“So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you [f]must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans 8:12-14. NASB
I have often wondered that if the so -called sinner’s prayer is so important, how did the righteous in the Old Testament or the Christians in the very early church get into heaven? I have also personally known people who “got saved” but went on to divorce their spouses, commit adultery, and even steal or cheat with impunity. This morning I was thinking that it would seem that simply asking Jesus into one’s heart by saying a short prayer was really of little use if that person doesn’t REALLY understand the dangers of sin and just how revolting it is to our Father in heaven. It would seem to me that when a person is TRULY saved, not only is there sorrow for past sins but a sudden desire not to ever sin again. This is not to say that a mistake or two will not happen along the way because restoration can take some time. But the Apostle Paul tells us that we are to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil 2:12) and I submit to you that what is largely missing in the modern church is the fear and trembling part. So much emphasis has been put on loving people that many have forgotten that their first love is supposed to be Christ and that proof of such love is a deep desire to “go and sin no more.” And we CAN do this with the help of the Holy Spirit, because He helps us when we are weak. That is such good news!!
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the [j]saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:27-28 NASB
I have been listening to some old sermons by BH Clendennen and I have to tell you that I have never heard such preaching in any church I have attended. He cuts straight to the chase and addresses sin. I am absolutely certain that if messages like these were preached in the mega prosperity gospel churches, the congregations would thin out in a heartbeat. Living the holy life is not what itching ears want to hear. But the truth of the matter is that we desire to do so when we are TRULY saved. You can be the most loving person in the world to your neighbor but still have a lot of sin in your life. Sadly, I believe the church is filled with multitudes of people who believe they are saved but are not. If this were not the case, then the glaring statistic that “less than 50 percent of professing Christians ever read the Bible” would not be true.
But you say “well at least the fluffy messages and cool music gets them there.” While that may seem logical, if they never hear the truth, believing that all they need is to recite the sinners prayer and get on with their lives, they are being deceived. Lies of omission are still lies and if they are not told the WHOLE truth, then they are still on a dangerous path which might lead to hell if someone does not love them enough to pull them into the true fold. Anything that veers even slightly from the truth is no longer truth. Any sheep outside of the flock is in serious danger of being devoured by wolves. Why is our society in such a mess this days? Because the vast majority of those who say they are Christians are not, in fact, followers of Christ. They follow a counterfeit christ, one of their own making who emphasizes love, signs, wonders, power, and healing but spends little time discussing sin, the importance of DAILY time in the Word, or the pursuit of righteousness.
“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will [a]show great [b]signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the [c]elect.” Matthew 24:24. NASB
The false Christs that Jesus warned against will not arise from outside the church, for we would give them no heed. No, they will arise from within and are in fact already standing in many pulpits.
