Good Fights

 I can’t say I’ve been in many scrapes. Even in my youth, I was not known as a scrapper. Usually, save for a handful of times in Junior High, I was able to talk myself out of a situation before it came to blows. Some people like to fight. It’s in their blood, and they have no qualms about throwing fists. Although they might not have a problem with the idea of having their jaw wired shut, I’ve always had better things to do, so I avoided getting into fights for the most part.

While most fights are unnecessary, some are unavoidable. While you can walk away from most conflicts, some necessitate that you stand your ground and take on your adversary lest you have a permanent enemy that will track you down and hound you for the rest of your life. Some people have nothing better to do than pick fights. Perhaps they haven’t yet figured out that getting punched in the face hurts, but especially with the younger generation, they are far too quick to resort to violence.

That said, some fights need fighting, and the Bible tells us we must not shy away from doing so. When Jude insists that we must contend earnestly for the faith, another word for it is to fight. I understand that passive Christianity is all the rage nowadays. Whatever excuses we come up with for sitting on the sidelines and allowing the enemy to do as he wills, however, will not suffice when we stand before the Almighty.

If you’re unwilling to contend for the faith, then there’s nothing you’re willing to contend for. This is why the notion of finding a hill the contemporary church is willing to die on is a false dichotomy, an empty hope, because there have been hills upon hills we should have been willing to die on but didn’t.

We keep telling each other that one day we’ll get our act together. We keep assuring each other that we’re just warming up for a good fight, but in reality, we’re mentally running through the Rolodex of excuses to see which one we will use in this particular instance. It’s not the right time. It’s not the right place. It’s not the right issue. It’s not the right temperature. It’s too muggy. It’s too cold. I’m constipated. I’m not feeling up to it today, maybe tomorrow or the day after. I can’t risk my reputation. I can’t risk my job. I can’t risk my position, and on and on we go, doing naught else but sitting on our hands while the ravenous beasts of darkness and despair glut themselves on the innocent.

1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

This is not a case of those that can’t do, teach. This is a spiritual father writing to his spiritual son, encouraging him to pursue righteousness, fight for the faith, and do his utmost to be a faithful servant because he had done likewise and had seen the fruitfulness of a life faithfully lived.

He had tread upon the ground that Timothy was going to tread; he had traversed the peaks and the valleys, had

 seen the glorious power of God, and felt the pain of betrayal and rejection. He had known privation, pain, lack, and loss and still encouraged Timothy to fight the good fight of faith because, in the end, it would all be worth it.  

2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

While Timothy’s race was just beginning, Paul’s race was ending. Through it all, he kept the faith and fought the good fight, so he could encourage Timothy to do the same without duplicity or hypocrisy.

Our contending for the faith cannot be situational. We can’t be bold only when we have numerical superiority on our side or when we are confident that the person we’re debating is our intellectual inferior. We fight the good fight and contend for the faith, whether it’s popular or unpopular, whether a thousand are standing beside us or none bothered to show up.

It is a matter of individual merit. Paul didn’t write to Timothy telling him he needn’t bother fighting the good fight because Paul already had. He wrote to him insisting that Timothy must fight just as Paul had because you won’t receive a crown of righteousness based on someone else’s accomplishments. That would be akin to me going to the gym on your behalf and you expecting to get in shape based on my exertion. That’s not the way it works.

And herein lies the danger of trying to pass the buck. If you’re unwilling to contend for the faith, who’s to say the other guy will? We’re always counting on someone else to do the things we fail to do, not realizing that it’s very likely someone is counting on you for the things they failed to do. This is why there are no spectators when it comes to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. This is why we can’t have the option of a cheering section or a fan gallery.

Everyone must fight the good fight so that at the end of their journey, they won’t have to wonder whether or not a crown of righteousness is waiting for them but declare it with certainty and conviction. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr 

First

 It’s a wonder how some things became sayings. One that always baffled me is not putting the cart before the horse. How many people had tried that back in the olden days that it became such a common saying to have survived into our era? Were there people everywhere just tying their horses to the back of their carts and then wondering why the cart wasn’t moving? Were peasants with glazed-over eyes just loitering by the side of their barns with the confused look of a modern millennial needing to change a tire so far out of their element that they just sat in the dirt and wept?

