so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the worldthat you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;that ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world,
3 sermons cite this verse
… For example, in Psalm 119, verse 105, the psalmist said, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Or in Philippians 2 verses 15 and 16, Paul wrote that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world holding fast the word of life. I like 2 Peter 1 19. Jot that down. Peter said, so we have the prophetic word, that's referring to the word of God, made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. Maybe you've used a nightlight before. You know what a nightlight does. Glows in the middle of the night. If you're a child, it can give you comfort if you're afraid of the dark. As an adult, nightlights are helpful. If you're getting up in the middle of the night, they go to the bathroom or to the kitchen, whichever one it is. It's good to have a light and the darkness to give you direction. Now, the only time a nightlight is absolutely of no use is in the daylight. …
… so, so serious. Philippians chapter 2, verse 15, that you may become, number one, blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. That is the result of you being in Christ and being a child of God. The third thing is that we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. You know all the stuff we've been talking about the devil? Well, all these truths from the Bible makes him tremble if you'll just believe God's word. The Bible says you are a joint heir with Christ. Romans chapter 8, verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, translation, do you know what it's like to have God at work in your life? These are sons of God. for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear. Notice, fear. But you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father, the Spirit himself. …
… or unalloyed metals that were not tainted with other materials. Harmlessness here really is the idea of living a life of purity from the filth of this world. Philippians 2 verses 14-15 give us a great picture of this. Philippians 2 says, do all things without complaining and disputing. Why? that you may become blameless and harmless, pure, children of God, without fault in the midst of, notice, a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in this world. You see, the world is crooked and perverse. You and I are to be harmless and blameless, all for the purpose of actually being light in the world. See, you can get so far down the practical wisdom that you forfeit purity. and we want to have this balance so that we might be seen as children of God. It's a mark of a believer, it's purity. Blameless means faultless or free from guilt and that's a synonym. These things go hand in hand, blamelessness and harmless. You see, while to some degree the world can have an appearance of wisdom, Jesus even said it, that that wicked servant who lied and deceived and was cunningly crafty. He was shrewd. Appearance of wisdom. But you see, this harmlessness of a dove is something altogether unique to the believer. The world cannot become harmless as a dove. …