Did you forget?

Psalm 50:¹⁶ But God says to the wicked:
“Why bother reciting my decrees
and pretending to obey my covenant?
¹⁷ For you refuse my discipline
and treat my words like trash.
¹⁸ When you see thieves, you approve of them,
and you spend your time with adulterers.
¹⁹ Your mouth is filled with wickedness,
and your tongue is full of lies.
²⁰ You sit around and slander your brother—
your own mother’s son.
²¹ While you did all this, I remained silent,
and you thought I didn’t care.
But now I will rebuke you,
listing all my charges against you.
²² Repent, all of you who forget me,
or I will tear you apart,
and no one will help you.
²³ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
If you keep to my path,
I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”


Let's not forget our God. His silence does not mean approval.

Mature Faith

Hebrews 5:¹²In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 6:¹Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, ²instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³And God permitting, we will do so.

⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because^b]">[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

⁷Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

⁹Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. ¹⁰God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. ¹²We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Hebrews 5:12-6:12

Approval of men or of God?

Deuteronomy 13; Deuteronomy 14; Deuteronomy 15; Galatians 1

Galatians 1:⁶I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! ⁹As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

¹⁰Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul is shocked at how soon and how easy it was for man to twist the gospel of Jesus. He is warning those that are doing so, that if they continue to do it, they will be cursed. He says that if we are to change any bit of the gospel, we are perverting it, making it no longer the gospel. Paul also states that even if what he says comes off a bit abrasive for mankind, it doesn't matter because he is a servant of Christ and not trying to please man.

We must remember to not twist the one true gospel to how we may want it to be. Once we enter in our own opinions and our own "take" on it, we lose the entire meaning and purpose of the gospel. I will no longer try to win the approval of mankind. I am not a servant to mankind, but a servant of Christ. The one and only Jesus Christ. My actions and words should please Him, for His approval is all that matters.

Lord,

It is so easy for man to pervert Your gospel. I pray for forgiveness, I pray that I don't come to the point of twisting Your gospel for my own personal gain. Jesus, I also pray that You take pleasure in my actions and in my words. I know now that the opinions of man does not matter, if I am pleasing You then I am a servant of yours. I don't want to be a servant of mankind. Thank you for your grace and mercy and for coming to earth to die for us. Because of Your mercy we can be forgiven, because of Your grace, we are blessed. Thank you Lord. In Your merciful name,

Amen