The Scourge Of Racism
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The Son of Almighty God came riding a donkey humbly into the city of Jerusalem on this day almost two thousand years ago to celebratory shouts of praise and laying of palm branches before His procession. Christians call this day Palm Sunday because of this event which occurred in precise fulfillment of prophecy (Zechariah 9:9) and is recorded in all four New Testament Gospel accounts (see for example John 12:12-15). The Lord Jesus rode into the holy city openly presenting Himself as God’s Anointed One and King! By Friday He would be soundly rejected as the religious leaders and many of the people following their leadership called for His crucifixion (Luke 23:13-25).
The foretold spiritual realities and truths surrounding all of the foregoing are intended by God to remain unchanged forever! For in them and all that follows bound up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the glorious outcomes are issues of eternal life and death for mortal man. And yet, nearly two millennia later, professing Christianity is completely twisted and conflicted on even the most basic elements of God’s salvation through the Gospel and written instruction that comprises “the faith” as proud men and women in the thousands clash over their personal theologies. In the edited 2012 blog repost for this Palm Sunday, I exalt the one Lord and one faith He has established for us through His blood as it is written in Holy Scripture (Ephesians 4:1-6).
Originally Posted March 25, 2012
As the annual commemoration of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ approaches, I am reminded from the New Testament accounts of His ministry that He never allowed for anyone to believe He represented any way to God but one: through Him (John 14:6)! Similarly, Jesus always stood on the righteousness and wisdom of God as already written in the Old Testament Scriptures (Matthew 4:3-10). He is never quoted as citing the writings of the great minds of history to give authoritative weight to His teachings. He also never offered opinions but taught the people in the absolutes of authority. No mystery here as to why since He is the eternal Word of God made flesh (John 1:1, 14-18). He was faithful to all of His own previously written Word and the divine will.
While even the Lord’s eyewitness apostles initially struggled to fully grasp and faithfully disseminate the essential Gospel and instructions of the faith to believers in the early years of Christianity (Acts 10:1-11:18, 15:1-29), the apostle Paul was absolute by the late fifties of the first century that there was only one Gospel and called for the divine destruction of any one preaching another (Galatians 1:6-9). Certainty does not elude Jude, the half-brother of the Lord either when he writes his short epistle calling for believers “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints,” (Jude 3, NKJV). Most Bible students would agree Jude writes well after Paul wrote his Galatians epistle. The point being that contrary to the madness that exists in the world today, the Bible unapologetically asserts there is only one way to relationship with God and that is through faith in the one Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-11).
Too, in spite of the insane confusion that exists doctrinally in and among the churches today, there is only one faith plainly presented in the pages of Scripture and gladly illuminated by the Holy Spirit to all who will take the time to seek Him. Otherwise, those that are presenting their many different theologies supposedly taken from the Bible would have us believe contrary to it that God is confused and tolerant to the point He is the author of confusion among those He loves (1 Corinthians 14:33). This is outrageously evil beyond words and blasphemy! There is a such thing as error which is clearly seen when any doctrine of sinful men arises that does not only line up with a particular passage of Scripture, but the whole thrust of instruction in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation inspired by God (Galatians 2:1-4:31; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Yes, believers are free in Christ to live and conduct our lives how we please before God as it concerns personal freedom. But this freedom is by no means a license to sin, invent doctrines that flow from our own prideful flesh or speak authoritatively on spiritual matters apart from drawing directly out of Scripture (Romans 14:1-15:6; Galatians 5:1-15). In my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, I present faith in Christ crucified, buried and risen as the only way to salvation. I also declare Him to be the One bidding men to follow Him in the one and only faith He and His apostles present from the whole counsel of God existing in the Bible. Aspiring strong men of God in the image of Christ embrace the one, true biblical faith and are ready to die in contending for its veracity, their Lord and hope in Him (Luke 9:23-26). In His footsteps, truly, a number have died and will die doing so in days ahead in accord with God’s eternally enduring Word (Luke 21:12-19, 33; Revelation 6:9-11, 12:7-12).
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?"
In the post the Lord led me to write, The Right Side Of History, I am blessed by Him to present and explore His timeline vision of events given to Daniel that lead to the end of this present age.1 Among those events is the singularly most important of all: the variously foretold coming of God’s Messiah to Israel that was fulfilled in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth! All along God had planned what His Jewish prophets did not realize: that the Messiah they spoke of would come twice. His first coming would be to offer Himself for sin. Then, at God’s appointed time after His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, He would return to fulfill the many promises of salvation.
Neither the prophets before nor first century Jews while He walked among them understood about the first coming of Messiah until they were illumined by Him and the Holy Spirit after His resurrection (Daniel 9:24-26a; Luke 18:31-34, 24:44-49; John 16:5-15; Acts 2:1-39, 3:11-26). Among those the Holy Spirit uses to unveil God’s mystery of Messiah’s two comings is the apostle Paul who formerly persecuted Jewish believers until he became one (1 Corinthians 15:1-11; 1 Timothy 1:12-17) and the absolutely known to God writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 1:1-4). Paul unfolds why it was necessary for the Messiah to come first to deal with sin (Romans 3:9-31, 5:6-21, 6:15-23).
In warning any flagging in their faith (Hebrews 2:1-4), the writer of Hebrews goes deeper into the details of Messiah’s first coming for sin in terms His Spirit-filled Jewish and Gentile followers could appreciate and be encouraged to faithfulness (Hebrews 2:5-3, 4:14-16, 6:9-20, 8, 9:11-22). For it was to save man from sin and redeem us back to God that Messiah came “once at the end of the ages…to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many,” (Hebrews 9:23-28a, NKJV). To this end, the prophets including Daniel were shown His suffering and death (Isaiah 52:13-53:9).
The accomplishment of this first part of His mission is bound up in His final words from the cross, ‘“It is finished,’” (John 19:30, NKJV)! His words also telegraph the successful achievement to follow of every other purpose of God involved in sending Messiah, His Son, into the world; even Jesus--praise His name (Matthew 1:18-21), whom God raised from the dead on the third day as He foretold and signaled through the prophets as well (Psalm 16:8-11; Isaiah 53:10-12; Matthew 12:38-42, 16:21)! So now, at the Lord’s command after His resurrection and ascension the Gospel about Him has been preached nearly 20 centuries to earth’s ends and mankind exhorted to be saved from sin by faith in Him (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:4-11; Romans 1:16-17, 10:1-13; Hebrews 10:1-23).2
1 See the January 30, 2022 post, The Right Side Of History, under the categories Bible Prophecy and Biblical Worldview.
2 To hear a straightforward, biblical presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for yourself and perhaps, with someone you care about, please view one or both of our 30 minute videos on this Ministry’s Strong Man Of God Online Rally YouTube Channel.
In this first part and next week’s conclusion of a blog repost from 2013, the Lord leads me to expose and cry out against just a very few of the many ways--including the celebration of Christmas--professing Christians have allowed their ties to worldly culture to corrupt their practice of biblical Christianity. This was important then and is so now because God loves and warns us in enough time to repent if we will before it is too late!
This is just as He did with Israel through her prophets and Christ which in the aftermath of and seeing in advance God’s calamitous judgment, Jeremiah and the Lord Jesus lamented respectively (Lamentations 1:1-2:22, 4:1-20; Luke 19:41-44). The exiles that returned from captivity in the time Jeremiah foretold, acknowledged their judgment was just; at His appearing the remnant of Israel in bitter weeping will acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah whom their forefathers in rejection sent to the cross (Nehemiah 9:1-37; Zechariah 12:10-14).
The tide may ebb and flow for Western Christians, but what is foretold for these latter days will come to pass as it is written! As an example, in last year’s blog I opened it talking about the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin decision that found the clergy housing allowance was unconstitutional. Now, a year later back on November 13th the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a decision that reverses the lower court and allows the clergy allowance to stand. Obviously this is good news for Christian clergy to be allowed to continue receiving a tax benefit from the nation that recognizes their God ordained service to the people.
However, demonic and human forces of evil that continue to persecute the followers of the Christ of Christmas will not give up; they will press their Heaven permitted cause to destroy every manifestation of Him through His people from the earth. Sadly, culturally conditioned professing Christians whatever all of their motives and in spite of their compromises do not see that they are still in the line of fire from secular culture’s rejection of things biblically Christian. They also clearly do not see that the manmade form of Christianity they love is to be destroyed forever by God who will use His enemies in part to carry out His foretold judgment. Unlike Israel, there will be no future recovery for this harlot to the great delight of Heaven and faithful saints (Revelation 16:17-19, 18:1-8, 19:1-4)!
Originally Posted December 8, 2013
Watching the systematic spiritual deconstruction of Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as growing open hostility to Christianity in our nation, I was not surprised at all to learn of the recent US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin tax ruling that declared the long standing clergy housing exclusion for those that own their homes unconstitutional. Does the Lord have your attention yet professing Christians and leaders? The secular culture of America and Western Civilization has called for and is taking purposeful steps to accomplish its divorce from manmade Christianity the religion as its spiritual, moral and ethical wife. Clearly, there is to be no possibility for reconciliation since Western culture and the world in rebellion against God will not rest until the divorce is final and its former adulterous lover is obliterated from the earth (Psalm 2:1-3; Revelation 17:15-18).
God sent forth the Good News of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ first to the sons of Jacob beginning at Jerusalem, then reaching to Judea, Samaria and the farthest reaches of the earth where by grace, He has also welcomed Gentiles that believe (Isaiah 49:1-6; Luke 24:44-47; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:6-18, 11:11-22). As the Lord leads me to plainly infer in Chapter Sixteen of my book, The Strong Man Of God, “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” was to penetrate and transform the cultures of men, but never be co-opted or taken captive by those cultures (Jude 3, NKJV). However, because of the lack of appropriately maintaining this understanding through mistaken notions of evangelism, willful compromise and sin especially as displayed by those engaged in practicing manmade Christianity the religion, the biblical faith purely presented by Christ and His apostles has been culturally captured and conditioned among many peoples.
This captivity and conditioning of the biblical faith has enabled much corruption from the toleration of idolatry and sexual immorality to great doctrinal heresies and bloody wars. As it concerns doctrine for example, I have pointed out in other blogs how Americans living in willful sin (many of whom that have made no public claim of being Christ followers) are still put on a straight angelic flight to Heaven at death. Also, even otherwise solid Bible teachers allow themselves to imagine they will relate to departed loved ones in Heaven and the bodily resurrection to immortality as they did in this present age on earth.
In both cases, Bible instruction is clear: neither faithless unsaved sinners or willfully sinning unrepentant professing Christians--no matter how nice or worthy in our eyes--go to Heaven since God is the final Judge, not us. The shed blood of Jesus may be the grounds for salvation, but persevering faith (demonstrated by faithful obedience to the end) in Him and His sacrifice are the only grounds for obtaining it (Luke 13:22-30, 14:25-35; Ephesians 2:8-10; Hebrews 3:14, 12:1-2; James 2:14-26; Revelation 20:11-15).
Marriage created by God in this present age for procreation as His priority is completely dissolved at death and there will be no such thing in Heaven or the resurrection to immortality (Genesis 1:27-28; Luke 20:27-40; Romans 7:1-3). So, for professing Christians to imagine or speculate that marital ties remain after death in any measure is not drawn from Scripture, but inspired by personal desire along with the romantic ideas and conditioning of culture in this present age.
Indeed, it is cultural conditioning that causes professing Christians to stumble over the reality of a complete bodily transformation for an entirely new eternal order at the resurrection God has revealed in His Word that will end femininity (tied to marriage and procreation that is eliminated) as we have known it in this present age (1 Corinthians 15:35-38). They imagine God will just take these old bodies and make them indestructible. But even among earth’s creatures God has revealed the transformational magnitude of His intentions for us in the incredible reality of the caterpillar that dies and becomes a butterfly (1 Corinthians 15:50-52; 2 Corinthians 5:16-17; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2)!
