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 he foremost thing that a person needs to know is God’s righteousness. It is very important that a person knows God and follows God. It is mentioned in the book of Matthew in chapter 6 verse 33 it says—
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Do you know where the recognition of God and the obedience to His commandments summed up? I John 5:3 says—
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
The summary of recognition, and obedience to God and His righteousness, is love. The primary thing that a person needs to possess is the love of God, and the love of God means obedience to His commandments. This is given confirmation in Matthew 22:37-38, which says—
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.”
The love of God is the primary component in the life of a person who has known God. However, there are people who love their pastors more than they love God. They follow whatever their pastors tell them, despite the fact that what they say are against the will of God. For example, if a pastor tells his members to kill, they kill. Is killing your fellowman in conformity with the laws of God? No! But why do they kill? ... Because of their obedience to their pastor and disobedience to God. Do not let your pastors fool you. As written in Matthew 22:38, 37--
“This is the first and great commandment. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
The foremost thing that a person needs to develop in his life is the love of God. And the love of God means obedience to His commandments and submission to His will. Nothing can be more important than that. It doesn’t matter if we have shortcomings with our fellowmen, it doesn’t matter if we neglect, occasionally, our family, so long as we are faithful in the performance of our duties to God, and we have put God on top of our priorities. God will fill whatever our shortcomings are to our loved ones. God is all-powerful. He can do things which nobody else can.
That is why, if we will only follow what the Bible says, if only we will stick to the word of God, we will make our obedience to God our top priority. You have to give greater importance to matters that concern God than chatting with friends and engaging yourself in worldly pleasures, or being worried about your personal cares. More than anything and anybody else, we have to love God. And the love of God means obedience to His commandments.
Now, the question is: What happens to a person who does not make God his top priority, that instead of God, other matters are more important to him? What would happen to him for disobeying what God had commanded? In Romans 1:28-32 it says—
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only to do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
Because they refused to acknowledge God, God gave them to a reprobate mind for them to do things which are not right. They were filled with unrighteousness. That is why, if you come across a murderer, that means that that person does not acknowledge God. If you see headstrong and disobedient children, that is also a proof that they do not acknowledge God. That is what Romans 1:28-32 says—
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whispers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
So, if you meet people who possess those attitudes, that only means one thing – they do not acknowledge God. Why? If you know God, you will not be fierce, you will not kill, you will not deceive others, you will not be an inventor of evil things, and you will not be disobedient to your parents. Those are manifestations of a person’s non-recognition of God. That is why if a person did not learn to love and acknowledge God, his inevitable ending is wickedness. A person can never be good if he does not acknowledge God. Psalms 53:2-4 says,
“God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand that did seek God. Every one of them is gone aback: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one, Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? …”
Who are those who do not do good? Psalms 53:1 says—
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.”
Those who do not do good are those who do not acknowledge God. The Bible calls them “fool”. The fools are those who claim that there is no God.
Who are those who commit abominable iniquity? Those who do not acknowledge God! That is why if you will take God out of a person’s life, he will definitely become evil. We were not created to be absolute. We were created to be dependent on our Creator. Sever yourself from the Creator, you will still live, why not? But your life will already be out of order. Actually, even if a person does not acknowledge God, he would still live because God is the giver of life to all, including the animals and the insects and the trees. In fact, there are trees that live very long. What do I mean to say? God is the giver of life, and a person may still live even if he does not acknowledge any God. However, his life is just out of order. As mentioned in Psalms 53:1—
“The fool said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.”
The so-called “heinous crimes” are but a result of people’s refusal to acknowledge God. Only those who do not acknowledge God can commit those abominable works. Psalms 14:1, 3 says—
“The fool said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
They all have gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, no one.”
The results of the people’s refusal to acknowledge God are abominable works, filthiness, and all forms of foolishness. Many people even brag as they say that we are the only Christian country in Asia. I don’t think so. If the Philippines is, indeed, a Christian country, why are there many wicked people here? The Philippines is not really a Christian country. There might be Christians in the Philippines, but they do not comprise the majority. There are many liars in the religious sector. They are not being true to their members, and still, they claim to be Christians. If we are to analyze the Philippines in the light of the Scriptures, we will discover that the Philippines is not really a Christian country. I am not ashamed of being a Filipino, because I know that in the Philippines there are true Christians. But I cannot accept that the Philippines is predominantly a Christian country. Why? Because the country is dominated by wickedness that results from the people’s non-recognition of God!
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Bible
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