Why do some people, especially teenagers, dislike going to church?
My mom told me about an incident that occurred with my younger brother when we were kids. We couldn’t attend our regular Orthodox church on a particular Sunday because the car wouldn't start, so she made us go to a very popular pentecostal church near our house. She didn't attend, though. After church, my mom found my then five-year-old brother weeping profusely and another brother (aged 7) attempting to console him.
It turned out that my little brother was crying because he had done some bad things in his five years on earth and the teacher in the new church told him that people who have done bad things and are not godly will go to hell. I guess the teacher forgot to tell him about the verse “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
My family ended up attending this church full-time. My siblings and I disliked it from our childhood. As we grew older, we became adept at making excuses to flee:) Can you imagine children growing up under such a cloud of condemnation and fear of God's impending wrath, struggling hard to be right with God through human striving at keeping the Law as we were taught and failing, only for our eyes to be opened some more to see how sinful we were? This phenomenon is in line with Romans 3:20 —
“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the Law commands. The Law simply shows us how sinful we are."
Can you imagine having to go back every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday to hear the same accusing and condemnation-filled homilies from accusers/prosecuting attorneys on the pulpit? The more we heard and tried to obey their message of "keep the Law and do good in order to get into God's good books or else God will punish you and you will go to hell," the worse we got! No surprise here - Romans 5:20 says:
"The law was given so that sin would increase. But where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more."
We see a picture of "God’s grace increased even more" in the life of Peter: Grace transformed cowardly, Christ-denying Simon (meaning Reed) to bold, pillar of the church-Peter (meaning Rock.) Grace stamps out sin - "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14. But many churchgoers have this verse backwards and think that Grace will make you sin more. No, friend, the Law was given so that sin will increase!
So why do many people, especially teens, hate going to church?
No one who has been accused of committing a crime enjoys spending time with the prosecuting attorney/lawyer who is working hard to put them in jail. No wants to spend time with the lawyer who is always accusing and levelling charges against them just to listen to him harp on how bad their crimes are, how pissed off the Judge is at them and how they will lack and suffer on deathrow before finally dying by lethal injection.
People who have done something wrong (all have sinned) would rather spend time with their defense attorney (Advocate) whom they depend on to free them from the clutches of the Law and its demands. 1 John 2 says:
1“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”
Just to digress a little, many people interpret verse 1 (so that you will not sin) as something we do by our own will-power aka arm of flesh that will fail. Not so. John wrote of GRACE so that we will not sin. The word of GOD'S GRACE is what saves from sin, not the Ten Commandments. "The Law is not of faith" and we are "saved by Grace through faith." Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:
"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."
Also see verse 14 of the same Titus 2: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."
Paul too wrote in Acts 20:32- "And so now, I entrust you into God’s hands and the message of His grace, which is all that you need to become strong. All of God’s blessings are imparted through the message of His grace, which He provides as the spiritual inheritance given to all of His holy ones."
The Law increases sin and condemns the best of all who try to keep it; Jesus Christ (Grace-personified) saves the worst of us from sin and condemnation.
Back to the prosecuting attorney and how the accused do not want to spend time with him. Satan isn't described as “the accuser of the brethren" for no reason. HaSatan is literally "prosecutor at law" in Hebrew. Through his seemingly holy agents behind many church pulpits and under the guise of preaching godliness, he shoots his fiery darts of accusations based on the Law and tells the helpless sinner to go and figure out how to free himself from his sins that bring God's wrath and get right with God. His agents will never point the sinner to Christ as Saviour from sins as it is written of Him in Matthew 1:21-
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Rather, such "prosecutors behind pulpits" point out your sins like accusers in a court of law, tell you to save yourself from your sins and to go and live a godly/righteous life by your own non-existent will-power or else you will face the wrath of God.
But see how God the Righteous Judge sees all who believe in Jesus Christ the Defense Attorney/Advocate of all who believe- Romans 5:9 —
“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."
This is Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Only by receiving God's abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ do we get to live in triumph over sin and death: See Romans 5:16-17:
"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."
