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Sometimes I am utterly astounded by the lack of discipline of today’s so called “Christians.” I use the term “Christians” loosely because some people love to call themselves Christians, yet I have trouble finding anything that even remotely resembles “Christ” in them.
Many Christians today are getting soft on biblical principles. Some support homosexuality (even though the bible is outspokenly against it from cover to cover). Some have sex with random people each weekend (and have no intentions of marrying them). Some get a divorce when they get “bored” with their spouse. Some curse, lie, cheat, steal, and everything else, all while saying in the next breath how they are such great ”Christians”.
Christianity to most people today means you say a simple prayer to “accept Jesus”, possibly pop into a church on Sundays, and that’s it. They are free to do whatever their mind or heart desires the other 6 days, and they are guaranteed heaven. After all, they are “covered with the blood of Jesus,” so how could they ever do wrong? How could God ever condemn them?
Don’t get me wrong. No one is perfect, and Christianity doesn’t imply perfection. But it does imply a commitment to perfection. To be a Christian means to follow Christ. It means to become LIKE Christ because Christ lived the Father’s will perfectly. It implies a total dedication to God’s will and sin certainly has no place near God.
We may slip, but we pick ourselves back up. We certainly don’t slather on a layer of sin daily, and that is the problem with many Christians today. Being a Christian sinner is an oxymoron. That is the equivalent of saying your are wealthy bum.
In the older days, Christianity meant serious compliance with God’s will. It meant casting off sin and making a commitment to follow Christ (for better or for worse). It was relatively easy to spot a Christian by their actions and deeds. Their Christian fruit was easily recognized, and finding sin in them was a difficult task. Today that meaning has apparently changed, and that is sad.
Jesus Did Not Come to Make Your Life Easier My Fellow Christians…Sorry to Disappoint You!
The most absurd part of all of this is that people use Jesus as a crutch to sin. Every day I hear Christians defend obvious sinful actions by abusing Jesus’ work on Earth. It is like the “blood of Jesus” is a the new “get out of sin free card.”
In fact, some even think there is nothing they can do to ever fail God’s judgement after saying a simple prayer (hence the terrible once saved always saved false doctrine). They literally think you can pray to “be saved” one time, and then go back to sin as usual.
But unfortunately, this could not be further from the truth. Jesus never came to make your life easier friends. I know that must seem like a shocking revelation to some, but it is true nonetheless. Jesus came to make your life harder. He came to correct your spiritual flaws, and make sure you were perfected for the Father.
When you hire a physical trainer, they don’t come to let you sit on the couch and eat potato chips. They make your life HARDER. They stack on more weights. They demand you work out for longer. Why? No pain no gain, right? If the body doesn’t go through a physical exercise that pushes its limits, it cannot improve.
In the same way, Jesus came to make your spiritual life HARDER. Why? No pain, no gain! Jesus showed how you can fully understand God’s will, and be spiritually fit for the coming kingdom of God. This is certainly one purpose of why God sent Christ.
Jesus even fully acknowledges that you will have it hard when you follow him, as all throughout the New Testament he clearly says multiple times, “You will be hated by men for my name’s sake,” and “You will be persecuted…”
Ouch! That doesn’t seem like much fun to me, and as we can see from history, Jesus wasn’t exaggerating one bit. The early apostles suffered terrible deaths (some were killed by stoning, some were reportedly crucified, some beheaded, and worse). So Jesus certainly didn’t come to ensure his followers were pampered with the finest luxuries. That doesn’t come until AFTER the end of this age.
Not only that, but nowhere does Jesus “lighten the spiritual burden” so to speak. Never does he say to sin freely since we now have his “blood on us.” Never does Jesus say we are some super invincible anti-sin machines that cannot sin since we have his blood on him. As if his blood is like some mysterious veil that covers our sin so that God cannot see them.
No, he tells us to pray to God asking Him to deliver us from temptation. He warns us against following the fleeting pleasures of sin. He says to repent of our sins (which means stop doing them). He says that those who do the will of His Father (ie. not sinning) will inherit the kingdom of God.
He says that there will even be those who cast out demons in his name, and yet Jesus will tell them to depart and get out of his sight (as they were sinners). Heck, even the demons and Satan himself believe in Jesus. Are they “saved?” No way! So merely acknowledging Christ or even praying a simple prayer (and then continuing to sin afterwards) does nothing unless you supplement that with obedience.
