Three Ways to Live

Three Ways to Live

Here are the three possible ways there are to live in this world as I see it*:

1. Be your own god.
2. Make yourself right with God.
3. Trust Jesus.

Be You Own God

1. I live for me, myself and I.
2. I decide what is right and wrong.
3. I choose what to worship, what to live for, what to seek happiness and find satisfaction in.

Romans 1:18-20

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Thoughts

In these verses we see that people reject God because they love sin. They actively suppress their knowledge of God so that they can continue in sin. But they will be without excuse on judgment day because they should have realized that God exists from looking at what He created.

Romans 1:21-23

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Thoughts

Paul shows us that when people reject God they become foolish and their hearts become dark. When they stop worshipping God they don’t stop worshipping they just turn and worship something else. Sadly, they settle for so little when they could have had the Creator of the universe.

Romans 1:24-25

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 

Thoughts

When people reject God to be their own gods, one of the things that happens is that their sexual desires go out of control and become perverse. Why? Because the human body is the pinnacle of all that God created and because of that people are drawn to it in a powerful way.

Make Yourself Right with God

1. Live for self and God. 
2. Try to earn salvation – hoping good works will outweigh the bad.
3. Acknowledge God but only give Him part of heart – live a divided life.

Isaiah 64:6

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Trust Jesus

1. Live for Jesus
2. Rest in the salvation Jesus made possible through His life and death.
3. Obey, serve and worship Jesus out of love, not out of duty.. 

John 6:28-29

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

John 14:23-24

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Three Ways to Live

Choose wisely the way you want to live. Don’t deceive yourself. Then find out how to live that way. Remember there are consequences both now and in eternity for the choice you make!

* I got my ideas about this from Tim Keller, who got his ideas from C.S. Lewis, who was one of the great Christian thinkers and writers of the 20^th century. He wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, and many more.