This is the third and final week of the miniseries; “Truths That Set Us Free”.  In Part One, we studied “The Beginning” about the disobedience of Adam and Eve and the repercussions it brought upon all mankind.  Last week in Part Two, we learned about “God’s Intervention” when He sent Jesus to save mankind.  We also were made aware of the fact that God has a part and we have a part.  This week we’re looking at our responsibility to live by faith as a child of God.

The beginning of our journey is when we make the decision accept Jesus as Savior.  Our next responsibility is to learn how a child of God is to think, speak, and live according to the Bible Truths.  The only way we can learn this is by reading and studying the Bible.  I can’t stress enough how important it is to learn Scripture.  The more we read the Bible the more we understand that the instructions God gives us are for our benefit; for eternal life, health, prosperity; love, kindness, and the list of blessings go on.   I really don’t want to spend much time reviewing so let’s continue in our study about our responsibility.  I say responsibility –singular rather than plural because if we follow our first responsibility it will carry over into other areas of responsibilities.

So what is our first responsibility?  It is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind.  (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-30) 

Do you know what our second responsibility is?  Jesus said it’s to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31)

When we make loving God a priority then His love changes our heart to love others.

When God’s love is shed abroad in our heart it produces the desire to please Him.  Hebrews 13:16 teaches us that the way to please him is to live by faith.  Faith is the avenue that brings the blessings of God to us.  To have strong active faith we must know the Word of God and the only way to have and increase our faith is by “hearing and hearing the Word of God”.  (Romans 10:17, Galatians 3:14)

To walk in the love of God and in faith that pleases God, we must learn how to walk in the authority of the Word given us by Christ Jesus.

Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth”.  In the very next two verses (19-20) He then delegates that authority to His disciples when He instructs them to, “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”.  If you are a child of God then you are a disciple of Jesus and you have authority to use the power in His Name.  It’s the same principle as having the power of attorney to take care of business for another person.  We are to take care of God’s business of making disciples by the power vested in us by the Name of Jesus.  Being vested means we are fully and unconditionally guaranteed as having the legal right, benefit, or privilege to use Jesus’ Name.  God’s business is that “none should perish but have eternal life through repentance” and that we should live in victory, and it is our faith in God’s Word that brings victory to our lives. (2 Peter 3:9, 1 John 5:4)

To live a life of victory over opposition that comes against us from the devil we must fight the good fight of faith.  (1Timothy 6:12)  We are NOT fighting God for faith, but we fight to keep our faith amid the attacks from Satan in the form of oppression, discouragement, sickness, lack, and problems in our relationship with others, etc.

We are to watch and pray so we don’t fall into temptation but to stay steady and faithful to God; not to be easily angered but instead be merciful, and speak the true with love.  Sometimes our answers need to be said softly.  (Matthew 26:4, Proverbs 15:1, 18)

We are responsible to keep our confidence in the Word of God, because our confidence in Him is what gives us boldness to come to the throne of God for grace and mercy in times we need help.  We always need grace and mercy – even when things are going good!   (Psalm 118:8, Hebrews 4:16)  We maintain our confidence in Him by maintaining our fellowship with Him in Bible study, prayer, and worship.

Prayer is not only a privilege but also a responsibility.  It’s a privilege because God has given us the right to come into His presence in the Name of Jesus.  It’s a responsibility because prayer is the means of speaking God’s Word into every situation and into every person’s life.  Praying the prayers in Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-21 helps us base our prayers on God’s Word; for ourselves and for others.  Praying these verses helps us learn how to pray the Word.

The Bible has a lot to about prayer; we are not to be a hypocrite (praying only to be heard and seen); not to use vain repetitions (meaning we just say the words without thinking about what we are saying).  We are to pray for those who persecute us and spitefully use us; we are to forgive others when we pray.  We are to pray without ceasing (meaning to have an attitude of prayer as we go through each day).  We are to pray for those in authority as well as for all men (people), we are to pray for the sick, and the list goes on.  (Matthew 5:44, 6:5, 6:7, 11:25) (1 Thessalonians 5:17, 1 Timothy2:1-3, James 5:15)

Worshiping God is another responsibility that we should not take lightly.  Worship is a decision not a feeling, much like forgiving a person is a decision and not based on our feelings.  The good feelings come as a result of the decision but the decision itself is not based on whether we feel like doing it or not.  We worship God for who He is, not just for what He has done for us, though it’s important to be grateful for all He has done for us; big and small.

Psalm 29:2 – Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Psalm 99:5 – Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool – He is holy.

Psalm 7:17 – I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

Psalm 9:1-2 – I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all your marvelous works.  I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

Psalm 18:3 – I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.

We are responsible to keep our heart and lives in check so that we will grow and mature spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually.  Our spirit is re-born when we accept Jesus as Savior; our emotions and body are to be retrained to respond correctly as a child of God; and yes, even our minds must be renewed to the Word of God so we can wisely use our intelligence to think correctly, speak correctly and thereby live correctly – according to the Word of God.

Lord, may we always put our love for you as top priority in our lives.  May our faith increase as we study the Bible, our love for others covered with prayer, and our worship and praise of you never cease.