Biblical Reflections · Christian Life
Are we inconsistent?
4 min read, approximately
“—How weak your heart is, declares the Lord God, when you do all these things, the actions of a shameless prostitute! When you built your shrine at the head of every road and made your high place in every square, you were unlike a prostitute in that you scorned payment. Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!” (Ezekiel 16:30-32)
How inconsistent our hearts are… the actions of a shameless prostitute… A shameless prostitute is a woman who speaks and acts without shame, seducing or allowing herself to be seduced, taking pleasure with every man she meets while setting aside her self-respect and modesty.
The Lord speaks this way to all whose hearts turn to…
“whatever suits them best at the moment”, giving free rein to their desires and sinful nature
“The works of the flesh are evident: adultery, sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hostility, quarrels, jealousy, anger, strife, divisions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelry, and things like these. I warn you, as I have already warned you, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)
But what is the point of accepting Christ as Lord and Savior and then living shamelessly in sin like a shameless prostitute? Inconsistency?
“A double-minded person is inconsistent in all their ways.” (James 1:8)
Let us keep in mind the great salvation we have been given
“So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” (Philippians 2:12 ASV)
Will we perhaps say: “But I cannot resist or control myself… Sin seduces and traps me”?
“For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment given to them. But what the true proverb says has happened to them: The dog returned to its vomit, and the washed sow to wallowing in the mud.” (2 Peter 2:21-22)
This cannot be, because
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
furthermore
“For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, love, and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Let us put into practice what we have heard from the Lord
So what is happening? Are we more hearers than doers?
“For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But he that looketh into the perfect law, the [law] of liberty, and [so] continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:23-25 ASV)
Please, may we not be found and told
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot! But because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16)
and certainly
“It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” (Hebrews 10:31)
So… Like a shameless prostitute or like a child of the King?
_**Remember to stop by the Songbook
May God continue to bless you, and may you continue to have an excellent day in Christ Jesus!