The Logos . Net

1 Jn 1:6-7 - If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. As Christians we are all called to no longer walk in darkness, but to walk in the light. It is an important mandate for every believer and follower of Christ to walk in the light as He is in the light. Only as each Christian practices that on an individual basis can we really have true fellowship and unity one with another and only then does the blood of Jesus continue to cleanse us of all sin. The reason for a lack of unity and fellowship in the church is not primarily an issue with the nuanced differences in doctrine and theology, but a failure of Christians individually to steadfastly put off the deeds of darkness from their lives and walk in the light. The Apostle James referred to this in Jam 4:1 - From whence come war...

Luke 6:45 - A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. The Lord knows our hearts, and while we may take some comfort in that, it should also concern us. The way we act, behave and carry ourselves, either good or bad, comes from our heart and the condition of it. That’s why Jesus said in the title verse: A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. (Luke 6:45) As Christians we might be tempted, after behaving badly and saying mean or unkind things or acting in ways we shouldn’t act, to think: “well, at least the Lord knows my heart”. But that is exactly the problem, something wrong in the heart, and yes…..the Lord does know it....

Rom 6:16 - Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? When we come to faith in Christ, He forgives us, redeems us and then clothes us in His righteousness by His blood and sacrifice, he paid the debt that we could never repay. From there, the Lord then leads His children in the paths of righteousness for His namesake (Ps 23), as the title verse states, we have a new master now, and we no longer serve our old master of sin. With this new master, we now forsake our sin by crucifying the deeds of the flesh and putting them to death. We practice walking in the Spirit every day by yielding to and obeying its promptings, this is what is meant by “obedience UNTO righteousness”. In doing that, we progressively grow in practical, outward righteousness as a fruit. That is why Jesus said: “For I say unto you, That except YOUR righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of th...

  Matt 12:50 - For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. When Jesus was told that his mother and brethren were waiting for him and desiring to speak with him, He responded by stretching his hand towards his disciples and saying that it is really those who “do the will of my Father which is in heaven” who are his true brethren. It’s notable that He did not point to the multitude and simply say that those who “believe in me” are my brethren like we might expect. I think this highlights the necessity of those who claim allegiance to Christ to faithfully follow Him in discipleship and be about the business of doing His will as our new focus and goal. It is a marked change and transformation that sets a new course and a new pattern of life and what distinguishes us as His people. Now some will quickly pull out Jn 6:40, which states that it is the will of the father to believe in the Son, to try and minimize what ...

  Phil 3:9 – And may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. The only righteousness that is acceptable to God is that which comes by faith in Christ. No matter how good or moral or upstanding we may have lived before, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and arrive at the cross in the same lost condition. It is there that we repent, throw ourselves on the mercy of God and receive the gift of salvation and the righteousness of God that comes by faith. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph 2:8-9). Faith in Christ is the only key by which we gain entrance into the kingdom, and then as we practice an ongoing and abiding faith, Christ sustains us. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written...

  1 Pet 1:7 – That the trial of YOUR faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. The thing that distinguishes a believer from a nonbeliever is the exercise of faith, OUR faith. The thing that keeps the believer secure and anchored in Christ is the ongoing exercise of faith, OUR faith. There is a misguided notion in modern day Christian teaching and theology that the Christian is kept secure by the “faith of Jesus” and that it is no longer dependent on the believer’s ongoing exercise of their own faith. The idea is that it’s “Jesus” faith that holds us and that we should just “trust” in that and not be too concerned about our own exercise of faith. Yet, as the title verse declares, it is the trial of OUR faith that, when proven, brings praise, honour and glory to Christ. It is not Jesus’ faith that is on trial here, it is OUR faith. Jesus’ faith does not n...

  Rom 10:9 – If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. There is great controversy within many Christian circles today about the term “Lordship” salvation. It is centered around the question of whether or not a Christian is required to submit to the “Lordship” of Jesus Christ as an essential element of eternal salvation. There are many today who teach and contend that submission to Jesus Christ as Lord, while good, is not required to secure one’s eternal destiny and that there is indeed a Lordship-“less?” path to heaven. Many that hold this view suggest that to subscribe to a Lordship requirement is to “add” to the Gospel and not rely on faith in Christ “alone” to save us. In this view, “belief” or “faith” only requires a mental agreement with the claims of Christ as savior and verbal consent that you are “trusting in Christ for salvation” to once and forever secure a future spot in heaven.  Th...

