There is false conversion that is based on outward appearances and words. This is not becoming born again.
Acts 16:30-31 "“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Matthew 7:21-23 tells us about those who never believed in Christ. These people joined a club thinking it will make them look good or be good in the eyes of men. They thought if they appeared to be good enough, do enough good deeds, then they would be accepted by those around them. In short, they liked being seen as a good person, but had no interest in Christ.
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.’
We should require confession of sin before extending forgiveness. We do not treat people badly because they have offended us, but if they keep doing it after being told about it then we need to remove ourselves from them. 2 Timothy 3:1-5, look at verse 5.
God never said that we should forgive without confession. We are to forgive as God forgave, that is when there is confession. 1 John 1:9
Also, when we restore a relationship when someone is not sorry for their actions, we are enablers, thwarting God's way of dealing with sin Those who are not held accountable get worse, we are not helping them by pretending nothing happened.
Isaiah 26:10 "10Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD. "
It is the easier and more selfish thing to "just let it go", this avoids conflict, but it does not resolve problems.
No man has a right to dictate who we witness to or when we should do it Usurping the Holy Spirit in another believer is sin.
Many years ago we attended a church that was picketed by the local homosexual group. The reason we were targeted was because there was a program within the church that helped homosexuals move beyond their addiction to become cleansed from it. There were former homosexuals attending the gathering who witnessed the changed life and spoke openly about it.
Sadly though, when the picketers came the pastor issued an edict to the congregation to refrain from witnessing to the picketers while they were circling in the street in protest.
There were believers who were assigned to watch over the crowd to keep the church attendees from engaging with the homosexuals. There were refreshments served to the protesters while no one gave them the gospel. We were to be friendly but not to lecture them about Christ.
Ignoring this edict I entered the picketers to speak to them about Christ. As I approached their protest a church goer grabbed my arm to prevent me from speaking to them. I turned in anger and rebuked her in the name of Jesus Christ and she immediately backed off.
As I marched in the procession to speak to the leader of the group who was carrying the long banner, I appealed to her to consider her lifestyle according to the Bible. As I spoke to her in loving and soft tones she began to cry. She told me she tried Christianity but found no love there. As I explained the great love of Christ and what He did for her, the tears began to flow.
It was interesting to me that all around me were hostile and shouting homosexuals who remained quiet the entire time I was speaking to the leader. God restrained them and closed their mouths for the time I was with her.
I don't know what happened after that, the group disbanned while we went into the services. The pastor praised the people who didn't approach them, those who served them cookies and drink with big plastic smiles, but said nothing to them.
There were a handfull of others out in the street defying the pastors edict, those were the faithful ones, the ones who placed Christ above the flawed and disobedient rule of the one man pastor.
That pastor had no right to command anyone in the gathering not to witness Christ. He had no authority to dictate to the believers what they should say, where they should go or to whom they should speak. That pastor was usurping the leading of the Holy Spirit to keep his church out of trouble.
Shame on him, shame on him.
Acts 5:29
"29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."
God never told us to comfort sinners in their sin, nor did He teach "friendliness evangelism." Yes we are kind when we speak to people, but we do not manipulate them to cause them to accept the truth, we state the truth in love and leave their response to the Lord.
There is no faith in remaining silent to keep out of trouble. Sure some people many have been angry at the witnessing that was going on that day, so what!!! They hate the apostles and Christ, they were martyred for their faith.
People do become angry often when we speak truth no matter how we say it. People don't become angry because of our delivery, they become angry because they don't like the message or the conviction they feel over their sin.
2 Corinthians 7:8-10
8 For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—
9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.
10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death."
I view our president Trump as similar to a Nebuchadnezzar type leader. He is not born again but honors the God of Israel. God is using him in these end times to bring about the prophetic events in the Middle East.
Our prayer ought to be for the salvation of our president. The other things he promotes that we like, are not nearly as important as his salvation and the salvation of his entire family.
1 Timothy 2:1-3 "1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered on behalf of all men 2 for kings and all those in authority, so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. 3T his is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,"
It doesn't matter to me if you call yourself Christian, or that you say all the right things. If you use crude and vulgar language of the world to express your ire toward sin, then I will be deleting you. I will not respond to chats or any other communication that has within it filthy and crude language.
I know that language has changed over the years. Christian are using language that our mothers would have become angry over, even washing our mouths out with soap for using.
In fact most of this vulgar language I am hearing on facebook was not even heard in the culture as a whole just 40 years ago.
Only drunken sailors and disreputable types who were not accepted by decent family members would have used this language.
The use of this language suggests to me that the people using it have been watching unsavory movies A LOT, so much so that they fail to be discomforted anymore by the hearing of it.
If you have reached the point where you are so comfortable with this language that you are not embarrassed to be heard using it in front of other believers, then you are walking in sin, desensitized by all the movies you have been watching.
If you have close friends who are using this language regularly, then my guess is that they are not born again friends. You must stop the use of this language and expunge yourself from the lives of those who think crude speech is "cool", popularizing themselves to fit in with the rest of the unregenerate culture.
Here's the thing; you are using that language because you are watching things that normalize it. If you do not have the strength to watch those movies without being influenced by them, then you must break free from that entertainment, cold turkey.
When we become born again one of the first things that changes is our comfort with the filthy language. We don't have to try to stop it, we just hate it and it drops from our vocabulary. If someone is still indulging in filthy language without a conscience over it, then perhaps they need to ask God if they have ever been born again.
Colossians 3:8
"But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth."
Ephesians 4:29
"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear."
Psalm 19:14
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer."
Romans 1:28-30 "Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and hatred. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents."
Do you want to be like the people mentioned in Romans 1, as a believer this vulgar language should repulse you.
Just saying!!!!
We attend the gathering of believers to learn to be more holy, to confess sin and to encourage one another, but mostly we come together to worship as in the Lord's supper. God said to do it "every time" we gather, which is violated these days.
Worship first and then teaching to know God and grow in holiness. We do not gather just to be friendly leaving sick people sick, we encourage them to heal in Christ.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we confess we will be cleansed.
James 5:16 " 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. "
In reference to Schumer declaring that he will go against Trump's new nominee for the Supreme Court no matter who it is and the same way that Biden is calling for immigrants to rise up against Trump.
The voice of a bratty narcissist otherwise known as a Democrat, is this; "if you don't do what I say I will go against everything you do and say, just to frustrate you." "Then I will claim you said and did things you didn't say and do."
Oh by the way we are seeing this same mentality among family members. The same foolishness we see in politics and family dynamics is perpetrated by the same culprit, that is the devil himself.
The devil never changes his tactics, they remain the same everywhere, all over the world.
1 Peter 5:7-9 "…7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering."
Believers please do not fear the foolishness that is growing upon the earth, we know where it comes from and Who to trust.