Of course, it is now the Christmas season when this business of culturally conditioning the faith leaps vividly into view. Purposely declining to discuss when and how professing Western European Christians morphed the St. Nick legend into Christmas, I am concerned with the fact we are watching the secular culture rapidly remove its Christian aspect. Its media arm is leading the charge on this front cranking out many sappy and sentimental holiday yarns that rip off biblical themes, words, mores and values then secularizes them.
The angel’s glad announcement of Christ’s birth from Luke 2:10 and 14 for example, has particularly become source material for holiday words such as “joy,” “peace” and “goodwill.” But they have cast aside “Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23, NKJV) whose birth summons those words into reality and carry on as if in their sinful flesh; in the willful decadence and lawlessness of the times, they can and will yet bring those words to actuality on earth--I don’t think so!
Christians are to be physically in but no longer spiritually of or in love with the world (John 17:14-19; 1 John 2:15-17). We have been called out of it to become a holy (set apart, separated) people to God! And why is this so? We are to be and live holy because our God is holy (1 Peter 1:13-19, 2:9-10). Therefore, we are not to be “unequally yoked together with unbelievers” from the most intimate of human relations to the sinful things of worldly culture (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, NKJV). Yes, we are to “Pursue peace with all people and holiness,” but not in conformity to their wicked ways since we are warned that without holiness “no one will see the Lord,” (Hebrews 12:14-17, NKJV). Amazingly, in His permissive will God is now forcing the separation of His people from the cultures of host nations through their rising hate-filled hostility (John 15:18-16:4) leading to the foretold events presented in this edited conclusion to my 2013 blog post. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Originally Posted December 15, 2013
While concerned and saddened to see in my time our nation’s secular culture carry on its campaign to extract the biblically drawn truth of Christ and His birth from the celebration of Christmas, I do not ultimately fault them. In accord with God’s Word, I fault those professing Western European Christians that created the holiday to begin with.
Rather than just simply deciding as a matter of devotion to mark the birth of Christ as a special occasion and invite the world for evangelistic purposes to come observe (as ostensibly we do in inviting the unsaved to our worship assemblies), professing Western European Christians in their manmade Christianity the religion attempted to Christianize an already existing pagan festival. As a result, instead of transforming this pagan festival with the overpowering worship of Christ, the world from that day to this has insisted on and been welcomed to add their stuff to what the professing Christians were doing.
For hundreds of years, there was seemingly, deceptively a peaceful integration of the religious and secular at Christmas time. However, one needed not to be a prophet to see the day coming when the world would seek to extricate itself from the Christian aspect of Christmas. Those that allowed the pagan world to introduce their story lines, characters and activities into the mix of Christmas to show themselves friendly, open, accommodating and culturally sensitive, should have remembered from the Bible that no matter how outwardly nice it is at any given moment, “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19, NKJV).
Satan could not have authentically offered “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” to Jesus as a prize for selling God out if he did not really control them (Matthew 4:8-10, NKJV). Consequently, any and every deal done with the devil is bound to eventually go south for it is not without reason the Lord calls him “a liar” (John 8:44, NKJV). He is the deceiver; deceiving is what he does very well (2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 12:9).
The former years of apparent harmony between the religious and secular aspects of Christmas were just a satanic ruse waiting for this day (and going forward) of hostile, hate-filled and scandalous separation. It is another tragic outcome of subjecting the faith to the conditioning of culture. So, like Dr. Seuss’ tale of the Grinch who stole Christmas, Satan has now unmasked his seething hostility toward the Christ of Christmas.
