John 3:30

He Must Increase, I Must Decrease

savior

Matthew 7:21

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Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Again, we see an example of Jesus separating people 1 of 2 ways. There are those that go to heaven, and those that will not. this is the end of the sermon on the mount, the most famous sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher ever.

Jesus is speaking primarily to the Pharisees, and he has already explained to them that a man’s righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. He has just explained that true followers of Him will exhibit fruit in their lives in a way that displays a love for Him. Loving God will result in loving what He loves, and a believer is expected to bear good fruit. Mat 7:16-18 16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Why is Jesus making this point? It think Matthew 7:21-23 makes that clear. In possibly the most chilling portion of scripture, there will be people in the last day who confess Jesus Christ with their mouths as Lord (Romans 10:9) but will not be true followers of Christ!

How can this be? There is an enormous amount of scripture that speaks of salvation:

Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Don’t the above verses make it sound like all you have to do is believe, or even call on the name of Jesus? Yes they do, but this is the beauty of scripture. It is all TRUE. So how do we handle apparent contradictions like these? Well, it’s important to remember that, “All scripture is given by God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16. We must understand all of scripture as one book, one complete thought. We cannot ignore Jesus’ words, that many will say to Him “Lord Lord’ and His reply, “I never knew you.”

Romans 10:13 can be explained by reading it in context. Even in the same chapter (Romans 10:9) we are told we must confess Christ as Lord AND believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead. Obviously, Paul implies that there is more to “being saved” than saying Jesus’s name, even if you think you’ve “called on it.” What does “believe in him” mean then in the other two verses? “We know that even the demons believe and they tremble,” James 2:19. And even Judas believed in Jesus, in a sense, Matthew 27:3-4, and knew he had sinned against an innocent man, but he certainly didn’t get saved.

Matthew 26:24 states, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.”

So to be truly known by Christ requires far more than just calling His name, or in the case of the people in Matthew 7, it requires trust in Him alone for righteousness. According to our verse, only those of us that do His Father’s will in heaven will see the kingdom of Heaven, but Christ makes clear in the following verse (Matthew 7:22) and the preceding verses, that our good deeds are nothing but the outpouring of a heart that is totally submitted to Him, and that is trusting him alone for salvation. This is the overwhelming theme of the bible as it pertains to man (the overwhelming theme of the bible is the revelation of God’s glory). Man cannot do anything to please God, outside of faith. (Romans 14:23, Hebrews 11:6, Is 64:6)

Rom 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

This is a warning from the King of kings and Lord of lords! My reader, please do not put your faith in your own works of righteousness for your salvation. Even the biblical practice of looking at the “fruit” in your life can be nothing more that trusting in yourself. Throw yourself fully upon Christ and cling to Him alone for salvation. You must be born again!

And I think the main problem here is, IN WHOM DO YOU TRUST? Do you trust in an image of Jesus created in your own mind, or one born from the devil? Those Jesus’s cannot save! They are powerless over sin and powerless over the power of God to punish sin. Trusting the Christ revealed in the Holy Scriptures is the only way! (John 14:6)

This is a great verse for witnessing because you will run into “christians” all the time who do not know the gospel. They won’t be able to communicate to you how they know they are saved. If you truly care for people you will realize they may be believing in a false Jesus. They have put their trust in a Jesus that cannot save, like the health and wealth Jesus, or the Jesus that is still being crucified in the Catholic church. I beg you to care about people and the gospel more than you treasure your own life!

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

1Timothy 1:5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

For further reading on this important topic see my Ephesians post and What is the gospel?

Ephesians 2:8-9

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Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

Praise God for that! Hallelujah, Amen!

I could stop right there, but I won’t. 🙂 This verse is packed with implications for your theology. Soteriology is the study of salvation. How we are actually saved is an interesting thing to study. It is not the same as, what should we do once we are saved, or what must we do to be saved, but rather, the actual in depth search of what actually happens when a person truly puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and what must occur in order for that to be able to transpire.

