Flourishing in Faith, Hope, and Love

    Over the next seven weeks, if the Lord wills, we will dig into a new study of faith, hope, and love. This triune appears seven times in the latter half of the New Testament. My Dad (preacher with the Jordan church of Christ) recently pointed out in a sermon that while the spiritual gifts were only temporary (1 Corinthians 13:8-10), faith, hope, and love have continued and will continue for as long as this earth exists. As you read the epistles you will see a shift from mention of spiritual gifts to a increased mention of these three important parts of our life. 

"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; 

but the greatest of these is love." 

(1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV)

    Why is love the greatest? Does that means that love is all that matters? As long as we love we're okay? Love is greatest because one day when this life is over faith will become sight (1 John 3:2, 1 Corinthians 13:12), hope will be realized (Romans 8:24-25), but love will continue for eternity - God IS love (1 John 4:8)! If we want a eternity of love with God we need to have faith that leads us to humbly obey and live anchored in hope which motivates us to keep going and keep growing right to the very end! All three - faith, hope, and love - are vital!! 

    

    Let's take the time to look at the verses that mention them so that we can flourish in faith, hope, and love!!    

You can do it! So can I!!

Those Who Call on The Lord Out of a Pure Heart

“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace 
WITH THOSE WHO CALL ON THE LORD OUT OF A PURE HEART.” 
(2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV)

    We have spent time this year in understanding what righteousness, faith, love, and peace look like and we learned why it is so important to obey this command and continually pursue these so we can live righteously, faithfully, in love, and at peace.

    We are to pursue these things with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

    We have recently learned that ‘calling on the Lord’ is appealing to God for help, for guidance, for worship; fully acknowledging Him as supreme in authority, to the point that we desire to be named after Him/His Son --> “Christian” (Acts 11:26). We can rightfully wear the name Christian when we are IN CHRIST, part of His body, the church (Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18).

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: How do we get INTO Christ? We must not only believe in Jesus, we must not only repent of our sins, we must not only confess our faith, we must also be baptized for the remission of our sins. Many churches today do not teach the necessity of baptism, teaching instead that it is merely a sign to show others that we’ve already been saved. The problem with that teaching is that the Bible says otherwise. Please read 1 Peter 3:18- 21 – BAPTISM saves us! Sounds rather necessary, doesn’t it? This act, if done in faith, is the point that we obey God fully, and it is the point when God washes our sins away. Why else would Ananias, who was directly instructed by Jesus to inform Saul of Tarsus of what he must do, instruct Saul to “arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16)? Faith alone won’t save us. Repentance alone won’t save us. Confession alone won’t save us. Even baptism alone won’t save us. But when put together, in full obedience to the only God of this universe, we can be saved because His Son, Jesus Christ, died for our sins, allowing us to be forgiven by God’s grace. That’s what the message of salvation in Jesus Christ sounds like as found in the Bible.  That is how you are granted the name “Christian,” that is how you become part of the body of Christ (in Christ), the church (Romans 6:1-14, Galatians 3:26-29, Colossians 2:11-14)!

“THOSE WHO CALL ON THE LORD OUT OF PURE HEART”

    We have learned that having a pure heart means to have a heart that is innocent, sanctified, and set apart to God, a heart that is morally pure. So, I draw the conclusion, that those who seek God, who make appeal to Him, and have hearts that are morally pure and innocent (whose sins have been “washed” away) are the very same who make up His church. We are to flee youthful lusts and pursue after righteousness, faith, love, peace with the church belonging to God’s very Son, the church He established in Acts 2! We are to help one another flee sin and pursue God and all His ways!

Consider now, this passage: 

“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love for the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” (1 Peter 1:22-23 NKJV)

    We purify our souls in obeying the truth (see note above), and we are to love one another sincerely and fervently with a pure heart. When we love one another sincerely and fervently, we will be willing to encourage and correct in order to benefit the other (Ephesians 4:19, James 5:19-20). When this is done with a pure heart, godly wisdom should be what guides our words (James 1:5, 3:13-18, Ephesians 4:12-16), because we appeal to the God of heaven, the only source for true wisdom! And having been born again (please read John 3:1-7, baptism IS necessary!) of incorruptible seed – see 1 John 3:1-3 – through the word of God, we purify ourselves, keeping ourselves pure through continued learning, obedience, and appeal to God through prayer and thanksgiving!

    Continue to flee youthful lusts as you grow up in Christ (Ephesians 4:15-16). Continue to pursue righteousness (living right before God, humbly obeying all His commands), faith (without it, it is impossible to please Him, Hebrews 11:6), love (selflessly seeking the higher good for others, to be a benefit to others), and peace (with God and with man). Allow members of the church to help you and look for ways to help them too (Galatians 6:9-10). We are all in this together!! Keep trying! Don’t give up!!

