sin

Blasphemy

Lisa

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” – Exodus 20:7

This command does not end just at using God’s name in the form of a curseword. But this command includes any atrocious misuse such as cold blooded murder in the name of God.

I read a news article whereby a man killed a woman all the while screaming “Get out, devils! I cast you out, devils! In the name of Jesus Christ, I cast you out!”

This is disgusting. The murderer, essentially put God’s name with evil. Complete blashphemy of the Holy Spirit; associating what is holy with the unclean.

If you’re a skeptic, or an unbeliever, look at Jesus, and compare such actions with the teachings of the Bible. Please do not commit a double standard in judging things of God.

Many skeptics will try to claim that such atrocities are supported in the Bible. Then they will take OT scripture out of context to support their claim.

When God judges, He judges in righteousness. The whole earth was flooded and every human flesh, except Noah’s family in the great boat, were wiped out because of their evil and unbelief (Genesis 6:5). Further in the OT, we see God never left an open ended war against nations (contrary to the religion of Islam). He specifically mentioned the nation by name and called them out for their evil. Judged nations were wiped out for burning their children to idols, sexual immorality and other wicked things. To those He judges, He issues prior warnings, prior commands of what is acceptable. God can see to the heart of man. Take for example Pharoah, Pharoah was rebellious, though God warned. God eventually, removed His hand from Pharoah’s heart. This is what is meant by “God hardened Pharoah’s heart”. We know this by using other scripture. Scripture says God does not tempt anyone (James 1:3), and those who insist on choosing the evil way are given over to a depraved mind (Romans 1:28).

When an atrocity in the name of Jesus is committed, it is easy to dismiss because such actions do not fit with the teachings of YHWH God.

We see how God deals with sin. He has said that the reward for sin is death (Romans 6:23). God is 100% against evil (1 John 1:5). If He supported it in anyway, He would dethrone Himself as God, because He’d no longer be perfect, holy and set apart to be called God. Satan, since pride entered his heart, has been trying to dethrone the name of God. He put God’s character on trial from the time he began to think that he is worthy to be God. Obviously, if we desire someone else’s position, what we are really saying is that we are better suited for the position. Satan was claiming to be worthy to be called God, and God not worthy. So blasphemy is an evil of old.

Woe to those, who misuse the name of Jesus and die in their sin. Since all sin must be accounted for, woe to anyone, who dies in their sin having rejected the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 12:31, Mark 3:29) Such a person would have sealed their doom. As once you die without Christ, there is no more hope left for you.

I pray that we will look to Jesus.

As Christians, we look and immitate through obedience. Our obedience is our act of love.

Those who claim to be Christians all the while living and delighting in sin to the point that no one knows they are a Christian, no one can see the fruit of Christ, also commit blasphemy. As they misuse or misrepresent Christ’s name. God will not hold them guiltless. Such folks need to truly repent and turn from the path of sin.

As skeptics, please look at Christ and see for yourself that you have not been deceived into judging God under the guise of blasphemers’ behaviour. By doing so, you are essentially in the same camp with them. And God will not hold you guiltless. Please look at Jesus, see His goodness remembering that whatever sin you’re guilty of (Romans 3:23), you too are in need of His forgiveness.

Friends, the verse below identifies our hope, our promise. Christ our hope, eternal life our promise. Do not let defiance against God to be what lingers on your lips, on your heart at the time of natural death, but let it be a surrender to Him, and a declaration of faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and life eternal.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” – John 3:16-17

Be blessed, in Jesus’ name.

No Tolerance For Sin

Lisa

no_sin_stickerGod has no kind of tolerance for sin. Secret or open. All sin is a stench to His nostrils. We believers may want to propagate the idea that our sin is what makes us human, and may want to attempt to get away with a little bit of sin here and there. Yet, sin in us was never part of God’s original design.

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.” – Romans 5:12

Sin separates us from God, and those of us who are renewed in Christ, will almost always be chasten for our sin, that is of course if we come before God and repent of our sin before He has to come with the rod on us. The wording there may sound “scary”, yet no loving parent doesn’t seek out their child in order to teach them a better way. God being the most loving, being love, will of course not allow His children to wonder in the land of sin.

