1Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

We discussed above that it is salvation that Jesus talked about as being impossible for men, but possible with God.  You may have tried in your own strength and wisdom to comprehend the Bible and even to live like a Christian and found yourself greatly discouraged and frustrated.  Such was the case with me.  You cannot rightly understand the gospel, nor respond to it, in and of your own desire or striving.  It must be spiritually understood, and this can only be granted as a gift from God.  Our lack of capability serves a glorious purpose: “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1Cor 1:29),”and “that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1Cor 2:5).”

 So God would ask that you pray throughout reading this for understanding and conviction regarding His truth the gospel of His Son.  The next section is vitally important, because if you will not humble yourself then God will not cause you to spiritually understand and obey any of these calls.  Therefore, pray even that He would work to humble you.

His Call For You To Humble Yourself as a Sinner

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).”  Whoever is good and worthy in his own eyes, and exalts himself above the knowledge of God, is thereby excluded from Jesus Christ as long as they remain in that state.  He will oppose them until by His grace they recognize their need of forgiveness.  But He gives grace to the humble; He “lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with…the princes of his people (Psalm 113:7-8).”  The one who mourns over his sin will be comforted by God (Matt 5:4), and the one who recognizes that he is “poor,” having no spiritual resources of his own, will be given the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5:3).”

Jesus Christ said “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:31).”  If you are not a sinner, then the Lord Jesus Christ simply did not come for you.  But the truth is that we are all sinners, because the Bible makes it clear that “no one is righteous (Romans 3:11).”  God wants us to take a long, hard look at ourselves in the light of Him and of His standards, so that we will see as deeply as possible that we have fallen hopelessly short of the glory of God. 

At this point some may think that God is not willing to forgive them because they have sinned so terribly much.  If we all saw ourselves accurately, we would each confess that we do not deserve His love and mercy.  We would cry out with Isaiah the prophet “Woe is me!  For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts (Is 6:5).”  But grace means that God doesn’t give us what we do deserve: rejection, punishment, and hostility.  Mercy means that God gives us what we don’t deserve: acceptance, forgiveness, and love.  I was worthy of nothing other than the holy and righteous wrath of God, and yet God has chosen not to pour out wrath on me but rather on His own Son, dying in my place. 

1John 4:18-19 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.  We love because he first loved us.”

He loved us first and took away our punishment.  If we come to know Him, being washed in His blood, we will have no more cause to fear His wrath or punishment.  He will love us with a perfect love, and grant us a heart that loves Him in return.  Do you have a heavy load of sins, so shameful you can barely lift your head?  When onlookers scowled as a sinful woman washed Jesus feet with her tears, He responded:

“’Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven- for she loved much.  But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’  And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven (Luke 7:44-48).’”

The greater your recognition of the magnitude of your sins and His worth, the more you will come to adore Him.  This understanding should have made us flee far from Him, but in His mercy He loves for such humbled sinners to cast themselves at His feet.  He can forgive the worst offender freely and completely.  He loves them as His own little children.  As far as the east is from the west, so far He can remove our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12)!  And oh, how we will love Him for this with all of our hearts. 

Acknowledge with your lips that you do not deserve this mercy, and nothing you could ever have done should inspire Christ to have died!  All you or I had to offer Him was sin, and for that He died, and for us.  Remember friends, He loved us while we were His enemies.  Would you, this day, become a lover and worshiper of God with me?  Humble yourself as a sinner before our gracious Saviour.

 “Just as I am and waiting not, to rid my soul of one dark blot, to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come.  Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bids me “Come to Thee,” Oh Lamb of God I come, I come.” – Just As I Am

His Call For You To Repent of Your Sin

I hope you have become like the men whose eyes were opened after having walked and talked with the risen Jesus.  When they realized who it was that had been with them they said “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures (Luke 24:32)?”  I pray that as you have been reading the Lord Himself has been opening your eyes so that your heart would burn within you, and break over your sin and His glory.  I pray you would be “cut to the heart (Acts 2:37)” as so many Israelites were when they realized their blame in crucifying the Christ.  It was you and I as well who put Him there; it was our need of cleansing that required His blood.  We truly repent when we really understand who the true God is, and we turn not only from our deeds but from our idolatrous and man serving thinking about who we vainly imagined that He was.

Unlike the culture’s god, the one true God calls all people everywhere to repent, and to do it now.  “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion (Hebrews 3:15).”  Jesus Christ’s first message preached was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt 4:17).”

Whoever humbles Himself before God, must not only acknowledge his sin, but feel remorseful for having scorned the Lord.  Psalm 51, the “Psalm of Repentance” says “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (v 17).”  Think about how lovely Jesus Christ is, and how majestic His creation.   Wonder at how kind his works are towards the children of men, and how unspeakable his suffering in love on the cross is. 

 “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance (Romans 2:4)” and not to hard hearted presumption upon His mercy.  Let the knowledge of Him lead you to turn away from sin.

2Corinthians 7:10 “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret whereas worldly grief produces death.”  True repentance is born out of a godly grief like this. 

Now what does it mean to repent?  I think of repentance as a forsaking of lesser loves, for the gaining of the greatest and purest love.  It is a shift in your appetites and desires.  To different degrees we have all become like the prodigal son who had stooped so low in his sin that he was beginning to earnestly desire to be fed alongside the pigs.  He had squandered his inheritance on reckless and foolish living and was left with nothing.  His appetite had told him that sin would satisfy, and was worth getting whatever the cost, and no matter who he trampled over as he rushed towards it.  Now left with nothing and hungry, he looked at the pigs that he tended to and envied them.

By the grace of God the prodigal son came to his senses (Luke 15:17), and the lifestyle that once looked to him like a precious pearl now appeared as what is really was: sand that blows away. He returned to his father with a prepared speech: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Treat me as one of your hired servants.” 

What about you?  Repentance is recognizing that the things which once dazzled us, held our cravings, and temporarily dampened our thirst, are nothing short of pig’s slop and even death in light of Jesus Christ.  A person repents when the sin that once satisfied him, contorts before his eyes into the ugly, writhing, black and perilous pit that it truly is.  As a song by Shane and Shane says “To see the Lord, the promised land, where ends all sin, pearly gates look bland, and what was once a pearl (is now) sand, that blows away in light of Him.  Oh go away…in light of Him; Blow away, o waging war of sin.”

Like the prodigal son, we are not worthy to be called sons and daughters of God.  But look at how the Father will respond to whoever repents before Him:  “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him (verse 20),” and the father planned a celebration saying “this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found (verse 24)!”

All of Heaven rejoices, not over the masses of people who are smug in their supposed righteousness, but over “one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10).”  God loves sinners.  He is not reluctant or hesitant to save them.  “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25).”  “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God (1John 3:1).”  For God is “patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2Peter 3:9).”

If you want to know our Father who is in Heaven, be forgiven through his Son and sealed for eternity by the Holy Spirit, then you must forsake your sin.  There are the obvious sins- lying, stealing, premarital sex, cursing and the likes, but beyond this you must forsake your self-centered living.  This thought we will come back to shortly.

His Call For You To Turn To Him and Trust Him Alone

So repentance is a heart attitude of willingness and dedication to turn away from the things that offend the Lord.  It involves turning away from sin, but also turning towards something, rather someone.  Jesus told Paul the target of his preaching was to: “open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me (Acts 26:18).”

We turn away from darkness, but this only leads to forgiveness if we also turn to light.  We can say that we do not follow Satan but this is only possible and leads to salvation if we turn away from Satan towards God. 

So many people today think it is enough to live an outwardly moral life, relatively free from gross and notable sins.  They may have even had a “transformation” and cleaned up their life considerably.  Refer back to the section earlier regarding man’s belief that he can bribe God to forgive him on the basis of his good works.  This way of thinking insults God’s perfect justice, which demands that every sin committed by man must be punished. 

It is not enough to just try and “clean your life up.”  All prior sins and sins to come are punishable by eternal death.  Remember that God requires perfection to enter His kingdom, and we all fall terribly short.  Jesus Christ took our punishment for sin and there is no other way or name under Heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12).

Repentance must be completed by trusting in Christ alone.  1Peter 2:24-25 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By his wounds you have been healed.  For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”  He alone can “forgive… all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.  This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Col 2:13-14).”  We can try to move on from our sins and “put them behind us,” but only Jesus Christ can wipe out the record of them completely before the Father.

What work can you add to his death on the cross?  What tiniest measure can you contribute to help you gain salvation?  The hymn “My Hope Is in the Lord” says it perfectly: 

No merit of my own His anger to suppress.
My only hope is found in Jesus’ righteousness.

And now for me He stands Before the Father’s throne.
He shows His wounded hands and names me as His own.

His grace has planned it all, ‘Tis mine but to believe,
And recognize His work of love and Christ receive.

Romans 4:5 “To the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”

Ephesians 2:9-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

So confess your sins, however many come to mind, before God.  This you can do anytime, anywhere for “there is (only) one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1Tim 2:5).”  Beyond just confession of individual deeds, repent of who you are inside and pray that rather you could be made like Christ.  Cry aloud to Him from your heart and commit that you desire to forsake your sin this day!  Put your faith in Jesus Christ alone, trusting that He paid for your sin, purchased you with His blood, and makes you a new creation.  He alone is can be your righteousness, and the end of all your striving to be worthy of Heaven.   I encourage you to learn this faith anchoring hymn, “Before the Throne Of God Above” and make it be your prayer.  A portion of it is as follows:

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea

A great High Priest whose name is love

Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands

My name is written on His heart

I know that well in Heaven He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart

No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair

And tells me of my guilt within

Upward I look and see Him there

Who made and end of all my sin.

Because the sinless Saviour died,

My sinful soul is counted free

For God the just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me

To look on Him and pardon me.

John 7:37 “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”

Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Romans 10:13 “For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Matthew 16:24 “If anyone would come after me…”

Romans 2:11 says that “God shows no partiality” or in other words that He is no respecter of persons.  He engaged the rich young ruler. Looking at him the Bible says He “loved him (Mark 10:21)” and exposed the idolatry in his heart.  Jesus Christ said that if we hold a banquet we should invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, (and) the blind (Luke 14:13),” because with Him there is no worldly biases.  There is no one beyond the saving reach of Jesus Christ.  He looked at a man that the world had cut off and fled from, who was running naked, violent, suicidal and tormented  among the tombs, and Jesus said to his demons “Go (Matt 8:32)” and they fled.  He restored the wild man, putting him in his “right mind (Mark 5:15)” and made him a beloved child of God.

Jesus Christ calls everyone regardless of race, religion, lifestyle, social status, gender, or age.  No matter how deeply entrenched a person is in their sin or their false beliefs He calls them to forsake it all, no matter the cost, and to follow Him.

But I Thought You Said He Was Exclusive?

Jesus Christ is exclusive in the sense that He is the only way to enter Heaven.  All other ways are therefore “excluded” and dead wrong.  He pointed to Himself as the one and only door that all who enter Heaven must walk through. 

But His gospel call is not meant to exclude anyone.  Romans 10:12-13 says that “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.  For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  But the sobering truth comes in verse sixteen: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel.  For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’”

Jesus Christ is Lord of all, using His followers to proclaim the gospel to whoever “has an ear (Rev 2:29).”  A day will even come when even the angels in Heaven will fly overhead “with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people (Rev 14:6).”  Yet, despite His call, His manifest wisdom and power, and even despite giving men many miraculous signs, they will not all obey the gospel. 

Why will all men not believe?  Why will they not understand and obey?  In the book of John, Jesus Christ clearly explains why:

John 3:19-20 “This is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

John 5:40-44 “You refuse to come to me that you may have life.  I do not receive glory from people.  But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.  I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me.  If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.  How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”

John 8:43-47 “Why do you not understand what I say?  It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.  You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires…Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me…The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Man in his pride, stubbornly refuses to come to Christ.  He does not want to hear hard words about himself, nor does he want to feel guilt about his sin because he holds it dear and repulses at the thought of having to forsake it.  As we discussed above, man does not want a Lord over his life, but rather to vainly strive to have control over his own destiny.  Therefore, it is a common thing for men to hear the gospel and to reject Jesus Christ.

If you are reading this portion, then I want you to know that the call of Jesus Christ which I will put forward is for you.  Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess one day that Jesus Christ is Lord of all the earth (Phil 2:10-11).  How I long that you would bow before Him now in humble submission and not later in fear and sure judgment.  Remember that what I have laid out for you in this book is not a way, but rather the way, and a person: Jesus Christ.  He is calling you and I pray that you would hear His call as if He were nearer to you than your closest friend, so near that He would even be working in your own heart.  He once made Himself plain to me, and so impressed it upon my heart that I must follow Him, that I felt if I turned away then I would surely die.  I pray He will do that for you!  In the next chapter we will consider His call and His requirements.

With Man, This is Impossible.

Matthew 19:23-26 “And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”  But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.””

It is common for Christians to make “all things” mean “whatever I want God to do for me.”  What many people miss out on here is a much greater and stunning truth.  With man salvation itself is impossible, and can only be granted as a gift from God.

Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?  Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.”  How can a man whose nature is fallen and corrupt, who hates the true God in his heart and has a strong appetite for sin, suddenly change his own heart and mind to love God, forsake sinful ways, and pursue righteousness?  Man can simply not do that which contradicts his entire nature, simply stated man cannot make himself a follower or lover of God above all else.  “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

C.J. Mahaney explains our dire predicament and need for divine rescue in his book “Christ our Mediator.”

The debt and obligation and responsibility (for sin) is mankind’s alone.  Neither you nor I, however, can atone for our sin to satisfy God’s righteous requirements; our own disobedience already condemns us before a righteous God.  Furthermore, we’re captive to sin; it’s humanly impossible for us to release ourselves from its grip…

That’s our condition- having no possible way to atone for our sin, nor any possible way to free ourselves from enslavement to it.

A divine rescue is necessary.  We need a savior! 

God’s Rescue Mission 

Romans 5:7-10 “For while we were still weak at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

When did Jesus lay down his life for us?  When we had proven ourselves worthy?  When we finally pulled our act together?  No, rather look at the text:  while we were weak, ungodly, still sinners and enemies, Christ died for us.  Let me try my best to paint a picture of this for you, and stay as close to scripture as I am capable of. 

Jesus Looking Loved Us

Looking down He saw this earth

Where once was bright as dawn

Where a man from dust was pure at birth

Created to dwell upon

This perfect garden in the east

With God dwelling, and for a feast

The fruit of every tree but one

For by its’ knowledge comes undone

Both innocence and unity with God.

Looking down He watched them take

One crushing bite with all at stake

“Why would you die oh Adam and Eve?

And bring this curse, now you must leave

This garden where I gave you all-

Your life, your needs, your wife, my breath 

Why did you incur this death?

Now from glory all will fall,”

Yet even here His mercy shows

To hide their shame He makes them clothes.

Then looking down for years to come

The voice of blood is crying from

Those doomed to lie in cursed ground

And with it mingled is the sound

Of mothers weeping, men blaspheming

Adultery and pride

Man bowing down to golden gods

In whom he can’t confide.  

He looked down on this wretched sight

Did the earth not wither in dismay?

For this was creation’s plight:

Futility and bondage to decay.

Yet He who cursed earth gave also desire

And through its groaning and shame

Was a cry “Bring forth Your Sons and Daughters

The great inheritance of thy Name!”

Looking down he chose a race

Who turned their back but not their face

To Him, and they who played the whore

Loved to wander yet He swore

By oath, because they were the least

That one day He would be Israel’s peace

And take away their heart of stone

So they would worship Him alone

Not for their own sake, but for this

That He would vindicate His holiness.

Looking through the course of time

He saw me wallow in my grime

With both fists raised to God above

Don’t dare say I deserved His love.

Looking down He saw you too

Whether Gentile or Jew

All had sinned and broke His heart

He had all rights to say “Depart.”

How we all evoked His rage

And surely we had earned our wage:

Eternal death for all our sin

How could we ever enter in

To this impossible Heaven?  

Then looking down He saw these same

Sinners who had cursed His name

Thinking themselves high and mighty

But Jesus Christ perceived them rightly.

Helpless, abused, scattered.

They all wander blindly

With hearts dead and shattered.

Sheep without a single shepherd

Lost with none to bring them home

While wolves attack and leave them battered

On the road to destruction bound to roam.

And Jesus looking loved them

With a tenderness in His eyes

So much that He came down to join them

So much that He came here to die.

“Oh lost sheep of Israel!

Oh cut off Gentile soul!

I have come here to call you!

I am coming to make you my own.”

Jesus looking out saw them

Hurling insults and stones

Crying out “Crucify Him!”

Forsaking Him all to His own.

Jesus looking out crying

“Father forgive them please!

They don’t know what they are doing

For this crime too I will bleed.”

Jesus looking out dying

Bearing God’s wrath and all man’s strife

And here I can picture Him saying

“The good shepherd lays down his life

For the sheep…No one takes it from me

For them I will lay it down willingly.”

Jesus closed his eyes loving us

While we were yet sinners Christ died

When we were His enemies He chose us

God on our behalf crucified.

While we were weak

At just the right time

We were brought back to God

By the death of His Son

Justified by blood and saved from wrath

My soul He has won

Heaven mine, it is done.

In this poem, I hope to have made it clear that God initiated and executed His plan to make entrance into Heaven possible for us, not when we had proved our worth, but rather when we were utterly unworthy, enemies, and filled with all manner of unrighteousness.  It was then that He looked and loved us.  It was then that He chose to die for us.  We bring no merit to the cross of Christ, and play no contributing factor in it, other than that “it was our sin that held Him there until it was accomplished.”

Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.”

In Love, He Chose To Die For Us

I hope it is clear that God sent forth His son to die out of love and not obligation.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).”  Out of the overflow of His mercy and kind intention He chose me.  “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight (Ephesians 1:7-8).”

Some people think of the cross as an unfortunate thing that happened to Jesus, but my friends it is much more than that.  “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51).”  Do you understand that He set His face in determination to go to a place where He was fully aware death and innumerable sorrows awaited Him?  Jesus Christ foretold His own death again and again: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem.  And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day (Matthew 20:18-19).”  Why would the Son of God walk willingly into such a horrifying death?  The Word of God gives incredible insight.

