Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Consequences of Sin Part I

“……they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds.  Their sins engulf them; they are always before Me.”    Hosea 7:2
“Woe to them, because they have strayed from Me!  Destruction to them because they have rebelled against Me!  I long to redeem them but they speak lies against Me.  They do not cry out to Me from their hearts……”  Hosea 7:13-14
Many, many times it has been said if you would only talk about a God of love, you could fill churches.  If only you would appeal to people about a God of love, they would turn from their wickedness and be drawn to Him!  But that has proved to be the exact opposite.
Church has become a safe haven for sin, a place where conviction is no longer important.  The Church has become too focused on money, appearance, numbers, and pride.  The sinner is safe in Church because the Church does not want to offend them, they want the money and to be the biggest church in the city.  Again, their focus has become about the church----the building, personalities, fame and fortune, not the souls of man.
Consequently, the Church has taught us to love the sinner deeper into their sin, rather than directly address the issues for repentance.  (Matt. 18:15-17)
We have been taught to love and enable the sinner to fall deeper into their sin and by our lack of action we have given them a false security that there is ‘no’ consequences for their sin.
Our love, grace and mercy has encouraged them to continue to sin instead of correcting and teaching them the Word of God.  We choose to avoid offending and hurting their feelings so we can maintain peace and brotherly love all the while we appear to endorse and encourage them to continue to live in deception and a lie.
This type of ‘love’ is a selfish love.
We give them the impression that what they are doing is okay and they can continue to live in sin because there is no consequence for their sins.  Life continues happily on for them, they have everything going for them, why should they change?   
Church has given them a false security in God’s love which they interpret to mean they can sin and God still loves them and forgives them over and over.   This is partly true. God does love all of us in spite of our mistakes but He has given us His Word to live by and we can choose which way to live……in truth or deception.
We can grow in God’s love or take advantage of it.   God will NEVER stop loving us but His Word does state there are consequences for our sin and disobedience.
We have empowered the sinner to sit comfortably in the pews and encouraged them as they fall deeper into their sin. We have convinced them that they can be in the presence of God while choosing to living in their sin instead of repentance. 
The lack of our actions are evident everyday…....we are guilty of quietly loving them to hell.
Our ‘love’ enables them to live a life of deception…..a lie!
Silence is golden and hell is overbooked!
 What can we do when those around us do NOT want to hear or know the truth?
We LIVE and SPEAK the truth.  We are living epistles for Christ.  That simply means: NO COMPROMISE for peace, comfort, or joy for the sake of another….. Or yourself!
“….we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”   Eph. 4:15  NLT

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