What a mess our world is in. What a mess America is in. What a mess the church is in.
Depressed yet?
Isaiah 5:20 encapsulates I believe the cultural condition of much of the world most of America and an alarmingly high percentage of those who belong or at least claim to belong to the body of Christ. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil who put darkness for light and light for darkness who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."
Calling evil good. That sums us up.
But hey grace" right? I mean youve seen the bumper sticker. Christs grace is sufficient" isnt it?
Well yes and no. Christs grace is sufficient to give us His strength in our own pathetic weakness and to impute his perfect righteousness to us despite our own filthy and fallen nature (see 2 Corinthians 12:9).
But strength to do what exactly? Strength to continue sinning?
Hell no.
Understand that by hell no" I dont mean hell" in a crass swear word Donald Trumpy kind of way. I mean that to continue sinning in an unrepentant guilt-free evil is good" manner leads to death. It leads to physical emotional and spiritual death whether you call yourself a Christian" or not.
It leads to hell.
Dont you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves you are slaves of the one you obey whether you are slaves to sin which leads to death or to obedience which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness" (Romans 6:16-19).
So in order to be set free from sin" we must obey." To stop sinning is to obey. To continue sinning is to disobey. To disobey leads to death it makes us slaves to sin." To obey to stop sinning leads to life. It makes us slaves to righteousness."
What does it mean to be set free from sin"? Well it means as Christ admonished that we are among other things to go and sin no more" (see John 8:11). Sin with its associated chains of bondage is over there. We are over here. Sin is behind us. Weve put off our old self which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires" and thusly are set free from sin" (see Ephesians 4:22).
Jesus said If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Hmm" you might say. I dont recall my pastor ever saying anything about turning from my wicked ways in order for Jesus to forgive my sin and heal our wicked land. What did Christ mean by turn from their wicked ways?"
Well after centuries of robust debate a debate mind you that rages on even today within the body of Christ an ever-so-slight majority consensus has emerged that maintains the following rather nuanced and theologically highbrow thesis:
Jesus meant to turn from your wicked ways.
Best-selling Christian author Randy Alcorn once wrote Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable sinning is not biblical grace. Gods grace never encourages us to live in sin; on the contrary it empowers us to say no to sin and yes to truth."
We can all agree that when we repent and ask His forgiveness Jesus forgives us our past sins. Still there is a deceptive tendency in much of the church and by deceptive" I mean demonic that suggests Christ came to set us captives to sin without Him each and every one free not from sin but rather from guilt for that sin.
This of course is yak manure. Jesus did not come nor was He tortured to death on a tree so that by His grace He could kill our guilty feelings for ongoing habitual and unrepented-for sins.
Jesus came to kill sin.
What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2).
It is hellacious error to say that as Christians we are not supposed to feel guilty" when we sin. When you sin you feel guilty because you are guilty. Feeling guilty otherwise known as being convicted" in our sin is a painful symptom of a dying soul. Christs grace is not spiritual Percocet intended to numb the pain of guilt. Guilt is the warning sign sin is the cancer and Christs grace the cure.
There is a deceptive deadly and evil brand of false grace" out there prevalent within the Christian church. Its a grace that says yes to sin and no to truth that calls evil good and good evil. A guilt-free prideful gay"-affirming gossiping slothful pro-choice" kids will be kids always use protection God will forgive my abortion nicer than Jesus kind of grace that is leading millions of people who honestly believe theyre saved born-again Christians straight to the flaming pits of eternal damnation.
Too much hellfire and brimstone" for you my friend? Well sorry. I care about your soul. I care about your eternity even if your false-teacher likely-bound-for-hell-himself pastor priest or bishop doesnt.
Dont get me wrong. Im not self-righteous. To the contrary under my own power and in my flesh I lack a righteous bone in my entire body. Im the worst sinner of all.
Even so through the amazing and perfect power of the Holy Spirit I am able to call sin sin evil evil and good good. I am able to recognize sin in my own life sin in the life of our once-great nation and sin in the life of the church. I can then repent and with and through the Holy Spirit go and sin no more."
Thats it. Thats what God requires. Thats true grace.
And that kind of grace is sufficient.
Youve heard the old adage Love the sinner hate the sin." Some complain that its found nowhere in the Bible.
True not word-for-word anyway. Still this transcendent truth this overall concept is found throughout the Holy Scriptures. We are literally commanded to hate evil.
Seek good not evil that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you just as you say he is. Hate evil love good…" (Amos 5:14-15).
So there you have it. Thats grace. Love Jesus. Love others. Hate evil. Repent and go and sin no more."
Now get moving.
And Christ be with you.