Hebrews 12:2 “Jesus…the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Isaiah 53:10-11 “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him (Jesus); he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.  Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities!”

There was a joy set before Him on the cross; there was a glorious outcome to gaze upon even out of the anguish of His soul!  He was ransoming a people for God!  He was bearing their iniquities, and He would make them to be accounted as righteous!  He was executing a plan to bring those near to Him which He chose and interceded for before “the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4)!”  He “poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12)” willingly and with a deeper passion than we could ever muster because He loved sinners, because He wanted them for His own.  Doesn’t this shock you?  Doesn’t it bring tears to your eyes?  It does for me.  How He deserves our love and our lives!

Revelation 5:9 “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

This is the gospel:  In love He carried our sin, shame, guilt and condemnation with Him to the cross.  “For our sake He (The Father) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2Corinthians 5:21).”  When He died on the cross He gave Himself as an offering for sin; He became the lamb who was slain.  Where God should have punished sinners for their trespasses, He instead poured that same wrath out on His beloved Son Jesus Christ.  When Jesus died, He said “it is finished” as if to say “paid in full.”  On the third day “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it (Acts 2:24).”  God accepted His death as the payment for sin, and rose up Jesus Christ on high to reign at His right hand for all eternity.  How does Jesus make entrance into his Kingdom possible for us?  He pays the price for our entrance in His own life’s blood.

 He is our Creator 

The people of the world do exactly what the Bible said they would do and have “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever (Romans 1:25)!”  Read Romans chapter one in entirety and you will find reason to tremble with fear for where our nation is headed.  The people have commonly become “futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts (are) darkened (Romans 1:21).”  One needs only to open up the science curriculum of every public school and you will witness the doctrine of a people who “claiming to be wise, (have become) fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (Romans 1:23).”  They do “not see fit to acknowledge God (Romans 1:28)” and rather give glory to some cosmic explosion, primordial soup, and millions and millions of years of mutations.  This is not glorious.  If it didn’t make such a shipwreck of people’s souls I would be inclined to laugh, but instead I groan and shake my head in dismay.  This inglorious foolishness I do not wish to expound upon but rather the Glory of my Creator.

Psalm 139:13-14 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother`s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Yet, the multitudes are not praising Him for creating them, and the Bible explains what is going on and why.

Isaiah 29:15-16 “Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, `Who sees us?  Who knows us?’  You turn things upside down!  Shall the potter (God) be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding.’”

This is why the world, and possibly you, reject and hate the true God as Creator:  because if He has created you than He also has the rights to you, to command of you and do with you as He sees fit.  You are accountable to Him as your Creator, and this you detest.  He sees all your deeds and knows your every thought, and this unbearable truth makes it much more comfortable for you to push the true and living God as far out of your sphere as possible, even so far if necessary that He no longer exists.

And this ties into the next reason that when left to ourselves we will hate Him, because:

He is our King and Sovereign Lord.

The Lord is King over the earth and over our own lives, orchestrating all things to fulfill His own purposes.  Psalm 135:6 “Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps.”  But we want no King over us, we want to be in control of our own lives as we see fit.  We are like those who say “That is in vain!  We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart (Jeremiah 18:12).”   

We can read the beautiful truth of God’s sovereign control over our lives back in Psalm 139:16-17 “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!”  This truth should result in praise, awe, and gratitude towards our God, yet the opposite is evoked in the lives of many.  Rather than worship, man wants to be free from the one who has claim on their lives, just as the Lord expressed in these sad scriptures “Why then do my people say, ‘We are free, we will come no more to you’?  Can a virgin forget her ornaments or a bride her attire?  Yet my people have forgotten me days without number (Jeremiah 2:32)” and they reject the loving kindness and tender care of the Lord.

He is Perfect and Requires Perfect Obedience

Matthew 5:20, 48 “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven… You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

James 1:10-11 “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.  For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’  If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”

All sin is a direct offense against the God who has given us His law, written on our hearts to abide by.  He has given His laws in love, and for our good, but none of us have kept the law.  “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one (Romans 1:11-12).”

We must be perfect to enter heaven because our Holy and Righteous God dwells there, and He will not dwell with even a trace of wickedness.  The standard by which man must lives is not his own, but rather His God’s.  Man can live in whatever way feels right to him, but in the end His life will fall far short of the glory of God.  God has no tolerance for lying, stealing, blasphemous words, adulterous eyes and hearts, selfish ambitions, jealous strife, the dishonouring of parents, and the “if it feels good do it” lifestyle.  He has no pleasure even in deeds that appear outwardly good, but are done without faith and primarily for man’s honour. 

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him.”

Romans 14:23 “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

1Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

He is Angry at Sinners and Just to Punish

It is much easier for me to say only “He is angry at sin.”  But it is not that God is only angry at sin as if it were some force out there in the world, or some unfortunate thing that happens to us.  Sin is in us, deep down in our hearts.  We are not only a victim to it, but an active and willing participator in it, oftentimes enjoying it and deeming it as necessary a part of life as eating or drinking.  We are sinners.  He is angry at us.

The world would have you and I painted up as poor victims of sin, who only do wrong things because of wrongs done to us, who only slander because of our own insecurities, and are driven to be drunkards by dire circumstances.  There might be some truth to this, yet this way of thinking makes man only a victim and never the perpetrator.  Does sin kill and hurt man?  More than he even knows.  But the one ultimately hurt and offended by our sin is God, and this man does by His own free will.  This man does, and finds reason to justify himself.

He is angry at sinners and this is a solemn fact.  This is a truth that causes man to shake his fist at God and at once defend his own goodness and worthiness of God’s approval.  Man has a detrimentally high view of himself, and this need be shattered in order to understand why God is so angry with sinners that Jesus said:  “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28).”

Man would believe that he has no reason to fear god, and why should he if god is nothing less than a benevolent Santa Clause figure up in the sky, allowing man everywhere to have his own way and all the advantages of heaven with it.  Yet I pray that this weak perception of god would be breaking down in your mind, and that the glorious, all powerful, perfect and just God of all Creation would manifest Himself to you as He is- to be loved, to be lived for, and to be feared.  Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

God is a just judge, and a day is coming when all will be left “naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account (Hebrews 4:13).”  “He will render to each one according to his works…for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness there will be wrath and fury (Romans 1:6,8).” 

