This Is Who I Am

Yesterday’s blog is an important blog but it is not complete. Before I continue with our walk through Galatians I just want to add something to what I wrote yesterday. Realizing that God loves everyone, sinner and saint alike, is game changing. What I mean is that, realizing this, we find our motivation for introducing people to Jesus. It is important to do simply because Jesus told us to do it, but it becomes more urgent when we understand why. Why do we need to go to our neighbour and the entire world and tell them about Jesus? Because our Father loves them and wants all of us back in his tender care.

Now the tendency of some is to draw the conclusion that God’s love alone will save us. They figure that God’s love is so great that it will transcend our will and leave us no choice but to accept this act of redemption even if we do not want to be saved. They figure that, if hell exists, it is not something that God would allow anyone to face; that his love will win out. Sadly these people are wrong.

There is no doubt that the greatest force in all of creation is God’s love. That love moved him to see his son become a curse by being hung on a tree. He became a curse to save us, the objects of our Father’s affection, but those who do not accept that sacrifice remain in the rebellion that separates us from God. They are doomed to destruction; the destruction Jesus came to save us from; the destruction the Father has done everything he can to pull us back from; the destruction that some people are determined to face. God’s choice is to save us, but if we do not accept that salvation, the choice is ours. It is we who condemn ourselves by rejecting God’s love. 

I don’t have to go far to prove my point because Jesus spoke more about hell than he did about heaven. Just picking one example, something Jesus said as he explained one of the parables to his disciples:

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  (Matthew 13:41-42) 

I believe the whole “weeping and gnashing of teeth” gives us a pretty good idea what hell will be like. It is the just punishment for the rebellion in which we have lived. We all deserve such a punishment, but through Jesus, the grace of God, he has provided us a way out of this consequence. But don’t be fooled by the fanciful wrong teaching that we are hearing in the Church today. God’s love is for everyone, but salvation only belongs to those who repent of their rebellion and accept the sacrifice of Jesus.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)

There is no other way to the Father. There is no other way to receive the great blessings of his love. The great desire of our God is that everyone would be saved as a result of his love, but he has left the choice up to us. Remember, there is a terrible day of judgement coming. Are you ready?

I hear it all the time, “What makes you think Christianity is the true religion?” Well, first of all, I don’t believe that Christianity is a “true” religion, I believe that Yaweh is the one and only true God. I believe that God is, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. I believe that the Father loved man so much that he sent the Son to deal with the impossible chasm between us. I believe that after Jesus died and rose from the grave, the Spirit was sent to live in everyone who declared Jesus as Lord and Saviour. There is a huge difference in this from all other religions.

You see, in all other “systems” man has to do something to earn his redemption. There is always some scheme, some work, some thing that a person has to do, to work at, to merit what is being offered. The Father, the Son, the Spirit came after us. We were too stupid, too lost, too blind to even know that we needed rescue or to know that there was something better than this. Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind, to let us know that we had a choice, to let us know that we had a Father who loved us enough to come after us, to sacrifice himself for our benefit. Jesus came in obedience to the Father but also out of love for man.

We can’t buy or earn our redemption even if it was in our power to do so. You can’t buy a gift that is freely offered. We can try to put a mask on the offer so that we can put our own system on it so we can feel good about receiving it. We can act like being more kind, more loving, more generous will make us more worthy. We can act like praying more, reading God’s Word more, singing more, giving move, serving more will make us more worthy. We can beat ourselves up, light lots of candles, confess a lot, pray in the right manner, dress in the right clothes, say the right words will make us more worthy. But all of it is man’s way of trying to earn God’s grace.

The crazy thing about grace is, it is never earned; it’s given for free. Our Father looked on us with such love that his heart was breaking for us who were lost in the darkness that was causing us to suffer. He looked on us and longed for us to be back in fellowship with him. That love caused him to reach out to us with an incredible offer, something that no man-made religion or systems had to offer and the Word of God is clear about it; absolutely crystal clear:

“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.  (Galatians 2:15-16)

So how do I know that no other religion is true and that Christianity is the only way? Because no other religion or system known to man has Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the sacrificial lamb, the Way, the Truth, the Life, the author of our faith, the Alpha and Omega, the first born of many, the only way to the Father. You have to earn your way in Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and every religion on the face of this planet. Do I dare mention Catholicism in this too; that system of man that has striped away the grace of God to leave a system of meriting God’s favour?