In Christ, God sees us as righteous, "even though we are guilty of many sins." Satanic pastors preach that this is blasphemy and a license to sin; GOD'S WORD SAYS IT IS THE WAY TO LIVE IN TRIUMPH OVER SIN AND DEATH. But false teachers try to introduce the Law that makes sin increase to keep believers in check!
This verse 16 above - "God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins" - also seems to be the only thing that many skeptical churchgoers take away from the entire Gospel of Christ which is GRACE alone; as if God just dashes us His righteousness and then turns a blind eye to our sins. No, friend. God's word says receiving His abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ is the Way to "live in triumph over sin and death." Whose report will you believe?
Satan obviously does not want God's people to live in triumph over sin and death (lack, sickness and all earthly ills are "death begun") so he does his best to keep churchgoers focused on striving to be righteous/godly (be like God) by keeping the Law which gives "the knowledge of good and evil." This is the same strategy that Satan used to deceive Eve in the garden of Eden when he told her she could be godly by human effort at doing something (eating from the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil.")
Satan the Accuser is a legalist. "Ha Satan" is literally “prosecutor at Law” in Hebrew. In Israel today, all prosecuting attorneys are referred to as "Ha Satan." Satan the accuser can't just go about slapping sickness, lack and judgment in general on anyone, just as an earthly prosecutor has no power to pass judgment on a person who has broken the Law. He cannot even issue a parking ticket.. He can only accuse and taunt you with the judgment that Christ bore for your sake. Many pastors are doing his work for him today - threatening people with God's wrath that Romans 5:9 says believers in Christ will never experience.. Satan is a prosecuting attorney who's out to accuse, get convictions and ensure that the sinner gets the harshest judgment: Death.
God the Righteous Judge is the only one who can pass a "guilty/condemned" or "not guilty/not condemned" sentence on anybody. He Himself gave His own Son Jesus Christ to bear the guilt and condemnation of the world that He so loved: see John 3 -
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Rather than receive God's freely-given abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ, many churchgoers depend on their own useless "menstrual rag" righteousnesses in order to get a "not guilty/not condemned"verdict from God. Believer, let's not be found depending on human effort or will-power at being godly (be like God) as Eve did. The end is death.
Thought to point out that a person cannot be under both Law and Grace - calling Christ "Saviour" while trying to keep the Law in order to be godly/righteous before God and make it to heaven. This horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace is the "neither cold nor hot" that Christ speaks of in Revelation 3. Galatians 5:4 says:
"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace."
Those who claim to be Christians yet are trying to keep the Law in order to remain in God's good books will lose both the wine and the wineskin- cut of from Christ and left to face the curse of the Law which condemns all who try to keep it. Romans 3 says of our salvation in Christ:
"26...for He himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."
Satan is not called "accuser" for no reason. He brings charges of sin against man and tries to condemn man so that judgment can follow- the same processes found in any regular court of law. This is his only weapon - the Law. For all who believe, Christ has disarmed Satan,taking away Satan's weapon to accuse; see Colossians 2:
13 "At one time you were dead in your sins. Your desires controlled by sin were not circumcised. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. 14 He wiped out what the law said that we owed. The law stood against us. It judged us. But He has taken it away and nailed it to the cross. 15 He took away the weapons of the powers and authorities. He made a public show of them. He won the battle over them by dying on the cross."
All the law-keeping and good works in the world cannot make anybody free from the condemnation and curse that comes from trying to keep the Law to get right with God.
When a person presents his own obedience to the Law, tithes and good works as evidences for why God should bless or save him, Satan the prosecutor will simply point out another thing that he has not done. Recall that James 2:10 says:
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law yet stumble at one point he is guilty of all."
Romans 3:20 says- "For no on can ever be made right with God by doing what the Law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."
All of that law-keeping to get into God's good books amounts to worse than nothing before God the Righteous Judge. In fact, Isaiah 64:6 describes them as "a menstrual rag" in His sight -
"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."
Nothing but the blood of Jesus will suffice for God the righteous to declare a person righteous in His sight and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ is free for all who believe. Remember 2 Corinthians 10:4-5:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"
From what we are up against in the verses above, we see that this warfare that Paul wrote of here isn't fought in some coven, church building or some mountaintop; what we are up against is "arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God" and "thoughts."
