Strong Man Of God Blog

            Just as a matter of human theological construction many professing Christians and their leaders want (and obviously need) a once and for all salvation with no continuing requirements such as faith, holiness or righteousness placed on them to walk in it, so also they want and have obtained for themselves a once and for all forgiveness that relieves them of the burden of continual confession and repentance!  The days of God Almighty’s tolerance of such corruptions of the faith and His Word used to support them are nearing their end to His glory and sweet vindication of the faithful saints; every aspiring strong man and great woman of God in the image of Jesus Christ--hallelujah! 

            This nearly now two thousand year span of time God the Father has permitted to accomplish His purposes in the Gospel of His Son and the chastening of Israel is drawing to its fitting close in His judgment of all things human (Matthew 24:14; Luke 21:20-24).  As is absolutely righteous, He has begun judging at His own house and before He is finished the whole world will know the wrath of the holy God against unrepentant sinners (1 Peter 4:17-19; Revelation 16:17-21)!  The kingdoms of mortal man are brought down; their glory in riches, splendor and technological achievement bound up with evil allowed by God to prove their spiritual poverty apart from Him gone forever (Isaiah 2:10-22)! 

            Just as the prophets, our Lord and His apostles foretold would be the case near this end of the world as it has existed under the reign of Satan since man’s fall in Eden, darkness, violence, chaos, confusion and intensifying rebellion against the righteous ways of God fill it.  In the midst are many professing Christians and their leaders in denial about the times, reveling in their sins and even re-defining sin to allow for example, setting aside the order of God’s house; who are also angry with anyone that might suggest they should repent because their souls are in peril.  No, this group is comfy, cozy because they have constructed themselves a foolproof doctrine of salvation wherein God is locked into honoring their once and for all declared faith that Christ died for their sins. 

            However, while it is certainly true Christ died for our sins “once for all” meaning He in place of all men and no more sacrifices are needed or forthcoming, God’s gracious gift of salvation built on it is entered into through repentance from sin and faith as a beginning point which is expected to continue until death or the Lord’s return (Romans 1:16-17; Hebrews 10:10, 35-39, NKJV).  Salvation then at present, is only a done deal in accord with the promise of God in the Gospel, His power and guarantee through the Holy Spirit along with our continuing, growing faith in Him and His Word demonstrated by faithful and obedient lives of godliness (Romans 8:24-25; Ephesians 1:13-14; Colossians 1:21-23; James 2:20-26; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2 Peter 1:1-11).  Interested persons can learn more about biblical salvation in blog reposts, The Faith That Saves under the category, The Faith. 

            God is so committed to seeing every soul that initially comes to Him persevere, He helps us in our weakness and has suffered this long from Christ’s first coming giving men time to repent because He does not desire to see any soul perish (Romans 8:26-27; 2 Peter 3:9).  Alas, though, the end is at hand and the sober truth is many have and will perish among professing Christians and their leaders because they in free will refuse to repent from their sins.  No sinner practicing the deeds of the flesh will inherit the kingdom of God and eternal life (2 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21).  Truly, salvation by God’s grace through our faith is not a license to sin without temporal and eternal consequences as the Lord judges (Romans 2:1-11, 6:1-23)! 

            Knowing sin which Christ died for offends Him, we who believe, love and honor our holy God seek to steadfastly obey His Word while confessing and repenting from our sins daily, as they occur and/or are revealed by the Holy Spirit.  The title and words of that most excellent 1983 song by Candi Staton sum it up nicely for the aspiring strong man and great woman of God: Sin Doesn’t Live Here Anymore!  I have heard it said a few times in my journey though, “it’s too cumbersome to do all of that confessing and repenting.”  Are you kidding me?  God only asks us to confess and repent before Him in prayer to include quietly in our hearts or would you prefer Israel’s system of daily and the annual Day of Atonement animal sacrifices Christ’s superior once for all sacrifice as our High Priest replaced (Hebrews 7:11-10:18)? 

            Also, spiritual maturity lessens our sinning and therefore, the frequency to confess and repent over time (Philippians 3:7-16).  However, the willfully weak in spiritual immaturity enjoy no such experience (Hebrews 5:12-14).  Though in Christ’s sacrifice our sins are atoned for forever, this speaks to the thoroughness of God’s satisfaction not the lack of necessity for us to continually confess and repent from our sins to draw upon the unending river of forgiveness He wills to release to us as a benefit!  When we enter salvation through repentance and faith, all of our past sins are forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus; as we have need (and we do), in confession and repentance going forward our sins are forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus, the eternal “Advocate” of the willing who look to Him by continuing faith (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 1:9-2:2, NKJV). 

