There are many among us...
In the parable of the four soils it is said that the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. At first they are fine but they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they beieve the word. The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth, so no crop is produced. Sadly, these two soils make up a lot of the people who say they are Christians today. Those with rocky soil, never get rooted firmly in the Word of God and are easily swayed in every direction. Those with the thorny ground care more about this life than the life to come and have already received their reward.
In the parable of the weeds it is said that the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom yet there are weeds among them. The weeds are the ones who do not belong to Christ but rather to the evil one. There are weeds among the wheat because the enemy planted them there (what better place to plant those people than among the body of Christ). The weeds will not be pulled up in this age but at the end of this age. So those who claim to be of Him yet are not will remain among us until then.
In Mark 7:7 Jesus quotes Isaiah by saying: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their own man-made teachings.
We are told if our eye sins to pluck it out for it is better for our eye to be thrown into hell than for our entire body to be corrupted and also thrown into hell! The people of the body of Christ are referred to as the hands, feet, eyes, ears, etc. of Christ...if someone is not striving to be transformed daily by the power of the Holy Spirit yet justifies their sins over and over again how much better off we are to pluck them out than to have that one body part contaminate the entire body!
Some may say I'm not being very Christian like in saying such things, but the fact of the matter is I am being very Christ-like as it is Christ who said these things. Those who say hate the sin but love the sinner as a way of looking past one's sin are sadly very mistaken as to what Christ preached. He never told us that our sin was not a part of us. Quite the contrary, He loves us enough to point out our sin so that we will turn and repent from it because He knows that it comes from the heart and the heart must be changed! He would not love someone straight to hell, instead He loves every one of our souls so completely that He died so we could be set free from that bondage to sin! We must also love people that much! We should not change the subject when we are approached with darkness...we must confront the darkness and expose it with His light. We cannot shut out Christ in order to keep 'peace' with family members, friends, etc. Oh how far we have strayed from the true calling when we think such things as being Christ-like!
In the parable of the weeds it is said that the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom yet there are weeds among them. The weeds are the ones who do not belong to Christ but rather to the evil one. There are weeds among the wheat because the enemy planted them there (what better place to plant those people than among the body of Christ). The weeds will not be pulled up in this age but at the end of this age. So those who claim to be of Him yet are not will remain among us until then.
In Mark 7:7 Jesus quotes Isaiah by saying: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their own man-made teachings.
We are told if our eye sins to pluck it out for it is better for our eye to be thrown into hell than for our entire body to be corrupted and also thrown into hell! The people of the body of Christ are referred to as the hands, feet, eyes, ears, etc. of Christ...if someone is not striving to be transformed daily by the power of the Holy Spirit yet justifies their sins over and over again how much better off we are to pluck them out than to have that one body part contaminate the entire body!
Some may say I'm not being very Christian like in saying such things, but the fact of the matter is I am being very Christ-like as it is Christ who said these things. Those who say hate the sin but love the sinner as a way of looking past one's sin are sadly very mistaken as to what Christ preached. He never told us that our sin was not a part of us. Quite the contrary, He loves us enough to point out our sin so that we will turn and repent from it because He knows that it comes from the heart and the heart must be changed! He would not love someone straight to hell, instead He loves every one of our souls so completely that He died so we could be set free from that bondage to sin! We must also love people that much! We should not change the subject when we are approached with darkness...we must confront the darkness and expose it with His light. We cannot shut out Christ in order to keep 'peace' with family members, friends, etc. Oh how far we have strayed from the true calling when we think such things as being Christ-like!
posted by Monica at 1:52 PM
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