Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

salvation

We Must Obey

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As we continue to examine if we truly love God (see “Do We Love Him” and “We Must Keep His Commands”), let’s first lay a little theological groundwork. We know all scripture is God-breathed and inspired by His Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). This means every word, and therefore every instruction, in the Bible, is a command of Christ. He is the Word of God in the flesh (John 1:1-3).

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Every time the scripture instructs us, we must obey. That is what it means to love Christ (John 14:15; 1 John 5:2-4). The book of James teaches us those who would live lives acceptable to God will keep themselves unstained by the world (James 1:27). Therefore, if we love Jesus, we will keep ourselves away from the temptations and habits of our culture. Let’s look at some practical implications this has for the way we live.

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We Must Keep His Commands

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Last time (see “Do We Love Him?”), we began to contemplate whether the love we have for Christ is genuine. Because of the importance of this topic, we’re going to continue thinking about it today. Jesus said many would come to Him thinking they know Him, but in fact do not (Matthew 7:22-23). So many are deceived by the “easy believism” and faith without consequences teachings of our day that Hell awaits a multitude of people who think they are in Christ but will find out He never knew them.

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It’s why this subject is of vital importance, one we do well to consider with great soberness. Nothing is more important than your relationship with Jesus. We do not know Him if we do not love Him, and we know to love Him means we must keep His commands (John 14:15).

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Do We Love Him?

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I am continually being brought back to the book of 1 John, primarily the second chapter. There is so much there that I’m beginning to think a single lifetime is not long enough to mine all the treasure it contains. One of the great things about this letter is the clarity of the message the Holy Spirit inspired John to write. There are numerous black-and-white statements. There is no nuance, no vagueness, and no wiggle room.

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This book leaves no room for you to hedge your bets. If you believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God that it is, then 1 John is the unequivocal handbook of how we are to live this Christian life. We say we love Jesus, but does our love pass the test? When push comes to shove, do we love Him? Let’s see what John wrote about this.

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Die to Self

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We don’t live surrendered lives because to do so is both inconvenient and difficult. Everything in our society and culture is designed to appeal to our worldly lusts and flesh. The culture calls us to surrender to its ways, enjoy the best of this life, and cast aside any restrictions on our pleasure and enjoyment.

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Every part of our flesh desires to chase after the things of this world. So, when we surrender to Jesus as our Lord, an immediate conflict ensues. Will we bow to the King or give our allegiance to the dark desires of our flesh?

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Feel the Weight

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Perhaps nothing keeps us from experiencing the power of God in our lives more than our failure to recognize the horror of sin. We all know we should avoid sin, but too often we fail to feel the weight of that sin. Everyone sins and so it becomes easy to excuse it. We rationalize we can’t help our sinful nature, and since no one is perfect except Jesus, sinning is inevitable.

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To believe such a thing both cheapens and diminishes what Christ accomplished on the cross. His death not only provides forgiveness for our sins, but His resurrection dismantled the schemes and workings of the devil. We are born in sin, but thanks to Jesus’s victory over sin and death, we don’t have to live as slaves to sin.

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