Thursday, January 19, 2006
Matt. 7:21-23
21. "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
22. "Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
23. "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'
Luke 6:46
46. "And why do you call Me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?
We now turn from those who are the false prophets to those who are the false professors. These now in focus are those who are the unsound hearers. These guys are in the deadly situation of being self-deceived.
Dr. John MacArthur writes, “Various polls in recent years have estimated that perhaps fifty percent of Americans identify themselves as born-again Christians. But on the basis of the Bible’s description of true believers and the fact that few (cf. Matt. 7:14) really come on God’s terms, those estimates could not be remotely correct. By scriptural standards, it is hard to believe that even half of the church members in the United States are true believers.” As one who has spent much time in a church pew, I would have to agree with him. We find all kinds of religious activity being practiced on a continual and orthodox manner in the major denominations and even outside of these in which we might call parachurch organizations. I would agree that these people are sincere in their religious activities and would eagerly address Jesus as, ‘Lord, Lord,’ without having a clue as to what He means by this present verse or even what the will of My Father who is in heaven remotely consists of. These good people are at peace with their religion; a false peace.
Jesus says straight up, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Isn’t the whole concept and goal of “church” and “religion” to be a fire insurance policy for the hereafter? These verses are a solemn warning and call for a serious self-examination. Do you know His will or has organized religion have you believing in a set of concepts? Luke records, “And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” This is the simple answer to this question that you, in your religious time, have never been exposed to an expository study of the sacred text and are honestly ignorant. This is because our American churches have bought into the doctrine of pragmatism, or the end justifies the means. In doing so these have reduced the gospel to a minimalist set of things necessarily believed to “get one saved” resulting in greater role counts.
Many of us young Baptists were instructed in basic Christian counseling to explain “four spiritual laws” and then to seal the deal by getting the counselee to say the “sinner’s prayer”. By doing so this would give authentication to one’s salvation. The only problem with this form of evangelism is that it is not Biblical. We cannot know if the conversion is true, and to tell one that it is would be deception. John 3:6-8 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7. "Do not marvel that I said to you, `You must be born again.' 8. "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." We have no right to assure a person of something we cannot be certain is true. The essence of salvation is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit brought about by our sharing the gospel. Obedience to this convicting work will bring about visible fruit that will be recognizable by the convert and his peers. In retrospect, if we, as young children, were accurately taught the doctrine of salvation and regeneration, what would the complexion of our churches look like today?
21. "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
22. "Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
23. "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'
Luke 6:46
46. "And why do you call Me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?
We now turn from those who are the false prophets to those who are the false professors. These now in focus are those who are the unsound hearers. These guys are in the deadly situation of being self-deceived.
Dr. John MacArthur writes, “Various polls in recent years have estimated that perhaps fifty percent of Americans identify themselves as born-again Christians. But on the basis of the Bible’s description of true believers and the fact that few (cf. Matt. 7:14) really come on God’s terms, those estimates could not be remotely correct. By scriptural standards, it is hard to believe that even half of the church members in the United States are true believers.” As one who has spent much time in a church pew, I would have to agree with him. We find all kinds of religious activity being practiced on a continual and orthodox manner in the major denominations and even outside of these in which we might call parachurch organizations. I would agree that these people are sincere in their religious activities and would eagerly address Jesus as, ‘Lord, Lord,’ without having a clue as to what He means by this present verse or even what the will of My Father who is in heaven remotely consists of. These good people are at peace with their religion; a false peace.
Jesus says straight up, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Isn’t the whole concept and goal of “church” and “religion” to be a fire insurance policy for the hereafter? These verses are a solemn warning and call for a serious self-examination. Do you know His will or has organized religion have you believing in a set of concepts? Luke records, “And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” This is the simple answer to this question that you, in your religious time, have never been exposed to an expository study of the sacred text and are honestly ignorant. This is because our American churches have bought into the doctrine of pragmatism, or the end justifies the means. In doing so these have reduced the gospel to a minimalist set of things necessarily believed to “get one saved” resulting in greater role counts.
Many of us young Baptists were instructed in basic Christian counseling to explain “four spiritual laws” and then to seal the deal by getting the counselee to say the “sinner’s prayer”. By doing so this would give authentication to one’s salvation. The only problem with this form of evangelism is that it is not Biblical. We cannot know if the conversion is true, and to tell one that it is would be deception. John 3:6-8 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7. "Do not marvel that I said to you, `You must be born again.' 8. "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." We have no right to assure a person of something we cannot be certain is true. The essence of salvation is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit brought about by our sharing the gospel. Obedience to this convicting work will bring about visible fruit that will be recognizable by the convert and his peers. In retrospect, if we, as young children, were accurately taught the doctrine of salvation and regeneration, what would the complexion of our churches look like today?
