01/18/24 WALKING BEFORE GOD

01/18/24 WALKING BEFORE GOD 

Sometimes people, even well-meaning people, require more of us or from us, than is required by the person who actually has authority over us.

We do not have to please everybody. We only need to please the people to whom we are answerable.

Ultimately this means we need to please God, and we can. God knows everything about us, and God knows our final outcome, yet He loves us (remember, Jesus loved Judas Iscariot though He knew what would happen). Yes, God also hates and God is vengeful, but God not only loves, He is love and He is merciful and kind.

We cannot understand the nature of God. Some people focus on His love at the expense of His justice and some people focus on His wrath at the expense of His redemption. The Bible does not always explain the nature of God, but it does reveal the nature of God. We must embrace the whole revelation and rightly divide (understand) the word of God.

God provides salvation for whosoever will believe. Jesus said we should save ourselves from this perverse (crooked) generation. We save ourselves by trusting Him to forgive, transform, cleanse, empower us to live a life that is pleasing to Himself.

God is absolutely and inherently righteous. We, as recipients of God's grace, are made righteous and enabled to live righteously. God sets the standards, God enables us and God determines our acceptability.

God told Abram (who was about to be renamed Abraham), "I am Almighty God, walk thou before Me and be thou perfect (without corrupotion)." God is Almighty, all sufficient, all supplying, all merciful, all powerful and God not only calls us to newness of life, He transforms us into new creations and gives us life; He not only calls us to deny ourselves and follow Him, He enables us to deny ourselves and follow Him; He not only calls us to obey Him, He imparts His Own nature and His Divine love within us, which enables us to keep His commandments and to do that which is pleasing in His sight.

God's salvation not only transforms us from what we were, but it also conforms us to the image of His Son. We are not only forgiven of our sinful behavior, we are purified, even as Christ is pure and we are created and enabled for every good work.

We are not absolutely perfect (even in our redemption), but God does not require us to be absolutely perfect (since only God can be absolutely perfect). He does require a perfect heart, a perfect love, which is made possible through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, and through the imparting of the Holy Spirit and through the power of His word.

Though we are not absolutely perfect, and though we may fail along the way (but God provides renewal and restoration), and though we are still flawed and weak and limited, and though other people will fault us and condemn us, we are only answerable to God. God judges righteously. God does not pretend that we are righteous, He actually makes us righteous.

As a believer, I endeavor not to be a stumbling block to others. I deliberately choose to abstain from the appearance of evil, not as a legalistic rule, but as a loving and redemptive act. Still, I need God's continuous love, cleansing, leading and His forgiveness on those occasions that I don't follow Him fully, those occasions that I fail and fall along the way. He enables us to be faithful and He is also faithful and just to forgive us our sins, when we repent. 

God will hold us accountable for our lives. We will be judged according to the deeds done in the flesh, if we stand before Him without Christ as our Advocate, our Propitiation. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we will be covered by the blood of Jesus, sanctified and fit for the Masters use and we will be judged and rewarded for our faithfulness.

The work of salvation is not only essential for our eternal (everlasting) destiny, the work of salvation is essential for our present earthly lives. Regardless of the accusations and attacks of other people, remember, Almighty God is calling you and enabling you to walk before Him and be perfect, to live without sin and sinning, without blemish or spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Eternal life and life in Christ is the gift of God, available to whosoever will believe on Christ. He gives us everything necessary for life and godliness.