No Compromise ( Living a Godly Life )

No Compromise

 

 

 

Back in the late 1970's I had the pleasure of meeting a contemporary Christian music artist named Keith Green. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Green ). I really enjoyed his music and saw him at an outdoor concert and festival in Oregon. Some friends and I were able to meet him as he was walking around the festival. He lived his life just as he sang, with No Compromise, which was the name of a really good album that he had out at that time. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snyPIp6m-U&list=ALBTKoXRg38BA6CB3sm345FX5yk-lmMPje ) He shared some personal thoughts with us and made quite an impression on me. I can speak to the fact that this is the way God wants us to be, living examples of what He has called us to be. The only way we can do that is by living with no excuses, and no compromise. It is all around us and it is our job to filter it out of daily life. We do that by our choices and our actions. They need to reflect everything that we believe.

 

 

Psalm 119: ⁹ How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
    By living according to your word.
¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
    do not let me stray from your commands.
¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you.
¹² Praise be to you, Lord;
    teach me your decrees.
¹³ With my lips I recount
    all the laws that come from your mouth.

 

So there you have it. The key is learning His Ways and putting them to memory. We do this by reading and studying His Word. We do this through prayer. Just ask and He will guide your paths and help you say "no" to sin. Temptation is not sin, unless we say "yes" when we are tempted. We need His strength and His help to continue to live sin-free. We worship and sing His praises and show our love and commitment to Him through our voices. We also walk free through sharing. When we share what we have learned with others, we also remind ourselves.

 

 

Hebrews 7: ²⁵ Therefore he (Jesus) is able to save completely^[c] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

²⁶ Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Jesus is our example of how to live. He lively a holy and pure life, and so should we. Can we? NO. We can be perfect through His grace, though. And we can continue in His grace as long as we are not deliberately continuing in sin, or a path or pattern of sin. There should be a clear difference between the life we lived before we knew Him and who we are as Christians.

Hebrews 10: ²⁶ If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”^{[e] 31} It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

 

Hebrews 10: ³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. ³⁷ For,

“In just a little while,
    he who is coming will come
    and will not delay.”^[f]

³⁸ And,

“But my righteous^[g] one will live by faith.
    And I take no pleasure
    in the one who shrinks back.”^[h]

³⁹ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

So, No Compromise needs to be our motto. Call it living by faith, being set apart, being godly, etc. It doesn't matter what you call it, but we need to be an example for others to follow, and we can't do that if we are riddled with examples of falling into or continuing in the sinful nature. We need to fall on Him, so He can take us and fix us and prepare us to spread His Gospel. Let's take hold of His Calling and set the example.

All scriptures are courtesy of http://www.biblegateway.com/ , the NIV version.