Let’s look at this verse in detail…Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith…what does this mean? Let me use an extra-biblical analogy to try to convey the meaning in a way that may make it understandable. I could say,

To get to the fair you travel in your car using Main street.

You would know exactly what that means. Check this out:

The fair is your destination or end result, the goal, if you will.

Main street is the avenue that makes the goal reachable or attainable, it is the “way there” in a sense.

Your car is the mechanism by which you travel along the avenue or path to the goal, the fair.

So it is by car that you can make your way down Main Street to get to the fair. Reading into my analogy more we can see that the fair is representative of somewhere you are not. The fair is not a place you already are, thus, you must travel to go there. No one is at the fair except God (Romans 3:23).

The car is your tool, or mechanism, for getting there. Arriving at the fair requires that you operate the car. You must first desire to go to the fair, and then you must exercise your ability to make the car go, in order to get there.

You also need to know how to get there, in other words, you must know the right path. Thus, we have Main street. (notice there is only one way provided in my analogy) . Understand that you cannot create Main street. Main street must exist already, otherwise my car, and even knowledge of the fair, are useless to me. Main street must be provided for you to even be able to drive your car to the fair.

Let me apply this analogy to the scripture, what would that mean for our verse?

Saved, or salvation, is the destination, goal or end result like the fair.

Grace is the avenue that makes the goal reachable. Like Main Street, it’s the ONLY way to the end result, salvation.

Faith is the mechanism by which you travel to the goal, which is salvation. Faith is analogous to the car.

Just as I stated above, no one is “saved” by default, we are not “there.” Faith, like the car, is a tool that we use to meet the goal, and it must be exercised by us and we must desire to exercise it.

Grace is the right and only path. Grace is not something that we could effect ourselves, and knowledge of grace is useless without the exercise of faith. Knowing that grace is the way to salvation is not sufficient to be saved. Demons know that (James 2:19), and so do many cults and false religions that teach a grace that turns liberty into license to do whatever you desire! No, you must have faith, faith that overcomes. Faith that results in a changed life. Just as I will know you have a car when I see you drive somewhere, your faith will be known by the fruit it produces. (Mt 7:13-23)

“…and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” What is the gift of God? It seems that the gift of God must be either “salvation”, “grace” or “faith,” (faith in this verse is best described as “saving faith”). Can the gift be “grace”? Grace is the unmerited favor of God on sinners; yes, and since He is not compelled by any outside force to provide it, it is a gift in a sense, but that is not what Paul is describing here. Paul states “by grace.” Grace, as stated earlier is the path or avenue made available, not the gift itself. “Salvation” is definitely a gift, is it not? (Romans 6:23) The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But is salvation the gift spoken of here? Let’s look at the faith you have if you are saved. According to the first 7 verses of chapter 2 of Ephesians (Eph 2:1-7), you were a slave to sin, controlled by the power of this world, a servant to your sin. Dead in trespasses and sin! Faith, the saving faith that brings a person in right standing through Christ is also a gift of God! What Paul is making clear is that saving faith is not of yourselves it is a gift from God to you. You could have no more mustered saving faith while a sinner than Lazarus could have raised himself from the dead. It required a life-giving power that we do not have!

It seems like being saved is the gift of God spoken of in Ephesians 2:8-9. To read otherwise into the text, as tempting as it may be is putting something there that isn’t there, in my interpretation. But it is also clear, given the context, that the faith we exercise is also not of ourselves, that the heart regeneration that is necessary to be able to exercise saving faith (John 3:3, 6:63, 1 Cor 2:14) is also “of God.” That no man seeks God (Romans 3:10-12) and that saving faith must be a gift from God.

Notice that I did not say that your fruit IS your faith, or that you can create the faith by the fruit. Faith comes first. Just as the only way for me to see you driving the car is for you to get in and drive it, the only way for anyone to see your faith is for you to exercise it. And that brings us to the rest of the verse…Nor is it the result of a work that you could do. Our salvation is through faith, a gift from God, NOT of works, which would require payment. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord Romans 6:23.

