I read about a little church in my homeland in the British countryside that was established several hundred years ago.
When it was first established they wanted to have no doubt about what they were preaching and so they built a little churchyard around the church itself, and on the front gate they put two pillars and across the pillars an arch. And across the arch it said, “We Preach Christ Crucified.”
And as the years went by, the church changed and in the early years they had planted some ivy as the story goes and as the church changed, the ivy grew. And there came a time when people no longer wanted to talk about the cross.
The preacher wanted to talk more about Jesus as the example, Jesus as the model of human virtue and the ivy grew and covered the last word. And the simple little arch simply said,
“We Preach Christ. “
And the years went by and the leadership changed and the ivy kept growing. And there came leadership in the church who were very concerned about social issues, very concerned about psychological solutions, and that was their message. And the ivy grew and covered the next word, and all that was left was “We Preach.”
There’s a real sense in which that has been the story of the church even in our own country. How much do we hear about the cross? Oh, we hear a lot of preaching about a lot of issues. Once in awhile we even hear someone preaching about Christ.
But how about we preach Christ crucified? I Corinthians 1:23. We preach Christ crucified. Yes, offensive. Foolish for those who are perishing. But to those who are being saved it is what? The power of God, that can transform and save all who believe.
An atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her and said, “Do you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.”
The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, “What would you want to talk about?” “Oh, I don’t know,” said the atheist. “How about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?” as he smiled smugly. “
“Okay,” she said. “Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff – grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?”
The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, “Hmmm, I have no idea.”
To which the little girl replies, “Do you really feel qualified to discuss God, Heaven and Hell, or life after death, when you don’t know crap?
And then she went back to reading her book.
It’s indeed sobering to realize that there are people seated in churches every Sunday who suffer from the deadly “Lord, Lord,” delusion. It is abundantly clear that Jesus didn’t hold back in warning His listeners of that imminent, eternal danger.
Hell has many residents who formerly professed faith in Christ. They didn’t “lose their salvation” because that’s biblically impossible (John 10:27–29). They are people who claimed to know Jesus, only to find out that Jesus didn’t know them.
It’s hard to think of any scenario in all of Scripture more horrifying than standing before Christ on Judgment Day with a false assurance of one’s salvation.
Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in lYour name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21–23)
We need to remember that this passage is referring to unsaved church members. It isn’t referring to atheists, pagans, or cult members. Those condemned by Christ in Matthew 7 are people who address Christ as Lord. People who, in all likelihood, have professed some connection to the same gospel that we believe!
Christ’s warning requires distinctions that are far more subtle than the obvious differences between the church and the world. We need to be able to distinguish the dividing line between true and false Christians. Moreover, on a personal level, we need to be able to discern where we really stand with the Lord.
There is no hope of heaven for those who do not believe the gospel. But, the shocking thing is that even among those who believe and say, “Lord, Lord, we preached in your name, we cast out demons in your name, we did mighty works in your name,” there will be those who have no hope of heaven.
The shock is that many who call Jesus “Lord” will be sent by God to eternal hell. This then is a riveting critical passage in a day and a time when lots of people call themselves Christians. There has been no change, no transformation. They have just added “Jesus” without any true commitment to being an obedient slave who is true to his/her master.
It’s sobering to realize that there are people seated in churches every Sunday who suffer from this deadly delusion. And Jesus didn’t hold back in warning His listeners of that imminent, eternal danger.
In Matthew 7:13–27 into six dichotomies, contrasting the way to heaven and the way to hell. There are
two gates,
two ways,
two crowds,
Two behaviors,
two foundations
two destinations.
In each case, only one of them is right.
Are we faithfully preaching the gospel and calling these unsaved church members to conviction of sin, repentance, confession and the need for them to be obedient DOERS and followers of Jesus, and not merely “LORD LORD” SAYERS!
Dear Rachael, I am truly sorry to hear of this deadly cancer. Thank you for all you have done. With your admission that you have only a short time remaining on this earth, the most loving thing I can ever do is tell you that if you are not a believer in, and follower of the Lord Jesus, that you are a lost sinner on the road to hell.
