Jesus Christ said, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30 NASB1995)

What does it mean (or look like) to be with Christ? It means that we are on his side, in agreement with him, and supportive of his teachings. We are in relationship with him via faith in Jesus Christ which results in us denying self, dying to sin, and following him in obedience to his commands. We are his followers doing what he commands, as a matter of life practice. And we are his servants and his messengers doing his bidding in taking the true message of the gospel of Christ to the people of the world for their salvation.

Our lives are committed to him and to his service to be who he created us to be, to go where he sends us, and to say what he gives us to say to the people, regardless of how we get treated in return, and even if we are persecuted for speaking the truth. For we are standing against the devil and against injustice, deception, false gospels, immorality, and the like. And we are standing for truth, righteousness, godliness, moral purity, uprightness, honesty, faithfulness, and obedience to our Lord and to his commands.

So, those who are not with Christ are those who are against him, not for him. Their lives are not surrendered to the Lord to walk in his ways and to do as he commands. But they are still living to please the flesh and not God, still wanting to keep on in their sinful practices and to not follow Christ in walks of righteousness and in moral purity. Or they are like the Laodiceans who were neither on fire for Christ nor totally against him, but who were lukewarm, and so he was about ready to spit them out of his mouth.

For we cannot remain neutral about our faith in Christ. We cannot make a profession of him as “Lord” (Owner-Master) of our lives and then walk off and keep living for self while going through religious practices to make it look like we are serving him with our lives. For the Scriptures make it clear that faith in Jesus Christ, if it is genuine, must result in us dying to sin and walking (in conduct) in obedience to our Lord’s commands, in practice, although not necessarily in absolute perfection. For faith = obedience.

So, if all we are doing is going through the motions of religious practice, but while we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands, then we are against Jesus, not for him. And if we are neutral in our walks of faith so that we are not actively sharing the message of the gospel of Christ with the people on the planet earth, out of fear of rejection and persecution, then we are not working for the Lord but we are living for ourselves and for our own comfort and pleasure.

Therefore, we cannot just make a profession of faith in Jesus, and then attend weekly religious services, but then live however we want, doing whatever brings us pleasure. We need to be those who are standing on the truth and righteousness, in practice, and who are speaking the truth of the gospel to the people for their salvation from sin and for their eternal life with God. Thus, we must be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel and even to be falsely accused of wrong doing because we speak the gospel truth.

[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 2:1-6; 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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