I am going to repeat a little bit of the Scripture passage from the previous writing, but with additional Scriptures, with a slightly different emphasis:

John 8:42-47 NASB1995: Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

The picture the Lord is giving me this afternoon is of someone (not anyone specifically) who professes faith in Jesus Christ but who has had a lifetime of addiction to sin, most probably in the area of sexual sin, although it could be something else, but a sin which greatly entraps, controls, and does not let go. And it is extremely destructive, particularly to marriage relationships. This person has made many attempts to free themselves from the addiction, but usually in the flesh, and so it never works. So they remain addicted.

Now, this person is not very good at masking the sin, i.e. they are not good at putting on a performance, but they try. Thus, what is going on inside them is known to be shown in their eyes, their face, their attitudes, their body posture, their behaviors, and in their words. For they are unsettled, unstable, living on the edge, out of control, with no boundaries, no limits, driven by the sin which holds them captive, unable to change in themselves, and attempting to cover it all up with lies, performances, and fakery.

Now this person has been offered the gift of salvation from sin and eternal life with God, and they have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but they have not been willing to let go of their addictive sin and to let God take control of their lives. So, they have not died with Christ to sin, and they are not living for God and for his righteousness in walks of holiness, and in moral purity, in devotion to obeying the Lord and his commands. For that sin is still holding them captive, and they are still yielding to its control over their lives.

Therefore, they also do not receive the gospel message that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught, taught in the correct biblical context. But they are following an altered “gospel” message which gives them permission to keep returning to their vomit over again, and to never be faithful to their spouses, so to never truly love God or their spouses. And so that gives them the excuse to live in sin while they may make some human effort to change, but while biblical repentance and obedience to God is not ever their practice.

They live for themselves, and not for God, and to please their flesh, and not to please God, and to be faithful to their addiction, but not to be faithful to their spouses. For their journey is largely about what pleases them and/or what makes other people think well of them, and so they perform for an audience in order to be accepted. So they might appear in public in a way which is in contradiction to the way they live when they are in private. For they want others to think well of them. And so they mostly live a lie.

But those who live a lie, who live according to the flesh, to please the flesh and not to please God, they are not of God. God is not their Father, and Jesus Christ is not their Lord and Savior. For to love God/Christ is to obey God, to do what he says. And Jesus said if we want to come after him that we must deny self, die daily to sin (take up our cross daily) and follow him in obedience to his commands. But many who profess his name do not follow him, but they continue on their own sinful course, doing what they desire.

And they may be students of the Scriptures, or even pastors and teachers of the Scriptures, but they do not put into practice what the Word teaches. For their will is to do the will of the devil who is the author of lies and adultery and all that is evil and wicked and immoral. And they follow after his lies, for then they can continue in their sinful addiction without conscience. So, if someone speaks the truth of the gospel to them, spoken in love, they will reject the truth in favor of the lie, because they are not really of God.

So, please take this to heart, and don’t play with sin, but obey God.

[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; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; 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]

Broken Cord

An Original Work / August 29, 2018
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Your bond is broken with your Lord and Savior
And your testimony is separate from Him.
Your words not matching your actions today.
Repent of your sin and bow down and pray.
Live what you testify in truth always.

Purity’s lacking in your life and witness,
For you profess one thing, but other you do.
Not moral, spiritual. Still of the flesh.
Not living in truth to what you confess.
Lying about it puts you in a mess.

Living a lie is your practice, ‘tis true of you.
Masquerade righteousness – none of it true.
Your heart is not given to your Lord God.
Because of how you live, you are a fraud.
Turn from your sin and give your life to God.

But Because I Tell The Truth
An Original Work / January 15, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love