What is faith? Faith is knowledge, belief and trust. Think about it, you cannot believe that which you do not know, and you cannot trust in that which you do not believe. James 2:19 makes it clear that there are those that “believe” but are not saved, so being born again includes implicity trusting Christ as redeemer.

Follow me along a thought process a moment…For a man to have the ability to exercise saving faith and NOT do it would be sin. And for a man to have the ability to exercise saving faith and to do so would be the opposite of sin! Well, let’s see here, if you are “not sinning,” would you not have some reason to boast? If you, unlike your neighbor who does not exercise his faith or use his ability to believe Christ, have now believed, then praise You! What a great job you’ve done turning from your sin and choosing to believe God instead of man and the devil himself! Why, when you preach, you should be making sure to tell people of how you converted yourself from an unbelieving sinner into a faithful disciple, for the ability was always there, you just finally chose it. And how much better you are than your neighbor or coworker, who, having sufficient knowledge and built-in ability to believe has rejected (not trusted) the Savior!

What I’ve done is show you that if FAITH is not a gift from God; that if men, by their nature, can believe and be saved, then saved men have reason to boast! Because the salvation they have acquired is the due result of the faith they’ve exercised of their own power. But Paul makes clear in Eph 2:9 that THERE IS NO ROOM FOR BOASTING. That if you are saved it is wholly and undeniably the work of God. Couple that with the understanding of man’s depraved state, Jeremiah 17:9, and the need to be born again (John 3:3-7), it is clear that even faith is a provision of God.

What does this mean? It means you can REST ASSURED that your faith will overcome! 1 John 5:4-5, Romans 8:28-30. You do not need to worry about whether you will “hold on” if you have been granted that faith. For it is secure and eternal and it is not a work you could do, and now that you have it, you cannot do otherwise. You can share the gospel and sleep well, for you know that it is not up to you to manipulate another person’s will to exercise saving faith for their life. You know that saving faith will be God’s gift to them, and that faith comes by hearing the word of Christ (Rom 10:17). You do not need to water down God’s message, nor do you need to spice it up or make it more interesting or exciting. Nothing you can do will “stir up” saving faith in another, EXCEPT sharing God’s truth as meekly, temperately, boldly and lovingly as you can, and trusting that He can and will bring the increase. Pray that God will change you as you do this!

Maybe you’ve read this and you are thinking, “I don’t have this saving faith. How do I get it?” You may understand well enough that it is only up to God to grant it to you. And now you are mad or frustrated by this. Maybe you resent the God that hasn’t showered you with His unmerited favor. Instead dear fellow sinner, throw yourself before the throne of grace and beg for God’s mercy, ask Him to make you love Him and trust Christ alone, the invitation is open!

Luke 18:13-14

13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Hebrews 13:8

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Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Wow! How can our finite minds even begin to comprehend this? Let’s face it, we only understand things on a limited level. What a contrast to God whose understanding is infinite – Ps 147:5. Jesus Christ has never changed, and never will. While we are blown around by the latest wind, He is immutable, Is 64:6; Malachi 3:6 – I am the Lord, I change not!

But this verse is packed with more than Mal 3:6. This verse is another affirmation of the deity of Jesus Christ. Just as he himself declares in John 8:58 (before Abraham was, I am), and just as He is pictured throughout scripture as Lord of lords and King of kings, (Rev 19:6,16), and as He stated in Revelation 1, He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. Jesus is God, has always been God and always will be God. This is not easy to understand and many cults have obscured this view!

Let’s take a look at some of the confusing issues, taking the scripture and see if we can make some sense of things.

