Category Archives: Idols / False Gods

Addiction, Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Anger (unrighteous anger), Arrogance, Bad Habits, Bitterness / Resentment, Controlling Thoughts, Doubt / Lacking Faith, Drunkenness, Envy / Jealousy / Coveting, Faith / Trusting God, Father / Yahweh, Fortune Telling, Gluttony, Greed, Guide, Holy / Set Apart, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Homosexual Behavior, Hypocrisy, Idols / False Gods, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Lying / Deceiving, Mockers, Murder, Pride, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Repenting from Sin, Revenge, Righteous, Self Control, Selfishness, Sloth / Laziness, Stealing / Theft, Tongue / Gossip / Slander, Wickedness / Evil

Shall We Continue to Sin So That Grace May Increase?

It is a very important concept for followers of Jesus Christ to understand. When we ask Jesus to be our Lord and accept His offer of salvation by grace through faith that He died for our sins, we must also recognize that we are not to abuse that grace. For us to abuse grace by intentionally continuing to sin is to not truly submit to the lordship of Christ over sin and self. It is to not truly accept His offer of salvation.

We all sin, but let us never embrace it intentionally under the excuse that His grace will cover our sins. Instead let us seek to repent from sin, to turn away from it and toward the Father. Let us die to self and sin and rise in Christ to a new life. We need His help and He will provide it to those who truly invite Him in to be Lord of their life.

Romans 6

Believers Are Dead to Sin, Alive to God

      1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7for he who has died is freed from sin.

      8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

      12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

      15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

      20For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I can well remember a variety of sinful habits that I seemed unable to break on my own power. The more I turned my life over to the Father, the more I sought to learn and understand His word and apply it in my life, the more the Holy Spirit has revealed Himself in my life to guide me and strengthen me in my daily walk… in rejecting sin. I have been able to turn away from habits and behaviors that had me beat and stay away. However, temptation remains a challenge, trying to draw us in. Remain vigilant and focused. Choose righteousness over sin. The rewards in this life and beyond are priceless.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Doubt / Lacking Faith, Forgive Others / Seek Forgiveness, Idols / False Gods, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Repenting from Sin

Confronting Sin In The Camp

Moses went up on the mountain to spend time with Jehovah, our Creator. He left the people for a period of time in the charge of Aaron, his brother, who had been at Moses’ side through all the miracles and power demonstrated by God before Pharaoh to lead the people out of Egypt. Of course, the people themselves witnessed these miracles of great power from God as well while they were delivered from slavery.

One would think that the people could behave at least for awhile, but, in fact, they did not last long at all once Moses. left. They claimed to celebrate in the name of God, but they built an idol and worshipped the way the pagans worshipped their false gods. Jehovah was angry, but Moses intervened and Jehovah agreed not to destroy the people.

Knowing they had sinned, when Moses came upon the camp and saw the revelry and pagan style worship he was angry. So angry he actually shattered the tablets he had brought down from God.

How should he confront this situation as leader of these people?

Exodus 32:19-35

Moses’ Anger

      19It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.

      21Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?” 22Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. 23“For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24“I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

      25Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies— 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’” 28So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the LORD—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”

      30On the next day Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the LORD, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31Then Moses returned to the LORD, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. 32“But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” 33The LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34“But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35Then the LORD smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

Moses reaction was quite strong by our standards today, but keep in mind that he changed God’s mind so that all the people would not be destroyed. He was now dealing with those who would not even repent and come to the Lord’s side even after he returned.

First, Moses destroyed the idol. He removed a key focal point associated with the rebellion against God. He did not have a council meeting to discuss all points of view. He knew it was wrong. He was the leader of the camp and the people. He destroyed it in a lasting way, scattering the gold in a way that it would not soon be gathered back together.

