THURSDAY September 21st
1 Peter 3:10-12
‘For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”’
Continuing with these verses and the final sentence which I have underlined, Peter has continued to quote from Psalm 34 and verse 16 ‘The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.’ We have moved from the blessing that belong to those who have chosen to pursue righteousness in verses 10-11 to the verdict given concerning those who choose instead to continue in evil, in the context of the gospel, those who choose to continue in sin rather than to accept the amazing offer of salvation that has been provided as Peter has already mentioned earlier at a great cost, the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1:19).
As we rejoice in knowing that we who have come to accept Christ have been forgiven and brought into the family of God we should also have a deep concern for those who as yet have not come to believe, for the consequences of unbelief are fearful, terrifying, for God is against them because of their sin and will one day cut them off, eternally, to be lost forever, thrown along with the devil and his angels into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).
We cannot seek as some do to attempt to twist Scripture and suggest that because God is a God of love he will save all in the end (Universalism), the bible is very clear ‘for the wages of sin is death’, but thanks be to God that it also continues to say ‘but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ Romans 6:23. To be delivered from death and to be given eternal life all must come through Jesus, for in his own words Jesus said ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ John 14:6.
To all who either read or listen to this devotion, I ask you this question; ‘Have you come to the place of repentance and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour?’ If yes we praise God together, but if you cannot answer with a resounding yes, today consider the outcome for your soul for without Christ you are hopelessly lost and doomed for eternity, today if you hear his voice do not harden your heart, but come to the cross, the place where the Son of God demonstrated his love for you in providing for you eternal salvation.