Some will say that according to John 3:16, if Jesus is God the Father’s son, then Jesus was “born” or that he is a created being. Jehovah’s Witnesses employ this strategy. But does this make any sense? Jesus as the firstborn among many brethren Romans 8:29…does this prove that He is created, rather than eternal? I think that people are applying human reasoning to scriptural things. The fact is that I no more made my own son than I make any cell in my body. That Jesus was begotten of the father doesn’t mean that he was created, but rather that he is of the same nature, cut from the same fabric to use a phrase we understand today. Contrary to declaring Christ as a creation, this emphatically declares Christ as one with the Father, fully God (John 10:30). We must always remember to get our view of scripture from scripture, not from human wisdom applied to scripture (Proverbs 14:12).

Let’s look at scripture again. Scripture is quite clear that Jesus is worthy of all our praise and worship, that He alone deserves honor and praise and glory and that he will receive it for all eternity. Revelation 5:12-14

12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

14And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

…That being said, for God to speak so disdainfully about worshipping the creature rather than the creator in Romans 1:25 would be contradictory to the plain fact that Christ (the lamb of God from John 1:29) is worshipped for eternity if Christ were a created being! Let me repeat that another way…God cannot and will not contradict Himself…In Romans 1, He is clearly calling men unrighteous who have worshipped “creatures” rather than the “Creator”, yet Christ is constantly worshipped in scripture! So Christ could not be created…if you believe the Bible!

Refer to Colossians 1:16 and John 1:1-3. Really…mouse over those references and read words! All things were made by Him and all things are held together by Him. Nothing that was made was not made by Him! It is so clear, He is the maker of all the earth (including all men!). Why do men insist on denying this? Romans 1:18 – so that men may continue to indulge in the sin they love. For if it is acknowledged that Christ is creator, then he is also the rightful judge and we are all accountable. And frankly, we are all in trouble, for we all have sinned. Our situation is hopeless except for the fact that he chose to save us by becoming a man and taking on the shame of the cross in order to satisfy the Holy Righteous judgment that is required for sin.

So how do I explain that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and forever, yet he became a man? This makes no sense to us in human terms! Because we live within and are constrained by the confines of this thing called time. Time is something that Jesus is not subject to and never has been subject to. Christ lives outside of time, and sacrificed himself before the foundations of the world. He elected to save us before he even created the world. (Eph 1:4) He was not surprised by Adam’s sin, nor by yours. Jesus is unchanging because He is God. God is unchanging because He cannot improve, He is already perfect, and He cannot degrade, as the result of His perfection. He became incarnate to reveal himself to us, but He is immutable, unchanging. His thoughts of you have never changed, His Word has never changed and will never pass away (Luke 16:17)

The fact that Jesus is God necessitates that He is immutable! If He was changeable, then He would be imperfect.

Dear Christian, this is a great comfort! When you sin as a Christian, (and you will, by the way), you can remember that God already knew you would sin after being saved. Oh, it is one thing to realize that he knew the evil you would do before you were saved and to be excited about the fact that He would save you by grace in spite of your enmity with him, but it is another level of joy to know that He saved you knowing the evil you would still commit in your heart and deeds AFTER giving you the promise of forgiveness. To know that he has provided you with the means to trample on His grace, to suffer the shame of seeing Christians everywhere drag his name into mud, but because of his great love and patience 2 Peter 3:9, and for His name’s sake would save you from your sin, and the consequence of that sin, what unspeakable mercy! What love. Oh how hard is it for us to forgive others in this world. And how impossible it would be for us to forgive someone if we knew they would “do it again!” But Jesus commanded that we do so continiously, and we can and should, because He does!

So Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever. Be comforted, brothers and sisters, the same God that spent His life on that cross for you is still your advocate (1 John 2:1), His intercession on your behalf is eternal (Heb 7:25, 9:24-25), and based in His great Love and His faithfulness. Now enjoy the fruit of this love and walk in obedience to Him, joyfully, for his yoke is not burdensome!

Matthew 11:28-30

28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

1 John 5:3-4

3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
4For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Deuteronomy 6:5

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Deuteronomy 6:5 – And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy strength, and with all thy might.

