1 John 2:1-6 Love With All Your Heart!

1 John 2:1-6  My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.  We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.  Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.  But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.  This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

The New Testament has 1,050 commands for a Christian to follow.  If we combine the duplicates, we have approximately 800 commands for obedience to righteousness.  If Christians believe we must live by these commands or laws, our primary responsibility should be to know them.  We need to catalog them in such a way that we can view them often.  Of course, in the New Testament these laws are presented to us, but they get mired in the prose of the writing.  If we really believe we must follow them, we need to know them.  Obviously, the best way to have them available would be to list them in a booklet, providing a comprehensive understanding of all the commandments in the New Testament.  In today’s focus scripture, John says, we validate this claim of intimacy with Christ by keeping his commandments.  We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.  Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.  Considering this and other scriptures, many Christians today attempt to serve Jesus by obeying as many laws as they detect in the New Testament.  Of course, the more conscientious believers often will feel they have failed either in their actions or in their thinking.  This attempt to be faithful Christians by obeying laws will many times rob people of  the joy of their salvation.  Serving God through obedience to laws demands constant evaluation of where you stand before a righteous, perfect God.  Sensitive Christians who evaluate everything they do or think find themselves unlike God and his holiness.  God demands perfection; eternity demands perfection.  Eight hundred written laws will sink any conscientious servant of God into failure and defeat, for we know as the Bible says, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)  In the Old Testament, sacrifices were necessary to appease a holy God.  These necessary offerings, appeasing a righteous God, revealed the unholy nature of men and women.  For people to be in right relationship with God, the blood of animals was required by God.  Death is the sentence imposed upon any imperfection.  Payment was required for the sins of a person—animals paid the price of death.  Why must anything die?  Because God cannot accept the cancer of sin in his presence.  If we are to be his chosen, we must be cleansed of imperfection.  If we are to live eternally with him, in his very presence, sin must be eliminated from our existence.  In other words, we must be holy as HE IS HOLY.  Faced with this dilemma, Paul cries out, O wretched man that I am!  Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  He answers with our only hope, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  (Romans 7:24-25)

If we get caught up in our own efforts to be holy, we confuse the issue of salvation.  Salvation has not come to us Christians because of our works but as a consequence of Christ’s works.  If we sustain our Christian lives through our efforts to keep laws, we contaminate the work of the cross.  We do not stay Christian by our efforts, but our lives of purity are based on Christ’s work and not our own works.  Is the sacrifice on the cross enough to keep us to the end of our lives as Christians?  How do we keep holy, acceptable and right with God if we do not obey all of the eight hundred commandments all of the time?  Are we not to be without fault concerning our relationship with God?  In the scriptures we find a man devoted to God by being obedient to every commandment and lifestyle demand.  He, of course, is Paul the apostle.  He attempted to please God through the efforts of his flesh.  In fact, he could be considered one of the most righteous Pharisees in the Jewish culture.  If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.  (Philippians 3:4-6)  His zeal for God brought him status in the world of Judaism.  He was given the assignment to stamp out apostasy.  Consequently, he persecuted Christians, even escorting them to Jerusalem, maybe to be put to death. We know he rejoiced when Stephen was stoned to death.  He might have been one of the leaders of that mob who took Stephen’s life.  The participants in that stoning laid their coats at the feet of a consenting Paul.  But Paul counts all of his supposed goodness in serving God with a reverent zeal as garbage.  But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  (Philippians 3:7-9)   Paul explicitly says that righteousness comes from God, not from man’s efforts.  To Paul, his effort of pleasing God was garbage in comparison to God’s holiness and perfection.  He needed something more than obedience to law.  We also need something more than obedience to the eight hundred laws in the New Testament.  We need a Savior who is Christ our Lord.  

Our salvation is always in flux if we attempt to find righteousness through fleshly efforts.  We must count our efforts to be like God as garbage, for the new covenant is God’s work completely.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)  We do not save ourselves through our efforts, our goodness, our ability to obey all the commandments.  No, God saves his people.  The angel announced to the Shepherds, Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for ALL THE PEOPLE.  (Luke 2:10)  Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God brought in a new covenant that would satisfy the wrath of God on sin.  No more the blood of animals to appease God’s anger on sin.  No, his Son came to pay the price for righteousness once and for all time.  Every human being that ever was is under this covenant of grace.  God’s everlasting redemptive plan, as timeless as God is, was brokered for all humans made in his image.  “This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.  For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”  By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.  (Hebrews 8:10-13)  The writer of Hebrews says Good News has come to all people.  Through faith in God and in Jesus’ death and resurrection, all people can have the righteousness of God written on their hearts.  All people can become the temple of God where the Holy of Holies dwells.  All men and women can have the voice of God speak to them through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the innermost part of their beings.  We are no longer law bound or law driven, for the Holy Spirit’s work in us is a heavenly work, not of ourselves but of God.  If we fail to trust completely in God’s work, our salvation is always uncertain.  One day we feel safe and secure in Christ, and the next day we feel desperately lost in our sins.  As fleshly humans, we often do things we are not proud of, either overtly or by omission.  We can sin and not even know it, such as walking by, brushing off someone who needs our help.  God wanted us to help that person, but we disobeyed him by putting our self-interests above the other person’s needs.  Such sins are not noticed by us, but God sees these imperfections in us.  We waste the resources He has given us.  Jesus would not even waste the food that He asked God to bless when He fed the 5,000 men.  He had the apostles collect the leftovers, for God had blessed the food.  We might have thrown the leftovers in the garbage.  The point is: we are not perfect!  We need a stand-in between God and us.  We need a perfect, complete death for our sins—one that will make us forever acceptable to a righteous God, one that will make us as God: HOLY.  GOD IS LOVE.  Jesus said if we are satisfying God’s demands on our lives we will love as He loves.  By loving we are one with him.  The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”  (Mark 12:29-31)  Dear friends around the breakfast table, we should seek to love everyone.  By loving people sincerely, we image God’s heart—we are one with him.  Our obedience to him by loving him with all of our heart and loving others will satisfy all the laws written in the Bible, for that is how Jesus lived and loved.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  (1 John 4:10)  Walk in his love today as you love one another. 