It’s common sense, isn’t it? The horse goes before the cart because the cart must be pulled, and the horse does the pulling. Granted, some would conclude that was just too simple and try to complicate it somehow, but for the most part, the mechanics of how a cart operates and what a horse’s place in the operation of said cart is, is pretty straightforward.

While Jude had started out intent on writing to the church about our common salvation, he ended up with a powerful tome encouraging the brethren to contend earnestly for the faith instead. The reason, in principle, is the same as why you don’t put the cart before the horse. If your faith is misplaced, perverted, or otherwise skewed, any talk of salvation must be tabled until we get the faith right.

Salvation comes about by faith in Christ, while faith comes about by hearing the Word. If the enemy can somehow cause those professing to preach the Word to preach something other than the Word, then the hearer’s faith will be tethered in something other than Christ, thereby making their salvation tenuous.

If you want to poison a waterway, you pour the poison in as far upriver as you possibly can. If at all feasible, you try to find where the waterway begins and dump the poison there so that everything from that point onward is befouled and corrupted.

The pulpit drives the church. The man standing before the sheep feeding them every week is responsible for what he feeds them, and if he has been compromised or was among those who have crept in unnoticed, his entire focus will be a slanted faith in something or someone other than the Lord Christ Jesus.

This is why shepherds are so high up on the enemy’s target list. You can’t get much further up the ladder than shepherds of flocks, so if you can get one of them to teach some heretical nonsense about how important, perfect, strong, and confident you are, how being self-centered, self-obsessed, and self-entitled are virtues rather than defects, the cascade effect and impact those lies will have had are incalculable.

Do you think it’s an accident that certain teachings and teachers are amplified by the world to the point that you can’t walk into a bookstore or a supermarket without seeing their leering faces? Just ask yourself this question: if the devil is the nemesis of Christ, and his minions are the enemies of believers, why are certain supposed Christians being promoted and praised by the servants of darkness? That should be your first clue that something is fishy. That should be the first warning bell that should go off in your head.

Why is the world lavishing praise on a supposed evangelist, pastor, bishop, or preacher? Why is the darkness so enamored with supposed ambassadors of the light?

If the same people who hate Jesus love the evangelist you call your spiritual mentor, you have a problem, even if you don’t want to admit it.

The second warning sign, if a second one is needed, is to see what these people say when they open their mouths to speak on the platforms that the godless have offered them. Dollars to donuts, they’re not talking about Jesus, repentance, sanctification, or holiness, but feelings and emotions, learning to love yourself, and letting go of the regret of having accused your ex-husband of something he didn’t do even though it landed him in prison.

Are they contending for the faith, or are they apologizing for the words of Jesus or what the Bible says as though they were ashamed? When they start to stutter or repeat the question just to buy a bit more time to think up an acceptable answer, you know the Christ and the cross have just been betrayed live on television.

What if the Lord is opening doors for them so that the worldly folk can get won over for Jesus? Since the same people are blaspheming God decades in, poking fun at His followers and insisting Christians are backward in their thinking and antiquated in their beliefs, I’d say that’s likely not the case.

You’ve got to give credit where credit is due; it is a brilliant strategy. First, you sneak some nefarious agents into the house of God, then use the agents you have on the outside to amplify the message and reach of those on the inside, thereby causing those on the inside to stumble and those on the outside to never find the narrow gate. Efficient and efficacious.

At this juncture, you may accuse me of being jaded and cynical. I like to think of it as realistic. Given over thirty-five years of ministry, starting at 12, and having seen different iterations of the same lie perpetrated upon the people of God, I can’t help but call it what it is. What would be the point otherwise?

With love in Christ, 

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Exceptions

 Even if there was an exception to the rule, why does everyone assume they’re the exception? You’d have better odds of winning the lottery than being that one out of seven billion people that God shows exceptional mercy to, and given that you knew better and much was given to you, it’s not that you didn’t have the time or opportunity to repent, you’re likely in rebellion.

It’s always the thief on the cross, isn’t it? What about him? Given that he’d have likely been dead by the next sunrise, exigent circumstances came into play. It wasn’t as though he could have revisited the topic of eternity at a later date. When you’ve been hanging on a cross in the midday sun, finding it harder to breathe each time you inhale, everything becomes crystal clear.

