A Christian’s Heart 2 26 18

Satan’s Favorite Bible Verse

I believe Satan loves the following verse more than any other in the Bible: “ ‘Do not judge , or you too will be judged.’ ” (Matt 7:1 NIV 1984.)

This command has become the instrument which the Adversary has used very successfully to weaken the Christian community in America, if not the whole world. It turns against us our desire to be kind to others, and its misapplication can render the children of God defenseless against the evil acts of others by short-circuiting a child of God’s willingness and capability to judge between good and evil, as directed by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  I’m always appalled at the inability of people who profess to know the Lord Jesus Christ to make such a distinction.

Exercising godly judgment is crucial to living an obedient Christian life. A competent adult makes thousands of choices each day. Each of these choices is based on his judgment of what’s good or true or right in his own mind. How much more should we who know the Lord be able to judge, for example, whether to read certain books, or see certain movies, or with whom to associate spiritually based on our understanding of what God considers good and right for us.

In writing this I do not mean that we are not to associate with unbelievers who profess no knowledge of the Lord. They present themselves clearly and should pose no threat to us spiritually. It is by befriending an unbeliever that God can use us to lead them into the Kingdom. What I’m talking about here are those who profess to know the Lord but who do not.  Here’s clear direction from the Apostle Paul in this matter:

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.  What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” (1 Cor 5:9-13.)

I can’t emphasize how important it is that we be able to judge the character of people who say they know the Lord: godly judgment must, it simply must, extend to these people who would lead us astray. For as Paul writes to the church in Corinth “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God — I say this to your shame.” (1 Cor 15:33-34.) It appears that the Corinthian church was afflicted with the same “non-judgmental” foolishness as the modern American church. Paul has clearly presumed that the child of God will be able to discern those who are “bad company” from a spiritual point of view. Since we have the Holy Spirit in us, he would be right, if we are willing to exercise the discernment God wants us to.

Jesus also requires that we be able to judge who would harm us spiritually and who would not:  “‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.’” (Matt 7:15-16). We are commanded to be able to determine who among us are the “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” It is clear from this passage that we must be able discern through a person’s actions and words whether he is truly a child of God or an agent of the Evil One. (Many foolish people are unwitting agents of evil. But whether conscious of this or not, all such people mock God, His ways and His people and will be held accountable in the Judgment.)

Finally, Jude also warns us to be on our guard against evil people who have been sent to us by Satan to destroy the church of Christ: “For certain men [and women] whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord … dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings … [men/women] who speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals.” (Jude 4, 8, 10.)

How then would we ever be able to spot such evil among us if we were not able to judge evil men “by their works?” Here is an example of Paul executing godly judgment against men who have rejected the truths of his message:

 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. (1 Tim 1:18-20. My emphasis)

To preserve our own spiritual health and that of the church, we too, who are called according to the will of God to be holy and blameless in His sight, should be able to make godly judgments of the works of those among us. Such works, for example, would surely include profession of heretical or ungodly doctrine; or the promotion of detestable things that God hates such as abortion on demand and/or the support of detestable sexual practices and lifestyles such as homosexuality and homosexual marriage.

Destruction is coming to America. It’s time for the church in America to wake up before it’s too late and we be swept away along with it.

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A Christian’s Heart 2 18 13

About God

(From my 2 18 13 Facebook Post)

The Bible states clearly that God is love. Therefore we always say, God loves the sinner but hates the sin. When we say this, we are often referring to those who have rejected God’s Son, and His salvation for our souls.

I’m not so sure that this is a totally accurate way to characterize God’s love. God says in another Scripture that “The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked^[a] and those who love violence his soul hates.” The “wicked” here are those who refuse to accept God’s truth and salvation and refuse to submit to His authority over them. Another way of putting this is that we know that those who have the Son have life “but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” Wrath is not the product of love; it is the product of God’s hatred of sin and evil.

I certainly believe that God’s hand of love is extended to all because when we were His enemies He died for us. Yet if one continues to reject His salvation, the blessings of God’s love do not rest on him, but the judgment fueled by wrath (born of His hatred of sin and evil) does. I think we’ve got to get clear on who God is and take these warnings seriously. Then we’ve got to see clearly enough to relay these warnings accurately to unbelievers to show them how much trouble they are in if they continue to slap God’s hand of love away.

One thing is sure to me, because we who know the LORD are supposed to be the pillar and foundation of the truth, it is an act of criminal negligence our part to tell a homosexual that his lifestyle is okay or to give aid and comfort to those who do; or to support abortion on demand, or any other depraved notion that has gripped our society.