My Answer is... July 3, 2009

Q: Do you love Him(Jesus)? Let's load up this page and tell Jesus how much we love Him.

A: The Bible says that Jesus, "made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (Phil. 2:7)." Jesus made himself nothing. We, humans, are nothing! Is that not a humbling statement? How many of us get prideful over our supposed accomplishments in life? In, turn, we tend to believe we are great in God's eyes or look down on others because of them. But, for Jesus to become like man, who is nothing in comparison, shows just how much God loves us. What else can we do, but say "thank you, Jesus"? We love Jesus because He first loved us. We are only able to love others because He showed us what love is. Our spouses, friends, family, pets, etc cannot give us this type of love because they don't have it to give. The Psalmist asked, " what is man that you are mindful of him...(Psalm 8:4)?" Jesus did for us what we cannot do for ourselves so that, through faith in Him, He could bring us to God. For that I am eternally thankful. I love you Jesus!

Q: God helps those who help "themselves"..IS THIS A TRUE STATEMENT?

A: No. This popular sentiment is not biblically based. If we could help ourselves then there would have been no need for Jesus to have come to save us. Furthermore, it implies that God is a responder to us. Besides, what is it we our helping ourselves with? The statement is so open ended that you can fill in just about anything you want and then claim God is going to assist you. God initiates and we respond. We didn't ask Him to send Jesus to live a perfect life, die for us and be resurrected. But, we do respond to this loving act through faith. God's love towards us is not conditional on what we do. God is faithful, not us. His power is revealed in our weakness, not our strength. He never leaves us nor forsakes us even if we fail. Paul said he could do all things through Christ who strengthens him. This means that in spite of the highs and lows of life, God is there with us through them all. We must rest from "helping ourselves" and let God work in us to produce His fruit through us!

Q: YOU"(Christians) are "Justified"..but why are You feeling " Guilty"?

A: If a Christian is feeling guilty it is probably because he has "forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins (2 Pet. 1:9)." Guilt comes from the devil because he is the "accuser of our brothers." Every time you sin Satan wants you believing that Jesus didn't take that sin away at the Cross. He runs up to God saying, "look at what they just did." And God replies each time, "It is finished (John 19:30)." Christians for 2,000 years have been paralyzed by not knowing that "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more (Heb. 10:17)." This leads to false beliefs like loss of salvation, losing fellowship with God or something else. God is reconciled to you because of what Christ did on the cross. You ARE forgiven even before you sin. Your sins do not separate you from God. God has cleansed us from our guilty conscience (Heb 10:22). Put away your short accounts, confession booths, etc. Be reconciled to God!

Q: Salvation is "Free" but what will it "Cost" you?

A: When my mom was dying from cancer I did things for her I never thought I would have to do. I fed her, gave her medicine and cleaned up after her. Some thought it was my way of giving back to her for all she did for me. No, it was my way of thanking her for all she did for me my entire life. I couldn't pay her back. I gave up my time, my money, many things to minister to her needs. My mom dedicated her entire life to me and my family without us asking her to do so. So it is with Jesus. Salvation is free to me, but it cost Jesus His life. In return, I live a life of thankfulness serving Him as He lives His life through me. I am doing things for Him that I never thought I would do. I find myself giving up my time, my treasure and my talent in order to advance the Kingdom. It has cost me time with, and a degree of acceptance from, my friends and family. I realize now what is important. It wasn't easy, but I didn't care what it cost to thank mom. I don't care what is cost me to thank Jesus.

Q: The bible says don't be "conformed" to this world..What does that mean? ..And how do we(Christians) apply that statement to our life?

A: Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." This follows verse 1 which tells us to be "living sacrifices." A Christian becomes a living sacrifice by resting from their self-righteous works and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them from within. This only happens when we realize all that we have been given by God through faith in Christ. Therefore, we no longer look for love, acceptance, meaning and purpose to life from the world, because all the world has to offer can only be received through some form of sin. We renew our minds through the continual process of discovering the inheritance we have received from God through the death of Jesus Christ. The byproduct is total dependence on God as we realize how much His love satisfies the deepest desires of our heart. In turn, we are able to serve others in love because we aren't looking for them to give to us what they do not have to offer.

Made Holy!

A friend of mine made the following observation about holiness after his participation in a discussion board about the subject.

