Posted on 06/28/2017 12:54:49 PM PDT by WhatNot
Ezekiel 33:12-13
12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. 13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
A person can try to keep every single law in the Old Testament, but the very moment they "offend in one point, he is guilty of all" so what does that person have to boast about? Nothing. The very second that a person thinks they've done something good, five, ten, thirty minutes or the next day after that, there's one sin and it's all gone. The sad fact of the matter is, God made it impossible for anyone to perfectly keep the law, except for one person and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament law is there to tell us that we're dirty, rotten and filthy sinners and there is no good thing in us, we're evil. The law says, "Do this and do that" "Oh, you can't do it? Then you're going to die and go to hell. Praise the Lord Jesus because He narrowed it down for us.
Matthew 22:37-40
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. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
So just start loving, start loving God and start loving your neighbor, yes even that neighbor who lets his dog do his business on your front lawn.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The ‘glory’ of God is His ‘perfectness’ . . . and that is what sinners fall short of. Unless we can meet His level of perfection we come short of spanning the precipice which separates us from the ‘lost’ category to the ‘saved’ category.
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
There is a great gulf affixed between heaven and hell but thank God the cross of Jesus Christ spans that gulf and provides a bridge for us to cross over.
Amen and that bridge has no toll and is never a bridge to far.
God put the man in charge and he is there NOT to hurt you, if you are not doing anything wrong.
But he has God's authority to hurt you if you are doing something wrong.
Amen, and if you have the God-Man living in you, that other man with his authority won’t be much of a concern to you.
Yes, but man's standard is the one that is impossible. Like any bureaucratic system, the dictats of men are capricious and complicated and often downright convoluted. For example, no one can ever manage to be humble, or merciful, or contrite enough to satisify the religious perfectionists of today who teach in the churches. The general theme is, "You'll never measure up to God's perfect standard!" Classic projection.
Meanwhile, God's standard truly is the one those experts can never meet, because it requires love and understanding, meaning... a keen desire to pay close attention to how actions and words affect others.
To love people is to be highly observant and sensitive to their needs, just because. And not just needs, but even simple desires. Attention to detail. Maybe the wife's birthday is coming up, and would just love that pretty pink sweater because it's her favorite color. Oh look, the green one is on sale, yay! Uh, no. Stuff like that. Just because.
The text referenced is about Saul inventing his own slacker definition of carrying out all of God's instructions, as if God is okay with that kind of attitude. Not whole-hearted, not sincere. Saul tried to argue and impose his own meaning, saying that he *did* follow the Lord' commands. No, he didn't.
Whole-heartedness, sincerity, and a genuine love for God and His ways [and the fruit it naturally produces] is God's standard. David's heart was perfect, as God defines perfect. He was a man after God's own heart. The Messiah is the embodiment of how to be perfect according to God's definition, being the living example, showing the way to please God. But when people believe that they can never be perfect like him (because man's doctrine turned him into a man-god of man-defined 'perfection'), they look at him like he's the guy handing out free passes to a bunch of inherent slackers.
Saul lost the kingdom for having that type of rebellious attitude.
1 Samuel 15:28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
1 Samuel 13:13-14 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. 14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.
Interesting times ahead.
Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Psalm 40
6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
(Hebrews 10)
Since English is the language that we're dealing with, I'm going by the common definition of the English word which is:
Perfection
"The state of being perfect or complete, so that nothing requisite is wanting;"
Perfect
"having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics" "absolute; complete" "completely free from faults or defects,
Complete
"having all the necessary or appropriate parts" "to the greatest extent or degree; total"
Is there some other English definition of the word "Perfection" The words that you have highlighted in bold "delight" and "within my heart" have much different meanings then the word "Perfection"
Therefore it delights in the will of God and thinks about it all time, wanting to please God. Unlike what Saul was doing - attempting to pass off his own will as being what God was instructing him to do. And then insisting that he was indeed following God's will.
His was an insincere heart.
Saul got the boot and was replaced by the man who desired to do God's will with all his heart and mind and soul: David. David's heart was perfect.
Perfect "having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics" "absolute; complete" "completely free from faults or defects,
Messiah is the son of David - like father like son, without David's slip-ups. David's heart was still perfect though, because he wasted no time in coming clean and repenting and getting right back to his default mode.
The Established wisdom either encourages people to slave away, or throw up their hands in futility and/or demoralization, missing the message entirely.
No shortage of 'kindly' religious folks reminding the flock how they don't measure up and never will.
The Messiah is on another track of action and motivational speaking, so never the twain shall meet. The Messiah is no fool, and he's not Mr. Beatdown.
I figure people will either be intensely attracted to his meticulous, caring ways and supreme work ethic, or will desire to get away from him as quickly as possible.
Jesus Christ is the only person in all of human history that had a heart for God like that. Anyone who tells you, "I have never walked in the counsel of the ungodly, I have never stood in the way of sinners, I have never sat in the seat of the scornful" is lying through their teeth.
Only Jesus Christ was able to fulfil that Scripture and that is why Christ receives all blessings of that prophecy: a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.(Psalm 1:1)
Now Bible believing Christians will inherit those blessings, but only in Christ Jesus.
Saul's problem and the reason God rejected him was because Saul refused to accept the word of God. Not because he was "insincere"
1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
David's heart was perfect before the Lord because like Abraham "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." So even though David had many faults, God looked past them and right into his heart and in his heart David never once rejected the Word of God.
Which is why we will see David in heaven, but not Saul. And why many Christians who think they will be in heaven, won't be.
Why one or the other? There are layers of meanings that make for full pictures. He rejected the word of God because he was insincere in his heart, not being fully on board with God's will. There's no contradiction.
This is a major problem with modern interpretation. Tunnel-vision. The vista is the long view, seeing grand concepts, big pictures.
The unbelieving of God's Word.
There will be days in the lives of Christians where they find themselves being insincere in their walk or being proud or bitter about something. But they can turn to God and to His Word and ask Him for help and when they do He won't reject them.
But if the Christian allows those things to go on, and allows those things to fester, then those things have the potential to lead the Christian to very dark places. And if it continues on for too long, they may and many have ended up just like Saul, rejecting the Word of God, and not believing it.
And if that happens, "The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
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