We can infer from his words that the thief on the cross had never met Jesus until that time. It’s not as though he’d run into Him by the sea of Galilee, heard Him speak, saw Him do miracles, and decided to pass on the whole salvation thing. This was his first opportunity to be in the presence of Christ, and he believed Him to be who He claimed to be. “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” is not something one says if one doubts the veracity of Christ’s lordship. From his brief interaction with Jesus, the man had faith and believed, and as such, Christ promised him Paradise.

Many people are banking on being the exception to the rule and not treating the prospect of eternity and where they will spend it with the requisite seriousness. True, you only live once and can only die once, but after this, the judgment. It’s that last part nobody wants to consider because it puts a damper on the whole life in the fast lane mindset.

This morning has nothing to do with Jude. Consider this a public service announcement, and whoever this was meant to be for, whoever will run across it either today or a year from now, though you may not acknowledge it, your time on earth is as finite as the thief’s was as he hung on that cross. You may not be enduring the horrors of crucifixion, but will it take that to come to terms with your mortality? I hope not.

It is estimated that some 330,000 people die every day in the world. Thankfully, if you’re reading this, you were not among them today. Can you guarantee you won’t be tomorrow? That’s the crux of it, the factor the devil is hoping you won’t consider until it’s too late: The reality that tomorrow is guaranteed to no man, myself included.

Contrary to the myths you may have heard, you’re gone, and there’s no workaround once you're gone. It may comfort those left behind to light candles or pray for the souls of the dearly departed, but while you lived, you made choices, and your choices will have eternal consequences. There’s no changing one’s trajectory after they’ve breathed their last, no matter how many candles you light on their behalf. You can burn the world in the hope of lighting someone’s way out of the pit, to no avail.

Who you were here, what you accomplished in the world, the status you achieved, or the renown you amassed hold no weight on the other side. The great leveler comes for us all sooner or later. Rich men and poor share the same dirt once they are no more; the only difference is that one likely gets a nicer box than the other. Beyond that, eternity. Heady prospect, I know, but not as heady as the two destinations available to man, as well as the itinerary for each.

Call it Heaven, Paradise, or Abraham’s bosom; it is markedly different from the other destination afforded to man. In case you were wondering, it’s a binary choice. There are no alternatives, and there is no third destination. While Heaven is a place of rest, where those who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord will be in the presence of God for all eternity, Hades is a place of torment where fire is the predominant theme. But you’re thinking; I like the heat; it’s why I moved to Arizona. Nobody likes it that hot, and it’s not a dry heat.

Contrary to the devil’s propaganda, hell is not a place where you rock out with long-dead musicians; it’s a place where the fire burns, the worm never sleeps, and the last thing on anyone’s mind is a jam session. As Jesus tells it, a man in the torments of Hades begged Father Abraham for nothing more than for Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue.

You’ll always get the short end making deals with the devil. You will always be underwhelmed when it comes to collecting, no matter what he promised you. No matter how much he might try to pretty up the notion of hell, the reality of it is still undeniable and bleak enough to make any sane person want to stay out. There’s only one way of staying out of hell: Jesus. If you’re reading this and you don’t yet know Him, don’t delay; all you may have is today.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Coattails

 Say what you will about Jude, but he knew his Scripture. In his short letter to the church, he systematically went through a handful of events that took place in the Old Testament - more specifically, the Pentateuch - with such alacrity that one could readily tell he hadn’t dodged studying the Scriptures.

He did not live with the expectation of everyone believing him at his word because he was the half-brother of Jesus; he backed the things he said with scripture, as one ought if they are to be believed. He didn’t try to ride Christ’s coattails and insist that people should follow him now that Christ had ascended; on the contrary, he didn’t even mention he was the half-brother of Jesus in his letter. His only mention of family was James, his brother, Christ’s other half-brother.

It’s interesting to note the vitriol with which the Book of Jude and the Book of James are met by some modern-day tellers of tales, even though they were likely the closest to Christ of all His disciples. Jesus was their older half-brother, and if I know anything about little brothers, it’s that they like hanging around their big brother as much as possible.

