For The Best life Possible

As we have already seen from Romans 7:5, living a life that is satisfactory to God is not about keeping as set rules, but about an attitude or spirit of doing what is right.  “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.“  It is the difference between doing things because we have to, and doing them because we want to show our love.  Unfortunately, some have concluded that because we don’t have to do those things in order to be saved, or to keep our salvation, we don’t need to bother with them, because those standards are no longer applicable. 

Such a belief is contradicted by Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:18-19.  “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  In essence, Jesus says that the man teaches others to ignore God’s standards will lose his heavenly rewards, even though not his salvation.  In I Corinthians 3: 13-15, Paul said the same thing in a different way.  “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

In I Timothy 4:7-8, Paul instructed Timothy to practice living a godly life because it would make his life better now, as well as producing rewards in the future.  “But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.  For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”  The benefits will far outweigh those of any physical fitness program. 

In I Peter 3:8-12, Peter describes the attitude and resulting behavior that will result in a good life here.  “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.  For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” 

God is observing everything we do, keeping a record of those things.  As Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”  With this in mind, we need to learn to be concerned about other people, avoiding hurting them, demonstrating our love as brothers and sisters, showing them the respect and good manners even when they don’t deserve it, and helping them.  We need to avoid chewing them out or telling them off, or trying to get even, even when they have treated us badly.  Instead we are to bless them, because that is what God has called us to do.    

If we are to experience a good life here, as well as rewards in eternity, we are going to have to learn to bring our mouth under control so that we don’t hurt others with our words, or deceive them.  We are going to have to learn to hate evil and do what is right.  We are going to have to learn to consider other people’s positions, instead of demanding our own way.   We may have to give up even some things we view as our rights in order to make peace.  Matthew 12:37 warns, “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”   Jesus had just told the Jews, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things,” In Matthew 12:34-35.   Our mouth tends to give away our real attitude, despite our best efforts to control it. 

If the Lord permits, we will look at what is required to bring the mouth under control in the next few days.