No, there is nothing that any other religion can offer that can compare to what Jesus Christ offers us. It is not what we can do for God but instead what he has done for us. It is not about how we can serve him but how he has served us. His gift of redemption is a free gift and his love is all consuming. Nothing you can offer is good enough so he offered himself instead. There is nothing that you have that God needs but still, by his grace, he has poured out his incredible love on us. You don’t deserve it but it is yours nonetheless if you are willing to accept it. And why wouldn’t you? It’s incredible. It’s free. It’s everything you ever needed and more. We cannot be redeemed by observing any laws or systems of laws but only by faith in Jesus Christ.

As a child we believe most things our parents tell us without proof. If your dad told you spaghetti grew on trees, as a child you would believe him as much as when he told you that man walked on the moon. However, as a teen you want proof of that spaghetti tree. You want to see a picture of it and know what country it grows in. It is only natural to become a little more sceptical of things of which you have not received direct knowledge. It is no different with the things of Jesus Christ.

Some parents feel threatened when their teens start to ask questions and begin demonstrating doubts about what they have been taught as a child. Yet, this is a natural process. God is not a grandfather; he is a Father with many children. Each child must be born through faith in Jesus. This is not their parents’ faith but their own. Some children grow into mature Christians with very little struggle and others have to work through a crisis of faith. Some will abandon the notion of God entirely and strike out on their own. Parents must pray but don’t panic; God is allowing their child to gain a testimony. He needs them to receive their own revelation of him.

As a child it is natural to rest in your parents’ faith but as an adult you need to gain your own revelation of God directly from God. Those who are called by Jesus are not called through any person. If each of us are open to God then we will receive direct knowledge of him from the Spirit and this will prove to be an encouragement to us during difficult times. Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians:

I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

This direct revelation is what lent itself to Paul’s confidence and determination when things were rough. Sitting in jail he would be able to remind himself that he was in the will of God, doing what God wanted and nothing was going to stop him from being faithful to it. Even when the Jews turned against him and claimed he was teaching blasphemy, Paul was able to stay confident in the truth he had received directly from Jesus. Even when believing Jews went against this revelation and taught circumcision, Paul remained resolute to what he had received directly from the Spirit.

If you are a person who only knows Jesus through other people’s testimonies you will find that your faith fades in difficult times, during trials and sufferings. Doubt creeps in rather easily when there is nothing of substance holding up your trust in Jesus. However, when you have received direct divine revelation as to the validity of the Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit in you then nothing in this world can dissuade you to turn away from Jesus. Nothing!

Receiving direct revelation through the Holy Spirit is not a difficult thing, it’s just that we are often too lazy to seek it for ourselves. Jesus told us:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7)

If you want it, it is yours. Often our problem is that we seek it from different sources. We seek it through man but Jesus told us that it is ours directly from God and all we have to do is ask.

Don’t live off your parents’ faith any longer, or off of anyone else’s either. Jesus wants you to have direct and personal knowledge of him. He wants a relationship with you directly, not through any other means. He wants you to be strong and confident in your faith and trust of who he is and what he has promised you. He wants you dependent on him and understanding the authority you have through him. He wants you to be available to him, to be involved in the mission, to be serving him the rest of your days on this planet. He wants you to be faithful in good and bad days, rejoicing in all things because you are confident of who you are and who you belong to. This is all yours in the confidence of direct revelation and it is available to you today.

I really hate the enemy of our soul for what he has done to mankind. I know it was Adam’s choice at the beginning that threw the whole race into rebellion against God, but it is the enemy who has kept us here. Satan hates God. He hates him with a passion and he wants to hurt God by robbing God of the object of his affection, us. He hates us too because God loves us, but his real purpose in the lies he convinces us are truths is because he wants to keep us separated from God to hurt God. This is the reason he works so hard to keep us in the dark and tries to keep blinders on us so we can’t see God.

In order for us to be saved from this sin nature and from the enemy we have to get to the point of understanding and accepting the truth that:

… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… (Romans 8:23)

Maybe you think there are a lot of good people out there, and, compared to some people who commit murder, they appear good, but the fact is we all sin. Paul told Timothy:

The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. (1 Timothy 5:24)

In other words, some sins are obvious and the whole world can see, whereas others are hidden but will still be revealed in time.

