Are You Ashamed of the Truth of the Gospel?
I titled this in a way that presents a question in the hearts and minds of those Christians and non-Christians alike, because like in the 1st century church, there were Jew and Gentile, it remains the same, yesterday as in today. I have had several people on social media who knew me at some point in time as a non-Christian, non-Christian self proclaiming Christian, and currently a child of God living like a Christian should type of true Christian. Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." I certainly fall under that category, but unlike many who know this in their minds as I do, I found that I didn't just have to know it in my mind but be convicted in my heart of what all I had sinned, separated me from really grasping the need for God's free gift of grace. It wasn't until I began to share my heart felt faith and hope in Jesus, and what was revealed to me as sin through His laws, that I realized the need to dive deeper in faith, prayer, and the word of God in order to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that I now have in my heart, through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 3:14-16 says,
"But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame."
I will be the first to admit openly and with security in the forgiveness I have in Christ Jesus for the redemption of my sins, that I am a sinner (Romans 1:24-32), and have been declared righteous through His blood and victorious over the death penalty owed for my sins though His resurrection. The difference between knowing this saving grace in your mind and knowing it in your heart shows in the actions of the person who claims to be a Christian. That is why there are two types of Christians today. I have written before as well as countless others, that you cannot possibly be a true believing, righteous living Christian with one leg on either side of the fence because there is simply no grey area with God. Someone once said this about the way mankind views God, "In the beginning God made man in His own image, and since the fall, man has been seeking to return the compliment." When we do this, like saying, "My God is loving and grants my requests when I pray, so he must care for me." is ignoring the sin we have and the need for a loving and just God who delights in granting our petitions when they glorify Him to do so. Let us not forget the reason behind the meaning of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." We often quote this verse, but leave the point unsaid. John 3:17-18 continues, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." If you really believe in something, you stand firm in what you believe. I know who I believe in and that is the Son of God, Jesus Christ who has redeemed me from my former slavery to sin, and I now live to serve in righteousness. The laws of God are what condemned me of sin, but it is the Holy Spirit that convicted me of the need for repentance and justification through Christ Jesus. You cannot ride the fence on which is black and white with God. If mankind cannot see their penalty for sin and the justness of God, they are nullifying the need for a savior.
Here it is plain to see in Romans 3:23-26, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who in God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." We are all sinners, have been given justification through faith in the redemption of our sins, that Christ Jesus paid in full with His life (blood) on the cross, and now is alive and overthrew the death penalty for our sins which separated us from eternal life in heaven with Him. If we don't hold stock in this and believe this with all of our being, we are lost. There is no grey area in the Gospel. To teach otherwise is heresy according to the Bible (Galatians 1:6-12).
Christ died for all the shameful acts of sin I have done throughout my life, even up to the day of my salvation, when I surrendered my whole life to His glory. I no longer desire the works of my flesh to do evil, but desire only to continuously crucify my flesh as Christ did to redeem me from my sins, and serve the only just and loving God who has given me victory over that which separated me from accepting His gift of grace. I praise God that I cannot be put to shame by man for the things God has forgiven me from, "passed over", redeemed me from, justified in my faith in Him, cleansed from my heart, and by God has forgotten. Romans 5:20-21 says, "Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin regained in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
What we owe God is a life lived for Him instead continuing in slavery to our sin. We owe a blood price, our lives, same as if we live and keep sinning we will pay the death penalty for our non-repentant hearts, the same is true for a life lived as a repentant servant to God will live in eternity with Him because the penalty has been paid. The difference is the faith in what you put your belief in, do you believe you are justified by faith in the redemption of God through Jesus Christ and live free from the ruler of sin in your life, or do you know that Jesus Christ died to pay the price for your sins, but feel that grace covers it all past and present, so you keep sinning without repentance. I am still a sinner, but saved by grace. I may sin, not like my former sin, but nonetheless, I am a sinner. So what's the difference? The difference is, that I have the help of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) which teaches me how to live a righteous life, and convicts me when I am not living like Jesus' example for me to live.
Paul asks two questions in Romans 6 about living free from the law which convicts us of sin, and grace which freed us from the penalty of sin, past and present. "What shall we say then; are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?"(Romans 6:1-2) We cannot serve two masters, you cannot say you serve God and serve Satan at the same time. In America today, we have given a blind eye to the sin we have allowed to be placed in our legislation as lawful: abortion, same sex marriage, Religious oppressive penalties for not recognizing LGBT agenda in churches, taking the rainbow and perverting it to honor satanic agenda away from God's promises, and much more. I will say this, things are lining up for the day of judgment people. We cannot continue in life, living in sin and allowing it to reign in our lives, because we want to be politically correct. Christians and sinners alike will have to face judgement for what we say and what we do. "By no means!" We cannot say we are Christians and live like the world, nor should we accept it. Paul also writes, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:12-14) We owe a blood price for our sin. That blood price is your life. We have been freed from the slavery of our sins under the law, but we should know that the law is what shows us we need God's grace. God's grace that has freed us from the law that convicts us of sin, is not a license to continue to sin because we are no longer bound to the former sins, and we have been given the Holy Spirit that keeps us in line and teaches us righteousness. (Romans 5:3-5) The second question is about being under grace and sins we may commit today. "What then; are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness." It doesn't say that we will never sin again, but when we have repented (turned away) from our sins in our hearts, we will obey the law of God and his commandments, and live a life of righteousness because of Christ in us that teaches us and rules our lives.
