“Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:9‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

-
What is hypocrisy? the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform (copied from Google Dictionary). Loving evil while claiming to love good. Preaching hard against a certain sin while loving it at the same time. Claiming to love God while loving the world’s pleasures. 

To the outsider looking into our lives, we may look like hypocrites. We live in a fallen world while living with a fallen nature inside of us. But to God who sees the motives of the heart. He sees either a person who is trying to live for Him or someone who is not. We can look the part of a Christian on the outside, but are we a Christian on the inside?

How do we know what sins are? God has been very clear on this topic, while the church has begun to make it a muddy mess. 

“And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know full well God’s just sentence — that those who practice such things deserve to die — they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1:28-32‬ ‭HCSB‬‬
https://www.bible.com/72/rom.1.28-32.hcsb

“But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!”
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3:1-5‬ ‭HCSB‬‬
https://www.bible.com/72/2ti.3.1-5.hcsb

What are we to detest:

“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance — as I told you before — that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:19-21‬ ‭HCSB‬‬
https://www.bible.com/72/gal.5.19-21.hcsb

What are we to cling to:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:22-24‬ ‭HCSB‬‬
https://www.bible.com/72/gal.5.22-24.hcsb

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭5:20‬ ‭HCSB‬‬
https://www.bible.com/72/isa.5.20.hcsb

It all comes down to this: Whatever is love do this, whatever is hate do not do this.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The women with the issue of blood

-
Image
​ The women with the issue of blood Soon after I was married our pastor’s wife gave a message called “The Hem of Him” and this woman was the main subject of her message. She talked about how she had to press through the crowd to get to Jesus. She talked about how she was unclean and should not be in the crowd. Then she related it to us that we have to press through all the doubts, internal and external, to get to Jesus. Most certainly we all have heard a message of this woman.  Did you pick up that she had an issue with bleeding for 12 years? Jairus’ daughter was 12 years old. Of course, neither the women nor Jairus knew this but Jesus did. And was willing to help both the synagogue ruler and this poor woman the same. He did not show favoritism but was moved by their faith.  Could this woman have touched a tassel on Jesus’ robe or did she just touch the hem of it? “The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels
Read more

The Word of God is #1 living!

-
Image
​ I want to take the next 4 to 6 posts in BQTT to dwell on what “the word of God is”. The Word of God is #1 living! In our hands, we do not hold some dusty old relic of some 35 to 40 authors. But a living book written by God through the hands of many different people over 1,000’s of years. Have you ever been reading a normal book and a few words jump off the page to say, “Hey, read me again.”? I bet there have been very few times this has happened, but now, how often have the words written in the Bible done that for you? If you spend any amount of time reading the Bible I would say it has happened more than the normal literature.  Last night I was lying down and a verse reference popped into my head. I did not immediately know the words of this verse but had to look it up.  The verse was, “Who makes a god or casts a metal image for no profit?” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭44‬:‭10‬ ‭HCSB ‬‬ This is another aspect of the Bible being alive. The Holy Spirit will bring verses back to memory that we have long
Read more

Jephthah a Judge Whose Words Mattered

-
Image
​ “When the Ammonites made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. They said to him, “Come, be our commander, and let’s fight against the Ammonites.” ‭‭Judges‬ ‭11‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭HCSB ‬‬ Judge #10 Jephthah Jephthah is an interesting judge. First, he was kicked out of the family because he was the son of a prostitute. But then he was called upon because of his military might. He reasoned with the king who was fighting against Israel. He made a vow that ended in the death of his only daughter. Then he fought against Ephraim, a tribe in Israel, and killed them based on their accent. “Gilead’s wife bore him sons, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You will have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.” ‭‭Judges‬ ‭11‬:‭2‬ ‭HCSB ‬‬ “Jephthah the Gileadite was a great warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.” ‭‭Judges‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬ ‭HCSB ‬‬ “Jephthah sent messeng
Read more