And as John the apostle testified: “I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.  From his presence earth and sky fled away; And no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.  And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done…And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-12,15).”

And so here is the truth that men so hate and fear, that “the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23)” and this coming death impending, inescapable, and impossible for man to avoid if not for the following words: “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God is indeed “separated from sinners,” and not just by distance but by nature.  What I mean is this: everything that God is the natural man hates, and all that comes out of the heart of man, God by nature must despise.  The Word of God teaches that in our natural human state we are all “alienated and hostile in our mind (towards God), doing evil deeds (Colossians 1:21).”  You might be thinking “but I love God,” and yet if you are not a Christian you do not yet love the true God and this I hope to prove to you in love and for your good. 

Isaiah 45:5 “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.”

 Tearing down the Idol

There is a “god” that I have noticed the people in our culture readily accept.  It may be all together true that they even love, desire, and highly approve of this god.  I will prove to you this false idea of god from scripture with high hopes that the true God may tear this idol down.

The culture’s god is a god who you can come to on own terms, who does not require repentance.

Psalm 24:3-4 “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?  And who shall stand in his holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not life up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.” 

But the god of the culture sees no need of this; he does not require that a sinner be cleansed.

The culture’s god is a “come as you please” god.  

He is a god that appreciates your coming in the midst of crises or disaster who you can easily forget about when life is peaceful again.

Psalm 78:34-37 “When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.  They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.  But they flatter him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.  Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.”

Jeremiah 2:27 “For they have turned their back to me, and not their face.  But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Arise and save us!’”
 

The culture’s god is a god who requires nothing from you.

There is no cost to following him, no risk of losing anything, no self sacrifice, no striving to be holy.  There is no denying yourself, laying down your life, no picking up your cross and being willing to die for him.  And along with this there is no passion required. 

In contrast, Luke 9:23 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

The culture’s god is a god in your own image, a god who is all together like you.

Isaiah 47:10 “You felt secure in your wickedness, you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, I AM, and there is no one besides me.”

Psalm 50:21 “These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself.  But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.”

The culture’s god is a god who meets all of your physical needs, and provides for all of your material desires (and this you presume you deserve and give little thanks).

Hosea 2:8 “And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.”

Verse 12 “And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewellery, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord.”

We, in our natural state, love the gifts but not the giver.  We worship our stuff but not our God.  We spend our money on our own pleasures with no thought as to what the God who gave it desires.

The culture’s god is a god who tolerates sin. 

You presume that because He is kind He must be very understanding of your sin.  The Ten Commandments aren`t really commands, they are just a good way to live.  God would not require you to obey them perfectly in order to enter Heaven.  God must understand that there is a time and a place when lying is beneficial and stealing is necessary.  And if your spouse neglects and mistreats you, well then surely god understands why you find yourself in this affair.  This god of yours, he gets you.  He jives well with your lifestyle.

Romans 2:4-5 “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is mean to lead you to repentance?  But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

The culture’s god is a god who can be bribed.

In the minds of those who at least admit that God might exist, and might care somewhat about good and evil, there is a common belief that God can be bribed.  Because this is the way that man naturally likes to think, many religious systems work this way. 

Since man knows he has done wrong, religion operate as a way to make things right between man and God.  The word “religion” is from the Latin “re-ligare” which literally means to “tie again.”  Religion is originally meant to reconcile sinful man with an offended God who demands retribution of some form as payment for sins.  Within man there is this craving and knowledge that we are not right.  We could look at several examples of man’s attempts to redeem Himself in God’s eyes.  Notice I said man’s attempts to redeem himself, and not God’s perfect plan to redeem fallen man by His own hand.    God’s word states that salvation “depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy (Romans 9:16).”

Even among the masses who do not claim to be ‘religious’ there is commonly the idea that God can be bribed.  This way of thinking goes something like this:  “Sure, I might have done a few bad things in my life.  I know that I’ve hurt people in the past and said things I shouldn’t.  I used to steal and I used to lie, but I’ve done a lot of good things too.  I’m a different person now.  I’m honest, I help people, and I’m not judgemental of others.  I know God will forgive me because I’ve made up for my mistakes.”

They are like a guilty criminal who murders and stands before the judge and says “but judge, I’ve sincerely apologized to the family, I’m involved in community service now, and I will do whatever good thing you ask of me if you will only let me go free from my punishment.”  The latter is irrelevant to the first.  They insult the judge’s sense of justice, and must pay for their crime.  You might say “but God is a forgiving God.”  Certainly He is, but contrary to the culture’s god, He does not forgive on the basis of our supposed good works.    He is holy and His word says that He will “by no means clear the guilty (Nahum 1:3),” which we will come back to. 

Finally, to emphasize again, The culture’s god is a god who accepts people from every religion or no religion into His Heaven.  He is a god who promotes a wide entrance, and an easy path.

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

God’s describes the one who worships a false god as such: “He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand (Isaiah 44:20)?”’

*Part 3 will be posted tomorrow*

 There are two belief systems on the up rise today that often go hand in hand, called Universalism and Relativism.  A Universalist typically believes that each person can find their own way to God that is right for them.  They would say that most religions are based on similar truths and values, and therefore each path leads a person to God.  It might be a different rendition of God, but as long as the religion assents to a “higher power” of some kind, it is all the same thing to the Universalist.  Exclusivists who would say that their religion is the “only way,” would likely be frowned upon by the Universalist who seeks to include everyone in their view of heaven.

Yet many who think this way are also Relativists, so it is not fitting that they should get very worked up about the exclusivist, since after all everyone’s truth is true for them.  But regardless, I have come across these people and have found they can be quite distraught by the Absolutist.  He is content with every kind of truth except for that which says that there is definite absolute truth, and that kind of discussion makes him feel unnerved.  So to be clear: Relativists absolutely believe that whatever you believe to be true is good and true for you and that there is absolutely no absolute truth.  What you believe is right for you, and what I believe is right for me.

Do you find yourself confused?  I sure do.  I cannot reason how to intelligibly write about a subject that defies basic logic.  I suppose I could argue against this from a philosophical perspective, and that would be good.  But instead, I am going to address this from scripture to explain to the reader why Christianity is indeed exclusive and to what extent. 