My friends, though many come and judge me based on my past transgressions of sin, I know the hope in which I place my life in serving by faith in Jesus Christ. I cannot deny ever having done every debased sin listed in Romans 1 and then some, but what I can confidently say is that unless you are the just and righteous God I live to serve with my life now, your judgement only makes me draw closer in obedience and further secures my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I know there are many of my friends and family who are deceived by the way mankind would like to see sin as okay and justified because everybody does it, or think my sin isn't as bad as another person's sin. My friends, I too was blinded by it and I knew some of the things I was doing was wrong, but I continued in it anyway. NO MORE! I have rest, peace, and joy in everything (trial, tribulation, persecution, goodness, sickness, health) because I have found real and lasting hope in Christ Jesus. He saved me and cleansed me from all unrighteousness. People judge others based on two things, their own guilt and shame for doing what is wrong, or they have repented because they are no longer deceived by their self-justification but realize their guilt and repented, having faith in God's gift of grace, not wanting anyone else to be deceived by the schemes of the devil. Likewise, when a Christian shares the law of God and it is seen as judgement, the person who knows the former self you were, may see it as hypocrisy, because they don't know your witness of what God has done for you. Also, your testimony under the conviction of the law and freedom through the grace of God, because the work of the Holy Spirit will put a conviction of the hearts of who you share it with, is powerful above all against the enemy. If those you share it with are indifferent to the conviction of the law, their hearts become calloused and will view your testimony as a hypocrisy or you being judgmental. I can not judge anything I haven't confessed and repented from to God. I can only share God's law, my witness of it's power to convict to repentance, share salvation in Jesus Christ, and let the Holy Spirit do the rest in the harts of all who hear it.
Please my friends and family, share this with someone today. If you share it you are sharing life with someone who is dead apart from God's grace. I pray that someone who reads this post, and is lost, will cry out to God and repent from their sins and believe in the love shown through Jesus on the cross and through the resurrection, begin their new life to live pleasing to God, in His righteousness.
I titled this in a way that presents a question in the hearts and minds of those Christians and non-Christians alike, because like in the 1st century church, there were Jew and Gentile, it remains the same, yesterday as in today. I have had several people on social media who knew me at some point in time as a non-Christian, non-Christian self proclaiming Christian, and currently a child of God living like a Christian should type of true Christian. Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." I certainly fall under that category, but unlike many who know this in their minds as I do, I found that I didn't just have to know it in my mind but be convicted in my heart of what all I had sinned, separated me from really grasping the need for God's free gift of grace. It wasn't until I began to share my heart felt faith and hope in Jesus, and what was revealed to me as sin through His laws, that I realized the need to dive deeper in faith, prayer, and the word of God in order to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that I now have in my heart, through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 3:14-16 says,
"But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame."
I will be the first to admit openly and with security in the forgiveness I have in Christ Jesus for the redemption of my sins, that I am a sinner (Romans 1:24-32), and have been declared righteous through His blood and victorious over the death penalty owed for my sins though His resurrection. The difference between knowing this saving grace in your mind and knowing it in your heart shows in the actions of the person who claims to be a Christian. That is why there are two types of Christians today. I have written before as well as countless others, that you cannot possibly be a true believing, righteous living Christian with one leg on either side of the fence because there is simply no grey area with God. Someone once said this about the way mankind views God, "In the beginning God made man in His own image, and since the fall, man has been seeking to return the compliment." When we do this, like saying, "My God is loving and grants my requests when I pray, so he must care for me." is ignoring the sin we have and the need for a loving and just God who delights in granting our petitions when they glorify Him to do so. Let us not forget the reason behind the meaning of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." We often quote this verse, but leave the point unsaid. John 3:17-18 continues, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." If you really believe in something, you stand firm in what you believe. I know who I believe in and that is the Son of God, Jesus Christ who has redeemed me from my former slavery to sin, and I now live to serve in righteousness. The laws of God are what condemned me of sin, but it is the Holy Spirit that convicted me of the need for repentance and justification through Christ Jesus. You cannot ride the fence on which is black and white with God. If mankind cannot see their penalty for sin and the justness of God, they are nullifying the need for a savior.
Here it is plain to see in Romans 3:23-26, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who in God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." We are all sinners, have been given justification through faith in the redemption of our sins, that Christ Jesus paid in full with His life (blood) on the cross, and now is alive and overthrew the death penalty for our sins which separated us from eternal life in heaven with Him. If we don't hold stock in this and believe this with all of our being, we are lost. There is no grey area in the Gospel. To teach otherwise is heresy according to the Bible (Galatians 1:6-12).
