The spirit of the age of the end times is here now in force and only growing worse.
Ephesians 2:2
"2 in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience."
The spirit of the age is a description of the end times apostate church. It is no wonder that many people are leaving the organized church religion based on human order instead of the order God gave in the Bible. We are living in time in which most people who say they are Christians do not live according to the Bible and most people in the church follow a "form of godliness" dependent on the cultural ideas of their time not on the principles of God's Word.
2 Timothy 3 is a description of the end times "Christians" or apostates who believe they are saved but have never been born again.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
"Difficult Times Will Come (Meaning; ragingly insane times)
3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
These people who attend gatherings every week thinking they are doing God a favor and fully convinced they are special and wonderful are full of self-love and hatred for anyone who would expose their false Christianity.
I have experienced more "Christians" angry at me for bringing the scriptures to bear on a subject than I have had unbelievers with whom I have shared Biblical truths.
The unbelievers know they don't know the Bible so they listen without arguing, but the pretend Christian thinks they know the Bible while adhering to biblical ideas sprinkled with worldly psychology and count themselves as knowledgable. They are full of all the terrible 2 Timothy 3 traits of rebellion and think they are fully Christian, mostly developed through worldly ways mixed with some Bible truth taken out of context.
We are living in an age where most people who would identify as Christians have a form of religion but deny Christ through their scripture twisting and even out right denial of what God says to justify their disobedience and rebellion.
These people will become enraged and vengeful when we expose their false beliefs to help them see the difference between worldly Christianity that leads to hell and true Christianity which leads to a transformed life that seeks after the heart of Christ.
Those who love and obey Christ are being gossiped about, maligned, distrusted, dismissed and even persecuted through family devaluing as they attempt to live their lives according to God's Word.
I can remember a time many years ago when I objected to a particular movie being shown at a family gathering of "Christians." This movie was full of the Lord's name in vain and other ways that should be objectionable to any born again believer. I was treated disrespectfully and ignored because of my objections rather than anyone of those in the room supporting my stance. This was a strong indicator to me of the mentality of those who wanted to watch the movie. They were more interested in seeing this movie than they were in standing for Christ.
Sadly, at the very least those who said they were Christians should have turned it off for no other reason than it was objectionable to a Christian sister. The choice to keep the movie running in spite of my objections made it clear that my well being as a believer was of no interest to them. I was viewed as a fanatic and ignored as though I was irrelevant.
Notice something about this story of the movie scenario, those involved defended their right to watch this movie while they threw their Christian sister and in my case mother, under the bus merely to have something to watch on that television. No one defended me and worse no one was concerned about what Christ throught.
This is the state of the false Christianity of today, the wholesale misuse of scripture to justify sin and trampling on the heart of believers who stand against it.
As the Lord progressed me in my wisdom over the years I began to realize that most people who say they are Christians have never been born again. I can understand a Christian getting caught up in something they shouldn't but when confronted about it they become ashamed and humbled seeking to do better next time. However, the one who is not born again defends their right to sin and even dares to deny that what they are doing is sin.
Each one must make their own decisions about their television watching however, if another believer objects because of their own sensitivity to the sin in the show, the others in the room should make an effort to protect the conscience of the one who cannot allow themselves to watch what they believe dishonors God.
The proof of the 2 Timothy 3 mentality was seen in the disdain for the one who could not indulge in the movie. There was no sense of love, no protection of the believer who didn't want to partake, but there was contempt and refusal to protect the one who wanted to remain clean in their conscience.
On another occasion we were invited to a baptism where we first met at a home before going to the church building. While we waiting for the time of the baptism the super bowl was playing and half time came on the television. Those in the room were watching this horrid display of immorality in the half time show without the objection of anyone, right before going to the church building where someone was going to be baptised.
At the baptism, there was laughter and marry-making as though this was just another ceremony to have fun. I was so disgusted and appalled it made it hard for me to believe the one being baptized and those in attendance to watch, understood the Biblical mentality of being transformed by Christ. They appeared to be performing a ritual without understanding of what it means to be baptized in Christ. Again I was appalled.
Since this time many years ago I have seen more of this and even worse in various gatherings we attended. The church gatherings as a whole have become social clubs with a little Bible thrown in to make them feel special but no sense at all of what it is to be transformed by Christ into a new creation. There is no humility, no sense of awe for Christ and even worse a blatant refusal to be corrected when confronted with the flippant attitude. Those in the audience were laughing uproariously as the preacher and the one to be baptized trivialized and joked about what was gong on.
There have been many events like this that finally led to my decision to remove myself from the organized church system of apostasy that frustrated me rather than uplifting Christ. In a sense I was prevented from living out my Christianity as described in the Bible while surrounded by those who would reject me for loving God's Word and refusing to engage in the foolish indulgences of those who were pretenders.
In my humble opinion most churches have lost their first love, that is Christ, and engage in a pseudo Christianity that give reign to the flesh without regard to the commands and principles of Christ in His Word.
In fact most of the people who say they are Christians have a few false phrases they use from the Bible out of context and think they know the Bible. Some even know all the stories of the Bible but often miss the principles and lessons in those stories. They even twist the meanings of those stories to fit their worldly ideas.
Who is saved and who is not? I cannot know perfectly who is saved and who is not but I do know what God said in His Word about the mentality of those who are born again.
Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law"
A born again believer who loves the Lord would never rage at, dismiss or gossip against another believer who corrected them with Scripture.
Matthew 7:18
"18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit."
The fruit of the Spirit of Christ are not deeds, they are the character qualities of Christ that bring about all the qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. This fruit produces a humble spirit and a spirit who cannot treat people with disdain or contempt even when they disagree.
