Making Enemies by Telling the Truth

[Christsfreeservant]

I’m sharing this here with you from my time of personal devotions with my Lord Jesus Christ, for your encouragement. Sue Love

If You Are

If you are a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, and if you are one who is walking in obedience to the Lord and who is no longer living in addiction to sin, and who is sharing the truth of the gospel, and who is exposing the lies of our enemy, Satan, though you may be accepted by some people, if you live in America, you will largely be rejected. And why will people reject you? Because you are telling them the truth that they don’t want to hear.

And we are not talking here about the unchristian world which has rejected Christ as Savior, but we are talking about the majority of people calling themselves Christians and believers in Jesus Christ. They don’t want to hear the truth of the gospel and so they shut up their ears and they refuse to listen, and instead they fill their minds with lies and with fantasy and with things which make them feel good and which do not speak of sin at all.

And they largely talk about things which matter not for the Lord or for their walks of faith in Jesus Christ at all. They talk much like the people of the world who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, at all. And so it is barely distinguishable today between the church and the world because the church at large has become so much like the world, for she has adopted the ways of the world in order to attract the world to her gatherings.

Galatians 4:16-20 ESV

“Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.”​

The truth of the matter is that if, like Paul, you are telling people the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment, most of them will not want to hear it. They want to hear things that make them feel good about themselves and which do not confront them with their sinful practices so that they can go on living however they want, with little to no regard for God at all, nor for his commands. For although many profess Christ as Lord and Savior, many do not live as though he has delivered them out of their slavery to sin.

Now I know that this passage of Scripture is regarding the Jews who had become Christians but who were turning back to living under the Old Covenant and not under the New Covenant because of pressure they were receiving from the Judaizers to convince them that they still had to obey some of the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws. Or this was Gentile believers in Jesus who were being pressured into having to obey some of the Old Covenant ceremonial and liturgical laws.

Nonetheless, this is still about people believing lies and thus following after the lies while rejecting the truth of the gospel of our salvation. So whether the lies are to try to convince you that you should do certain religious customs, or if they are lies which tell you that you can keep living in habitual and deliberate sin against the Lord and still go to heaven when you die, they are still lies which are opposed the truth which if you believe them can impact whether or not you do go to heaven when you die.

For there are so many people professing Jesus as Lord and Savior who are still living self-indulgent lives, living to please their flesh, living to themselves and not to God, doing what they want to do, even if it is to sin against God and other humans. Jesus is not the lover of their souls for they are “in love” with the lusts of the flesh, instead. And his truth is not what they follow, for they are following after the lies which allow them to keep living for themselves and not for God.

And even if they are hearing the truth, and the lies are being exposed to them, and the truth is being proclaimed, they are refusing to hear the truth and they are continuing to follow after the lies, and they are living foolish lives rather than to live in the wisdom of God. They are not being watchful and alert so that they do not enter into sin, but they are leaving the door wide open to keep returning to the same addictive sins over again. So they remain immovable, still stubborn and unwilling to yield to the Lord.

And so those who are proclaiming the truth have indeed become their enemy because they don’t want to hear the truth even though they know it is the truth and they are not ignorant of that fact. And so they follow people who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear even though many of them know that they are following the lies. For they don’t want to have to change how they are living, in reality. And so they harden their hearts to the truth so that they can continue to follow after the lies.

And if you are a true follower of Jesus Christ, this should grieve you. And you should be passionate about getting the truth out to as many people as who will listen to it, because the truth is that we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and sin should no longer have mastery over our lives, for Jesus delivered us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin. And now we should walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant).

For, if we continue to live according to the flesh in habitual and deliberate sin against God and against other humans, and if obedience to our Lord is not what we practice, then according to the Scriptures, we will not inherit eternal life with God. We will not enter God’s heavenly kingdom. But we will be shut out, and the Lord will say to us, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23; c.f. 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10).

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:26-27; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Caution: This link may contain ads

 

[Skye1300]

Amen!! So true!

 

[Dave G.]

