the basic message # E83
Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I, like you, am not perfect, but I do press on to collect my prize from God. In the many emails I get from readers, I’m sometimes condemned for my judgmental attitude toward what I consider “fake” Christians. I need to remind myself to hate the sin and love the sinner, but take a second look at this situation. There is a very fine line between being a loving and supportive Christian and being a Christian who condones blatant sin.
James 4:7-8
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Gosh, what a radical idea. Let’s go over this complicated plan point by point. Step 1: submit yourself to God. Point 2: resist the devil, and he’ll leave you alone. OK, I’m finished. Can we earn a place in Heaven by being good? Nope. Our debt to God is so huge that only God can pay the price for us. The price? The death of Jesus Christ. A wise person once said, “God takes us as we are, but he doesn’t intend for us to stay that way.” Boy, what a statement. Sadly, I would guess that over half of all professing Christians never get beyond the condition they were in when God adopted them.
Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
What is unwholesome talk? I think gossip, negative conversation and degrading of another person would qualify. What then is wholesome talk? I believe that the quoting and application of scripture would certainly qualify. There are many ways to illuminate the minds of people. One way that most churches use is to tell everyone that God loves them. Amen. Unfortunately, in the process of building self-esteem among churchgoers, an important element is often omitted: repentance. I try to illuminate the minds of readers by challenging them to pour over the scriptures and prove that I’m wrong when I tell many of them that they’re living a lie by assuming that they can live like Hell and still go to Heaven. Please notice one important factor here: I don’t attack people, I just attack the thought processes and the mind-set of many people. Case in point: over 70% of Americans happily support the death penalty, yet I’ll bet that only about 10% of that group have done any research whatsoever regarding capital punishment. The moral of the story? I’ll happily accept someone’s beliefs if they have done any amount of research and study. Friends, we have a society of people who create their own little world through poorly thought-out (or unthought-out) beliefs. Your political views make no difference to me, but your thoughts about Christianity, salvation, repentance and sanctification are very much on my mind always. Your thoughts are precious, yet dangerous. Guard them carefully.