Leaving the Faith

Some Thoughts About the Christian Leaving the Faith

Possibly one of the most puzzling aspects of Christianity is the conscious decision of some that have been faithful to Christ — to leave HIM and go back into the world. I have agonized over this matter for many years and have prepared many sermons to encourage faithfulness realizing that others who are now faithful may be the next to fall away. Indeed, we know that the New Testament teaches that a Christian may “fall away“, may “fall from grace“, etc.  As I have considered this matter it has become evident to me that many leave the faith for many different reasons. It is never acceptable to God to leave the faith for any reason but I know through interaction and conversation with some that have left the faith that they had reasons that they considered more important than remaining faithful. You see; many people do not seriously consider the instruction from God via the Bible as being truly important. This is a great fallacy; mankind cannot be all that God intended for him without heeding God’s instruction – Jeremiah 10:23.

The question of keeping the faith is important as the Christian’s hope rests upon his faithfulness unto death — cf., Revelation 2:10, “Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.” (ASV)  The question is also of great interest to those that are continuing faithful. The faithful are concerned about, “why do the faithful leave?” Is there something that we should have done or are we in some way responsible for their failure? Let us look at the Bible’s teaching about the condition of the backslider.

First of all let us recognize that we must never become a stumbling block in the life of any Christian or anyone for that matter:  Rom. 14:12-13. A stumbling block is any obstacle that we place before another that may hinder their forward progress toward godly living. God will not approve or accept those that create stumbling blocks to truth, faithfulness and unity. We must all do everything that we can to keep each other growing in the faith …

Ephesians 4:15 -“So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” NKJV

1 Corinthians 8:9-10 – “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.”

Revelation 2:14 – “But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.” NKJV

In the second place we that are faithful have a responsibility to one another to love each other and to bear one another’s burdens:

Romans 12:9-10, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another; ASV

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 – Love suffereth long, (and) is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but whether (there be) prophecies, they shall be done away; whether (there be) tongues, they shall cease; whether (there be) knowledge, it shall be done away.” ASV

Gal 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” ASV

In the third place the faithful are to try to restore those that turn away from the faith (i.e., backslide):

Galatians 6:1-2 – Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted.  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ASV

Finally, whenever the faithful have been a pattern of good works, love, patience, and possess a willingness to go to the backslider and try and restore him/her to faithfulness, surely they can do nothing else. After the faithful have exhausted all avenues of Biblical instruction  in their attempt to restore such a one, the faithful ones must not blame themselves for the failure of the backslider to return to the faith. The guilt for sinning and leaving the faith belongs to him who has chosen to leave the faith and remain in the world.

CONSIDER THIS: Ezekiel 18:19-21 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. NKJV

IS THE LORD WITH US?

Often when we become discouraged or lonely we wonder if anyone cares about us;  that person will soon find a peace that passes human understanding {i.e. that person will become a Christian AND WILL PURSUE RIGHTEOUS THINGS; ESPECIALLY THE FAVOR OF GOD}. You will be much happier than you are today if you will become a Christian and live your remaining days in faithful service to HIM.

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Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is a special day for people of Mexican heritage. It is not Mexican Independence Day. Mexico gained independence from Spain on September 16, 1810. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. In that battle a severely outnumbered Mexican army of 4,500 decisively defeated a French army of over 8,000 near the city of Puebla, Mexico. The French had invaded Mexico earlier that year because Mexico had been unable to pay their debts. The battle of Puebla was the only significant battle won by the Mexican army in the war with France. The French eventually won the war and placed a “puppet” dictator  as the Mexican president. After three years of this occupation, in 1866, the French were forced to withdraw from Mexico, when the U.S. Army under General William T. Sherman threatened to invade Mexico in order to liberate it from France. Today, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated primarily by Mexican-Americans as a way to celebrate the cause of freedom.

Christians also have a cause to celebrate freedom! Freedom from sin. (Rom 6:6-7, 18) Freedom from the death sentence that comes from sin. (Rom 6:23) Freedom from the shackles that we would have had to share with the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:4, 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) Freedom from oppression. Freedom from the debt of sin. Freedom to live for Christ!