  1 Pet 3:12 – For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. This remarkable and pointed statement from the Apostle Peter, which is a direct quote from Psalm 34, comes immediately following a very detailed exhortation from Peter on how the Christian is to live their lives and walk out their faith. He does not mince words but makes it very clear that the protection, blessing and favor of the Lord will be directly tied to how well the Christian practices their faith and follows Him in righteousness, godliness and obedience. In the verse just preceding, addressing the brethren, he states: He must turn from evil and do good, he must seek peace and pursue it (1 Pet 3:11). This truth is not often talked about or effectively communicated in modern day Christian teaching and theology. Oftentimes we are given the idea that as long as we profess Christianity, we are basically exempt from this ...

  Ps 19:7 – The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. Gods law, which is His commands and precepts, has always been, and continues to be, absolutely perfect in every way. Even today, under the new covenant and in the age of grace. We might be tempted to think that Gods law under the old covenant was somehow flawed and deficient and that the new covenant was introduced to “correct” it’s problems, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact Jesus said: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled (Matt 5:17-18). Jesus went on to strongly rebuke anyone who would break any of the commandments or teach others to do so. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be call...

  Deut 31:6 – Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Here is a wonderful promise from God taken from Deut chapter 31 and repeated in Hebrews 13, that when a person comes to faith in Christ and follows after Him, we never need to fear that He will abandon us or forsake His promised covenant with us. We will never be able to say, I have followed after God, I have devoted myself to him and his ways, but he forsook me and did not keep his promise. If for some reason, after we have come to Christ and committed ourselves to the pursuit of God, we have a sense of distance between ourselves and Him, we can be assured that the source of the problem rests with us, not with Him. It may be simply a lie of the devil, and we need to resist him and draw nigh unto God in full assurance of faith. It may be that we have become complacent in our devotion and have gotten our focus o...

  1 Cor 3:3 – For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? One thing that becomes pretty clear early on in the Apostle Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians is his frustration and concern with the fact that many there had not “grown up” in their Christianity and were stuck in a state of perpetual spiritual infancy.  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ (1 Cor 3:1). Many had made an initial profession of faith and commitment to the Lord, but had not really taken that commitment seriously enough by submitting themselves to the daily work of the Spirit in their lives to transform them and make them new. Or if they did initially submit to the work of the Spirit, somewhere they had veered off course and lost their way.  One of the primary goals of Paul’s first letter to the Church there was to alert them and warn them and t...

  Ps.127:1 – Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it. It’s been distressing lately to read and hear of so many once revered Christian leaders who have fallen in such a surprising and shameful manner. Oftentimes the details of their misdeeds are downright shocking and span years, and sometimes even decades before they are eventually exposed and brought out. As it states in Num 32:23 – You can be sure your sin will find you out! Many such ministers, who maybe once did truly good and useful things for the Lord, end up in complete shipwreck, bringing reproach to the name of Christ and go to their graves in disgrace. Like a house built on the sand, perhaps glorious and impressive from the outside, it all comes tumbling down to nothing. The questions that come to mind are: How could they go on for so long continuing to play the part with such glaring, un-dealt with sin in their lives? How could they delude themselves into thinking the Lord would just overlook th...

  Jn 8:12 – Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Jesus pretty plainly states here that those who follow him shall not walk in darkness. Not “should” not walk in darkness, *shall* not walk in darkness…it is not optional. This is the mark of a person who is truly following Christ, they are absolutely committed to putting off the deeds of darkness and walking in the light.  In Eph 5:8-9 the Apostle Paul says: For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: *walk as children of light:* For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. So this is the question anyone claiming Christianity needs to ask themselves: Is there any darkness in my life, any….at all? Am I dabbling in the deeds of darkness….ever, at any time? Is there any activity that I give myself to, even if it’s only periodically, that I know in my heart and cons...