Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,441
“Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” (Hebrews 12:12-17 NASB’95)
The subject matter is that of getting rid of any lingering and captivating sins in our lives so that we can walk the walk that God has for us to walk, as his followers, in walks of surrender to his will and in obedience to his commands in holy living, without which no one will see the Lord. For all throughout the New Testament writings the church is being warned against thinking that they can continue in their sins, and not in walks of obedience to God, and that heaven will still be their eternal destiny. It won’t. Believe it!
And whenever I read verses 12-13, I think of them somewhat in a symbolic sense in that our hands represent our deeds, our works, our actions. Our knees represent surrender of our lives to God, in submission to his will and purpose for our lives, in true humility and in genuine repentance (death to sin). And the straight paths for our feet represent the gospel which teaches faith in Jesus resulting in us dying with him to sin and walks of obedience to his commands. And our feet represent our walks (our conduct and patterns).
Therefore, the message that I get from this section of Scripture, in relation to the message spoken in Hebrews 12, as a whole, is that we need to have our deeds in line with God’s will and purpose, in living holy and godly lives, and no longer making sin our practice. And we do this by surrendering our lives to the Lord, dying with him to sin, and now walking in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit, in the power of God. Now our lives are to be committed to doing the will of God and no longer to sinful practices.
But now when this says that we are to pursue peace with all men (all people), this is not the kind of peace which makes compromises with truth and righteousness, and with the Scriptures, and with the gospel message, and with the character of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – in order to be accepted by others so that they will like us, and so that we will not be persecuted by them. We only make peace with anyone as far as it depends on us not having to compromise holiness and righteousness.
And what follows next? We are to pursue sanctification (holiness) without which no one will see the Lord. For the Scriptures make it clear that faith in Jesus, which is of God, and which is persuaded of God, will result in us dying with Christ to sin and us walking in obedience to his commands, or it is not genuine faith which saves. If we give lip service only to the Lord, and then we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and we do not make obedience to God our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
For it is possible to profess faith in Jesus Christ, convinced that all your sins are forgiven, and that heaven is secured for you for when you die, but for you to come short of the grace of God. For God’s grace is what sent Jesus to the cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus, we will no longer walk in sin, but we will now walk in obedience to our Lord. And God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return (see Titus 2:11-14).
In other words, God’s grace is not a free ride to heaven based on making a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ alone. God’s grace is deliverance from our slavery (addiction) to sin and empowerment of the Spirit to walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. And this is not saying that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin must no longer be our practice, but obedience to God should be our practice from now to eternity. Too many people are thinking they are going to heaven who are still living in sin and not in obedience to the Lord, sadly so.
For if we claim to believe in Jesus, and we claim that we are now saved from all sins, and that heaven is now our eternal destiny, but then we continue living in sin and in disobedience to God, it is the same as Esau selling his birthright for a single meal, who was not able to get it back, and who did not inherit the blessing, even though he sought it with tears. He came short of the grace of God for he sold out his inheritance to satisfy the cravings of his flesh. And sadly, this is what many professing “Christians” are doing today.
Many people today, who are professing faith in Jesus Christ, are still living immoral and godless lives in surrender to self and to sin. And one day they will stand before the Lord on the day of judgment, and they will call him, “Lord,” and they will proclaim all that they believed they did in his name, but they will hear him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they would not obey God, but they obeyed sin, instead. So don’t be like them. Repent of your sins and obey God now and forevermore.
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Lead Me Gently Home, Father
By Will L. Thompson, 1879
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
When life’s toils are ended,
And parting days have come,
Sin no more shall tempt me,
Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,
If Thou’ll only lead me, Father,
Lead me gently home.
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
In life’s darkest hours, Father,
When life’s troubles come,
Keep my feet from wand’ring,
Lest from Thee I roam,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Make Straight Paths for Your Feet
An Original Work / April 3, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” (Hebrews 12:12-17 NASB’95)
The subject matter is that of getting rid of any lingering and captivating sins in our lives so that we can walk the walk that God has for us to walk, as his followers, in walks of surrender to his will and in obedience to his commands in holy living, without which no one will see the Lord. For all throughout the New Testament writings the church is being warned against thinking that they can continue in their sins, and not in walks of obedience to God, and that heaven will still be their eternal destiny. It won’t. Believe it!
And whenever I read verses 12-13, I think of them somewhat in a symbolic sense in that our hands represent our deeds, our works, our actions. Our knees represent surrender of our lives to God, in submission to his will and purpose for our lives, in true humility and in genuine repentance (death to sin). And the straight paths for our feet represent the gospel which teaches faith in Jesus resulting in us dying with him to sin and walks of obedience to his commands. And our feet represent our walks (our conduct and patterns).
Therefore, the message that I get from this section of Scripture, in relation to the message spoken in Hebrews 12, as a whole, is that we need to have our deeds in line with God’s will and purpose, in living holy and godly lives, and no longer making sin our practice. And we do this by surrendering our lives to the Lord, dying with him to sin, and now walking in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit, in the power of God. Now our lives are to be committed to doing the will of God and no longer to sinful practices.
But now when this says that we are to pursue peace with all men (all people), this is not the kind of peace which makes compromises with truth and righteousness, and with the Scriptures, and with the gospel message, and with the character of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – in order to be accepted by others so that they will like us, and so that we will not be persecuted by them. We only make peace with anyone as far as it depends on us not having to compromise holiness and righteousness.
And what follows next? We are to pursue sanctification (holiness) without which no one will see the Lord. For the Scriptures make it clear that faith in Jesus, which is of God, and which is persuaded of God, will result in us dying with Christ to sin and us walking in obedience to his commands, or it is not genuine faith which saves. If we give lip service only to the Lord, and then we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and we do not make obedience to God our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
For it is possible to profess faith in Jesus Christ, convinced that all your sins are forgiven, and that heaven is secured for you for when you die, but for you to come short of the grace of God. For God’s grace is what sent Jesus to the cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus, we will no longer walk in sin, but we will now walk in obedience to our Lord. And God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return (see Titus 2:11-14).
In other words, God’s grace is not a free ride to heaven based on making a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ alone. God’s grace is deliverance from our slavery (addiction) to sin and empowerment of the Spirit to walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. And this is not saying that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin must no longer be our practice, but obedience to God should be our practice from now to eternity. Too many people are thinking they are going to heaven who are still living in sin and not in obedience to the Lord, sadly so.
For if we claim to believe in Jesus, and we claim that we are now saved from all sins, and that heaven is now our eternal destiny, but then we continue living in sin and in disobedience to God, it is the same as Esau selling his birthright for a single meal, who was not able to get it back, and who did not inherit the blessing, even though he sought it with tears. He came short of the grace of God for he sold out his inheritance to satisfy the cravings of his flesh. And sadly, this is what many professing “Christians” are doing today.
Many people today, who are professing faith in Jesus Christ, are still living immoral and godless lives in surrender to self and to sin. And one day they will stand before the Lord on the day of judgment, and they will call him, “Lord,” and they will proclaim all that they believed they did in his name, but they will hear him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they would not obey God, but they obeyed sin, instead. So don’t be like them. Repent of your sins and obey God now and forevermore.
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Lead Me Gently Home, Father
By Will L. Thompson, 1879
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
When life’s toils are ended,
And parting days have come,
Sin no more shall tempt me,
Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,
If Thou’ll only lead me, Father,
Lead me gently home.
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
In life’s darkest hours, Father,
When life’s troubles come,
Keep my feet from wand’ring,
Lest from Thee I roam,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Make Straight Paths for Your Feet
An Original Work / April 3, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