He has unleashed his human cohorts to aggressively oppose what may have been well meant at one time as a “holy day” of celebrating the birth of the Savior of the world in order to denigrate and scoff at Him! Now, except for the persistence of faithful Christians, Christmas has degenerated into an eclectic humanistic mix of secular warm and fuzzy motifs carried along by ill-tempered shoppers and rank commercialism that measures the holiday’s “joy” in sales and cold, hard cash; where whiny and spoiled children complain that they did not get what they wanted for gifts.
Much more troubling are the many professing American Christians and their churches that as a jilted, lovesick lover refuse to face the truth that the relationship with secular culture is over. Desperate for cultural relevancy (translated approval) and members, they run after the world and adapt themselves to the world’s new politically correct and tolerant, “Happy Holidays.” They go all out in décor to create holiday cheer and drag dying and artificial trees into the sanctuary where supposedly the living God alone is to be worshipped to show the secular culture how in step with it they remain or worse: how completely they have done their work as its agents!
Never mind the God they claim to know has expressly forbidden such worldly accommodations that offend His holiness, pollute His house and corrupt His Word. All of these idolatrous things ancient Israel formally did too and were thoroughly condemned by God who warns us to pay heed (2 Kings 21:1-7; Jeremiah 7:29-34, 10:1-5; Ezekiel 8:1-6, 23:1-49; Hosea 8-9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-7, 14-22; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1).
Therefore, the Lord calls all who profess to be Christians and are guilty to sober up and repent from their adulterous harlotries with secular culture (James 4:4-10). For in days shortly ahead, not only American and Western secular cultures but also all the cultures of earth will seek to rid themselves of Christians and every vestige of Christian influence arising legitimately from the remnant and corruptly from manmade Christianity the religion (they will make no distinctions in their hate-filled hostility).
Led by the definitive Antichrist, the world with its final divorce decree in hand will seek to destroy Jews and Christians from the earth and serve as God’s agents of judgment on the manmade religion of both as has been foretold (Daniel 7:15-25, 8:23-25; Mark 13:13-23; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Revelation 12:13-13:15, 17-19:4). Organized Christianity and its local churches as they exist today (especially as outposts of manmade religion, sinful flesh led government, opinions, rules, traditions, programs etc.) will be no more forever! In those days, what benefit really will allowing the cultural conditioning of the faith have gained for the causes of which professing Christians among the many tribes, tongues and nations of men have done so?
Nevertheless, the deceiver and the world he has deceived will not themselves escape the judgment of God that is to be brought in full measure by the belittled, scoffed at and blasphemed Christ of Christmas when He comes; Jesus, the Anointed One of God who grew up and fulfilled His mission to “save His people from their sins” when He died on the cross (Matthew 1:21; John 12:27-33, 19:17-30, NKJV). Buried and resurrected on the third day after, Israel’s King and Messiah ascended back to Heaven forty days later and was glorified as foretold (Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 7:13-14; John 17:1-5; Revelation 1:9-18). He soon returns as is also foretold not to deal with sin, but to display His very real existence and consummate the deliverance of His two-fold elect among many other things (Micah 4:1-5:5, 7:8-20; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12; Hebrews 9:28; Revelation 1:4-8).
It is staggering to me now, looking back, how it is many so close after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not among the many moral issues related to Civil Rights galvanize against abortion as it made its way to the 1973 Supreme Court decision. Who could be more disenfranchised than an unborn child targeted for murder? Important figures in the Civil Rights Movement actually endorsed and advocated for abortion to make it as it is to this day for them a matter of women’s rights. Like ancient Israel forced to turn back from entering the Promised Land and wander in the wilderness because of unbelief, so, the Civil Rights Movement turned left away from biblical morality on abortion and other issues into the spiritual wilderness of sin seeking allies of mortal flesh rather than God (Numbers 14:11-25; Proverbs 14:34).
Even the most casual reading of the Bible will yield the straightforward understanding that human life is precious to God, humanity’s Creator (Genesis 4:8-15; Exodus 20:13; Mark 10:17-19). So, in this edited 2010 Commentary I have combined with a similar 2012 blog, I declare that men in the lead and women are to protect their children whose existence actually begins in the mind of God long before conception which He is also intimately involved with (Isaiah 45:1-7)! Therefore, in a biblical worldview, not only is abortion murder for the guilty parents, but also all who advocate for and perform it as accomplices. They will be held accountable by God in this life and on Judgment Day unless they embrace their only recourse I write about in this post.