We overcome Satan and his accusations not through carnal weapons (human effort at getting a “not guilty" verdict) such as doing restitution like Judas, promising to keep the law and be more obedient or attempting to break generational curses with 40 days' dry fasting when Christ already hung on the tree to redeem us from the curse of the Law. We overcome by bringing the weapons of the enemy (accusations of the Accuser) into captivity to "the obedience of Christ," according to the same passage.
But what is the obedience of Christ? Who better to interpret the Word than the Word Himself! Romans 5:19 tells us all about the obedience of Christ and who we are because of His obedience-
"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous."
Satan’s strategy has not changed since he deceived Eve in Eden: In this court of law, all who depend on their own obedience/human effort at being godly (be like God) stand accused and condemned. Death (preceded by its symptoms of earthly ills) is the outcome.
In Christ, we are not under law but under Grace. We have no righteousness of our own. The Lord Himself is our Righteousness. In Christ, we have salvation from every earthly ill and death in hell. Romans 5:9 says of God:
“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."
When you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and speak out your righteousness in Christ that you believe in your heart, salvation, including salvation from sins and every earthly ill, follows, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:10.
This is Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Grace is for sinners, not those who can save themselves from their sins or obey the law in order to be godly aka “be like God” and earn a ticket to heaven.
Many people find no joy in going to church because “Christ crucified" and the essence of God raising Him from the dead is not being preached in many churches. See the significance of these actions in Romans 4:25-
"Who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous."
The TPT puts it this way: "Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!"
Christ's crucifixion has cleared the believer's entire sin debt before God the Righteous Judge. His resurrection is the divine evidence that we have been made righteous forever and apart from works. But prosecuting attorneys aka Ha Satan behind some pulpits preach that our sins are still hanging unpaid somewhere until we do certain things and that you are only righteous until your next sin.
It turned out that my little brother was crying because he had done some bad things in his five years on earth and the teacher in the new church told him that people who have done bad things and are not godly will go to hell. I guess the teacher forgot to tell him about the verse “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
My family ended up attending this church full-time. My siblings and I disliked it from our childhood. As we grew older, we became adept at making excuses to flee:) Can you imagine children growing up under such a cloud of condemnation and fear of God's impending wrath, struggling hard to be right with God through human striving at keeping the Law as we were taught and failing, only for our eyes to be opened some more to see how sinful we were? This phenomenon is in line with Romans 3:20 —
“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the Law commands. The Law simply shows us how sinful we are."
Can you imagine having to go back every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday to hear the same accusing and condemnation-filled homilies from accusers/prosecuting attorneys on the pulpit? The more we heard and tried to obey their message of "keep the Law and do good in order to get into God's good books or else God will punish you and you will go to hell," the worse we got! No surprise here - Romans 5:20 says:
"The law was given so that sin would increase. But where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more."
We see a picture of "God’s grace increased even more" in the life of Peter: Grace transformed cowardly, Christ-denying Simon (meaning Reed) to bold, pillar of the church-Peter (meaning Rock.) Grace stamps out sin - "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14. But many churchgoers have this verse backwards and think that Grace will make you sin more. No, friend, the Law was given so that sin will increase!
So why do many people, especially teens, hate going to church?
No one who has been accused of committing a crime enjoys spending time with the prosecuting attorney/lawyer who is working hard to put them in jail. No wants to spend time with the lawyer who is always accusing and levelling charges against them just to listen to him harp on how bad their crimes are, how pissed off the Judge is at them and how they will lack and suffer on deathrow before finally dying by lethal injection.
People who have done something wrong (all have sinned) would rather spend time with their defense attorney (Advocate) whom they depend on to free them from the clutches of the Law and its demands. 1 John 2 says:
1“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”
Just to digress a little, many people interpret verse 1 (so that you will not sin) as something we do by our own will-power aka arm of flesh that will fail. Not so. John wrote of GRACE so that we will not sin. The word of GOD'S GRACE is what saves from sin, not the Ten Commandments. "The Law is not of faith" and we are "saved by Grace through faith." Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:
"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."
