Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,657
We live in a day and time when being a “Christian” appears to be based primarily (or largely) on a verbal confession of Christ as Savior, but without any requirements at all for a changed life, or very loose requirements, at best. If one has made that confession of faith in Jesus Christ they are now promised forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny, but regardless of how they live. And some people are teaching that God makes no requirements of them at all for death to sin and obeying his commands.
And then we live in a very worldly culture, both in and out of the gatherings of the church (or the false church). And so it is barely distinguishable these days between Christians and non-Christians, or between the church and the world, for so much of the church has taken on the patterns of the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings, and in order to grow their numbers. And so they have turned into human-based businesses in order to market “the church” to the world while they dilute the gospel message.
“Going to church” has now replaced “being the church.” Now church has become a building called “church” where people attend “church services” once or twice a week for an hour or two, and then they go home, and they resume life as normal, and they are no longer “in the church.” But the Biblical church is the body of believers in Jesus Christ, so it is people, and the people are to gather together daily for mutual encouragement to help one another to grow to spiritual maturity in Christ and to not live in sin.
[Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]
But then we have these charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing who are convincing the church at large that they don’t have to die to sin and obey God, for they call that “works salvation.” So they teach a cheapened form of the gospel and of God’s grace which permits the believer to continue in their sins and in selfishness and in idolatry and sexual immorality and in lying, cheating, stealing, and the like, and without conscience, and without guilt, while they are promising them forgiveness of sins and eternity in heaven.
And then we live in a culture very controlled by electronic technology and artificial intelligence and entertainment which is manipulating and controlling many people’s minds, and which is shutting out the voice of the Holy Spirit. For so many of them are plugged in to this technology a large part of their waking hours which then is feeding their minds continuously with the thinking and the values of this sinful world. But we, as followers of Christ, are to be feeding on His Word, obeying his commands, doing what he wills.
But then these false shepherds of the people come after us who are teaching the truth of the gospel in order to attack us because we are teaching that we must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but in daily practice, by the Spirit, and because we are teaching walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands as necessary components of biblical faith which saves, and because we are teaching the necessity of the biblical body of Christ over these human-based institutions which are being marketed to the world to attract the world.
“But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:9-12 NASB1995)
This is in reference to the words written in Hebrews 6:1-8, where Paul (the presumed writer) addressed the Christians on the necessity of moving from the elementary teachings about Christ to maturity in Christ. For there were many people who believed in Jesus Christ who did not move on to maturity in Christ who eventually abandoned the faith and who returned to living in sin. And the Bible teaches us that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord’s commands, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
But when we teach this biblical truth, we get ground up sometimes, and we get attacked, and we get accused falsely of teaching lies, or of teaching “works salvation.” And we will have people abandon us and throw us away and ignore us or criticize us and even say some pretty hateful and nasty things to us because we are teaching the truth and not the lies that so many are teaching today as truth. But some of us do have some supporters and encouragers, and that is such a blessing, and so healing, too.
And this section of Scripture is very encouraging to our hearts, too, because it lets us know that if we are serving the Lord with our lives wholeheartedly, and if what we are sharing with others is the truth of God’s word, and not the lies, God has not forgotten us or the work that we do in love response to his calling upon our lives. He has not forgotten the commitment and the time we spend in ministering to the saints of God, for their encouragement, which must agree with the teachings in the Scriptures, not with human flesh.
And then there is the encouragement here to persevere, and to keep speaking the truth of God’s word to the people, and to keep refuting the lies of the enemy of our souls, regardless of how others treat us, in return. We must stay the course even if all desert us and reject us and speak evil against us. And it is an encouragement, as well, for us to continue in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and to not get sluggish or disheartened to the point where we abandon the faith. We must press on!
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
Caution: This link may contain ads
We Must Press On!
An Original Work / May 18, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
And then we live in a very worldly culture, both in and out of the gatherings of the church (or the false church). And so it is barely distinguishable these days between Christians and non-Christians, or between the church and the world, for so much of the church has taken on the patterns of the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings, and in order to grow their numbers. And so they have turned into human-based businesses in order to market “the church” to the world while they dilute the gospel message.
“Going to church” has now replaced “being the church.” Now church has become a building called “church” where people attend “church services” once or twice a week for an hour or two, and then they go home, and they resume life as normal, and they are no longer “in the church.” But the Biblical church is the body of believers in Jesus Christ, so it is people, and the people are to gather together daily for mutual encouragement to help one another to grow to spiritual maturity in Christ and to not live in sin.
[Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]
But then we have these charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing who are convincing the church at large that they don’t have to die to sin and obey God, for they call that “works salvation.” So they teach a cheapened form of the gospel and of God’s grace which permits the believer to continue in their sins and in selfishness and in idolatry and sexual immorality and in lying, cheating, stealing, and the like, and without conscience, and without guilt, while they are promising them forgiveness of sins and eternity in heaven.
And then we live in a culture very controlled by electronic technology and artificial intelligence and entertainment which is manipulating and controlling many people’s minds, and which is shutting out the voice of the Holy Spirit. For so many of them are plugged in to this technology a large part of their waking hours which then is feeding their minds continuously with the thinking and the values of this sinful world. But we, as followers of Christ, are to be feeding on His Word, obeying his commands, doing what he wills.
But then these false shepherds of the people come after us who are teaching the truth of the gospel in order to attack us because we are teaching that we must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but in daily practice, by the Spirit, and because we are teaching walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands as necessary components of biblical faith which saves, and because we are teaching the necessity of the biblical body of Christ over these human-based institutions which are being marketed to the world to attract the world.
“But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:9-12 NASB1995)
This is in reference to the words written in Hebrews 6:1-8, where Paul (the presumed writer) addressed the Christians on the necessity of moving from the elementary teachings about Christ to maturity in Christ. For there were many people who believed in Jesus Christ who did not move on to maturity in Christ who eventually abandoned the faith and who returned to living in sin. And the Bible teaches us that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord’s commands, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
But when we teach this biblical truth, we get ground up sometimes, and we get attacked, and we get accused falsely of teaching lies, or of teaching “works salvation.” And we will have people abandon us and throw us away and ignore us or criticize us and even say some pretty hateful and nasty things to us because we are teaching the truth and not the lies that so many are teaching today as truth. But some of us do have some supporters and encouragers, and that is such a blessing, and so healing, too.
And this section of Scripture is very encouraging to our hearts, too, because it lets us know that if we are serving the Lord with our lives wholeheartedly, and if what we are sharing with others is the truth of God’s word, and not the lies, God has not forgotten us or the work that we do in love response to his calling upon our lives. He has not forgotten the commitment and the time we spend in ministering to the saints of God, for their encouragement, which must agree with the teachings in the Scriptures, not with human flesh.
And then there is the encouragement here to persevere, and to keep speaking the truth of God’s word to the people, and to keep refuting the lies of the enemy of our souls, regardless of how others treat us, in return. We must stay the course even if all desert us and reject us and speak evil against us. And it is an encouragement, as well, for us to continue in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and to not get sluggish or disheartened to the point where we abandon the faith. We must press on!
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
Caution: This link may contain ads
We Must Press On!
An Original Work / May 18, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