Originally Published January 2010
Here in Portland, Oregon, Planned Parenthood the birth control and abortion provider is soon to finish construction on a new facility in an area that has been traditionally populated by black Americans. This is strategic on their part since black females have more abortions than any other racial group.1 Yet, the silence of most black clergy and open advocacy of others has been shocking. In the peaceful protests I have attended it has been primarily our white brethren that have represented the very clear scriptural mandate to revere human life (Genesis 9:5-7); life that begins at conception in the handiwork of God our Creator (Psalm 139:13-16; Zechariah 12:1).
Abortion as a concept at its root is not a black or white racial issue nor is it about women's rights. Men and women from all hues should be vitally concerned about what is very thoroughly a spiritual and moral matter. Men--especially those that aspire to be strong men of God in Christ's image--ought to be deeply affected by the slaughter of defenseless human lives. God has wired us with a heart like His and holds us responsible to defend the defenseless (Psalms 68:5-6, 82:1-4). But with steely precision abortionists around this nation routinely kill the unborn men have fathered for the sake of parental convenience. I know all about the convenience thing.
As a teenage father before I came to Christ, I either pushed for or passively offered no objection to the killing of my children on a number of occasions with different females.2 Years later I still wonder at times how I could have been so selfish and deceived. Then I remember the deceitful craftiness of the god of this world and my own fallen nature as a sinner and come to my senses. Spiritually speaking, we kill our unborn because we are dead in our sins to God and purposely deceived. It is not rocket science to understand the matter-of-fact reason we do so either: if there is no baby, then there is no responsibility or possible change in life plans.
Satan’s deceptive spin last century that morphed abortion from an issue of biblical morality into one that has to do with a woman’s rights over her body is of the success he enjoyed with Eve in Eden (Genesis 3:1-6a; 1 Timothy 2:14). And if they are not the instigators, just as Adam did not intervene while Satan deceived his wife and passively followed her lead in disobedience (Genesis 3:6b), so, many men today are doing the same thing in the decision to kill their unborn children. But now, made alive by God to God through faith in Christ, I have received forgiveness and instruction from His Word to fulfill all of my responsibilities as a father to my children (Ephesians 2:1-10).
In a truth I fully explain in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, none other than God the Father Himself has shown us men what a father is and does.3 Besides initiating Adam's existence, the Father also led, taught, provided for and protected him. In protecting Adam, God put him in the Garden of Eden as a shelter among other reasons and watched over him (Genesis 2:7-18). Even when Satan came to the garden please note he was not allowed to touch Adam or his wife, but only to deceive them if he could (Genesis 3:1-6). If it had been left up to the devil he would have killed the two humans where they stood (John 8:44). But God protected them!
God has given all men the responsibility to protect the lives we initiate through our seed released in the sexual intimacy of marriage or otherwise as well as those that are adopted. Our responsibility begins the moment of conception and continues until the new or adopted life attains the age of majority and departs from under our protective care (Matthew 1:18-25 2:13-15, 19-23; Luke 2:41-52). When men demand or passively allow the death of their children through abortion, it is a purposeful rejection of the responsibility that God has assigned to and holds us accountable for. We may only drop them off at the clinic, but we are just as guilty as the women for the murder that takes place.
So now, in these latter days Satan has gotten us to do legally what he was forbidden to do thousands of years ago in the garden: murder human life! For the record, only the bodies of the unborn are destroyed. God takes their spirits and souls back to Himself in Heaven to await the resurrection (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7). However, the parent's lives are eternally destroyed without repentance. Therefore, let every man and woman reading this who is guilty turn to God in all confession and repentance from your sins. By faith receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ believing that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. All who sincerely do this will receive God’s forgiveness, healing, instruction, a restored mind and heart with eternal life!