" But my point of view is that holiness is imputed to us in the same way our justification, righteousness and sanctification is.. church often tells us to be holy but it seems to me that making something holy is Gods business.. We can adopt certain behaviors and call it holiness.. we can wear robes, shave our heads, etc… but are we holy on account of that or by participating in some ritual? (sic)"

That is one of the main problems of the modern day Church. We are holy simply through faith in Christ. When you talk about "how do we get holiness" your natural tendency is to determine what to do and what not to do. It is law repackaged. In today's Church, unfortunately, holiness is determined based on the individual denomination or school of thought one subjects themselves to. How many Christians spend their entire lives trying to gain through obedience what they already have been given by God through faith in Christ? I don't know if this misunderstanding of holiness is because people aren't saved, thus don't know the truth or if they never take the time to read the scriptures so readily available to them. I won't judge the hearts of believers, but when it comes to issues like the holiness of believers, if you don't know you are already holy why don't you know?

The Bible clearly talks about the holiness of the believer as a present possession of ours through faith in Christ. It is not something achieved through diligent self-effort through obedience to rituals, laws, tenants, doctrines or anything else designed to modify our behavior. In fact the Bible talks of something quite different. In 1 Peter 2 we read that "you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ... But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:5, 9)." This is a description of people who are already holy in God's eyes. There is nothing written here to indicate what must be done to achieve holiness. The inheritance of a believer, established as the result of the death of Jesus Christ, is full of many things that we can only receive through faith.

Often times we here the attempt to achieve holiness hidden within spiritual sounding language. One of the most popular terms thrown around within Christian circles is "Progressive Sanctification." Progressive Sanctification is described as the journey of producing less and less the acts of the sinful nature. Now, I agree that as a Christian matures in the faith they should see sin diminishing in their life. However, the goal of the Christian life is not to stop sinning and call it becoming holy. If it is you have to ask one question, "How do I become more holy?" There in lies the trap of Satan. In order to become increasingly holy you must define what to do and what not to do as I mentioned earlier. This is putting yourself under law because the law deals with matters of the flesh. And scripture is clear that "The law was added so that the trespass might increase (Romans 5:20)." In other words, when you are under law sins will increase. This is the exact opposite result those who teach progressive sanctification believe in. You can't produce less and less the acts of the sinful nature by trying not to produce the acts of the sinful nature. Why? "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:14)." I don't think one would mistake sin being your master as becoming more holy!

Rather, Christians are already seen completely holy by God. We are called saints. Saints comes from us being sanctified. And sanctified is another way of saying holy! As we trust in Him we will not seek out sin because we know that it cannot give to us what we already have in Christ. "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10)." We "have been made holy." This is written in the past tense to prove to us that our holiness is something we already have received, not something to achieve through self-effort. "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11)." We "were sanctified." Again, a reference to something that has already taken place in our lives. Our holiness is something we have imputed to us through faith in Jesus Christ. It is imperative that Christians realize that we don't become who we are through progressive sanctification (holiness training). We become who we are through trust and dependence on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God has given us everything and sees us as holy so we would get our focus off of ourselves and squarely on to Him. This is the only way we can be used by Him to reach the world with the message of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Honoring the Man of God

Q: I NOMINATED A SENIOR CITIZEN TO BE HONORED AS A MAN OF GOD AND HE REFUSED TO HAVE ANY PART IN IT BECAUSE HE SAID THAT THE BIBLE SAYS HONOR NO MAN. PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS.

A: There is nothing wrong with the man you wanted to honor refusing your request. The Bible doesn't mandate that we, as Christians, accept honor for simply being Christians. Nor does it encourage us to honor other Christians for that reason either. All of us are children of God (John 1:12) through faith in Jesus Christ. None of us are any more acceptable to God than the next person. I am sure you have your reasons for wanting to honor this man, but don't be concerned about his not wanting you to honor him. I am sure he meant no harm or disrespect in his actions. If we look in the pages of scripture for any assistance in this matter what we find would seem to support not being honored rather than being honored. In Acts 11, we see where Paul and Barnabas were being treated like gods because of a miraculous healing performed on a crippled man. The people of Lystra were shouting "The gods have come down to us in human form (Acts 11:11)!" and wanted to "offer sacrifices to them (Acts 11:13)." However, Paul and Barnabas were greatly disturbed by their behavior and responded by saying, "We too are only men, human like you (Acts 11:15)."

