Holiness, Godliness, Usefulness
04/28/2014, by John Kincaid
Lesson 220: Holy Joy, Part 2
David committed adultery and murder; he felt no joy because he broke fellowship with God.
His sin & disobedience seemed very desirable at first; he thought that having Bathsheba would make him happy.
Instead, sin killed joy. So he prayed for God to restore the joy. Psa.51:12
The way we experience Christ’s love is connected to the way we keep His commandments.
His love does not depend on how well we obey; we call that legalism or salvation by works.
But our experience of His love and blessing depends on our holiness and obedience.
Like a good parent, God established boundaries because He loves us, to bless us.
God’s love comes before & after our obedience. We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19
God’s love creates in us the desire to obey God. Then His love rewards us for obeying.
About This Series
The goal of this series is to become more useful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, as an instrument in the Redeemer's hand. The theme verses for the series are Ephesians 4:22-24, Philemon 11, 2 Timothy 2:21
- to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
- and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
- Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
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