precious ones, came across this article:
http://www.sohmer.net/wotm_only_way.php -- DO take the time to read it -- THE ETERNAL DESTINY OF SOULS MAY REST IN IT!
i'm convicted for too long i've proclaimed a "half gospel" - going light on the law, sin & judgment parts to get to the grace, mercy & salvation parts :"(
... if i'm just following a sad modern trend away from the biblical & historical standard, i'll only be contributing to the numbers of unconverted, unsaved & 'lukewarm' who think they're ok with God when in reality they are NOT. :(
excerpts:
"People will never set their faces decidedly towards heaven, and live like pilgrims, until they really feel that they are in danger of hell... Let us expound and beat out the Ten Commandments, and show the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of their requirements. This is the way of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount. We cannot do better than follow His plan. We may depend on it, men will never come to Jesus, and stay with Jesus, and live for Jesus, unless they really know why they are to come, and what is their need. Those whom the Spirit draws to Jesus are those who the Spirit has convinced of sin. Without thorough conviction of sin, men may seem to come to Jesus and follow Him for a season, but they will soon fall away and return to the world."-- J. C. Ryle
There is a dear Christian young woman in my community who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. Since her diagnosis, she has endured painful chemotherapy, a barrage of drugs, a large drive was held to find a marrow donor for her, and she has to live in a germ-free environment for a year or more.
Imagine walking up to her and saying, "I have a proposition for you. I'd like you to undergo radiation therapy that will not only nearly kill you, but send you to great nausea, vomiting, and give you unattractive hair loss. Then I want you to go into debt to pay for a whole host of prescription drugs, each with their own side effects. I also want you to inconvenience your community by hosting a bone marrow drive where people must give up their time to have tissue samples given. Finally, I want you to live in an ultra-clean environment, so you can't even hold your children for a year or longer."
The chances of her buying into this plan are 0%!
But that's because you left out a small detail, which is this: you have Leukemia, and unless treated, you'll certainly be dead shortly.
That knowledge makes all the difference! In fact, that knowledge makes her THANKFUL that she can do all the steps outlined above!
In the same way, how ridiculous is it for Christians to tell sinners that they must repent of the sin they enjoy and believe in a man they don't even know. "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Ah, but show the sinner that he is seen by God as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart, and that "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27) and that God commands "all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness" (Acts 17:30-31), then it all makes sense!
The gospel makes no sense if we do not first present the Law!
Using the Law of God to humble self-righteous sinners has always been the way the church has evangelized. It was only in the 19th and 20th Centuries that many in the church stopped majoring on righteousness, judgment, and sin, and changed the message to peace, fulfillment, and happiness. If you ever find yourself saying something like, "You have a god-shaped hole in your heart that only Jesus can fill" then you've likely fallen into the 19th/20th Century human-centered false gospel. Please return to the gospel of "law to the proud and grace to the humble" that the church has always used!
may we be faithful to tell this lost & dying world the only message that can truly save!
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