            Otherwise, know that God remains eternally opposed to sin and His holiness demands the death of the sinner whether he calls himself a Christian or not (Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Matthew 7:21-23; Galatians 6:7-9; Hebrews 3:7-19, 10:19-31).  Pastors, elders, church leaders and teachers who truly love Christ’s sheep with His love will teach them this truth.  Others of you need to repent and in fear take heed to the terrifying warnings of James, pastor of the first local church at Jerusalem and the apostle Peter (James 3:1; 2 Peter 2:1-22).  Stop this sentimental, make them feel good, “we are all going to Heaven anyway” lying you are doing to unrepentant sinners dressed in sheep’s clothing that gladly fill your auditoriums and dreams for worldly success about to end.  The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?" 

         Without apology or shame as one of the Lord’s heralds of the Gospel and teacher of the faith rooted in the Bible, I preach God’s requirement of repentance from sin for forgiveness leading to salvation and continued right standing with God. The divine call to repentance from sin clearly asserts and exposes the reality of its presence in every human heart as judged by God (Romans 3:9-20, 23; 1 John 1:8, 10). We expect resistance to the truth of sin guilt from rank sinners that love their sin and refuse to turn from it (John 3:17-20). However, many professing Christians and their leaders resist repentance from sin to include heresies among their reasons to save face.

         A quick check with Webster’s Dictionary reveals that the layers of definition attached to the word, “face” includes the consideration of our “standing in the face of others;” our “prestige.” All of us to some degree or another have concern about how others see us. None of us wants to be seen in a bad light or found to be something other than what we say we are. From the example of our forefather, Adam and his wife, Eve--who sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves, hid from God when they heard Him coming and then played the blame game as God inquired about their behavior--we especially have a great difficulty with being found guilty of sin (Genesis 3:6-13).

         Since Adam, humanity has reflexively employed all manner of device to deflect away sin guilt rather than simply owning up to it. As little children even, we will immediately lie to avoid consequences and of course, to save face. Of the many Bible characters beyond Adam that acted deceitfully to cover their sin and save face, Saul the first king of Israel is a prime example. Like most folk, Saul wanted to first save face in denying he had sinned at all by disobeying the Lord in the Amalekite mission (1 Samuel 15:18-21). After Samuel gave God’s eternally standing instruction on obedience, Saul finally admitted that he had sinned in disobeying the Lord (1 Samuel 15:22-24).

         Here is seen again the difference between godly and worldly sorrow over confessed sin (2 Corinthians 7:8-11). For though Saul admitted he had sinned in disobeying the commandment of the Lord, his heart was not truly repentant as is borne out by his behavior in the rest of what is written of him going forward from this incident. Indeed, immediately after reluctantly admitting he was wrong, once more Saul wanted to save face before the people by having Samuel participate with him in worshipping the Lord. At first Samuel refused understanding the very serious nature and consequence of Saul’s sin and no doubt, his motive (1 Samuel 15:25-26).

         When Samuel turned to leave the scene, Saul grabbed hold of his garment and ripped it in the process. This gave rise to Samuel’s affirmation of God’s judgment of Saul symbolized in the tearing away of his garment. After this, Saul confessed again he had sinned, but pleaded with Samuel to “honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God,” (1 Samuel 15:27-30, NKJV). Saul wanted to diminish the gravity of his sin and consequence by having Samuel make him look like he was still alright with God. Samuel worshipped with Saul for what he knew was the last time and finished his mission (1 Samuel 15:31-35).

         I know well the sin and temptation to save face when I have done wrong in now this fifty-eight year old life. Nevertheless, God, a Father exceedingly great above all, has steadfastly insisted of me to own my stuff immediately not to escape consequences and save face, but always to receive His forgiveness! And since this is also biblical, it is the will of God that all men embrace it (Ezekiel 18:20-23; 1 John 1:9). Yet, over the years I have lost count of the number of professing Christians and leaders that have sinned against me or are in sin and have lied to my face or lied in denial about their sin to save face. Proudly refusing to confess and repent from sin to avoid consequences and save face is shamefully common among professing Christians.

         Like Saul, many professing Christians and leaders attempt to diminish the gravity of their sin guilt and any consequence in saving face by going on with church worship and activities. This is very evident in churches where the Holy Spirit is not really operating (emotion is not spiritual fire) or welcome (much religious activity does not mask spiritual deadness). Sin not confessed and repented from before God is sin not forgiven and it does not matter who the guilty party is! Therefore, let every son and aspiring strong man of God in the image of Christ continually confess and repent from his sins being more concerned about how God sees you than men (2 Corinthians 5:9-11)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, “Who is on the Lord’s side?”