He confronted the leadership that was supposed to be watching over the people and instead facilitated and endorsed their rebellion, Aaron. Aaron’s response is completely unsatisfying. There is no direct admission of guilt and repentance. He blames the people for “making him do it” and blames Moses for being gone a long time and then says the golden calf just “leapt” out of the fire as if it sculpted itself. The truth is that Aaron gave in to pressure to rebel against God’s ways and tried to make excuses that they were still worshipping the Lord.

In verse 26, now Moses addresses the people and calls for repentance… for them to come to the Lord’s side. Those that still refuse, after all the earlier events since Moses’ return are dealt with very harshly. Their sin was serious. It was not to be ignored.

We can have a very meaningful discussion about when and in what situations we would be called to exact such harsh punishment today. Jesus died for our sins and calls for us to rebuke and then remove sinners from our midst, but not to execute them.  However, we can not say that Moses was wrong to do so… remember that Jehovah Himself was going to destroy all the people except Moses.

While the punishment and reconciliation is now different with the death and resurrection of Christ, the behaviors that please God and those that anger Him have not changed. When we find sin in the camp in our lives, we are to confront it and not ignore it. Our “camp” may be our family or our workplace or our church. We are to remove idols and other things which are clearly wrong from our midst. We are to confront and rebuke the leadership of the wrong behavior and then follow up to confront and rebuke the people who refuse to repent and separate ourselves from them.

If we are involved in such a rebellion, rather than make excuses like Aaron did, admit we have done wrong, ask forgiveness, and repent. Help others involved to know they should repent and then don’t repeat our error.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Idols / False Gods, Interceding for Others, Speaking, Through Prophets

So The Lord Changed His Mind?

To some it will be surprising and to others it is obvious. Jehovah does indeed listen to His people and at times is willing to be influenced by them to change His mind. This does not mean that God is surprised by some new information He did not know… this is not the case. God is all knowing. It simply confirms that He loves His people and cares for them. In particular, those who are obedient and faithful will draw near to Him and have a closer relationship with Him.

Moses had a very close relationship with God. One of the clearest examples of someone successfully interceding on behalf of others and influencing God to change His mind is documented in Exodus 32. The people rebelled against God’s instruction and He was considering destroying them and starting over. Moses intervenes on their behalf to influence God’s decision.

Exodus 32:1-18

The Golden Calf

      1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 6So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

      7Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8“They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10“Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

Moses’ Entreaty

      11Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12“Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. 13“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

      15Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. 17Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”

18But he said,
“It is not the sound of the cry of triumph,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But the sound of singing I hear.”

Moses makes three arguments starting in verse 11, and none of them have anything to do with “the people deserve another chance”, because they did not. The first argument appeals to God in regards to why He would want to destroy the people He just brought out of Egypt with such demonstration of God’s mighty hand and great power.  The second argument points not to the people but to how the situation glorifies, or would not glorify, God. Moses directly asks God to change His mind.  The third argument points back to God’s fulfilling of His promises.

In all three arguments, Moses points to how the situation reflects on God and His glory and purpose rather than the perceived needs of individuals or groups of people. I think we all do well to remember these principles as we come before God to ask Him for help or intercession on someone’s behalf. It is not that God does not love or care for His people, He does. Rather the kind of attitude and perspective Moses had really showed a lot of personal maturity and showed that he was focused on God’s plans rather than his own desires. This focus is particularly common amongst those who truly follow and care for God and His glory above their own.  Those are the individuals that may have the most potential to call upon our Father for consideration when there are difficult situations.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

 

All Knowing, Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Doubt / Lacking Faith, Faith / Trusting God, Father / Yahweh, Idols / False Gods, Obeying God, Speaking, Through Prophets

Put Your Faith In Jehovah Rather Than Your Religious Leaders

Jehovah tells us to put our faith in him rather than men, even when men may be righteous and in leadership roles. Now that is not to say we should not be respectful and honor those in leadership over us, we should. However, men fail or even when they do not fail, we may lose sight of them. Eventually they die. If our faith is in men, then we will surely have our faith tested and fail. If our faith is in Jehovah, He will never fail us.

