© 20 Colin Melbourne
Fruit & Thanksgiving
Almighty God wants us to be always filled with the fruit of righteousness, by loving The LORD Jesus Christ, bringing praise and glory to our Maker.
Ears to Hear
The Holy Ghost through Paul, whilst persecuted by Jewish and Roman authorities, and chained for preaching Christ, wrote to the Gentile fellowship at Philippi, (and now also to us) Phil. 1:9-11 KJV;
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Drink Sincere Milk Sincerely
We must be sincere and without offence until the Day of Christ, which will be The End of this condemned world.
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
1 Pe. 2:2-3 KJV
The word sincere means; pure, unadulterated, honest, without hypocrisy, pretence, or deceit.
The sincerity He speaks of is the believers’ sincerity towards the word and Spirit of God, which inevitably reflects in sincerity to all creatures: The point is; be true to The LORD, not hypocritical, half-hearted phonies, but wholehearted lovers of The Truth: The LORD Jesus Christ.
Sincerely Wrong
Many sinners harbour the thought that, as long as a person is sincere in their religious beliefs, then God welcomes them into Heaven when they leave this life: But He won’t, Jn. 3:7b KJV;
…Ye must be born again.
Salvation: Not Religion
Religious people are not born again, they are idolaters; Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Infidels, and all the cults are spiritually dead in sin, and Hell-bound, like all sinners.
Ignorance is No Defence
Ignorant sincerity is no excuse before God, the Judge: The sincerity that matters is ensuring we are true to the Word and Spirit of Jesus.
All religions are false: We need to repent from human tradition, and mere “churchianity” to believe and follow the Living Word.
Lest We Offend
The LORD was careful to avoid offending the Jewish religious crowd; for example, when they came to Peter asking if He paid the temple tax, Mtt. 17:24-27 KJV;
And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
The Holy Ghost relates the same thought in, 1 Cor. 8:13 KJV;
Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
How gracious; nonetheless, the Pharisees still took offence, as sinners do today.
Religious “believers” and idolaters will be offended when you proclaim the Word of God to them, because Christ’s message is offensive to unrepentant man. (See. Mtt. 13:57, 15:12, ) It happened often to Jesus, and it will be the same for you (See Mtt. 24:10, 26:31), Mtt. 13:57-58 KJV;
And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Likewise, followers of Christ are to avoid deliberately offending man, but without compromising the Gospel.
The Gospel Offends
Preaching to sinners is straightforward, but communicating the Full Gospel to Christians, without them taking offence, is difficult.
Sadly, they often value their tradition and own doctrine more than they love The Truth: The Living Word of God.
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
This scripture is talking about a different kind of offence: Offending God the Holy Ghost, because sharing His message always causes rebellious sinners to take offence, but those with ears to hear, rejoice.
Is God Speaking To You?
Believers sometimes wonder why the inner-witness, becomes indistinct, frequently it’s because they’ve refused to honour the Spirit’s leading.
The fix is easy and guaranteed; admit it, tell Him, do what He told you to do, and you’ll be right. 1 Jn. 1:5-10 KJV;
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
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.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Love Obeys Him
We avoid offending God by ensuring our love is abounding yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. That is; we prove our love for God is real by obeying Him, as Jesus taught us, Jn 14:15 KJV;
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
If we don’t stick close to Christ in our walk on Earth, and express His love to all, it proves we do not love Him. Jn. 15:10-13 KJV;
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Positive Feedback
This is the divine feedback-loop, that confirms we are getting it right, consequently we increase in understanding by experiencing the results of walking in Christ’s love.
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent;
You love Christ sincerely, so you follow His Spirit’s leading, and written word; as you love everyone too, you discover the fruit, and grow in understanding of right and wrong.
This is the joy of discipleship, through which you mature into the likeness of Christ.
It is what you were created for.
© 20 Colin Melbourne
Top image shows a Chinese man about to have his ears cleaned out by a roadside barber, note the fingernails.
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