A Sacrifice is Required!

Over the last three to four months, I have had some serious and sometimes intense debates with a number of people about the Bible. We have debated things from the simple to the sublime, to the down right ridiculous, and every time I come away with a new found respect for both the simplicity of un-comprehendible complexity of this one single book.

I read a quote one time that went something like this, “The bible is so simplistic that if it were a body of water, the smallest of children could not drown in it, while at the same time, so complex that the most learned theologian could never touch the bottom”
That is a powerful insight that I think many of today’s churchgoers and even some pastors have lost sight of, and that is a shame.

In some of these debates, we have discussed free-will verse pre-destination, Baptism, “is it a work”, and the authority of scripture. This is the one that I really want to concentrate on right now. Sometime ago my wife and I were talking at a football practice with one of her friends, she held the view that the Bible is just a collection of moral stories intended to guide our lives but we really do not have to read it or live it as long as we are generally good people. In our conversation I asked her how she came about to this particular belief, she very honestly and bluntly said that was her churches teaching. “God is all loving and fair and just and died for everyone so as long as we try to live good lives then we are all heaven bound,” she said. We talked about Hell and according to her belief, only Satan and his legion would be going there, if it even existed to begin with.
We continued our dialog about the Bible and our differing believes and when trying to explain some things in scripture, the most remarkable thing became evident, her mind was not open to any truth from scripture. For example I asked what her church taught about the scriptures like Rev 21:8 that say "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Frankly, her response was scary to me, Revelation, is just a book written to scare people into being obedient to the church leaders. This was somewhat of a defining moment for me, in my call to the ministry. I had a light shine brightly over this time, shortly after, I began to dig deeper into the scriptures and make even more careful observations about the nature of people and their believes about the most definitive and authoritative book ever written.

The moral character of the church going masses has eroded away along with their collective belief in God’s Holy Word as the final authority for their lives. When someone who is un-churched looks in to the church these days, he sees very little difference between his life and the lives of the average churchgoers. There are sure to be many contributing causes of this from the pure lack of day-to-day personal bible reading, to churches that wont use big words like “propitiation” in effect they are dumbing down, so as not to offend. To the continual onslaught of pastors themselves who have been caught in immoral activities from drugs to illicit sex scandals, you name it and there could be counted a reason for this slow drift from shore into the treacherous waters of disbelief.

From this conversation to some of the more recent, I have found that people are fulfilling scripture in masses and they are not even aware of it. They are living 2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."

With the continuing rapid moral decline and increased church attendance, yes you read that right, church attendance is on the rise while moral decay is increasing. I have been left with one single question, why. A friend commented to me the other day about how many seem to be playing church and walking around as if some kind of daze of blindness to the scriptures.
The answer seems to be clear churches are turning toward the doctrines of men, rather than embracing the hard doctrines of God. In the same text of 2 Timothy 4:1-5 we are urged to stand up for truth and for the Word of God.
“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

If I am to be true to God and to myself, if I am to love, God and love His people then I must, when compelled speak out in favor or defense of God and His unyielding truth. In the past year or so, I have had conversations with many folks about the rising level of worldliness in the church. Churches supporting questionable movies, music and practices while at the same time for example not standing up for the sanctity of life. Refusing for insurance purposes to reach out to people who are infected with the disease of drug addiction, alcoholism or warning their flock about the dangers of pornography. Letting members knowingly live in a state of sin without lovingly confronting them. Having people as staff members or even volunteer’s who are living in sin, working with children, either couples living together without being married, to open and practicing homosexuals preaching from the pulpit. None of these things would be so, if, men endured what God has set out as His plan for our lives. God’s position for our lives is summed up in one passage repeated four times, three times in the Old Testament, and once in the New Testament, "because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Peter 1:16,



All of these things when approached from the position of the scriptures is at best denial of God’s word, and on the straight up and up, absolute disobedience.

When we look upon the Word and do, what it says we should not, then we are wrong, that is not a man’s opinion that it the fact of God’s Word. In John 14:15 Jesus said, “if you love Me, you will keep my commandments” And just eight verses later He repeats and deepens this thought, John 14:23-24 "Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me."

Being a follower of Christ is not just going to church and living life the way we want, He has given us clear directive and they are not bending, not changing and they certainly are not debatable. I know that we a humans are not perfect and will never obtain in this life anyway, perfection, but just because we know we cannot achieve it, does not mean we should not strive for it.

Living a Holy life is not something that just going to church and living life as usual will make come about, it is hard work and will require many sacrifices in the way we live life. I used to love hard core heavy metal and alternative music, when I encountered Jesus, I was convicted by His Word that what I was putting into my mind and the minds of my children was wrong. I had to give up something I loved, that is a sacrifice. The truth is as long as I opened my heart to the evil in the music I was listening to, righteousness could not grow in me. I have talked with families and they would make sure nothing bad ever went into the hearts and minds of their children. But they would send the little angels to bed and watch some “R” rated movie that is borderline pornography, movies that would glorify adulterous sex, blasphemous language, glorifying drugs, alcohol, lying stealing, and when you ask them they see nothing wrong with living this way. The hard-core truth is that living that way is hypocritical; I know it is because I used to do it too. If it is not good enough for the mind of God’s precious little gift, then you might want to remember you are God’s precious little gift too, and he does not want you watching that filth either. We have a, could, should, rule in our household, the rule works like this, if we could not watch it with Jesus, then we should not watch it at all.

There will never be any sacrifice that we could make that could every repay the sacrifice Christ made for us, however, there should never be a sacrifice we are not ready and willing to make for Him either. I write what I write not out of some overwhelming desire to show my superiority like some will accuse, I do not write from lofty position without knowing the cost of these kinds of sacrifices personally. Rather I write out of sacrifice and love to urge you as in 2 Timothy 2:3-4 "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier."

And since 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." I write for those reasons.
So, my hope is to encourage your fight, to spur you on to let go of the things that are vile and evil in the sight of the Lord and sacrifice the filthy rags of what this world has to offer, in exchange for crowns of righteousness. To promote a higher standard of living by the body of Christ, for us to honor God by living life for His pleasure, His honor and His Glory, by living a Holy life pleasing unto the Lord. To encourage you to love one another enough to speak out when one of our brothers or sisters are drifting away form the narrow path, to lovingly help bring them back, just as the Great Shepherd does.