Right – In Their Own Eyes
“In those days …every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6. When mankind resorts to following his own imagination, especially concerning what is right and what is wrong, God, for the most part, gets left behind. Although they won’t admit it, most people today live their lives, at least in some respect, in accordance to God’s word. When people blatantly disregard God’s laws and live according to what they themselves believe to be right then invariably up becomes down and wrong is seen as right. Those who are completely opposed to anything biblical and who radically reject the teachings found within the pages of God’s word are doomed, or better stated damned.
Here’s a little side note:
For those of you who don’t yet get just exactly what it means to be damned, it speaks of those who are lost – those who have no hope – they will find themselves in a place of torment when their end comes. For those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior it means an eternity in Hell. If you don’t believe in Hell, yet you continually reject God’s free gift of salvation, you will.
Today as marriage is being attacked or distorted many refuse to believe that God gave us our institution of marriage many thousands of years ago back in the Garden of Eden. God’s idea of the appropriate form of marriage has been well established in most cultures today. Another of God’s laws which is now characteristic of most of earth’s civilizations is the fact that murder is not condoned, not in any fashion. In the book of Exodus we read the verse “Thou shalt not kill” Exodus 20:13. The Hebrew word used here actually means murder (Thou shalt not murder). This is God’s sixth commandment and has been His standard for thousands of years. The prohibition on stealing, lying, and adultery are all well established bans which were recognized long before secular man’s laws were even thought of. It amazes me when I ponder these things; just where do folks think all these, and many more, directions for our lives came from?
It’s true that people, for the most part, don’t read the Bible. But many of its truths are continually passed down even through generations of secular law givers. If there is no God why hold to His precepts? Why not allow complete abandon and live like the devil? Because whether they like it or not the knowledge concerning God is in every man. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” Romans 1:20.
People today have an excuse for everything. But God says there is no excuse, that the ignorance of His power and Godhead is inexcusable. This means they who don’t believe there is a God have no excuse for holding such a non-defendable position. There will be no defense as these folks make their final appeal to God while they stand before Him awaiting judgment. Imagine walking into a courtroom and standing before the judge completely defenseless with only the claim, “But judge I didn’t know murder was against the law”. How much credence would any judge give such a defense? Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
Today we live in an age that is ripe with the “spirit of wickedness”, which can be attributed to every man doing that which he feels is right in his own eyes. We are bombarded with clichés’ which constantly remind us of our individuality. We are encouraged to break the rules, to place no boundaries on our liberties, to let loose our inhibitions, to embrace humanism, and to come to grips with the promise of no remaining taboos. According to today’s secularist every old fashioned taboo should be removed from today’s “enlightened” society.
If it feels good do it, after all we’re only human. Today’s message from the secularists is always the same: “Make your own rules; you answer to no one, the universe revolves around you.” But the result of taking that path can only be disorder. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12. Without God’s truth and intervention in the affairs of mankind there would not even be a mankind.
Today’s culture demands the populous has the right to do whatever they want, whatever pleases them, whatever they can derive pleasure from is considered to be right and acceptable. Instead of looking to the Bible for answers man looks to his fellow man, who is just as corrupt as himself.
“If you want to be truly happy follow your heart.” Wait a minute, what does Jeremiah say? “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9. The heart is deceitful? Yes. That’s what God says about the heart, so should we follow something that is deceitful and desperately wicked? Who would want us to follow the heart if it is only going to deceive us? I’ll give you one guess.
Satan, of course; he conspires to deceive us and he succeeds continually. All those above clichés are his invention or better stated his intervention. Humanism is his concept because it removes God from the world. “Well, without God the playing field becomes more equal.” Not hardly. Without God there remains only His enemy. God’s enemy hates all humans; this fact is well known by all believers in Christ. Without God’s protection, the playing field becomes horribly skewed toward Satan’s agenda, which is evil, death, and ultimately Hell.
Where humanity is headed, and even in many cases already resides, is exactly where Satan wants us. It’s a hard pill to swallow when a person learns they’ve been following Satan all their lives. God has always been close but He doesn’t interfere with our will. Yes, He sent His Holy Spirit to direct us toward Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, but God will not force us into a believing, faith filled, and loving relationship with Jesus. That must be a decision we make on our own.
