KEY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 23:3 (KJV). “All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”

In Matthew 23:2 the Lord said the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses. This means, they were ardent teachers of the law, yet they never practiced what, the law teaches. The Lord Jesus warns every follower of His, not to live as the Pharisees.

WHY would a person or group of people teach the way of life, and not be doers of what they might be teaching.?

There are varying causes for such a way of life;

1.Some have not been genuinely converted, and so they don’t have the conviction to live according to the word.

2.Some drift off from the love for God, through a neglect of their devotional activities.

3.Some fall into sin, and fail to address their error, and so are morally weak.

4 Others are simply deceived by sin. Heb 3:13

To know the truth and not to live by it, is like having light, yet one decides to walk with his eyes closed. Walking in the truth is freedom from the clutches of the devil. It is a life of consistent promotion. The Bible calls it the path of the just, which shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. The man who does not do what the word says is called the wicked. He walks in darkness and does not know when he stumbles.

The Lord says the kingdom of God is for only those who would be doers of his word. “Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” — Galatians 5:21 (KJV). Decide to be a doer of the word of God.

What must one do to set himself free from the deception of holding the truth, but denying its power.?

1.If you have not been truly converted, then be sincere to yourself and repent.

a) ASK the Lord to forgive your waywardness.

b) Declare that you have repented from your insincerity and sinfulness.

C) Welcome Jesus to be the Lord of your life.

2.If you have drifted off, confess your sin and start doing all those things you stopped doing. Example: Going to church, prayer, Bible study and reading the Bible.

3. If you have been deceived by sin, then repent

If you put sin and its blinding effect away, then you would be able to do the word of God that you may be saying to others.

THOUGHT: It is a blessing to be a doer of the word, refuse to be deceived.

FURTHER STUDIES

Proverbs 4:18-19 (KJV). But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

James 1:22-23 (KJV). But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: