Resolved

The purpose of these resolutions: to willfully and expressly fight against the manifestation of my rebellious and sinful nature, by the power of the Spirit of God and the grace of the Father and for the glory of my Savior, as an attempt to be sanctified unto maturity and perfection which are in Christ. Although I would love to make the list exhaustive, that pursuit would be a terse statement to obey all of God’s commandments.  Indeed, one resolution would do: to love the Lord my God with my heart, soul, mind and strength, and love my neighbor as I love myself (Mk 12:30-31), as it sums the entire law.  Of course I am eager to be perfectly obedient to God’s commands, and am eager to uphold my Lord’s command to love Him and all people.

Yet, this list of resolves seems profitable to expound upon the idea, adding flesh to the skeleton of this great truth ,and to aid in memorization and obedience.

1. Resolved, to submit to the Word of God because it is from the mouth of God Himself (2 Tim 3:16).
2. Resolved, to seek the Word of God as sweeter than honey, more desirable than the greatest materials riches of the world (Pr 20:20), and as my delight (Ps 119:74), love (Ps 119:97), and joy (Ps 119:162), for there is great reward — it reveals sins (Ro 7:7-12), is a blessing (Ps 119:2), encourages purity (Ps 119:9), causes me to flee from sin (Ps 119:11), is a lamp (Ps 119:105), and gives peace (Ps 119:105).
3. Resolved, to be transformed by the continual renewing of my mind by reading the Word of God, hearing the Word of God, and reading books that explain the Word of God, so that I may discern the will of God for my life (Ro 12:2).
4. Resolved, to pursue to have the same humility as Christ (Php 2:3-5), for a man wise in his own eyes is worse than a fool (Pr 26:12) and because God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet 5:5).
5. Resolved, to praying without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17) as my Lord commanded (Lk 11:2-4) — honoring the Father, yearning for His kingdom, asking for daily needs, begging for forgiveness, and requesting protection — for the prayer of the saints is His delight (Pr 15:8).
6. Resolved, to repent completely and quickly when I am made aware of my sins (Pr 51:17), to grieve that for such heinous sins my Lord Christ was crushed and slain (Is 53:5-6), and to believe in the gospel (Mk 1:5) as my only hope of pardon and deliverance.
7. Resolved, to evangelize the lost by proclaiming the excellencies of Him who called me out of darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9), thus calling the sheep who are not yet of His fold (Jn 10:16) to come to their Shepherd (Ps 23:1).
8. Resolved, to be consistently involved in making disciples of individuals of nations as my Lord commanded (Mt 28:20), admonishing and teaching every man, with all wisdom, by the power of God, so that every man will be complete in Christ (Col 1:28-29).
9. Resolved, to love the saints not with merely word or tongue, but in deed and truth (1 Jn 3:18), as one who is of the Light (1 Jn 1:9), born of God, a lover of God (1 Jn 4:7), and abider in God (1 Jn 4:16).
10. Resolved, to be a member of a local church of Christ (Ro 12:4-5) for it is His body, laboring together with the members to build the body up in love and obedience (Eph 4:15-16), serving with the members according to the gifts that differ according to the grace given us (Ro 12:6), and singing songs of thanksgiving with the members to God.
11. Resolved, to love my wife, if the Lord should graciously grant me one, as Christ loves His bride, the Church (Eph 5:25), praising her as a woman who fears the Lord (Pr 31:30) and honoring her as the weaker vessel and fellow heir of the grace of life and salvation (1 Pet 3:7).
12. Resolved, to display covenantal Christian marriage, if my Lord should graciously grant it, as a glorious shadow of the substance to come — Christ’s marriage to and perfect love towards His bride (Rev 21:2,10-11).
13. Resolved, to teach my children, if my Lord should gracious grant me any, diligently of the Word of God (Deut 6:6-7), so that they would come to fear and love and worship the Lord (Deut 6:5,13) if He would graciously grant them salvation.
14. Resolved, to never lust, or in other words sexually desire, any woman to whom I am not married (Job 31:1), for my Lord revealed lust to be adultery in the heart (Mt 5:27-28) and because the lust of the eyes is not from the Father but from the world (1 Jn 2:15).
15. Resolved, to help keep the previous resolve, to flee from boyish lusts and seek brothers with pure hearts (2 Tim 2:22) and cast aside every encumbrance and sin which entangles me to run with endurance the race set before me (Heb 12:1).
16. Resolved, to never buy anything without deeply contemplating that this world will be consumed with fire (2 Pet 3:10) and that my Lord commanded me to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Mt 6:33), storing up treasures imperishable and unfailing (Lk 12:33-34).
17. Resolved, to make promises in light of my Lord’s command to hold true to my word(Mt 5:34-37, Jas 5:12), and labor and strive and strain to uphold such promises as long as the said promise is in accordance with God’s revealed will and godly wisdom.
18. Resolved, to have at the tip of my mind the truth that my tongue is the very world of iniquity (Jas 3:6) and an inferno-inciting flame, and as such to not complain, grumble, be discontent, lie, or mislead — all of which shall be an attempt to bridle my evil heart (Mt 15:18-19).
19. Resolved, to only criticize, mock, insult, judge, or correct in the clearest of circumstances that demand such words, with the highest intentions of love to benefit the individual being spoken to and with the purest intentions to uphold the truth of the Word of God (Eph 4:15).
20. Resolved, to obey every law made by the government, for God has established every government, and by submitting to its authority I submit to my Lord (Ro 13:1-2,5); this resolve shall be void if the government reaches establishes a law which violates its bounds of jurisdiction by violating God’s Word.

*inspired by Jonathan Edwards