The Daily Word of Righteousness

A Giant Step Forward, #6

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

Let me conclude this introduction with a few concepts:

Throughout the ages God has had one goal for man—that he do justly, that he love mercy, and that he walk humbly with his God. This is the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. As God moves from covenant to covenant the goal remains the same; but additional grace is provided and the demands on us are increased.

Divine grace is God in Jesus Christ enabling man to do God's will.

To be "saved" is to be completely free from Satan and to be filled with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are not "saved" in order to go to Heaven but so we may have fellowship with God wherever we are. Salvation does not move us from earth to Heaven but from Satan to God.

When the Scripture speaks of redemption, that we are to look up because our redemption is drawing near, it is referring to deliverance from sin; not deliverance from the guilt of sin but deliverance from the sin itself. Redemption has nothing to do with going to Heaven.

We are abiding in the rest of God when God's will and our will are identical. It is only then that we are free and can play in the Presence of God.

The Three Branches of Sin

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.'" The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'" The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered, "It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1-13)

Every son of God is tested in three ways. Three branches of sin are examined.

Living by bread alone.

Obeying the lusts of the flesh.

Personal ambition.

Other ways of expressing these three areas of sin are as follows:

How we live.

Who or what we serve.

Having a need to do great things.

To be continued.