And Be Not Conformed To This World

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Monday, October 21, 2019
Chapters: Mark 9
Message: And Be Not Conformed To This World

Hello My Friend,

When I was praying this morning it occurred to me that there is one thing that I have not asked God for in quite a while, to take Him with me where I go. Oh, I pray for traveling mercies every time I get in my car, and for guidance in my work, studies, and the like, but when I ask Him to come along with me that is a different matter. You see, when we ask Jesus to come with us we are more careful in our actions. Of course, Jesus is always with us, if we are saved, and He sees all that we do. I have this thought, “If I am committing this sin, would Jesus be right with me?” Now, that is the thinking of someone who fears God. Which brings me to why, as a teacher of God’s Word to both children and adults that I believe I cannot be living one way and teaching another. My actions in and out of the church need to be that of what reflects Christ in me. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” – Romans 12:1-2.

“And be not conformed to this world:” Saved, born again Christians are not of this world! Therefore, we are not to conform to it, rather be conformed to the one who saved us by His grace. Now, let me tell you, once Jesus gets in you and starts working in your life, you literally transform into an image reflecting Him. Unless we take literally take Him with us, we are not going to. Of all the disciples that walked with Jesus, not all of them had the same faith in Him. And Jesus knew exactly which ones would go on to be great witnesses for Him after He went back home. Jesus says something one day to the disciples that was quite odd.

“And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.” – Mark 9:1-8.

“till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.” This, of course, would be seen after His death, burial, and resurrection. There will be many standing before Jesus with the assumption that their “good works” saved them only to discover that He alone was their only way. “and let us make three tabernacles;” Do you know why God wanted just these three with Him? He wanted to show the ones more attentive to Him that they, and prominent figures such as Moses and Elijah were not to be compared to His beloved Son. Religion loves to place prominent characters of the Bible, the disciples, and religious leaders on a pedestal, but fail to recognize that these people are all sinners like the rest of us. And if they are not saved, Jesus will not recognize them as being one of His. So, why were Moses and Elijah saved, having never seen Christ? Their faith. “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” – Romans 4:3.

“Abraham believed God,” Salvation never has nor ever will be about our own works, it is about faith in God alone. And if we believe in Jesus, well, we will believe in God. Sit in a church service or read a Bible study long enough and you will hear at some point that we will all stand before Jesus in judgment, and give an account to Him for everything we have done. Yes, every knee will bow, and we will all in fact, give an account to Jesus. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” – John 5:28-29.

“they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life;” For the saved, born again Christian, our works will account for nothing, because the righteousness Jesus is looking is our faith in Him. Jesus proves this as He catches the disciples arguing among themselves who would be recognized as the greatest among them.

“And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.” – Mark 9:33-41.

“who should be the greatest.” First of all, do you think Jesus did not know what they were arguing about? Jesus knows everything, and He will flat out ask you what you were thinking so that you can be truthful to yourself. Second, if we think that our works is better than someone else than we can expect Jesus to call us out because no one is better than another for we are saved by grace alone. And third, we are not to compare ourselves with others, rather live our lives as God as being accepted of God, not man. Remember, Romans 12:1-2. “and he followeth not us:” I image that they were referring to was their religion. Okay, there is false religion, and then there is what I call misguided religion. Misguided religion is when they acknowledge Christ as being necessary for the salvation of sin, and do receive Him, but do not teach that it is necessary to repent of sin. What Jesus is saying here is, as long as they believe in and receive Him as their Saviour alone for their salvation, they will not lose their place in heaven. However, Jesus did not say that it is okay to remain living in sin, and He explains this.

“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” – Mark 9:43-50.

“cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed,” Okay, there is a lot to address here, so, I am going to break it down. Jesus does not mean to literally cut off your hand if you say, are a thief, and that it will be cast into hell. What He means, salvation does give you the justification to willingly live in sin. So, cut it off, it is better to be scarred by the remnants of sin rather than remain living in your sin. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” – Romans 6:1-4.

“into the fire that never shall be quenched:” Many religions only think of hell as metaphor, an analogy or picture of total separation of the soul from the body rather than an actual place of torment. Well, this is proof, right from the mouth of Jesus, that hell is a real place, and is a place where the soul will burn in a fire that will never be quenched. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” – Revelation 20:10-14.

“but if the salt have lost his saltness,” This is the saved, born again Christian that never repents of the sinful life they were living. Remember, they will not lose their reward of heaven, but they will see Jesus a lot sooner than they expect. I have a brother that refused to repent of his drug addiction, he was capable because he would straighten up for a while, but would go right back into it because he never walked away from the ones who fed his addiction. Last year, he died from taking something that was laced. We cannot taste salvation and live like the devil, it will come back to bite us of we do not repent. “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.” – II Peter 2:20-21.

Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank Your for the amazing transformation You have performed in me as I walk with You. I know that You are always with me, and I know that I fail You more times than I can count, but Your mercies endure, and Your grace abounds so much that You continue to work in me daily. Lord, I want to live that is a reflection of You, I want to hear everything You are saying to me and do everything You have called me to do. Watch over me, guide me, and keep Your truths in me. Help me to learn and grow in Your Word daily so that the world can see You through me. Open my heart to be receptive to You and only You, clear my mind of every doubt and fear and fill it with joy and peace only revealed as I take You wherever I go, Lord and ask these things in Your name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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