...so to speak. Driving home, listening to music and just letting my mind wander on God, I ended up with a jumble of scriptures and thoughts that I couldn't truly process until I got them out on paper. This is what I ended up with...
Our righteous living—or attempt at anyhow—is not our salvation. Our church attendance is not our salvation. Our tithes and offerings are not our salvation. The grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His blood shed on the cross are our only hope for salvation.
When we come to the knowledge of this truth, when we answer His calling, we should forsake the things of this world that keep us in bondage. We should put away sin. I know that sounds elementary, but honestly, how much do we hold on to? Put away the lies (especially to ourselves), put away the gossip, put away the lusts, and put away that desire to serve the dollar bill over serving our Creator. Sin separates us from God, plain and simple.
This is not to say that we don’t all sin because we do. At some point, we all fall short, and for that we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ. But to continue in sin after coming to the truth, “God forbid,” as Paul so blatantly put it.
We must strive to live righteously, soberly and godly in this life. To live otherwise is to go against the very Spirit that teaches us. Forsake the sins that keep us in bondage, but don’t forsake the leading of the Holy Spirit. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Relish that freedom and cling to the Lord with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul.
Then, I spent the afternoon locating scriptures to go with my thoughts--some were obvious, some it was my first time reading. I was actually surprised (maybe I shouldn't be?) to see how much of God's Word came out when I sat down to compose my thoughts. I guess surprised because sometimes it seems like it's so hard to remember, but I keep plugging away anyhow. If I could have a favorite for the day, it's obvious below which it was. :)
Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”
1 Thessalonians 5:8-10 “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” (Hallelujah!!)
1 Timothy 2:4 “Who [God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
Isaiah 1:16 “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;”
Isaiah 59:1-2 “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;”
Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Matthew 22:37-40 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