An old pastor now gone home used to say "it's not enough that you claim Jesus as Lord but you must be changed". He went on to say the evidence of that changed life is the new heart, is the fruit of the Spirit. The will to give yourself over, let your old self go. Sanctification is a process where we become more Christ like. I'm not here to judge anyone's walk, that's up to Jesus Himself but we get a clue by the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit. Are there any ? It doesn't have to be monumental but there should be the signs of becoming more Christ like or willingness to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. Does a person even hear from the Spirit, does scripture speak to them, does it speak even to ourselves ? I could go on an and on about Galatians but won't. There are parts that you ,Sue would agree with and parts you would not. There are churches in fact today that follow the very pattern that Paul was speaking against back then. But our High priest is Jesus Christ Himself.

Christ by way of the Holy Spirit should be working in our hearts that we make sound choices and Christ will get us Home. We need to remain contending in the faith. If it's all up to our works then Jesus died for nothing. But we must be open to His changing of us and He will never lead us into sin but rather into good works, His works. Yet we all sin, the conviction comes with a lifestyle of sin, we need to be changed out of that from the inside out and if we be in Christ we absolutely will come under conviction of sin. Been there done that.

 

[Trusting in Him]

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (2 Timothy 4:3)

Some of these people will turn on ordinary Christians, just because they can sense that we are not like them. Just like Christ was hated without a cause, we also find that we are also hated without a cause and it's getting worse!

 

[Christsfreeservant]

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (2 Timothy 4:3)

Some of these people will turn on ordinary Christians, just because they can sense that we are not like them. Just like Christ was hated without a cause, we also find that we are also hated without a cause and it's getting worse!

How do you define an "ordinary" Christian? What is ordinary (standard) in God's sight? If we are truly Christians, by God-given faith in Jesus Christ, then ordinary (standard) Christianity should be that which is marked by dying with Christ to sin and living to God and to his righteousness and sharing the gospel of our salvation and rebuking the lies.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

An old pastor now gone home used to say "it's not enough that you claim Jesus as Lord but you must be changed". He went on to say the evidence of that changed life is the new heart, is the fruit of the Spirit. The will to give yourself over, let your old self go. Sanctification is a process where we become more Christ like. I'm not here to judge anyone's walk, that's up to Jesus Himself but we get a clue by the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit. Are there any ? It doesn't have to be monumental but there should be the signs of becoming more Christ like or willingness to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. Does a person even hear from the Spirit, does scripture speak to them, does it speak even to ourselves ? I could go on an and on about Galatians but won't. There are parts that you ,Sue would agree with and parts you would not. There are churches in fact today that follow the very pattern that Paul was speaking against back then. But our High priest is Jesus Christ Himself.

Christ by way of the Holy Spirit should be working in our hearts that we make sound choices and Christ will get us Home. We need to remain contending in the faith. If it's all up to our works then Jesus died for nothing. But we must be open to His changing of us and He will never lead us into sin but rather into good works, His works. Yet we all sin, the conviction comes with a lifestyle of sin, we need to be changed out of that from the inside out and if we be in Christ we absolutely will come under conviction of sin. Been there done that.

Dave G - It is the Scriptures which define for us what it means to be a Christian and to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your response.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Amen!! So true!

Glory to God! Thank you.

 

[RobertPate]

I’m sharing this here with you from my time of personal devotions with my Lord Jesus Christ, for your encouragement. Sue Love

If You Are

If you are a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, and if you are one who is walking in obedience to the Lord and who is no longer living in addiction to sin, and who is sharing the truth of the gospel, and who is exposing the lies of our enemy, Satan, though you may be accepted by some people, if you live in America, you will largely be rejected. And why will people reject you? Because you are telling them the truth that they don’t want to hear.

And we are not talking here about the unchristian world which has rejected Christ as Savior, but we are talking about the majority of people calling themselves Christians and believers in Jesus Christ. They don’t want to hear the truth of the gospel and so they shut up their ears and they refuse to listen, and instead they fill their minds with lies and with fantasy and with things which make them feel good and which do not speak of sin at all.

And they largely talk about things which matter not for the Lord or for their walks of faith in Jesus Christ at all. They talk much like the people of the world who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, at all. And so it is barely distinguishable today between the church and the world because the church at large has become so much like the world, for she has adopted the ways of the world in order to attract the world to her gatherings.

