They preach God's righteousness.
| posted 1/30/2009
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Have you ever heard a spiritual leader say something like, "God loves us too much to judge us. He'll overlook what we do wrong. He understands that we're fallible and that we all make mistakes"?
The most effective lies are the ones that are almost true. God does love you, and he went to great lengths to keep from condemning you for your sins. He understands your weaknesses. As you stumble through life, he shows you mercy every day, even every minute.
But God is not a congenial do-gooder who goes round dispensing favors like lollipops. He is holy and perfect. He sees sin and hates it because it violates his nature. The only reason you receive mercy from God is that Christ entered this world and offered his own life to pay for our sins. God is not "nice"; he is merciful, and his mercy cost him the ultimate.
So watch out for spiritual leaders who emphasize God's big-hearted love but downplay his righteousness. When you accept Christ as Savior, you commit yourself to following him by living in new, holy ways. Christ's love is never an excuse for sin. (See also 1 Kings 12:1-20; Ezra 7; Matthew 17:1-13.)
Good Words to Remember:
Certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 4
Today's Challenge:
Evaluate the spiritual leaders around you. Do they talk of God's righteousness or merely of his love?
Copyright 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian Bible Studies.
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