 

1 John 1:5-10 Pure Light!

1 John 1:5-10   This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

From the beginning of time, people’s thoughts of God were of a creator, an entity that made all that is perceived and experienced. Additionally, the absolute foundation of Christianity is that God is as pure as light.  Then Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  (John 8:12)  In today’s focus, John claims that God has no darkness in him.  Consequently to be with God eternally, we must be as God is with no darkness within us.  The darkness can be ascribed to sin, the opposite of light.  These blots of darkness cannot exist with God.  If God, everlasting life, and eternity consist of light alone, we must be cleansed of all the blackness within us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  John states that if we believe we have no darkness within us, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.   We cannot have fellowship with God, Absolute Light, if we are not cleansed of sin.  Neither can we have unadulterated fellowship with the body of Christ while loving a sinful life, permitting and flaunting our sin in front of fellow believers.  Such a lifestyle, of course, was what some believers were doing in the church of Corinth.  They seemed to be proud of their willingness to accept open sin within their congregation, but Paul knew as John knows, sin is cancerous, deceptive, and finally destructive.  Therefore, Paul tells the Corinthians to expel the wicked man from their congregation and then hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.  (1 Corinthians 5:5)  All people have some darkness or waywardness from God’s purity within them.  This, of course, in the Christian sense is dealt with by faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.  We experience a constant, ongoing purification provided by Jesus’ death on the cross.  When John wrote that Christ’s blood purifies us from all sin, the verb tense he used means that it cleansed us yesterday, it is cleansing us today, and it will cleanse us tomorrow.  We are cleansed, we are pure, because Jesus paid the price for our purity or rightness with God.  But to flaunt sin, to say it is okay to be openly rebellious to God’s nature is a dangerous place in which to live. 

To be openly sinful, glorying in your freedom to sin as we function in the household of God is very dangerous, but to claim purity because of our good works is even more dangerous, for we have lost contact with the TRUTH OF ETERNAL LIFE.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.  To make God out as a liar, to contradict Jesus’ words that we must be born again, is unredemptive in nature, pushing us toward blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.  All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”  (John 6:35-40)  Jesus speaking under the Holy Spirit’s authority told his audience that He is the bread of life.  The disciples wanted to know, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”  (John 6:28-29)  Jesus lays out very clearly that He and his words must be partaken of literally.  Eternal life comes only through eating of him, believing in him, taking his words into their lives.  The TRUTH of the Word of God is to believe in the Christ and in his saving works.  Salvation happens when a person believes in the Christ God sent down to Earth.  Matthew at the beginning of his gospel introduces us to this idea of redemption from our sins through Jesus Christ.  But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS.”  (Matthew 1:20-21)  In this account, we see a man from the lineage of David, a servant of God as David was, place his faith in what he heard from the angel.  The angel said that this baby would save people from their sins.  How can anyone change the self-will of an individual?  How can anyone change the imagination of a person?  How can anyone change the deceitfulness of mankind?  How can anyone erase the sinful actions of men from God’s judgment?  But, the angel of the Lord says conclusively, he will save his people from their sins, not that people will save themselves from sin.  

Salvation is not the work of men, but the work of God.  As Paul wrote, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)  Only God knows how to bring eternal life to men.  He sent Jesus to do that work for us.  We have little perspective of how to be better in an enduring way.  We might do better for a while; we might even think of ourselves as being sinless for a brief time.  But perfection is not something that we can attain by ourselves.  The Bible says that we need a Savior, someone who is perfect at all times and forever.  For us to live eternally, we must not have any blackness in us, any grit of sin, anything that is Not of God.  Otherwise, we must be like God in our nature.  The Bible says that we will be integrated into the body of Christ.  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: And if children, then heirs—heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.  (Romans 8:16-17 NKJV)  In this new realm, we are as white as the brightest star.  All residue of our imperfections is gone by faith.  In place of our sinfulness, Christ’s perfection is ours.  How can all this happen?  Only through the substitution of Christ’s life for our lives, his perfection for our imperfection.  If we do not take Jesus’ righteousness for our unrighteousness, we will not gain entrance to the domain of God.  John understood this truth, and he warns us that we must live in the TRUTH and the Truth is Jesus Christ.  If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  Without faith in Christ’s death and resurrection, we walk in darkness without God’s direction and outside of the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are the light of the world so we should walk in that light, knowing God is in us and his words are our words.  Today, begin to see yourself as a shining light, full of the Holy Spirit, led by the Spirit.  Turn away from all darkness and allow God’s perfection to have its way in you.  When Paul encouraged believers to fulfill God’s purposes in their lives, he told them that when you give your life wholly to God, you will shine among them (a crooked generation) like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.  (Philippians 2:15-16)   

