*PSA* - That ‘work’ that Paul refers to which ‘God began IN us...and promises to ‘complete’ ...until the day of Jesus Christ’...can’t really even start ...until He has ‘all of you’...up front. (Phil. 1:6)

No, really...I’m serious; and so is God’s word...concerning this. If you had a car or truck and needed a complete engine overhaul so it could be ‘made new’ again...I don’t care how good a mechanic you ‘leave’ it with...if you think you can pop in to his garage about every 6-8 hours, or maybe every other day even,  and tell him you need to run some errands with that vehicle but will bring it right back when you are done...that ‘work’ ain’t gonna get done. Period!

And to believe otherwise is to be deceived. God has to have your ‘whole heart’ before He can begin the work of cleansing and purifying it, which is what He came to do as we are ‘conformed to the image of Christ’ (Rom. 8:29) Which means we are to be ‘perfected’ in His love. (1 John 4:12,17). How’s that coming along these days? (2 Cor. 13:5)

Paul wrote: “I beseech[you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:1-2)

That’s not the only place where we hear something about ‘God’s will’... needing to be done. Read Eph. 5:17 ( Don’t be unwise but understand what the will of God is) Then check out 1 Pet. 4:1-2 where he seems to suggest we go through some ‘suffering’ as we put this flesh to death...’so that we can ‘live the rest of our time here for the will of God’. Oh, and what have those who ‘belong to Christ’...done, concerning this flesh nature, according to Gal. 5:24? (How else could we possibly come to a place where we have ‘ceased from sin’, which Peter mentions there in that last passage I gave you?)

And why is ‘doing the will of God’ so important, according to what Jesus told us in Matt. 7:21? “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who ...do the will of My Father in heaven...”. His words, not mine.

Friends...’worship’ in the OT usually involved some form of ‘sacrifice’, the putting to death of some animal...and we read much about blood sacrifices and offerings being made to the Lord. Thank goodness those days are behind us; what a bloody mess that had to be. But guess what...true worship still involves...’death and suffering’, spiritually speaking...as we ‘lay our lives down for Him and one another. No greater love does one have than to lay down his life for a friend. Sound familiar?

So what are we actually...‘laying down’? Great question. Answer: everything in our heart and flesh nature that does not line up with God’s word, that ‘defiles the temple’ (Mark 7:21-23). Gal. 5:19-21 and Romans 1:29-32 would be a good place to refresh your memory, and please note the little sobering detail at the end of both of those passages. Then read 2 Cor. 7:1 for an added exclamation point.

This is what it means to ‘cleanse the temple’ as we ‘purify ourselves...as He is pure” (1 John 3:3)

So much of what is written in the OT was a blueprint leading up to our time in the NT, as a foreshadow and picture of what Jesus came to do IN us, as we are ‘made a new creation in Christ’ (2 Cor. 5:17). And friends...it ought to be evident to all (John 13:34-35)

So we see how God had great things in store for His people as He led them into to clear and possess the land of Canaan. We’ve spent a few days reading how King Josiah had his encounter with God after hearing the ‘whole counsel’ as laid out in the ‘Book of the Law’, which led him to repentance and then...a total cleansing of the temple. And do you remember the story of King Saul, as recorded in 1 Samuel 15?

I’ve touched on his story multiple times here, where he was instructed by God, through Samuel the prophet, to go eradicate and remove fully... a bad group of people, along with all their livestock, etc. (1-5). Guess what? Saul fell short in fully obeying the word of the Lord; and God was not pleased.(10-11). You see, Saul decided to spare the king, Agag [8] along with some of the good livestock as we read plainly...he was “unwilling to utterly destroy them all” (9). Truth be told, others must have ‘fallen through the cracks’ given how Saul dies, at the end of his life. That ‘sin’ which you don’t fully deal with...will deal with you. (2 Samuel 1:1-16)

Friends...what is still lingering in your heart that you have not fully confronted, repented of, and put to death? Oh...you were told you can’t do that until you get to heaven? Really? And who told you that? (Gen. 3:11). But you have some great talent that you use to serve and worship the Lord with? Oh really? Well look at how Saul responded when he was called out for not fully obeying the Lord (20-21). It seems Saul thought throwing a big worship service would impress God, not to mention the people.  It didn't.

Saul was wrong and God was not impressed. Don’t be like Saul. Do you really want to please and delight the Lord? What did God remind Saul was pleasing to Him, in vs. 22? (1 Sam. 15). And what are we told in Romans 8:8, regarding those who remain ‘in the flesh’, or ‘carnally minded’?

Is it not amazing how all these passages from both the OT and NT start to ‘fit together’ and tell a story that seems somewhat ‘different’ than the story most of us have been taught to believe? You know...the one about how we will always ‘remain a fallen, wretched sinner’ on this side of heaven’?