"There is no fear of God before their eyes" is the commentary of people who don't know God in Romans 3:18. I'm afraid this same problem has carried into the church even after people have accepted Christ as their Savior. Could it be that it is the way we present salvation in the first place? Many teach that your sin will send you to hell if you don't repent. The Bible says God himself will send all those to hell that do not confess their sin to God and accept Jesus as their Lord. The more I get relational with God the more I understand how we were created in His image.
Sin is not just an inanimate object but an offence against the Creator of the universe. The reason we don't see the life change in our churches after salvation is because we failed to put the gospel in the context of a relationship. Paul spends a lot of time in Ephesians 5:1-11 describing the difference of a child of light and a child of darkness. We must understand that God is offended by sin, both by the lost and the saved. Again in Romans 6:1, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!"
The problem is we don't have any fear of God. There are churches that take communion every Sunday using 1 Corinthians 11 as their model but yet they don't instruct the people to examine themselves and make sure they are not living in offence to the gospel which has caused many to be sick and some to die. Yes die!! When a christian becomes on offence to the gospel they will be chastened (convicted) by the Lord. If the chastening doesn't work then He scourges (whips) every son (Hebrews 12:5-11).
We as pastors must take a close look at the way we represent God. He is the God of love and forgiveness. He is the God of second chances. He is the God of restoration. And He is also the God of righteousness. He is the God of holiness. He is the God of justice. My prayer is that we would "walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called."
Visit Reliant Ministries at reliantrails.com
Sin is not just an inanimate object but an offence against the Creator of the universe. The reason we don't see the life change in our churches after salvation is because we failed to put the gospel in the context of a relationship. Paul spends a lot of time in Ephesians 5:1-11 describing the difference of a child of light and a child of darkness. We must understand that God is offended by sin, both by the lost and the saved. Again in Romans 6:1, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!"
The problem is we don't have any fear of God. There are churches that take communion every Sunday using 1 Corinthians 11 as their model but yet they don't instruct the people to examine themselves and make sure they are not living in offence to the gospel which has caused many to be sick and some to die. Yes die!! When a christian becomes on offence to the gospel they will be chastened (convicted) by the Lord. If the chastening doesn't work then He scourges (whips) every son (Hebrews 12:5-11).
We as pastors must take a close look at the way we represent God. He is the God of love and forgiveness. He is the God of second chances. He is the God of restoration. And He is also the God of righteousness. He is the God of holiness. He is the God of justice. My prayer is that we would "walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called."
Visit Reliant Ministries at reliantrails.com
No comments:
Post a Comment