Galatians 4:16-20 ESV

“Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.”​

The truth of the matter is that if, like Paul, you are telling people the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment, most of them will not want to hear it. They want to hear things that make them feel good about themselves and which do not confront them with their sinful practices so that they can go on living however they want, with little to no regard for God at all, nor for his commands. For although many profess Christ as Lord and Savior, many do not live as though he has delivered them out of their slavery to sin.

Now I know that this passage of Scripture is regarding the Jews who had become Christians but who were turning back to living under the Old Covenant and not under the New Covenant because of pressure they were receiving from the Judaizers to convince them that they still had to obey some of the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws. Or this was Gentile believers in Jesus who were being pressured into having to obey some of the Old Covenant ceremonial and liturgical laws.

Nonetheless, this is still about people believing lies and thus following after the lies while rejecting the truth of the gospel of our salvation. So whether the lies are to try to convince you that you should do certain religious customs, or if they are lies which tell you that you can keep living in habitual and deliberate sin against the Lord and still go to heaven when you die, they are still lies which are opposed the truth which if you believe them can impact whether or not you do go to heaven when you die.

For there are so many people professing Jesus as Lord and Savior who are still living self-indulgent lives, living to please their flesh, living to themselves and not to God, doing what they want to do, even if it is to sin against God and other humans. Jesus is not the lover of their souls for they are “in love” with the lusts of the flesh, instead. And his truth is not what they follow, for they are following after the lies which allow them to keep living for themselves and not for God.

And even if they are hearing the truth, and the lies are being exposed to them, and the truth is being proclaimed, they are refusing to hear the truth and they are continuing to follow after the lies, and they are living foolish lives rather than to live in the wisdom of God. They are not being watchful and alert so that they do not enter into sin, but they are leaving the door wide open to keep returning to the same addictive sins over again. So they remain immovable, still stubborn and unwilling to yield to the Lord.

And so those who are proclaiming the truth have indeed become their enemy because they don’t want to hear the truth even though they know it is the truth and they are not ignorant of that fact. And so they follow people who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear even though many of them know that they are following the lies. For they don’t want to have to change how they are living, in reality. And so they harden their hearts to the truth so that they can continue to follow after the lies.

And if you are a true follower of Jesus Christ, this should grieve you. And you should be passionate about getting the truth out to as many people as who will listen to it, because the truth is that we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and sin should no longer have mastery over our lives, for Jesus delivered us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin. And now we should walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant).

For, if we continue to live according to the flesh in habitual and deliberate sin against God and against other humans, and if obedience to our Lord is not what we practice, then according to the Scriptures, we will not inherit eternal life with God. We will not enter God’s heavenly kingdom. But we will be shut out, and the Lord will say to us, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23; c.f. 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10).

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:26-27; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Caution: This link may contain ads

What you are describing in your article are Counterfeit Christians that have not been born again by the Gospel, 1 Peter 1:23. In the early church they were known as Judaizers. A Judaizer is one that believes in Jesus but continues to practice Judaism by keeping the law. They were not really Christians. They are still here.

They have no interest in the Gospel and justification by faith, nor do they understand the Gospel. The only ones that understand the Gospel and justification by faith are Christians, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal the Gospel to Christians. All that have been born again understand the Gospel and justification by faith.

Jesus said, "Not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven" Matthew 7:21. The will of the Father is that you trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation and not in laws, rules or religion.

 

[Dave G.]

Dave G - It is the Scriptures which define for us what it means to be a Christian and to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your response.

Of course.

 

[Trusting in Him]

How do you define an "ordinary" Christian? What is ordinary (standard) in God's sight? If we are truly Christians, by God-given faith in Jesus Christ, then ordinary (standard) Christianity should be that which is marked by dying with Christ to sin and living to God and to his righteousness and sharing the gospel of our salvation and rebuking the lies.

My church is part of a Christian conference centre and comes under a lot of spiritual opposition. Many members of our church are here because they are called to being part of the work of the conference centre. The workers are volunteers, we are all ordinary people who just happen to be commited bible believing Christians, but we are still nothing more than ordinary people. I am not involved in working at the conference centre. I just married my wife who was working at the conference centre. None of us are anything special!

