I cannot begin to tell you how many hours I spend a week just talking to God about why so many people remain to be deceived. It always comes back to one thing and that is "They do not know, or want to knwo the truth." We desire Jesus on our conditions and our flesh always wants Him at the least resistence to our lives and way of thinking.
Years ago (BC, Before Christ) I would always use that scripture many use today when I was being held accountable "Judge not lest ye be judged." Isn't it ironinc that this is probably the only scripture that most people can quote word for word? I cringe today when people use this scripture when they are held accountable. Unfortunately they have been taught this scripture as a 'defense' mechanism (I did too). Not many people understand (or want to) what Jesus was really saying to the people listening and to us today. The problem in most churches today is that they will pick a scripture and expound on it without keeping it in context. Let us look at this scripture in context. I always tell those listening that we have to keep scripture in context and the only way to do that is to go up at least 10 verses and down about 10 verses to get the context. Lets look....
Matthew 7:1-6:
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother 'Let me tke the speck outof your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. if you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces."
Jesus is not saying that we should not hold another accountable for wrong, but that we are to first get whatever is in our own lives right first. If we love our brother then we do as He says to do "Then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." The problem is this "many who claim to be Christians judge people for smoking while they are drinking. Many people still Judge people for cussing when they just change the word that they are using to sound a little better. Many people pick and choose what sin is, and justify sin in their lives while telling others they are sinners. Jesus is also pretty clear about sharing truth when others. There will be some that will cling to the first part of this scripture and do not want to understand the whole sum or they would have to change. These are the people who will always argue the truth and take the scripture (Which is sacred) and malign to their way of life.
Paul states in Romans two the same thing. He basically says "Clean up your own back yard before you can help clean up anothers." Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 5 that "God will judge those outside the church, we are to judge those inside the church." Every gospel and epistle written are to people who have wandered away from the truth and back to their own way of thinking. If not, then there would be no need for them to have ever been written. The Bible would have just been a 'Novel' instead of the life changing truth.
Love those around you who claim to be Christians. Tell the the truth instead of a lie. If we love deeply as Peter says in 1 Peter 4, then we will tell people the truth. If we love people then we will align our lives up to the Word so that they too will have hope to clean up their lives in order to help others to see that "With God all things are possible."
It really does not matter what side one chooses 'Onced saved always saved, or predestined', the truth prevails in the Word "Whoever claims to live in Him, must walk as Jesus did" (1 John 2:6). Jesus judged the hypocrites of His day for saying they loved God, but were not willing to live Holy for Him. He wanted them to know the truth, repent and be with Him in heaven. It is no different for us today. His heart is that we repent and be with Him throughout eternity. There have been many people over they years that have said this to me "A lot of people have told us the same thing, but you are living it, and that gives me hope." Can they say the same about your life? You are not reading this blog because just decided to read it, but God has given you breath of life today proving that He loves you. What you do with the Word will prove your love for Him~
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