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Matthew 5:48
says to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. We are also to be imitators of God (Ephesians
5:1) and be holy. (1 Peter 1:15) This
would be our ceiling to reach for, one that will take a lifetime of striving
and never quite obtainable since we are of a sinful fallen flesh, but God has
given us a starting platform, the floor on which we can soundly begin our
steadfast journey; His Word the bible.
Sadly, many
professed Christians see the commands in the bible as the ceiling to reach for
when in essence, much of it is the foundation on which believers are to start. Claims of ‘nobody is perfect’ … ‘I’m not
convicted about that yet’ and ‘I’m not quite there yet’ are simply excuses for continuing
in disobedience and sin. God expects His
people to obey His Word when they read it.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Romans 6:1-2
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Romans 6:1-2
When a
person comes to Jesus in repentance with a godly sorrow for his past sinful and
disobedient life, he is forgiven of his sins and is transformed/born again into
a new creation. (See HERE for the gospel message.) He then hungers for
truth and looks in God’s Word for guidance on how to begin the journey to becoming perfect, holy and an imitator of
God. His foundation begins by being
obedient to what is written in God’s Word.
To be clear, a person does not ‘do’ such things to obtain salvation…
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)
But we were created 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. (Ephesians
2:10)
Works and obedience are not legalism:
And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, (Hebrews 5:9)
(See HERE for more info on legalism vs obedience.)
Works and obedience are not legalism:
And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, (Hebrews 5:9)
(See HERE for more info on legalism vs obedience.)
And a saving faith will produce works:
20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that
faith without works is dead?
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith
only. (James 2:20, 24)
So we see
that a saving faith will have works (lest it be a dead faith) and guiding those
works are the Holy Spirit and the Words of God in the bible, setting the
platform or the floor, by which we can begin our journey to be Christlike.
There are
many areas in which a believer can quickly and simply obey God’s Word. Here are just a few examples:
1 John 2:15 Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him.
A believer can look into their life and see what parts of the world
are influencing them…and pluck them out.
(Matthew 18:9)
Worldly novels, television/movies, video games, ungodly music, trashy
magazines, competitive sports, obsessive hobbies etc are of the world. A simple way to test such things is to run
everything through Philippians 4:8…Finally,
brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be
any praise, think on these things.
A godly
woman can read 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Timothy 2 as well as 1 Peter 3 and put on a
headcovering, long loose flowing garments and throw out her makeup, jewelry and
immodest clothing. A godly wife can also
begin submitting to her husband (Ephesians 5) and managing her home as her
responsibility (Titus2). (See HERE and HERE for articles for godly women.)
A godly man
can step up to take responsibility and leadership of his home (1 Timothy 3:4-5),
act like a man (1 Corinthians 16:13) and do what he can to provide for his family
(1 Timothy 5:8).
Believers
can ‘put to death fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil
desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry’ (1 Corinthians 3:5) ‘put
off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
language out of your mouth’ (1 Corinthians 3:6) and participate in ‘neither
filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but
rather giving of thanks’ (Ephesians 5:4).
All too often obedience is taught as a secondary thought
with the implication that if one is not obedient, it doesn’t matter as long as everyone
agrees on the fundamentals or basic principles of Christ and that someday (or
in time) a person ‘just might’ be convicted into obedience and therefore ‘possibly’
accomplish some of the commands in God’s Word.
This is a lie…
Therefore, leaving the
discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to
perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and
of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine
of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal
judgment.
(Hebrews 6:1-2)
Believers are to study and know God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15) and be
obedient to it (John 14:15) and by standing on the solid ground of His Word a
believer can quickly become victorious in many fleshly areas of their lives so
they can focus their time on deeper issues of the heart so as to reach for
perfection in Christ Jesus.
We encourage you to read, learn and be obedient to God’s Word.