Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Making Sense Out Of Jesus – When You Think That Your Gospel Might Be Better Than God’s

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”. – 1 Corinthians 2:14

I had an interesting conversation with a young Believer the other day. I guess more revealing that interesting.  We were driving to my “home away from home”, Home Depot, to buy some materials for his home. As we left, we noticed some people walking from house to house with what appeared to be Bibles in their hands.  He said,  “Those are Jehovah’s Witnesses.”  Isn’t that a great name?  My BLOG is not the forum to go into detail about their beliefs.  He said that he enjoys talking to them and Mormons.  He is interested in what they have to say.  That they both talk about Jesus.  I told him that just because someone says Jesus, it may not be the same Jesus that he knows.

That conversation morphed into his belief that God will not turn away people of other faiths.  People who are sincere about their faith.  It just didn’t make sense to him that God would do that. I asked him if he was familiar with John 14:6.  I suspected not and was correct in my thinking.

Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6

That truth cemented with this truth.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” – John 1:1-5

Those to whom the Spirit of God had not given revelation to the Truth do not understand that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and He is the only way to the Father. That doesn’t leave much room for other religions and those who sincerely follow those religions.

Now let’s couple that conversation with another person this week who was talking about his denomination struggling with the issue of same sex marriage.  Legitimizing what the Bible says is sin.  It could be some other sin that a denomination or an individual chooses to embrace as acceptable.  It is the nature of human reasoning to ask “Did God really say ….?” (fill in the ….)   The root of that question comes from the Garden.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”” – Genesis 3:1

So I wasn’t surprised by either conversation. When Christians choose to embrace human reasoning – cultural conventions – as preeminent over the Word of God, there are no limits to the heresies that ensue.  Their hearts abandon the Truth and are given over to natural wisdom. In this country we are inundated with the messages that what God says is wrong – sin – is not really wrong, it is simply a choice – another way to live or pursue God.  It is normal and good.

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!” – Isaiah 5:20

The Church in the United States is losing its way.  Just as has happened in Great Britain and Europe, so we, too, are following that spiritually treacherous path that leads away from Truth. Step by step.  Concession by concession.

“‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men.” – Mark 7:7-8

Think about what you embrace as acceptable and right that is, in truth, contrary to the Truth – the Word of God.  If you choose to look to the culture for truth and what seems reasonable, you have fallen victim to Satan’s deception.  The same subversion of the Truth that started in the Garden.

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