Even so, Jude doesn’t trade on his half-brother’s name other than to insist that he is a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Coincidently, neither does James, also introducing himself as a bondservant of Christ.

While Jude’s letter was to the general church, James’ letter was to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, but if the Lord tarries, and I have time, once we’re done with Jude, perhaps we’ll get into James because there is a common theme, a continuity and a connection between the two that is undeniably profound.

Yep, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable, not just the parts you approve of. The fact that you’re uncomfortable with certain passages or entire books of the Bible does not make them any less inspired or profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

Just because you don’t like what it says, or it doesn’t bear witness to your spirit, it does not nullify the Scripture. As an aside, when did the Word of God bearing witness to your spirit become a credible litmus test? It’s the Word of God! How your flesh, or spirit for that matter, feels about it is irrelevant. That some people mistake their flesh for their spirit is another topic altogether, but I digress.

Okay, one more point, and I’ll stop; I promise: your spirit will never tell you to do something contrary to Scripture or insist you reject the written Word in lieu of messages, prophecies, dreams, feelings, or visions. That’s your flesh, all day long, and whatever it’s insisting you reject in the canon of Scripture is likely standing in the way of its dominance. Your spirit will never countermand the Word! It will not extend liberties where God, through His Word, commands self-restraint.

When we do not allow the entirety of Scripture to speak to us, guide us, and instruct us, our spiritual growth will be stunted at best and inexistent at worst. We remain in the same spiritual state in perpetuity because we refuse to be fed by the whole of God’s word and only nibble on the bits we like. It’s like sitting down for a ten-course meal but only eating the amuse-bouche. That’s a fancy way of saying appetizer. You’re welcome.

There is a balance to the Word of God that makes both grace and fruitful faithfulness harmonious and symbiotic. They are not mutually exclusive, and anyone who insists it’s one or the other has not rightly divided the Word of Truth.

Was Jude being prophetic when he saw the attempted perversion of grace? No, it was happening even in his day. In his letter, he says that certain men have crept in, not that certain men will creep in. Two thousand years ago, shortly after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the enemy was hard at work in attempting to pervert and twist the grace of God into licentiousness.

Jude also insists that God will not stand for it. He insists that God will judge righteously and that it wouldn’t be uncharacteristic for Him to do so. I know you’ve been told that God is lovey-dovey, warm, and fluffy, but here are a handful of instances when His righteous judgment was manifest, Jude says.

Jude 5-7, “But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

The three examples Jude used to highlight the righteous judgment of God are noteworthy because they cover three different demographics. First, he referenced rebellious children, those who, although the people of God and saved out of the land of Egypt, did not believe. He then referenced rebellious angels, those who did not keep their proper domain but left their abode. Finally, the godless, those who’d always been in rebellion and who had given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh.

Even though some may insist upon it, God hasn’t mellowed over the centuries. He will not wink at a sin today that He punished in the beginning. God is not progressive; He is not ever-changing; He is the same yesterday, today, and always. Essentially, Jude is saying if you are considering falling for the hucksters, the false teachers, those who attempt to pervert the gospel of Christ, just remember what God did, and be sure He will do it again, no matter what the deceivers might say.

He is the rock and sure foundation upon which you can build your spiritual house. He is the ever-faithful Father in whom you can invest your hope and faith. He is also righteous and just and will not let this generation slide when He destroyed entire cities for the selfsame sins.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

He Is

 If someone on the interwebs tells you God wouldn’t do that, but the Bible says He will, might I suggest you err on the side of caution and believe the Word of God? I realize it’s not a popular position nowadays, but popular and right don’t usually intersect, and I’m perfectly content with being unpopular. It isn’t a popularity contest, anyway. Some people think it is. They make it about themselves, their ego, and their aspirations and are willing to sacrifice everything, including the truth, on the altar of self. They tell themselves it will all have been worth it once they get the power and influence because then they can do some good, but even when they get all the influence they could ever want, they don’t ever get around to doing good.

It’s no longer about the will of God, His nature, His character, or His commands; it’s about market research and poll testing and making sure that the things we say have majority support; otherwise, we change our position as surely as some greasy politician who just got promised a hefty campaign contribution.

