedience to our Lord and to his NC commands.
Yet, many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ may read what the Scriptures teach, and they may even ask God for wisdom in overcoming their sin, but then they will immediately walk away and forget what the Lord showed them about themselves and what they need to do to not continue in those deliberate and habitual sins and to now live righteously in walks of surrender and in obedience to our Lord and to his NC commandments.
And what is this “perfect law” we are to look into? It is the true message of the gospel of our salvation which requires that we die with Christ to sin and that we walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to his commands. Will we be absolutely perfect from that point forward? Probably not, because we still live in flesh bodies (1 John 2:1-2). But sin must not be our practice. We should no longer be engaged in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord. But we are to be doers of the Word who obey our Lord and walk in his ways.
[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; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Broken Cord
An Original Work / August 29, 2018
Your bond is broken with your Lord and Savior
And your testimony is separate from Him.
Your words not matching your actions today.
Repent of your sin and bow down and pray.
Live what you testify in truth always.
Purity’s lacking in your life and witness,
For you profess one thing, but other you do.
Not moral, spiritual. Still of the flesh.
Not living in truth to what you confess.
Lying about it puts you in a mess.
Living a lie is your practice, ‘tis true of you.
Masquerade righteousness – none of it true.
Your heart is not given to your Lord God.
Because of how you live, you are a fraud.
Turn from your sin and give your life to God.
Abbreviations: [NC=New Covenant; AI=Artificial Intelligence]
There are many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips, but whose hearts are far from him. They say that they believe in Jesus. They claim him as their Lord and Savior. But they are still living for themselves, still doing what their flesh desires, and not what God requires of them in thought, in word, and in deed. They may call on God for help, and for wisdom, but they don’t accept his counsel, so they continue in their sin.
For they are the childish, the self-indulgent, lovers of intoxication to sin living for themselves and for their own selfish desires, regardless of the impact of their actions on other people, and especially not with regard to how they treat those who they are to love and to give honor to and to value and to care for. For their sinful pleasures trump all else. It doesn’t matter to them who gets hurt in the process, as long as they can get their fix.
Their sinful practices are not usually out in the open for anyone else to see, though. They perform them in secret where no one else can see what they are doing, except for God, and except for AI which spies on pretty much anything we do or say that is associated with the internet. And for many, this is in the area of sexual immorality, and the viewing of illicit material on the internet, resulting in lustful and immoral thoughts and behaviors.
Since they profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they may, at times, call on him for help, but then they refuse the help he provides, and they go it their own way instead, which always ends with the same bad results. So, if they are married, they end up committing adultery against their spouses on a consistent basis, which then just separates them from the marital union that they are biblically to have with their spouses. For sin always trumps that.
So what does this passage teach us? Those who live like this are like waves of the sea driven and tossed by the winds. What winds? The winds of false faith and temptation to sin and to go it their own way and to ignore God and his New Covenant Commands, and to ignore their marital vows of fidelity and the honoring of their spouses and of their marriages. And for what? To feed their own sinful and lustful desires. So they are the double-minded, unstable in all their ways, who will not receive anything from the Lord.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22-25 ESV)
But if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine God-persuaded and God-gifted faith, which comes from God, and which is not of our own doing, then we will be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. For the faith to believe in Jesus, which comes from God, results in us dying with Christ to sin and us being 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.
But so many of today’s modern “churches” are not teaching that faith = obedience to God and death to sin. So many of them are teaching that all we have to do is to make a profession of faith in Jesus, and now all our sins are forgiven, and we are on our way to heaven, but regardless of how we live. Do we do “good works” to earn our salvation? No! But we are saved to do the good works of God which he prepared for us in advance, that we should walk (in conduct, in practice) in them. But no obedience = no salvation.
God did not give us his instructions under the New Covenant just for show, or just as a mere suggestion or recommendation. And if obedience to God and the forsaking of (dying to) sin is not what we practice, by the Spirit, then we don’t know God, and we are not in fellowship with Christ, and we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For faith in Jesus, which comes from God, results in us putting sin to death in our lives and us now walking by the Spirit in obedience to our Lord and to his NC commands.
Yet, many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ may read what the Scriptures teach, and they may even ask God for wisdom in overcoming their sin, but then they will immediately walk away and forget what the Lord showed them about themselves and what they need to do to not continue in those deliberate and habitual sins and to now live righteously in walks of surrender and in obedience to our Lord and to his NC commandments.
And what is this “perfect law” we are to look into? It is the true message of the gospel of our salvation which requires that we die with Christ to sin and that we walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to his commands. Will we be absolutely perfect from that point forward? Probably not, because we still live in flesh bodies (1 John 2:1-2). But sin must not be our practice. We should no longer be engaged in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord. But we are to be doers of the Word who obey our Lord and walk in his ways.
[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; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Broken Cord
An Original Work / August 29, 2018
Your bond is broken with your Lord and Savior
And your testimony is separate from Him.
Your words not matching your actions today.
Repent of your sin and bow down and pray.
Live what you testify in truth always.
Purity’s lacking in your life and witness,
For you profess one thing, but other you do.
Not moral, spiritual. Still of the flesh.
Not living in truth to what you confess.
Lying about it puts you in a mess.
Living a lie is your practice, ‘tis true of you.
Masquerade righteousness – none of it true.
Your heart is not given to your Lord God.
Because of how you live, you are a fraud.
Turn from your sin and give your life to God.
Abbreviations: [NC=New Covenant; AI=Artificial Intelligence]
