Sin in the Church -- the new "Freedom in Christ?"

The Apostle Paul in several of his epistles warned his Christian readers to "be not deceived." Unfortunately, there is a tendency in the human heart, even the heart of believers, to be deceived. The Apostle Peter describes this same gullibility of the heart when referring to those who "willingly are ignorant." It seems that the bottom line of the human heart is its insistence to believe what it wants to believe. And, this it does in spite of any evidence to the contrary.

Paul warns the Church that before the coming of the Lord there must come both a "falling away" and the revealing of the Man of Sin. It should be obvious that those falling away are those from within the Church. The unsaved and unregenerate of this world can hardly be considered to have fallen away from anything. Paul's reference then is concerning Christians, who from all appearances, were once walking in the truth and light of the gospel, only to eventually fall away from the faith. Arguments about predestination and eternal security of will have to wait for another day. Suffice it to say that the falling away is from among the ranks of those who at least consider themselves believers.

Is there evidence of this falling away and great deception being present in the Church today? Certainly. Very few believers, however, would consider that such warnings and admonitions would or could apply to their own lives. It must be noted, however, that the sins which characterize this present world are all present in great abundance within the Church. Controversy on this point is simply the fact that some sin is no longer sin in the minds of many. The disagreements of the past regarding things such as drinking, dancing, and smoking are being pushed into moral obscurity by new and prevalent assertions regarding the legitimacy of using illicit drugs, watching pornography, or being a committed Christian homosexual. Are we experiencing new revelation and enlightenment regarding these things, or are we experiencing the falling away and having our hearts "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin?" Is this a new freedom in Christ, or just more of the same old sin?

The scope of this brief writing does not permit discussion of every point and counter point regarding particular sins or "freedoms in Christ." Some general observations will have to suffice. Some years ago, while in Jerusalem, I was having a meal with several Christian believers. One man in particular was drinking and smoking to great excess, not simply my own opinion, but his own, demonstrated by his overly loud and boisterous comment, "Thank you, Lord, for the freedom to indulge in these things." I point to the attitude of the heart, not the specific indulgence, where arguments about moderation might prevail. But, surely, we can agree that God wants our hearts to belong to him. Allowing them to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin is simply too easy and too prevalent in this day and age.

Out of one side of its collective mouth, the Church (for the most part anyway) condemns drunkenness, illicit drugs, homosexual behavior, adultery, fornication, pornography, etc. Out of the other side, however, is a reluctant admission that Christians indulge in these same sins to virtually the same degree and extent as the rest of the world. The fact that Christians behave essentially no differently than unbelievers speaks volumes regarding the current state of the Church. What kind of thinking has taken hold of Christians? Is fornication now an acceptable Christian practice as long as the couple plans to eventually marry? Is marijuana an acceptable recreational drug because God has given us "every green herb" for meat? Can believers now be practicing homosexuals because they've recited the sinner's prayer and, after all, God looks upon the heart? And perhaps these things represent the "falling away" Paul warned us about. Perhaps we have forgotten the Lord's admonition, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord..." Perhaps the Church no longer sees any need to be a unique and peculiar people unto the Lord.

Unfortunately, our contemporary theology plays a role in this growing confusion. A significant portion of the modern Church has now told several generations of believers that the gospel of Jesus Christ in its entirety is to simply repeat the sinner's prayer. That's all, folks. Absolutely, positively nothing more. We have guaranteed eternal salvation to any and all who perform this modern sacrament, assuring them that their earthly problems will soon be a thing of the past. When many of these converts rush disillusioned back into the world, we still assure them that the sinner's prayer once-spoken is the "sure foundation" of their eternal life, no matter what lifestyle they may pursue. Only Colonel Harvey's Indian Elixir (It Cures What Ails You) ever came with a better guarantee. This new theological way of thinking, however, has swept its way into all parts of the Church. Too many Christians think that we can do anything, be anything, and still have our eternal cake. We can fornicate, but still enter the kingdom of heaven. We can watch endless hours of pornography and still enter the kingdom of heaven. We can commit adultery, smoke pot, snort cocaine, lie, cheat, steal, and still enter the kingdom of heaven. After all, didn't we say the sinner's prayer while the choir was still singing, "Just as I am?"