Christ died for all the shameful acts of sin I have done throughout my life, even up to the day of my salvation, when I surrendered my whole life to His glory. I no longer desire the works of my flesh to do evil, but desire only to continuously crucify my flesh as Christ did to redeem me from my sins, and serve the only just and loving God who has given me victory over that which separated me from accepting His gift of grace. I praise God that I cannot be put to shame by man for the things God has forgiven me from, "passed over", redeemed me from, justified in my faith in Him, cleansed from my heart, and by God has forgotten. Romans 5:20-21 says, "Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin regained in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
What we owe God is a life lived for Him instead continuing in slavery to our sin. We owe a blood price, our lives, same as if we live and keep sinning we will pay the death penalty for our non-repentant hearts, the same is true for a life lived as a repentant servant to God will live in eternity with Him because the penalty has been paid. The difference is the faith in what you put your belief in, do you believe you are justified by faith in the redemption of God through Jesus Christ and live free from the ruler of sin in your life, or do you know that Jesus Christ died to pay the price for your sins, but feel that grace covers it all past and present, so you keep sinning without repentance. I am still a sinner, but saved by grace. I may sin, not like my former sin, but nonetheless, I am a sinner. So what's the difference? The difference is, that I have the help of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) which teaches me how to live a righteous life, and convicts me when I am not living like Jesus' example for me to live.
Paul asks two questions in Romans 6 about living free from the law which convicts us of sin, and grace which freed us from the penalty of sin, past and present. "What shall we say then; are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?"(Romans 6:1-2) We cannot serve two masters, you cannot say you serve God and serve Satan at the same time. In America today, we have given a blind eye to the sin we have allowed to be placed in our legislation as lawful: abortion, same sex marriage, Religious oppressive penalties for not recognizing LGBT agenda in churches, taking the rainbow and perverting it to honor satanic agenda away from God's promises, and much more. I will say this, things are lining up for the day of judgment people. We cannot continue in life, living in sin and allowing it to reign in our lives, because we want to be politically correct. Christians and sinners alike will have to face judgement for what we say and what we do. "By no means!" We cannot say we are Christians and live like the world, nor should we accept it. Paul also writes, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:12-14) We owe a blood price for our sin. That blood price is your life. We have been freed from the slavery of our sins under the law, but we should know that the law is what shows us we need God's grace. God's grace that has freed us from the law that convicts us of sin, is not a license to continue to sin because we are no longer bound to the former sins, and we have been given the Holy Spirit that keeps us in line and teaches us righteousness. (Romans 5:3-5) The second question is about being under grace and sins we may commit today. "What then; are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness." It doesn't say that we will never sin again, but when we have repented (turned away) from our sins in our hearts, we will obey the law of God and his commandments, and live a life of righteousness because of Christ in us that teaches us and rules our lives.
My friends, though many come and judge me based on my past transgressions of sin, I know the hope in which I place my life in serving by faith in Jesus Christ. I cannot deny ever having done every debased sin listed in Romans 1 and then some, but what I can confidently say is that unless you are the just and righteous God I live to serve with my life now, your judgement only makes me draw closer in obedience and further secures my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I know there are many of my friends and family who are deceived by the way mankind would like to see sin as okay and justified because everybody does it, or think my sin isn't as bad as another person's sin. My friends, I too was blinded by it and I knew some of the things I was doing was wrong, but I continued in it anyway. NO MORE! I have rest, peace, and joy in everything (trial, tribulation, persecution, goodness, sickness, health) because I have found real and lasting hope in Christ Jesus. He saved me and cleansed me from all unrighteousness. People judge others based on two things, their own guilt and shame for doing what is wrong, or they have repented because they are no longer deceived by their self-justification but realize their guilt and repented, having faith in God's gift of grace, not wanting anyone else to be deceived by the schemes of the devil. Likewise, when a Christian shares the law of God and it is seen as judgement, the person who knows the former self you were, may see it as hypocrisy, because they don't know your witness of what God has done for you. Also, your testimony under the conviction of the law and freedom through the grace of God, because the work of the Holy Spirit will put a conviction of the hearts of who you share it with, is powerful above all against the enemy. If those you share it with are indifferent to the conviction of the law, their hearts become calloused and will view your testimony as a hypocrisy or you being judgmental. I can not judge anything I haven't confessed and repented from to God. I can only share God's law, my witness of it's power to convict to repentance, share salvation in Jesus Christ, and let the Holy Spirit do the rest in the harts of all who hear it.
Please my friends and family, share this with someone today. If you share it you are sharing life with someone who is dead apart from God's grace. I pray that someone who reads this post, and is lost, will cry out to God and repent from their sins and believe in the love shown through Jesus on the cross and through the resurrection, begin their new life to live pleasing to God, in His righteousness.
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