In my last blog I warned against the dangers of not preaching on the cross, the blood of Jesus & sin. Realistically I can not understand how any Christian church could ignore the basics principles that the gospel is founded upon. As an example every time we partake of the communion table we do so in remembrance of the blood & suffering Christ did on the cross of Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins.
Seeker sensitive churches are those who are willing to compromise the truth of the gospel, to increase numbers. An example of this is when ministers or denominations choose not to preach on a particular sin ex. homosexuality. God refers to homosexuality as an abomination (exceedingly disgusting), scriptures to back this up can be found in both the old & new testaments (Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:27). Not just individual churches but entire denominations have fallen into this deception of the devil. Some today will try to rationalize their beliefs by saying, there are no longer absolutes, NOT SO! Light is still light, the sun is still the sun, darkness is darkness & until someone receives Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior they are in spiritual darkness. Sad to say people can stay in spiritual darkness as long as they choose.
Rebellion & lawlessness run hand in hand, they are one & the same.
Back in Bible times the spirit of lawlessness had already been loosed upon the earth. As an example within Gnostic teaching was much of what we today call New Age teaching & even way back then, they believed that they were not just made in the image of God, but were actually gods themselves. Thus whatever they chose to do was OK as they were obeying the god of self. One thing mankind has proven over the years when there are no rules or laws to obey total chaos reigns supreme.
I am not saying these people cannot receive forgiveness (those teaching false doctrine or those being deceived by it & living in wrong ways) but first they must recognize the error of their ways (sin) & then ask for forgiveness 1John1:9. Then they must repent of their sins. A simple way to explain this is when I turn my back on sin & walk the other way, but keep your eyes out of the rear view mirror there is nothing of interest there for you anymore. Sin is sin & there is only one sin that God says He will not forgive (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit) Matthew 12:31. I am also not just sharing my perspective on the scriptures, they are what they are.
It is because of the blood of Christ that we can receive forgiveness for sin, deliverance from oppression of every sort & both physical & spiritual healing. The blood also provides us protection from the devil & his plans of destruction he has for believers. The blood covenant we have nor the promise of eternity in glory, neither would not be possible without the Lord having shed His blood for us.
If it were not for the cross of Calvary & what Jesus did for us there we could not have the forgiveness from sin that we have today. Jesus took our rightful place on that cross as the sacrificial lamb of God & paid in full the price for our sins. Two biblical terms that apply to this are ransomed & redeemed. On top of that when we receive Christ into our lives we are justified from our past sins. A easy way to explain this term is AS IF WE HAD NEVER COMMITTED THE SIN! This is almost mind boggling but remember, this is not a license to sin, Romans 6:1,2.
Sin is when we do something that goes against the teachings of the Bible. When we read the Bible or go to church to hear a message God uses the Holy Spirit to convict us of wrong doing within our lives. Probably everyone reading this blog has heard the old saying "miserable as sin" This old adage rings loud & clear for Christians, for when we find ourselves living in sin that conviction makes us totally miserable. The way out is to simply pray a simple prayer, Father forgive me my sin & help me Holy Spirit to not continue in this sinful way in Jesus name I pray.
A person can go to church all their lives & never make a decision to receive Jesus Christ into their life as Lord & Savior. When I was acting as the on duty Chaplain at Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay I had the opportunity to minister to a man who was going into surgery & did not know if he was coming out. I asked him if He had made peace with His maker, his response was "I would not even know how!" I said just pray this prayer after me "Father God forgive me my sins, Jesus come into my heart & help me to be the person you want me to be, thank You for saving my soul & making me whole!" I watched waves of peace come over this man & he said to me Pastor Ken I know if I die it will be OK the Lord will take care of my wife & kids & if I come out of that operation I will serve him as long as I live & he did. All of this & he was not a church going person. Years later I had the privilege of doing his funeral. It was a joyous time celebrating his life ESPECIALLY HIS LIFE AFTER COMING TO KNOWING HIS CREATOR, cool eh.
We do not know what tomorrow will bring or even today for that matter. Are YOU at peace with your creator? Do you know the peace Bill came to know? Just pray that same simple prayer of faith that he did, food for thought!
No comments:
Post a Comment