People today are so turned off by
legalism that they pervert the truth that we are forgiven of all sins - past,
current and future - and allow sin to grow in their life. They feel no remorse
for breaking God's heart.
They sit around drinking beer,
wine, cocktails and even hard liquor discussing the Word of God. They smoke
their cigars and pipes in church fellowships, and they allow their language to
digress to that of a drunken sailor.
They feel this is spiritual,
because they are breaking the bonds of legalism. They claim that the current
church emasculates men and say that the "letter of the law", in the
current evangelical church, prevents them from having a living relationship
with our mighty God.
I agree that living only according
to the "logos" - written Word of God - can mask the sinful desires
within a person's heart. I also agree that a 'rhema' - the living Word - relationship
is the most important aspect of our salvation.
Legalism does kill the spirit,
and relationship is more important than religion. However, I also believe that
when we actually see the living Jesus, we shrink from living with a license to
sin (1 John 2:15).
We forsake alcoholism,
pornography, gay pride, abortion, adultery and all the other sins, which
humanity explains away in our current Laodicean society.
The teachings of today's so-called
pastors mirror the gospel taught by the Nicolaitans, whom God hated
(Revelations 2:6). These modern men are purporting old age
deception cloaked in New Age Lies.
Add this to the gnostic element
creeping back into the church through Satanic influence and deception, and the
post-modern church has a stench that makes God want to vomit (2 Corinthians
11:4; Revelation 3:16).
Whatever happened to the holiness
that Jesus exemplified for us in His life, calling us to emulate Him in our
every thought, word and deed? His Spirit transforms us with the mind of Christ
and fills us with His fruit to replace our carnality (Romans 12:2; Galatians
5:15-25).
Prayer:
Father God, You make it very
clear in the Old and New Testament that You are a Holy God. You call Your Saints
to walk in holiness and not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians
5:15-25). You are the righteous judge, and sin grieves Your Spirit (Ephesians
4:30). We do not abound in sin, so that Your grace may abound in us (Romans
6:1).
Sin, in any form, is destructive
and You protect us from its destruction by Your commandments and directives. If
we compromise Your Word, we compromise our own success and blessings. We
realize that our sin is already paid for by Christ's crucifixion, but this fact
drives us to a dedication to Your Word, rather than to participate in
crucifying Jesus afresh by our lackadaisical dabbling in sin without honest remorse
(Hebrews 6:4- 6).
Thought for the Day:
Modern "reformed" preachers
reject solid Biblical principles and replace them with lifeless, liberal
mysticism; they ignore the draw of God's Spirit to walk in holiness just as our
Father God is holy. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
- Hebrews 4:12, 13:8; 1 Peter
1:16.
