Michael continue: The philosophies of this world lead to hopelessness and meaninglessness ... without God and without hope in a world of darkness. Jesus Christ came to give sight to those born spiritually blind. It used to be that there were biblical standards for truth. There was no question regarding “sexual identity.” Until recently the prevailing standard was that a person was either male or female. Today however, many in our culture embrace the ungodly and non-scientific perverted secular teaching that insists that gender is “fluid” and can change at the whim of the individual regardless of biological truth. There is a proliferation of confusion regarding sexual identity which divides and pits those who believe both Science and the truth of the Word of God from the so-called politically correct, who insist that truth is relative to the individual’s preference.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh. He is the standard for truth and life worth living. The Lord and Savior of the world said, I am the way the truth and the life... no man cometh to the Father except by me. Without the truth of the Word of God and Jesus Christ (the Word of God made manifest), the world will sink into degradation, decay and self-destruction. Any system of order will degrade, disintegrate, and fall apart without the infusion of power directed by God’s Will and purpose. He is the One who directs, orchestrates, manages, and sustains all things according to the purpose of His Sovereign will. When we who believe in the truth of His Word delight in His Word and align our hearts with His heart, then it is God that works in us and through us to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Genesis 6 says that the Spirit of God will not always strive with man. God has set up His Word as His righteous standard. God is no respecter of persons. He is, however, a respecter of His Word. His laws are intended to protect those who choose to enter into fellowship with Him and live under the canopy of His blessings ... under the shadow of the almighty ... under the Banner of God. However, when God’s people commit two evils by forsaking Him (the fountain of living waters) and hewing out for themselves cisterns (broken cisterns that can hold no water), left to their own devices they will break God’s law. They will break themselves upon the pillar and ground of the truth by leaving of the canopy of God’s protection.
John 3:36 states, “He who believes and trusts in the Son and accepts Him [as Savior] has eternal life [that is, already possesses it]; but he who does not believe the Son and chooses to reject Him, [disobeying Him and denying Him as Savior] will not see [eternal] life, but [instead] the wrath of God hangs over him continually.”
Those whom God has called will be blessed when they witness the truth of the Word of God, when they taste and see the love of God. And blessed when they witness the truth manifest in the lives of Christians who speak and live the savor and salt of God’s truth. As the salt of the earth, we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ and him crucified. To them that are called, we are the savor, the sweet-smelling fragrance of salvation. But to those who do not believe, the followers of Christ are the stench of death unto death. Ephesians 2:1-3 explains, “And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins, in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God]. Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires of human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the [sinful] mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind].”
Let's continue Michael's message on being the Salt of the World in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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