Poetry With A Mission



...a thought provoking poetical exercise.

“For if we go on sinning deliberately after  receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (Heb 10:26,27, ESV).

“Do you not know that wrongdoers will not enter the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9,10).

“For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding Him up to contempt” (Heb 6:4-6).

“And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour? I die every day!..” (1 Cor 15:30,31).

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor 15:10).

“Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules” (2 Tim 2:5, NIV).

“He that overcometh...I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name [acknowledge him as a loyal devoted follower] before the Father, and before His angels” (Rev 3:5,KJV).

He [only those] who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son” (Rev 21:7, NKJV).

“You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” (James 2:20, NIV).

“Do we then overthrow [make void] the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law [the Ten Commandments are the standard of righteousness, the transcript of Divine will, and the revelation of God’s character]” (Rom 3:31, ESV).

“...Yet, if it had not been for the law [the Ten Commandments], I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’ ” (Rom 7:7, ESV).

“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4, NIV).

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17, ESV).

“To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:6-8).

“Whoever says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4, ESV).

“So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty” (James 2:12, ESV).

“Blessed are those who do His commandments [all ten], that THEY may have the right to the tree of life [eternal life], and may enter through the gates into the city [Heaven]” (Rev 22:14, NKJV).

If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments’ ” (Matt 19:17, NKJV).

“For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified [treated as righteous]” (Rom 2:13, NKJV).

“ ‘Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments [the Ten Commandments], and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven…[will forfeit eternal life]’ ” (Matt 5:19, NKJV).

“You see that a person is justified by works [the standard of Christian conduct, God’s law] and not by faith alone. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead [it is made void, thus voiding God’s grace]” (James 2:24,26).

“ ‘Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but [only] he who does the will of My Father in heaven’ ” (Matt 7:21, NKJV).

“Many [Christians] will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?’ And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity’ ” (Matt 7:22,23, KJV).

“ ‘I know your works [referring to professing Christians]; you are neither cold nor hot. So, because you are lukewarm [Laodicean, compromising, worldly, not truly committed], and neither cold nor hot, I [God] am about to spit you out of My mouth’ ” (Rev 3:15,16).

“ ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt [Christians] has lost it’s taste [become lukewarm], how can it’s saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out [is unworthy of eternal life] and trampled underfoot’ ” (Matt 5:13).

“..work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12, NKJV).

But don't forget:

“He [Christ] saved us, not because of  righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy...” (Titus 3:5, NIV).

“You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Gal 5:4, NIV).

Balancing Grace

The Lord is so forgiving that some Christians foolishly mistake
Him tolerating slipping for those rebellious steps they take.
God’s mercy though freely given, is hardly for pardoning sin,
But just repentant sinners, who're no longer wanting sin within. 

God’s grace is not just mercy, for it’s divine enabling too,
Producing changes within us, when God’s will we desire to do.
It was never our God’s intention that His grace should cover sin,
But that through His enabling, victory over sin we’d win.

'Though folk might say God’s love is unconditional, not so salvation,
For it’s here that faith and works must have a very close relation.
There has always been a standard that God expects all to uphold,
And that it’s His Ten Commandments — we via His Holy Word are told.

God cannot allow just taking grace, as if such is all we need,
Therefore — we’re told repeatedly — that His Commandments we must heed.
For He knows that change is needed, His Law showing us where to start,
And He wants it to reside very willingly within our heart.

God needs to know that we’re genuine, that we do mean what we say,
Thus, by keeping His Commandments, our genuineness we'll convey.
Though God's grace is freely given, He seeks the corresponding fruit,
For such is only how it shows that we’re connected to the Root.

Yes, God accepts us where we are, but there, gives no excuse to stay,
And hence why it is that we’re judged by this Law that He’s said obey.
Sure eternal life has been promised on acceptance of His gift,
But not responding to His clear will, simply makes this whole thing shift.

Tell me, why should His grace excuse us from carrying out His law?
And why would we, (if genuine), let sin control us as before?
For sin, we’re told, is lawlessness — therefore, to break His Law is sin,
And wilful sin will void His grace, as rebellion is still within.

Although it’s grace alone that saves us, only works see it retained,
For tell me, what would be the point of grace if nothing more were gained?
If all we did was take His gift of grace, and thereon, saved remained,
We could just carry on sinning, just as long as we such grace claimed.

Some Christians think now's the Age of Grace, but God’s grace has always been,
For there is simply no other way that God humans can redeem.
Hence why pre-Fall, God made provision for salvation to take place
Right at that very moment that anybody accepts His grace.

The whole object of Calvary's cross was to save and then transform,
So clearly, any transformation needs the saved one to conform.
For God to change us inwardly, He needs our co-operation,
Given that any growth within our lives requires application.

Thus we busy doing what we should, and knowing that we're covered
By that blood shed on the cross when our Saviour the world recovered.
God's gift of grace hardly for playing with, but simply the beginning,
'Cause once it's been accepted, it’s meant to help keep us from sinning.

"Put your money where your mouth is," we so often hear people say,
And here such is needed more so, if under grace we want to stay.
So don’t let the devil convince you that God’s grace is all you need,
For while that is true in context — out of, it’s far from true indeed.

By Lance Landall


The second to last verse of this poem was altered on 12 September 2020.

Check out the diagrams under the poem "God's Gift of Grace".

You may also wish to read the following poems "Once Saved, Always Saved",
"A Deep Conversation", "Grace And Obedience".



There are those who think that in Old Testament times people were saved by works, but that now, we are saved by faith. This is not correct. Everyone who is saved, is saved by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus [who died on the cross]. All those saved, from Adam to John the Baptist, were saved by looking forward in faith to the cross. Everybody who is saved today is saved by looking back in faith to the cross.

REMEMBER:

In the context of salvation (Justification – right standing before God), law keeping is of no avail, but in the context of Christian conduct (Sanctification – right living before God), God’s law has value and validity (James 2:12).

Obedience to God’s commandments (Ex 20:3-17; Matt 22:36-40; Rom 13:8-10) ——

A) Gives proof of our genuineness to truly follow Him in every way.
B) Is our appreciative response to his love and sacrifice.
C) Brings glory to god.
D) Witnesses to his transforming power in the life.
E) Witnesses to God’s will.
F) Is recognition that God knows what is in our best interest.
G) Is the natural fruitage of the Christian walk and growth.

Thinking that people are basically good causes us to downplay the moral seriousness of the wrong we do. It prompts us to search for external reasons to justify what people do. Ever since Adam and Eve committed the first sin, the human race has been born morally corrupt. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are by nature sinners. If each day we step out with a sense of conviction about the depth of sin in our souls and the pervasive impact it has on our lives we end up experiencing: A clearer sense that our problems are more internal than external; a true sorrow and humility about our sins that leads to change on our part; a deeper motivation to focus on and do good; a greater sense of accountability to God and others that He might use in our lives to mature us. Christ did not come to tell you ‘you’re ok’. He came to tell you that your not ok, but deeply loved, that you need radical surgery of the soul, and that He is just the surgeon to do the job. The idea that people are basically good is a belief that tickles our ears and makes us feel good about ourselves, but it is like the Pharisees – a white washed tomb that is pretty on the outside but full of death and decay on the inside. We need to confront our sinfulness honestly on a divine basis no matter how painful that will be.

This last paragraph was taken from the book — ‘Self-Help or Self-Destruction’ by Dr Chris Thurman.