Don't Conform To The World - Throw Out The Darnel

All of us, as Christians, have been greatly blessed. We have been given a gift that has given us strength, courage, kindness, joy and life. We have been set apart from those who are still constantly searching for things to fill their life with. So many people are looking at material wealth, drinks and drugs to fill a large gap in their lives. So many people now read their horoscopes, new age religions are flourishing, people are willing to experiment with and mix and match new ideas and beliefs. They are seeking spiritual contentment in things that can only cause greater confussion and emptiness. And this confussion is even spreading across into the christian community.

Today there are so called new revelations about Jesus and the Law and ways of interpreting Scripture. Some of these new revelations are dangerous. They are presented using modern marketing techniques, they are attractive to the young. Today’s youth have not received a good grounding in Scripture at school. They are open targets for Satan to twist the words of Scripture and to undermine the power of the Blood of Jesus.

I’ve just come across someone who seriously believes that the Law was put in place only to protect the seed of God; so that Mary could be pure when she received Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This was supposedly the sole purpose of the Law. And because of this, because the Law was purely to protect the Seed of God and the family line of Jesus it opens up the opportunity to receive Jesus into your life without the need to repent. Why repent for your sins when the only purpose of the Law was to protect the line of Jesus? And if the Law was God’s plan to protect the purity of His seed then why did it fail? We’ve only got to look to King David to see an adulterer and murderer. God does not fail. He would not have put in place a plan to protect the line of Jesus knowing that it would fail. If the family line of Jesus needed to remain pure, then it would have. God would not have born His son into the line of David.

It’s an attractive option in modern day life; to be able to receive salvation without admitting blame. We live in a ‘pass the buck’ society. We don’t look where we are going, trip over a paving stone and we sue the local authority because we do not pay attention to what’s going on around us. Thinking you can receive salvation without acknowledging your sin and the reason for Jesus having to come to Earth is a dangerous state of affairs.

We must constantly have on our minds that Jesus came because we could not live by the Law. We are sinners. Jesus came to be our sacrifice because we broke the Law. The Law did not come to protect Jesus. Jesus came to protect us from the Law. He came to protect us from the consequencies of the Law. The price of sin is death. Jesus came as the Lamb to pay the price of our sin.

I’m going to repeat that; Jesus came to protect us, sinners, from the Law because we are unable to live by the Law. The Law did not come to protect Jesus.

2,000 years on from the saving Grace of the Lord and we can still fail to grasp that we choose to sin. And because we chose to sin God had to sacrifice His only Son to redeem us.

We need to be aware of why these new revelations can take root. It takes root in those who fail to read the Bible. It takes root in those who do not read the Word of God. Picking up a paperback book of someones interpretation of the Bible will not show you the Will of God. It can only show you a small selection of Scriptures and only the Scriptures that the author wants you to read.

Let’s go to Romans 12 verses 1 and 2.

Rom 12:1 So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.

Rom 12:2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. (Good News Bible)

Paul is telling us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, to dedicate ourselves to Him and to please Him. You can not dedicate yourself to someone and please them if you do not know what they want you to do. You get to know what they want by getting to know them. The more fully you know them, the more you are able to please them. To know God means to read His Word, meditate on His word and pray on His Word.