What a mess our world is in. What a mess America is in. What a mess the church is in.
Depressed yet?
Isaiah 5:20 encapsulates I believe the cultural condition of much of the world most of America and an alarmingly high percentage of those who belong or at least claim to belong to the body of Christ. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil who put darkness for light and light for darkness who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."
Calling evil good. That sums us up.
But hey grace" right? I mean youve seen the bumper sticker. Christs grace is sufficient" isnt it?
Well yes and no. Christs grace is sufficient to give us His strength in our own pathetic weakness and to impute his perfect righteousness to us despite our own filthy and fallen nature (see 2 Corinthians 12:9).
But strength to do what exactly? Strength to continue sinning?
Hell no.
Understand that by hell no" I dont mean hell" in a crass swear word Donald Trumpy kind of way. I mean that to continue sinning in an unrepentant guilt-free evil is good" manner leads to death. It leads to physical emotional and spiritual death whether you call yourself a Christian" or not.
It leads to hell.
Dont you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves you are slaves of the one you obey whether you are slaves to sin which leads to death or to obedience which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness" (Romans 6:16-19).
So in order to be set free from sin" we must obey." To stop sinning is to obey. To continue sinning is to disobey. To disobey leads to death it makes us slaves to sin." To obey to stop sinning leads to life. It makes us slaves to righteousness."
What does it mean to be set free from sin"? Well it means as Christ admonished that we are among other things to go and sin no more" (see John 8:11). Sin with its associated chains of bondage is over there. We are over here. Sin is behind us. Weve put off our old self which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires" and thusly are set free from sin" (see Ephesians 4:22).
Jesus said If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Hmm" you might say. I dont recall my pastor ever saying anything about turning from my wicked ways in order for Jesus to forgive my sin and heal our wicked land. What did Christ mean by turn from their wicked ways?"
Well after centuries of robust debate a debate mind you that rages on even today within the body of Christ an ever-so-slight majority consensus has emerged that maintains the following rather nuanced and theologically highbrow thesis:
Jesus meant to turn from your wicked ways.
Best-selling Christian author Randy Alcorn once wrote Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable sinning is not biblical grace. Gods grace never encourages us to live in sin; on the contrary it empowers us to say no to sin and yes to truth."
We can all agree that when we repent and ask His forgiveness Jesus forgives us our past sins. Still there is a deceptive tendency in much of the church and by deceptive" I mean demonic that suggests Christ came to set us captives to sin without Him each and every one free not from sin but rather from guilt for that sin.
This of course is yak manure. Jesus did not come nor was He tortured to death on a tree so that by His grace He could kill our guilty feelings for ongoing habitual and unrepented-for sins.
Jesus came to kill sin.
What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2).
It is hellacious error to say that as Christians we are not supposed to feel guilty" when we sin. When you sin you feel guilty because you are guilty. Feeling guilty otherwise known as being convicted" in our sin is a painful symptom of a dying soul. Christs grace is not spiritual Percocet intended to numb the pain of guilt. Guilt is the warning sign sin is the cancer and Christs grace the cure.
There is a deceptive deadly and evil brand of false grace" out there prevalent within the Christian church. Its a grace that says yes to sin and no to truth that calls evil good and good evil. A guilt-free prideful gay"-affirming gossiping slothful pro-choice" kids will be kids always use protection God will forgive my abortion nicer than Jesus kind of grace that is leading millions of people who honestly believe theyre saved born-again Christians straight to the flaming pits of eternal damnation.
Too much hellfire and brimstone" for you my friend? Well sorry. I care about your soul. I care about your eternity even if your false-teacher likely-bound-for-hell-himself pastor priest or bishop doesnt.
Dont get me wrong. Im not self-righteous. To the contrary under my own power and in my flesh I lack a righteous bone in my entire body. Im the worst sinner of all.
Even so through the amazing and perfect power of the Holy Spirit I am able to call sin sin evil evil and good good. I am able to recognize sin in my own life sin in the life of our once-great nation and sin in the life of the church. I can then repent and with and through the Holy Spirit go and sin no more."
Thats it. Thats what God requires. Thats true grace.
And that kind of grace is sufficient.
Youve heard the old adage Love the sinner hate the sin." Some complain that its found nowhere in the Bible.
True not word-for-word anyway. Still this transcendent truth this overall concept is found throughout the Holy Scriptures. We are literally commanded to hate evil.
Seek good not evil that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you just as you say he is. Hate evil love good…" (Amos 5:14-15).
So there you have it. Thats grace. Love Jesus. Love others. Hate evil. Repent and go and sin no more."
Now get moving.
And Christ be with you.