Is it possible that loving anything... more than we love God...could cause us to ‘lose our inheritance’?

I mentioned this yesterday, citing how Esau, the brother of Jacob, pretty much forfeited his inheritance by selling his birthright to Jacob for a single bowl of stew. And let me assure you, God was not pleased with that attitude at all. (Gen. 25:29-34; Rom. 9:13)

I know conversations like this can trigger lots of people for a host of reasons. But ignoring what the Bible tells us does no one any good at all. And contrary to that old saying ... Ignorance is NOT bliss...when it comes to things that matter.

For some of you, your mind immediately goes down that path of wanting to question (or debate) the possibility that believers can ‘lose their salvation’. Have you ever asked yourself why is it...that so many sincere people today in our churches are constantly needing reassurance that they are indeed ‘saved’, even though they struggle often with thinking they are not, or at least questioning it occasionally? This is why I have made the case that we spend far too much time pondering whether one is ‘saved’ or not when the real question we need to be examining is: Are we truly abiding in Jesus? (2 Cor. 13:5; 1 John 2:3-6; 3:6)

Truth be told, I am pretty confident that many today don’t even fully understand what it is that we are even ‘saved’ from; and I’m also pretty confident when I say that anyone who is truly abiding in Jesus...has been saved, is being saved...and will be ‘saved’...provided they ‘endure till the end’. (Matt. 10:22; 24:13).

‘Many disciples...turned away and no longer followed Jesus’ (John 6:66). Now some of you might want to question whether they were even ‘true disciples’ to begin with, but the Bible calls them that, and we ‘followers’ today are warned repeatedly about being deceived, falling away, hardening our hearts, and even ‘falling short’ of entering in (inheriting) His rest. (Heb. 4:1)

Friends...this is serious stuff! Paul wrote and admonished us to ‘’cleanse ourselves from ALL filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God’ (2 Cor. 7:1). We are told to “be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience (Heb.4:11) like those first folks out of Egypt did, back in the wilderness (Heb. 3:16-19). And for those who have bought in to a doctrine of ‘false security’ (Jer. 23:21-33), explain to me why Jesus Himself would admonish us to “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24).

I did not mention this the other day, but my lesson/post on Wednesday was my 1400th post since I began sharing these here. Please believe me when I tell you that I am not trying to draw attention to myself by pointing this out other than to suggest that God is trying to get our attention. I know myself well enough when I tell you there is no earthly way I could have gotten up in the wee hours every single morning these past 4 years and ‘cranked out’ these messages on my own. Now one might question me, asking why I am so sure that God is behind this...and you SHOULD question that! Which is why I admonish you regularly to ‘search these scriptures out yourself to see if what I am sharing with you here is true or not (Acts 17:11)

That’s all I am asking, as I can trust the Holy Spirit to do His part in confirming these things. I just want people to know there might be some important truths buried in our Bibles that we may have overlooked...or ‘laid aside’ which happens often (Mark 7:8-9). Or is it even remotely possible that you may have been presented a false gospel at some point? (2 Cor. 11:3-4)

But back to this idea of receiving, or even ‘losing’ this ‘inheritance’. Let’s talk about that. To whom did Jesus imply, when commissioning Paul to take the gospel to the Gentiles...would be the ones to ‘receive this inheritance’ in Acts 26:18? Please go back and read that verse again and underline that last part- ‘those who are sanctified by faith in Me’. Did you know that Paul says the same thing in Acts 20:32? And you might read where Paul told those believers at Ephesus his concerns were after he departed from them (25-31). And given his affection for those believers at Ephesus, take a look what he later wrote to them in Eph. 5:1-6. Who did he say ‘has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God’ (5)? Let me also clarify here that an ‘idolater’ is anyone who holds on to or treasures ‘idols’ in their hearts; and an ‘idol’ is simply anything that we put before, or love more...than God. And how much of our heart are we told is to ‘love God’ with... if we want to ’inherit eternal life’ (Luke 10:25-28)?

Now you may still be fuzzy on what the meaning of ‘sanctified’ is or implies, but if you are under the false delusion that whatever this ‘sanctification’ is...that it takes place simply because you ‘say you believe in or have faith in Jesus’...you might want to tap the brakes and reexamine this a bit more. The reason this is so important is we are told in Hebrews 12:14 that ‘without...sanctification (or holiness)...no one will see the Lord’. Remember, “not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’...will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). And as we studied this past week...it is the ‘will of the Father’ that we be ‘sanctified’ (1 Thess. 4:3)

So let me say it again...this process of ‘sanctifying’ is a ‘process’ indeed, much like what the Israelites were told as they prepared to cross the Jordan to go in and ‘inherit’ the promised land. There was a ‘cleansing’ of the land that needed to be taken care of, which God explained was the eradication of various tribes or nations of people that were on the land. And he explained that this process would be done not in the first year, but ‘little by little’. (Deut. 7:17-24; Ex. 23:29). And there were serious warnings of repercussions if they did not fully follow through with His commands. This of course, was all a ‘natural’ or ‘physical’ blueprint for what God was going to eventually do, spiritually... with the heart of mankind after Jesus came. And if you think this is something you can do on your own through sheer grit and self-determination...then you are deceived, and probably already frustrated. Let’s talk more tomorrow about this; Lord willing, of course.