One of the troubling aspects about Christianity today is the emphasis on Jesus and not ourselves. I know what you are thinking; what kind of statement is that. Isn’t that how it is supposed to be you might ask. Here is what I mean. So much emphasis has been placed on the love and grace of Jesus that many have come to believe that it is all about Jesus and it really does not matter what I do or how I live. If you listen closely to songs and teaching you will see a lot about God’s love and grace even if they are not following wholeheartedly. We have talked about this cheap grace before. Not only is it cheap grace, it is a watered down gospel, which is no gospel at all. Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” We live in a day where the gospel has been perverted as Paul said. In most cases the covenant has been broken but because of terrible teachings, doctrines and theology people continue on in the wrong direction. There is only one way to follow and Jesus is that way. Yes many talk of Jesus and have a form of godliness but deny His power.
Grace and love are not cheap and do not allow you to live however you want outside of the covenant. As Matthew 7:21 said, [ True and False Disciples ] “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Many so-called Christians are living a lie. They have been deceived because they did not heed the warning Jesus gave when he said, Matthew 24:4 “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.” So instead of repenting and turning from their wicked ways, they continue living the lie only to hear when judgment day comes, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
If we look at Jeremiah we see the Israelites had broken the covenant with God. Jeremiah 11:3 “Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— 4 the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” I answered, “Amen, Lord.” 6 The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. 7 From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” 8 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.” 9 Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors. 11 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.” Isaiah 1:15 “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!”
If we are not fearing the Lord nor following his word wholeheartedly, then we have broken covenant. It really does not matter what you have been taught as we must listen to the word of God not the traditions, experiences and reasoning of man. The only answer is to repent and ask for mercy. Mercy does not come unless we cry out to him and listen to his word. Refusing to listen leads to this. Hebrews 10:26 “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Don’t become an enemy of God because you refuse to listen to the truth of God’s word because it does not line up with your own theology or doctrines.
Be very careful who you listen to because many will come in His name but 1 John 4:6 “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” Matthew 10:14 “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town.”
Be very careful who you listen to because many will come in His name but 1 John 4:6 “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” Matthew 10:14 “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town.”