Why use scripture to prove your point?

Some might groan and want to disregard what I say because I am using the book to prove the truth of the book.  Yet this book is the very Word of God and if they will not consider it than it is to their own folly and on account of their pride.  The scriptures testify about their origin, power, and purpose.

Hebrews 4:13 “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

2 Timothy 3:16, 4:2-4 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

That time has come.  The word of God is not in season here.  The culture pushes it out of our schools, our streets, and our government and the people are indoctrinated with ten thousand lies they whole heartedly embrace.  Even so many of our so called churches pervert the word of God to fit their own purposes and lusts.  The people love darkness and do not want to come to the light lest their deeds should be exposed (John 3:20).  You might dismay that I turn to the Word of God to tell you why to reject Universalism and Relativism, and yet I have no other hope for your soul and nothing else to offer you.  My prayer, is that the living and active word of God would so pierce your own heart that you would see the truth that is in Jesus Christ.

Why should I believe Jesus Christ’s Teachings above That of Other Religious Teachers?

There are so many reasons but let me narrow it down to one:  Jesus Christ claimed to be God in the flesh.  All other reasons- that He was born of a virgin, verified his word with miraculous signs, that his life and death fulfilled numerous Old Testament prophecies, that He lived a sinless life and that He alone was raised from the grave, are only possible for a man who is God. 

Despite many cults’ false teachings, the clear teaching of scripture is that He is God.  As following:

John 1:1-3, 10,14, 18 “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 was not any thing made that was made…He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is a the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

Jesus Christ proclaimed Himself to be one with God, equal with God, and worthy of receiving honour and worship as God.

John 5:23 “…that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father.  Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him.”

John 8:28 “So Jesus said to them, ‘When you have lifted up (that is crucified) the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He; and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”

John 14:7 “If you had known me, you would have know the Father also.  From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

His opponents recognized that He claimed Himself to Be God, and hated Him for it.

In John 8:56-59 Jesus was speaking with the Jews and said “’Your Father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.  He saw it and was glad.’  So the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’  Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’  So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”

Mark 2:5-8 “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven.’  Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak like that?  He is blaspheming!  Who can forgive sins but God alone?’  And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts?’”

John 10:30-33 Jesus said “’I and the Father are one.’  The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.  Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?’  The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.’”

If Jesus Christ is God as He claimed to be, then you or I cannot pick and choose which of His words to accept and which to reject.  If He is God, then everything He said is true.  He is not just a good man, a prophet, or a set of ideals to follow, but the person of God who must be loved and honoured as a whole.  You either believe in Him as a whole, believing everything He said about Himself and entrance into Heaven, or you reject Him as a whole.  There is no in between.

Matthew 8:36-38 “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

I would submit to you that there are many running around today who claim to love and follow Jesus, and yet His hard and offensive words they keep silent about, neglect, and are ashamed of.  Lord, spare us from such a way of “believing” in You.

What did Jesus say about entrance in to Heaven, and is He indeed exclusive?

The profound emphasis of scripture is that only through Jesus Christ can a person enter Heaven.  Acts 4:12 says “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

Jesus Christ said this incredibly exclusive statement about Himself:  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  He did not say “I am a way” or even “I am the best way.”  He claimed “I am the only way.”

Hear these sobering and controversial words spoken by Jesus Christ about entrance into Heaven:  “Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14).”

This statement flies in the face of Universalism and even modern day western “Christianity.”  Did you hear what Jesus said!?  He said those who find heaven are few and those who walk the broad path to Hell are many.  Here, Jesus Christ is blasting an alarm to awake your soul and open your blind eyes.  He urges us with a sense of immediacy to question what path we are on, where is its’ destined end, and what god we are following.  This passage gives us reason to examine ourselves and our beliefs in the fear of the Lord our Righteous Judge.

He said it’s easy to walk a broad path to Hell, just as many today try to preach an easy Christianity that requires no discipline, no radical sacrifice, no necessary obedience to Jesus Christ and His Word.  And the Universalist cries out, “All ways lead to God!”  But they are detrimentally wrong, and speak contrary to the words of Jesus Christ.  One day the judgement will come like a storm and their foundation will crumble and their house shall fall and great will be the fall of it (Matthew 7:27).  How I know this offends you that Jesus is the only way, but it is better you be offended now than on your judgement day to find out I held back the truth and despise me for it!  These are the words of Christ, what else can be said?

He said “I am the door of the sheep.  All who came before me (that is the false religious teachers) are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief (once again the false teacher) comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:7-11).”

I know at this point your natural reaction may be to despise this Jesus Christ.  How dare He deny people entrance in to Heaven!  How dare He make Himself out to be the only way!  You think, this cannot be a God of love and mercy, but I am not through with explaining Him to you yet.  He is richer in mercy than you could ever fathom.  Please stick with me to see how this is so.  He is beautiful, He is beautiful!  Please see the glory of Christ.

Oh dear friend, He is so glorious.  He is so infinitely beyond us, so immeasurably greater than us.  And yet “it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 7:26)” and I want to explain to you how.

 *I will be posting this entire article in sections, one each day.  Please return to read the remaining sections so that you can have the full picture of what I want to say.  Otherwise, I think it likely that you could make inferances about what I believe that are not true.

Looking down He watched them take
One crushing bite with all at stake
“Why would you die oh Adam and Eve?
And bring this curse, now you must leave
This garden where I gave you all-
Your life, your needs, your wife, my breath 
Why did you incur this death?
Now from glory all will fall,”
Yet even here His mercy shows
To hide their shame He makes them clothes.

Then looking down for years to come
The voice of blood is crying from
Those doomed to lie in cursed ground
And with it mingled is the sound
Of mothers weeping, men blaspheming
Adultery and pride
Man bowing down to golden gods
In whom he can’t confide. 

He looked down on this wretched sight
Did the earth not wither in dismay?
For this was creation’s plight:
Futility and bondage to decay.
 

Yet He who cursed earth gave also desire
And through its groaning and shame
Was a cry “Bring forth Your Sons and Daughters
The great inheritance of thy Name!”

