Christian Messages

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"And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,-"
(Romans 12:2)
" Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this:
to visit orphans and widows in their trouble,
and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."
(James 1:27)

One of the most effective weapons used against Christians is the world. Prior to salvation we act and interact according to the world and its ways. We become tainted with its ways. Its philosophy is our philosophy. After salvation we are called to leave behind all the worldly ways, its thinking and mis-thinking, etc. It's a very tall order and hard to do; yet, we can do it if we rely on help from Our Heavenly Father. The ways of this world are contrary to God's ways. To be a follower of the world is to be an enemy of God.
" Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." James 4:4
Over the years we have seen countless examples of the ways of the world being used to destroy the effectiveness of the Christian witness.

The Crusades and the Inquisitions are prime examples. In God's name people were slaughtered, tortured, and maimed. Today, setting aside the politics, we see much the same going on in Northern Ireland and Israel. On another level, we see an all out attempt being made to conform Jesus Christ's Church to the ways of this world. There are many trying to interject worldly rights and freedoms into its philosophy and beliefs. Some of the most pervasive concepts that have been and are being introduced are:
--It doesn't matter what you do, or how you do it, as long as your goal is good. The Crusades and Inquisitions were rooted in this concept. Today, we have psychological and physical terrorism being conducted in God's name in the anti-abortion camp.
--I have the right to be a Christian and also have the freedom to live the way I want, even if it is contrary to God's standards.
--The concept that the 'Old Testament God' is different from the 'God of New Testament." This is a lot more subtler than the first two; because, left unsaid is that this indicates that God's standards are now different.
There are quite a few more, but I think that you can see the outcome of things being tainted by the world and its ways.

The Apostle Paul fought this same fight against worldly ways. In his Epistle to the Colossians, chapt. 2, verse 8, he admonishes and warns them,
" Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."

The purpose behind the admonitions not to be partakers of, nor tainted by, the world and its ways is summed up in Philippians 2:15,
" That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."

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"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-collector.
The Pharisee stood and prayed within himself in this way: God, I thank You that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. "
" And standing afar off, the tax-collector would not even lift up his eyes to Heaven, but struck on his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner! "
Luke 18:10-11 & 13

The attitude exhibited by the Pharisee was that he was superior to, or better than, the tax collector. How often we fall in to much the same mind set. We don't think of it being the same thing; but, every time we look down our noses at some person or group; sneer at, belittle, poke fun at, or ridicule others and their actions or beliefs; or engage in hate, we are the same as the Pharisee in Jesus' Gospel teaching. All of the actions mentioned are based on a sense of superiority. The "I'm better than that guy", mentality has no place in our Christian lives.

The tax-collector on the other hand exhibited a sense of humility and dependence upon God. He knew and acknowledged what he and every person ever born (both saved and unsaved) are, "a sinner." The only exception being Jesus Christ. Throughout the New Testament we are told to act with meekness, humility, kindness and love. All these traits are opposed to a sense of superiority, which by our human nature we strive for.

"I tell you, this man (the tax-collector) went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself shall be abased, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. "
Luke 18:14

The moral which Jesus wants us to glean from these verses is shown in vs. 14. By acting superior we are exalting ourselves while setting aside the fact that we really are nothing more than sinners- saved not by our own doing, but by God's grace. We should 'look to ourselves' before we even begin to think about 'casting the first stone.' There will be times when we are required to point out that something is contrary to God's Word; but we must do so in humility, with kindness, meekness, and love -always keeping in mind that we ourselves are nothing more than sinners saved by God.

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"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 1:3)

An important admonition from God's word. In this age of moderation and tolerance, we find some Christians, and groups of Christians, departing from the truth of God's word in an effort to unify the "Christian" religion. The true group of believers in Jesus Christ are already unified in the Body of Christ. They follow Christ's teachings; not, that of some denomination, synod, council, self-proclaimed prophet or church leader.

To be able to "contend for the faith" it is required that you know what you are contending for. To understand your faith it is necessary to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit through reading God's Word, the Holy Bible, prayer, and discussing it with other Christians. How else will you know if a teaching is in accordance with Jesus' Gospel; or, if it has been subtlety changed to further man's ideas of religion?

