CHOICES

The lost attending our churches today believe that they have a choice regarding their serving God or mammon. It is totally clear from the Word of God that they have no such choice. Christians on the other hand do have such a choice and are warned time and again to walk in the Spirit and not after the flesh. The freedom of a Christian includes his freedom to serve or not to serve. One might say that if a Christian is not actively serving God on a daily basis, then he is no Christian. This kind of judgment by heathens can be expected, because they are quite able to do many “good” works for the purpose of justification, not realizing that their “good works” are an abomination to God. Why? Because they are not done in Christ or by Christ. Their works of “show and tell” seem to bring condemnation against the Christian by comparison, but are the same works for which Jesus rebuked the Pharisees. Remember Mary and Martha? Mary looked pretty bad in comparison to Martha who labored about the things of the house, but Jesus said that Mary who sat at Jesus’ feet had “chosen that good part”.

It is a shame that Christians are not as a rule doing the things they should, and even doing things they should not, but this does not identify their standing with Christ whom they trusted for the cleansing of their sin, and who Christ has bought with His blood. The shame is amplified by the teaching today that all in the church assembly are under the same freedom in choice of service. Christians have a choice in service to Christ, we know. The unsaved, though they are encouraged with the Saints by the Pastors to remain faithful to Christ and His Great Commission cannot possibly be faithful to Him because they are none of His, and the works they perform, though in appearance seem good, are the works of the enemy disguising himself as the Spirit God.

If the preaching of God’s Word were clearly brought to the assembly, there would be no confusion. What is constantly being preached is works and the judgment of works as a means to identify the saved from the lost. Whether a person is doing the works or not is not the measure of a Christian, but the Spiritual fruit which is evident in the person. The unsaved cannot bear the fruit of the Spirit of God regardless of the “good works” he does, because he does not possess the Spirit that produces the fruit. The spirit of the unsaved is a devil sourced spirit of selfness, and his fruit is self adoration and self promotion.

Isn’t it time that truth should prevail in the church? It’s past time. The praise of Christ can only be accomplished through the Holy Spirit of God, and only through the Holy Spirit can a person be led to Christ for salvation. If the preaching is not by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, there will be no forthcoming fruit, regardless of the “good work” that went into the sermon and the “good” preaching of that work. The same stigma that worked among those who crucified our Lord works yet today, the stigma of God’s saving Grace, the invitation to the selfish to repent of self and live for others, the only choice available to the lost, a choice that may come only once in a lifetime. This is the choice that needs to be preached rather than whether one chooses to serve or not serve, a personal matter between God and His children.

WTLMinistry http://www.wtlministry.org 5/12/02