At one time, in our innocence,  we were pure and free from sin. (Luke 18:16-17)  But sin entered our life and bound us. (Rom 6:16; 7:9-11); leaving us in the same miserable state, in which Paul had found himself, when he declared,  “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death…?” (Rom 7:24 ) Who could deliver us? We could not, on our own! (John 15:5) Man could not devise it. (Jer 10:23) Who could deliver us? Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom 7:25; 1 Cor 15:57). Man does have a part to play in all this. We must obey Jesus, the Captain of our salvation. (Heb 2:10; 5:8-9)

On our part, we have to only win one battle over sin in our lives when we obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We could lose every other battle in the war, but ultimately we are assured of freedom, because Christ has already “invaded Mexico” and liberated us from sin and its oppression! Like Mexico, we have a day to celebrate and remember the cause of freedom! The Day that our Lord overcame death and defeated the works of darkness. We don’t celebrate this day only once a year, but we do so every first day of the week! Join us this Cinco de Mayo in worship to our Loving and Holy God!

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Faith

Faith: Believe it or Not

When those extremely religious but entirely misled religious people who had had the Lord crucified were brought face to face with their sins as Peter preached the first recorded post-resurrection gospel sermon,

“…they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit… And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation.’ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized… And the Lord added to the church daily, those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:37, 38, 40, 41, 47).

Please note:

-Their ‘belief’ (even going so far as their being ‘cut to the heart’ by his message about Jesus) alone, WASN’T enough to save them…

-There was absolutely no prayer of faith for salvation even hinted at here…

-Baptism was FOR the forgiveness of sins; not something to do AFTER their sins were forgiven/they received salvation…

-They were NOT saved UNTIL they received his word and were then, by faith, baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27), and THEN AND ONLY THEN did God add them to HIS church…

Jesus Christ, who has “all authority in heaven and on earth,” commanded that baptism would be an absolutely essential element in the making of His disciples (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16). Subsequently, Saul of Tarsus was commanded to “Arise and be baptized, and wash away [his] sins” (Acts 22:16). The apostle Peter would also write by direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Ptr. 1:20-21) “baptism doth now save you” (I Ptr. 3:21).

But, what about so many seemingly otherwise well-grounded and well-intentioned religious people who teach that we are saved by faith only, not works, and that baptism is neither necessary or essential to salvation? How do we reach them with the gospel truth?

  1. Well, we might begin by pointing out that there’s only one place in the entire New Testament wherein the phrase “faith only” occurs. It is James 2:24; and it unequivocally and unashamedly proclaims for all time the following “firmly forever fixed in heaven” (See Ps. 119:89; ESV) truth: “You see that a man is justified by works and NOT BY FAITH ALONE” (James 2:24; NKJV; EMPH mine; DED).
  2. We might additionally point out, that biblically speaking, according to Jesus, belief (i.e., faith) itself is a work (See Jn. 6:29).
  3. We could also correctly inform them that there are several different kinds of works seen in the scriptures, none of which can we afford to mix up when talking about that which is either condemned or commended by God. For instance, there are:
  • Works of the law, through the keeping of which no one will be justified (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:10-11).
  • Works of the flesh, through which the conduction of such shall cause many to be condemned (Gal. 5:19-22).
  • Works of merit by which some will seek in vain to enter heaven (Eph. 2:8-9).
  • And Works which God demands we must do both in order to be saved, and which were the reason we were saved to perform to begin with (Jn. 14:15; Lk. 6:46-49; Eph. 2:10; Titus 2:11-14)!
  1. We would also point out that baptism is the “by faith” response to the gospel (Gal. 3:26-27), because it is an act of faith – never seen in Scripture labeled as a work, by the way – in the working of God Who raised Jesus from the dead (Col. 2:12).