Consider the Israelites, who were led out of slavery in Egypt by God through Moses.

Exodus 32:1-18

The Golden Calf

      1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 6So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

      7Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8“They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10“Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

The people put their faith in Moses rather than God! Thus when he was out of sight for awhile, they grew nervous and failed in their faith very quickly.

    1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

The people had not learned to trust in God directly, but relied on having an intermediary, a go-between, to communicate between God and man. Moses was even righteous… he did not fail in this case, but still the people were separated from him and their faith failed. When it did, they acted boldly in rebellion to God’s instructions by creating and worshipping an idol. They worshipped God the way they saw Egyptians worshipping their gods. They had not drawn near to God, but rather relied on Moses to do so on their behalf.

God invites each of us to draw near to Him in personal relationship and to put our faith in Him and Him alone. Let us each accept this generous invitation from the Creator of all things and put our faith where it belongs!

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Knowing, All Powerful / King of All, Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Father / Yahweh, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Idols / False Gods, Justice / Judgment, Speaking, Through Prophets, Traditions / Holidays, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Do Not Turn Aside From God’s Commands

Most of us who have followed Yahweh for awhile have had the opportunity to see His hand at work in our lives. I have marveled that He takes such an interest in someone so insignificant as me, but nonetheless He does! He loves each of His children. As we get to know Him more closely, we more easily recognize His hand at work in our lives.

We must take heed, however, and not turn away when we feel distant from Him or when we do not feel His presence. At those times, we must continue obeying His commands and His ways, faithfully believing that He is there, even if we do not see His hand at work. Often we can point back to events in our lives where He intervened to encourage us to remember Him. Do not turn from Him.

Consider His people as they left Egypt. Yahweh delivered them from slavery through many mighty miracles. There were ten plagues, parting of the Red Sea, defeat of Pharaoh’s army, God appearing as fire  and smoke to lead them, manna and water miraculously to meet their needs in the dessert. Surely we would think that generation could never turn from God, but they did.

Exodus 32:1-10

The Golden Calf

      1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 6So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

      7Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8“They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10“Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

I think we can all see clearly that Yahweh was not pleased with His people for making this idol and worshipping it. He was going to destroy them and start over. Let us consider carefully what happened. If we read to quickly we may conclude, as many have, that the Israelites were worshipping an idol of a false god and that is why Yahweh was upset… but this is not the case.

Look closer. Indeed they had created an idol and began to worship it, but in fact they were using the idol to represent Yahweh Himself. Consider the following verses:

“This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”

In fact, the people were worshipping Yahweh, and He was very upset! Why? Yahweh does not want His people to worship Him in the way that the pagans worship their false gods. It disgusts Him. He wants us to worship Him in the way He tells us.

Deuteronomy 12:30-32

30beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 31“You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

      32“Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

The Israelites may have been worshipping Yahweh, but they were doing so in like manner to how the Egyptians worshipped their false gods by making idols.

While this may seem like it does not apply today, it certainly does! Yahweh has not changed His opinion on what is good and what is bad. He still does not want us to worship Him with idols or with any of the manners or traditions with which the pagans worship false gods. If we take the time to study our common Christmas and Easter traditions (and other traditions as well), we will certainly find the history of many of these traditions are derived not from God’s word, but from pagan worship practices. Christians have created new meanings for many of these traditions, but they still are derived from pagan worship. Yahweh is not pleased, even if we say it is He whom we are worshipping.

Do not repeat the error of the Israelites, which drew great anger from Yahweh. Instead, learn the history and true origin of the traditions you practice. Reject the ones that are derived from pagan worship. Instead, study and learn the practices and worship that Yahweh instructs us in His word. There is so much to learn!

I feel like I have been on an archaeological dig for a decade to understand and lay down traditions rooted in pagan worship and instead to focus on and adopt practices and traditions that are commanded in God’s word in the Old Testament.

