But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the
Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear,
pulling them out of the fir; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Jude 20-22
Christians
if asked: what is the greatest gift given to man by God would answer: Jesus
Christ. They would be correct for Jesus Christ is and will always be: the
greatest gift given to man. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise given to
Adam, reinforced to Noah, and to Abraham. This gift was known be the Hebrews
even before they were a nation as this gift of a promised Messiah was know by
their forefathers and especially to Jacob (Israel): “And God spake unto
Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And He said. Here
am I. and He said, I am God, the God of they father: fear not to go down into
Egypt: for I will there make of thee a great nation” (Genesis 46:2-3). When
Jesus came into this world as a babe the angels spoke: Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:14). No
doubt: Jesus is the greatest gift to man. Is there a second great gift from
God? As the first great gift from God was rejected outright by even those who
called themselves believers in God, and by those who treated this gift with
little worth (He was nothing more than another seer), so too, the second
greatest gift has had the same problem: it was, and is rejected outright or has
been so changed by men and women who call themselves “Christian” that it has
little effect on the lives of people that much of it has been called into
question or changed to meet a doctrinal or theological position of men. It is
not that many people outright reject this gift, they simply ignore it as this
gift sits on the shelves getting dusty, or dusted off so that they, when they
go to Church look as though they read it. This second gift to man from God is
the Bible and yet for too many the Bible is a book that remains mysterious, a
mystery. This lack of knowledge and understanding of this Second Greatest Gift
from God has led to, not only heresy, but for people to become cultural
Christians, nominally Christians.
What is a
nominal Christian? A nominal Christian is one who says that they believe in the
Bible as the word of God and even claim to have committed their lives to Jesus
Christ. This nominal faith is one that simply agrees with statements such as,
“It doesn’t matter what you believe; it is how you live that counts” and “It
doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere in your belief.”
This is absurd! As a side note: The word “sincere” has as at its etymology the
Greek word for “ceres” that means wax and wax was used to hide cracks in
pottery so that the buyer would not be aware of the faults. When the prefix
“sin” is added to “ceres” the word changes from a noun to an adjective, that is
it describes the noun and means then to be free of fault, to be genuine. The
person who is sincere may be genuine and be without fault, yet if the adjective
“nominal” that which describes a “Christian”, nominal meant to be in name only,
to be in form only so if a person is a “nominal Christian,” that is in name or
form only then their sincerity is based on truth, it is hiding from the truth.
This is a
fact: What we believe determines how we live. If a person believes, that is
determined, that they are doing God’s work by killing heretics, they do this in
all sincerity. They believe they are doing right even though in fact they have
perpetrated a hideous crime against mankind who may not have done anything
physical or in word to warrant death, maiming, or incarceration. We have recent
events to show that mankind can be so determined to be able to kill as though
this is godly. It does not need be so horrible as killing, or maiming to bring
untruth, and harm to people as when false teaching or heresy allowed to be
taught in our Churches. No matter how sincere: they are promoting that which is
against God. Yes, it may that those persons are living good moral lives, yet
they measure their lives, their beliefs, against some subjective criteria
without realizing that this may be simply ignorance of fact, or due to wanting
to gain personally leading people to not know right from wrong, they cannot
distinguish between the two, truth or error.
This is the
reason we study God’s word, that great second gift from God. It is here in this
great gift we find how to live our lives, to be instructed so we can know right
from wrong, from false teaching and error, from heresy. We must come to know
the principles and precepts or we will fall to and become victims of our own
subjectivity. If this is not down then it is most possible that our hearts will
become hardened, and our mind blinded to all moral distinction.
This blog
is to aid us to change from the inside/out, from false understanding of God’s
second greatest gift. This will require critical thinking, reading of His word,
common sense, and prayer. We have this opportunity and this opportunity is
accompanied by responsibility. If we find that we have settled for cultural
Christianity, and if we remain ignorant or even unresponsive to Authentic
Christian Faith, how then can we face God, what kind of justification will we
be able to give to God?
Incline not my heart to any evil thing,
To practice
wicked works with men
That work iniquity: and let me not eat
Of their
dainties. Let the righteous
Smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let
Him reprove me;
it shall be an excellent
Oil, which shall not
break my head:
For yet my prayer
also shall be in their calamities.
Psalm 141: 4-5
Change may be hard: but it is necessary if found wrong
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