All of us. Every single person ever born was born with this sin nature and have given into it, except the one who came to save us by defeating this sin nature, Jesus Christ. This sin nature will try to convince us of a lot of lies and the enemy is there to re-enforce them but sin still comes down to us and that is why we will be held accountable for it. God has given us enough revelation in nature itself to know there is a God, and he has given us his Word and the Holy Spirit to convict us of our need to be rescued from this sin nature. He has also sent Jesus as our rescuer, the one who can set us free. Romans 8 is a great chapter to read to give better insight into the power of this nature and the power of Jesus to break it’s grip on us. Read this:

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. (Romans 8:5)

When we turn our back on this sin nature by accepting the gift of freedom from Jesus and we dedicate our lives to him, he gives us another gift, the Holy Spirit, who is the power of God in us. The Spirit guides us away from sin and into all the wonderful blessings of God. He gives us the power to live godly lives to the honour and glory of God.

Jesus Christ is the only one who can save us from this nature we were born with. He is the only one who can reconcile us to God. He is the only one who can free us from our slavery. He is the only way we can come to the Father; there is no other way. We can’t live a good life and earn our way. We can lie to ourselves and convince ourselves that God’s love will save us even though we persist in our sins. We can convince ourselves that the Bible is outdated and God understands the current age in which we live. God understands alright, he understands that sin separates us from him. It always has and always will. We were given the Law so that sin would be defined, so that we could understand the difference between right and wrong, so that we would be convicted of our actions and the nature of our heart. Then he gave us Jesus to pay the price of our sin and set us free. Calling evil good and good evil will not save you. It is God who makes these definitions and we will be judged according to them, unless we have been set free from them by Jesus.

Do yourself a big favour today, set aside your opinions and thinking, set aside the lies of the enemy, set aside the blinders and let Jesus remove the scales from your eyes. Be willing to see the truth and then allow Jesus to rescue you from the slavery you were born in to. God created you but he did not create you to be like this. He has something better planned for you and you will find it in Jesus.

There certainly is a lot of stuff out there on the Internet. You could spend your life just surfing, reading, watching and learning. But what would we be learning? There is a lot of information on the Internet but not all of it is worthy of your time and not all of it is true. Checking out the source of this information is crucial in what to accept as truth and what to cast aside as false. This is as true about spiritual matters as it is about health products. You need to look at the source.

The Spirit of God revealed many things to apostle Paul and one of those things is the age in which we live. Paul warned as he wrote to Timothy:

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (1 Timothy 4:1)

These deceiving spirits and things come in all kinds of forms, not just false biblical teaching. One of the biggest things is the teaching that God does not exist in the first place. There is a lot of deception found in the sciences, in philosophies, in the matters of life that we come to accept as basic tenets of living. When we hold up a number of things that the world puts forward as basic human rights these days we see how they pull people away from the teaching of the Spirit of God. Two very simple things that spark a lot of hatred and debate when they are brought up in polite company: the woman’s right to decide and homosexual rights. I have no doubt that the “right to die with dignity” will soon be added to the number. One really has to set aside their faith in God in order to promote these rights because the Bible is very clear on where God stands on these issues.

Paul tells us that these things are taught by demons and people are lead away by deceiving spirits and these things are promoted by people who have completely cut themselves off from God:

Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. (1 Timothy 4:2)

The frightening thing is that there are many false teachings, things that take our kids away from Jesus, being taught in the classrooms. Even the students with the strongest faith find it hard to avoid the indoctrination that is taking place every day. Even parents, who are weak in their faith and knowledge, who don’t have time for Bible study and prayer, who simply attend church once a week, come to accept these things as truth. They aren’t there to protect their children, to help them overcome these threats, to put those demons to flight.

Godliness is under a huge attack right now as preacher preach against hell instead of warning people from it. There are so many churches that have embraced the acceptance of homosexuality, common-law marriages, abortion, just to name a few things. It is common to hear now that Jesus is not the only way to the Father, that there are many ways. Bibles are being promoted that marry Islam and Christianity together. Instead of being based on the solid rock of Jesus Christ, parts of the Church are being blown about by the waves of popularity. Leaders are not leading but instead are taking the pulse of society and adapting to it. Craziness, but the Spirit warned Paul that these days were coming.

Skipping ahead a little bit in this chapter of 1 Timothy 4, Paul encouraged his friend and fellow worker to remain diligent in his study and teaching:

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:16)

My friends we must pursue godliness. Our greatest desire must be to become like Jesus. He has to be our only hero, the one we want to be transformed into. As we study his life we discover that he was not a big fluffy teddy bear as many picture him today. He was rough with people sometimes, he spoke the truth without apology and he dealt with what was most important. He always spoke the truth no matter the cost. He spoke the truth because those who God loves need to hear the truth in order to live.

