Suggested Reading: Psalm 18:25-27
If we are faithful to Him and His teachings, we will find that He is faithful towards us concerning all His promises.
This does not mean that God will be unfaithful to His word when we become unfaithful to Him, since our unfaithfulness cannot nullify God's promise (see Romans 3:3-4).
What this means is that we will experience His faithfulness in our daily dealings in life, and most especially when we find ourselves in trouble and call out to Him for help.
If we are "blameless", our eyes will be opened to see His holiness -"You show Yourself blameless.
" We are blameless only if our sins have been forgiven because of our faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on behalf of our sins.
No one is blameless and without sin.
Only in Christ Jesus does God reckon us as blameless.
We receive His blameless nature by faith in Christ Jesus.
In other words, by faith we are blameless and therefore we will be able to perceive God's blameless nature.
Apart from Jesus Christ and the working of His Spirit in our hearts, we are inclined to have distorted views of God's character.
In reading the Bible, for instance, we may be inclined to have a low view of Him when we read passages which are hard to understand.
The Holy Spirit, by the grace of God, allows us to approach reading the Bible from that very premise that God is blameless, holy, righteous, Light and that there is no darkness and evil in Him.
Therefore, when we read something that appears to be contrary to this foundational understanding of His nature, we will rather question our understanding of the Scriptures than question God's character.
Paul wrote, "Let God be true and every man be a liar.
" For me, that passage also means that I would rather question myself than doubt the perfect nature of God.
When we are "blameless" then, we are given the privilege of seeing Him that way.
For those outside of Christ, God is often misunderstood because their minds have been darkened through sin.
"He chose us in Him [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.
" In Christ, we are blameless in God's sight.
This is the magnitude of the grace extended to us in Christ Jesus.
And God didn't do it in a grudging way.
The rest of the first chapter of Ephesians goes on to state that this gave God great pleasure.
To the pure in heart, God shows Himself pure.
This very much ties in with what has been said before.
A person with a pure heart will see things through pure eyes.
But the person with a polluted mind will see the perverse in even the most innocent of things.
It is to this reality that Paul refers when he writes to Titus, the pastor of the church in Crete: "To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.
In fact, both their minds and their consciences are corrupted.
" Their views are distorted and perverse and they would rather follow their own perception and understanding than bow themselves under the purity of God.
They are not necessarily atheists who refuse to admit that there is a God.
They are the religious church-goers who are almost obsessed with church attendance and church activities, as we see Paul continuing to say, "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him.
" (Titus 1:16a) They live by double standards.
They have a spiritual life and a secular life and the two appear to be worlds apart, as they cast all God's commands behind them when it comes to their dealings with people.
God commanded that we love others as we love ourselves --He didn't say only in church on a Sunday.
He said that we should treat others as we would like to be treated.
But these people have convinced themselves that it is okay to treat people badly, as long as it is not in church.
They live by the delusion that God only sees what happens within the four walls of a church building.
They believe the lie that God only has to be obeyed in the confines of church and that He is blind outside from that parameter.
They also believe that God is impressed with their church attendance and that He doesn't look at their day-to-day application of His commands.
Of them Paul writes, "They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
" To the crooked, God shows Himself shrewd.
God catches the so-called wise in their craftiness and shows them that their wisdom is actually folly according to His standards.
It is the humble in heart that God reaches out to save, not the one who believes he has his life all under control and figured out.
Jesus said He came to save those who realize their need for a "Physician," not those who believe they are okay.
A doctor cannot help someone who refuses to believe that he is sick and who refuses to go to the doctor for help.
Ignoring a problem and pretending it doesn't exist will not let it disappear.
If one has an open wound and you pretend it isn't bad and you ignore it, it will not go away.
It will become infected, painful and may even poison the entire body as the poison spreads via the circulatory system.
Is there anything more delusional than pretending that you are healthy; than pretending you don't need a doctor when in fact, you are in desperate need of medical attention? But this is exactly the way those people live who are haughty and who look down their noses at others.
They look down on "sinners," not realizing that they are in more danger that the sinners who understand their need for the Great Physician.
I often hear the term, "Take charge of your life," and then I wonder how much "charge" a person can have over his life when he finds himself in an earthquake or any other unexpected situation beyond his own control.
It is delusional to think that we are in "control" of our own lives.
Either God is, or His enemy is and there is no middle man.
While God literally "gave it all" to save the humble, He brings low those who look down on others.
Their pride sometimes even extend to God since they think they know better than Him.
They ignore His teachings and follow their own ideas instead.
They follow God only as long as it brings them some personal benefit, but the moment they have to choose between the teachings of Christ and their own advantage, they reason themselves out of obedience and into disobedience, convincing themselves that they are doing the right thing.
They will be brought low, since it is of them that Jesus said, "Why do you call my 'Lord, Lord,' and then don't do as I say?" It is clear from Jesus' interaction with the haughty that God doesn't mince words with them.
For the most part He ignores them and if pushed for some response, He rebukes them and exposes them for the frauds they really are.