It is not enough to know your faith; we are required to "contend earnestly" for that faith 'in season and out'. We tend to view 'contention' more as a confrontation than simply raising an objection. Basically, what Paul is telling us is that, relying on Scripture, we need to question what we are being led to believe. It doesn't matter if it comes from the Lectern, Pulpit, etc., it doesn't matter if you hear it from a Doctor of Divinity, an Evangelist, Priest, teacher, Deacon, etc., Paul tells us to question the teaching to see if it agrees with the Bible. How are we to do this? 2 Co 6:4&6, gives us the example.
"In much patience, in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned-."
Certainly not with an air of superiority, enmity, confrontation, or in a derisive manner; but in gentleness and humility holding true to the Word of God, the Bible. In our zeal, we sometimes forget the example given us, and our witness becomes ineffective and useless.

May the blessings, love and joy of the Lord always be with you!

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"-He first loved us."
(1Jo 4:19)

God loved us long before we loved Him. Do we somehow deserve His Love? Are we so irresistably lovable that He just couldn't resist loving us?

"But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. "
"For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. "
(Romans 5:8 & 10

The answers to the questions in the first paragraph are answered with a resounding, 'NO!' by the above verses. All mankind is born an enemy of God.
"For to be carnally minded is death, ... the carnal mind is enmity against God-" (Romans 8:6-7)
Being God's enemies we don't deserve, nor can we earn, His love. There is nothing we can do to merit the love of God.

So why is it that God loves His children, even while they are His enemies? The answer can be found in Eph 1:5 and Luke 12:32;
"-having predestined us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, "
"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
Simply put, 'He loved us because He wanted to'. 'He has made us heirs because it pleased Him to do so'. The choice is solely Our Almighty Father's; we have nothing to do with it.

This unmerited, and unconditional, love from God should inspire us to action.
"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. " (John 15:12)
" You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt 22:39)

The true bench mark of a Christian is love.
"If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if he does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" (1 John 4:20)
Love is the standard that Our Father requires of us.

In closing, let me leave you with the words of Our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ, recorded in Matthew 5:43-44;

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy'. But I say to you, 'Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you-."

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" Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation."
(Mark 16:15)

This command by Jesus Christ to all His followers comes with the understanding that our proclamation should be both in word and in the manner in which we live and act.

The corruption, misapplication, and misunderstanding of this Biblical verse, has led to many actions and statements which are not in accordance with the teachings of Holy Scripture. let's look at two areas of this Gospel verse: the manner in which the proclamation is to be made; and what this verse means and does not mean.

The Manner of Proclamation
How we proclaim the Gospel is defined by Scripture.
"You are the light of the world.--Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven. " (Matt 5:14 & 16)

" But the servant of the Lord must not strive, but to be gentle to all, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those who oppose, if perhaps God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth-." (2 Tim 2:24-25)

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender feelings of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, .....And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. " (Col 3:12-14)

All of us, from the newly re born up to and including teachers, pastors, & church leaders, are called to be gentle, kind and meek, acting in love and kindness, so that our proclamation of the Gospel is done in such a manner that it 'glorifies Our Heavenly Father'. It doesn't matter if the proclamation is being made among believers or to the rest of 'creation' and this glorification should be apparent to the hearer or observer.

The Meaning of the Verse
The meaning is simply what it says, "proclaim the gospel" (spread the knowledge of it). It has been used as a basis for statements such as,
'We need to win souls for Christ'
'Let's go out and bring people to God'
'We need to bring in the lost sheep', etc.
None of which are true, and only serve to give man an ego boost, increasing his sense of importance. It is God, and God alone, who is the source of, and brings people to, salvation. God alone saves souls! We merely are tasked with proclaiming the Gospel. It is God, through the Holy Spirit, who awakens people to the Gospel message and brings them to repentance. Let's give all the glory for salvation to God, who justly deserves it.

The manner and meaning of proclamation reveals that all of us, including the following need to examine and re focus:
-The showman in the pulpit or at the lectern.
-The misguided street preacher, who screams the word with salutations such as 'heathen, whore, etc.'
-Demonstrators who are loud and unruly and resort to psychological, and even physical, terrorism.
-Christians who are obnoxious in proclaiming the word.
-Church leaders who are wrapped up in their own sense of importance.
There are many more instances but the above gets the point across. What some see as zeal and commitment to God and their concept of bringing glory to Him, is in direct opposition to His Word.

We need to learn from Our Heavenly Father's instructions and pursue the standards He has set for 'ALL' His Children.

" But you, O man of God,--follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness."
(1 Timothy 6:11)

"But also in this very thing, bringing in all diligence, filling out your faith with virtue, and with virtue, knowledge; and with knowledge self-control, and with self-control, patience, and with patience, godliness, and with godliness, brotherly kindness, and with brotherly kindness, love. "
(2 Peter 1:5-7)

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