TODAY’S DEVOTION (Thursday 3RD March 2022)
“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:20-23 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 62ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
How great is His mercies towards us! How great is His goodness stored up for those who fear Him! No end to the compassion that comes from Him each day. We stand in the power of the mercies of His presence. Hidden away, sheltered from harm. How great is His love!
Today is another day we have in our hands to use in the direction of His will. Its day three of our 31 day with Righteousness, Purity and Holiness; a journey that was initiated to bring out a consecrated Christian life from us. If we walk with the word of the LORD on these subject, and give it the attention it deserves this set days, we will come out with the fruit of consecration.
If there is any time to become consecrated, it is now. Like I said yesterday, the prophecy of the falling away that will happen prior to the end of days should scare everyone into submitting to a life of Righteousness, Purity and Holiness. We cannot afford to fall away in a time like this.
Jesus made another statement that needs double attention. He said;
“They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.” Luke 13:29-30 NKJV
Among other things, Jesus was talking about replacements that will take place in the end time. He was also referring to how the gentile nations will replace the Jewish nation who denied Him at first. They were the first to hear the gospel but will respond last. Thank God they will respond.
But there is another truth dimension to this that needs our attention. Not all who started the journey of faith first, will make it, and not all who started it last, will not make it. Those who seem to have responded to the LORD with great zeal now, stand the risk of losing and returning back to the vomit, thereby becoming the last, if they become weary, loose, or withdraw their commitment to the LORD.
THIS WORDS FROM THE LORD ARE REAL AND ARE CAPABLE OF MANIFESTING EVEN IN OUR DAYS.
On the other hand, those who have not even responded; who will respond last, stand the chance of responding powerfully and going to lead the very Christian life that those who responded first refused to continuing living, thereby becoming the last that became the first.
These prophetic statements from the LORD should worry and make us sit up; because what is it that will make those who responded to the LORD early, or first, to fall and return to their vomit, thereby becoming last? These things are the things that should worry us, not earthly desires, because as it stands now, many who were first have become last, by returning to the sinful ways that those who were last have abandoned.
In other words, the once righteous have returned to the wicked ways that the once wicked have abandoned for the LORD. It is a spiritual tragedy!
One of the major things that is responsible for this tragedy is the lost of the fruit of salvation by those who responded first. Even those who are responding now must watch, so that the same tragedy will not happen to them. Satan will seek to repeat with one, what he did with another.
The rule remains, if we are serious with the LORD at the start of our journey, and remain serious with Him, we will end well. But if we lose our seriousness in-between and stop bearing the fruit of salvation, and did not wake up from slumber and return to the LORD, we will be damned at the end.
Talking about the fruit of salvation, many do not know that in God’s kingdom it is by our character fruits that we are known not by our claims. Bold confessions and claims do not matter so long as critical things like making heaven are concern. It is character fruits that counts.
There was this generation of believers in the days of Paul who were like us, who did not understand that God was looking for character fruits. They took salvation matters to be matters of faith and confession irrespective of how they lived their lives. The man of God wrote to Titus, one of his sons in the faith, to caution them, describing them as people who;
“….profess to know God {to recognize, perceive, and be acquainted with Him}, but deny and disown and renounce Him by what they do; they are detestable and loathsome, unbelieving and disobedient and disloyal and rebellious, and {they are} unfit and worthless for good work (deed or enterprise) of any kind” Titus 1:16 AMPC
OUR CHARACTER FRUIT IS ALL ABOUT WHAT WE DO, NOT WHAT WE SAY OR CLAIM. IT IS WHAT WE DO THAT MATTERS TO GOD NOT WHAT WE CLAIM!
It is what we do with the grace and truth from the salvation He has given us that matters to God not what we say or claim. And by what we do, so many of us preachers are heading for hell. Yes, by what we do, so many of Church goers are heading for hell. If we realize that it is what we do that counts unlike what the false grace preachers are peddling, we will begin to repent of all the evil we do.
I believe the very caution Paul sent to the city Titus was pastoring is required today, because with our mouths many of us profess knowing the LORD, but by what we do (our Character fruits), it’s very clear that we have not even met Him. Our lives are not proving a change of heart; our lives are proving that our hearts have not changed. And it is a change of heart that will make us Heaven worthy.
John the Baptist, while doing his ministry at the river Jordan, saw the Pharisees (in other words the Church leaders of that age), coming to his baptism. Thank God they humbled themselves and knew they were not saved, unlike many church leaders of our age and time, and came to him for salvation. So, he saw them coming and said to them;
…. You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee and escape from the wrath and indignation [of God against disobedience] that is coming?
Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart];
And do not presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our forefather; for I tell you, God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones!
And already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Matthew 3:7-10 NKJV
THERE IS SO MUCH IN THIS SCRIPTURE FOR OUR AGE AND TIME!
If you look at it carefully, you will realize that the Cry of the Spirit of God in the mouth of John the Baptist was urging those leaders who came to John to truly repent of their sins by bearing the fruits of salvation.
