Now, although I would love to take credit for this piece of literary genius, I cannot, and, although this quite clearly could have been ripped from today's headlines, it was not. It was written by Charles Finney, December 4, 1873 and is titled "The Decay of Conscience". I just happen to agree with him, WHOLE HEARTEDLY, all these 140 years later. The only differing opinion is, where Mr. Finney lays the burden on the pulpit, I believe the entire Christian church has to own this. And .... where I will admit, not every church in America has fallen off the path, they are still equally as guilty; because, they haven't done anything to stop it, correct it or speak on it. Sins of omission, as opposed to sins of commission by the churches, who currently subscribe to a watered down version of a greasy gospel that promotes half truths, and, in some cases, no truth at all.
Here's my point. At some point in time, the American church decided we needed to become more like the world to appeal to the world. I guess maybe the thought was that if we become more "fun"or "hip"or something, sinners would come to hear the Word, and THEN, we could tell them who Jesus is. Well, the only thing that happened was we invited the devil in and he's eating us alive. We have turned into Christian social clubs that don't resemble our Christ AT ALL! We are so enamored by our own works and everything we do for the Lord .... that we have absolutely made the Word of God AND the Works of Christ of no effect! (Mark 7:13 and Galatians 5:4) Works! Works! Works!
You know ..... when Jesus was asked what must we "do".... what "works".... Jesus replied in the singular:
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.(John 6:29)
So ..... Jesus response was that IT IS NOT ABOUT US! Yet, we expend so much effort on works, that we have completely lost sight of that fact that church, life, the breaths we breathe, from creation to Revelation is ALL ABOUT HIM! Our only responsibility in the life is to believe on Jesus and live. There is nothing about "do"anywhere in what He said. Yeah, but faith without works is dead .... so what are you talking about? Faith without works is dead IS in the Bible! Agreed! Indeed it is. Spoken by Jesus' brother in James 2:20. Yet .... I highly, very highly doubt, that James was negating what Jesus, Himself, spoke in the Gospel of John.
So, what if what that actually means is my belief in HIS FINISHED WORKS on Calvary? James said, you show me your works (self-effort) and I'll show you my faith (Jesus' finished work) and you show me your faith (in your works) and I'll show you my works (eyes on the cross). It's ALL about Jesus! It always has been. It always will be. Jesus told Martha, who was working her behind off, for Him LITERALLY, that Mary, who was doing nothing but sitting with Him, had chosen the needful part. The problem with churches today is that you have to go for weeks to hear any mention of Jesus, the Cross or the Resurrection.
We have turned into free self-help, with power points, life principle notes, how to guidelines and spiritual guidelines that have absolutely nothing to do with the Ministry of Reconciliation that the Bible clearly tells us is the post resurrection message. Christ died on the cross, reconciled men unto God, and imparted His righteousness to us AS A GIFT because of our faith in His finished work (He even said It Is Finished - ALL sin forgiven and reconciliation with God, the Father, complete). Yet, we refuse to agree that ALL sin was forgiven. We haggle over past, present, future ..... how could he possibly forgive me for a sin I haven't committed? Because you're going to, and, for the record, ALL of our sins were future sins when Christ died!
We have some denominations preaching Christ was fully man, but not divine. We have some preaching Christ was divine but not really human. We still have entire congregations fighting for the Ten Commandments, which were NEVER God's will, and were NEVER written for anyone other than the Hebrew children with Him in the desert. We cause more damage than anything else. There is no "Good News"in the condemnation the Old Covenant and Mosaic Law burden people with. There is no "Good News"in fearing God and loathing in our own unworthiness. There is no "Good News"in constantly holding on to sin and thinking God is mad at us. There is no "Good News"in believing we have to wade our way through this life by our own effort. Jesus never asked us to anyway.
The world is starving for TRUTH! The world is starving for JESUS! And, the church can't help them, because WE ARE STARVING! Teaching Series should be reserved for adult Bible study and die from their appearances on Sunday morning! Preach Christ! Preach the Cross! Preach the Resurrection! Preach Reconciliation! Preach Grace! PREACH THE TRUTH!
The Good news of the Gospel is this: NO ONE goes to hell for sinning. If we did, God could wrap this thing up right now, because we are ALL bound for eternal damnation. When Jesus died on that Cross, He paid the penalty for every sin that would ever be committed throughout the annals of history, to include the sins of those who will never believe it. NO ONE goes to hell for sinning! AND ..... God does not condemn people to hell. There is one reason, and one reason ONLY that anyone would ever spend eternity in hell ...... refusing to accept the free gift of salvation Christ paid for! And, He paid for ALL of them nearly 2000 years ago. He doesn't keep jumping up on the cross when someone new accepts salvation, and He is NOT waiting for someone to accept the gift BEFORE He forgives them. All sins for all time were forgiven at the same ...... Calvary!
THAT is Good News INDEED!
Kalena in Grace
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