Paul told Timothy to watch his life, how he was living. Are we living the Word of God at all cost? He told him to watch his doctrine, make sure it is the Word. Are we living the Word of God or someone’s opinion on that Word? We have to read and study for ourselves. We need to know the overall plan of God and the purpose of it. We need to keep everything in this context and we need to pursue godliness based on this, to become just like Jesus. Paul told Timothy to persevere in the truth of the Word and in godliness because it wasn’t just about him. We are all people of influence. What we say, what we do, what we believe has an impact on the people in our lives. We have to make sure we are living the truth or we will end up having a negative impact on those we love. Check yourself and what you believe to be the basic tenets of life. Check them against the Word of God and the teaching of the Spirit. 

There is a lot of information and teaching out there. Check the source! Make sure it is the Word of God as revealed by the Holy Spirit. Watch yourself out there, there’s a lot of deceiving spirits and demon teachings

It is not easy being an ignorant follower of Jesus Christ these days. By ignorant I mean those who do not read and study the Word for themselves but instead take their knowledge from others. It may be from the pastor on Sunday morning or from little snippets off of the Internet or even just nice sounding sayings people share on their blog. Their knowledge is more “hearsay” based and is both damaging and dangerous.

As I browse through blogs and read articles on the Internet I am seeing a lot of humanism and other teachings mixed in with biblical teaching. I am also seeing people focusing on minor arguments concerning Christianity. I see in discussions a number of Christians with a little bit of knowledge attacking other people with a little bit of knowledge, both digging in their heals about minor things while losing the big picture of God’s plan. There is no love in these discussions as they beat each other up and rob God of his glory. It is good then to consider what Paul had to say to his friend Timothy who was more like a son to him.

Paul had to return to Macedonia but he left Timothy responsible for the huge ministry in the region of Ephesus and he left him there with a purpose:

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. (1 Timothy 1:3-4)

Timothy’s purpose was to keep the gospel teaching pure and true, to confront any of the false teaching that was welling up from people with little knowledge. Paul was concerned because he saw how easily it was for people to turn to things that were new, exciting and nice to listen to:

Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. (v. 4)

There it was; anything that promoted self-work over faith is a danger to the truth of the gospel. Anything that convinced people that man was capable of saving himself, by sacrifice or good living is a danger to the truth of salvation by faith. Anything that promotes the human spirit to overcome, that good lies in all of us, that we can find truth the more we look within ourselves, that the answer lies with us, comes in direct opposition to the gospel that says the answer is found in Jesus who did it all for us.

The reason Paul gave this command to Timothy is because the work of God needs to advance. The command was given for Timothy not to destroy people but instead to see them becoming mature in Jesus:

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (v. 5) 

As I have said before, love is the beginning and the end of it. Every day should be spent in the pursuit of discovering the depth of God’s love and seeing it put into action in our own lives. But love does not come from a heart bent on selfishness or evil intent. Love cannot come from a heart that is plagued by a guilty conscience. We cannot put this love into affect in our lives if we do not believe it’s source is pure and holy. The only way that the love of Christ can permeate our heart and overflow into others is if we accept the gospel as true and follow Jesus according to what he has taught us. Anything else will taint this love with our own failings and in the end will fail.

Paul reminds Timothy of the challenge he faces:

Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. (vv. 6-7)

Paul is saying that people have left the importance of a pure heart, a good conscience, a sincere faith which allows for the flow of God’s love. They have left these things in pursuit of lesser things, things that appear to be important, disputable matters. Often we find these people wanting to be teachers of others. They think they know without knowing and so many people fall into the trap and leave what is important.

We need to check ourselves all the time and make ourselves accountable to our pastors and elders. We need to look at what we are promoting; is it what matters? Are we promoting a pure heart, encouraging people to stop being distracted, to cut out things that take away from Christ, to keep their eyes fixed on him? Are we promoting repentance and forgiveness, good relationships between believers and neighbours, considering other people more important than self, a life of servanthood? Are we promoting Jesus Christ, who he is, what he has done, that he is the only way, that he is our everything, that he is our saviour and that we must trust him in all matters? If these are the things we are concentrating on, promoting and teaching then all other teachings will fall away and we will see his love well up in those we teach.