“For the LORD disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child.” – Hebrews 12:6

If you are a believer, I want to encourage you to obey God. Obedience nurtures a healthy relationship between us and Him. It also acts as a wonderful testimony to a watching world.

For those out of the church, well, the Word of God already paints your position with Him. Jesus says those who are not with Him are against Him (Matthew 12:30). Unbelievers have a strange motto “only God can judge me”. Of course only God tells an individual whether they will enter the Kingdom or not. No one is arguing this, yet God has shown the way to His Kingdom. It is only through Jesus Christ, the Narrow Way, that one can enter into Heaven. We must repent, denouce sin, and turn to Christ (declare Him as Saviour) for the forgiveness of our sins. He must be Lord of our lives, that is, we must allow Him to lead us, which is, we must obey His Word. His Word is as it is written in the Holy Scriptures. Anything that goes against His Word is not part of His will. Fornication, drunkeness, etc are stritcly forbidden, from the Old Testament to the New, His Word remains the same.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” – Matthew 24:35

Regardless of the changes of society, the changes in moral behaviour, God’s Word is our first priority. Sounds tough? Sounds “old timeish” or archaic? Sure the journey of Christian living is contrary to the ways of the world, but God is able to help us through. When sin entered into the world, man lost his dominion over the world and Satan now temporarily “rules” on earth.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” – 2 Corinthians 6:2

Yet the end of Satan is sure, and he is out to gather and kill along with him as many as he can. His main tactic is to distract, distract you from Jesus and get you dead before you repent.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

This is why it is important if you hear the Word of God calling you to Christ, that is the grace of God calling you back home. Our real home is to be with Christ. Yet, Christ will not force anyone to follow Him. Saying later or tomorrow to salvation is not a good idea. There is no gaurantee of tomorrow.

“For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.” – 2 Corinthians 6:2

So you may say, “I’m okay. I’m not hurting anyone. Surely God will look at this and be pleased.” But I want to remind you, that if eternity could be obtained through our so-called goodness, then there would be no need for Jesus to go to the cross. Again, Jesus has said that no one goes to Heaven without Him. Trusting Jesus as Lord and Saviour is the only gaurantee of salvation. There is no other name or opportunity, or means by which an individiual can be saved.

“He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12

The point is not to show how good we can be, the point is to get out of the dead zone. As long as someone has not been covered with the forgiveness of Christ, they remain in the dead zone. As sin leads to death, the point is to find life. That life is found in Christ. While of course, our good works is not the way to salvation, our good works is evidence of salvation. You see, because we all have a sin problem, we all need to provide a death sacrifice payment for our sins. So we cannot pay with our “good” deads. Those so-called good deads are declared by God to be filthy rags. It is like someone with leprosy trying to hand someone a “clean” towel. How could a lepros person ever touch something, and that something remain clean? Our sin is lepros, and if we try to hand God a “good deads rag” while lepros, that rag is already dirty due to our state of leprosy. I am not making this up. Here is is:

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” – Isaiah 64:6

Jesus alone can cleanse the leprosy of man, boy, woman and girl.

So yes, God determines where we go. Yet, because He has no tolerance for sin, and He paid the price with His own blood to redeem us from sin, what makes us think we can treat His sacrifice as a little thing and provide our own method of salvation? Don’t keep saying “only God can judge me”, thinking that your way will turn into a way to Heaven. It aint gonna happen.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” – John 14:6

P.S. If you continue to live in sin while claiming to be in Christ, you might want to check yourself to see if you are really in Christ. We all sin, and we have all fallen short. Yet if we are for Christ, we ought to really surrender ourselves to living a life that is pleasing to Him. God will strengthen us in our weak areas. We need only to stick to His Word, the Bible, and face our battles on our knees in prayer. God will see us through. He is faithful and intends for no good thing that He has started to be destroyed.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Phillipians 1:6

Be very blessed, in Jesus’ name.