Also see verse 14 of the same Titus 2: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."
Paul too wrote in Acts 20:32- "And so now, I entrust you into God’s hands and the message of His grace, which is all that you need to become strong. All of God’s blessings are imparted through the message of His grace, which He provides as the spiritual inheritance given to all of His holy ones."
The Law increases sin and condemns the best of all who try to keep it; Jesus Christ (Grace-personified) saves the worst of us from sin and condemnation.
Back to the prosecuting attorney and how the accused do not want to spend time with him. Satan isn't described as “the accuser of the brethren" for no reason. HaSatan is literally "prosecutor at law" in Hebrew. Through his seemingly holy agents behind many church pulpits and under the guise of preaching godliness, he shoots his fiery darts of accusations based on the Law and tells the helpless sinner to go and figure out how to free himself from his sins that bring God's wrath and get right with God. His agents will never point the sinner to Christ as Saviour from sins as it is written of Him in Matthew 1:21-
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Rather, such "prosecutors behind pulpits" point out your sins like accusers in a court of law, tell you to save yourself from your sins and to go and live a godly/righteous life by your own non-existent will-power or else you will face the wrath of God.
But see how God the Righteous Judge sees all who believe in Jesus Christ the Defense Attorney/Advocate of all who believe- Romans 5:9 —
“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."
This is Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Only by receiving God's abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ do we get to live in triumph over sin and death: See Romans 5:16-17:
"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."
In Christ, God sees us as righteous, "even though we are guilty of many sins." Satanic pastors preach that this is blasphemy and a license to sin; GOD'S WORD SAYS IT IS THE WAY TO LIVE IN TRIUMPH OVER SIN AND DEATH. But false teachers try to introduce the Law that makes sin increase to keep believers in check!
This verse 16 above - "God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins" - also seems to be the only thing that many skeptical churchgoers take away from the entire Gospel of Christ which is GRACE alone; as if God just dashes us His righteousness and then turns a blind eye to our sins. No, friend. God's word says receiving His abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ is the Way to "live in triumph over sin and death." Whose report will you believe?
Satan obviously does not want God's people to live in triumph over sin and death (lack, sickness and all earthly ills are "death begun") so he does his best to keep churchgoers focused on striving to be righteous/godly (be like God) by keeping the Law which gives "the knowledge of good and evil." This is the same strategy that Satan used to deceive Eve in the garden of Eden when he told her she could be godly by human effort at doing something (eating from the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil.")
Satan the Accuser is a legalist. "Ha Satan" is literally “prosecutor at Law” in Hebrew. In Israel today, all prosecuting attorneys are referred to as "Ha Satan." Satan the accuser can't just go about slapping sickness, lack and judgment in general on anyone, just as an earthly prosecutor has no power to pass judgment on a person who has broken the Law. He cannot even issue a parking ticket.. He can only accuse and taunt you with the judgment that Christ bore for your sake. Many pastors are doing his work for him today - threatening people with God's wrath that Romans 5:9 says believers in Christ will never experience.. Satan is a prosecuting attorney who's out to accuse, get convictions and ensure that the sinner gets the harshest judgment: Death.
God the Righteous Judge is the only one who can pass a "guilty/condemned" or "not guilty/not condemned" sentence on anybody. He Himself gave His own Son Jesus Christ to bear the guilt and condemnation of the world that He so loved: see John 3 -
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Rather than receive God's freely-given abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ, many churchgoers depend on their own useless "menstrual rag" righteousnesses in order to get a "not guilty/not condemned"verdict from God. Believer, let's not be found depending on human effort or will-power at being godly (be like God) as Eve did. The end is death.
Thought to point out that a person cannot be under both Law and Grace - calling Christ "Saviour" while trying to keep the Law in order to be godly/righteous before God and make it to heaven. This horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace is the "neither cold nor hot" that Christ speaks of in Revelation 3. Galatians 5:4 says:
"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace."