Some of you may think that you are not a teacher and this does not apply to you but let me point something out to you. If you have a blog where you quote scripture, reblog nice sounding sayings, share artwork with sayings or pass on little stories then you are involved in teaching or the promotion of someone’s teaching. Be careful. Before you reblog something check it against the Word of God. Before you agree with someone that God is love so there can’t be a hell, check it out in God’s Word. Before you fall victim to fine sounding arguments and start teaching it to others, check it out against the Word of God. If you are not sure talk to your pastor or one of the elders. That’s what they are there for. I encourage you my friends, know the Word of God and stick to the fundamentals: a pure heart, a good conscience, sincere faith which allows God’s love to flow from us to others.

I have heard some people defend their faith by saying that even if it turns out that God is not real they have had the benefit of living a good life. On the surface this looks fine but when you consider a life based on a lie you realize what a sad statement it is. Apparently some people in the Corinthian church were saying something similar which is the reason Paul had reminded them that the gospel message was based on a few simple truths:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)

None of this is disposable. Our belief is not vague, our faith is does not lack focus. We do not hold on to an idea but the person of Jesus Christ, who had purpose in being born, living and dying and then being raised from that death. We cannot set aside his death and still “believe”. We cannot set aside the resurrection and still “believe”. In fact Paul but it this way to the Corinthians:

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 Corinthians 15:19)

We are living in an age when people like to pick and chose what they believe. Some have chosen to leave hell out of the picture. Others have dismissed the miracles. Some have set aside the cross and others the resurrection. Yet, all of these people still call themselves Christian and still claim to be defenders of the faith. They follow a supposed moral code laid down by Jesus but Paul said that if our hope is only for this life we are a pitiful creature.

Paul makes it clear how important the resurrection is to us. Let me give it to you in the points Paul makes:

- If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. (v. 13)


- And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (v. 14)


- More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.  (v. 15)


- And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. (v. 17)


- Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. (v. 18)

With Jesus it is all or nothing. There is no fence sitting; no selective belief; no excusing away what looks like silliness to the world today. Everything that Jesus taught and revealed and did is interconnected so that if you take one thing away it all falls apart. We can’t say that Jesus was a prophet, a good man, a wonderful teacher when he has claimed to be the Son of God. He either is who he says he is and has done what has been reported as doing, or he is a complete madman, a liar and we are fools.

We know that many have rejected Jesus and do consider us fools but we can’t set aside our faith to try to make Jesus more believable to an unbelieving world. It is a foolish thing to do because people cannot come to know God by fine sounding arguments. Man’s wisdom cannot convince people to believe. Salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit who convicts people of their sin and of the love, mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. Salvation is a spiritual work, not a work of the flesh. What seems impossible to man is possible for God.

My friends, especially you college and university students, do not wander from the path of faith in an attempt to prove God is real. The proof is found in the Holy Spirit who lives in you. The proof is supernatural. If you want your friends to come to know Jesus then continue to live by the Spirit, never compromising in love, making the most of every opportunity, testifying to Jesus’ goodness, praying over them continually, and standing firm in the tenets of our faith:

- Jesus died for our sins
- he was buried
- he was raised from the dead
- he was seen by hundreds of people after his resurrection

The fact that Jesus died as the penalty for our sins tells us that reconciliation with God has been made possible. The fact that Jesus was raised from death tells us that death has been defeated and that the promise that we too will be resurrected is true. His burial is proof of his death. The witnesses are proof of his resurrection. Don’t let go of what you have been taught.

We all know that we have been warned away from idols and most of us make a conscious effort to only worship the one true God. We make an effort to keep ourselves free from anything that would take our affection away from him because it is something that God will not tolerate. He pours his affection out on us and the only true response is to pour all our affection back on him. You know the greatest commandment to love God with all your heart, soul and strength. “All” means all so we have to make sure nothing else is draining off any of that “all”. The Word says:

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:14) 

It does not simply say avoid it but flee from it. Our hearts get so easily entangled and our minds so easily confused.

An idol is often an object but today there are more idols that are activities and ideas. Ideas can be some of the most powerful idols that slip through our defenses without us even realizing it. You would not believe how many of our youth claim to love Jesus, claim to follow him, honestly believing they are but have no idea what he has taught. They know about the cross, which is good, but they have spent no time in learning the Word.

This leads to such statements as “you don’t need to know the Word of God to know God”. This opens the doors to all the false teaching spirits who come in with their twisted half-truths. Yes, it is true that God loves everyone but it is not true that this gives all sinners a free pass. It is not true that “universal love” allows you to do whatever you want as long as you don’t hurt anyone in doing it. Only those who repent of the things that offend God, who accept the sacrifice of Jesus and who enter into obedience to the Spirit are given a “free pass”.

