All for Christ!

Psalm 81:15, “Those who hate the LORD would pretend submission to Him; their doom would last forever.”

Today there seems to be a very misleading concept of Christ. We take parts of Scripture about Him and try to mold Christ into what we think He should be instead of who Christ actually demonstrates He is. What does it mean to desire all of Christ? Who is Christ in character? What did He accept and condemn? If we want all of Christ, then we have to hate what He hates and love what He loves. We need to walk so closely with Christ that we take on His identity. We do not rationalize some things away or just ignore them because they do not suit our walk.

Jesus showed compassion, “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matt. 9:36), and at the same time condemned those who were misleading and not living the true faith of God (Matt. 23). Christ at one moment would show extreme kindness and then turn and was not afraid to tell others where they were wrong. He told the Pharisees, Peter, and the multitudes through the Gospels.

Jesus said that the law of God would not disappear or be removed (Matt. 24:35). If He says it then we should follow and portray it. Christ never lets people water down or manipulate the truth that is set in the Word of God. If He does not then we should not.

One great example is how people always say we need to “love” everyone. When they say it, they almost always talk about love in the sense of feelings, that we should treat everyone with the ‘warm and fuzzies.’ This is far from the truth. Yes there are times that we should treat them with the ‘feelings’ of love, but that is only one aspect.

As a parent you discipline your children, because you love them. You teach them the proper way, according to life. You do not let them beat up other children that do not agree with them, or stick a knife in a light socket. You teach through discipline, and yes, for the right reason and not in anger, there are times to spank. But, most of the time you discipline through time-outs, or loss of freedom or some other fashion. Even God has said He disciplines those He loves in Hebrews, and then we should follow suit.

Christ in the same way uses people in our lives for discipline. Christ was submissive to those in authority in the sense they are to rule (Luke 23:34-35). Why do many think today that they do not have to answer to anyone for their actions, in particular the church? When we join a church or work in a ministry, we submit to them and their form of discipline. That is what Christ did and that is what we are to do. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.” This is particularly talking about the church, and if you are a member of a church then you should submit to its authority unless it goes against Scripture, but then if the church is going against Scripture then you should find a new church.

Another word that is used completely out of context many times is ‘grace.’ People are always saying we should have grace for others, but it is typically only when you are disagreeing with their belief system. The same people do not say we should have grace for rapists, murderers and thieves that steal from them. They want justice. That is the point. There is grace for our sins through Christ on the cross that has freed us from eternal punishment, but there are temporary consequences for our sin. If you steal, rape or murder then you will be punished for your actions. In the same way, if you support pro-abortion then you should not be President, as you value the killing of babies and that is sin.

Love and grace become confused with the flesh in feelings. There is an aspect where those do come into play, but it is very small in how they are played out within the context of Scripture. I was asked in another blog why I do not show Obama grace over his policy of abortion, and asked how I would feel if he were in Heaven with me.

The problem is this, and it is a tough truth and I struggle with it all the time, as they are hard verses to read. Now, in context it is talking about habitual sin, meaning sin you know is sin and yet keep doing purposely in light of the fact. It tells us that you need to check your faith, “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 6:3-9).

There is no choice when it comes to the life of a child. God loves all children and to murder them is sin. Obama not only supports abortion, but also live abortion where the baby is born alive and is allowed to die. From their own feeling argument: How can love and grace in any fashion support murdering babies? With this, being known as sin, when Obama supports it in light of it then he is not following Christ and in light of this the verses seem to speak for themselves (Matt. 7:21-23).

Romans 8:7, “For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so.”