Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (NASB)The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Dear Neighbor,
The preacher in Ecclesiastes experienced and contemplated much during his life and he concluded that a person should fear God and keep his commandments. The word antinomian means without law. There is a spirit of lawlessness among many who claim the name of Christ today. People do not want to pay the penalty for sin (death and hell) but they do not want to keep the Lord’s commandments either. There is only one way to the Father and it is through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins is the message of the gospel. (Lk 24:46-47) We have all sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard; (Rom 3:23) therefore, we all deserve eternal punishment, (Mt 25:46) but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23) In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul preached justification by grace through faith but what many people today miss or ignore the conclusion: “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Rom 10:9-10, [NASB]) Salvation from sin does not only mean the penalty but also the power that sin holds over your life. We are to turn from our own way to that of God, to revere him and keep his commandments; least on the day of judgment Christ says to you, “I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.” (Mt 7:23, [NASB])
Michael Peek, BSN, RN, MTS
