The one thing that every born-again believer in Christ knows for a fact is the one thing that many of them refuse to speak about. Isn’t it interesting, the sin that we have been forgiven of is beyond comprehension in its scope, yet many fear to tell the lost that they are living in sin without Christ, the penalty for that sin, the eternal fires of damnation, is spoken of even less today by many Christians, the one thing we were saved from we don’t want to tell others about.
I was actually laughed at in a Bible Study some time ago for suggesting that we need to tell others, those who do not know Him as Savior, that they are sinners in the eyes of God, the actual words along with the laughter if I remember correctly were, “I would like to see you do that.” They came from the pastor of the church, and it was three of the elders among others that were laughing. You were saved my brothers and sisters from the wrath of God, look that word up in the Scriptures, look up what wrath, fury, and righteous indignation means, search out the verses that speak not only about the fury of God in the tribulation period but of the fires of the eternal lake of pain, suffering, and hopelessness. What did you think you were saved from, feeling bad about yourself, a life of poverty and shame, you have been blessed beyond all measure. (Psalm 32:1)
You will never know the wrath of Almighty God, so what is it that you are speaking to the lost about, only the loving, caring, compassionate Lord of Glory, only the Lord that you want them to hear. There is a great tendency towards fear in this area of the walk of the followers of Jesus Christ, I am not sure many of them contemplate just exactly what it is they were saved from, they know the word saved, they even have some of the verses memorized that speak the truth of their salvation. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Eph. 2:8) “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) But what they seem to leave at the doorstep is what the words actually mean, they for the most part refuse to speak of the personal sin against God to the lost they meet.
It was expected, what Satan is doing in the world today, never offend anyone, never reprove or correct, enable all to believe that all have the right to trust in whatever truth they have conceived, has also laid siege to even some of the most evangelical churches on the planet. Personal sin would mean personal accountability, and since “we are all in this together,” no one needs to be accountable for anything, love is the key, if you will, but this new type of love, this attribute of telling others only certain parts of who Almighty God is, of neglecting to tell those that we meet who are dead in their sins, (John 8:24) of the punishment that awaits them, is suggestive of a believer in Christ who has spent little time contemplating the fires of hell, little thought to eternal damnation, who have forgotten just what they were saved from. Instead, the terminology has shifted, and herein is a great trap of our adversary, instead of thinking upon what we were saved from, we spend our time thinking of what we are saved for.
My friends, you were saved by God’s good pleasure, (Rev. 4:11) you were saved for a purpose, to glorify God continuously and without pause, (Psalm 86:12) you were saved for good works, (Eph. 2:10) and one of those works is to warn the lost. You wre saved to be transformed into the image of His Son. Just exactly how do you plan on doing that if you do not tell them they are living in sin, in open rebellion against the Most High? It is why I have termed it the “new religion,” though I am sure it has appeared before, a group of Christians who are assured of the saving grace they claim, but with no witnessing to the lost, a fear of speaking about the attributes of God that they see as less pleasurable, rarely if ever reproving or correcting those who also claim Him as Lord but are living in sin, and rarely, again if ever, telling the lost that the wrath of God is abiding upon them this very day, (John 3:36) that even their so-called thoughts toward Him are an abomination, (Prov. 15:26) and that if they do not repent, fall to their knees, ask forgiveness from Him in true repentance, that the wrath and fury of Almighty God will abide on them forever, they will become vessels fitted for wrath. (Romans 9:22)
No, that would seem impolite, that would seem rude, we wouldn’t want to offend with the truth, and so we just keep attending church, singing the songs, and minding our own business. You are not the friend of Jesus Christ if you do not obey His commandments, His words, not mine. (John 15:14)
If you are truly a born-again believer, then you should completely understand just what it means to be saved, you were saved from the eternal wrath of God. Your responsibility is to proclaim that good news to all who will listen, not sugarcoat the message, but to speak love in firm truth. Part of the truth is not the whole truth, we are to warn in love, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. The sin of omission is just as evil of the sin of commission.
