2 Peter 2:13b-15a ESV
“They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray.”
The subject matter here is that of false prophets and false
teachers, but what this describes here isn’t confined just to false teachers.
Sadly enough it describes the majority of Christian males here in America, at
least according to statistics, and according to a survey I took a few years
back, and according to what I have seen and heard and read myself over the
course of many years. Sexual immorality, lying, deception, unfaithfulness, and
mind manipulation are running rampant in today’s market-driven “churches.” And
it isn’t just confined to men, but women are joining the ranks, too.
“And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (2 Peter 2:2-3 ESV).
This is absolutely the truth! For the gospel message which
appears to be permeating the majority of what is called “church” here in
America does not require dying with Christ to sin daily, nor does it require
walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands. Some have diluted it so far as to
say that if you accept God’s affection for you that you are now his children
and that heaven is guaranteed you when you die. So many today are teaching
against repentance, and against walks of obedience, so they are leaving their
adherents still dead in their sin, living in sin and not in obedience to God.
And those eyes full of adultery, oh my, they are awful to
look at! So many professing Christians are not living much differently from
those who make no profession of faith in Christ. They are insatiable for sin.
And it shows in their eyes and in their body language and in their attitudes,
actions, and words. Now, we cannot judge their actions based solely on
appearance without facts, and without actual physical evidence of wrongdoing.
But if you have experience with someone who is like this, you know the look.
And if you care about that person, it breaks your heart.
And those who are the ones who are insatiable for sin, they
are usually also liars and deceivers who fake their Christianity as a coverup
for their sinful practices, and/or who lie to try to hide what they are doing
in secret from other people, usually from their spouses. But a tuned-in spouse
should know the signs and recognize when being lied to. But, again, we cannot
accuse others of sin without evidence or without their admission of sin. Even
if we can see it in their eyes, and we know the signs, we cannot accuse others
of sin without evidence and/or without admission of wrongdoing.
But we can forgive them, and pray for them, and love them,
and do good to them, for this is how we are to treat even our enemies. But if
what they are doing is in the public, and if what they are doing is deceiving
others, and if it is leading others into sin, we can call out that sin, and we
can oppose the lies with the truth of God’s word. And, in fact, this is what
the Scriptures teach us we must do, to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness
and to speak the truth in love so that others are not being led astray by those
who in their cunning and craftiness and deceitful scheming are leading others
astray.
“They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:19).
Absolutely this is what is going on today here in America in
the name of God, and in the name of Jesus Christ, and in the name of his
gospel. They are telling people that they can “believe” (undefined) in Jesus
Christ one time in their lives and now all their sins are forgiven (past,
present, and future), and now heaven is guaranteed them when they die, but
regardless of how they live, for they make no requirements of them other than a
non-descript one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ. And so they are
promising them freedom but while they are leaving them still in their sin.
Please know the truth of the gospel. Jesus said that if
anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die
daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. In essence he said that if we
hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self that we will lose them
for eternity. But if we lose our lives for his sake, i.e. die with him to sin
that we might live to him and to his righteousness, then we have the hope of
eternal life. For not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING God’s will (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke
9:23-26).
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs
are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Trust
Him with your life today.
Make
Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn
from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He
will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse
your heart, made new within.
Men
betraying: Our trust fraying.
On
our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking
God to give us answers
That
are only found in Him.
God
is sovereign over all things.
Nothing
from His mind escaping.
He
has all things under His command,
And
will work all for good.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Men
deceiving: We’re believing
In
our Lord, and interceding
For
our nation and its people
To
obey their God today.
He
is our hope for our future.
For
our wounds He offers suture.
He
is all we need for this life.
Trust
Him with your life today.
Caution: This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment