Absolutely no one should be accepted
as a brother of Christ, as a co-heir with Him, as an adopted son or daughter to
God the Father, without first accepting the absolute of Jesus being the Christ,
the Messiah, one’s Savior. There is no
other way, period. False teachers of
this age teach lies, preaching the doctrine of demons (1 Timothy 4:1-2). That may
sound harsh, but what else would they be teaching when they tickle ears by
leading people away from Jesus and straight to hell? They tell people what they
want to hear, and people want to hear what makes them feel good. Consider the following verses.
“For certain men whose
condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among
(us). They are godless men, who change
the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our
only Sovereign and Lord (Jude 1:4).”
“Enoch, the seventh
from Adam, prophesied about these men: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands
upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the
ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and all the harsh words ungodly
sinners have spoken against him.’ These
men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they
boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage”
(Jude1:14-16).
“In the last times
there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the men who will divide you, who
follow mere natural instinct and do not have the Spirit” (Jude1:18-19).
Let’s take homosexuality as a prime
example. Many upon many Christians,
churches, pastors, and teachers condone what is clearly stated Biblically as an
abomination.
“Do not lie with a man
as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.” (Leviticus 18:22)
“Therefore God gave
them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the
degrading of their bodies with one another.
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served
created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations
for unnatural ones. In the same way the
men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for
one another. Men committed indecent acts
with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their
perversion.” (Romans 1:24-27)
“Do you not know that
the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually
immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual
offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor
swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”(1 Corinthians 6:9)
If more is needed, then take a look at the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis nineteen. I have heard said, homosexuality was not
clearly stated as to the cause of their destruction. What?
Chapter nineteen verses four and five clearly portray a city ravenous
with detestable behavior: “…all the men
from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the
house. They called to Lot, ‘Where are
the men who came to you tonight? Bring
them out to us so that we can have sex with them.’” Little did they know, the men they were
seeking to rape, and yes, that is what the context of the passage implies, were
two angels sent to destroy them.
But today, homosexuality is accepted
as normal behavior, even among throngs of churches. All such goes back to the “men who will divide you, who follow mere
natural instinct and do not have the Spirit” (Jude 1:18-19). What does “mere natural instinct” imply? So many contort that into, “See, that
verifies God created homosexuals, they are born like that.” Nope.
It means one’s instinct of pleasure has corrupted the soul.
“These men speak
abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do
understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that
destroy them” (Jude 1:10).
We have free
will--to do what we want with the lives God gave us. If people want, or feel
intrinsically pulled toward the same sex, they have been given over to their
desires or "shameful lusts"
(Romans 1:18-23). That doesn't make their lifestyle right and/or pleasing
to God. Homosexuality reverses the order
God designed--in the beginning God created woman for man. People can, have, and will ape the truth to
meet their own needs. God did not send
His Son to invalidate His intended order--He sent Jesus to save it (Hebrews 6:16-20). God does not change (Numbers 23:19, Psalm 102:27, Malachi 3:6,
James 1:17). I doubt He would offer up His only Son as a
sacrifice for humanity to change His appointed plan.
Today, Christians who stand for Jesus
and handle Scripture accurately are labeled bigots. Bigotry, defined by Random Houses Webster
Dictionary, clearly spells it out as an extreme intolerance of any creed,
belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own.
It rubbed me the wrong way initially, because I always associated it
with racism. But in taking a closer look
at the definition, and its synonyms, if the world wishes to view Christians as
bigots, as dogmatic, fanatic doctrinaires of Jesus Christ, then I guess they
are right.
But let’s ask questions of those who vehemently
deny our belief—are they any less a bigot toward our right to profess our
belief? How can they stand there in hateful opposition, screaming bigotry, when
they themselves shower in it every day under the guise of equal rights? They
mock that which they do not understand, and the very things they do understand
are the very things destroying them.
Acceptance of falsehood is not anywhere
in the inspired scriptures, truth is. The truth hurts, it stings, and yes it
angers those who deny it. And there it
is--the source of contention, lack of tolerance for sin against God. We are to reach out in love to spread the
truth, but that does not mean we are to roll over and deny Scripture’s
absolutes.
Love should not be sightless. Love is not weak, but strong in conviction. Love is a fruit of the Spirit. However, love doesn't preclude fighting for accuracy,
for what is right and true. Freedom of
speech in this case is just a microcosm of this country's angst. God gave us free will, this country lives
under the motto--"In God We Trust;" we should trust in His wisdom and
allow citizens freedom of speech, lifestyles, and religion. It is God’s place to judge and condemn. In saying this, I can imagine someone asking,
“Aren’t Christians judging others saying their lifestyles are sinful?” Well, no.
Judgment is always linked to condemnation. Christians are evaluating life in line with
the Scripture. However, if we evaluate
others with hate, if Christians evaluate without extending concern for souls,
then we are guilty of sin against God.
Sin is sin, no matter the offender.
God shows no favoritism.
“For God does not show
favoritism.” (Romans 2:11)
“Do not threaten them,
since you know He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is
no favoritism with him.” (Ephesians 6:9)
“…It is the Lord Christ
you are serving. Anyone who does wrong
will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.” (Colossians 3:25)
“I charge you, in the
sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions
without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.” (1 Timothy 5:21)
“But if you show
favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” (James 2:9)
Sadly, this is not the case among
humanity nowadays, nor has it ever been.
Thank the Lord Jesus Christ’s atonement of our sins on the cross. “There
is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set (us) free from the law of sin
and death” (Romans 8:1). But to
those who are not in Christ Jesus, there is nothing but an expectancy of
judgment.
The love and peace in this world are
fast evaporating and being replaced with apathy, angst, anger, and agitation. I
do know things are only going to get worse.
I have no proof of this, other than Scriptural truth. These are the last times. Even more reason for Christians to stand for
Christ, united together representing God’s grace.
I know our faith and the world are on opposite
sides of the spectrum, but let us not give in to their hate. Once Satan baits us into fits of rage in
hostile arguments over God’s Word, then he has a victory in the minds of those
we are to convince. With some people, we
must understand the Truth will never sink in; as pearls before swine, it’s
useless to expect them to appreciate the beauty of God’s Truth—they are only
concerned with the here and now, unable to contemplate past their own
desires. So, when they continually and
aggressively deny Jesus, don’t argue, shake the dust from your feet and move on
to a soul who is receptive to God’s love through Christ.
6 NIV Disciple’s
Study Bible, p. 1735
7a Erwin W.
Lutzer, How to Say No to a Stubborn Habit. (1979.
SP Publications, Inc. Victor Books, 1989) 16.
7b Lutzer,
21, 22