I know all scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16), and thus, it is all the words of Jesus Christ because He is GOD (John 10:30, John 8:58). But for some reason, and maybe it’s a good reason, the fact that He actually referred to this verse while walking as a man seems significant. If you are a red-letter Bible reader, you’ll see this verse quoted loosely, by the King himself in Matthew 22:37.

In context (Matthew 22:35-40), Jesus was responding to questions concering the law. The law of God is an exhibition of His perfection. Let me note for you, dear reader, that God DOES NOT OBEY THE LAW. God is not subject to anything…the law is, rather, a manifestion of that which He essentially is. His perfect standard is not arbitrary either; it emanates from His perfect attributes of faithfulness, love, mercy, grace, justice, humility and righteousness to name a few…all controlled by His incomprehensible holiness, His altogether “different-from-everythingness,” if you will.

Nevertheless, Christ says the whole law of God can be summed up in two phrases, love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, strength and might and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Taking just the verse at hand for this week, we can see how the first 4 of the 10 commandments very clearly are encapsulated by this simple phrase. Having no other gods, not worhshipping idols, using God’s name with respect (see my blog about commandment #3 Exodus 20:7) and honoring the sabbath (resting in God’s provision and not the works of our own hands); these are all examples of loving God as commanded in Deuteronomy 6:5.

In fact, the rest of the commandments all show a love for God as well, for without Love for Him, how would you love and obey His law anyway? His commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3-5) BECAUSE regenerate hearts LOVE the law, because the law reflects His glory and perfection. Loving God means loving the things He loves, taking delights in the things in which He takes delight and, contrary to much of the teaching of today, hating that which He also hates.

Dear Christian reader, do not fall into the “God is love so he cannot hate” trap set by wolves and the devil himself. Humans have made a mess of everything that God has made, hate included. The fact that we hate with a self-centered self-righteous hatred makes it so ugly that we cannot imagine a God that acts as we do. And He does not! He hates, as we do, but with a perfect hatred, a Holy hatred. A hatred that gives us hope that the wrath poured out on Christ is actually effectual for the souls of His dear elect. A hatred that gives us hope in this life that there is redemption and vindication for His children who suffer. (1 Corinthians 15:19 ) Oh yes, God hates, thank God for that! Ps 7:11, Ps 5:5, Proverbs 6:16

Finally, dear brother or sister, I want you to be encouraged. If God has saved you, you do love Him, not as much as you will tomorrow, I hope, but you do. And as hard as it is to see through your own sin, you must know that your imperfect love for him is perfect in Christ, where you rest today (in obedience to the 4th commandment, mind you!) So pray the prayer I prayed for a week straight a few years ago. It is not a magic prayer, but it was answered for me. I was listening to a teaching on Revelation and the preacher was discussing the church at Ephesus, in chapter 2. The preacher was teaching that the “first love” which had been lost in that church was a love for the Savior, that the people of the church were too busy doing the work of God, and had lost their love for God. He encouraged us to pray daily that God would cause us to love Him more. I prayed that prayer for a week straight. I meant it. And God answered it. Praise His Holy name today for answering prayers according to His perfect will. I trust He will answer that prayer for you too.

Am I a hypocrite? Was I ever?

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Let’s begin by defining the word “hypocrite.” I’ll use the www.m-w.com definition stated below:

Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English ypocrite, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin hypocrita, from Greek hypokritēs actor, hypocrite, from hypokrinesthai
Date: 13th century
1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feeling

Here is a sample of verses that use the word hypocrisy. Note, not all the verses are translated with the word “hypocrisy;” the idea of hypocrisy involves lying or pretending. In fact, the Greek word used is actually the same word used for “Actors!”
Matthew 23:28; Mark 12:15; Luke 12:1; Galatians 2:13; 1 Timothy 4:2; James 5:12; 1Peter 2:1; Luke 20:20

The following verses all depict Jesus calling someone a hypocrite, and always with disdain:
Matthew 6:2,5,16; 7:5; 15:7; 16:3; 22:18; 23:13,23:14,23:15,23:23,23:25,23:27,23:29; 24:51; Mark 7:6; Luke 6:42; 11:44; 12:56; 13:15;

I point this out for one reason, and that is to show that if prevalence of occurrence in the Bible means anything at all, (and I’m convinced it does), hypocrisy is one of the worst sins imaginable. It is mentioned, especially by Jesus’ own mouth during the incarnation as often as other sins for which I’ve searched.