The heart never changes. Paul had to deal with this same kind of modern thinking, and was compelled to warn believers to "be not deceived." He said, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." (I Co.6) This present writing is not a call to a gospel of works, nor to any vain efforts to perfect the flesh through works of the flesh. It is a call for the Church to quit deceiving itself. It does matter what you do. Are you continuing in fornication, idolatry, homosexuality, thievery, drunkenness, and the like? If so, the Apostle of the Lord said, "Be not deceived, you shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Is God even able to convict you of sin anymore? It was prophesied of Jesus, before his birth, that "he shall save his people from their sins." Thus, God's people are to be saved and rescued from their sin, so that they no longer are slaves to perform it. This is not an argument for sinless perfection of the flesh, but we must recognize that sin has become an accepted way of life for the Christian. It seems that almost every believer has their pet indulgence or sin that they refuse to give up or even be convicted about. We must repent of treating the precious blood of Christ as some common and contemptible thing that can be kept on hand for immediate use right after our pre-planned and prolonged forays into our favorite sin.

The Church in these last days is being called to repentance. I am learning that this is more than merely an acknowledgement of sin (quite easy), but involves a true turning away from it (very difficult). This present writing is also a call for believers to "abide in Christ." This is the only true method of overcoming sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Apart from abiding in him, Jesus said we can do nothing. How does one truly abide in Christ? I have no idea. I'm still working that one out with fear and trembling, yet confident and secure that "he which hath begun a good work in me will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." You must work out this "abiding" in your own life as well. Dear Believer in Christ, be not deceived. You cannot simply live as your flesh pleases, indulging in any sin that your heart happens to lead you into. Your heart will only get harder and harder, until you are no longer convicted by the Holy Spirit of anything. Freedom in Christ is not freedom to sin and indulge in anything you want. Freedom in Christ is freedom from the bondage and deception of sin. The Scriptures are at odds with modern thinking both within and without the Church. Redefining and rewriting Holy Writ does not alter the objective truth and reality that God has decreed. All Christians are called to pursue the holiness which can only come from Him, "without which no man shall see the Lord." We must walk in the light now, because darkness is rapidly descending upon the world, and upon the Church too. The "falling away" is not on its way, but is already here.

The Emerging Christian Left -- Strong Delusion About "Politics"

I recall very well the first time I saw the bumper sticker. It was in Santa Fe, New Mexico during the Presidential campaign of 2008, and I was literally stunned. I think my mouth was hanging open as I stood there in amazement. Finally, I pointed the sticker out to my wife who wondered why I had stopped walking and was staring so intently at the back of a car. The bumper sticker said simply,"Christians for Obama." God, help us. It might as well have said, "Jews for Hitler," because I couldn't believe it. Christians for Obama? Were they serious? The realization poured over me at that moment that, yes, they were serious. This bumper sticker, in fact, reflected the true political feelings of many who call themselves Christians, perhaps even those who consider themselves born-again, evangelical Christians. Never has an epiphany revealed so much concerning the terrible darkness flooding the modern Church. Freedom in Christ is one thing, but freedom to vote for a radical pro-abortion, pro-death ideologue?

What twisted thinking permitted a Christian, any Christian, to believe that they could render their vote for Barack Hussein Obama and that doing so was perfectly acceptable in the sight of God? What can this even be called? Depravity of the mind? Mental illness? Spiritual blindness? All of the above? Nevertheless, Christians in significant numbers went to the polls and cast their votes for a candidate who vowed to do all within his power as President to promote, defend, and encourage abortion on demand. This was a candidate who had gone so far as to argue that every abortion should be underwritten by a legal guarantee that the baby will be either dead on arrival, or will be denied any potentially life-saving care. The moral clarity of this issue should be utterly unmistakable to believers, but, incredibly, it is not. The moral character of a candidate taking such a position should be equally clear too, but, sadly, is not.

How does such perverse and depraved thinking happen? In order for Christians to reach such a stage of mental and spiritual darkness, one must first become confused about the very nature of abortion itself. One must relegate it to the stature of nothing more than simply another "political issue." Taxes, health care, social security, military spending, abortion, economic stimulus, etc. And, thus, abortion gets plugged in there among all the other important "issues" of the day. Far too many Christians fail to see and understand that abortion is not merely another political issue of the day, but is, and has been, the defining statement of what we as a nation have become. Far too many Christians fail to understand that killing millions upon millions of babies is not simply another social-political topic to be categorized or rated according to one's own personal issues list. Such thinking permits individuals to rank abortion right behind the economy, military spending, global warming, or whatever else happens to be on their list. Voting for a candidate sworn to the exaltation of murder-on-demand, one even advocating infanticide, is tantamount to having voted for Adolph Hitler in the Thirties because he promised to rebuild the German economy and to make Germany great again. The systematic murder of six million Jews as the eventual end-result was simply a peripheral political issue. As long as Hitler continued to win the war and while German paychecks blossomed, his "excesses" regarding Jews could be conveniently ignored. Similarly, too many American Christians have lost a Biblical perspective on the nature of politics, religion, and reality itself. They are suffering from a case of terminal ego centrism where dead babies are nothing more than personal and political choices.