Opposition to God’s word is folly. Even when folks say they accept some of the Bible as truth but they don’t believe that the entire Bible is from God they are only following their true father, the devil. An evil scheme of Satan’s is to discredit the Bible, to show that the Bible is corrupt, misleading, and full of myths and should be disregarded. Many folks would rather follow Satan and his lies than read and believe the truth of God, hence, the overcrowding nature of Hell.
The world belongs to Satan, he stole it from Adam, and he’s had an almost complete autonomy concerning earthlings for around 6,000 years now. There are currently two groups of people on earth: Earth dwellers (those who belong to this world – Satan) and Christians (those individuals who’ve given their lives to Christ and as such are only sojourners here).
Man can and does ignore God, but man cannot remove God, not from his mind, his heart, or from planet earth for that matter. Man can only make the decision to attempt to remove God from his life. When man becomes convinced that he has achieved success in removing God from his life he begins to see everything differently, as right in his own eyes. This is exactly where Satan wants mankind. This has been Satan’s goal from the beginning. Eliminate God and everything falls into Satan’s grasp. Those who fall into the clutches of God’s enemy will finally get what they’ve pursued all their lives, an eternity without God. Earth dwellers are those who, knowingly or not, exclusively follow Satan. Remember there is no neutral ground; there are only two to chose from, Jesus Christ or Satan. Jesus said “He that is not with me is against me;” Matthew 12:30a. There are many folks, almost innumerable numbers, who should study those words more carefully.
God wants us to pursue a relationship with Him and to live according to His word. But when in our own eyes we see all forms of evil as pleasure, always enticing us, and we allow ourselves to be led by evil in an attempt to be fulfilled, sooner or later, nothing we do or try will be fulfilling. We will ultimately end up like Solomon preaching “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:1-2.
Here we are staring at the end of all time, we are all looking eternity in the face and people are still consumed with pursuing pleasure, seemingly more than ever before. There continues to be purveyors of pleasure in all walks of life, always bent on pulling the masses toward destruction. All this perceived pleasure is fleeting, temporary at best. No matter how close we get to the end, the end will never be in sight for those whose tendencies are focused toward doing what is right in their own eyes.
What are your sights set on today? What or who are you looking to for your own peace of mind? There can only be one who can bring peace to you. You might concede that all is vanity, but with Jesus Christ in your life, your life doesn’t need to be lived in vain.
Folks, doing what is right in your own eyes can produce some horrible consequences. One very severe consequence ultimately arises as a result of rejecting God’s free gift of salvation. That severe consequence is an eternity of torment in Hell without possibility of reprieve or pardon.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, never mind what you think you know or what others tell you about the existence or non-existence of God Almighty. Come to your own decision regarding Jesus Christ. Come to the correct decision that will forever endear you to the Son. Jesus Christ is God and He is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you truly want to see Heaven when your time on earth runs out, remember this – Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the God, gives life, and life more abundantly. And He leads all who will follow Him to Heaven. All those who will place their faith, their trust, and lives in His hands are in for a great escape.
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com
All scripture is from the KJV and God breathed
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
PC Runs Amuck
PC Runs Amuck – Among Christians?
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. First of all, as followers of Jesus Christ, we must be convinced that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. Secondly, we must believe, our Messiah, Jesus – God Almighty - is being truthful with us. And thirdly, we must believe that when He made the statement “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” He was speaking to all humankind on planet earth, for all time.
If we believe that Jesus is who He said He is, and we believe in Him and on Him, then why not believe His statement above? How many Christians believe there are many paths/roads/religions that lead to God? Surprisingly, there are many professing to follow Jesus Christ who openly call their Messiah a liar. How’s that you might ask? Simply by agreeing with the politically correct mindset that all religions worship the same God, or with those who say there are many paths to God that don’t include Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.