It made it clear that bringing forth fruits that are consistent with repentance is a requirement to escape eternal judgment. That if the heart has truly changed like the mouth is saying, the life style will also change.
Many do not realize that when we say “we are born again” we are saying our hearts have been changed by the LORD from sinful hearts to holy hearts. Our lives are therefore expected to be proves of the changed that we claim have happened in our hearts.
But sadly, we claim born again but live like devils, doing all and even worse than what those who are not claiming born again are doing. That is a prove that we are not saved at all. It is a prove that we are not bearing the fruits of salvation.
The fearful thing is the Bible says the axe of judgement is already laid on the root of the tree (the secret places of those whose lives are not bearing the fruits of salvation), and that every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire; the lake of fire. But God sent this word so that we will not continue to be that fruitless tree that will be cut down and thrown into the lake of fire.
Our devotional text presents two kinds of character fruits people bear on earth. It is important that we look at them, because the Bible says, “by their fruits we shall know them.” In other words, it is by fruits that trees (people) that will be cut down and thrown inter the lake of fire in the day of judgment are known, not by leaves.
Leaves represents generosity and kindness.
MANY ARE VERY GENEROUS AND KIND BUT THEY ARE HEADING TO HELL BY THE FRUITS GOD SEE THEM BEAR.
For instance, there are false prophets who have established foundations that they are using to do many good things; these men are growing very beautiful and attractive leaves but their fruits are poisonous and wicked.
Sadly, people look at their leaves not their fruits and blame us for calling them by their fruits. By their fruits they are messengers of Satan, but by their leaves they are children of God. And it is not by leaves things are known in God’s kingdom but by fruits. The leaves of these wicked men are groomed to deceive and blindfold so that their fruits will remain unknown.
This is a realm of discernment that only those God has given to function in (with the aim of helping the elect), can operate in. But we are looking at our individual character fruits. Who are we by fruits? Are we born again or are we just liars who are hell bound?
A portion of our devotional text says;
“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” Romans 6:20-22 NKJV
Holiness is the condition for everlasting life. It is what qualifies a lost sinner for a Heavenly home with Christ after death.
The two kinds of fruits outlined in this text is the fruit of the saved and that of the unsaved. The fruit of the saved is Holiness, which tells us what that of the unsaved is. Meaning, if we are not living holy and pure lives after salvation, we are still unsaved and hell bound. Let no one deceive us.
The Bible says;
“Everyone who commits (practices) sin is guilty of lawlessness; for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness (the breaking, violating of God’s law by transgression or neglect—being unrestrained and unregulated by His commands and His will).
You know that He appeared in visible form and became Man to take away [upon Himself] sins, and in Him there is no sin [essentially and forever].
No one who abides in Him [who lives and remains in communion with and in obedience to Him—deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] commits (practices) sin. No one who [habitually] sins has either seen or known Him [recognized, perceived, or understood Him, or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him]. 1 John 3:4-6 AMPC
I encourage you to read this scripture over and over again. Light and understanding will come if you do. You will realize how much we have deceived ourselves sin matters of salvation, holiness and right living. You will also realize the damage many preachers are causing by how they handle matters of holiness.
The Bible is very consistent in what the fruit of salvation. It says habitually living in sin and calling yourself saved is the life of the unsaved not that of the saved. Those who are saved will never do any of that. It consistently presents a life of Righteousness, Purity and Holiness as the fruit of salvation.
We must wake up to the Bible truth that presents salvation as a child of the regeneration of the heart which leads to holy living. Because if the heart is regenerated it is saved. And the fruit of a heart that is saved is holiness. In other words, the life of a heart that is regenerated and saved will be a life of righteousness, purity and holiness.
We must also guard against the corruption of the heart, because anytime our hearts becomes corrupt and hardened, it will lose its purity and leads us back to a life of sin. When we go back to a life of sin, we have returned to hell bound ways.
We must understand that when the heart loses its purity, our place in heaven is lost. The life of Judas Iscariot tells us that. He was a son of God when Jesus called him, just as He called many of us and made us sons of GOD. But he became a son of perdition when Satan entered his heart and the heart lost its purity. Today he is in hell! May that not happen to us!
For that not to happen is the reason these truths are is in our hands.
Friend a lot has been shared. As we bring this to a close, we must understand that it is what lives in our hearts that determines whose sons we are not what we say with our mouths. And we can tell what live in our hearts by what comes out of our lives; our character fruits.
Genuine salvation involves Jesus coming to live in our hearts, and we making sure our hearts remain dedicated to Him.
When Jesus lives in our hearts, Holiness will come out of our lives. We will no longer be slaves to the sin that lives in us. Rather it will become dead. It will only be resurrected when our hearts start drifting away from His presence; when we no longer spend time with Him, His word and His Holy Spirit.
We must therefore, make sure that we retain the purity of our hearts after salvation by making sure our hearts remain dedicated to the LORD. That is what it means to work our salvation with fear and trembling.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as salves of righteousness for holiness.” Roman 6:15-19 NKJV