So what’s the point of this post then? Well, I’m here to say that I was never a hypocrite! As long as I went about my life before Christ, I never had a false appearance of religion. I really acted in harmony with my stated beliefs. In fact, one of the fears I have of the result of evolutionary teaching is that we will raise a nation of people who are not hypocrites, but have the false belief in molecules to man evolution! People who are taught and believe that they are nothing more than animals fighting to survive end up being able to justify horrible atrocities like school shootings, theft and lying and cheating, and adultery.

Don’t misquote me, I’m not saying that ONLY people who believe in evolution commit these sins; I’m saying that an evolutionary belief system allows a person to justify these acts, as these acts are not wrong according to their worldview! And I, being a good evolutionist, God-hating American before His grace took over, was never a hypocrite. In fact, my only goal in life was the pursuit of hedonism and I sought it fervently. Oh, if we all sought Christ with the fervency we clung to and pursued sin!

Here’s my concern then. The only reason I was NOT a hypocrite before, is that I had no standard in the first place! I couldn’t “live below” my own standards, (hypocrisy means to “under judge” in a sense), because my standards were so low that would be impossible. In fact, the closest I came to hypocrisy was if I would restrain myself from immediate pleasure, which I learned to do, but only because I thought it was best for me; never was it for the sake of righteousness.

The fear now is that I actually have standards, so hypocrisy is easily accessible to me! For the first time in my life, I am not only claiming to believe in a high standard of righteousness, but I am preaching it. My fall will be much further now than ever before. So I must be on guard. This is interesting to me. I mean, when I was saved, I had so much despicable sin in my life that I was fending off; the thought of fending off a new sin was out of the question. And now, I’ve realized that this new sin is one I’ve never dealt with. Ultimately the sin is pride and deceit. Hypocrisy, at its root, denies the omnipresence and omniscience of God. It is an act of putting what other men think of me OVER what God thinks. I can lie and deceive men into thinking I am better than I am, but not God.

True hypocrites, in their hearts believe they are deceiving both, even if they don’t know that’s what they believe. The hypocrites of Jesus’ day, the Pharisees, were outwardly very religious. In fact, they professed many things that were truly righteous acts, but in their hearts they still sinned. Being able to clean up the outside is easy, what none of us can do is cleanse our own hearts; that requires the work of the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah 17:9, John 6:63, 1 Corinthians 2:14

Some will read this and say, He is a hypocrite! I know he’s sinned! True, but I don’t think that a single sin makes a person a hypocrite, even if it was presumptuous. The nature of hypocrisy, (as well as the other sins mentioned in the New Testament that truly regenerate men are now free of) is that the sin is continuous; that is, there is a pattern of sin in the man’s life. Christians still sin, but in their hearts, there is a change. The desire or need to cover their own sin, to hide it from God and even other men is gone. Laying our sins at the foot of the cross, walking humbly and trusting Christ alone for forgiveness, not our own works or penance is what separates believers from non-believers, the righteous from the wicked. Have I violated God’s commands, yes! Have I violated commands that I’ve even preached or taught others they should not violate? Yes! I’m not proud of this, I’m ashamed. But the point is that the law of God is righteous and true regardless of this servant’s inability to perfectly follow. Dear Christian, do your best and rely on Christ. Work hard to study to know His Word that you might not sin. (Psalm 119:11) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

In conclusion, I was not a hypocrite, by the Grace of God and largely due to my own lack of righteousness. I never was a false convert. Am I a hypocrite today? I’m sure at times I have been, but my heart’s intention now is to be cleansed and forgiven, and because God is just, I know I am cleansed and forgiven. Romans 8:1, 1 John 1:9

Please don’t make the mistakes I’ve made; allow God to search your heart for the hidden sin that is in you, that you might never be accurately called a hypocrite.