Those who claim to be Christians yet are trying to keep the Law in order to remain in God's good books will lose both the wine and the wineskin- cut of from Christ and left to face the curse of the Law which condemns all who try to keep it. Romans 3 says of our salvation in Christ:
"26...for He himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."
Satan is not called "accuser" for no reason. He brings charges of sin against man and tries to condemn man so that judgment can follow- the same processes found in any regular court of law. This is his only weapon - the Law. For all who believe, Christ has disarmed Satan,taking away Satan's weapon to accuse; see Colossians 2:
13 "At one time you were dead in your sins. Your desires controlled by sin were not circumcised. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. 14 He wiped out what the law said that we owed. The law stood against us. It judged us. But He has taken it away and nailed it to the cross. 15 He took away the weapons of the powers and authorities. He made a public show of them. He won the battle over them by dying on the cross."
All the law-keeping and good works in the world cannot make anybody free from the condemnation and curse that comes from trying to keep the Law to get right with God.
When a person presents his own obedience to the Law, tithes and good works as evidences for why God should bless or save him, Satan the prosecutor will simply point out another thing that he has not done. Recall that James 2:10 says:
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law yet stumble at one point he is guilty of all."
Romans 3:20 says- "For no on can ever be made right with God by doing what the Law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."
All of that law-keeping to get into God's good books amounts to worse than nothing before God the Righteous Judge. In fact, Isaiah 64:6 describes them as "a menstrual rag" in His sight -
"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."
Nothing but the blood of Jesus will suffice for God the righteous to declare a person righteous in His sight and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ is free for all who believe. Remember 2 Corinthians 10:4-5:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"
From what we are up against in the verses above, we see that this warfare that Paul wrote of here isn't fought in some coven, church building or some mountaintop; what we are up against is "arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God" and "thoughts."
We overcome Satan and his accusations not through carnal weapons (human effort at getting a “not guilty" verdict) such as doing restitution like Judas, promising to keep the law and be more obedient or attempting to break generational curses with 40 days' dry fasting when Christ already hung on the tree to redeem us from the curse of the Law. We overcome by bringing the weapons of the enemy (accusations of the Accuser) into captivity to "the obedience of Christ," according to the same passage.
But what is the obedience of Christ? Who better to interpret the Word than the Word Himself! Romans 5:19 tells us all about the obedience of Christ and who we are because of His obedience-
"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous."
Satan’s strategy has not changed since he deceived Eve in Eden: In this court of law, all who depend on their own obedience/human effort at being godly (be like God) stand accused and condemned. Death (preceded by its symptoms of earthly ills) is the outcome.
In Christ, we are not under law but under Grace. We have no righteousness of our own. The Lord Himself is our Righteousness. In Christ, we have salvation from every earthly ill and death in hell. Romans 5:9 says of God:
“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."
When you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and speak out your righteousness in Christ that you believe in your heart, salvation, including salvation from sins and every earthly ill, follows, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:10.
This is Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Grace is for sinners, not those who can save themselves from their sins or obey the law in order to be godly aka “be like God” and earn a ticket to heaven.
Many people find no joy in going to church because “Christ crucified" and the essence of God raising Him from the dead is not being preached in many churches. See the significance of these actions in Romans 4:25-
"Who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous."
The TPT puts it this way: "Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!"
Christ's crucifixion has cleared the believer's entire sin debt before God the Righteous Judge. His resurrection is the divine evidence that we have been made righteous forever and apart from works. But prosecuting attorneys aka Ha Satan behind some pulpits preach that our sins are still hanging unpaid somewhere until we do certain things and that you are only righteous until your next sin.
Not so, believer. In Christ, our sin debt is cleared forever. Think about it:
You have a friend who can tell you so much about a certain Someone who is so in love with you, is ever-ready to defend you no matter how vile you and your crimes are and wants to bless you with all that He has, even when everyone else has rejected you and all look upon you with condemnation and disgust because of your many sins, addictions and how you are different from acceptable standards. Someone who took all the bad that you deserve so that you can keep on getting all the good that He deserves. Someone who died for you and will never condemn you, judge you or wonder why you just don't want to stop sinning. Someone whose only demand of you is for you to take more and more and much more of His undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour (Grace) towards you.
Unlike the world that thinks you love to wallow in your sins, He knows that you really want to be good but cannot by your own will-power. He knows you don't even understand what this “be good" means. He knows how warped, “different" and screwed up you can be and loves you still. He knows that you can't save yourself from your many sins that you struggle to give up everyday so He came to save you from those sins. You'll want to know more about this Someone. This is the Gospel and that Someone is Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:21 says of Him:
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
But in many “churches," Christ isn't portrayed as Advocate or Saviour from sins, if He is given any prominence at all. Rather, the thrust of preaching in many places of worship is wrongly portraying God as a hard Taskmaster who is eager to punish the sinner when he breaks the Law and let the devil have a go at him at the slightest opportunity. Many pulpits are being manned by prosecuting attorneys aka HaSatan.
People who are already doing their best to be obedient but can't (because the arm of flesh will fail) go to church looking for Salvation, including salvation from their sins. But there they are told that God will punish them if they don't obey the law and stop sinning by themselves, as if they had not been doing their best to obey. They are not pointed to Christ as the One who saves from sins. The Lord is presented as Punisher of sins and not Saviour from sins. This situation is akin to an oncologist father refusing to take care of his beloved child who has terminal cancer…. because the child has cancer. He even tells his beloved child “heal yourself of your cancer (of sin) or else I will punish you.”
More law is given to these beloved of God in church, but the very law that they are given makes them go and sin more, “For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace.” Romans 6:14. Under law, sin has dominion.
The spirit of the antichrist is not anti-God. It is very legalistic and preaches very strongly on human striving at keeping the Law in order to attain godliness. Its hallmark is trying to reduce or remove the finished work of Christ who suffered and died to make us godly — Isaiah prophesied of Christ's suffering for us in Isaiah 53. See the result of His decease which He accomplished at Jerusalem in Isaiah 53:11-
"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."
Through Christ's decease that He accomplished, we who believe in Him have been made godly/to be like God. But in many churches, people are told to strive for godliness/get right with God by keeping the Law. This is not Christianity. In fact, this is how to get cut off from Christ: Galatians 5:4—
“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.”
Our hearts and minds are naturally averse to sitting under such teachings that tell us what we already know about ourselves but are powerless to change; teachings that condemn us and then increase the burden (of the law) that we are already unable to bear. It is against man and contrary to man; see Colossians 2:14– “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.” The letter (Law) kills. Christ has fulfilled its requirements for us.
The people yearn for the truth that makes free but what is being served in many places of worship is a horrid mixture of part-law and part-grace aka:
"Yes we are saved by Grace through faith but you still have to keep the Ten Commandments, not for justification before God but as a guiding principle for morality/to make yourself right with God/to escape burning in hell."
This horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace is the "neither cold nor hot” that Christ spoke of in Revelation 3. It has dire consequences for those who follow it too:
“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.” Galatians 5:4.
Christ never condemns or judges the one who believes in Him, no matter how vile our sins are: John 3:
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
He died to free us from “every kind of sin": Titus 2:14-
“He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”
No sin is too vile for Him to redeem the sinner who believes from. The way to get cut off from His saving power is to try to add our own human striving (arm of flesh that will fail) at keeping the Law to it and this is what many churchgoers are being asked to do- depend on the arm of flesh that will fail for salvation.
The Holy Spirit transforms us to life (see 2 Cor. 3:18.) 1 John 4:19 says “We love because He first loved us.” As He opens our eyes to Christ's love for us more and more through True Grace preaching, not only do we desire to hear more about God's saving Grace, hence our desire to be in places where the true gospel is preached, we get to live right too. In Christ, we get to live in triumph over sin and death. Romans 5:
16 "And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."
When and where the true gospel of righteousness by faith and not by works of the law is being preached, the exhortation to us in Hebrews 10:25- "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" becomes our default mode. We desire to be in the assembly of fellow believers.
Believers will swim oceans just to get to places where the true gospel is being preached. Christ does it all.
Comments
Post a Comment