It’s not as though Jude is coming out of left field when he writes about the righteousness of God and His righteous judgment. It’s not as though the notion of a just God who judges justly was foreign to those of the Way until Jude came along. Paul did a fine job in both Romans and Hebrews in distilling the multi-dimensionality of God, balancing His goodness and His severity, and outlining which is reserved for whom.

Romans 11:22, “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”

All I have to do is quote scripture to stir up a hornet’s nest. Do I do so intentionally? Not particularly. I have no desire to enter into internet beefs, but we can’t be selective about the scripture passages we acknowledge, pretending as though the others are inferior or they don’t exist just because they poke holes in our theories.

God is capable of goodness, but He is likewise capable of severity. Toward those who fell, severity. Toward those who continue in His goodness, goodness. If you continue in His goodness. That’s a big if. You can’t have come in contact with His goodness once, long ago, in a church far away; you must remain in it perpetually that His goodness might likewise remain.

You choose to remain in His goodness. You choose to remain faithful. You choose to remain obedient. You choose to remain pure. But you don’t understand brother, the devil’s been after me, one temptation after another, it’s relentless.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

No one said it would be easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Trust that God is faithful, as His word says, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. That said, only a fool will repeatedly place himself in a situation or position where he is sure to be tempted.

Don’t go looking to get burned and expect God to put out the fire. It’s like going to the store, buying the box of Twinkies, bringing it home, and scarfing them down, then being angry with God for not stopping you. There were a lot of opportunities for you to stop yourself along the way. You could have not gone to the store, or you could have bought rice cakes instead; you could have done one of a dozen things that would have prevented you from going into a sugar coma. Why lay the blame at God’s doorstep?

The answer is obvious enough, so much so that the question borders on being rhetorical. We’d rather blame God for the things we do than take personal responsibility for our actions and admit it’s our own shortcomings, failures, and duplicity that kept us from following through. We chose half measures rather than the full monty. We tried to resist the devil without submitting to God, and that’s like trying to row across the ocean with just one oar.

To submit isn’t to think of ourselves as equal to God; it’s to yield to His authority and will. It’s to defer to Him on all matters and do as He commands even when the flesh bristles. Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not a little god, and neither am I. We are created beings who ought not to be haughty but fear.

Well, that’s just ludicrous. I mean, I’ve never. We are princes and priests ruling nations with rods of iron. What’s with all this fear talk? Now you’re just making stuff up, brother.

Romans 11:20-21, “Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.”

But that’s not what brother Joel, sister Joyce, and sister Beth teach….and that’s the exact point Jude was trying to make. Just because it glitters, it doesn’t mean it’s gold. Think of the Bible as a gold testing kit. You take the nugget of shiny stuff and rub it up against the Bible. The Bible will tell you whether it’s real or not, and if it’s not real because the Bible told you it’s not, then if you treasure that piece of rock that isn’t real as though it were, that’s on you.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Cracks

 The most essential part of any house isn’t whether it’s built of brick, stone, stucco, or if the roof is metal. It’s not the wood flooring, sconces, appliances, or square footage; it’s the foundation. If the foundation isn’t up to par, eventually, the entire thing will get torn down because it is unsafe, and at some point, it will be condemned.

I’ve been to a few demolition sales in my life, and every time the reason for the demo was the foundation. The walls still looked okay to the naked eye, you could still walk through the house, and it seemed sturdy enough, but the foundation had cracks, and because it had gone beyond that, they were scheduled for destruction.

If cracks exist in a foundation, they can be exploited over time. If there are cracks in your spiritual foundation, the enemy is patient enough and wily enough to hammer at them until they grow and stretch, and your spiritual house becomes something other than the place of peace, joy, and intimacy with God that it should be.

Whatever men believe that is antithetical to Scripture is the crack that the enemy can exploit in their lives. He will use that one thing as a wedge, and a fulcrum to tear at your peace, your conviction, your steadfastness, and your commitment to the truth. He will employ the same tactics as he did with Eve, beginning with “Did God really say that” and ending with “But why would God not want you to be happy?”

