Daily Bread 11-2-16
2 Corinthians 6:11-14
11 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.
12 Ye are not straightened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.
13 Now for a recompense in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
ref. - 2Cor. 12:15 - And I will gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
Dt 7:2,3 - And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
Eph. 5:7 - Be ye not partakers therefore with them.
The Corinthians had grown enough to stand on their own salvation but they were still trying to lean on the salvation of Paul. He was telling them that they were capable of standing on their own, having their own salvation, but that they needed to actually do it as Christians and not as they once were when they were sinners. They needed to not only claim their salvation but to live in it. This included that they begin to become obedient not only to Paul's advice but more importantly to the scripture as well. Today we have so many claiming salvation but leaning on the salvation of others to get them through. Thinking that the righteousness of others will carry them through as they continue on in the ways of the world while still claiming salvation. There is excuse after excuse. The scripture tells them to go left and they go right. The leadership says to do this and they do that. They are told and shown how to live their lives but they somehow think that they can go outside of the scripture. That they are somehow stronger than the Bible tells them they are. They go outside of salvation to find mates, they hang in places among the lawless not acting the Christian but returning to the mire that they were pulled from, we could go on and on with this liberty that they think they have. They think that a sin here or a sin there is perfectly acceptable. This is not time to loosen up, it is time to tighten up. We are in terrible shape as representatives of Christ for the sole reason that we either don't believe or are just plain disobedient to the direction and instruction of Jesus Christ. If the word of God in the Old Testament is supported by the teaching of the New Testament then it is true. We should not be out looking for mates who are unsaved, we should not be out partaking of the same things that the unsaved are partaking of(sin). If we are going to say that we have our own salvation then it is time to start acting like it, no, not acting, living in it. We should not approve of our sons and daughters uniting in marriage with the unsaved as well as we should not do the same. It all starts with our examples. Not what we did as sinners, but what we did after Christ saved us. We will have to be the ones who suffer persecution from the world for obedience to the scripture. If we say that God has given us something that no man can take away, we should cherish it as something that only God and us have control of. Those things are very few and far between these days but we have to take care of them. Today, we need to tighten up our relationships with Christ and really draw closer to him. Not with our mouths, but with our souls, and we will find........our mouths will follow wherever the heart and soul are. We should be thankful that we get the gospel given to us seriously and not as a game. Just like the Apostle Paul gave it we get it today and it is our decision to receive it. But the scripture today says if we are ever to stand on our own, we'd better receive it and be obedient to it. Looking forward to great things from all of who support the gospel and the kingdom of God!!! Have a great day!!