the basic message #E29
Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I’m fortunate to have a polite group of readers. Some polite readers politely disagree with me more often on one subject than any other- eternal security. You may call it “Once saved” or “Perseverance of the Saints”, but regardless of the name, the concept is the same. I believe a person can lose their salvation. You might reason that maybe that person was never “really” saved. Read the above passage carefully. Better yet, go get your Bible and read the entire chapter to make sure you get the full meaning. What does the passage above say to you? Paul was talking to the Judaizers, who were Jewish Christians. The church in Galatia was inhabited by with some Judaizers, who wanted to cling to the notion that a person must observe certain Old Testament teachings. They basically rejected the idea that we’re saved by grace and not works. With that thought in mind, why would Paul make the statement in the passage above? Take another look at the last sentence in the passage-
I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
What is the biggest enemy of the Christian church today? Is it Atheists? No. Is it homosexuals? No. Is it the liberal media? No. I believe the biggest enemy of the Christian church is fake Christians. What’s a fake Christian? You know- it’s the folks that say piously, “Bless you brother”, while trying to figure out how to take advantage of you. They’re the people who demand that we return prayer to schools, yet they don’t pray at home. They’re the people who protest at abortion clinics by screaming obscenities at women walking in the clinic. Show me a “Christian” that screams, “YOU WHORE!”, at a woman going into an abortion clinic, and I’ll show you a fake Christian. Correct me if I’m misunderstanding this concept, but how can a person invite a stranger to become a Christian by calling them filthy names? Fake Christians sometimes teach Sunday School on Sunday morning, but run a blatantly crooked business Monday through Friday.
I recently started a weekly dialogue with a group of Atheists that will allow me to discuss Christianity with them. Can you guess what their number one complaint is about Christians? Nearly every one of them complain that Christians often live lives with much less dignity and character than they do. I can’t disagree with that. One Atheist told me he lives by the example of Christ. He thinks that love, tolerance and helping his fellow man is the way to live- but he doesn’t believe in God. What an odd situation- Here’s an Atheist who lives by Christian principles, yet I see “Christians” in my own church that live like Atheists. What’s wrong with this picture?
And so, as I’ve said before, whether a person was never really saved, or walked away from their salvation, the end result is the same. When Paul talks about the people who won’t inherit the kingdom of God, who is he talking about? Since he was talking to a legalistic bunch of people, surely he wouldn’t want to reinforce their legalism. Read the passage again, and decide for yourself if a person will go to heaven if he continues to live like this. Am I missing something?