LIVING IN SIN
Jesus said, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. Can we be perfect? Yes, we can!
1. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name [was] Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
7. And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."
8. Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that [there is] none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?"
Job is a perfect man - one who fears God, is blameless, upright, and shuns evil. Are we like Job who fears God, blameless, upright, and shun evil?
When we were little children we were perfect, were we not? In Mark 10:14 Jesus said, “But when Jesus saw [it], He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God belongs to little children according to Jesus. What is so special about little children? Little children are free from moral wrong, and their thinking is not corrupted. How then can we become little children? There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus at night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:1-3.
How can an old man be born again, Nicodemus asked? Well, an old man cannot be born again and become little children, but he can become like little children if he allows the holy spirit to change him, abandon his bad habits, and acquire new good habits. The problem with the old man is that he has adopted hundreds of bad habits as he grows older and becomes a dirty old man.
What can we see in an individual who is born again? I believe that these are the characteristics of an individual who is born again - he fears God, is upright, blameless, and shuns evil.
Do we fear God? How can we show the world that we are God-fearing people? Were Adam and Eve God-fearing people? Were Lucifer and billions of his angels who were evicted from heaven God-fearing spirits? Were billions of people who drowned in the big flood during Noah’s time God-fearing souls? Unless we are born again and possess the innocent characteristics of little children we cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3.
Satan and his angels work hard, 24/7/365, to make sure that we can not possess the innocent characteristics of little children. Where is the starting point? I believe that the starting point is that we must fear God! When we fear God we will shun evil. We cannot live like little children if we live in sin. The idea that we can live in sin under grace is Lucifer's idea. Satan wants us to help him increase the population of people who live in sin. Living in sin under grace is making a mockery of God. God bless.
Job 1:
1. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name [was] Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
7. And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."
8. Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that [there is] none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?"
Job is a perfect man - one who fears God, is blameless, upright, and shuns evil. Are we like Job who fears God, blameless, upright, and shun evil?
When we were little children we were perfect, were we not? In Mark 10:14 Jesus said, “But when Jesus saw [it], He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God belongs to little children according to Jesus. What is so special about little children? Little children are free from moral wrong, and their thinking is not corrupted. How then can we become little children? There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus at night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:1-3.
How can an old man be born again, Nicodemus asked? Well, an old man cannot be born again and become little children, but he can become like little children if he allows the holy spirit to change him, abandon his bad habits, and acquire new good habits. The problem with the old man is that he has adopted hundreds of bad habits as he grows older and becomes a dirty old man.
What can we see in an individual who is born again? I believe that these are the characteristics of an individual who is born again - he fears God, is upright, blameless, and shuns evil.
Do we fear God? How can we show the world that we are God-fearing people? Were Adam and Eve God-fearing people? Were Lucifer and billions of his angels who were evicted from heaven God-fearing spirits? Were billions of people who drowned in the big flood during Noah’s time God-fearing souls? Unless we are born again and possess the innocent characteristics of little children we cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3.
Satan and his angels work hard, 24/7/365, to make sure that we can not possess the innocent characteristics of little children. Where is the starting point? I believe that the starting point is that we must fear God! When we fear God we will shun evil. We cannot live like little children if we live in sin. The idea that we can live in sin under grace is Lucifer's idea. Satan wants us to help him increase the population of people who live in sin. Living in sin under grace is making a mockery of God. God bless.
Job 1: