Are You Firmly Established In The Faith Or Have You Moved?

Once again brothers and sisters, we see the apostle Paul give a warm greeting to the saints and then a very sobering warning. As I have sought out the warnings in the New Testament I have found the pattern is very common.

In our day the preachers as a rule, do not warn the people. They are to busy building big churches and making money. They can only accomplish their goals by tickling ears, leaving out warnings and giving their own opinions. If you are listening to them, you are in grave danger. You must make your calling and election sure! You must search the New Testament for yourself.

Colossians 1 ISV

1From:a Paul, an apostle of the Messiahb Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.

2To: The holyc and faithful brothers in Colossae who are in union with the Messiah.d

May grace and peace from God our Fathere be yours!

3We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,f praying always for you, 4because we have heard about your faith in the Messiahg Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints, 5based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hopeh through the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doingi among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth. 7You learned about this gospelj from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of the Messiahk on yourl behalf. 8He has told us about your love in the Spirit.

9For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God’sm will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to himn as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God.11You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy 12and might thank the Father, who has enabled uso to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13Godp has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves, 14through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15The Sonq is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn over all creation.

16For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created,

things visible and invisible,

whether they are kings,r lords, rulers, or powers.

All things have been created through him and for him.

17He himself existed before anything else did,

and he holds all things together.

18He is also the head of the body,

which is the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,

so that he himself might have first place in everything.

19For Gods was pleased to have

all of his divine essencet inhabit him.

20Through the Son,u Godv also reconciled all things to himself,

whether things on earth or things in heaven,

thereby making peace

through the blood of his cross.

21You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil,w 22he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him. 

23However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.x

Are you living in willful sin? Turn from your sin which will bring eternal death and run to the Father who sent his son to pay for sin. The only time God is pictured as running in the Bible is when the prodigal son left his father and went into sin. When he returned, we are told that his father ran to meet him and said my son who was dead is alive. 

If you have never surrendered to Jesus or you left Jesus and went into sin, go to him in repentance and he will run to you! He loves to forgive, but he will not make you repent. If you are breathing, the Father is waiting. If you die without returning you will perish as you are rejecting the only plan of salvation there is. 

Are We Judging Ourselves To See If We Are In The Faith?

Today, we find ourselves in Paul's letter to the Philippians. Brothers and sisters, as I have searched out the warnings in the New Testament I have come to understand something that is very important. The writer who is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, often greats the group he is writing to with very positive words. However, he then turns to more serious words which make it clear that not all who he is writing to are being obedient.

This is very troubling as so many who are walking at a distance and are lukewarm read the passages of kind words and assume they are for them. This is not necessarily the case. This is especially a problem in our day when ear tickling preachers abound and do not give the warnings to professing believers. Many believers themselves are caught up in the cares of the world which choke them out. Jesus himself told the the Laodiceans, which clearly defines much of the church today which are experiencing plenty :

• 15‘I know your actions, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16Since you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, “I am rich. I have become wealthy. I don’t need anything.” Yet you don’t realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 
• 18Therefore, I advise you to buy from me gold purified in fire so you may be rich, white clothes to wear so your shameful nakedness won’t show, and ointment to put on your eyes so you may see. 
• 19I correct and discipline those whom I love, so be serious and repent! 20Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eati with me. 
• 21To the one who conquers I will give a place to sit with me on my throne, just as I have conquered and have sat down with my Father on his throne.

Please be patient with what I am about to say as it will become more clear as we look past chapter 1 into chapter 2. We now look at Paul's letter to the Philippians. I grew up hearing "6I am convinced of this, that the one who began a good action amongi you will bring it to completion by the Day of the Messiahj Jesus."  But Paul then tells why he said that "7For it is only right for me to think this way about all of you, because you’re constantly on my mind." This is not totally reassuring! It is very sobering as Paul clearly does not teach here that we cannot depart from the faith. Many other passages do appear to teach we can. 

Philippians 1 ISV

1From:a Paul and Timothy, servants of the Messiahb Jesus.

To: All the holy onesc in Philippi, along with their overseersd and ministers,e who are in union with the Messiahf Jesus.

2May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,g be yours!

3I thank my God every time I remember you,h 4always praying joyfully in every one of my prayers for all of you 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 

• 6I am convinced of this, that the one who began a good action amongi you will bring it to completion by the Day of the Messiahj Jesus. 
• 7For it is only right for me to think this way about all of you, because you’re constantly on my mind.k 

Both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, all of you are partners with me in this privilege.l 8For God is my witness how much I long for all of you with the compassion that the Messiahm Jesus provides.

9And this is my prayer, that your love will keep on growing more and more with full knowledge and insight, 10so that you may be able to choose what is best and be pure and blameless until the day when the Messiahn returns, 11having been filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus the Messiaho so that God will be glorified and praised.

Paul says in verse 27"The only thing that matters is that you continue to live as good citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel of the Messiah."  In chapter 2 Paul tells this same group, after he makes it sound as if they are secure no matter what:

•   12And so, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 
• 13For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him.
•  14Do everything without complaining or arguing 
• 15so that you may be blameless and innocent, God’s children without any faults among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world 
• 16as you hold firmly to the word of life. 
• Then I will be proud when the Messiahi returnsj that I did not run in vain or work hard in vain.

Paul closes the letter in chapter 4 with "21Greet every saint who is in union with the Messiahi Jesus." I do not trust any human to explain away the verses in the new testament which appear to teach there is a race to finish and that we are not to continue in sin. 

We do not earn our salvation, yet the scriptures warn us about continuing in sin. The New Testament lists certain sins which are continued in as keeping us out of the kingdom of God and sent to the lake of fire. Thus, Paul tells us above that we are to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.   

The Solution For Trials And Tribulation - Put On The Whole Armor Of God!

There is much talk about preparing for the future as we see our financial system collapsing. Many are storing food and becoming self reliant. I do not think this is altogether wrong as it is wise to prepare when certain danger is coming, however, a collapse will likely bring forth a more totalitarian government which would greatly choke our liberties. The government of the New World Order is all but certain.

What is more important than preparing physically which many cannot, is to prepare spiritually by making sure we have surrendered to and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God and can take care of his children! How do we prepare as a Christian? We turn fully from sin and obey what the New Testament tells us to do and we do not do what it says not to do. We cannot do this in our own strength, however we can do it by "relying on his mighty strength". How do we do this? By putting on the whole armor of God so we "may be able to stand against the devil's strategies".

Shortly after Paul writes the following passage about how to stand using the armor of God, he gives a very serious warning in the very last words to the Ephesians.

•  23May peace and love, with faith, be with the brothers, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah!r
• 24May grace be with all who sincerely love the Lord Jesus, the Messiah!s

Do you really love him? To know Jesus, is to love him. To love him is to obey him. If you are not obeying him, repent and turn from your sins and follow Jesus. Love for him will grow. He paid the price for man's sin on the cross by taking the wrath of God that was do all of us, as all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. On our own efforts, we could never stand in the presence of True Love. He does not fellowship with sinners, but has to punish and separate sinners in the lake of fire, stopping their ability to sin. He sent Jesus to pay for sin. We will either accept his free pardon, or stand before a Holy God and be condemned for rejecting the only pardon for sin, Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Please, if you have not done so or believed at one time and are living in sin, turn from your sin and run to Jesus!

Ephesians 6 ISV

10Finally, be strong in the Lord, relying on his mighty strength. 

• 11Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the devil’s strategies.j 
• 12For ourk struggle is not against human opponents,l 
• but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in the darkness around us,m and evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm. 
• 13For this reason, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to take a stand whenever evil comes. And when you have done everything you could, you will be able to stand firm.

14Stand firm, therefore, 

• having fastened the belt of truth around your waist, 
• and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 
• 15and being firm-footed in the gospel of peace.n 

16In addition to having clothed yourselves with these things, 

• having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one, 
• 17also take the helmet of salvation 
• and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 
• 18Pray in the Spirit at all times with every kind of prayer and request. Likewise, be alert with your most diligent efforts and pray for all the saints. 

Husbands, Wives, Scriptural Obedience And Divorce

I had asked the Father to give me a love for my wife that would never die. Several years later I found out she was planning to divorce me. I begged her not to break up the home and told her I would love and serve her for the rest of my life. I suddenly then said "if you serve me papers, I will be like king David when his baby with Bathsheba died. He got up and washed his face and went on with his life". After I said that, I turned my head slightly to the left and said "Father, please forgive me if I spoke words that are not true. I do not know the future". 

On the day she served me I was devastated. That same day I went to an attorney and told him I wanted to fight for the marriage with all I had. On my way home I was talking to the Father and he told me "you are free son, go". I then understood that my warning to my wife appeared to be from God.

I give my testimony for those who have a similar situation and find themselves having to treat their spouse as an unbeliever who wants to depart. Paul does not tell us what to do if a believing spouse wants to leave a believing spouse, but says if the unbelieving spouse leaves, the believing spouse is free. See 1 Corinthians.

Paul gives much more instruction on how to treat an unbelieving spouse in 1 Corinthians. In our day divorce is rampant. There are cases for divorce given in 1 Corinthians.

