"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2 NASB
Truth. We live in a culture that has decided we can make our own truth. Yet many are still caught searching and longing to fill the void. Our society is rampant with depression, anger, and fear. How could this be? If everyone has their own truth shouldn't this make their lives more meaningful? Yet each day more and more collapse under the weight of it all. The weight of having no real sense of purpose in this world. Slowly the problem eats away at our very souls. The foundations of our own truths come tumbling down into an intense mental breakdown. What has become of us? There has to be more...
It seems even as Christians we can lack this answer of truth. We have become so afraid of offending people that we no longer defend the one absolute truth which is God. We have sat back and let the prosperity gospel sink its teeth into American Christianity. We hope that someone will step in and be a harbinger for truth, but not us. We don't want to be labeled intolerant or bigoted. We will wait for someone else to act, but what if no one else does? It is time for American Christianity to get a wake up call. To wake up to the fact the only absolute truth is the truth of the Bible. NOTHING ELSE. It is not a time to relax complacently on our couches as souls are being lead astray by false teaching by the masses. It is time to step up and fight for the absolute and utter truth of the Bible. It is time to be defenders of righteousness in an unrighteous world. It is time to be a warrior for the truth of God's word. In this matter there is no gray area. We are called to be Christ followers. This means we are either all in or all out there can no longer be an in between.
John 14:6 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (NASB)
These are Jesus' words. Here he is proclaiming that there is only one way to true salvation from our sins and that is through Him alone. As Christians we can be afraid to say this to people, but we should not be. It is plain and clear the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ alone. This might offend some, but that is ok. The truth is not there to make you feel good, it is there to call us out unto him. We are called as Christians to be ambassadors of this truth, The absolute truth that the God of the universe loves us so much that He came to the Earth as a man and lived among us! Hebrews 4:15 puts it this way "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" (NASB) God came down and suffered alongside of us! Not only this but he loves us enough that he died a horrific criminals death on a cross for us. The God of the universe, the one who created all, DIED so that we could have life. Three days later he rose again defeating death so that we no longer have to die but we can have eternal life. John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.17For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (NASB) This is the truth. Jesus Christ is the only way to get to heaven He is the way, the truth, and the life. Telling anyone otherwise is doing them an extreme disservice and you are accountable to that before God. People are longing for truth that they can get behind, It is time to tell them of the ONLY truth and that is our Savior Jesus Christ. It is our job as Christians to share this message no matter the cost. A time of persecution is coming Church are you ready? "Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me ,they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also." John 15:20 (NASB)
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB)
As Christians we MUST believe that the ENTIRE bible is inspired by the Almighty. Not just the parts that make us happy or make us feel comfortable, but all of it. This is no exception. We must not pick apart the Bible to fit our own agenda, we must be ambassadors of truth. The Bible is God's written word to man and every bit of the Bible is truth. On this we CANNOT falter. Once you begin to nitpick out of the Bible for your own personal agenda you are getting into extremely dangerous territory. Not only are you shaming God's word, but you are also leading others astray. The Bible was not written to fit comfortably into your personal beliefs, it was written to show us who God is. It was written to convict us before a holy God and lead us to salvation through Jesus Christ.
"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7which is reallynot another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
10For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." Galatians 1:6-10 (NASB)
Paul here is talking to the Galatian church and shows how seriously he takes the gospel. I am afraid that similar to the Galatian church that American Church has lost it's first love. We have traded the true gospel for the gospel of comfort. We are preaching a gospel based on feeling and not based on truth. We have transitioned from trying to please God to trying to please man. We are afraid to stand up for the truth of the gospel because we may be called a religious bigot. We crave comfort over craving God. We must come back. The time is now. It is not hard looking around America to see that the persecution of the Church is just beginning. I fear soon it will get far far worse. The freedoms that we now take for granted will be stripped away under the guise of tolerance. It is time to decide now. Will you stand up for the truth or will you fall into the background with the rest of the world? We must as Christians stand up and go against the grain. We are called out by God to live lives radically different through following Jesus. We must shift and come back to the true gospel. A gospel that speaks truth into a culture full of deception. We must be the beacon of light in the dark. The world is searching for authenticity. Let us be the authentic believers that draw the world to Jesus Christ.
15Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.17The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15 (NASB)
Lastly we should not love the worldly things. As Christians we get so caught up in the material that we forget that our life is very temporary. We forget that through belief in Jesus Christ we have eternal life. Forgotten is our main mission that Jesus gave before he left the Earth " Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB) This should be our life. Our mission should be following Jesus and making Jesus followers. All else should fade to the background. We have fallen prey to the monster that is materialism, and we must come back to our purpose as believers. We are here on this earth to worship God and to lead others to God. Plain and simple. Now this does not mean that we cannot enjoy life's pleasures, but it does mean that that is not the priority of our life. The priority of our lives as Jesus followers is to share the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. We must remember that we hold the truths for eternal life. Keeping the message to ourselves is utterly selfish. We MUST tell others about Jesus Christ. This is not a suggestion the Bible commands it. No matter the cost. Pauls says "1For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" Philippians 1:21 (NASB) Therefore even if it cost your life who cares! If we truly believe what we are preaching we know that if we do pass away we will be with our Savior in Heaven. There are people dying and going to Hell because they did not believe in Jesus Christ. Let the reality of that sink in. When we choose to not share Jesus Christ with unbelievers we are suggesting that we don't care if their soul is going to hell. We must share the good news of Jesus Christ it is our obligation. God did not send his only son to die for the world so that we could keep it to ourselves! We must act. It is time to step up and share to a hopeless world the hope that is found through Jesus Christ alone. Are you in or out? There is no in between.
Now it may seem that I am being harsh. This is not my heart. My heart is that this will call believers back to their first love. We must as believers in Jesus Christ be ambassadors for the only truth in Jesus Christ. We are accountable to share the gospel to a broken world desperate for any shrivel of hope. We have the hope that the world is searching for. We are the light in the darkness. It is time to stand up for truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The world must know the truth, will you share it?
12Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying,“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12 (NASB)