Those who live in the World and not in Christ

There are many living in the world and not in Christ though they claim to be Christian. They think that they are good Christians because they are not sinners, but they are / we are sinners. Praise God that Jesus Christ came for sinners, not the righteous. Who are these righteous? They are the righteous in their own eyes making them unrighteous. Many say, "I am not a sinner, for I have kept the commandments." Really? Did you know that no man on earth is free of sin. We have in our spiritual DNA, the sin of Adam/Eve. Paul reminds us that even after we 'see the light' as he did, we still sin though we don't want to ~ Romans 7.  We sin everyday consciously and unconsciously.

Have you given false testimony about someone based only what you think you heard them say or what someone told you about them? Have you put other gods before Jesus Christ? Of course, you probably don't think so. You may not be at the altar of a pagan god but so many worship at the altar of an idea - evolution -science/math or nationalism or at the altar of a a sports team, or the altar of Hollywood glamour, or the altar of the shopping Mall or Home Goods, and certainly many worship their job (which requires their entire being there), their lifestyle, their clothes, their shoes, and purses, their restaurant, their family.

How could that be? If you love and worship those things more than worshiping the Lord God everyday, you may have a problem with sin. "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" Why do you ask me about what is good... there is only One who is good. Follow me! Matthew 19:16-21

Worse is that in our own sin, we cause others to stumble and fall in their faith and that is thus sin piled on top of sin. I see this everyday on social media and in face to face situations. Someone posts that they heard or think they know someone as a bad person and suddenly there is a swarm of others like vultures swooping down to condemn a person based on what they said. Even if it were true, we all say negative things, we just don't let others know we say them. Then we pass this false information along as true for today and all time. That is bearing a false testimony. We boast about ourselves as we passed on this on good information. We boast that we are good Christians, our family is the most righteous, our children, our spouse.

We worship the flesh even if we don't look at porn. How? We want to have and show that we have the best dress for the party or church on Sunday. We have the right shoes and purse and other accessories. We have the right hair style and though we may say we don't seek compliments, we sure love when they come our way. We want to have a nice landscaped yard and to have smart children again to show ourselves to others and get compliments.

The worst is that we call ourselves Christians. But, far worse is that in our sin, we cause others to sin. We make they feel like they don't have what we have and that they too should have it, including smart children and a good looking spouse. We may or may not realize that by doing this, we take away from them their Christian walk with the Lord and pollute them with false gods.

What is the way out? Jesus Christ is the way!  "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" Why do you ask me about what is good... there is only One who is good. Follow me! Matthew 19:16-21

There best new is the Gospel. Christ was born, died and risen for sinners like me, like you! Forgive and embrace peace in the Peace and Presence of the Lord this Christmas.