1 John 1:1-4 Inexpressible Joy!

1 John 1:1-4  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  We write this to make our joy complete.

John establishes the parameters of his writing in his opening words: the incarnation of Jesus and the necessity of entering into the fellowship of believers by proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to save sinners.  However, as with all generations subsequent to the time of Jesus’ death, the antichrist spirit remains alive and well with the belief that maybe Jesus was a good man, but not the Son of God.  This antichrist spirit will make allowances for considering Jesus as a prophet or a holy man, but definitely not as the Son of God.  To people who hold to the antichrist spirit, Jesus is just another person with some nebulous ideas about God and serving him.  Of course, such opinions have existed from the time of Christ to discount the necessity of believing in his saving power and his works.  If Jesus is not God, then the Good News is not the Good News—eternal life has not come to those who believe in him and his death on the cross for our sins.  If Jesus is not exceptional, unique in all ways to all who have ever existed, then He is but a man whose teachings and ideas waver between sane and insane, rational and irrational.  Yet John claims Jesus is Lord, and eternal life and fellowship with God comes only through belief in the Creator of all things.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  (John 1:1-4)  John’s fellow disciple who was on the Mount of Transfiguration with him also confirms the fact Jesus is the only Lord.  Peter states: For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.  (2 Peter 1:16-18)  John and Peter were so adamant about Jesus being the Lord, both gave their lives entirely to him, preaching boldly about Jesus being the Christ, the Messiah.  Delivering this message of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ consumed their lives.  All the disciples were as one in believing that Jesus Christ brought eternal life to all who placed their faith in him.  Later on, Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and he too gave his life for Jesus, dedicated his life to the message faith in Christ and his death on the cross.  To all of them and to all Christians throughout the ages, Jesus is the Eternal One, the Creator of all things, even new creatures, the born again people of God. 

Because Jesus is the Eternal One, we too who are one in him have eternal life.  The message the apostles brought to the world was that everlasting life with God can be had through belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  The life (Jesus Christ) appeared; we have seen (him) and testify (about him), and we proclaim to you the eternal life (Jesus), which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard (of him), so that you also may have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  When we put our faith in Jesus, we become one with him and with the Father.  Jesus addresses us as children.  Children of whom?  We are children of the Father, his Father and now our Father.  When we come to Christ and accept his salvation for our souls, we enter into a new domain, a place where we have fellowship with God the Father, the Son, and with all who are in the body of Christ through faith in Jesus’ works.  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  (John 1:12-13 KJV)  John wants us to understand who we are so we might have the joy of fellowshipping with God and with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.  However, if we who are born-again mind the things of this world more than the things of faith, we will be void of the joy of the Lord, not knowing the excitement of daily abiding in the presence of God.  Worldliness darkens the eyes of faith.  Living as a natural man rather than as a new creature always dissipates the joy of living for Christ.  Paul commends the church in Thessalonica for receiving the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.  (Thessalonians 1:6)  Christians must always keep in mind, their citizenship is in heaven.  (Philippians 3:20)  We are no longer creatures of finiteness.  Our bodies will be corrupted by the grave, but we who are presently sitting in high places with our Father God will exist forever.  John desires us to know this as a reality so that we fellowship with our heavenly family and with the church.

The apostle John has come a long ways since he and his brother asked Jesus for a special place in the kingdom of God.  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”  “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.  They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”  (Mark 10:35-38)  In this request, we see John, not as the disciple of love, but as a very self-centered man, desiring a high position for himself.  We see him trying to leverage his place as a beloved follower of Christ into a place of honor for himself and his brother.  Jesus does not put them down directly, He merely tells them that their desire for prominence will cost their flesh dearly.  They both say they are willing to pay the price.  James was the first disciple to be martyred; John was exiled on the island of Patmos.  They both paid a heavy price for following Christ.  But the determination of bestowing honor is God’s right, not even Jesus’ privilege.  As he was writing, John was known as the disciple of love.  Love prefers others before the self.  Love desires no special treatment or a special position.  In fact, Jesus goes on in Mark 10 to say that prominence in the kingdom of God comes through servanthood to all people.  Whoever is the least will be the greatest in God’s eyes.  John learned this as he lived his life.  Then he could talk gladly about the fellowship of believers.  His joy was for all believers to know Christ as Lord of all, and as the healer of the souls of mankind.  Now he could say We write this to make our joy complete.  He is writing this book to fulfill his purpose for living, not to achieve a place of special honor in God’s kingdom, but to lead men to a better life, a life of joy that is found through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  John wanted people everywhere to know the Christ he knew.  He could say with Peter, Though you have not seen him (Jesus), you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  (1 Peter 1:8-9)  May each of you walk joyfully in that faith each day.  

2 Peter 3:14-18 Grow In Grace!

2 Peter 3:14-18  So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.  Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.  He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters.  His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To him be glory both now and forever!  Amen.