Unlike in our former godless and selfish mindset, God expects His sons and aspiring strong men in the image of Christ to welcome the pregnancy of our wives with joy and thanksgiving to Him! His sons are never to father children out of wedlock. However, if this should happen, in repentance He wills that you embrace your child and the mother in marriage if possible. In all instances, we are to fulfill our responsibilities to our children to include protecting them with the wisdom, help and strength God supplies. Also, brothers, stand up like men indwelt by the living God and speak out against the slaughter of the defenseless unborn in the protecting responsibility He has given us. The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 "Abortion Number For African-Americans Rising," Life In Oregon, April-June 2008 Issue, p. 7. Also, see black Abortion Facts on theurbanprophet.org Web Site. The
facility referenced was completed and remains a hub of activity.
2 That God may always be glorified in His amazing work to save and transform sinners through my life; I share my shame at having been an unsaved, unmarried and ire-
sponsible teenage father of two children that lived, but others that were murdered in their mother’s wombs. I am not just some moralizing preacher who knows nothing
at all about the real fear and selfishness that goes into the decision to abort or after birth, abandon a child God has charged men in the lead with the responsibility to pro-
tect.
3 The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics is available through all major internet booksellers, by order from your favorite brick and mortar bookstore and in the
Strong Man Store.
As the Director of Strong Man Ministries and lead instructor in our Strong Man Institute in-person and virtual course offerings, I am excited to announce the roll out yesterday of our Fruitful Bible Study Self-Paced Video Course on our Strong Man Virtual Institute YouTube Channel!1 With the Lord’s leading, this video course addresses the great need in His Body for knowledge of the Word through the spiritual discipline of Bible study in these latter days. For He and His apostles warned us great deception would exist in the times before His return as it does and lacking knowledge of the Word, many are being deceived and fall away as also foretold (Mark 13:3-6, 22-23; 1 Timothy 4:1-5).
Though there are many false and deceitful doctrines of demons within professing Christianity at this hour, one of the most insidious is in fact “a different gospel;” the likes of which the apostle Paul puts the purveyor under a curse of destruction and that strikes at the very heart of the Christian faith “once for all delivered to the saints,” (Galatians 1:6-10; Jude 3-4, NKJV). It asserts that God does not judge what people do in sin anymore since Christ completely atoned for human sins past, present and future on the cross. Those who know the truth from their regular, Holy Spirit led and helped study of the Bible recognize the foregoing assertion is preposterous and thoroughly false!
Truly, as Scripture teaches the Lord’s death on the cross most certainly did make a full and eternal atonement for human sin before God (Isaiah 53:10-12; John 1:29, 19:30; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:17, 9:11-15). However, it is only the one who repents of his sins, places faith in the Gospel and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit that will be saved which Scripture also teaches (Acts 2:36-39; Romans 1:16-17, 3:21-26; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). As it is written and cited in Romans 1:17, ‘“The just shall live by faith,’” (NKJV). There is no work or deed a sinner can do to earn salvation wrought through Christ’s sacrifice God has made available to all mankind by grace (Romans 3:27-4:25; Ephesians 2:1-10).2
I will declare it again. Although He died for all mankind, only those individuals who genuinely repent of their sins, believe the Gospel and receive new birth by the indwelling Holy Spirit, obtain salvation! Those who refuse to repent and believe the Gospel remain in their sins, will die in and face Christ’s “judgment seat” to answer for them (John 8:21-24; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, NKJV).3 For of first importance salvation is “remission (by God’s forgiveness) of sins” upon repentance and faith in Christ (Luke 24:46-47, NKJV). Anyone who preaches anything contrary to this core, historic and biblical truth for salvation, puts themselves justly under the apostle Paul’s curse since it is a different gospel!