Looking down he chose a race
Who turned their back but not their face
To Him, and they who played the whore
Loved to wander yet He swore
By oath, because they were the least
That one day He would be Israel’s peace
And take away their heart of stone
So they would worship Him alone
Not for their own sake, but for this
That He would vindicate His holiness.

Looking through the course of time
He saw me wallow in my grime
With both fists raised to God above
Don’t dare say I deserved His love.

Looking down He saw you too
Whether Gentile or Jew
All had sinned and broke His heart
He had all rights to say “Depart.”

How we all evoked His rage
And surely we had earned our wage:
Eternal death for all our sin
How could we ever enter in
To this impossible Heaven? 

Then looking down He saw these same
Sinners who had cursed His name
Thinking themselves high and mighty
But Jesus Christ perceived them rightly.
Helpless, abused, scattered.
They all wander blindly
With hearts dead and shattered.
Sheep without a single shepherd
Lost with none to bring them home
While wolves attack and leave them battered
On the road to destruction bound to roam.

And Jesus looking loved them
With a tenderness in His eyes
So much that He came down to join them
So much that He came here to die.

“Oh lost sheep of Israel!
Oh cut off Gentile soul!
I have come here to call you!
I am coming to make you my own.”

Jesus looking out saw them
Hurling insults and stones
Crying out “Crucify Him!”
Forsaking Him all to His own.

Jesus looking out crying
“Father forgive them please!
They don’t know what they are doing
For this crime too I will bleed.”

Jesus looking out dying
Bearing God’s wrath and all man’s strife
And here I can picture Him saying
“The good shepherd lays down his life
For the sheep…No one takes it from me
For them I will lay it down willingly.”

Jesus closed his eyes loving us
While we were yet sinners Christ died
When we were His enemies He chose us
God on our behalf crucified.
While we were weak
At just the right time
We were brought back to God
By the death of His Son
Justified by blood and saved from wrath
My soul He has won
Heaven mine, it is done.

Christianity doesn’t need rescuing.  Through all ages God has faithfully preserved His word and a remnant of those who worship Him in spirit and in truth.  I have no fear of God’s plans being thwarted by man’s cunning.  I do however fear when I think of the millions of lost souls who are puffed up under these false teachers, and encouraged by worldly philosophies to renounce what the Bible clearly teaches.

Here is a biblical warning to all: 

Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

1Timothy 6:3-7 “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.  He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.  Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” 

Lie # 1: God Wants You Rich

“Imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”  Does that sound familiar to you?  What kind of gain does Paul mean?  He means the imagined gain of an easier, more prosperous and financially secure life if a person would only “accept” Jesus.  They say “God has no intention of bringing anything painful in to a person’s life, but only that which is pleasant.  God wants you rich and He wants you healthy.  If you will only believe in Him and have faith He will give you more than you can begin to imagine.  If you would just give your money to a ministry or to a church, than surely He promises to pour material blessings over your head and will feel obliged to heal your diseases.  You’re missing out on God’s best for you.”

It’s nothing but a bunch of fluff friends.  It’s not in the Bible, it deceives lost souls, it makes false converts, it condemns the poor, the sick, and the failing, and finally, lest God has mercy- it damns.  It is a wretched and satanic message, and I would submit to you that God hates it.

This one portion of the Bible should be enough to make any person who professes that the Bible is God’s word reject the prosperity gospel.  If you are not a Christian than I pray this would shatter whatever you’ve seen of televangelists or read by men like Joel Osteen.  Continuing again in 1Timothy 6, verses 8-10.

“But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.  It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

What need I add?  The word of God aggressively clear.

Lie #2: Authentic Christianity Destroys a Greatly Valuable and Necessary High Self Esteem

Let me first clarify.  This is only a partial lie.  The truth is that authentic Christianity by necessity must destroy through all of life a high self esteem.  The lie is that self esteem is valuable and necessary for happiness.  This is how the common lie is presented, that is- if presented by a professing Christian:

“Didn’t Jesus say that we are to “love others as we love ourselves”?  That implies friends, that if we don’t first love ourselves, we can’t properly love other people.”  Or “You are made in the image of God, therefore there is greatness in you!  You were made for greatness!  Don’t listen to Satan, that accuser of the brethren when he reminds you of the mistakes of the past.  Guilt is not from God!  He doesn’t want you walking around with your head hung low.  Step in to your destiny, and speak to yourself “I have greatness on me; I am capable of doing great things.’”

Ok.  Let’s first combat this with scripture.

2Timothy 3:2,4-5 “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant…swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”

Romans 7:18,24  “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh…Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death.”

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Romans 2:8 “But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.”

James 3:14 “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.”

Galatians 6:3 “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

You might be thinking: “Then why did Jesus say to love others as we love ourselves?”

Jesus was assuming that all men by nature love themselves.  Ephesians 5:29 also states that “no one over hated his own flesh, but nourishes, and cherishes it.”  As far as man is capable he takes care of his own eating, drinking, clothing, relationships, interests and enjoyment.  Taking care of one’s own practical needs is necessary, but what Christ would condemn is those who are full of “greed and self-indulgence (Mathew 23:25).”  Most of man’s thinking revolves around himself, which is why scripture exhorts us to “in humility count others more significant than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).”  We don’t need much encouragement to love ourselves, for it is what comes naturally to us.  Even much of man’s self loathing is based in his self loving, for his eyes are so fixed on self- how to better self, how the highly estimated power of self has failed him, how self could and should look better… that he has become blind to the needs of others and consumed with thoughts of self. 

In assuming that man by nature loves himself and looks out for his own interests, Jesus is saying “in the same measure that you already spend so much time looking out for and loving yourself, turn it around and do it for your neighbour.”  This is not a promotion to spend time and energy further loving one’s self so that they can love others better.

I want to make it clear that there is a type of self love that is biblical.  As far as one cares for themselves by pursuing their joy in Jesus Christ, scripture reading, prayer, fellowship, service, evangelism etc, I exhort them to pursue their own joy and happiness until they feel so full of satisfaction in Jesus that they absolutely must praise Him out loud.  As far as one looks to Heaven, and the staggering promises of reward found there, and as far as one anticipates the glorious words of Jesus Christ “well done, my good and faithful servant,”- go and delight yourself in the Lord.  Go and pursue your own joy in Him!  But to however small of an extent that we try to satisfy ourselves with self, with the world, and with its “desires of the flesh…desires of the eyes and pride in possessions,” then we must die to self.