However, the good news is that Jesus died on the cross and paid for your sins, making it possible for you to be reconciled to God, and be assured of a home in heaven one day. I am calling on you to repent and believe!
So, what am I supposed to believe to become a Christian! BELIEVE WHAT?
*Believe,Admit, and Agree you are a sinner.
*Believe, Admit, and agree you are alienated from God, and must truly repent and turn from your sin.
*Believe, Admit and Agree that you are “condemned already” and need a pardon.
*Believe, Admit and Agree that you need to repent (turn your back from sin) and produce fruits of obedience.
*Believe, Admit and Agree that Jesus took your punishment on the cross as your substitute, and is waiting to pardon you.
*Believe, Admit, and Agree that God’s justice was satisfied by the fact that God raised Jesus…from the dead. And when God raised Him from the dead He was saying, “I am satisfied.”
*Believe, Admit and Agree, that the evidence that you are truly a believer is that you produce “fruits of obedience.”
That’s what you BELIEVE! That’s the gospel. And when you believe that by faith, and REPENT, simply trusting God, He, in His mercy takes the righteousness of Jesus Christ and credits it to you because your sins were credited to Christ when He died on the cross. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read
“GOD made JESUS who did not know sin to be sin for US, so that WE might become the righteousness of GOD in Him. “
In Acts 2:37-38, after hearing the gospel the people became aware of their guilt as sinners and said, “What shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In Luke 18:14, the repentant sinner said, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
So, if you cry out to God in faith trusting, God will hear you and your life will be transformed in a moment. If your faith is weak ask Him to help you to believe. If you need more information read the Gospel of John, and ask God to teach you the truth of Christ.
Praying for you at this time,
Brian Henry
You say, “Does every Christian have fruit?” Yes, every Christian has fruit. That’s how you know you’re a Christian. What is fruit? Righteous attitudes, righteous longings, righteous desires, righteous affections, righteous virtues, righteous behaviors. That is the manifestation of life; and where the life of God exists, the fruit must be there.
That’s why Ephesians 2:10 says that we have been saved by grace through faith, unto good works, which God has before ordained that you should walk in them. It can’t not be that way, because where there is the life of God and the soul of man, it becomes evident.
That’s what it says at the end of John15: 8. When you bear much fruit, you prove to be a true disciple. James said, “Faith without works is – ” what “ – is dead,” it’s useless claim. The only way you know faith is real, salvation is real, is by the evidence.
Matthew 7, Jesus said, “You’ll know them by their fruit,” and that’s repeated a number of times in the gospels. Paul in Romans 6 says, “You were slaves to sin, and now in Christ you become slaves of righteousness.” We’re known by our fruit. We’re known by the manifest evidence of transformation.
That’s the only way you can tell a person’s a Christian – not by remembering an event, not by remembering a prayer, not by some wishing and hoping. The way you know someone has been transformed and regenerated and born again is because the fruit of righteousness is manifest in that life. It’s not perfection, but it’s a dominating direction. There are people who attach to Christ and are fruitless.
In John 15 Jesus is judging false branches – cutting them off, drying them out, and sending them to hell; and he is pruning true fruit-bearing branches. This is the Father’s work.
Now let’s look at these branches and just consider what this is saying. The vine is flourishing, growing luxuriantly, but some serious steps are taken by the vinedresser, the farmer. First of all, when He sees a branch that has no fruit, He takes it away, He takes it away. Down in verse 6, He throws it away, it dries up. Those branches are gathered, cast into the fire, and burned. That is drastic judgment by God on false believers, No fruit.
1John 1: 7. Acccording to the revoice sodomite 2018 version of the Bible
« The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin ». (except the sin of sodomy)
To agree with revoice 2018 folk and say that desiring sexual intercourse with the same gender, so called (same sex attraction) is not a sin requiring total repentance, is totally unbiblical.
The 10th commandment reads “Thou shalt not covet.” Coveting is a sin of the mind and to covet means:
(TO YEARN TO HAVE OR POSSESS SOMETHING OR SOMEONE)
So, obviously (same sex attraction) is to yearn to have sexual intercourse with one of the same gender.
