“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Reprove the ruthless,
Defend the orphan,
Plead for the widow.

“’Come now, and let us reason together,’
Says the Lord,
‘Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They will be like wool.
If you consent and obey,
You will eat the best of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
You will be devoured by the sword.’
Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 1:16-20 NASB1995)

What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives? By God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as servants of God and of his righteousness (see Romans 6:1-23). This is not saying that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but that we should no longer be walking in sin, making sin our practice. But obedience to our Lord should now be our practice.

For we learn in 1 John 1-3 that if we claim that we have fellowship with God, but yet we walk in darkness (sin), we are liars. If we claim that we know God, but we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we are liars. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven.

For 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 wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)

We are not righteous merely based on a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but we are righteous who practice righteousness in the power of God at work within us who have denied self, died to sin, and who walk in obedience to our Lord, in practice, by faith in Jesus Christ. For if we are truly born of God, by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, sin should no longer be what we practice. We should no longer be those who walk in the darkness. We should no longer be those who keep returning to our vomit (see 1 John 3:4-10).

Now God does not demand absolute sinless perfection of his followers, but he does “draw a line in the sand” whereby he makes it quite clear to us that if sin is our practice (what we keep returning to over and over again), and if righteousness, obedience to God, and holy living are not what we practice, that we will not inherit eternal life with God. For Jesus put our sins to death with him on that cross so that, by God-persuaded faith in him, we will now die with him to sin and walk in obedience to his commands, in practice.

But there are so many people who teach the Scriptures today who are teaching them out of context and who are teaching that we can “believe in Jesus” and now all our sins are forgiven, and heaven is secured us for eternity, but regardless of how we live; regardless of whether or not sin remains our “go to” and righteous and godly living are not our practice. But that is a lie from hell! Yes, we are not perfect people, but lack of perfection should never be used as an excuse for walking in the darkness (in sin).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

And Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

So, cease to do evil, and learn to do good, and obey God, in practice.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

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