A Possibility: Disowned By Christ

Friends,

We must walk CAREFULLY in Truth –THE Truth. Contrary to what false teachers say, God will condemn the lukewarm (see Rev. 3:16), the “wicked, lazy… worthless servant” (Matt. 25:26,30), the too-busy (Luke 14: 18-20), and the so-called “ignorant”. (Rom. 1:18-22) He will not say, “That’s okay, you didn’t know… [or] you were just too weak.” No, He equips us with His divine power for all we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3) He expects, even commands, us to open our Bibles day and night (see Josh. 1:8, Ps. 1:2) and read such warnings as 1 Tim. 4:16 –“Watch your life AND DOCTRINE C-L-O-S-E-L-Y. Persevere in them, because IF you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” In other words, if we are careless about doctrine (or our lives), we may NOT attain “the GOAL of our faith, the salvation of our souls.” (1 Peter 1:9)

It is imperative that we “know the holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise for salvation…” (2 Tim. 3:15) and that we “CORRECTLY handle the Word of Truth.” (2:15) Those of us with Bibles in our own language, churches dotted everywhere, Christian radio with the Word being preached almost hourly, certainly will have NO excuse come Judgment Day. Heb. 2:1-3 should ring in the ears of every Christian: “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not DRIFT AWAY. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we neglect or ignore such a great salvation?”

Jude 1:5 says, “I want to remind you that the Lord delivered His people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.” What? “Did not believe”?! That’s right: They believed enough to walk out from the bondage, but LATER they were found unfaithful / unbelieving / disobedient, and were thus destroyed. (Heb. 3:10-18) Friends, do not miss what Scripture is warning: Violations and disobedience receive punishment. There is no salvation without repentance. Repentance does not mean being sorry that you got caught, or that the consequences turned out to be undesirable. Repentance means such complete contrition that you are willing to do whatever it takes to turn from the sin! Even if it would be to pluck out your eye! Or cut off your hand! (Mark 9:43-49) Do most people who claim to be Christ-followers take His commands for the severance of their sin THAT seriously? Hardly!

CLAIMING to know God doesn’t cut it. Titus 1:16 says, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him.” Do our actions, negligence, words, or thoughts DENY Him? To deny Him is the same as disowning Him. Do we deny and disown Him or His power when we cower from speaking His words or telling another what the Bible says about it all? 2 Tim. 3:5 says, “…having a form of godliness, but denying the power.”

Consider Mark 8:38 where Jesus says, “If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of Him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.” And Matt. 10:32,33: “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I WILL DISOWN HIM before My Father in heaven.” 2 Tim. 2:12 says the same thing: “IF WE DISOWN HIM, HE WILL ALSO DISOWN US.” Friends, don’t let any false teacher deceive you by his rationalized interpretation of these verses. God’s Word means exactly what it’s saying. You cannot disown something you have never owned; and to be “disowned” by Christ… well, it is NOT Heaven!

Jude also speaks of disowning, but the word “abandoned” is used. “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home –these He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment… They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” (v. 6,7) “Serve as an example” to WHO? To us. For we who have believed, turned to God, even repented of sin and walked as citizens of His kingdom, must “CONTINUE in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.” (Rom. 11:22) And to whom is this Romans warning given? Verse 20 tells us it is to those who stand by faith.

“What??!!” you respond. “We are already saved if we have faith!” No, we have been given the promise of salvation, but we must keep the type of faith that it takes to abide in and obey Christ and “show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.” (Heb. 6:11) Heb. 6:12 continues, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith AND PATIENCE inherit what has been promised.”

Many people insist that we are saved only by faith. But unfortunately, for them and their students, they have isolated Scripture from other Scripture. The Bible is full of doctrine and all its teachings must be supported by its other teachings. Rom. 1:17 and Gal. 3:11 quote Hab. 2:4 which says, “The righteous will live by his faith / faithfulness.” Faithfulness means just that: Being faithful to Christ’s righteous commands.

James 2:20 tells us that “faith without deeds is useless / dead.” How dead? “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (v. 26) That’s how dead. Have you ever held something dead? Once you have, you know that it is a very sobering thing; and a very different thing than when it had life in its body. Friends, dead is dead. If your faith is not brought to life and “made complete” by actions (v. 22), actions of obedience to Christ’s Word, then your faith is only the kind the demons have (v.19), and it will NOT save you.

One more verse from Jude: “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” (v. 21) “Keep yourselves.” So is it our responsibility? Yes. He promises to help us, as we have no power of our own; though He’s already given all humans the gift of choice… free choice… to look to Him, ask Him, seek Him, and come into His power. (Acts 17:27, Rom. 1:16) “Wait for the mercy.” What mercy? Christ’s mercy which will “bring you to eternal life.” Are we there yet? No. We’ve been thrown the life rope (Jesus), and we’ve taken ahold of Him by faith, but we must CONTINUE to hang on in faith, trust, and patient obedience. Until we have been pulled all the way to shore; that shore being the end of one’s earthly life.

Friends, study the Scripture. For yourselves. Stop relying on your preacher —who could very well be feeding you a pack of false doctrines. Because he sure won’t be able to do a thing for you when you stand before The Holy Judge, awaiting the possibility of being stamped: “DISOWNED.”

Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel

~ by smilesback on October 11, 2009.