How should we live in these last days?  As Peter said by quoting Joel’s prophesy at the day of Pentecost, we are and have been in the last days since Jesus died on the cross.  The church of Christ has always faced the situation of living in the last days.  Harassment, persecution, and death have continuously flamed up against God’s people of faith.  Christians have faced devilish opposition in their living for Christ.  Many believers have been martyred because they dared to mention the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior.  The body of Jesus Christ rarely has existed within an environment of acceptance.  Even today in America, some jobs are withheld from people with a strong belief in Christ Jesus as Savior.  We do not see fundamentalist Christians occupying seats of power such as serving as a Supreme Court Justice.  In our modern world, even in the most sophisticated and civilized societies, faith in Jesus Christ and his works is rejected and often mocked.   Right now, at the time of this writing, people around the world are using the name of Jesus as a curse word.  The devil knows Jesus’ name, and he knows the power of that name, so he uses his minions in the world to ridicule and deride it.  The names of other prophets and so-called deities are accepted and honored, but the name of Jesus is demeaned.  Expressing the name of Jesus with contempt is exactly what God’s enemies desire.  Oftentimes, even Christians forget the power of Jesus’ name: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.  (Acts 4:12)  Jesus is the powerful gatekeeper to the domain of God.  He is the Savior, the one who can wash away the stain of sin.  As David beseeched God in Psalms 51: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  He goes on to say, Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Jesus is the Creator!  He emphatically told Nicodemus the Pharisee, you must be born again and receive a NEW HEART to be  acceptable to God the Father.  As Christians, we must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He is divine—the Son of God!  The secular world hates the fact we call ourselves Christians, followers of the divine One.  Say anything else about Jesus and they may accept your words, but if you say, only the Divine One brings salvation, you face opposition, harsh words.  Tell them that Jesus had SOME GOOD WORDS or insight into human behavior, and they will smile, “Yes, I grant you that.”  But if you say He is the Savior and Creator of all things, negativity quickly comes your way.  But if Jesus is not the Son of God, He is mere man—sometimes expressing wisdom and love, but other times irrational ideas about himself, God, and the world, even what we might consider a delusional man.  Still the question remains for Christians in the last days, how should we live?  We will walk in the footprints of Christians who for two millenniums have lived under the name of Christ, believing in Jesus’ works as denoted in the Bible.  We have committed ourselves to the kingdom of faith, not to this kingdom of flesh.  We will live by faith, even though our bodies die in the kingdom of flesh.  Our hope is not in this world.  We will not eat, drink, and be merry, thinking this world is all that there is for us who have breath.  No, we will live in the kingdom of faith.  Our eternal existence resides there as we await our eternal home.  

What is the kingdom of faith?  Faith in God requires action, a new and purposeful way of living.  Faith is not merely believing there is a God or that Jesus is his Son.  It is not merely tagging yourself with the name of Christian.  A life of faith is full of action, dedication, and good works.   What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions?  Can that kind of faith save anyone?  Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing.  What good does that do?  So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough.  Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.  (James 2:14-17, NLV)  If you truly believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the gate to heaven, you will be obedient to him.  You will perform good works as He did in his life.  Yes, you will pray to God.  You will be in constant contact with God because of the voice of the Holy Spirit within you, but the evidence of knowing God, of hearing God, is the good work and attitude that your life produces.  James says quite clearly, if your life is void of good works and a positive attitude towards others, your faith, your belief in God, is nonexistent.  It is dead!  God has always accepted the faith of people that produces good works.  Rahab, the prostitute found rightness with God when she hid the Israelite spies in her home.  These Israelites were spying out Jericho.  She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.  Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.  (James 2:25-26)  She was considered a heathen by the Israelites, but God considered her right with him.  We see a Roman soldier, Cornelius, being right with God by his works.  He believed there was a God to serve.  He served him reverently with good works.  At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.  He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.  One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision.  He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”  Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?”  he asked.  The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.  Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.  He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”  (Acts 10:1-6)   We see in these stories that God honored the good works of Rahab and Cornelius.  God blessed them because of their faith.  Abraham was called a friend of God because of his faith in God and his words.  Christians who believe in Jesus Christ are to honor God by their works.  What about salvation?  We must believe.  God brings Christ to those who honor him, for Christ is the gate to eternal life.

Paul’s preaching is all about faith in Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.  Paul met Jesus outside of physically walking with him on earth as the disciples had.  Paul saw Jesus in the spiritual context of eternal life.  He did not see Jesus in the flesh, but he did see the light of the ETERNAL ONE on the road to Damascus.  So his teaching was based on that manifestation of Christ.  How should we live to enter into Christ’s eternal domain was the basis of his teaching.  He was taught by the Holy Spirit that faith in Jesus Christ and his works would bring people eternally into the presence of God.  This was a difficult concept for the people who came from the Jewish tradition.  They could not easily believe that faith in Jesus Christ alone would bring eternal life to them.  The secular heathen world based much of their religion on good works.  But Paul emphasized a NEW CREATION came only through faith in Christ and his works.  Of course, as Peter says, some distort the teachings of Paul and live in a lawless way, believing that just a nebulous belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God will be okay with God, naming Christ as their Savior but not following him.  His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort.  But a mere halfhearted belief in Christ that does not initiate good works is dead.  Paul taught that when he dealt with the wayward Corinthians, he told them that their lives must measure up to God’s holiness or they would be outside of the goodness of God and face judgment.  He was very harsh with them, bringing them to sorrow.  As with the apostles and Jesus, Paul’s life was one of works.  He traveled thousands of miles to preach the gospel.  Everywhere in the New Testament, we see people in action, moving and preaching the Good News as they went.  To display Christ to the world demands action: good works.  Jesus said, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  (Matthew 5:16 NKJV)  Our good works do not save us, but they show others the Christ that is within us.  As people venture through life, they can smile or frown, love or hate, bring peace or war.  How should we live in the last days?  If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. — The wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.  It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.  And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.  (James 3:13; 17-18; NLT)  To live for Christ is to image God: his goodness and love.  We image him by our actions and by our attitudes.  When we are faithful servants of Christ, He walks into people’s lives when we walk into their lives.  He sits and sups with them when we sit and sup with them.  They hear his voice when we talk; they see his face when we smile.  They know the love of God by our love for them.  Regardless of the darkness of the day or the time of the end, we are to be lights in the world, the salt of the earth.  How can they know that?  They know THROUGH OUR ACTIONS AND LOVE.  