Jesus is God and as such He has the authority to make such an exclusive statement. “In Christ believers” may not like the idea that Christianity is so totally exclusive but we are not given the choice to disagree. We either believe God that His word is true or we end up calling Him a liar. Those who profess a faith in Jesus Christ yet believe there is another road, another way which leads to God are without excuse.
The president of the United States claims to be a Christian and yet he claims that there are many paths that lead all those from other religions to the same God. As I’ve already mentioned there are many professing Christians making this same erroneous statement. Former President Bush made the same statement. Whether or not these men are trying to be politically correct or not probably won’t matter one iota to God when they all stand before Him. Anytime men and women feel it necessary to place man’s ignorant ideas above God’s precepts, thereby calling God a liar, should prepare themselves for a very hot and tortuous eternity.
The reason many professing Christians disagree with the word of God may be summed up in these terms: they are fearful of evangelism. Perhaps they don’t want to step on toes; they may find it easier, thus preferable, to go along with the PC crowed. We know that there are many who “line item veto” what they don’t like concerning the word of God; Jesus’ statement in John 14:6 is one of the main line item vetoes preferred by PCers.
Yes there are many religions and they all have their faithful adherents. “Aren’t those who worship the god of those other religions actually worshiping the same God of the Bible? And if they are, wouldn’t that mean that there are many roads or paths that lead to Heaven?” The answer to that question is, of course, no. All religions do not worship the one true God, the God of Bible, the God of Christianity.
Just a quick look into the various religions of the world will be an eye opener to most Christians. No religion of this world accepts Jesus Christ as God Almighty. You might be confused with my statement. What about Christianity? Friends, Christianity is not a religion, it is a faith through grace based lifestyle which the true believer in Christ lives daily. Religions do everything they can, by utilizing their own manmade ideas, to atone for their own sins instead of relying on Jesus Christ, the one who has already atoned for the sins of the world. Oh yes, there are some religions out there among the world religions who claim to be Christian but they don’t actually believe Jesus paid the whole price for their sins and thus they do all sorts of works to help themselves achieve salvation. Consequently, Jesus’ final spoken word from the cross “Tetelestai” (meaning “Paid in Full”) is also line item vetoed.
Many of the world religions believe that Jesus Christ was a living being but not God Almighty. They believe Jesus was a man, yes, a great teacher and humanitarian but that is as far as their belief takes them. Through their relegation of Jesus to the status of a mere human they strip Him of His deity and leave Him standing bare and insignificant. This attitude of subordinating Jesus Christ to some sort of lesser god or angel by many who erroneously take the name of Christian will never endear them to the King of kings and Lord of lords.
By Jesus making the statement that no man can come to the Father but by Him, He’s effectively eliminated all worldwide religions from being of Him and has driven the stake of exclusivity into the ground like that of a line in the sand. Only unlike the bully who draws a line in the sand as a dare, Jesus says cross this line and live.
Christianity isn’t really exclusive like some kind of club that only allows certain high profile folks to join. There really isn’t anything exclusive about the Christian faith. Everyone is given the opportunity to become a believer in Christ and thus become a part of the body of Christ. Joining a religion of the world, including the religion of atheism, will be a major barrier to ever entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
“I am the way the truth and the life” – the whole reason for this statement was that people would believe and not perish. Those who do not believe Jesus’ words will certainly perish. “…that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16b. This verse is just as exclusive as the verse in John 14:6. To obtain everlasting life we must first believe in Him (Jesus Christ) as the one who gives everlasting life. There is no other God and there is simply no reason for political correctness. If God Almighty isn’t being PC why should we?
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:17. There is no condemnation in Jesus Christ the condemnation is in believing there are other paths/roads/religions that lead to the Father. All who believe this erroneous concept are condemning themselves to Hell. God gives us His truth to follow – it’s up to us to believe and to follow Him as our only Savoir and Lord. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19.
This really is the basis for all the political correctness in the world. Men love darkness and they love their evil deeds, and they love placating others. They want to remain in the world doing what they see as right and correct. Many followers of Jesus Christ are in the same mindset as the PC crowd. If they believed everything Jesus said they’d be overwhelmed with guilt, and from this guilt would come repentance. Alas this just isn’t the case as we can plainly see; they don’t believe what Jesus said, therefore guilt and repentance are not forthcoming. “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:20-21.
