Written by my husband, Sean. This is an excellent article about what exactly is wrong with our "Christian America".
The inoculation of our nation against the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is alive and well.
Romans 6:23: God came to save us from sin,not the natural wages of it (Isaiah 59:2). Salvation was never supposed to be a fire escape from hell, it was created to be our freedom from sin (John 8:31,32, Romans 6:18-22,Romans 8:1-3)
I see more and more men that appear powerful in the pulpit and with the Word of God grievously compromising themselves when it comes to salvation, the cornerstone of our relationship with Christ! Ephesians2:1-5/Acts 3:19 The US is more & more concerned about being saved from hell instead of from sin! Sin is the problem, not hell. Biblical terms need to be defined Biblically, not through today's dumbed-down English(Thanks for that, no coincidence, as far as satan is concerned). More and more preachers emphasize the "gift" without the repentance (change of heart about our sins) for the remission of sins. Jesus Christ and the apostles all preached repentance from sin, not being saved from hell (2Corinthians 7:9,10). Yet our nation's preachers call for accepting the gift of salvation as a source of relief from the penalty of sin, hell. Sin is the problem, hell is the penalty! We are starting to teach treating the symptoms, instead of the problem, just like our medical doctors do.
Taking the focus off our sin, and putting it on hell, and simply "accepting the gift" is the most grievous deception we can give a soul lost in sin. It might be easier to get someone to say yes to a fire escape from hell, but it does nothing to deal with the sin that sends us there. This is no different from telling someone any other religious way to heaven will save them. We are not here to SELL salvation as easily as possible (Just believe in Jesus (James 2:17-20). We are here to offer salvation the same way Christ did, as Repentance from sin toward God, and Faith in our LORD Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21) and the decision to accept or reject the LORD Jesus Christ (all three names are important Acts 16:31, Acts 11:17, John 11:25-27) is each of ours to make. Christ promises a change of life and desires when we truly repent from sin and turn to Him (2Corinthians 5:17). Not because we make the change, but because HE makes the change in us! And that's the only change that can truly last. His Holy Spirit does the work in our hearts after repentance from sin, and it affects our outward lives (Ephesians 5:8-11, Galations 5:22-24). Repentance is not a dirty word, and does not need the definition changed from what God intended in order to make it more palatable to the lost world. A lack of belief in God has never been the problem (James 2:17-20), the problem has always been sin. Until sin is addressed, salvation cannot occur, only an inoculation from true salvation, by changing the simple gospel that is found in the Word of God (Galations 1:6,7/ 2Corinthians 11:2-4).
Let us not change the gospel of the LORD Jesus Christ for our own selfish purposes of numbers in the pews, money in the bank, notches on our "soulwinners gunbelt", or any other reason the devil gives us! To do so is confusion to the lost world, and does nothing for their lost souls (Matthew 7:22-23).
The inoculation of our nation against the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is alive and well.
Romans 6:23: God came to save us from sin,not the natural wages of it (Isaiah 59:2). Salvation was never supposed to be a fire escape from hell, it was created to be our freedom from sin (John 8:31,32, Romans 6:18-22,Romans 8:1-3)
I see more and more men that appear powerful in the pulpit and with the Word of God grievously compromising themselves when it comes to salvation, the cornerstone of our relationship with Christ! Ephesians2:1-5/Acts 3:19 The US is more & more concerned about being saved from hell instead of from sin! Sin is the problem, not hell. Biblical terms need to be defined Biblically, not through today's dumbed-down English(Thanks for that, no coincidence, as far as satan is concerned). More and more preachers emphasize the "gift" without the repentance (change of heart about our sins) for the remission of sins. Jesus Christ and the apostles all preached repentance from sin, not being saved from hell (2Corinthians 7:9,10). Yet our nation's preachers call for accepting the gift of salvation as a source of relief from the penalty of sin, hell. Sin is the problem, hell is the penalty! We are starting to teach treating the symptoms, instead of the problem, just like our medical doctors do.
Taking the focus off our sin, and putting it on hell, and simply "accepting the gift" is the most grievous deception we can give a soul lost in sin. It might be easier to get someone to say yes to a fire escape from hell, but it does nothing to deal with the sin that sends us there. This is no different from telling someone any other religious way to heaven will save them. We are not here to SELL salvation as easily as possible (Just believe in Jesus (James 2:17-20). We are here to offer salvation the same way Christ did, as Repentance from sin toward God, and Faith in our LORD Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21) and the decision to accept or reject the LORD Jesus Christ (all three names are important Acts 16:31, Acts 11:17, John 11:25-27) is each of ours to make. Christ promises a change of life and desires when we truly repent from sin and turn to Him (2Corinthians 5:17). Not because we make the change, but because HE makes the change in us! And that's the only change that can truly last. His Holy Spirit does the work in our hearts after repentance from sin, and it affects our outward lives (Ephesians 5:8-11, Galations 5:22-24). Repentance is not a dirty word, and does not need the definition changed from what God intended in order to make it more palatable to the lost world. A lack of belief in God has never been the problem (James 2:17-20), the problem has always been sin. Until sin is addressed, salvation cannot occur, only an inoculation from true salvation, by changing the simple gospel that is found in the Word of God (Galations 1:6,7/ 2Corinthians 11:2-4).
Let us not change the gospel of the LORD Jesus Christ for our own selfish purposes of numbers in the pews, money in the bank, notches on our "soulwinners gunbelt", or any other reason the devil gives us! To do so is confusion to the lost world, and does nothing for their lost souls (Matthew 7:22-23).
Amen!
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