       

2 Peter 3:8-13 A Thousand Years A Day!

2 Peter 3:8-13  But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?  You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Before atom bombs and the possibility of nuclear warfare, man could not envision the elements destroyed by fire or everything laid bare.  Now we realize that man can bring about devastating disaster.  With man’s innate inclination towards conflict, this kind of destruction could very well happen.  Since the beginning, man has struggled with his desire to hurt others for his own perceived benefit.  In the advancement of civilization, mankind’s tendency toward evil has motivated him to gain an advantage over others.  Of course as Paul states, this attitude spawns from the sin in man’s heart.  Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; THEY INVENT WAYS OF DOING EVIL.  (Romans 1:28-30)  Mankind chafes under these descriptions in the Bible because people want to believe that there is precious gold and silver in us.  If we bring out the goodness in each of us, then we will do good and not evil; then we will be cooperative and caring with empathy abounding in us.  Almost every cult and wayward religion sees this seeking of the good in mankind as the way to God and righteousness.  Of course that doctrine is antichrist in its foundation, the very opposite of God’s word.  Jesus said you must be born again, claiming that man cannot salvage himself by his own efforts.  A fallen people must have a new life, a different life, a transformed life; and that born-again life comes only from the giver of life: Jesus Christ.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him WAS LIFE, and that life was the light of all mankind.  (John 1:1-3)  Nothing in creation was made or existed outside of God.  Life itself is in God.  IN JESUS CHRIST, the Creator of all things, we have been given a new life that is acceptable to God in his holy state.  As the Bible says, In him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  (John 1:4)  For the secular world, this God-centered thinking is foolishness.  They are very troubled to the point they want to ridicule or to destroy the testimony of anyone who holds those thoughts.  Today in many parts of the world, Christians can lose their lives by speaking of Jesus and his transforming power.  Elsewhere, believers are readily persecuted, making their daily lives difficult.  In our progressive and sophisticated first-world countries, the message of Christianity is ridiculed and mocked as Peter predicted.  Where is this Jesus you claim all powerful?  Where is his second coming?  Has he been sleeping or is He too busy to consider the world and its problems?  Because of the language oneness of the computer, people race to replace God in the minds of humans, attempting even to produce life from inanimate elements.  But the internal condition of the civilized, sophisticated man and even the so-called primitive man remains the same: disharmony, disruption, destruction, warfare.  To know fully what mankind is like, look at the world at the present— see what is happening in every country, ethnic group, and race.  You will find approximately the same situation: disharmony, hurt, violence, corruption, and killing.  Mankind has never been able to heal itself.  History is full of the accounts of horrendous, evil acts.  People, nations have been destroyed throughout the millenniums, and now we have the power to wipe out all life on this planet.  Two or three people could make decisions that would annihilate everything on Earth.

In today’s focus, Peter reminds us of the timelessness of God.  He makes this concept understandable by using time: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The idea of time helps us in many ways.  We measure distance, speed, and size by using time.  We orient the sequence and the structure of our lives by using time.  We know if we are young or old by using time.  Time confronts every part of our lives.  Yet God is timeless—without beginning or ending.  This throws our rational ideas out of the window.  We cannot even conceive of such an existence.  So we tend to confront spiritual realities by using time.  The scoffers use time as the basis for their disbelief.  God must not exist or we would find him someplace in the universe or in the galaxies.  But our understanding of the realities of space are based on time: distances and the largeness of space are determined by light-years.  But God does exist and we who are people of faith enter into that dominion, trusting in our God.  In fact there is no other gate to a relationship with God other than faith in Jesus Christ.  As Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20)  Christ is our only hope.  Peter is talking about the end times and that God has delayed Jesus’ return because He is not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  Anyone who desires to have eternal life can escape the consequences of sin and death by believing in the One who gives life, who created life: Jesus Christ.  Heaven and Earth will pass away, will face total destruction.  But God is not caught in this construct of existence.  He is timeless and we will be with him.  The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.  Since this is a real possibility in our lifetime, what kind of lives should we be living: we ought to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  We should live lives of expectancy—looking for his return.  When we are sold out to God; this world will not have much for us.  But if we are in tune with everything in this world, we will live for the world and not be looking for Christ’s soon return.  In fact, his return will destroy the fixations of our lives.  Jesus points out true worship, true dedication to God, when He tells his disciples to observe the widow who has given her last mite to God.  Jesus said, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.  (Mark 12:43-44)  Serving God for the wealthy cost them nothing; for the widow, serving God cost everything.  Of the two: the widow and the prosperous, who will be looking for Christ returning?  Who will have set their affections on an eternal existence and not this one?
 
