Set Your Affection on Things Above

 •  4 min. read  •  grade level: 7
People say,
“Cut a bird’s wings,
And it no longer sings.”
Satan says of the Christian,
“Let not his heart to heaven soar;
Then he’ll be dumb, and sing no more.”
Correspondence.
Answer: The Word of God does not contradict itself. If it seems to do so it is only our want of understanding it, that is at fault. Let us therefore firmly believe what we understand, and rest upon it, and wait on God to enlighten us about the rest. There are many verses that give us the assurance that the believer has eternal life, and that he can never perish (John 3:14-16; 5:24;10:27-3014And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:14‑16)
24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30I and my Father are one. (John 10:27‑30)). Also verses to show the believer that his sins are all put away, and that he is justified, and perfected in his standing before God forever (Acts 10:43; 13:38, 3943To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)
38Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39); Rom. 3:22-24; 4:5, 23-25; 5:1-1122Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:22‑24)
5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)
23Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:23‑25)
1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:1‑11); Heb. 10:10, 14, 1710By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)
14For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)
17And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17)). These are samples but the whole Word agrees with them. Take these, believe them, rest upon them. Do not let what you do not understand, take away such plain scriptural assurance from you.
We may be sure that the understanding of the rest will confirm what we do understand. Let us look at the scriptures that trouble you. Romans 14 is not speaking of how to be justified, but of Christians receiving one another, though they may differ about what they should eat. The Jew was trained to eat certain things only, while the Gentile did as he pleased. The scripture instructs us that when we give thanks to God, we can eat what we believe is good for us. Only the blood of an animal we are not to use (Acts 15; 1 Tim. 4:4, 54For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4‑5)). The Apostle is persuaded that all things in themselves are clean, (Rom. 14:1414I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. (Romans 14:14)) but if a man thought it unclean, he should not eat it, for it would give him a bad conscience, and it is a serious thing to have a bad conscience. It is a saved and justified man that gets a bad conscience. His soul is not lost in eating thus, but his communion is broken. The meaning of the word damned in verse 23 is “condemned,” not damned eternally. That is, he feels he has done wrong. In 1 John 2:11My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 2:1) we find Christ is the advocate for believers if they sin.
1 Corinthians 8:10, 1110For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; 11And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? (1 Corinthians 8:10‑11). The believer who was once an idolater, was afraid to eat meat that was offered to idols, and for what men call luck the butchers killed the animals to the idols. Some did not understand that giving thanks to God, (1 Tim. 4:4, 54For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4‑5)) cleared them from idolatry, and if they ate it, they felt defiled, or brought into fellowship with the idol, and this destroyed the work of God in their souls. Therefore the Apostle warns the believers to be careful not to hurt the conscience of the ignorant ones by eating before them what would defile their consciences. So Paul shows how careful he was in verse 13. The question in these scriptures is not our eternal salvation, but of walking before God with modified hearts and consciences, maintaining communion with the Lord, and not grieving the Holy Spirit. This is very important for every saved one.
Hebrews 10:26-2926For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:26‑29) is apostasy, that is, sinning willfully. It is saying, “Christ Jesus is no Saviour. He is not the Lamb of God. His sacrifice is no atonement.” For such persons there can be no salvation, nothing but judgment. Could a real child of God, one with a new, divine nature say such words, or think such a thought? A true child of God might say like Peter, “I am no Christian,” but he would not say, “Christ is no Saviour.” A Hebrew that made a profession of Christ, yet not truly born again, would be likely to go back to his old way of worship, and be lost for eternity.