There is a very large segment of earth’s population who stand against Jesus Christ, nothing new in that statement. But unbeknownst to them is the fact that they are all currently condemned to Hell, and will remain so unless at some point in their life they come to believe what the Holy Spirit has laid on their hearts about Jesus Christ. Joining the PC crowd and going along with the mindset of many paths lead to heaven will only serve to cement the feet of that large segment of earth’s population to that path which leads to destruction.
PC Christians, in many instances, are standing against Jesus Christ. If anyone is opposed to Jesus’ teachings they are opposed to God. Can a person be truly saved and still be opposed to Jesus Christ? When we witness to someone it’s usually someone who is an unbeliever, but with professing Christians that isn’t the case, or is it? When it comes to witnessing, who are we to witness to? Is it the lost who’ve never heard the Gospel, or the lost that have heard it and don’t believe it? Or is it the professing Christian who believes he is saved yet continually calls my Savior a liar?
There are many verses in the Bible that when read by the unsaved can be difficult to understand and misconstrued. There are many who’ve read the Bible and have dismissed it as mythical. Many others parrot only what they’ve heard someone else say about it. But those who profess a faith in Christ have no excuse for calling Him a liar. Born again believers are indwelt with the Holy Spirit and He directs us. If you believe there are many paths/religions which will lead the unsaved to the Father, other than the path that the God of all Creation has espoused, then you will most assuredly want to rethink your conversion experience. You’d best begin with asking Him for forgiveness.
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com
All scripture is from the KJV and God breathed
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. First of all, as followers of Jesus Christ, we must be convinced that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. Secondly, we must believe, our Messiah, Jesus – God Almighty - is being truthful with us. And thirdly, we must believe that when He made the statement “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” He was speaking to all humankind on planet earth, for all time.
If we believe that Jesus is who He said He is, and we believe in Him and on Him, then why not believe His statement above? How many Christians believe there are many paths/roads/religions that lead to God? Surprisingly, there are many professing to follow Jesus Christ who openly call their Messiah a liar. How’s that you might ask? Simply by agreeing with the politically correct mindset that all religions worship the same God, or with those who say there are many paths to God that don’t include Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.
Jesus is God and as such He has the authority to make such an exclusive statement. “In Christ believers” may not like the idea that Christianity is so totally exclusive but we are not given the choice to disagree. We either believe God that His word is true or we end up calling Him a liar. Those who profess a faith in Jesus Christ yet believe there is another road, another way which leads to God are without excuse.
The president of the United States claims to be a Christian and yet he claims that there are many paths that lead all those from other religions to the same God. As I’ve already mentioned there are many professing Christians making this same erroneous statement. Former President Bush made the same statement. Whether or not these men are trying to be politically correct or not probably won’t matter one iota to God when they all stand before Him. Anytime men and women feel it necessary to place man’s ignorant ideas above God’s precepts, thereby calling God a liar, should prepare themselves for a very hot and tortuous eternity.
The reason many professing Christians disagree with the word of God may be summed up in these terms: they are fearful of evangelism. Perhaps they don’t want to step on toes; they may find it easier, thus preferable, to go along with the PC crowed. We know that there are many who “line item veto” what they don’t like concerning the word of God; Jesus’ statement in John 14:6 is one of the main line item vetoes preferred by PCers.
Yes there are many religions and they all have their faithful adherents. “Aren’t those who worship the god of those other religions actually worshiping the same God of the Bible? And if they are, wouldn’t that mean that there are many roads or paths that lead to Heaven?” The answer to that question is, of course, no. All religions do not worship the one true God, the God of Bible, the God of Christianity.
