Monday, October 29, 2012

Be careful to maintain good works

Tit 3:1  Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
Tit 3:2  To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

We are to SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN.
We are to BE NO BRAWLERS.

We are to be GENTLE.
We are to show MEEKNESS to ALL.

We talk about living the spiritual life and this is a blueprint, a guideline for us. We have to read God's word to get the instructions, because it is our instruction manual. Seriously, it is.

We need instructions.

And just like following the instructions with most things it's ALWAYS best if we follow them step by step. If we decide we don't need instructions sometimes things will go fine, but other times they go terribly wrong.  The thing is, we have to follow Christ's instructions, and His greatest instruction is for us to BELIEVE. 

Joh_6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

This is the work of God- that WE believe on Jesus Christ our Savior.

We MUST Believe.

You say, "Easy, no problem."

And it's true, it can be easy to believe, or rather to say you believe and even mean it but your life can shout otherwise, can't it?

Seriously.  I can tell someone I'm a frugal person, and then go out and constantly waste all sort of money an things, not being frugal at all. I might still believe I am frugal, and I will tell others I am but my actions speak louder than any words I might speak.

We can BELIEVE and I know I've said this before, but we must remember that DEVIL believe too.

Does that belief that those devils have save them?

No.

Jas_2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

There is such a thing as believing on a logical level, and yet not applying the belief to yourself personally.  You can believe something is true, because it is, but that doesn't mean that you CHOOSE to take hold of that belief for yourself personally.  I can believe that aloe vera will take the sting out of my minor burn, but if I don't take hold of that aloe vera and apply it to that burn the sting will remain. People can believe  that Jesus Christ is the SAVIOR of mankind, but still not make that belief a personal acceptance of Christ as being a part of their lives- their SAVIOR, their SUSTAINER.

That's why when we read things like this…

Tit 3:1  Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
Tit 3:2  To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

…we know they are INSTRUCTIONS for us, for our spiritual life.

No, we will not be perfect by any means, and we can never even try to perfect ourselves. We have to find perfection in CHRIST, and CHRIST only and let HIM perfect us. He perfects us by giving us instructions and this allows us to comprehend the standard that is set when we are to follow those TWO great commandments that encompass all ten moral commandments. LOVE GOD and LOVE MAN.  These are the things we do out of that LOVE, not to perfect ourselves but to follow the LORD'S commandments, and live as HE desires us to live.  We aren't shown these things to bring us to despair but to bring us to our knees at the foot of the cross of our SAVIOR.   Satan would have us despair of EVER following the instructions of God, but our Savior would have us seek HIM and trust wholly in HIM. Our Savior wants us to seek forgiveness as we recognize our need of salvation, of living in HIM and allowing HIM to succeed where we fail so miserably.  Our Savior wants us to TRUST in HIM, not in ourselves.

Instructions reveals our need to seek forgiveness for our failings, and faith in Christ's ability to following all those same instructions to perfection. Instructions help us to live uprightly in CHRIST, and ONLY in CHRIST, on our own not a single thing we do no matter how great means anything towards our salvation. Only CHRIST matters.

Christ who instructs us, He knows us.

Tit 3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Tit 3:4  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Tit 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Tit 3:7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Tit 3:8  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

These THINGS I will that thou AFFIRM CONSTANTLY-

-that they which have BELIEVED in GOD might be CAREFUL to MAINTAIN GOOD WORKS.

These things are GOOD and PROFITABLE unto men.

Those aren't my words, those are GOD'S words given to us by men who were guided by the HOLY SPIRIT.

2Ti_3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness

ALL SCRIPTURE is given by INSPIRATION OF GOD!

We need to BELIEVE!

All by the GRACE of our SAVIOR we need to believe!

Please Lord, please… help our unbelief!

In YOUR LOVE!

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