John 14:8-9
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?”
They Don’t Know Jesus
There are many people in America, and perhaps in other
nations, too, who are professing faith in Jesus Christ, some of them for many,
many years, and yet they still don’t know the Lord. They know about him. Some
of them have even been pastors and Bible teachers, but they don’t really know
Jesus intimately. They are not in relationship with him.
Their faith is head knowledge only, or it is emotion, or it
is just religion or religious practice, or tradition or culture, but they don’t
have an intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. Some of them prayed a prayer to
receive Christ at some time in their lives and were convinced that is all they
needed to give them forgiveness of sins and to secure heaven for them when they
die.
But their lives never really changed. Yes, they started
attending church gatherings, and they began to get involved socially in such gatherings,
and some of them even took on various ministries within these gatherings,
including teaching the Scriptures to others, but they were never born again of
the Spirit of God for they never surrendered their lives to Jesus.
They have been going through the motions of religious
service, and some of them are very good at talking the walk, but they are no
good at walking the walk because they are still the god of their own lives.
They have never yielded control of their lives over to the Lord, although they
have gotten close, at times, but they just can’t seem to let go and to let God.
Still in Slavery to Sin
So, they are still living in slavery to sin, and some of
them are involved in deep addiction to various sins. Sexual idolatry is predominant
in the church today. And this isn’t just about porn addiction. This includes
all sorts of deviant behaviors, lusts, sensuality, self-gratification, homosexuality,
extramarital affairs, and child and spousal abuse and betrayal, etc.
And many of them are not willing to give up their sinful addictions
and so they continue in their addictive cycle of behaviors, repeating the same
series of behaviors over and over again, and on and on it goes, just like a
merry-go-round, only it never ends, at least not yet. And they are very good at
hiding what they are doing in secret and lying about it, too.
So, they are established and they are settled in their
addictive sinful patterns of behaviors, which involves a true cycle of
behaviors so that they vacillate back and forth between which character they
are or which direction they at least think they want to go, but they are
double-minded, tossed to and fro by various waves of teachings and believing.
They will profess one thing and yet live the opposite. At
one time they may profess to believe in the full gospel that Jesus taught and
then at another juncture they will oppose that gospel and they will proclaim
the cheap grace gospel, all depending on where they are in their sin cycle, for
they usually will revert to the cheap grace when they are in moral failure.
Switching Positions
So, when they fail morally they will often switch positions,
and they will become complacent, apathetic, and indifferent to anything to do
with salvation from sin and eternal life with God, and they will just throw in
the towel and let loose and just give in to the flesh because they don’t care
anymore. And they don’t even care that they are going to end up in hell.
And this is largely because, even if they will profess the
true gospel, they are truly believing the cheap grace gospel, for that is what
they are living. For if they really believed what the Scriptures teach with
regard to what happens to those who remain living in deliberate and habitual
sin, they would forsake their sins, but they don’t really believe what God says
about their sin.
For, although they profess to worship the one and only true
god, they are gods unto themselves, and they live in idolatry and in immorality
because they are convinced that God will not judge them and that his grace will
cover all their idolatrous worship and all of their deliberate and habitual
sins, and so they convince themselves that they will be alright.
And they are able to do this because they don’t really know
Jesus. For they create their own Jesus/God in their own minds who allows them
to continue in their idolatries and immoralities. They have formed an image of
God in their minds which fits with their sinful addictions rather than allowing
him to conform them to his standards for godly and holy living.
And the Cheap Grace
And the cheap grace gospel supports them in their sinful
addictions, for it makes no demands on them at all for repentance, obedience,
or submission to Christ as Lord, and it even chastises those who believe we
must repent, obey, and submit. They are told that they can “believe” in Jesus
and Jesus does it all and that nothing is required of them.
And so a very high number of people who call themselves
Christians are believing in this cheap grace gospel and they are continuing to
deliberately and habitually sin against the Lord while they claim God’s grace
over their lives and while they ignore all the Scriptures which teach that if
we practice sin that we will not have eternal life with God.
They think they know Jesus, but they don’t, even after a
long time for some of them, for they never died with Christ to sin that they
might live to Christ and to his righteousness, but they have continued in their
sinful practices, some of them with no conscience at all, and without caring at
all who they hurt in the process.
So, if this is where you are, still living in sinful
addiction, please know that the Scriptures teach you will die in your sins and
you will not inherit eternal life unless you repent, and unless you turn your
life over to Jesus Christ and you surrender your all to him and you let him be
truly your Lord and Master. Don’t test fate. For God will do what he says he
will do.
Repent of your sins, turn away from them, and turn to follow
Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands from this moment forward and never
look back. Stop vacillating! Stop changing your positions depending on where you
are in your sin cycle. Stop being double-minded. Be a person of integrity. Live
what you profess and profess what is the truth.
[Lu
9:23-26;
Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas
1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom
2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb
10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]
Broken
Cord
An
Original Work / August 29, 2018
Your bond is broken
With your Lord and Savior
And, your testimony is
Separate from Him.
Your words not matching
Your actions today.
Repent of your sin and
Bow down and pray.
Live what you testify
In truth always.
Purity’s lacking in
Your life and witness,
For you profess one thing,
But other you do.
Not moral, spiritual.
Still of the flesh.
Not living in truth to
What you confess.
Lying about it
Puts you in a mess.
Living a lie is your practice,
‘tis true of you.
Masquerade righteousness –
None of it true.
Your heart is not given
To your Lord God.
Because of how you live,
You are a fraud.
Turn from your sin and
Give your life to God.
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