Just a quick look into the various religions of the world will be an eye opener to most Christians. No religion of this world accepts Jesus Christ as God Almighty. You might be confused with my statement. What about Christianity? Friends, Christianity is not a religion, it is a faith through grace based lifestyle which the true believer in Christ lives daily. Religions do everything they can, by utilizing their own manmade ideas, to atone for their own sins instead of relying on Jesus Christ, the one who has already atoned for the sins of the world. Oh yes, there are some religions out there among the world religions who claim to be Christian but they don’t actually believe Jesus paid the whole price for their sins and thus they do all sorts of works to help themselves achieve salvation. Consequently, Jesus’ final spoken word from the cross “Tetelestai” (meaning “Paid in Full”) is also line item vetoed.
Many of the world religions believe that Jesus Christ was a living being but not God Almighty. They believe Jesus was a man, yes, a great teacher and humanitarian but that is as far as their belief takes them. Through their relegation of Jesus to the status of a mere human they strip Him of His deity and leave Him standing bare and insignificant. This attitude of subordinating Jesus Christ to some sort of lesser god or angel by many who erroneously take the name of Christian will never endear them to the King of kings and Lord of lords.
By Jesus making the statement that no man can come to the Father but by Him, He’s effectively eliminated all worldwide religions from being of Him and has driven the stake of exclusivity into the ground like that of a line in the sand. Only unlike the bully who draws a line in the sand as a dare, Jesus says cross this line and live.
Christianity isn’t really exclusive like some kind of club that only allows certain high profile folks to join. There really isn’t anything exclusive about the Christian faith. Everyone is given the opportunity to become a believer in Christ and thus become a part of the body of Christ. Joining a religion of the world, including the religion of atheism, will be a major barrier to ever entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
“I am the way the truth and the life” – the whole reason for this statement was that people would believe and not perish. Those who do not believe Jesus’ words will certainly perish. “…that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16b. This verse is just as exclusive as the verse in John 14:6. To obtain everlasting life we must first believe in Him (Jesus Christ) as the one who gives everlasting life. There is no other God and there is simply no reason for political correctness. If God Almighty isn’t being PC why should we?
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:17. There is no condemnation in Jesus Christ the condemnation is in believing there are other paths/roads/religions that lead to the Father. All who believe this erroneous concept are condemning themselves to Hell. God gives us His truth to follow – it’s up to us to believe and to follow Him as our only Savoir and Lord. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19.
This really is the basis for all the political correctness in the world. Men love darkness and they love their evil deeds, and they love placating others. They want to remain in the world doing what they see as right and correct. Many followers of Jesus Christ are in the same mindset as the PC crowd. If they believed everything Jesus said they’d be overwhelmed with guilt, and from this guilt would come repentance. Alas this just isn’t the case as we can plainly see; they don’t believe what Jesus said, therefore guilt and repentance are not forthcoming. “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:20-21.
There is a very large segment of earth’s population who stand against Jesus Christ, nothing new in that statement. But unbeknownst to them is the fact that they are all currently condemned to Hell, and will remain so unless at some point in their life they come to believe what the Holy Spirit has laid on their hearts about Jesus Christ. Joining the PC crowd and going along with the mindset of many paths lead to heaven will only serve to cement the feet of that large segment of earth’s population to that path which leads to destruction.
PC Christians, in many instances, are standing against Jesus Christ. If anyone is opposed to Jesus’ teachings they are opposed to God. Can a person be truly saved and still be opposed to Jesus Christ? When we witness to someone it’s usually someone who is an unbeliever, but with professing Christians that isn’t the case, or is it? When it comes to witnessing, who are we to witness to? Is it the lost who’ve never heard the Gospel, or the lost that have heard it and don’t believe it? Or is it the professing Christian who believes he is saved yet continually calls my Savior a liar?
There are many verses in the Bible that when read by the unsaved can be difficult to understand and misconstrued. There are many who’ve read the Bible and have dismissed it as mythical. Many others parrot only what they’ve heard someone else say about it. But those who profess a faith in Christ have no excuse for calling Him a liar. Born again believers are indwelt with the Holy Spirit and He directs us. If you believe there are many paths/religions which will lead the unsaved to the Father, other than the path that the God of all Creation has espoused, then you will most assuredly want to rethink your conversion experience. You’d best begin with asking Him for forgiveness.
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com
All scripture is from the KJV and God breathed
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