Are you a Christian husband or wife? Are you obedient to the Word of God? Paul gives very clear instructions as to how each partner is to treat the other. Marriage is very serious to God. God hates divorce. 

Ephesians 5 ISV

22Wives, submit yourselvesn to your husbands as to the Lord. 

• 23For the husband is the head of his wife as the Messiaho is the head of the church. 
• It is he who is the Savior of the body. 
• 24Indeed, just as the church is submissive to the Messiah,p so wives must be submissiveq to their husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives as the Messiahr loved the church and gave himself for it, 

• 26so that he might make it holy by cleansing it, washing it with water and the word, 27and might present the church to himself in all its glory, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but holy and without fault. 
• 28In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they loves their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one has ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, as the Messiaht doesu the church.

30For we are parts of his body—of his flesh and of his bones.v 

• 31“That is why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”w 
• 32This is a great secret, but I am talking about the Messiahx and the church. 
• 33But each individual man among you must love his wife as he lovesy himself; 
• and may the wife fear her husband.

Do You Listen to Jesus And Are Taught By Him?

I see a pattern in many of the books of the New Testament. The writer under the influence of the Holy Spirit encourages the church then warns. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul encourages for almost 4 chapters, then he begins serious instruction and warning. Most preachers of our day spend little time teaching the scriptures and if they do, they focus mainly on the encouraging verses. This is very dangerous and self serving. They are ear tickling preachers. They do not warn.

When we read the scriptures we should take every warning and ask ourselves if we are being obedient or disobedient to what is written. There are two groups of people shown in the following verses. Which one are we in? Are we in both? If so, this should not be and we should repent and obey God. Do not be deceived and led to destruction. "Do not let anyone deceive you with meaningless words, for it is because of these things that God becomes angry with those who disobey."  Chapter 5, verse 6

Today we find ourselves in Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4 ISV

17Therefore, I tell you and insist onj in the Lord not to live any longer like the gentiles live, thinking worthless thoughts.k 

• 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. 
• 19Since they have lost all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to sensuality and practice every kind of sexual perversion without restraint. 
• 20However, that is not the way you came to know the Messiah.l 

21Surely you have listened to him and have been taught by him, since truth is in Jesus. 

• 22Regarding your former way of life, 
• you were taughtm to strip off your old nature, which is being ruined by its deceptive desires, 
• 23to be renewed in your mental attitude, 
• 24and to clothe yourselves with the new nature, 
• which was created according to God’s imagen in righteousness and true holiness.

25Therefore, 

• stripping off falsehood, “let each of us speak the truth to his neighbor,”o for we belong to one another. 
• 26“Be angry, yet do not sin.”p Do not let the sun set while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil an opportunity to work.q 
• 28The thief must no longer steal but must work hard and do what is good with his own hands, so that he might earn something to give to the needy.
• 29Let no filthy talk be heard from your mouths, but only what is good for building up people and meeting the need of the moment.r This way you will administer grace to those who hear you. 
• 30Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 
• 31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and slander be put away from you, along with all hatred. 
• 32And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven yous in the Messiah.t

Continuing into Ephesians 5 ISV

1So be imitators of God, as his dear children. 2Live lovingly, just as the Messiaha also loved usb and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to God. 

• 3Do not let sexual sin, impurity of any kind, or greed even be mentioned among you, as is proper for saints. 4Obscene, flippant, or vulgar talk is totally inappropriate. Instead, let there be thanksgiving. 
• 5For you know very well that no immoral or impure person, or anyone who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiahc and of God.

6Do not let anyone deceive you with meaningless words, for it is because of these things that God becomes angry with those who disobey.d 7So do not be partners with them. 

• 8For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, 9for the fruit that the lighte produces consists of every form of goodness, righteousness, and truth. 10Determine what pleases the Lord, 11and have nothing to do with the unfruitful actions that darkness produces. 
• Instead, expose them for what they are. 12For it is shameful even to mention what is done by these disobedient peoplef in secret. 
• 13But everything that is exposed to the light becomes visible, 14for the light is making everything visible. That is why it says,

“Wake up, sleeper!

Arise from the dead,

and the Messiahg will shine on you.’’h

15So, then, be careful how you live. Do not be unwise but wise, 16making the best use of your timei because the times are evil. 

• 17Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
• 18Stop gettingj drunk with wine, which leads to wild living, 
• but keep on being filled with the Spirit. 

19Then you will recite to one another psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; you will sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts; 20you will consistently give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah;k 21and you will submit to one another out of reverence forl the Messiah.m