Standards

Psalm 15:1-3 “Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.”

 

The Creator of life proclaimed the standards for living by Divine commandments, statutes, Laws and edicts over all creation. These godly rules are standards, with their good limits, boundaries and obligations meant for guidelines to be obeyed in order to live a safe, comfortable, stable, happy and fulfilling existence. Those that naturally lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts, observe and operate within these loving guidelines and boundaries of God have peaceful and contented lives in the public community. But, there are always the disobedient element which walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [the devil], the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath [wrath from God] - Ephesians 2:2-3. Those who loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed – John 3:19-20.

 

Galatians 5:17-21 tells us, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery [drug abuse], hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 confirms, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” It's Heaven or Hell, your choice.

 

Living within the boundaries that sovereign God set up for life has wonderful consequences. Crossing the boundaries that God set up for life has disciplinary and eternal consequences. We live in a fallen in sin world but our Creator desires to restore us to an upright position before Him. Many repent and accept God’s gift of grace in Jesus Christ, but sadly most do not. The unregenerate sinners work so hard to silence their Maker and those saved, who are living blameless, obedient lives aligned with God’s perfect Word, Will and Way, growing and maturing as children always do. John 1:12-13 declares, “As many as received Him [Jesus as Savior and Lord], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Ephesians 4:10-16 explains, “He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” Live by God's standards and enjoy living.

 

In Christ, Brian