However, just as the centerpiece of some “martial arts” training often includes and involves allowing the opponent to strike first, and then seizing the opportunity to use their momentum against them, so too can we operate in this spiritual battle we oft-times are forced into having to wage. When all else fails, let us try the following…

Tell them that if they can point you to just one person saved in the Bible by saying this “prayer of faith” under the New Covenant (i.e. converted to Christ), you will throw out EVERYTHING you’ve ever said regarding baptism. (This of course does not and cannot include the thief on the cross who lived and died under the old covenant – Hebrews 9:15-17 – some 50 days before Christ’s church was ever established in Acts 2). However, if they can’t show you even one Biblical example of such – and they can’t because it is never found in Scripture – then what makes them believe that they were saved by such a non-Biblical process? ‘Especially in light of the literal thousands of conversions we do see therein, without even a hint of such a prayer being preached or taught for salvation’s sake?

And then, after they’ve exhausted all efforts to find even one person in the New Testament after Christ’s church was established and the New Covenant put in place by His blood (Luke 22:14-20; Acts 20:28) who was saved by the prayer process they believe they were, ask them what they would think, if you could show them not one, not two, but three separate and distinct Biblical examples, of those who had believed, and called Christ “Lord,” and all three of which, absolutely were not saved by simply so doing what they believe to be the two essentially exclusive salvation elements from Romans 10:9 – 10; the very two things that they base their whole salvation on, according to their understanding to this point. Then show them the following examples, followed up with the following questions:

A). James 2:19 with Mark 5:1-12: Did they believe? Yes! Did they call Him Lord? Yes! Were they saved? No!

B). Matthew 7:21-23: Did they believe? Yes! Did they call Him Lord? Yes! Were they saved? No!

C). Acts 9:1-8 and 22:6-11; at the conclusion of these verses, as Paul headed into Damascus, having called Jesus “Lord,” and obviously having believed (enough to be evidenced by his obedience in response), then by their reasoning of thinking that that is all that was required to obtain forgiveness and be saved, then he certainly should have been already saved at the point where he entered Damascus, should he not? Then why is it that THREE DAYS THEREAFTER then, that his sins remained unforgiven, and he had to “Arise and be baptized TO WASH AWAY HIS SINS, calling on the Name of the Lord (Acts 22:16)? The answer is simple. Because belief and confession alone are not enough according to the Scriptures – three times over.

Certainly any serious seeker of God can surely see, after studying this, what they, like the jailer and the thousands of other serious seekers of God we see getting saved as outlined therein, must certainly do to surely be saved. And we must let them know that if we can be of any further assistance whatsoever, or answer any questions, it would be our delight to do so, straight from the Word of God.

So then, who do you believe; man, or God? What exactly do you trust your eternal soul to (Jn. 12:48)? Does your preacher preach a different gospel than seen above (See: Gal. 1:6-10), which includes baptism both for and before salvation (Acts 2:37-47)? If your soul is worth to you, “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” come study with a local congregation of the churches of Christ… “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (See John 8:31-32). Or, having seen the truth, “And now, why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His Name” (Acts 22:16; ESV), just as those in Acts 2:37-47 did and were added to the Lord’s church; to Christ’s one, New Testament – body, bride, church, kingdom, saved and forgiven people.

 

 

 

 

 

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Sacrifices?

Why Make Sacrifices?

There’s an old joke about a pig and a chicken. A  poor farmer came to the barnyard because he was  low on food. He had one pig and one chicken left.  “Who will put food on my table?” the farmer asked. “I  will” said the chicken, and laid an egg. The pig didn’t  answer. The chicken asked the pig why he wouldn’t  contribute some ham. The pig replied, “For you it’s a  contribution, but for me it’s a sacrifice.”

Like the people in Malachi’s day, we offer God  what we have in abundance—or the leftovers—and  never consider making a real sacrifice. But why should  we make such a sacrifice that will cost us something of  great value? Let’s consider what the scripture teaches.

First, we make sacrifices to show our love for God.  The apostle Paul encouraged the church at Corinth to  give sacrificially. He said in 2 Corinthians 8:8,  “I speak  not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness  of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.” Their  giving would prove the sincerity of their love for God.  Either they really loved God, or they didn’t love God and  only appeared to love God. Therefore, sacrificial giving  is one way to show that we truly love God. Paul gives the  example of the sacrifice of Christ in the next verse (9):  “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that,  though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,  that ye through his poverty might be rich.” His sacrifice  demonstrated His love for God (John 14:31).