I encourage you to invest time to get to know Yahweh. If He is Lord, then you should take time to learn His ways and reject the ways of the pagan worship… even if done in Yahweh’s name.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Doubt / Lacking Faith, Drunkenness, Envy / Jealousy / Coveting, Greed, Homosexual Behavior, Idols / False Gods, Justice / Judgment, Mockers, Righteousness / Serving God, Sin, Stealing / Theft, Wickedness / Evil, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

The Unrighteous Will Not Inherit The Kingdom of God

All to often we are told by the culture of the world today that God loves and accepts all people regardless of behavior choices… whether they rebel against God or obey Him. The world twists scripture and reality to claim that people are born “with a tendency to sin” in a certain area and thus it is “not their fault”. Somehow, we are to believe, if someone is “predisposed” to a certain sin, then they are not expected to overcome it and turn from it. Instead we are told it is to be accepted out of love. The truth is much more clear and perhaps to some, harsh.

If I am born with poor balance and I fall often… I still get hurt. It is up to me to change my behavior to avoid the consequences of it. In this example of poor balance I should avoid walking along the edge of a roof or canyon where I may fall and die. I am responsible for my behavior.

To make it more silly… if I am born such that I will be very tall, like a basketball player… it is still up to me to make sure I adjust my behavior to avoid getting hurt by walking into the tops of low doorways or ceiling fans. The consequences are the same regardless of whether or not I have been “predisposed” to certain risk.

One area where this is still generally accepted is predisposition to alcohol or drug abuse. We do not encourage those individuals to drink and do drugs anyway… telling them it is not their fault. We encourage them to get help and change their behavior. They must choose to avoid situations that would even be tempting to them. If they drink or do drugs they still face the consequences of their actions.

The same is true of all manner of sin and we must take heed, lest we get in the habit of excusing all of it. Someone is not defined by their sin. They do not need to remain in it and accept it. It must be overcome with God’s help. To accept our sin and remain in it is to live in active rebellion to God and those who do so will not inherit the kingdom of God. Quite simply… when we actively ignore God and live in rebellion to His word it shows that we do not really believe in Him and that is a big warning sign that we are headed for hell when we die, unless we repent and submit to God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

      9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Do not be deceived. Whether or not we are predisposed to a certain sin, the consequences of actively choosing to remain in sin are the same… separation from God and eternity without Him when we die. We do no one a favor by telling them it is ok to disregard what God has told us and just to embrace and accept their sin. We obey God and show love to others by showing them the truth with gentleness and love. We help them… not by accepting them in their sin but by leading them out of it.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Am I on the path?, Discerning / Judging, Envy / Jealousy / Coveting, Forgive Others / Seek Forgiveness, Grace / Forgiveness, Greed, Idols / False Gods, Righteousness / Serving God, Salvation, Thankfulness

Should A Christian Judge Others?

The topic of judging others is one that typically brings out strong emotions amongst Christians today. One can have an argument erupt without ever getting deeper into the discussion behind the word “judge”. It is important to consider context of how we use the word “judge”. It can be used to refer to determining one’s salvation in Christ or also used in regards to determining right actions and motives from wrong ones. These are two very different contexts, even though the external actions are often a reflection of the internal motives. How might we go about considering this topic? How about we pick a good role model and see how they show it should be done?

From the time we are young children we are often taught to look at role models to guide our behavior. The concept is simple… identify someone who is doing something well and that you want to “be like” and then study how they think and act. Repeat their actions and hope to repeat their successful outcome in your own life.

The right role models help us succeed in our endeavors, but the wrong role models can lead us on a path to failure and destruction. The wise take great care in evaluating proper role models to follow, but the foolish decide quickly whom to imitate based on surface evaluation of fame or money or status. What we perceive to be “success” has great influence in whom we choose as a role model. Am I pursuing a football career? or a close personal relationship with God? If both, which is my higher priority?

Pause for a moment and consider who you would use as your role model in evaluating the topic of “judging others”. Now let us consider who Paul points to in Ephesians 5.

