“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him,
and he will shew them his covenant.” — Ps 25:14
“Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us,
and not unto the world?” — John 14:22
The “apostle of love” writes that to love God is to keep His commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.[1]
But to someone who has not been born from above, His commandments are very grievous!
You tell someone like my former self who was raised in a liberal, “sex-positive,” feminist environment from cradle to career, who has been indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, [2] and whose every imagination is only evil continually, [3] that they NOW must be holy as He is holy, [4] and they will tell you that they would prefer to go to hell. They would prefer separation from God because their identity is so bound up in their sin that they cannot imagine life without it. It is as grievous for a fornicator to flee fornication5 as it is for a drug addict to go cold turkey.
It is the supreme privilege of the Christian to say I delight to do thy will, O my god.6 The delight in holiness stems from a new heart. [7] We are new creatures [8], created in righteousness and true holiness [9].
Surely, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to God...10 that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [11] Surely, the devils also believe, and tremble. [12] Surely, the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen...so that they are without excuse [13].
The devils believe, and the lost understand that there is a God, but they do not delight to do his will because they do not have the heart to do so.
Jesus answers Judas’ question in John 14:22 by saying that the one who loves Him will keep his words, and the one who does not love Him, will not.
Faith, belief, trust, hope, repentance from sin, love for the people of God. These things are not meritorious works that we must do to be saved. These things are evidence of salvation.
The only righteousness that God accepts is the righteousness that He Himself supplies.
Selah.
Scriptures and Sources:
1 1John 5:3
James Tissot — Saint Peter and Saint John Run to the Sepulchre (public domain)
2Eph 2:3
3Gen 6:5
4Lev 11:45
51 Cor 6:18
6Ps 40:8
7Ezk 36:26
82ndCor 5:17
9Eph 4:24
10Rom 14:11
11Phil 2:10-11
12James 2:19
13Rom 1:20
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