Like covetousness, (same sex attraction) should be totally repented of, and is certainly not a sin to be identified with, and celebrated in silly conferences.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
— Exodus 20:17
Unlike the other commandments which focus on outward actions, this commandment focuses on thought. It is an imperative against setting one’s desire on things that are forbidden.
One commandment forbids the act of adultery.
This commandment forbids the desire for adultery regardless of gender. One commandment forbids stealing. This commandment forbids the desire for acquisition of another’s goods or body.
The New Testament describes Jesus as interpreting the Ten Commandments as issues of the heart’s desires rather than merely prohibiting certain outward actions.
Mark 7:21-23
Jesus said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
So let’s stop identifying and celebrating sex sin and repent of it, kill it put it behind us and strive for the purity of our Lord’s church.
On the one hand, the host church’s pastor affirms, and says that the Revoice conference organizers affirm, “The goal of the conference is to help those who believe in the historic, biblical sexual ethic figure out how to thrive within churches that share those biblical commitments. …
Often, our teaching about homosexuality is simply that gay sex is wrong. And that much is true. … Does the Bible really prohibit all homosexual behaviors—when there are scholars who argue otherwise? (Answer: Yes, it does prohibit them. That’s one workshop.) … We believe that the Bible restricts sexual activity to the context of a marriage covenant, which is defined in the Bible as the emotional, spiritual, and physical union of a man and a woman that is ordered toward procreation.”
Okay, I’m willing to take all that at face value.
But on the other hand, the pastor and the organizers speak of LGBT people as “sexual minorities,” state the Mission of Revoice as “To encourage, support, and empower gay, lesbian, and other same-sex-attracted Christians so they can experience the life-giving character of the historic, Christian sexual ethic,” and say they “want to see LGBT people who adhere to the historic, Christian sexual ethic flourish in their local faith communities.”
Now, shall we hold another, new Revoice conference for “TMA Christians”—that is, Christians who just want others to accept them as thieves, murderers, and adulterers? How about if they say, “Look, it’s not that we think acting out theft, murder, and adultery is fine, it’s just that we want people to understand that we have this strong disposition toward theft, murder, and adultery, and we don’t want to have to feel ashamed of it. Can’t you just make us feel welcome in the church despite that disposition?”
I suppose some would argue that this request would be properly analogous, since the “gay, lesbian, and other same-sex-attracted Christians” involved in Revoice assert that they believe one shouldn’t act out their same-sex attraction. “Just as some people have strong temptations to steal or murder or commit adultery, we have strong temptations to have sex with people of the same sex as ourselves, but as long as they don’t actually steal, murder, or commit adultery, and as long as we don’t actually have sex with people of the same sex as ourselves, they and we alike should feel no shame.”
Sounds plausible. But now let’s pin one more letter onto this new Revoice conference: It’s not just for “TMA Christians” but for “TMAC Christians”—theft-prone, murderous, adulterous, covetous Christians. Now apply the same reasoning: “Look, it’s not that we think acting out theft, murder, adultery, and coveting is fine, it’s just ….”
Ooops! The whole point of coveting is that it’s an entirely internal sin. You don’t have to act it out at all for it to be sin. And Scripture puts coveting on the same level as idolatry (Colossians 3:5)—a pretty serious sin. And along about now we remember that Jesus taught that each of the Ten Commandments addresses not only outward conduct but also inward thoughts, desires, and attitudes. “
“Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Whoever is angry with his brother without cause has broken the commandment not to murder.
Either the advocates of removing shame from LGBT (and Q?) dispositions need to come out in favor of removing shame from TMAC dispositions, or we all need to recognize that there’s simply no justifying any sinful disposition—even though people with every sinful disposition can be justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
What continues to disturb me is the strong sense that the real goal of the Revoice conference, its organizers, and other advocates of getting rid of the shame attached to homosexuality/same-sex-attraction/LGBTQ won’t be satisfied until the churches come to affirm that homosexuality/same-sex-attraction-LGBTQ is A-okay so long as it remains only in the mind and isn’t acted out—and that implies that all other sins, too, are okay so long as they’re only in the mind, not acted out—and that implies that the Tenth Commandment means nothing.
E. Calvin Beisner
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