Second, we make sacrifices to show our love for  man. Certainly God showed His love for man when he  gave His Son (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8-9). The apostle John  recognized this when he wrote,  “Herein is love, not that  we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to  be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Presaging  his own death, Jesus said , “Greater love hath no man  than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Certainly Jesus demonstrated His own  love for His fellow man when he sacrificed His life. And  in 1 John 4:11, John wrote,  “Beloved, if God so loved  us, we ought also to love one another.” Notice the little  word “so” in this verse. It is an adverb of manner. The  emphasis is upon  how God loved us. That is the kind of  love we should have for one another. Making sacrifices  shows our love for one another.

Third, we make sacrifices to imitate God in Christ.  Both God and Christ have shown sacrificial love for man,  and as the exemplars of absolute truth and righteousness,  we must follow their example. Paul said to imitate him  as he imitated Christ (1 Cor. 11:1). Peter told us to  walk in the steps of Christ by making great sacrifices of  suffering (1 Pet. 2:21). And, of course, Paul’s discussion  of Christ’s sacrifice in Philippians 2:6-8 was preceded  by the thought,  “Have this mind in you which was also  in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). God and Christ are worthy  of our imitation. In running our race, we look to Jesus,  the author and finisher of the faith (Heb. 12:1-2). The  sacrifices that God and Christ made for the benefit of  mankind are sacrifices worthy of imitation.

Truly we show our love for God and man by  making sacrifices. The contrary is also true; those who  refuse to make sacrifices demonstrate their lack of love  for God and man. They also show their true character  by failing to imitate God and Christ in their life. The  result is the gradual promotion of self within their life,  and the stain of selfishness soiling their words and  deeds. The two greatest commands cannot be fulfilled  without making sacrifice. Jesus said,  “Thou shalt love  the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy  soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great  commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou  shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt. 22:37-39).  Putting God first, and our neighbor second, we cannot  but be involved in making sacrifices. May God help us  to realize the true nature of sacrifice and its relationship  to loving God and our fellow man!

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Growth

Growth: Jesus Grew

Luke 2:52, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

When we talk about the man Jesus was, and the need for we as Christians to be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29), we usually focus on the three years of His life that revolved around His ministry and death. But we might do well to look at the early years of His life and development, His growth. He, not unlike our spiritual journey, started somewhere and became the man that we love, admire, and follow.

Just how did Jesus grow? He grew…

Intellectually: “… in wisdom.” I believe that a good spiritual foundation for growth is bolstered by a mind that continues to develop and remain active. One should be well read, study diligently to apply common sense, rational, and sound logic. This will help us to reason (Isaiah 1:18) and teach others (Acts 17:2). It will help us to be able to handle accurately the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15).

Physically: “… in stature.” Yes Jesus grew physically as we would expect a human being to do. My point here is that we need to take care of ourselves physically while we are here on earth. I know as Christians we are all looking forward to that day when we will be glorified in Christ. But every day that we are allowed to live here on planet earth we have an opportunity to glorify God, to teach others, to love and support the church, and to leave a lasting impression of Christ upon everyone and everything we touch.

Spiritually: “… in favor with God.” This ought to be our greatest endeavor. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what anyone else but God thinks. It is Him we ought to please (Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:1). It should be our greatest desire to one day hear the Father of our souls say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant…” (Matthew 25:21).

Socially: “… in favor with men.” While it is true that Jesus became a man known to not care what other men thought or taught (Mark 12:14) but what this point stresses is that many who knew Him respected him, even if they disagreed with Him. And because of the kind of man He was He was able to reach souls and people would listen to what He had to say. Paul said he became all things to all men that he might be able to save some (1 Corinthians 9:22).

Just like Samuel the prophet (1 Samuel 2:26) and our Lord, we too need to keep growing. Growing more and more each day into the image of the Son of God. How’s your growth?

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