Watered Down Preaching Against Sin Is An Insult to the Cross of Jesus Christ!
Watered down preaching can even involve going against the full meaning of sin. Sin is not just disobedience to the human made rules but it's the cosmic treason against the very holiness of God. God is holy and He cannot tolerate even the smallest sin which dismisses the idea of mortal and venial sin taught by Roman Catholicism. Just because you keep the commandments to the best of your ability rather than by the grace of God, it's a slap to God's face. To say that you are safe because you keep most of the commandments is stupid because James 2:10-11 declares that you only need to break one of God's commandments to fall short of God's glory.
The more I read through the Bible in my daily devotion from Genesis to Revelation, the more I wish that I was already glorified from sin while I am alive because sin has grown more and more abhorrent to my very being by God's grace. When I read of how even one single sin had caused Adam and Eve to lose Paradise, Uzzah to die when he simply touched the Ark of the Covenant trying to keep it from falling to the mud and how offering strange fire to the LORD caused Nadab and Abihu to lose their lives or any incident when one sin caused the death of a person - these events summarize the reality that God is holy and He cannot tolerate sin. The more I read through the Old Testament law, the more I say, "LORD how can I keep all these laws?" The answer is simple, I cannot keep them in whole and for me to fulfill the demands of the Law, I need Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
The more I read through the Bible in my daily devotion from Genesis to Revelation, the more I wish that I was already glorified from sin while I am alive because sin has grown more and more abhorrent to my very being by God's grace. When I read of how even one single sin had caused Adam and Eve to lose Paradise, Uzzah to die when he simply touched the Ark of the Covenant trying to keep it from falling to the mud and how offering strange fire to the LORD caused Nadab and Abihu to lose their lives or any incident when one sin caused the death of a person - these events summarize the reality that God is holy and He cannot tolerate sin. The more I read through the Old Testament law, the more I say, "LORD how can I keep all these laws?" The answer is simple, I cannot keep them in whole and for me to fulfill the demands of the Law, I need Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
I have observed how they do soulwinning telling the person that they are sinners but do not care to explain why they are sinners. It's all the "uh-huh, uh-huh" evangelism then repeat after me leading to several cases of false conversions. If you told the person they were sinners, they must understand the Law first. Psalm 19:7 declares the reality of the Law of God to convert the sinner and makes the simple to be wise. Galatians 3:24 declares that the Law is a schoolmaster that brings people to Christ. If there was really no presentation of the Law, how serious sin is and that what it caused Jesus to willingly die for the sins of man. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that He who knew no sin became the sin sacrifice of man. Hebrews 9 is the chapter that deals with the truth of the blood of Jesus Christ that sin was so severe it required bloodshed and verse 22 deals with this fact, no bloodshed no remission so He took that penalty for sin so you don't have to shed your blood.
The whole idea of dying such a horrible death for all undeserving sinners should make the sinner say, "Lord, thank you for dying for me, help me to live differently from now on." and not, "Thank you Lord for dying for me, now I can sin all I want." I find the whole idea of Jesus dying so we can sin all we want to be utterly revolting because it is not biblical. He died to destroy the power of sin, not to enhance it. Hebrews 2:14 states that by His death, the Lord Jesus Christ might destroy him the Devil. Satan brought sin into the world when he caused Adam and Eve to sin. The power of Satan was defeated on the cross and anybody who receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior get their contracts to Satan blotted out in the blood of Jesus. No contract with the Devil remains forever when it's blotted out by the blood of Jesus. If a person was moved from Satan to the Savior, then the person has turned from sin to the Savior. It's a horrible lie to say that one loves sin and the Savior because a truly saved person hates sin and love the Savior from sin.
Just because a church teaches eternal security does not automatically mean that they are already saved and Christian because while salvation cannot be lost, that is not the entire truth concerning salvation. I have no reason to believe that anybody who believes that once you are saved, you can still live as sinfully as you please is a true Christian because the more I read the Bible, the more I see people who are truly saved have a changed life. A true test of gratitude is in the changed life that slowly but surely happens. If the grace of God were a license to sin then why am I seeing places reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ start to have a moral recovery. To say that both sanctification and submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ are wholly optional for the believer is heretical. The moment a person gets saved, he or she has already started submitting to Christ's demands and that submission continues because he or she is already saved. 1 Corinthians 6:11 speaks the glorious truth that before you got saved, you were not fit to inherit God's Kingdom and your sinful lifestyle was the proof of that. Now you are saved, God has sanctified the person for His use. Anybody who teaches a changeless Christianity is really just as lost as anybody who says they are saved by their good works. Both roads are equally misguided and on their way to Hellfire.
Hebrews 10:26-29 also mentions the reality of willful sinning and that there is no more sacrifice for sins plus it's sorer for those who trample upon the foot of the Son of God and the blood of the covenant as an unholy thing. The apostate receives knowledge of the truth but willfully rejects it. A Christian can fall into carnality but not indefinitely because God chastises those He loves. The bigger picture is that these people despise the Law and that those who despised the law of Moses died with no mercy. It's even sorer to those who reject the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as if it were an unholy thing. Some people want to be once saved, always saved but not once saved from sin, always saved from sin. The distinction is that when you are saved from sin, you are being saved from sin and will be saved from sin. Romans 13:11 says that the Christian's salvation is already nearer meaning they got saved, they are being saved and the guarantee is that they will be saved. Not just saved for the sake of being saved but saved from their sins and not saved in their sins. Many people reject the Lord Jesus Christ because they are hardened in sin or accept another Jesus taught by Easy Christianity because they want to be saved and still live in sin which both parties are not saved to start with.
As Hebrews 12:14 says this truth that is found in the end of the verse that without holiness, no man can see the LORD. While becoming holy is not a prerequisite for salvation, it certainly is the characteristic of a saved man that is the person is dedicated and consecrated to God. Growing in holiness is the trait of the Christian life as 1 Peter 1:16 declares the truth of becoming holy as God is holy. The holiness of the believer is by grace and not by one's own effort. Reading through the Gospel According to Jesus by Dr. John F. MacArthur in page 211, he writes, "That verse does not make holiness a prerequisite for justification but it recognizes it was the sure result. In other words, sanctification is a characteristic of all who are redeemed, not a condition for their receiving salvation. Those whose faith is authentic are certain to become holy and those who lack faith can never be holy. They have no hope of seeing God except to stand before Him in judgment." What MacArthur is speaking is not a works-based salvation but rather, holiness is a mark of a true believer.
Even if a Christian is not sinless but God has set them apart to grow for holiness and sanctification, not to increase in unholiness and sin. It's really stupid to say, "Well some Christians will remain carnal and never grow beyond that. If you teach true Christians will necessary result in good works then you are teaching works salvation to your flock. We must embrace all who say they have faith in Christ regardless of how they live." I wonder if such people who claim to be Christians have even read the Scriptures. If the faith of a person is true, then it will result to good works because true salvation results to good works. What it is mean that a faith without works is dead is that this faith is a sham, it is inauthentic and a false kind of faith. Remember even the demons believe and tremble. To have a faith that is not genuine is no better than the demons' superficial belief in Jesus. To teach a dead faith is a saving faith is really unscriptural because as Romans 3:31 says that the Law is not made void by faith but it establishes the Law. In short, if you are saved then there ought to be a change because true faith will not be dead but alive as Galatians 5:22-23 shows the fruit of the Spirit which results from getting saved.
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