People are busy making up gods in their own image, in what they want, in what they think to be the truth. I like a quote I saw they other day but I don’t remember the source. It said something about, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not to their own truth; there is only one truth. If people think they can be a follower of Jesus Christ without knowing Jesus they are busy carving a ‘Jesus’ after their own desires. These people are to be pitied above all others because once their mind is set on this it is almost impossible to turn them back. This is not new and the Apostle Paul fought hard to keep believers from falling into it:

I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (2 Corinthians 11:2-4)

The thought “you don’t need to know the Word of God to know Jesus” is born in the pits of hell and is planted in the minds of undisciplined people. We must flee from such thoughts lest we are tempted to carve our own idols. There is only one Jesus and he is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God. We cannot accept some parts (salvation) and reject others (righteousness). There is only one truth and his name is Jesus. But if you don’t even know what Truth taught how can you say that you follow him?

I am honestly fearful for a generation that believes they can create gods after their own image, who want to justify their sin by quoting universal love. How can we reach those who are lost in such a sea of self-deception? My heart breaks that they consider themselves followers of Jesus, safe from destruction and yet are hurtling down that path at such break-neck speed. My friends, make sure you are not found in that number; get grounded in the Word of God, in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do not fall victim to your self-carved idols. There is only one Truth and his name is Jesus.

It is clear in the Word of God that we are not to tolerate sin in the Church, in our fellow believers. For some reason we have come to define love as tolerating that which separates us from God. The Word tells us to turn away from an unrepentant brother for two reasons. First, that we will not begin to accept sin as normal in our lives as well. Second, that the unrepentant believer would realize the danger he is in and repent. However, there is a difference between the sinner who has never know Jesus and the believer who refuses to repent of his sin.

The Apostle Paul was giving instruction to the Corinthians because they were supporting a man who had entered into sexual immorality and who refused to repent of it. But he wanted this church to understand that there was a difference between associating with this sinner and those in the world. That is important for us to understand as well because many believers attempt to remain pure by avoiding the lost, but Jesus commanded us to go to the lost:

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)

Often we judge the world, point fingers, and put pressure on them to conform their ways which is all pretty silly considering they are only behaving according to the nature that has enslaved them. They have no choice in what they do. That’s the whole reason Jesus had to come, to bring freedom so that we are able to make a choice. Paul writes:

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. (1 Corinthians 5:12-13)

Some might say, “But I thought we are not permitted to judge anyone?” We are not to judge the repentant heart. When a believer sins and repents we must let it go and celebrate the victory. However, when a believer sins so blatantly, as in moving in with a girlfriend or boyfriend, or who is bragging with pride about their sin and refuses to repent, then we are to judge correctly and walk away. Remember that repent is not simply confession but is also a turning away from that sin. So if I confess that I have sex outside of marriage and then continue doing it my confession is useless. The Word is clear on this:

But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. (1 Corinthians 5:11)

I have to admit that I have been part of the bleeding heart club but I am not even sure my motivation was so much compassion as it was timidity. But Paul warns that this sin is like yeast and will work itself into our lives until we too are deceived. Don’t think it’s true? Consider how many churches have begun to sanction homosexual marriages, that don’t consider living together to be a big deal, and who teach more about living a good life in place of teaching the Word of God. Paul wrote:

Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:8)

Our relationship with Jesus must be sincere and based on truth. We cannot call a lie a truth and have a proper relationship with Jesus. If we think we do we have deceived ourselves and are now on the road to destruction.

It is important that we draw the distinction here between the sinners in the world and those who claim to be a believer and yet refuse to repent of their sin. We are to enter the world of the sinner with great love and compassion, presenting Jesus to a people lost in darkness. This is our purpose and we are told to bring these people into our lives so they can see Jesus in us. Yet we are to have nothing to do with those we deceive themselves in the Body of Christ. We can warn them but when they refuse to turn away from their sin we must turn our back and leave them in God’s hands, praying for their deliverance. 

We must turn away for our own sake, that we too will not fall into the same self-deception. Tolerating sin in others raises the danger of us tolerating sin in ourselves. Paul writes it clearly for the Church, quoting the old scriptures, “Expel the wicked man from among you.” Not those who recognize their sin and repent but those who harden their hearts, refuse to acknowledge their sin and do not turn from it. This is what we are refusing to do and we are becoming weaker because of it. Choose life today, choose Jesus and the counsel of his Word. 

Jesus is Lord even over the heavy heart.