Our culture doesn't believe there should be divisions. We should all just learn to get along by accepting everything, there is no wrong and there is no right. In other words we ought to stand for everything and nothing at the same time. Sort of an oxymoron.
In another dear friends post she lamented the fact that we don't hear sermons on the division that happens between families, and that Christ said it would be so.
We are not only living in the 2 Timothy 3 times, but we are also living in the times of Luke 12.
Luke 12:51-53
"Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Matthew 10:35-37
"For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."
2 Timothy 2:1-5
"1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4 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.
5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules."
Irrational isn't all of it!!!!!
Those who say it doesn't matter that they sin because they are saved by grace, are lying. Here's why....to say their sin doesn't matter is to deny the very words of Christ:
John 14:15 "15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
If you sin and enjoy it, unashamed of yourself for it, then you do not love Christ, you cannot be born again.
John 14:23-24 "23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me.…"
John 1
"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’”
16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."
Those who are unconcerned about their sin because they have been "covered in the blood", very likely were never born again and are not covered in the blood.
Philippians 2:5-18 "5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Lights in the World
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
If you do not care that you are sinning, then you do not have the mind of Christ nor do you desire it, you are not born again.
What does it look like when we have been born again according to these scriptures?
1. Humility
2. Emptying of Self
3. Obedient to Death
4. Bowing Before God in Obedience
5. Confessing Christ and His Truth, loving to speak of Him.
6. God is working in you. God is not working in someone who refuses to obey Him, someone who takes His word lightly, even ignoring it completely.
If you lack these qualities are described in God's Word, then it would be good to ask God if you ever became born again. One cannot be in Christ and love their sin, so much so that they are willing to parade it, promote it and brag about it.
When we meet someone who elevates themselves by devaluing others, we can be sure this person has not known the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we become born again, we come through the realization that we are sinful in our very nature and worthy of nothing good.
Romans 6:1-11
Sin’s Power Is Broken
"1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?
2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?
4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives."
This realization causes us to run to Christ to be changed into a new creation, that He might change us, to be made new, the opposite of the nature we were born with.
Those who have been born again have an enduring empathy for those around them, they hate it when they have harmed someone, most of the time unknowingly, while quickly apologizing to restore a broken relationship.
Those who love their sin, who have not been changed into a new creation, often excuse themselves, even glory in their power over others.
The question begs an answer: "how can someone who came in brokenness to Christ over their own sin, ever enjoy devaluing others because they do not measure up their own idea of righteousness?"
Often those who elevate self are highly judgmental about others, not over sin, but over silly things, personality traits or ways of doing things that are not sin. These people make up stories about the things they see their target doing, guessing what the others might be thinking and passing it on as fact to their cohorts.
The most important thing to remember in dealing with these self elevated selves, is to resist responding and remove ourselves from them permanently. If we are to grow in Christ and remain faithful to Him, then we will have to surround ourselves with those who love Him too.
Proverbs 13:19-20 "…19 Desire realized is sweet to the soul, But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil. 20 He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm. "
The problem of pride has destroyed every relationship that has been broken, every war that has occurred, every suicide and every crime that has ever been committed.
And, we know who the father of this pride is and where it got him. That is the devil, he started it and it is going to land him in hell for eternity, as well as all those who chose to follow him instead of Christ.
Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, He loved and died to save us. The only thing between us and Christ is that pride and the devil.
We can either be controlled by Christ and go to heaven or we can be controlled by the devil and go to hell, it is completely our own choice.
Joshua 24:14-15
Choose Whom You Will Serve
14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
The reason so many in the younger generation become unglued when someone tells them they are wrong or need correction even in the mildest terms, is because of the excessive praise that has been heaped upon them in their youth. Praise that has only served to make the youngsters feel perfect and special all the time, they cannot abide being viewed as anything other than exalted in the eyes of others. It really translates into a lack of confidence that they can be authentic and still be loved.
If they do not see themselves as special, then they must be all bad, in their own minds.
The only reason some get their feelings hurt is because so many people believe if we disagree with them, that means they are all bad.
The black and white thinking of today has grown along with the proliferation of the self esteem teaching. We are either a god or we are the devil, there is no in between for our culture.
If someone doesn't like our belief, then they judge us as all bad, if they like our beliefs then they judge us as godlike. There are idols in the hearts of those who must perceive any human being as being all good, only God fits that bill.
Those who are judged as all bad, are treated disrespectfully with contempt while the all good person is praised ad nauseam. When someone cannot see people as human beings with flaws as well as assets, there is a self focus of intense superiority.
The only reason for this black and white thinking is because the one who is judging has a superior view of their own character and importance, usually not warranted, but nonetheless deeply entrenched in self worship. They evaluate others they think do not measure up to themselves.
Romans 12:3 "For I say to every man that is among you, through the grace given unto me, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
The most humble person will not be thinking much about themselves at all, except when they want to grow in holiness. Then it is a coming to Christ in humility to be changed by Him. Those who elevate themselves above God and others, will not learn and grow, they remain spiritual infants their entire lives, until which point they can see themselves in truth and become broken over their own pride.
One cannot become born again unless they come to the place of realization that they are full of deceit and self worship. Only then can they be changed into a new creation. God will never change a prideful person who does not want to or thinks they don't need to be changed.
When you see an excessively prideful person who argues continually to win in everything, then you may be watching someone who has never been broken over their sinfulness and therefore is not born again.