Ephesians 5:1-21

Be Imitators of God

      1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

      3But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

      6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9(for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.

14For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”

      15Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

I hear many cling to false doctrine that “I can do anything I want and the grace of God will cover it“… which essentially makes the case that we can intentionally rebel against God, or just ignore Him, instead of submit to Him and He does not mind! That is absurd.  Paul clearly teaches differently as did Jesus and all the prophets. The key message of all of them was to “repent, turn away from wrong behaviors and attitudes, submit to God, and sin no more“.  No Biblical prophet or disciple (and certainly not Jesus) ever taught that it was ok to keep sinning willfully. If you find that scripture… please send it to me. It is not there.

It should be sobering to all of us to read Ephesians 5:5.

Ephesians 5:5  5For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Yes… our behaviors and attitudes, which are observable by other people, are a reflection of our inner faith and relationship with God. We cannot claim to be righteous and in right relationship with God just because we say so and then keep on sinning!

Romans 6:1-3 1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

Ephesians 5:6-7 are actually a command for us to avoid the deception of empty words! Far too many are confused and declare no one should “judge” anyone else. We are clearly instructed to discern genuine followers of Christ from liars by their actions and then to keep away from those who are not truly following God!

Ephesians 5:6-7  6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not be partakers with them;

It is equally true that we should test even our own actions to see if they reflect Christ or not. Let us not be complacent in that we say Jesus is Lord, but rather test our actions to see if we are living in such a way that demonstrates we believe Jesus is Lord. This means we obey His commandments, not our own desires and not the value system of the world.

Ephesians 5:11 goes on to instruct us explicitly to not participate in and even to expose the deeds of darkness rather than ignore them for fear of “judging” others who do wrong. We are not called to just go along to avoid offending other people.  We are called to use wisdom and discernment to judge right from wrong!

Ephesians 5:11 11Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;

If we listen to many role models, even leaders in many churches, we will be told not to “judge” actions of others. But when we choose God as our role model, and the Bible as our primary source of revelation about God… an unchanging source of knowledge about an unchanging God… we see different instruction. We must wisely judge right from wrong so that we can do right and avoid wrong. To do so we must identify by their observable actions who are those that we can trust and who are those we can not. We should even go so far as to challenge ourselves by comparing our observable actions to the words we say when we claim to submit to Jesus.

As an interesting exercise, consider the following. If you were on trial, accused of being a Christian… a true follower of Jesus Christ… could anyone convict you based on actual observable facts?

James 2:18-19

18But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 19You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

What changes should you consider to your life that may help build the evidence that you are a genuine Christian?  Keep in mind, of course, that doing works just to do works amounts to nothing. We must start by testing what we really believe in our heart, submit to and follow Jesus wholeheartedly, and you will want to do the works.

Said a different way, if you can not find evidence to convict you as a follower of Christ, do not try to fix the problem by starting with more works, but rather by inspecting your heart and transforming your heart to fully submit to following Jesus. Then simply live your life with a genuine love for Jesus and desire to obey His commands… and the works will just show up.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Character of God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Family, Hearing from God, Holy / Set Apart, Idols / False Gods, Obeying God, Thankfulness, Traditions / Holidays

Let Your Family Be Set Apart For God’s Purpose

We join Jacob and his family as they follow God’s instruction to move to Bethel in Genesis 35:1-8. Jacob had previously settled and remained among ungodly people. In His daughter, Dinah, was raped and then the man who did so came and asked for her in marriage as if his behavior was normal.  Jacob’s sons responded violently in Genesis 34. Now Jacob feared the people of the land would be hostile to him.

Jacob Moves to Bethel

      1Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; 3and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

      5As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.

God personally replied to Jacob in his time of distress. God provided specific directions and Jacob, to his credit, obeyed. Jacob built an altar to show he was thankful to God. However we also see evidence of Jacob’s failure as head of his household.