When we consider Jesus and his teachings, even in the beatitudes, we see Jesus talking about our next existence.  He talks about people’s rewards in the next life if they live this life in rightness, goodness and love.  The kingdom, the place of peace, is not yet theirs, but it is promised to them.  The people who mourn will be comforted in the next world.  God will bless the humble.  When?  Later!  The humble, those who desire justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, those who seek peace, the persecuted, the poor, will all receive their reward when they see God.  These are people who may have lived their lives in expectancy with the idea that God would recompense them at a future date.  (See Matthew 5:3-11)  This concept of delayed rewards was prominent in Jesus’ words and deeds.  This future existence impelled the apostles to look for Jesus’ imminent return.  They taught this idea to all of their followers, for they knew all things will be made right when He returns.  Jesus’ second coming will cause the world and its institutions to be turned upside down, switching everything from evil to goodness, from wrong to right.  But, we must desire that to happen.  Our lives should be lived in such a way that his return is always on our minds.  Most of us because we are not poor or persecuted do not look for Jesus’ imminent return, nor sadly, want him to return soon; for we cannot conceive, except for eternal life, how He can make our lives better.  If we are old or sick, we might be looking steadfastly for him.  But if we are healthy and full of vigor, our minds wander to other places — places that placate our fleshly desires.  But in reality, all Christians whether rich or poor, healthy or sick should be looking for the kingdom where righteousness dwells.  We should desire heaven.  If we do not, we are too much into this world.  Jesus told his disciples a parable about a nobleman who goes away and tells his servants, Occupy till I come.  (Luke 19:13)  Jesus is speaking of his going away and that we must do his work, but we are not to put our tent poles deep into this world’s soil.  At another time, Jesus called a man a fool who considered building another barn to store his grain without considering the temporariness of this world.  Christians should always be ready to move on as the Spirit leads.  In the wilderness, the Israelites were always ready to move, to follow the Holy Spirit.  By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.  (Exodus 13:21)  When we get too comfortable, when the land is green around us and nourishing, when we find a good watering hole, we might long to stay in that camp, but God has a holy place ahead for us where all tears, all anxieties, all questions will exist no more.  We will be at home.  Yes, the world might be destroyed by fire, the elements might be burned up, all that is might disappear, but GOD REMAINS.  HOME REMAINS FOR ALL WHO HAVE PUT THEIR TRUST IN JESUS.  Do not fear breakfast companions: your place of safety in eternity is guaranteed.  Your ticket was paid in full by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  

2 Peter 3:1-7 People of Faith

2 Peter 3:1-7  Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you.  I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.  I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.  Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?  Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”  But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly

We who are IN CHRIST ARE PEOPLE OF FAITH.  The world cannot really believe the promise of faith in Christ: eternal life.  The wicked despise the further promise of faith: eventual judgment.  When Peter addressed the crowd after Pentecost, he referred to the prophecy of Joel, saying he was talking about their age, their day.  We know Peter was talking about his day as well as the days to come.  IN THE LAST DAYS, God says, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy.  Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.  In those days (last days) I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike, and they will prophesy.  (Acts 2:17-18)  From the very beginning, people chose to disbelieve God’s creation of the earth and all living things.  Since creation, people’s failure to obey and to respect God brought them into wickedness, waywardness, and rebellion.  “Did God really say,” was the temptation that Adam and Eve could not reject.  (Genesis 3:1)  From the start, mankind was given the authority over all life on Earth.  The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  (Genesis 2:15)  However, the Tree of Good and Evil was beyond their control.  The serpent used the knowledge of something kept from Adam and Eve to birth rebellion against God’s control.  As they sought to serve themselves rather than God, they made a decision beyond God’s will for them.  Because of their intransigent decision, God forced Adam and Eve out of the Garden.  Out in the world, rather that creating new life, we see Cain kill his brother.  His allegiance to mankind’s fallen nature brought death, not life.  Eventually, we find the fallen nature of the ancients brings cruelty and meanness to the world.  They forgot their Creator and did not accept the biblical account of creation: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.  Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good.  Then he separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”  (Genesis 1:1-5)  In their wayward thinking, they made images and depictions of God, constructed from their own imaginations, including many gods.  Of course their god or gods would promote unbelief in the only true God and wipe out subservience to him alone.  As Paul writes, they knew better, but their rebellion to God took them away from the truth.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.  (Romans 1:20-23)  Paul knew their hearts had been darkened by their Adamic nature: they became their own authority, traveled their own way outside of God and his control.  