There response is consistent with Christian teaching in that anything we do of note is only because God is doing it through us in the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Too often we can put people up on a pedestal as if they are somehow due more honor than the rest of us. However, that can lead to feelings of condemnation arising in those who aren't honored because they may feel that their worthiness before God is somehow related to the extent they are honored by fellow Christians. And on the flip side, those honored must fight against their pride being fueled as if they are better than other Christians. The Bible says that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5)." For the average Christian we had to be humbled prior to accepting the Lord as our Savior. We know that anything good we do is God doing it through us. Any praise should be given to Him and Him alone. Therefore, it can be quite embarrassing, and even uncomfortable, to accept praise from others, even if they mean well by doing it. I don't say this to condemn you, or anybody else, for wanting to make someone feel good about themselves. I am only stating that we should be careful who we give honor to and why we do it.

I will admit that sometimes it may be necessary to accept honor from others as not to give offense. Perhaps, in those situations it can serve as a platform for the one being honored to direct attention back to the One who we should really be giving honor to, Jesus Christ. There are far too many examples of so-called men of God not only accepting honor, but expecting it. With all the religious titles thrown around these days you can see the flesh rising up to soak it all up. With titles like Pope, Prophet, First Lady, Prophetous and even, I kid you not, Apostle being thrown around, is it any wonder we don't see too many humble Christians who have been honored? These people run to the spotlight and believe themselves deserving of these man-made titles. However, scripture seems to point to the exact opposite attitude when it comes to being "honored." When Peter went to the home of Cornelius, in Acts 10, Cornelius fell at his feet to honor him. Peter rebuked him and said, "Stand up... I am only a man myself (Acts 10:26)." This is a handpicked Apostle of Jesus Christ saying this. You would think if anybody deserved honor it would be an Apostle. But, Peter knew he was only a vessel being used by the Lord and was not worthy of any special attention.

Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with your desire to want to honor the gentleman you speak of. I only want to impress on you that there is nothing wrong or unbiblical by his refusing to be honored. The honor we give to each other should be displayed in our personal interactions with each other more-so than through any public displays. For example, the Bible talks about children giving honor to their mothers and fathers (Matthew 15:4). Husbands are to give honor to their wives (1 Peter 3:7). And the Bible talks about how, ultimately, the humble are the ones who will be given honor (Luke 14:11). The underlying message in all of this is to "not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment (Romans 12:3)." It should be honor enough to know that you are in Christ and have an eternal inheritance waiting for you. Nothing we get from our fellow man can compare. When we look at it from this perspective it helps keep us focused on Jesus Christ who has been given the highest place of honor. "Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 7:26)."

My Answer is... June 26, 2009

Q: IF JESUS IS OUR(Christians) source? Why do we get mad at the President for not meeting our needs?

A: The President is not my (our) provider. However, their decisions, and those of their Administration, do effect me regardless. Social, domestic and foreign policy decisions can, and do, effect our finances, the moral climate of the country and our security. While it is true God is our provider, our protector and our life, the means by which He does this may not always be supernatural as some seem to think. Too often Christians sit back and do not get involved in government affairs and end up being of no earthly good. God is in control, but just because we know the outcome of all this shouldn't prevent us from making a stand for truth and trying to elect and support leaders who hold to a more Judeo-Christian ethic. If Jesus is our source we should be compelled to engage the world politically and socially just as we do with evangelism. They are tied together. And if that means getting upset at a President who doesn't operate consistently with a Christian ethic then so be it.

Q: Does Jesus want to be just "Savior" in your life or "Lord And Savior"?

A: Often times we assume that by Savior we only mean we will go to Heaven when we die. And by Lord we mean that the control Jesus has over our lives is demonstrated through our "obedience" to His Word. That is fine so long as we don't substitute "obedience" to rules and laws designed to modify our behavior for "responding" to the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit. For many Jesus being "Lord" of their life means they must live an impossible life of repentance and obedience. In other words, "are you doing this and not doing that?" But the Christian life is a life of trust and dependence. Scripture says it is the grace of God that "teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:12)." When we are being led (controlled) by the Spirit of God we will not be sinning against each other because we are walking in love. Be careful saints, know the difference so as not to be deceived. Be blessed.

Q: The bible says, when a man and a woman get married they become "One"....IS it ok for the married couple to have "separate" bank accounts and wife keep her last name?