Here are some examples of hypocrisy you may search for in your own heart:

Do you speak or preach against sin such as homosexuality, yet foster lust in your heart or even act it out? This includes heterosexual pornography, sex outside marriage, even “just looking.”

Do you tell people they should be out witnessing or passing out tracts and you don’t do it yourself?

Do you tell people to trust God in all things, like their finances or when they’re sick, but there are still areas of your life where you don’t fully trust Him, like your workplace or your marriage?

Do you fantasize about certain sins that appeal more to you, while showing disdain for the sins of others that maybe aren’t as big an issue for you? For example, maybe you think about getting drunk on alcohol, and you think it’s not a big deal because you aren’t actually doing it, but then if your spouse was thinking about another person, you’d be pretty offended wouldn’t you?

Do you tell people they should worship the one true God, and then you participate in activities like yoga or listening to music or watching movies that blasphemes God’s name or depicts sin in an enticing, attractive manner?

Ultimately, do you tell people that you love Jesus; that you are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, and then live a life the exhibits a greater love for the things in this world that the things of God? 1 John 2:15-17

Do not do these things! Repent – change your mind about your sin and give it to God. He can carry the entire burden; he already has! Christ has paid it all, and He wants it all, and He deserves it all, all your life that is! Today is the day of salvation for someone, and for many it will be the day to enter eternity; where will you spend it?

Evangelizing the “Church of Christ”

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On two separate days in a row, I had the opportunity to evangelize a person who attended the “Church of Christ.” I experienced two completely opposite reactions. This intrigued me, and I was glad for the boldness that God provided, because it offered a graceful surprise in my life.

First of all, what is the Church of Christ? I do not think I am misrepresenting their beliefs if I state that they believe that baptism is a requirement for salvation. That is, true followers of the “Church of Christ” believe that until one is baptized, God has not imparted His grace to the believer, and thus, it is impossible for a person to go to heaven without that cooperation with God. The following link best describes their position and wikipedia seemed informative as well.

I’m not going to use this post to disprove their doctrine. Suffice to say it is a false teaching. If you are not planning on continuing reading for whatever reason, let me just state the salvation is in Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone. Man cannot add to Christ’s work on his behalf.

The first encounter was yesterday, June 24, 2010. I was at the ODOT main campus on the Hilltop. My wife and I had just bought a minivan and were going to do the title and license plate registration. Praise God for providing so abundantly for my family, by the way! Anyway, I stepped out of my car and a confused looking man was asking directions. I showed him where his building was and I then offered him a tract. He accepted it and said something to the effect of following the Lord as well. “Praise God,” I said.

So my wife and I went into the BMV, completed the work and left. Now the man almost seemed to be waiting for me in the parking lot. He came out and said “you’re pretty aggressive for the Lord.” He asked me what church I go to and I told him Berean Baptist Church on the East side. He told me he was raised Baptist. This always intrigues me…like people feel they’ll identify with me in some way. I’ve learned that most of the times I hear that it’s because the person has left…which interests me because it is usually for a reason. Now I’m not saying only Baptists are saved…but I do agree with the doctrine that is taught and believed. So for a person to tell me they “used to be Baptist” basically means they probably disagree about something I find biblical and important!