From the dawn of creation, mankind scoffed at God, living opposite of his nature of grace and mercy.  Violence and wickedness flooded the earth, causing God to destroy mankind in a flood.  Only Noah and his family were saved.  Even though the flood at God’s hands was in their history and culture, people continued in their rebellion against God.  We see them building the tower of Babel in an effort to be as God, to take the reins of creative authority away from the God of creation.  But God thwarted their efforts by providing in their community a variety of languages, breaking down the oneness in their attempts to build the tower.  Their efforts to be like God were disassembled.  But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.  The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  (Genesis 11:5-6)  The people God created in his image were so powerful in their creative ability that they could do anything they desired.  Their scoffing at God now was coming to fruition, replacing God with their own creation.  Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  From the beginning we see humans striving to be like God, developing a way of living different from God’s design.  The scoffing Peter describes is a scoffing that goes beyond a spiritual reality that there is any purpose to the design of man and to the creation of earth.  Where is this God?  Why should we respect anything about the so-called holy scriptures.  Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.  This idea that Jesus is coming back to Earth to gain control of mankind and to set things under God’s authority is silliness to the scoffers.  They say, we have gone through many millenniums since the prophets predicted the return of the Messiah to set up his kingdom.  Mankind rejects this message and the authority of God.  All through the generations there have been scoffers, people who have laughed at the idea that there is a God to serve, a God who determines the fate of whether men will live with him forever or not.  In our present time, this turning away from the theological determination of life is even more widespread.  The ancients left the God of creation and followed their own rebellious ways, making their own gods to follow, imaging their own wicked hearts and inclinations.  Today, the aspect that there is a God is in question worldwide.  Within the present culture in the elite, educated circles of the world, the sophistication and the understanding of the physical nature of existence has spawned many scoffers, many atheists.  People know more about the nature of things than ever.  We measure the stars and galaxies by light years to find their distances from us.  We can determine the ages of rocks by radioactivity.  DNA denotes our ancestry; our biological existence is better understood.  Our understanding of the physical nature of existence has not drawn us closer to God, but in fact has separated many from the idea that there is a God to serve and to glorify.  The scoffers in our day are even more fervent in their denunciation of God and his existence.  A recent poll in the United States of about 5,000 people indicated 56% of them believed in God.  What do the other 44% have as a foundation for their lives?

However, we who are IN CHRIST live not by the nature of things, or by the knowledge and wisdom of the world.  As the Bible says, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.  (1 Corinthians 3:19)  Paul goes on to say that God sees the best thoughts of the world as worthless, and we should not boast in them.  Certainly, understanding the physical nature of things is important and necessary to help us maneuver through life.  This knowledge gives us insight into life’s necessities on the planet Earth.  But this knowledge has no spiritual or eternal value.  We will never escape the surface of this planet if we place our hope on the wisdom and knowledge of mankind.  The scriptures point us to an eternal life, one that demands faith.  Faith has a reality all its own.  For we live by faith, not by sight.  (2 Corinthians 5:7)  We know from reading scripture that God met Abraham at least nine times, telling him that a new life was necessary if he was going to escape the nature of his idol worshipping ancestors.  God intervened in Abraham’s life.  God’s activity, even anthropomorphic activity, was necessary to bring to life a faith-driven existence for Abraham.  He believed in God rather than in his physical realities.  He believed that there was something more real than the realities of this physical world.  This faith of his in God’s word, brought God’s purposes in his life.  We who are CHRISTIANS believe in Christ’s work.  We read in the New Testament of Jesus’ works and teachings.  He was the Son of God in the flesh, walking and living as the flesh does.  As in Abraham’s day, the divinity of God in the flesh came to walk with mankind.  God’s Spirit was intensely involved with Jesus.  Later, to carry on the Good News of Jesus Christ and his life in us, we discover Paul’s conversion.  We see God coming directly into his life; interacting powerfully in his life.  All of this was to show to people that a new way of life was coming to mankind on Earth.  As with Abraham, God intervened into Paul’s life directly.  Paul presents to mankind not only a faith in God such as Abraham had, but now a faith in Jesus Christ as God’s Son.  And through this faith eternal life can be won.  Yes, the understanding of the physical nature of life is important, but far more important is the understanding of the life of faith in Christ Jesus.  The former is temporary, the latter is eternal.  People cannot enter into eternity with God unless they enter through the gate: faith in Jesus Christ and his works.  Jesus said, I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  They will come in and go out, and find pasture.  (John 10:9)  In the latter day, in this age of the computer, once again man has one language as in the day of the tower of Babel.  Mankind will attempt to bring God down; to magnify himself above God; to take the place of God.  Nothing but God’s direct intervention will stop this pervasive evil.  But Jesus will, his voice is still lifted up wherever believers congregate, and He is coming back to restore his kingdom.  If you are not in his pasture, enter in today and receive his blessings.  Do not dwell with the scoffers.    

 

2 Peter 2:17-22 Driven By A Storm!

2 Peter 2:17-22  These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm.  Blackest darkness is reserved for them.  For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.  They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”  If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.  It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.  Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

