What happened to His truth?

What is happening to His truth?

PART 3

Now comes the difficult part, are we willing to walk the walk? The answer, the way, the reasons, and the why and how are spelled out in scripture. They are as plain as the nose on our faces. Like our nose, the answers are right in front of us but for some reason, many of us can’t see them.

To fight the untruths we are being taught we must follow God’s guidelines. First and foremost we must love the Lord (Matthew 22:37) because without true love for Him we will fall short. We must believe in His word (2 Timothy 3:16), be alert and stand firm in the faith (1 Cor. 3:16).

Part of standing firm is speaking up and doing what is right according to His word. That means not being afraid to say things, in love, that might offend people. Jesus did not worry about offending people, He told them the truth, in love, but it still was sharper than a double edge sword to some (Hebrews 4:12). He spoke up openly and constantly about the coming of the lawless one, the drifting away of believers, the false teachers that would creep into our churches. He named names and told His followers to avoid such people (Romans 16:17). If those truths were to be followed then, then I ask why aren’t we following them now?

My personal opinion is that it is because we are afraid of offending people, strangers and friends alike. We worry about what people will think. We don’t want to get into a serious discussion about what scripture tells us to do because we are not doing it. Jesus tells us repeatedly to confront sin wherever it lies. Or we may think that if we challenge our friends it may ruin our relationship with them. That may be true but what does Jesus say about it? Matthew 10:34-35, Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn ‘A man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And some pastors do not teach about sin, repentance, and consequences because they are afraid that non or new believers may be offended and not come back to their church. Taking a stand for Jesus will result in hardships and a true Christ follower will choose Jesus over a relationship no matter how painful.

According to the recent study, “The State of Theology” by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research, 46 percent of self-identified evangelicals in America believe that “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.”

Statistics like these beg the question why does almost half of the Christian population believe that God accepts other religious beliefs as ways to salvation? Why? Could it be because pastors are teaching a false message, people are listening and believing them, people are not reading and studying scripture for themselves, people are scared and do not want to believe His truth because it can cause conviction or we are just plain lazy!

From what I have learned and understand is that we are part of the reason so many people believe false teachings, are blind to the truth, and we watch as people are lead to Hell because we don’t speak up. We keep silent even though Jesus has warned us of this fallen condition and gave us instructions on how to fight it. One way we backslide is our sin of silence. That sin can be corrected if we follow scripture and do what Jesus calls us to do. Such is listed in the following scriptures.

First we must know the seriousness of our commitment to Jesus and then how to break our silence; 1 John 2:4-6 Whoever says I know Him but does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him, but if anyone obeys His word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him. Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.

We need to make sure the person is a false teacher; do what 1 John 4:1 says: “test him to see if he’s from God.” And 1 Thes. 5:21, “test everything, hold on to what is good and resist evil.:

We can be separate from unbelievers and not let them seduce us into worldly living; 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14. “Do not be bound together with unbelievers, for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness or what fellowship has light with darkness, or what harmony has Christ with Belial – ” or Satan.” Paul in Romans 16:17-18 tells us to “avoid them.”

We are to call out false teachers just as Jesus did in Matthew 7:13-36 and so did the Apostles Paul, 1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 2:16-18, Titus 1:13 and John (3 John 1:9). There is no question that there is “biblical precedence for calling out false teachers.

We need to be committed to our faith and “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.” 1Cor. 16:13.

The way to resist evil is to stand firm in the faith, don’t be afraid to speak up in love and call out false teachings, separate ourselves from the world and false teachers and by all means do not make excuses for our friends or favorite pastors if they are false teachers.