Pleasing in His Sight

Good morning and welcome in everybody.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from 2nd Corinthians, but first of all……

God grants us a free gift of His grace, but it is given to us for a specific purpose. We must use it to become transformed into faithful and obedient children of God, so we can become pleasing in His sight. Sadly some people who profess to be Christian will misuse God’s precious gift, and rather than using it to turn their lives around, they will receive it in vain. 

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” 2 Corinthians 6:1

To receive God’s grace in vain means that it never produces the results for which it was given. Vain means purposeless, or without effect. The Christian Life begins with a liberal dose of God’s mercy, when we are submerged in the waters of Holy baptism. All of the sins before that point are completely washed away. God gives us Grace, through which we have a huge opportunity to begin an entirely new life. He takes a sinner, and gives them a chance to become a saint. What an incredible and merciful God! But our salvation requires complete submission to the teachings of scripture. This is called repentance, and Jesus and the Apostles warned over and over again that unless this happens in your life, you will ultimately perish. Salvation is not guaranteed, it all depends on your obedience to the will of God.

“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:17

This is why we pray “thy will be done”  in the Lord’s prayer” But many people are disingenuous when they pray these things because they continue to live in their sinfulness, rather than departing from iniquity. 

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”  2 Timothy 2:19

When we place our faith in Jesus, we are written into the book of Life, but it is our responsibility to turn away from sin. When you go to school, it’s your responsibility to get your homework done, otherwise you will fail the class. When you are at home, it is your responsibility to get all of your chores done, or else you won’t be able to use the truck. When you go to work, it’s your responsibility to obey and do the things that are required of you, otherwise you will eventually be fired. Yet amazingly, in many forms of false Christianity, people think that they can live lives of rebellion and open disobedience to the will of God, and somehow they will be rewarded with the prize of eternal life? That is complete irresponsibility, and a slothful faith.

“That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”  Hebrews 6:12

Salvation requires effort on our part, because we must completely overcome the sinful nature and mortify the deeds of the flesh. Those who refuse to do this are completely deceived, and without genuine repentance, they will be blotted out of the book of Life completely.

“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”  Revelation 3:5

Many people will profess to be Christian, but will not make it into heaven because they never truly turned away from their sins, and did the will of God from their heart. Some of these people will have numerous works, even casting out devils in the name of Jesus, but they won’t enter Paradise. The reason why is that they never completely submitted themselves to God’s will. It is because of unrepented sin and an impenitent heart that they will ultimately perish, regardless of the works that they did for the Lord. Each day, people throw money into an offering plate, or even give alms to the poor, but we cannot buy salvation. It is obtained through humble repentance and submission to the teachings of scripture. Without loving obedience towards God, faith does not exist. 

Matthew 7 ²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

So you see, people can lose any chance of salvation, simply because they never really turned from darkness to the light. They may have started the Christian Life, but they never truly converted and did what was required of the Christian Life. They began the race, but were disqualified because they didn’t stay on the path. They claimed to believe in Jesus, but they never submitted to the commands of Jesus. They professed to be followers of the Lord, but they never did what He said. You cannot fool God because He sees absolutely everything, and He knows who is serving Him, and who isn’t.

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46

At one time in his life, the Apostle Paul was wreaking havoc with the churches and trying to stop them from growing. This is because he was still in a state of unbelief and ignorance. 

 1 Timothy 1 ¹² And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; ¹³ Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

But when Paul finally believed in the Lord Jesus, his life went through a radical change. He didn’t receive God’s grace in vain, but used it to its greatest potential, converting from sin to the truth. He completely renounced the sinful man that he used to be, and walked in faithful obedience towards the Lord. 

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10

Salvation is not guaranteed, which is one of the reasons Jesus and the Apostles warned the church over and over again not to be deceived. If there is no change, there will be no eternal life. That is the simplicity of the Gospel. Some people sincerely believe that they will be in heaven, but if they choose not to obey God, they don’t really love God. The assurance of salvation that Paul possessed, was knowing that he had kept the faith. The old person that he used to be was destroyed, and He had become an obedient Saint of Christ. Each night when his head hit the pillow, he knew in his conscience that he had faithfully served and obeyed the Lord. 

2 Timothy 4 ⁷ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

When someone gives you a hammer, it’s meant to pound nails. When somebody gives you a saw, it’s meant to cut wood. When God gives us forgiveness, it’s for a purpose. To turn from darkness to light, to turn from wrong to right, and to become…..

…….Pleasing in His Sight. 

Let’s think about these things for right now.  We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc  where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.♥️