At this point I asked him what type of church he goes to now. He replied, Church of Christ. Ahhhh, my little alarm sirens went off in my head and I replied to him, “you know, the Church of Christ teaches that in order to be saved, one has to be baptized.” He nodded in agreement. So I told him that on the Day of Judgment there is going to be a group of people who are judged by their works and another group judged based on the imputed righteousness of Christ. He nodded in agreement. Then I told him that by putting his faith in his baptism, he has effectively put himself in the second group; that Christ alone is the basis for salvation and that the gospel he believes is a false gospel, or not a gospel at all. (Galatians 1:6-7, 1 Corinthians 1:17)

Long story short, at this point he stormed off. He was clearly frustrated or angry. This is what happens when your foundation is shaken. It’s like an earthquake. The Earth is our foundation. When it is shaken, like an earthquake, it is not only very frightening, but it is dangerous. The very thing that is supporting us physically, when it is not firm and solid becomes a point of tragedy. The same is true of people’s spiritual beliefs. If you question someone’s spiritual beliefs and get them to question them themselves, their very foundation is shaken. The first reaction of most people whose foundations are shaking is to cling to something; anything that they think is anchored. In the case of one’s spiritual foundation shaking, I think the first reaction of many people is to attack or get very angry at the person who is causing the “foundation-shaking.” I find this very common with religious people. The one thing I like about people who truly embrace postmodernism thought is that if they genuinely “practice what they preach” they are usually the most respectful people of my beliefs. But someone who is deeply steeped in a religion or cult, they are most offended when it is questioned. But at least that means they understand the message. When someone isn’t shaken up, I am concerned about them.

Thanks be to God that we inherit an unshakable kingdom! Hebrews 12:27-28

So today, I encountered Peter Ramirez. I spent too much time after work chatting with a coworker about cellphones. Had I not done this I wouldn’t have run into Peter. Isn’t God’s sovereignty comforting?

Peter is homeless and staying at Faith on Sixth. He is selling a homeless newspaper where he makes about 10 dollars a day. He had a look of genuineness to him when he approached me so I took some time to talk to him. Before we spoke for even a minute, he told me that I must be a Christian because I had such a humble spirit.

Hold on, PRAISE JESUS because that is NOT ME and didn’t COME FROM ME. To God alone be all the glory for that work.

Anyway, he told me he brings his sword everywhere and pulled out his Bible to show me. He was very excited to meet another Christian. He showed me a picture of Peter II, his son, for whom any believers out there can also pray! Thanks! (Proverbs 15:29, James 5:16, John 14:6 and Proverbs 28:9 are some of the reasons I only request prayer of truly regenerate souls, by the way, in case you wondered 🙂

Then I asked him where he is going to church. He replied, “Church of Christ on Livingston.” Now my little heart probably skipped a little. He seemed so nice and genuine. Many homeless people learn to play parts, in order to manipulate people to give them things. I didn’t sense that with this guy. I’ve had my share of experience with people of all walks of life from my past. My flesh said, don’t bother, he’s just going to get mad like the other guy and cause a scene. But my faith, (which, by the way is a gift of God’s grace Ephesians 2:8-9) said that the power of God is the gospel (Romans 1:16) and that God’s Word is the source (Romans 10:17, Is 40:8, 55:11). So I looked at him and told him what I explained above. I told him that the Church of Christ teaches that baptism is required for salvation. I told him that I knew that ONLY faith in Christ would credit our account with His righteousness. What a relief when he completely agreed and was glad. My heart rejoiced! I warned him to be very careful and that he should probably find a different church that preaches the Truth. We chatted several more minutes and he told me how I had encouraged him today. Praise God for that. I even mentioned to him that I had been a source of discouragement for so many for so long, that God alone deserves praise for His work in me! Ephesians 2:10, Colossians 2:9-10

The power is in The Word, dear Christian reader! It is not your cleverness, your good looks or your persuasive speech. In fact, if people are wooed by your preaching or evangelism, there’s a chance you’re not actually preaching Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, foolishness to the world that considers itself wise already! (1 Corinthians 1:23-25) But to those who are the called, the wisdom of God! Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-28 (For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: (27) But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; (28) And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: KJV) Are you ready to admit you are one of the foolish things of the world? Are you weak? Are you one of the BASE THINGS, things which are despised? If you cannot admit this, then maybe you are not part of the chosen! Inspect yourself and decide if your pride is more important than God’s Glory and come to Him for mercy, for it is abundant!

Peter is a lover of Jesus Christ who needs our prayer!