A: A couple is certainly free to keep separate bank accounts and for the wife to keep her maiden name. We don't want to create an opportunity in which to condemn people who don't follow tradition or stroke our own pride if we do. It is not a question of "is it okay," because all things are permissible. It is a question of "why?" Why have separate bank accounts? Why not take your husbands name? While there may be good reasons for keeping things separate, I feel you may risk harming the trust within a marriage by doing so. You can make it difficult to keep track of money and give the indication it isn't "our" money, but mine. As for the name change. If "Jane Doe" marries "John Q Public," she is no longer Miss Doe. Miss is a salutation for a single woman. However, if she doesn't take her husbands name she can't be referred to as Misses Public, although she is married. I believe it is a form of submission to each other to have common accounts and the same last name, but not a requirement.

Q: The bible says The "love" of money is the "root" of all evil...So is it "evil" for Christians to be "wealthy"?

A: It is not evil to be wealthy. Many wealthy Christians have used their wealth to support the work of the ministry. The Bible says not to store up treasures on earth, but in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). It is between you and God whether or not you "love" money or not. Unfortunately, through poor teaching and discipleship, too many Christians are being taught to love money and chase after worldly gain as though it is a promise to them from God. We see passages like Malachi 3 misapplied to condemn Christians for "robbing God" and that God will "open the floodgates of heaven" if we only give properly. This is why the Bible says that many "have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Tim. 6:10)" because they are expecting something from God he has not promised to give. We are encouraged to be content with food and clothing. Why? Because we already have been given everything for life and godliness (2 Ptr 1:3) and have every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3).

Follow up to previous question: Q: Let me throw this out there ... Then why (if it is not evil for Christians to be wealthy) do we criticize pastors and other Christians for being wealthy?

A: It is fine for pastors to get paid for doing their work. In fact, the Bible says they should. However, many pastors have attained their wealth through teaching that it is God's will they be rich. It is difficult for me to support a pastor who has multiple homes and vehicles and then tells me that it is a reward from God for his faithfulness or work as a pastor. Then turns around and preaches that I can have the same if I just give enough, etc. Many of these individuals are butchering scripture in the process of accumulating their wealth. I find it hard to think a pastor is humbled and worried about advancing the Gospel when he is living like a King. We can write my comments off as jealousy or "touching God's anointed," but we need to test the Spirits. Unfortunately, many Christians don't exercise any discernment and keep these pastors in their positions because they support the teaching. A sad fact about the modern Church.

Obsolete and Dying

"In or out?!" How many of us heard our parents yell that at us when we were children? Like most kids we always seem to want to keep going outside and then inside for what seems like an eternity. The banging screen door and the tracking of dirt throughout the house eventually dissolves the patience of any parent. The bottom line is that you are either going to be outside for the duration of the day or inside. Make up your mind! In other words, you can't do both. The other day I was involved in a discussion about whether or not it is "evil" for a Christian to be wealthy. I don't think it is evil, but the individual asking the question eventually pondered why Christians criticize pastors who are wealthy. Eventually, the discussion ventured into a conversation about the Old Testament and the New Testament and which one a Christian is under. Of course, I believe that the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law, is for unbelievers and not Christians. Then my friend wrote the following, "Can't seperate old testiment from the new testiment...You can't say I will "obey" the word in the new but disreguard the old... (sic)" My jaw dropped.

Christians are so dedicated to being "obedient" that they have to look towards the Old Testament in order to find things to be obedient to. Unbeknownst to them is the fact that they are destroying the New Covenant in the process. Personally, I feel that the reason many hang on to the Old Testament is because they don't understand the role of the Holy Spirit in a believers life. They basically believe that if you don't have rules to live by you will obviously sow to your flesh. When, in actuality, it is those subjecting themselves to the Old Testament that are sowing to the flesh. The major difference between the two covenants is that the Old Testament addressed issues of the flesh, while the New Testament addressed issues of the Spirit. Nearly every blessing received under the Old Testament was as the result of obedience. In Deuteronomy we can read that if you followed God's laws, "He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you (Deuteronomy 7:12)." Well, who wouldn't want those blessings? But, since we don't live in a society dominated by agriculture and farming we will substitute modern day desires like cars, fancy clothes and full refrigerators for the crops, grains and new wine mentioned.