To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless (Psalm 18:25)God reveals Himself according to the condition of our hearts.
If we are faithful to Him and His teachings, we will find that He is faithful towards us concerning all His promises.
This does not mean that God will be unfaithful to His word when we become unfaithful to Him, since our unfaithfulness cannot nullify God's promise (see Romans 3:3-4).
What this means is that we will experience His faithfulness in our daily dealings in life, and most especially when we find ourselves in trouble and call out to Him for help.
If we are "blameless", our eyes will be opened to see His holiness -"You show Yourself blameless.
" We are blameless only if our sins have been forgiven because of our faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on behalf of our sins.
No one is blameless and without sin.
Only in Christ Jesus does God reckon us as blameless.
We receive His blameless nature by faith in Christ Jesus.
In other words, by faith we are blameless and therefore we will be able to perceive God's blameless nature.
Apart from Jesus Christ and the working of His Spirit in our hearts, we are inclined to have distorted views of God's character.
In reading the Bible, for instance, we may be inclined to have a low view of Him when we read passages which are hard to understand.
The Holy Spirit, by the grace of God, allows us to approach reading the Bible from that very premise that God is blameless, holy, righteous, Light and that there is no darkness and evil in Him.
Therefore, when we read something that appears to be contrary to this foundational understanding of His nature, we will rather question our understanding of the Scriptures than question God's character.
Paul wrote, "Let God be true and every man be a liar.
" For me, that passage also means that I would rather question myself than doubt the perfect nature of God.
When we are "blameless" then, we are given the privilege of seeing Him that way.
For those outside of Christ, God is often misunderstood because their minds have been darkened through sin.
"He chose us in Him [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.
" In Christ, we are blameless in God's sight.
This is the magnitude of the grace extended to us in Christ Jesus.
And God didn't do it in a grudging way.
The rest of the first chapter of Ephesians goes on to state that this gave God great pleasure.
To the pure in heart, God shows Himself pure.
This very much ties in with what has been said before.
A person with a pure heart will see things through pure eyes.
But the person with a polluted mind will see the perverse in even the most innocent of things.
It is to this reality that Paul refers when he writes to Titus, the pastor of the church in Crete: "To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.
In fact, both their minds and their consciences are corrupted.
" Their views are distorted and perverse and they would rather follow their own perception and understanding than bow themselves under the purity of God.
They are not necessarily atheists who refuse to admit that there is a God.
They are the religious church-goers who are almost obsessed with church attendance and church activities, as we see Paul continuing to say, "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him.
" (Titus 1:16a) They live by double standards.
They have a spiritual life and a secular life and the two appear to be worlds apart, as they cast all God's commands behind them when it comes to their dealings with people.
God commanded that we love others as we love ourselves --He didn't say only in church on a Sunday.
He said that we should treat others as we would like to be treated.
But these people have convinced themselves that it is okay to treat people badly, as long as it is not in church.
They live by the delusion that God only sees what happens within the four walls of a church building.
They believe the lie that God only has to be obeyed in the confines of church and that He is blind outside from that parameter.
They also believe that God is impressed with their church attendance and that He doesn't look at their day-to-day application of His commands.
Of them Paul writes, "They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
" To the crooked, God shows Himself shrewd.
God catches the so-called wise in their craftiness and shows them that their wisdom is actually folly according to His standards.
It is the humble in heart that God reaches out to save, not the one who believes he has his life all under control and figured out.
Jesus said He came to save those who realize their need for a "Physician," not those who believe they are okay.
A doctor cannot help someone who refuses to believe that he is sick and who refuses to go to the doctor for help.
Ignoring a problem and pretending it doesn't exist will not let it disappear.
If one has an open wound and you pretend it isn't bad and you ignore it, it will not go away.
It will become infected, painful and may even poison the entire body as the poison spreads via the circulatory system.
Is there anything more delusional than pretending that you are healthy; than pretending you don't need a doctor when in fact, you are in desperate need of medical attention? But this is exactly the way those people live who are haughty and who look down their noses at others.
They look down on "sinners," not realizing that they are in more danger that the sinners who understand their need for the Great Physician.
I often hear the term, "Take charge of your life," and then I wonder how much "charge" a person can have over his life when he finds himself in an earthquake or any other unexpected situation beyond his own control.
It is delusional to think that we are in "control" of our own lives.
Either God is, or His enemy is and there is no middle man.
While God literally "gave it all" to save the humble, He brings low those who look down on others.
Their pride sometimes even extend to God since they think they know better than Him.
They ignore His teachings and follow their own ideas instead.
They follow God only as long as it brings them some personal benefit, but the moment they have to choose between the teachings of Christ and their own advantage, they reason themselves out of obedience and into disobedience, convincing themselves that they are doing the right thing.
They will be brought low, since it is of them that Jesus said, "Why do you call my 'Lord, Lord,' and then don't do as I say?" It is clear from Jesus' interaction with the haughty that God doesn't mince words with them.
For the most part He ignores them and if pushed for some response, He rebukes them and exposes them for the frauds they really are.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Jesus Christ of Nazareth)
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