Salvation is near

Dear Christian, may the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, spoken through the apostle Paul, quicken and revive you to live a life worthy of your calling. For it was freedom that Christ set you free, therefore do not subject yourselves to the corruption of your fleshly appetites that are magnetically charged by the influences of this world. You have been called to a high calling and your life is not your own, for you were bought with the blood of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Lean not on your own understanding, but be led by the Spirit of God Who has made His abode in you. Remember, the Holy Spirit will not lead you contrary to the Scriptures. So testevery thought, filter them through the scrutiny of the Bible so that you will not be led astray, for our Master will soon return, and He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. So then, saints of God, “Abide in Him, so that when He appears, you may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.” “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” Lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Behave properly and do not slumber as in the days of your ignorance. Go to war with all of the incessant longings for sin and make no provision for the flesh. Just as Peter said not only to a persecuted church, but for usas well, “Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.” Behold, the end of all things is near, the Judge stands at the door; how will you be found on that day? May we have ears to hear and wisdom to understand. In the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”