The way we think influences how we act and how we process information when we hear it.
Christ came to die for our sin and rose from the dead proving He is God. When someone accepts that and confesses their sinful nature wanting to be changed by Him, He will come and live in them changing them completely. Their mind no longer thinks the way it used to think.
Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
It is not possible to change the heart of someone who has a worldly mindset that has not been changed by Christ. This is why when speaking with superficial pretending Christians and other unsaved people it is foolishness to tell them all the right things they should do or think. They do not have the ability to think right merely because we are explaining things to them. Arguing with an unregenerate person over behavior is futile.
I like that some preachers are using the ten commandments to show people they are hopelessly lost because of their inability to follow the commandments of God. The commandments are the Law that show us our need to trust in Christ for our salvation, not trusting in self but in Him alone.
Galatians 3:24-27
"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
1 Corinthians 2:14 "
"But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
Those who are not changed by Christ must first have an encounter with the gospel to understand their fallen and depraved state. Then if they choose to listen further their mind may grasp that they are sinners in need of a Savior because they cannot change or save themselves.
Sadly too many people have been convinced they need Christ but have never come to terms with their depraved mindset. They have joined the church system to become acceptable to men but their spirit has not been changed so their efforts at becoming right with God are stymied, delayed or blocked entirely because they have been taught that all they need are words to be saved. Once someone has learned the false gospel of works it is very difficult for them to understand their need to repent and trust in Christ.
If there is no brokenness over their sin and no desire to be changed by Christ, there is no salvation.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ""Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new".
Ephesians 2:9-11 "…9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life. 11Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—…"
When someone enters a modern church they are not questioned as to their walk and what they understand about salvation in Christ. The mere utterance from their mouths that they have decided to be a Christian is enough for most "Christians" today.
It is almost considered rude these days to question someone who is in the church gathering about their salvation.
I have asked young people in the past who attended church all their lives if they were born again. In every case, they told me which church they attended. In every case, they could not explain how they became born again and the name of Jesus Christ never proceeded from their mouth.
Cultural Christianity is the norm now and growing worse. If you are politically conservative and attend all the gatherings and the potlucks you are considered a Christian. If anyone dares to ask about your salvation experience the person asking is treated as though they have been rude for the inquiry.
In these last days of spiritual and emotional rebellion, any challenge to evaluate oneself is met with angst not only on the part of the one being questioned but also by those observing.
Because the one who brings the truth of God's Word is widely dismissed the gathering tends to push out the one who seeks Christ, leaving the influence of the gathering as a whole that of a Christless Christianity based on political leanings and personal choices rather than the principles of Christ in His Word.
2 Timothy 4:3
"3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires,"
We are living in difficult times in which it is not popular to tell the truth no matter how gently and lovingly it is told. If it is told at all it is considered violence against those who are convicted by it.
We ought not to be too discouraged by this because God said it would happen and we are watching it all play out right now right before Christ takes out His church.
The Ark door is about to close and the flood waters of God's wrath are about to be unleashed. In that flood of God's wrath will be many family members, even those who said they were Christians will be caught in the Tribulation storm.
Matthew 7:21-23
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
I consider this to be the most frightening passage in the Bible, warning people that many who think they are going to heaven will be going to hell instead because they refused to humble themselves and repent.
May this warning reach the hearts of those who have not yet repented and cause them to trust in Christ before the ark door is closed.