2So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments

Jacob not only settled and remained among the pagans, putting his family at physical risk as we saw in Genesis 34, but he further had allowed his household to blend with the pagans putting them at spiritual risk. He did not keep them set apart for God, or holy. He was aware, or became aware, that they had foreign gods among them and needed purification. Why had he not taken notice and addressed this earlier? Why only now that they were leaving? Why only after Dinah had been raped?

We don’t know for sure, but I suspect that we are all at risk of rationalizing and accepting pagan practices that dishonor God. It starts by making excuses to accept that they are not bad or “not all bad”. Perhaps they seem “fun”. Then we may start to participate in some way. Then our household just starts to accept them. God does not want us to make excuses and rationalize why the pagan practices of the ungodly can be considered acceptable. He wants us to remain holy… set apart for His service and purpose.

We see insight into the character of God in this scripture as well. Despite his mistakes, Jacob was a man of faith and obeyed God’s direct instructions when he heard them. God protected Jacob and delivered his family to Bethel. God does not give up on us because we make mistakes. So long as we wholeheartedly seek Him and submit to Him, He will remain with us. What a merciful and loving God! Praise God for His patience in our weakness. However, as with Jacob’s family, we still face consequences for our mistakes.

Are there any idols or worldly activities that you are accepting in your family? Idols are not always statues, but may be other things like sports, money, fame, traditions, or other things we place in importance before God. Most of us immediately say we don’t do that, but look closely at how you spend our time, money, and talent. Is God really first? or do you just fit Him in once a week for church?

Separate from idols, false gods, and close relationships with ungodly people. Pray God would reveal to you what you need to purge from your family’s life now. Don’t wait until something bad happens as did to Dinah in Genesis 34. The decisions you make today may affect generations in your household to come.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

the way with scripture - for posts, medium 2

Family, Hearing from God, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Idols / False Gods, Lying / Deceiving, Protector / Deliverer, Righteousness / Serving God, Suffering / Adversity, Wickedness / Evil

Laban Pursues Jacob

Genesis 31:22-42 continues after Jacob has fled Laban in secret earlier in Genesis 31, taking His family and livestock with Him. Rachel, stole from her father the household idols to bring with her. When Laban realizes Jacob has left, he pursues him with anger. But God is with Jacob and comes to Laban in a dream to protect Jacob.

      22When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. 24God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, “Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.”

      25Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. 26Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27“Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with timbrel and with lyre; 28and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. 29“It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ 30“Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?” 31Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32“The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

      33So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel’s saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent but did not find them. 35She said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household idols.

      36Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? 37“Though you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38“These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. 39“That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40“Thus I was: by day the heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41“These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you changed my wages ten times. 42“If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.”

Perhaps one of the first things to note, is that God is perfectly able to communicate through non believers, such as Laban. He appears to Laban in a dream in order to protect Jacob. We know Laban was not a man of God by his behaviors such as deceiving Jacob and then trying to cheat him by changing his agreed wages repeatedly… and of course by the fact that Laban clutches tightly to his household  idols.  Additionally, Laban refers to God as the God of Jacob’s father, not his own God or even just “God”.

We see, also, that though Laban is quick to deceive others, he does not like to be deceived. This is typical hypocritical behavior for those who are focused on themselves rather than fundamental principles or truths of right and wrong. Every situation is interpreted not against God’s holy standard, but rather against the flawed view of “How does it affect me?” Godly people are called to be different from this behavior, measuring right and wrong against God’s holy standard revealed in scripture.

As a man continuing on his walk toward righteousness, Jacob strongly agrees that  whomever stole from Laban should be punished. Jacob wanted nothing to do with the idols anyway as they are detestable to God. Jacob did not make excuses when confronted by Laban. He clearly stated why he left  secretly and made no excuse for someone stealing.

Rachel, clutching to idols instead of God or even husband, comes up with clever deception to avoid being caught at this time. A family raised by deceitful and wicked parents becomes quite good at being wicked. This type of cleverness is not to be admired.