When people reject living for Jesus Christ in every part of their lives, attempting to blend Christ and the world together, beware.  Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.  (1 John 2:15-17)  When people compromise with the world, they will eventually find themselves worse off than when they first believed.  Christians have been set free from the entanglements of this world by the blood of Jesus Christ.  They have become acceptable to God by their faith in Jesus Christ and his works.  Faith in Christ brings right relationship with God.  Abraham found acceptance through his faith in God’s promises.  As Abraham, Christians are people of faith.  God, through the works of Jesus Christ on the cross, has made us holy in his sight, for Jesus is the propitiation for our sins.  Jesus paid the price for all unrighteousness; He suffered the pain of death for us, experiencing the consequence of sin: death.  The cancer of sin exterminates eternal life.  Therefore, Christ’s blood must eradicate sin from our lives for us to inherit eternal life.  Christ’s perfect life, his righteousness for our unrighteous, perfection taking the place of imperfection, provides the antidote to death.  Jesus personified holiness, righteousness to all people.  We who are IN CHRIST by faith have that same holiness; we are part of the body of Christ.  We no longer have to work to please God, for the Bible says, you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  (Colossians 3:3).  Some Christians are not satisfied with Jesus only as their lifestyle.  False teachers exploit this dissatisfaction by introducing fleshly ideas, either more works, self-denial faith, or self-pursuing, self-absorbed Christianity.  Regardless of the tack false teachers take, they dilute the message of Christ.  Pursuits that detract from Jesus are fleshly in nature, magnifying self-will over God’s gift of life: Jesus Christ.  When Christians want to win the world by becoming like the world, they are in danger of losing their souls.  If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.  Because of this adulterous affair with the world, their minds become damaged by the effects of sin.  Sin never stops debasing a person; the trajectory is always downward.  Often in war, soldiers will find themselves acting in ways that they never thought possible when they were civilians.  Horrific violence has no stopping place.  Depending on the circumstances, a soldier in warfare may trespass society’s norms of civility.  In the book, A STRANGER TO MYSELF, the journal of a German soldier on the Eastern Front in WWII, we read about cruel and sadistic acts he participated in, acts he would not have conceived of doing before the war.  He was raised in a home with Christian values and morals, but war accentuated the iniquity within his human nature, bringing out the barbarian in him.  When the conscience becomes frayed, we are capable of anything.  There is no stopping place.  When a Christian leaves the haven of grace and mercy from God, choosing all the world has to offer, there is no stopping place.  The depths of sin are a bottomless pit.

A more serious condition than just an individual straying from a full commitment to Christ is when a person leads others to this dark place.  Peter says, These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm.  Blackest darkness is reserved for them.  For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.  These people claim freedom in their new way of living, but they are chained hand and foot to their self-willed nature.  What they believe is true liberty is nothing more than servitude to darkness. They are trapped behind the bars of worldly living, filthy language, and dangerous indulgences.  They profess freedom from the restrictions of holiness, but in reality they have sold their souls to the Prince of Darkness.   Rebellion is his theme, self-interest is his focus.  People who leave the cloistered warmth of the Good News: loving your neighbor as yourself, servanthood to others, preferring others above yourself, will usually focus on what others should be doing for them or how others hurt them.  Rather than presenting Christ as the answer to life, they focus on what people can do for them.  A valid Christian life will focus on loving others.  When people focus on Christ plus something else, either works or secular living, they are in danger of not living a Christian life of faith in Christ and his works.  If we try to find the solution to life any place else other than Christ, we will find little or no peace.  Man is intent on doing what is right in his own eyes.  He will blame others for his failures, his sins.  Sadly, often what he determines is best for him is divisive, leading to discontent, arguments, battles, and even wars.  Fundamental to the scriptures is that we all have gone astray, all have gone our own way.   Consequently, we must look at ourselves first before judging other people.  Of course, society is a milieu of turmoil and sickness.  Christianity should bring healing by doing good to others.  Christianity presents to the world not only the message of salvation, but also the message of doing good, of being a servant.  Jesus demonstrates a servant behavior when he cooks breakfast for the seven disciples who toiled all night without catching any fish on the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus, recently down from the cross for humanity’s sake is now seen cooking breakfast for his disciples.  Some of them abandoned him when He was on the cross.  Our Lord demonstrated his love for these men.  (See John 21:1-14)  Jesus did not teach a self-serving life.  He did not teach worldliness.  He did not teach a me-only road to heaven.  No, He preached sacrificial love, a dedication to others.  He gave living water to the thirsty; He was not as those who are springs without water and mists driven by a storm.  Peter speaks very harshly of those who reject Christ’s true message, and Paul told the believers at Galatia, If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!  (Galatians 1:8)

Sin is the great escape artist—the Houdini of our time, of any time.  Sin is the desire to escape from God’s authority.  In the Garden of Eden, the genesis of rebellion began rather innocuously: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”  (Genesis 3:1)  This simple question led to a self-serving existence, a clarion call to rebellion.  The false prophets of any era begin with the notion that we will create a better existence.  We will provide a better way of living, even a better way of serving God.  But this talk is exploitive, mostly for the benefit of the false prophet.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.  (2 Peter 2:3)  Out of their own imaginations, false teachers manipulate God’s word and his authority to fit their own purposes: to gain power, wealth, and notoriety.  Some take on the mantle of speaking for God or claim divinity.  They often separate themselves from the body of Christ.  Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.  This is how we know it is the last hour.  They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.  For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.  (1 John 2:18-19)  The false prophet will reveal his true identity by lessening the authority of Christ and his redemptive power.  This is the antichrist spirit, easily detected.  But a more pernicious threat to the church’s stability is when false prophets bore into the fabric of the church.  They become powerful within the church, carrying with them ideas that are antichrist.  Usually this type of false prophet will magnify their own experiences and emphasize their name.  Everything within their purview will have their name tacked onto it.  They are magnified, not Christ.  This is an antichrist spirit; the replacement of their lives for Christ’s life.  Seemingly the elevating of man is harmless, but it is so dangerous because people begin to believe the views of a man over the word of God.  Many people today follow this kind of leaders, relating the truth of the word to everything their leader has said about the word, quite innocuous, but quite dangerous.  If any doctrine or anyone leads you away from your dependence on Jesus Christ and his righteousness, you are being led away from your SAVIOR.  He alone has made you right with God.  He alone is pleasing to God.  Place your faith every day in him and in his works on the cross.  If so, you will experience daily the intimate presence of the Holy Spirit.  His words will be rich in you and sustain your life in the SPIRIT.