Shall we cut to the chase? Anyone who genuinely believes them self to be a Christian, who considers abortion simply one of a myriad of political issues, is in great darkness, delusion, and danger. The darkness is spiritual. The delusion is, hopefully, merely of their own making at this point. And, the danger is because they have no perception of how far they have fallen from a Biblical (God's) perspective on the nature of reality. They have no perception of how inured they have become to government sanctioned killing as simply a part of the American way of life. It takes a moment of serious contemplation to really understand what we as a nation have done and how callous to it we have become to it. Think now, very hard, upon this fact. We have now murdered somewhere between forty to fifty MILLION of our children, at least as many lives as perished in all of World War II. A few in our society speak out, but for the most part these children have no defenders. They are unseen victims, with few exposed to their cries or bloody bodies, until dumped lifelessly into the trash or laid aside in the broom closet to die from neglect. They are babies, not fetuses, not non-viable tissue masses, not choices, but BABIES, little children waiting to be born and loved. Meanwhile, it's murder-for-hire behind closed doors and just another "issue" in modern America. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Check Sunday's newspaper for our reproductive health care coupon. Stay tuned for wholesale euthanasia of the elderly and infirm.

Too many Christians have chosen not to think about abortion and its effect and consequences upon this nation. The immediate effect is a complete hardening of the collective psyche into simply accepting human murder as a part of our culture and way of life. Disagreeable? Oh, to be sure, but since we're not going to get close enough to actually smell a bucket of dead babies, not a very personal one. Life must go on, right? Meanwhile, another three or four thousand babies died today. The unseen effect is that we are a nation under the judgement of our Creator. The troubles and problems confronting us continue to grow and multiply exponentially. Our politicians line their pockets and run for the lifeboats, while true solutions to our problems disappear like mirages on the horizon. Increasing hatred and strife pit neighbor against neighbor, race against race, party against party, and the Red Horseman will soon unleash a river of blood upon America -- one commensurate with the blood we have shed in our so-called "clinics." Constitutional liberties are being cashiered in the face of terrorism, and totalitarianism will arrive sometime in the middle of the night. Most think that these insurmountable messes are political, social, and financial in nature. Only a few understand that they are spiritual in origin and supernatural in their ultimate conclusion.

The Last Judgement is all about personal accountability. Christians who vote for radical anti-life candidates will be held accountable for both their pro-death policies, their culture-of-death agendas, and the abortions that result. "Oh, but he's so right about the economy, and he's one of us, he'll stop the war, and he makes wonderful speeches!" Hear me, killing babies is not a political issue. It is a moral catastrophe and an unmitigated evil for which we as individuals and as a nation will one day pay a very heavy price. God who made heaven and earth will not overlook the wanton annihilation of millions of his little children. His judgement is coming and is inevitable. While abortion-on-demand continues in this country, THERE ARE NO OTHER ISSUES. And YOU, when you voted for your personal finances or for your self-righteous, pathetic, egocentric, hypocritical save-the-whales, stop-the-war, plant-a-tree ideological drivel, or chose any other issue over the sanctity of human life, it was a complete affront to God. Now, in the sight of God those miserable dollars in your pocket are absolutely no different that those in the wallet of the abortionist himself. In voting as you did, you said "Yes, we can!" to abortion. The blood of innocent children is upon your hands.

Modern "Christians" can re-write the precepts of their faith. They can change and rearrange their theology. They can fashion a new god into their own image. They can become an emergent, hip, cool, new generation of believers not so narrowly focused on "single issues." They cannot, however, alter truth and reality, nor assuage the coming judgement of Almighty God upon this nation and its people. God gives us leaders in keeping with our hearts and our collective moral condition. Thus, it is God who has given us our current pro-death, it's-all-about-me President, both because we cried out for him and because we absolutely DESERVE him. The Church in America is FULL of believers walking in spiritual darkness. Jesus said, "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" May God penetrate that darkness by his Spirit, and may those who call themselves Christians repent of their evil, carnal, pro-death votes. The new Christian Left is nothing new, merely the same old deception that always creeps into the Church. Its current efforts to reshape biblical standards on sin into an acceptable contemporary morality impress none but those who want to be deceived.

[Lord Jesus, bestow your abundant love, mercy, and forgiveness upon every person who has truly repented of participating in an abortion, including those who have repented of ever voting for pro-death, "pro-choice" politicians. Come quickly, Lord, and avenge the blood of your murdered children. Amen.]