You can get an idea of why these types of Old Testament passages are appealing to your average person. What person, regardless of their faith, doesn't have a financial, physical or relationship problem they want fixed? They are ripe for this type of teaching. They will hear "if you" only do this, this and this God will bless you. And when you aren't experiencing the blessings you seek then you must not be "obedient" enough. Where is Jesus in all of this? He is nowhere to be found. The entire focus is on you and your ability to be obedient. And there is always a verse to cling onto to justify your futile attempts at getting blessed. But, you will always here these same people say we aren't teaching obedience to law we are "obeying His word." Same thing. James said, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10)." None of these people are obeying the entire law. Rather they will pick those laws that are easiest to obey and promise rewards that they want. For example, look at tithing. You will hear Christians hanging on to passages like the ones in Malachi 3 that talk about "robbing God" if you don't tithe. Or if you do tithe God will "open the floodgates of heaven." Again, is that appealing to the flesh or the spirit? Never is it mentioned that this entire passage was written to the Israelites hundreds of years before there was anything close to the Christian Church.

What Christians, who are trying to use the Old Testament to justify their worldly desires, don't understand is all that they already have been given in Christ. If we are honest, we are trying to fill a spiritual need through sowing to the flesh. By subjecting ourselves to the law in hopes of being blessed by God we are telling ourselves that we haven't been blessed by God and need to find what we don't have from Him in the world. However, the Bible says that God "has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3)." If you have every spiritual blessing perhaps that is telling you that God didn't promise to bless you physically! The purpose of the law was to lead us to Christ by showing us our inability to live up to God's standard of perfection. There is nothing in the Bible that says we have been saved in order to, in turn, subject ourselves to trying to live under a covenant designed to lead us to Christ in the first place. God has blessed us spiritually so that we will not seek the world's blessings. It is in this way that we are able to rest and allow God to use us to advance His Kingdom. We cannot be used by Him to be a blessing if we are focused on having Him bless our flesh. The Old Testament Law is not for a Christian at all, no part of it. If it were, then we wouldn't be told that, "By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear (Hebrews 8:13)" Are you "in" the New Covenant or "out" trying to live the Old Covenant? May God continue to reveal to you the blessings you already have in Christ.

Mercy, Mercy Me

Q: Does the Bible give guidelines as to when we as Christians should show mercy and when justice must be served?

A: Ultimately, I believe this is an individual choice as to when a Christian should show mercy or allow justice to be served. For example, if one of the neighborhood kids throws a rock through your dining room window, that may be a time to show mercy. However, if you are a juror in a murder trial, it may be a time for justice to be served. Mercy means to show compassion for an offender. In terms of our faith, mercy can describe exactly what the Christian experience is all about. I once heard it stated that "the wages of sin is death and we don't have a life worth giving." What this means is that all mankind is born into this world in sin and separated from God. Sins need forgiveness and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. However, God required a perfect, sinless sacrifice in order to forgive men of their sins. That is why God became a man, in the Person of Jesus Christ, who lived a sinless life and then died on the cross for our sins. We deserved God's wrath, but in His love for us He gave us mercy, in Jesus Christ.

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5)." We show mercy to others as a direct result of understanding the mercy God has shown towards us. Because we come into this world dead in sin we are destined for an eternity separated from God in Hell. It is this knowledge that makes us so thankful for what God has done for us in Christ. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are made alive to God and have forgiveness of sins. Therefore, we in turn share the mercy God has shown to us with those we encounter on a daily basis. This doesn't mean that we make every effort in order that others avoid the consequences of their sins against us. But rather, we are able to use the prism of God's love towards us to filter these decisions through. Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7)." This is not a command to go out and find opportunities in which to be merciful towards others. Otherwise, we would have to develop those guidelines you are asking about in order to make sure we find those opportunities. That is just creating laws to put ourselves under. We want to avoid that. Jesus is saying that the only ones who are merciful are those who have received the mercy of God; Christians.

If you must have a guideline in which to be merciful all you have to do is look at your own life. Think of every sin you have ever committed no matter how large or small. It could be worrying, a lustful thought, something you stole, a lie you told, a person you hurt and so on. If you are anything like me you won't have to think too long before you have more than enough material in which to ponder. Then understand that for each one of those sins you deserved to die. That is where the quote I mentioned earlier comes in. You deserve to die for all your sins yet you don't have a life that would satisfy God for your sins. That is humbling. Or at least it should be. Not even our deaths are good enough to pay for our sins. But there is good news. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)." Jesus is God's gift to mankind. God's mercy is that He has given us an opportunity to have redemption, forgiveness and eternal life if we accept Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ which saves us is not something we can earn or keep by what we do. It can only be accepted by faith as we live a life of thankfulness sharing that merciful gift with the rest of the world.

