Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,516
I am reading in 2 Peter 2 about false prophets and false teachers among the believers in Jesus Christ, and I am noting some of their characteristic traits:
• They secretly introduce destructive heresies
• They malign the way of truth, the truth which comes from God
• In their greed, they will exploit you with false words
• They indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority
• They are daring and self-willed, like unreasoning animals
• They revile where they have no knowledge
• They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime
• They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions
• They have eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin
• They entice unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed
• Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray
• They love the wages of unrighteousness
• They speak out arrogant words of vanity
• They entice others by fleshly desires, by sensuality
• They promise people freedom while they are slaves of depravity
• “For by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved”
And we have such people living and working among us today who serve as pastors of “churches,” or as elders, deacons, missionaries, prophets, apostles, evangelists and teachers. And many people are being led astray by them and by their false teachings. For they have turned the truth of the gospel of our salvation upside down, and they have trashed it, i.e. they have treated the teachings of Jesus and of his New Testament apostles as though they are rubbish, nonsense, and worthless, to be insulted and discarded.
So many of them are teaching a false grace gospel message which does not teach that faith in Jesus Christ, which is of 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 now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. They are not teaching the necessity of us dying with Christ to sin and us now walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, by God’s grace, through God-persuaded faith, as a matter of life practice.
Instead, many of them are teaching that a verbal profession of faith in Jesus Christ alone secures them salvation and forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny, regardless of how they live. For they teach that how we live does not matter for our salvation, for they tag that as “works salvation” if we teach God’s requirements for death to sin and walks of obedience to his commands, in practice. To them, if you acknowledge Jesus and his gift of salvation from sin, then you are good to go for eternity.
So, what this does is it opens the door wide for professers of faith in Jesus Christ to continue living in sin and not in walks of obedience to the Lord. And so we have many who profess faith in Jesus today living no differently from those who make no professions of faith, and some live much more evil lives than those who do not confess Jesus as Lord at all. And when they do sin, even deliberately and habitually, many of these false teachers will console the sinners with “just claim who you are in Christ,” which they may not be.
Therefore, we have many teachers of “the gospel” treating the gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles as though it is worthless trash to be discarded. And then they misrepresent the character of the Lord and of his gospel and of his church (the biblical body of Christ), and they insult the Spirit of Grace, and they downplay or discard God’s requirements for death to sin and for walks of obedience to his commands as unnecessary or as “works salvation.” And they lead their followers to follow the flesh, instead.
Many of them will malign those who are teaching the truth of the gospel, as well, treating them with the same disrespect as they treat God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – and with the same insults and lies and mischaracterizations. For they have turned the truth of the gospel upside down in order to appease human flesh. And so they will treat the Lord’s servants and messengers as though they are worthless trash to be discarded and rejected because they are teaching the truth that Jesus taught.
They promise people freedom while they are slaves of corruption and depravity themselves. So they tell them that a mere profession of faith in Jesus will free them from the punishment of sin and now heaven is guaranteed them when they die. But the Scriptures teach that salvation from sin engages us, by faith in Jesus, in dying to sin and walking in obedience to our Lord, in practice. And if sin is our practice, and not walks of obedience, then we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what we profess.
[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]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Treated Like Trash
An Original Work / March 14, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
• They secretly introduce destructive heresies
• They malign the way of truth, the truth which comes from God
• In their greed, they will exploit you with false words
• They indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority
• They are daring and self-willed, like unreasoning animals
• They revile where they have no knowledge
• They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime
• They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions
• They have eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin
• They entice unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed
• Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray
• They love the wages of unrighteousness
• They speak out arrogant words of vanity
• They entice others by fleshly desires, by sensuality
• They promise people freedom while they are slaves of depravity
• “For by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved”
And we have such people living and working among us today who serve as pastors of “churches,” or as elders, deacons, missionaries, prophets, apostles, evangelists and teachers. And many people are being led astray by them and by their false teachings. For they have turned the truth of the gospel of our salvation upside down, and they have trashed it, i.e. they have treated the teachings of Jesus and of his New Testament apostles as though they are rubbish, nonsense, and worthless, to be insulted and discarded.
So many of them are teaching a false grace gospel message which does not teach that faith in Jesus Christ, which is of 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 now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. They are not teaching the necessity of us dying with Christ to sin and us now walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, by God’s grace, through God-persuaded faith, as a matter of life practice.
Instead, many of them are teaching that a verbal profession of faith in Jesus Christ alone secures them salvation and forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny, regardless of how they live. For they teach that how we live does not matter for our salvation, for they tag that as “works salvation” if we teach God’s requirements for death to sin and walks of obedience to his commands, in practice. To them, if you acknowledge Jesus and his gift of salvation from sin, then you are good to go for eternity.
So, what this does is it opens the door wide for professers of faith in Jesus Christ to continue living in sin and not in walks of obedience to the Lord. And so we have many who profess faith in Jesus today living no differently from those who make no professions of faith, and some live much more evil lives than those who do not confess Jesus as Lord at all. And when they do sin, even deliberately and habitually, many of these false teachers will console the sinners with “just claim who you are in Christ,” which they may not be.
Therefore, we have many teachers of “the gospel” treating the gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles as though it is worthless trash to be discarded. And then they misrepresent the character of the Lord and of his gospel and of his church (the biblical body of Christ), and they insult the Spirit of Grace, and they downplay or discard God’s requirements for death to sin and for walks of obedience to his commands as unnecessary or as “works salvation.” And they lead their followers to follow the flesh, instead.
Many of them will malign those who are teaching the truth of the gospel, as well, treating them with the same disrespect as they treat God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – and with the same insults and lies and mischaracterizations. For they have turned the truth of the gospel upside down in order to appease human flesh. And so they will treat the Lord’s servants and messengers as though they are worthless trash to be discarded and rejected because they are teaching the truth that Jesus taught.
They promise people freedom while they are slaves of corruption and depravity themselves. So they tell them that a mere profession of faith in Jesus will free them from the punishment of sin and now heaven is guaranteed them when they die. But the Scriptures teach that salvation from sin engages us, by faith in Jesus, in dying to sin and walking in obedience to our Lord, in practice. And if sin is our practice, and not walks of obedience, then we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what we profess.
[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]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Treated Like Trash
An Original Work / March 14, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
