Context or Confusion

I'm pausing briefly in our parallel series on Walking in the Spirit and Walking Worthy of our calling to comment on a sad interchange I had online. What's going on in Christendom in these last days is chronicled well by other ministries (such as HisChannel and J.D Farag), so I'll just provide a representative example of the lack of discernment prevalent in the church and what I sense (I admit this is subjective) is a desire to signal one's virtue above defending the faith (or even defending Christ).

Contemporary Christianity is rife with this sort of thing, and it is particularly prevalent in contemporary music. Readers of this blog will note that I have no problem with the music itself, but doctrine and practice are always subject to scrutiny.

In this case, we see the typical progression:


Declare something beautiful and comforting which denies Christ... BUT it's beautiful and comforting! Declare you don't understand it, you only know it feels good.Be shown that…

Colossians 2[Let] no one deceive you by fine-sounding argumentsSo then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Colossians 3 Set your minds on things above, not…

Motivated to Service
We have noted that the greatest motivator for walking in the the new nature (the spirit) is the love of Christ our Savior. We also noted that the result of walking in and feeding the new nature is a clear conscience which leads to a vibrant prayer life and meaningful worship.

But we must not neglect other negative results of walking in the flesh. There are, of course, temporal consequences of walking in the old nature. These range from an empty life of slavery to the flesh to lack of peace to strife in our personal relationships and even to death. Beyond the temporal there are consequences in the age to come as well.

As we have laid out in previous studies, no one, no action, no sin can separate us from either the love of God or His promise of resurrection life through faith alone by grace alone through Christ alone. Nothing can rob us of the "life through his name" promised to all who place their faith in him. But we can certainly suffer loss. The Chri…

The "Walk Worthy" posts are given to complement the series on Walking in the Spirit. The epistles for this age from Paul give us tremendous instruction into walking in the light. As we have noted, those who accuse us who rightly divide the word (stating that we are not now, nor have we ever been, "under the law") of teaching lawlessness have not read the high calling of Paul's Post-Acts epistles.

On their own, the instructions in these epistles are far more convicting than the Ten Commandments. Paul's epistles are a wonderful balance of doctrine and practice. Doctrine must lead to practice and practice has no basis if not for doctrine.

We now continue with Part three of this parallel study, Ephesians 6:



Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but brin…

We Hate What He Hates, Now What?
We learned two core truths in our last study: (1) learning to hate what God hates, and (2) that just hating sin will not make the desires go away.
At this point, it is often stated by various teachers (and rightly so) that we are to "feed the new nature" and "starve the old nature." That is, of course, a wise path. But I would add that we should look to the end of the path: peace and prize.
To get to that peace, we must allow the Lord to convict and discipline us in those areas of weakness in our lives and flesh. This is why constantly being in the Word of God and praying without ceasing is essential. We have a conscience, but it cannot always be trusted. We leave judgment to Christ. Let the scriptures inform our conscience. 
God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those …