Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
On March 18 1965 Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left the Voskhod 2 spacecraft, and became the first person to float in open space, protected only by his space suit. He experienced some trouble getting back into the ship, but he managed to get back inside unharmed. It was just one year earlier, they had developed a space suit with a backpack oxygen supply. The berkut spacesuit had a removable hard helmet, and many different types of protective layers, even providing thermal protection for the astronaut. The backpack provided from 30 to 45 minutes worth of oxygen, something that he would desperately need in order to survive.
This reminds me of the Christian life.
When divers submerge beneath the ocean, they need oxygen to live. In order for any of us to live upon the earth, we must have oxygen too. It is something that is required in order to survive. Likewise, in order for any of us to live eternally in paradise, we are going to require something that is just as important as oxygen. We must have faith. Faith is the oxygen that we must breathe every day, and just like the astronauts, we’re gonna need a tank full of it.
Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
The Apostle teaches that the just shall live by faith. Genuine righteousness in someone’s life, can only be achieved by walking down the avenue of faith in Christ. Faith is what causes us to become a doer of Gods will, rather than our own. Faith is what causes us to repent. Faith is what causes us to prepare ourselves for God’s coming kingdom. It is what causes us to depart from iniquity. When we speak about Christian faith, it involves believing in the things that Jesus and the Apostles preached, coupled with a heartfelt desire to do it. When we have faith, we will possess an obligation of loyalty and fidelity to the teachings of scripture. Many people will quickly claim that they believe in Jesus, but a faith that leads to salvation, is more than just saying something with your mouth. When you possess genuine faith, it will result in you becoming a doer of the will of God. Without this type of life altering faith, you can never become pleasing unto God, and eventually become an overcomer of the carnal nature. Overcoming the sinful deeds of the flesh is required in order to enter into eternal life, and it can only happen if you possess true faith in your heart.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Doing the will of God, and pleasing Him perfectly, is the a goal of a faith-filled Christian. The Lord Jesus has always pleased the heavenly father perfectly, as an example of how we should live our lives.
Romans 8:3-4 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
God extends to us a promise of eternal life, but to reap this promise at judgement day, there is something that is required on your part. One must turn their life around and do the will of God from their heart. If you never go through this process of repentance, that leads to loyalty and faithful obedience to the teachings of Christ, then you are only deceiving yourself. Salvation requires turning from the flesh, and walking in the Spirit. Those who are capable of doing this will someday hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Those who faithfully prepare themselves now, will someday enter into a kingdom that has been prepared for them.
2 Peter 1:10-11 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Obtaining the promise of eternal life requires obedience to the will of God. It is only through genuine faith that one will do this. People who profess to be Christian who turn back to a life of disobedience, are going to end up like Judas and Esau, and are similar to a pig who returns to the mud after getting cleaned up. They are similar to lots wife who was saved out of Sodom, but then decided she wanted to go back.
Hebrews 10:36-38 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Many children have an allowance that is given to them regularly by a parent. If the child has a good week at school, and if they display good behavior both at home and in public, they can receive the promise of their allowance at the end of the week. An employer may promise to pay you are monthly salary. In order to reap the reward of that promise, you need to show up for work, you need to clean the store, you need to pay the employees, you need to stock shelves, and oversee any other varies duties that are required to your specific job. If you’re not gonna do anything, how can you possibly expect to obtain the promise of receiving a paycheck? The same is true of the Christian life. We are given a promise of salvation, but in order to reap it, you need to do the will of God. If you’re not going to do God’s will, in only shows that you don’t really love God, and you will only come up short of eternal life. You were given a promise but you did nothing required on your part to obtain it. That’s because of a lack of faith.
Hebrews 4:1-2 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Like an astronaut lives by oxygen, the just will live by faith.
(Ha-bah-kuck) Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Galatians 3:11 …….The just shall live by faith.
Genuine faith will result in having a desire to please and obey God. It will cause one to become loyal and devoted to the cause of Christ. Just like oxygen keeps us alive here upon the earth, faith needs to be alive in our hearts each day. The kingdom of heaven is that hand and we all need to be prepared, having our oxygens tanks filled with faith, so that we can step through that door, leaving this world and eventually obtaining that new world that is coming. It requires a walk of faith, very much like the walk that he took when he exited…..
…..Voskhod 2
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching tlkjbc, or by going to hipcast, buzzsprout or amazon, or by getting our podcast feed directly at tlkjbc.com, or I suppose, you can find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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