3 SIMPLE THINGS. 046

Andrew Barrett
Apr 13, 2021
3 min read

The enemy of souls especially hates God’s law; his ultimate plan is to nullify God’s law and make it done away with. One may wonder, isn’t the devils ultimate plan to get people to not accept Christ? This however is not the enemy’s plan today; that was his plan when Jesus came the first time. This time, I believe the enemy is not so much concerned with whether a nominal profession of Jesus is made (though he doesn’t even like that) as much as he is concerned with one who professes, but also has belief (faith) in his/her heart.

Many confess with their mouth but have no belief in the heart and thus no corresponding works in the life. Put simply, they are hypocrites.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Notice the two-fold work

- Confess with mouth

- Believe with heart

The belief in the heart is not divorced from works and obedience, notice this verse

Galatians 5:6 ...faith which worketh by love.

[This verse isn’t saying, when faith works, it does so by love... the other times it either isn’t working or is doing it by some other means]

Nononooo

This verse is saying that faith works, period. Faith actually works, it moves, its active, it does stuff, its alive.

How do I know?

Because when faith doesn’t work – it dies, its dead.

James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also

God’s law is the perfect standard of love and selflessness and thus is the standard by which we all work. We do not work or keep the law so that God can love us, we work and keep the law because God loves us. Watch how beautiful this is,

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Jesus new commandment = love each other.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Now Jesus is saying if you love me .... love each other, that was His commandment.

Someone asked Jesus one day, which was the most important commandment, notice His response,

Matthew 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Simple

1. Love God supremely (the first four of the ten commandments)

2. Love your neighbour as yourself (the last six of the ten commandments)

But watch what He says right after in the following verse

Matthew 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The ten commandments, as well as the Bible are a reflection of these two principles. Now someone could ask, well why do we need the ten commandments, what if we just love each other. You see, we have no love in us, naturally we wouldn’t know what love is. God’s law is the template and because the enemy knows this, his ultimate plan is to nullify God’s law.

Psalm 119:126 It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.

Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

1. Confess with your mouth

2. Believe in your heart

3. Fulfilled the law in your life.

All these things come from God.

Help us oh God,

IJN,

amen

Photo by Hassan OUAJBIR from Pexels