Having given Laban time to look for his idols, Jacob then rebukes Laban for chasing him and for several other ways in which Laban has wrongly treated Jacob. Jacob highlights that his service has been righteous and honorable even when Laban was not. Both Jacob and Laban prospered from it. Best of all, Jacob honors God by recognizing and proclaiming His role in protecting Jacob and his family in this difficult twenty years.

For those of us today, who are going through difficult family situations or even situations in life not related to family specifically, keep in mind that God can be with you even in tough situations. He never promises to protect you from suffering and make life easy. Quite the contrary, those who serve Him the most often have quite difficult lives with a  lot of earthly pain and suffering, but still find joy in the Lord and in the hope of what is to come after death.

When you find yourself in difficult times, it is then that you must draw nearer to Him, not pull away. Seek Him more earnestly both in study of scripture and in prayer. Change your ways from the path of sin to the path of righteous obedience and submission to God. Do not just look for a “quick fix” to your situation. Trust God. Ask Him for help. God is able to provide and protect according to His will.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

the way with scripture - for posts, medium 2

Blessed, Consequences of Sin, Curse, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Idols / False Gods, Love, Obeying God

Blessings Of Obedience Or Curse of Rebellion

Deuteronomy 11 records a passionate call for God’s people to obey Him and receive His blessings. It also contains a strong warning for those who choose instead to disobey God and do things their own way. While this was addressed to God’s people at a specific important point in their journey out of Egypt and into the promised land, it is incredibly applicable and relevant today. Read it as if God is talking to you today and let it speak to you. Focus more on the blessings of obedience and curse of disobedience, which are enduring general principles of God,  than literally the direction to occupy a  land, which was situation specific.

11 “You must love the Lord your God and always obey his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. 2 Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the Lord your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm. 3 They didn’t see the miraculous signs and wonders he performed in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his land. 4 They didn’t see what the Lord did to the armies of Egypt and to their horses and chariots—how he drowned them in the Red Sea[a] as they were chasing you. He destroyed them, and they have not recovered to this very day!

5 “Your children didn’t see how the Lord cared for you in the wilderness until you arrived here. 6 They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab, a descendant of Reuben) when the earth opened its mouth in the Israelite camp and swallowed them, along with their households and tents and every living thing that belonged to them. 7 But you have seen the Lord perform all these mighty deeds with your own eyes!

8 “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. 9 If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey! 10 For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain— 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!

13 “If you carefully obey the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and soul, 14 then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 He will give you lush pastureland for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat.

16 “But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the Lord is giving you.

18 “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.

22 “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him. 23 Then the Lord will drive out all the nations ahead of you, though they are much greater and stronger than you, and you will take over their land. 24 Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.[b] 25 No one will be able to stand against you, for the Lord your God will cause the people to fear and dread you, as he promised, wherever you go in the whole land.

26 “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! 27 You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. 28 But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.

29 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land and helps you take possession of it, you must pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. 30 (These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley,[c] near the town of Gilgal, not far from the oaks of Moreh.) 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take that land and are living in it, 32 you must be careful to obey all the decrees and regulations I am giving you today.

I recognize certain difficult times in my life where it has seemed that God was metaphorically or symbolically calling me out of Egypt and directing me to a promised land. It required obedience to His word and to His direction in prayer. I had to boldly leave behind some things in my past that were important to me and how I viewed the world and trust God, stepping out and into a new way of approaching my life. In hindsight, I can now clearly see where God was leading me out of bondage and into freedom and prosperity in living my life for Him. At the time, it seemed daunting, as if He were leading me to a strange place that made me uncomfortable.

I encourage each of us to take time and pray that God would reveal to us His direction and that we would have the courage to obey and trust Him. Seek to apply God’s call to obedience to your life personally in the small every day decisions and actions as well as the larger “life changing” big decisions. God will lead you through if you will follow.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

the way with scripture - for posts, medium 2