Friday, September 3, 2010

Excuses

(Hebrews 1:1–3) God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 
Sometimes people excuse their unbelief because of the bad behavior of people who are supposedly Christians.  They say, "The church is full of hypocrites."

And to some extent they are right.  The church is full of people whose aspirations to holiness far exceed their performance.  Christians are not perfect people and some people who claim to be Christians are not genuinely converted.  Hopefully, imperfect Christians have humble hearts and a genuine love for Christ.  In that case they admit their imperfections and continue to strive to do better.  Unfortunately, some are proud and self-righteous so they continue in brazen bad behavior.  They give Christianity a bad name.

But in the end, the unbeliever's excuse is just an excuse.

The truth of Christianity doesn't depend on any Christian's perfections.  Christianity depends entirely on the perfections of Jesus Christ and the truth of His claims to be God and Savior.
  • He is God & The one who reveals God perfectly to men.
  • He lived a sinless life of perfect obedience to God's commands and moral standards.
  • He died as a sinless substitute to take upon Himself the wrath of God against my sin.
  • He rose again from the dead to demonstrate His victory over death and hell.
  • He offers forgiveness of sins and His own righteousness to everyone who trusts Him.
  • He is coming again to bring everything to its final consummation.

Even if I could not point to a single Christian whose life had been transformed by Jesus Christ (though I can,) it would not matter.  The point is not the pragmatic offer of a change in your life (though that is real.)  The point is that Jesus is exactly Who He claimed to be and following Him is worth it, even if you have to follow Him alone.
(John 14:6) ¶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

4 comments:

  1. Hi there! I've been reading your blog entries, and I must say I find them very inspiring. I've been struggling myself with the concept of God still being here even though I haven't been reaching out to him. My life is far from perfect, nor will it ever be so, but it's a strong comofort to know, God will be there through thick and thin and I don't have to prove myself to anybody as He sees in my heart, my soul, and my being. I love reading your blog. It helps me confirm my doubts and hopes. Thanks for the read!

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  2. Hi there! I've been reading your blogs and I must say I feel very inspired and hopeful. My relationship with Christ is on the rocks and sometimes it feels like through my mistakes and screw ups, he turns away. But everytime I get onto blogger, and click on "Next Blog" it directs me to such blogs as yours that confirm that He is still there. Through it all, he is there. I don't have to prove anything to anybody as he sees into my heart, my soul, and my being. Although I'm far from perfect, it's a comfort to know he is still there, and still ever forgiving, gracious and loving.

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  3. Thanks for your comments. What you shared about yourself reminds me of two verses:
    (John 6:37) All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
    And
    (Hebrews 13:5–6) Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
    6 So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

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  4. I actually didn't mean to put in 2 comments. They weren't showing at first, so I posted another one to see if that one posted which it didnt but now I can see it did! :D
    Thanks tho for the reply

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