Now, even though no work or deed we do of ourselves prior to salvation can earn it, works and deeds afterward matter as evidence of its authenticity, fruitfulness and enduring faith in Christ which is not a one and done thing (James 2:14-26). We enter salvation through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and continue living by faith in Him moment by moment going forward. Purposely practicing biblically defined sin without repentance is not proof of faith, but of possible insincere or false profession, rank disobedience which is rebellion or apostasy which can never please God who despite another false doctrine, ‘“will judge His people,’” (Hebrews 10:26-39, 11:6, NKJV)!4
Thus, even though Christ’s work to pay for human sin was finished on the cross, our responsibility before God for personal sin does not end there! For this reason, the Lord Jesus explains one must “believe in Him” whom God in love sent into the world to die for our sins in order to “not perish” and instead, “have everlasting life.” Otherwise, apart from appropriating His saving work to themselves by faith, the unsaved are “condemned already” with no other hope; their deeds certifying God’s righteousness to condemn them (John 3:16-21, NKJV).5 Also, what professed Christians do reveals whether they know Christ and bear good fruit (Matthew 7:15-23,13:1-9, 18-23).6
Indeed, the whole Word of God teaches what one does whether in sin or not during this mortal life matters to God! Consequently, every human being that has ever lived will face judgment by Jesus Christ to be rewarded accordingly--those with the fruitful deeds of faith in Him having nothing to fear (Job 34:10-15; Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Romans 1:28-2:11, 14:10-12, 23b; Revelation 22:12). Ours is not a made to order salvation of human construction. It has sprung from the heart and mind of the living God from eternity (1 Peter 1:13-21)! Christians must get and stay in God’s Word to recognize and avoid the many false doctrines today; careful not to even pass along sound good posts on social media from maybe well meaning sources, but that are not biblical.
1 The very first Short-Term Study from the Strong Man Virtual Institute can be viewed on its dedicated YouTube Channel. A course overview with description is provided in Session One of the six session study. While it is not required, a Study Guide is available as a free download in the Strong Man Store to help interested learners as they engage with the video course at their own pace.
2 Read the March 21, 2021 post, Good Works Cannot Save You, under the category, The Cause.
3 See the April 24, 2022 post, Messiah Comes Second For Salvation, under the category, The Faith.
4 What has death been to mankind but judgment from God who lovingly, graciously warned Adam of it as the consequence in the day of his disobedience (Genesis 2:15- 17, 3:6-11, 17-19)? And as it concerns Christians, the falsehood God does not judge what we do becomes crystal clear from faithfully reading and studying the New Testament where God is seen intentionally instilling fear of offending His holiness through willful sin after He put to death Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, on the same day for lying to Him--something many professed Christians in our times foolishly consider no big deal (Acts 5:1-11). For further reflection on God as the Judge of His people in the New Testament, read the two-part post that begins August 23, 2020, The Churches Under Judgment, under the category, Instruction.
5 There are those in Christian media and not a few pastors that refute the Bible they claim to uphold teaching God does not condemn. Some even boast that you will not hear them talk about such a thing, though the whole narrative of salvation in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is about God saving willing mankind from our sins in light of His certain coming wrath and condemnation to Hell! Being unwilling to declare “the whole counsel of God” especially for the sake of gaining money from people who want to hear nothing but positive statements about Him for them, followers or to fill auditorium seats is fraud (Acts 20:26-31; 2 Corinthians 2:17, 4:1-2, NKJV)! It is also false teaching to deny or purposely omit the fact unrepentant sinners stand condemned before a holy God--woe to the false teachers who bring the Lord’s judgment upon themselves (2 Peter 2:1-3)! Who really cares for your soul: the one that tells you only the parts of God’s Word you like and want to hear or the one who gives you God’s whole Word (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)?
6 Though he may struggle, the saved one is done with sin and is helped by the Holy Spirit to live a holy and righteous life in the image of Christ through his purposeful, persevering faith (Romans 6-8). As the Lord leads, I present this truth in some detail to the aspiring strong man and great woman of God in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics and its companion Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study as well as Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study. These are all available in the Strong Man Store, at your favorite internet bookseller or brick and mortar bookstore.
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