 

[Christsfreeservant]

What you are describing in your article are Counterfeit Christians that have not been born again by the Gospel, 1 Peter 1:23. In the early church they were known as Judaizers. A Judaizer is one that believes in Jesus but continues to practice Judaism by keeping the law. They were not really Christians. They are still here.

They have no interest in the Gospel and justification by faith, nor do they understand the Gospel. The only ones that understand the Gospel and justification by faith are Christians, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal the Gospel to Christians. All that have been born again understand the Gospel and justification by faith.

Jesus said, "Not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven" Matthew 7:21. The will of the Father is that you trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation and not in laws, rules or religion.

No, there is only a slight reference to Judaizers. The bulk of what was written here had nothing to do with Judaizers. It had to do with people professing faith in Jesus Christ yet they were still living in sin, still going back to the sin that Jesus died to free them from. And it was pointing out how, if we make sin our practice that we will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

My church is part of a Christian conference centre and comes under a lot of spiritual opposition. Many members of our church are here because they are called to being part of the work of the conference centre. The workers are volunteers, we are all ordinary people who just happen to be commited bible believing Christians, but we are still nothing more than ordinary people. I am not involved in working at the conference centre. I just married my wife who was working at the conference centre. None of us are anything special!

Okay, then why use the term ordinary Christian? We are either followers of Jesus or we aren't. We are either walking in obedience to Christ or we aren't. And if we are following Jesus with our lives it should be evident by how we live. If we are something in between we have either fallen back into sin or we have become lukewarm and in either case we need to repent and return to being on fire for the Lord.

 

[Dave G.]

Oh in Galatians Paul is clearly speaking to Jew and gentile and against judaisers will to roll everyone into the Jewish customs including circumcision plus Christ,. He stresses saved by faith and the grace of God as our salvation and that alone. He speaks as I already mentioned of the fruit of the spirit and while I don't quote it here but stresses that to do as what was happening in Galatia then grace is no longer grace. It's clear as a well polished bell's ring for those with ears to hear. Every born again believer who reads Galatians should have no difficulty with it's meaning. Excerpts from Gal 2-6:
Galatians 2:16: “Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galatians 3:11: “Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’"

Galatians 4:5-6: “to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’"

Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

Click the links to see other versions of the bible besides ESV.

 

[Trusting in Him]

Okay, then why use the term ordinary Christian? We are either followers of Jesus or we aren't. We are either walking in obedience to Christ or we aren't. And if we are following Jesus with our lives it should be evident by how we live. If we are something in between we have either fallen back into sin or we have become lukewarm and in either case we need to repent and return to being on fire for the Lord.

O.K. if you put it like that, fair enough, I agree with you!

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Oh in Galatians Paul is clearly speaking to Jew and gentile and against judaisers will to roll everyone into the Jewish customs including circumcision plus Christ,. He stresses saved by faith and the grace of God as our salvation and that alone. He speaks as I already mentioned of the fruit of the spirit and while I don't quote it here but stresses that to do as what was happening in Galatia then grace is no longer grace. It's clear as a well polished bell's ring for those with ears to hear. Every born again believer who reads Galatians should have no difficulty with it's meaning. Excerpts from Gal 2-6:
Galatians 2:16: “Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galatians 3:11: “Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’"

Galatians 4:5-6: “to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’"

Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

Click the links to see other versions of the bible besides ESV.

I was not talking about law and grace only to give a brief reference to the original context. For the context can also be used regarding returning to a life of sin after one professes faith in Jesus Christ which fits also with the context of Galatians 5:16-24 and Galatians 6:7-8. Yes, through Jesus's death and resurrection he did away with the Old Covenant ceremonial and liturgical and sacrificial and purification and dietary laws and customs. But he also put our sin to death with him that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And people going back to the Old Covenant laws was not the only issue. Some of them were also going back to their sinful ways or they were feeling as though being under grace gave them the liberty to keep sinning. And so both subjects are covered in the book of Galatians.

 

[littleangelone]

another good message, thanks for shareing