In fact, if Jesus did anything at all he actually cranks up the spiritual heat to a whole new level. The Old Testament says, “Do not commit adultery.” What does Jesus have to say? Don’t lust after others in your heart. Ouch. Not committing the physical act of adultery is certainly do-able for most people. But not even thinking about it, now that makes it much harder.
The Old Testament says, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” What does Jesus say? He says that if a person slaps you, let them hit you again! If someone steals your hat, give them your jacket also. In other words, if they swipe your iPod, hand them your fancy carrying case along with it!
The Old Testament says, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” What does Jesus say? Love your enemies! Pray for them, and love them. What?? So when someone cuts you off on the highway, your supposed to love that? When they mock you and ridicule you, you’re supposed to pray for them? And you think Jesus is doing you a favor? You think you can now sin freely or something?
I can’t find ANY verse where Jesus is making our lives easier and says to sin freely since we now have his “blood on us”. All I see is that Jesus makes our lives a whole lot harder. The “blood of Jesus” certainly doesn’t make life easier. It came with a hefty price.
If you are in doubt, read the New Testament again and see what the followers of Christ endured, or see what happens when you publicly stand up against something unbiblical such as gay marriage (like Carrie Prejean did). That should remove any doubt. Christian persecution is happening again, and it is only going to get worse (read Revelation).
Why Did Jesus Make Life So Much Harder? Why the Extra Effort?
The Mosaic law was given to the Israelites to help prepare them spiritually for what was coming to be in God’s Holy Plan. But the Mosaic law itself mostly dealt with the “outward” signs of sin. It dealt with murder, adultery, and so forth once they had been committed externally.
The Israelites did not seem to understand that those outward manifestations of sin were simply the result of an inward problem. So while they sometimes followed the letter of the law outwardly, inwardly they neglected to follow the “spirit” of the law. They simply “didn’t get it.”
Jesus, however, fully realized that the problem with sin is that it never comes from the outside in, but only from the inside out. It originates in the mind, and can later manifest physically outside of the body. But the start of sin is always in the mind first, and it then spreads like a cancer until it affects not only you, but others as well.
A person isn’t a murderer because they murder. They murder because they are a murderer. They aren’t liars because they lie. They lie because they are liars. They aren’t thieves because they steal, they steal because they are thieves. It all starts internally.
People do not simply slip, fall, and accidentally have sex outside of their marriage. No, it is usually an inward lust that gets out of control. People do not slip, fall, and tell a lie. Rather, they have an inward desire to deceive or avoid the truth.
People do not slip, fall, and murder someone (although I would beware of ever going hunting with Ex-Vice President Dick Cheney). No, instead murder is just an outward expression of the hate and rage that was present in the mind internally.
This all just goes to prove Jesus’ point: Sin starts in your mind, and works its way out. Therefore, stop sin where it starts (the mind). If you lust after someone secretly in your mind, you should immediately stop and force those thoughts out of your mind before it manifests in a physical act of adultery.
Feel yourself hating someone? Stop and say to yourself, “Love thy enemies.” Those things weren’t suggestions from Jesus, they were commands. Where did Jesus come up with this? Jesus did what the Father told him to do, that’s how!
It reminds me of a quote I once heard that is so true:
Be careful what you think, for your thoughts become your words.
Be careful what you say, for your words become your actions.
Be careful what you do, for your actions become your habits.
Be careful what becomes habitual, for your habits become your destiny.
All things start in the mind. Any idea starts in the mind. Any invention, business idea, movie idea, thought, or directed action starts in the mind. Therefore, your mind should be your number one spiritual priority, as that is the soil in which sin takes root.
So get your mind right, and program God’s laws into it. Judge yourself according to the standards God has dictated in His scriptures, and you will have no worries when you face judgment.
And enough of this lazy brand of Christianity. Enough is enough folks. You embarrass the faith, you write off the sacrifice of Christ and use it as an excuse to perpetrate evil and sin. How dare you! You ignore the sufferings of the apostles and early church, and live in luxury and sin while taking it easy.
Do not call yourself a Christian while you enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin and are unrepentant. That is an insult to Christ, and an insult to God.
Conclusion: Quit Being a Lazy Christian. It is Time to Put on the Armor of God
Jesus didn’t come to let you have loose morals. Jesus came to super-size your morals. He didn’t come to abolish the law. He came to put the law on steroids!
It is time to start acting like it. We should place God’s will above all other things. God is the highest entity in the universe, and by following Christ we honor and glorify the Father.
So put on the Armor of God. Fight the good fight, and keep the faith. Stop giving Christ a bad name. Stop sinninga nd repent. Follow Christ, and serve God with all of your heart, mind, and soul.
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