In 2 Corinthians 1, God is described as the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort "who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:4)." Every sin that we have ever committed, ever will commit, or that has been committed against us, is a constant reminder of God's mercy. The truth of what God has done for us serves as a comfort to us each time sin effects our lives. That is what we use to determine when it is time to be merciful and when it is time to be just in our decisions. The death of Jesus Christ was both merciful and just. Just in that it showed how serious God takes sin because Jesus had to die. While at the same time we see His mercy towards mankind by sparing us from the penalty we deserved for our sins. So, if you want to know when to show mercy and when to serve justice ask God to remind you of those instances in your life that are applicable to circumstances requiring you to be merciful or just. Remember, "We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19)." Every decision we make is a direct reflection of what God has done for us and consistent with His character.

The Enemies of God

Imagine you're sitting in the audience as Jesus Christ delivers His "Sermon on the Mount." Whether you're a disciple, an antagonist or someone curiously seeking what all the fuss is about, you no doubt are captivated by what He is saying. What goes through your mind when you hear Jesus say, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:43-44)"? Today, many Christians take this statement as a command to love your enemies as if it is somehow possible if you just try hard enough or develop a system designed to help you accomplish it. However, let me suggest another possibility. Perhaps, Jesus wasn't encouraging you to love your enemies as if He thought you could do it. I think He was trying to get His audience to realize that what He was telling them to do was impossible. Think about it, could you love all your enemies all the time regardless of what they were doing to you? Jesus wasn't encouraging His audience, He was burying them under the impossibility of such a command.

Jesus was, in many ways, describing how God is treated by the unbelieving masses of the world and how He was treated up to the time He died on the cross. What did Jesus exclaim just moments before His death? "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34)." He was praying for His enemies, those who who were persecuting Him. There is no way in the world we can, on a consistent basis, love our enemies without first realizing that we were an enemy of God. Romans 5:10 says, "For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" Ever wonder when it was you were God's enemy? It was before you accepted Christ as your savior. You might say, "I am not an enemy of God! I didn't persecute Jesus. I don't persecute Christians." That may be true, but to God you are an enemy in your mind to Him if you haven't accepted Him as your savior. For example, the Bible describes a believer prior to conversation as someone who once was "alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior (Colossians 1:21)." Apart from Christ you are God's enemy because you have not come to realize that you are dead in sin and need of the forgiveness and life offered in Christ Jesus.

This is what Jesus was getting at in Matthew 5. He was trying to show us what it took to be accepted by God apart from faith in Jesus Christ. Total perfection. Jesus said a lot more than just the passage I mentioned. But, do we really need to look at all He said as if we can do any of it? If you think about it, if we could "be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)" than we are saying we can become like God. Some people will say that we aren't trying to be like God, but they will say things like, "we need to be sinless." Well, Jesus was sinless and He was God. Or they will say, "we need to be a better Christian." What that means is that we need to stop sinning, which means we should become like Jesus, which means we need be like God. No matter how it is packaged it is the same message. Jesus was not our heavenly coach giving us a halftime pep talk trying to encourage us to perform better because He believed in our ability. He was saying that if we want to enter heaven than we need to be like God! This should humble you to the point that you ask, "Who then can be saved (Matthew 19:25)?" When you come to this point in your life you are very close to ending your role as an enemy of God.

For me, I realized I was an enemy of God when I had the sobering realization that relying on my own understanding was not working out. Like many people I thought I was a good person that God couldn't help, but to be proud of and allow me into His presence in Heaven. I never got into much trouble. I was a good son. A good brother. I treated my friends and family with love and respect. I was a hard worker and loyal. My reputation was pretty much spotless. But, I didn't know God from the man in the moon. I was spiritually dead to Him trying to find fulfillment in anything and everything life had to offer. All I cared about was what was best for me in the end. And if I didn't break any laws or hurt anybody along the way then I must be doing what God wanted. Like those people thinking God was encouraging them I was like, "Yeah, I can do it." I can do what God commands. Wrong. The realization that I was not who I thought I was and had no relationship with God made me cry out for help. And it came in the Person of Jesus Christ, my God and my Savior. He raised me from the dead spiritually and gave me the life I had always tried to find through the sin the world offers and the flesh craves. I was no longer God's enemy because of my love of the world, I was His friend, His child, a saint.

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11