    God provides all you need to succeed!! Do it His way – it is always worth every effort!! What you’ll get in return is unfathomable – blessings upon blessings!! Continue to pursue God today!!

You can do it! So can I!!   

 

Children of God Have Pure Hearts

“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue 
righteousness, faith, love, peace 
with those who call on 
the Lord out of a pure heart.” 
(2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV)

    Over the past few months we have studied about these noble and necessary pursuits and as our study of 2 Timothy 2:22 is coming to a close we have looked at what it means to call on the Lord – to appeal to Him, trusting Him and obeying His instruction no matter what – and this week I would like to look at the necessity of a pure heart.

“Behold, what manner of love 
the Father has bestowed on us, 

that we should be called children of God! 

Therefore the world does not know us,

because it did not know Him.

Beloved, now we are children of God; 

and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,

but we know that when He is revealed,

we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is, 

and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself,

just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3 NKJV)

    Are you a child of God?

    Do you have the hope found only in Jesus (1 Peter 1:3-5)?

    If you answered ‘yes,’ you need to be purifying yourself – making your heart morally pure and right in God’s sight – you need to be continually turning away from youthful lusts and diligently running toward being more righteous, more faithful, more loving, and more desirous of peace with both God and man!

    When we work daily at purifying our hearts, seeking God and humbly obeying Him in all we do, we are better able to help others in reaching their spiritual goals. Each one of us should desire to be this kind of helper, to be an example to those around us, to be an encouragement and a giver of good, godly advice to those who are walking alongside us on the Narrow Way.  

    If the Lord wills, next week we will look at another verse that will help us know how to purify our heart and then see how 2 Timothy 2:22 is an instruction that will lead to mature Christians and a healthy church!

 Until then, continue to pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of pure heart and remind yourself daily of the wondrous truth that God loved us SO much that we can be called His children - let that fact spur on your continued purification of your heart and mind!!

You can do it! So can I!!

Pursuing Alongside Those Who Call on the Lord

“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, 
faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord 
out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV)

    This verse has been our theme for the past few months, and as this topic of study is now drawing to a close I would like to briefly summarize what we have learned in studying this instruction:

• Righteousness is our commitment to learn from God’s word and live it.
• Faith develops when we commit to fully trust God and obey His instructions.
• Love is shown when we commit to be considerate and help others, no matter what.
• Peace is found when we commit to do what is right and proper to maintain relationship between yourself and God, and yourself and others.    

     We are strengthened in our commitment in these areas by those around us who are pursuing the same, “those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Over the remainder of this month, as the Lord wills, we will dig into what this description means. 

    To begin let's get a better understanding of what it means to "call on the Lord."

    We find this term for the first time in Genesis 4:26, after Adam & Eve’s son Seth begot a son, himself. “Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.” (NKJV) It is then found throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. So, what does it mean exactly?

    “Call” (Strong’s Greek #1941) means ‘to invoke, to appeal, to call on someone in authority for aid, help, decision, worship.’ It also means ‘to be named after someone.’

    Who are we to call on? To whom should we appeal to for aid, for help, for decision? Whom should we seek to worship?

    The answer is simple: “The Lord.”

    We call on the Lord, who is supreme in authority! We appeal to our loving Master and Creator for help and for guidance! It is the Almighty LORD God whom we seek to worship, in spirit and in truth!

    We come to the God the Father through Jesus (John 14:6), we call on the Lord and make our petitions known to Him through Jesus (John 16:23-24, Colossians 3:17); it is in His name that we make our requests known.

    Remember how “call” means ‘to be named after someone’? Are your named after someone? Do you wear the name “Christian”? My Uncle Roy Diestelkamp would often pronounced this name as “Christ-ian” to remind us all of Whom we were named after!

    As a Christian, you take on the name of Christ, you submit to His authority and the supreme authority of God the Father. You belong to Him (1 John 3:1-3). You give Him the power of deciding; you let His commands and instructions to be the guide for your life!

    May each of our hearts continually say, “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! While I live I will praise the LORD; I will sing praise to me God while I have my being.” (Psalm 146:1-2 NKJV)

    Calling on the Lord is “praying without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), never giving up on prayer. Calling on the Lord is wearing His name and being happy about it, humbly doing the work, and sharing your joy in Christ with others. Calling on the Lord is going to Him first in trouble and in gladness, going to His word for answers, help, and guidance. Calling on the Lord is acknowledging that without Him we are lost and we will use every moment we are given to show Him how much we appreciate His gift of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and hope!!

 “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, 
and abundant in mercy to all who call upon You.” 
(Psalm 86:5 NKJV) 

    Be among those who call on the Lord, so that you can help 

those who are also pursuing righteousness, faith, love, and peace!!

You can do it! So can I!!