I think it might be helpful and simple to show the contrast between what the world wants you to believe about yourself and what the Bible says is true about yourself.  Here we go.

Issue:  Worthiness.  The World says:  “God is happy with you just the way you are.”  Implied: “You are worthy of God’s love and God isn’t asking you to change.”

Biblical Truth:

Romans 3:10-12 “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.”

Luke 13:13 “…unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

We are, apart from saving grace, not worthy of God’s love, not worthy of forgiveness, not commendable by our supposed good works, and in fact not worthy of anything from God but wrath.  God is not happy with the unregenerate just as they are, but rather angry yet in love commanding all sinners to repent.  What does man deserve from God?  “Those who practice such things (as envy, gossip, slander, disobedience to parents etc,) deserve to die (Romans 1:32).”

It is critical that we understand that we do not deserve anything good from God’s hand, nor is there anything great about us that would make God feel more inclined to save us than He would somebody else.  All that we have to offer Him is our filthy rags, and all that we should rightfully expect is coming judgement.  If we will not recognize our unworthiness before Him then we will not see Jesus Christ’s atoning death and resulting salvation as the free unmerited gift that it really is.  As a poem I wrote states:

“But what have I to offer thee?”

“Your dirty hands that I might cleanse thee.”

“I’m sore ashamed.”

“I’m glorified to take your sin and give you life.”

“I don’t deserve..”

“One breath, it’s true

But I honor my Son

Who was broken for you.”

“Will he wash away my stains?”

“He must.  This is His joy

For which He suffered much.”

“Then I have none to offer You

But Your Son whom you have offered me

None who come to Him are ever refused

So into his refuge will I flee.”

Issue:  Trusting your heart.  The World says:  “Follow your heart and it won’t lead you wrong.”  Implied:  All your desires are from God, and the human heart is innately good.

Biblical Truth:

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Mark 7:21-23 “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Bible says that man’s heart is deceitful.  He looks at things that are evil and thinks that they will do him good, and he looks at what is good and godly and thinks that it will be oppressive and life draining.  Out of man’s heart comes a world of iniquity, and when pumped with the self promoting teaching that you must follow the desires of your heart, one is at a greater risk of acting on their sinful impulses.  The heart of man isn’t good or worthy of following.  It is desperately sick and leads man to the grave. 

Issue:  Trusting in one’s own “truth” and wisdom.  The World says:  “If it’s true for you it’s true for you, but what’s true for me is true for me.  It’s all relative.”  Implied:  You can believe whatever you want to believe and whatever makes you happy.  No one can know what’s really true.”

Biblical Truth:

1Corinthians 1:20-21 “Where is the one who is wise?  Where is the scribe?  Where is the debater of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”

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

This could make for a whole other article so I will try and be brief.  Part of trusting in self is trusting in your own understanding of who God is, why you exist, how the world runs etc.  Since the goal of life is to feel good about you, then you should feel good about believing in whatever is right for you.  This makes it very easy to create a God in your own image, a God who tolerates sin and accepts everyone into heaven.  This way of thinking is an attack on the authority of scripture.  God is who He says He is in His word, and His ways are made very clear in scripture.  The world will never come to know God through their own inner searching and wisdom.  The cross that appears foolish to the world is the power of God for salvation, and the way that He has chosen to save men simply offends the natural mind.  Men want to trust in their own foolish wisdom to the grave, but it is Christ crucified who is the “power of God and the wisdom of God (1Corinthians 1:24).”  The world says that all the answers for life and happiness lie within you, but the absolute truth is that only through God’s word and in Jesus Christ can a person learn to live and think rightly, and find everlasting joy.

 Final Contrasts

The world says man is capable, but Jesus says “apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).”  The world says “be independent” but the Bible says we must “rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead (2Corinthians 1:9).”  They say it is absolutely imperative that you have a high self esteem, but God says “this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”  Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, that is those who recognize they have no spiritual resources of their own by which to win themselves to God, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).  Blessed are those who will mourn over their sin, for they will receive comfort from God (Matthew 5:4).  “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1Peter 5:5)” and so whoever would recognize his sinful state before God and put their trust in Jesus Christ will receive grace and mercy.  This is why I conclude that an unbiblical sense of self esteem is NOT valuable or necessary for life, and is actually a thing to be laid aside as by it men do not see their need for the saviour.

Being Unworthy of God’s Favour Does Not Mean You Are of Little Value to Him

So how should a person esteem themselves?  Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

 I think it is necessary to clarify that I am not suggesting that we walk around depressed, nor hating our selves.  As touched on above to be caught up in constant thoughts of self hatred is still selfish (self revolved) thinking, just as it would be to be obsessed with thinking highly of yourself. 

We should view ourselves in light of what the scripture says: that we are all fallen astray, sinful, and unworthy.  We must see what the Bible says about God as true also, that He is perfect, just, and holy.  He hates sin and must punish sinners, yet He is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 103:8).”  To sit and mope endlessly about our sin is faithless.  That is not what I am suggesting.  We must grieve over our sin and then turn from it, placing our trust in Jesus Christ to wash it all away.  He took the punishment that we deserve from God, when He died upon the cross.  When we trust in Him, we can rejoice that we have been made a new creation, not because of anything that we have done but because of what Christ has done. 

We don’t deserve His forgiveness, and that is why salvation is a “free gift (Romans 6:23).”  Jesus Christ doesn’t love us because we deserve it, but because He chooses to and because it is the overflow of His generous and kind heart towards us who are weak, yes even dead in trespasses and sin.  If Jesus would die for us, when we didn’t deserve it, when we were His enemies, how is it possible to be more valuable to Him?  “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32)?”  He is a God who counts our tears, who hears our cries, who feeds the hungry, and delivers the needy.  He is a father to the fatherless, a husband to widows, and the lover of our souls.  He lays down His life for His friends, He satisfies the desire of every living thing; He stoops down to raise us up.  Our God, He is incredible.  He loves us very much because He wants to.  This is true Christianity, and may every perversion of it be burned up in the mind of the reader.

Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still weak at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”