When we use human reason to attempt to understand the mind of God, we will always conclude that God would not allow that or say that, or expect that, because it is detrimental to the flesh. Human reason is anchored in the flesh. It draws conclusions based on the flesh’s experiences, desires, and interests, and if it is not regenerated and has not been renewed, it will always war against the will and plan of God.

The flesh is selfish. The flesh is myopic. The flesh does not consider eternity, it does not consider godliness, and as long as it can feed its lusts and desires, it does not consider the consequences either. If faced with two competing ideas, the flesh will always gravitate toward the one that is less taxing and that requires less effort. Why do you think diet gurus and fat-loss pills are so popular? Even though you know deep down that you likely won’t lose fifty pounds in five days by just taking one pill every morning before breakfast, you still place the order because perhaps there’s a chance.

Deception always seems reasonable to the flesh. It always seems reasonable to human logic. Brother, God loves people too much to send anyone to hell, don’t you agree? No, I don’t agree because God said He would cast certain individuals into the outer darkness. He said there would be those who would be told to depart because He never knew them. There is a detailed description of the lake of fire and what happens there in the Bible, so although it may sound good to the flesh, you know it’s a lie because of what the Book says.

Jude 5, “But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.”

It seems as though you’ve forgotten about the severity of God, though you once knew of it, Jude says, and it’s time you were reminded of it because you are approaching God as something other than the omniscient, omnipotent Creator of all that He is.

We’ve been told that we’re on equal footing with God for so long in the modern age that we’ve lost our awe and wonder of Him. Even though the Book tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, we were reassured that we have nothing to fear, and so can do as we will when we will, and God will be more than content with the scraps of our lives even though we knew better lo’ these many years.

I’m going to give the devil my best years and give God the last few months before the dementia really ramps up, and voila, I get to name and claim my mansion in the sky. It’s the mindset far too many have today, and it is off-putting to God. That’s not love; that’s grift. That’s not faithfulness; that’s opportunism. It’s the undeniable abuse of grace that is a bane on the household of faith.

If I truly love someone, do I wait until I’m incontinent to show them that I love them? It would be like having met my wife in my early twenties and telling her, someday, baby, I’m going to put a ring on it. I’m going to marry you, but not quite yet; there are a few wild oats I need to sow, but hey, you wait for me, and in thirty or forty years, we’ll be together at last.

Men abuse the grace of God because they’ve been taught there are no consequences to doing so. In their minds, they serve a one-dimensional God incapable of anything other than love. You may not want to hear it, but I’m here to tell you that God gets angry, He is a consuming fire, and He makes no allowances for the lukewarm.

Take your temperature. Gauge whether you are hot or cold because if you fall into the lukewarm category, there’s nothing waiting for you than to be spewed out of His mouth. Not my words, His!  

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

One Direction

 It’s funny how the ungodly, perverse, and demonic only encourage people in one direction. You’ve never heard a false prophet encourage anyone to draw closer to Jesus, and you’ve never heard a false teacher encourage anyone to pursue righteousness, sanctification, and holiness. It’s as though their agenda isn’t to grow you spiritually, disciple you into maturity, and teach you to fish rather than give you a fish. It’s as though they want to keep you close, never let you go, always dependent on their words and guidance because only then can they exert power over you.

If a man’s goal is to honor himself rather than Christ, elevate himself above Christ, and point to himself in lieu of Christ, you’re not joining a church; you’re joining a cult. Cult of personality is a big draw in our day and age, and truthfully it has been since the time of the apostles. Even then, people quarreled among themselves, some insisting they were of Paul, others of Apollos, until Paul had to write a letter and set matters straight.

It is God who gives the increase, it is God who stirs the heart, and all glory is due Him. Those who plant and those who water will receive their reward, but they cannot claim the glory. We went from putting our hand to the plow and building the kingdom of God to building our own kingdoms and sabotaging anyone who would dare attempt to plow alongside us. Our arrogance became such that men came to believe they were the only ones who could wield the plow and who could sow the seed, and anyone else was just a hindrance. They just got in the way.

Schisms and divisions became commonplace, and everyone insisted that if you disagreed on the minutest of doctrinal detail, they had the power and authority to declare that you were heretofore and forevermore barred from entry into heaven. I’m still reading e-mails and Facebook posts that if I differ in my belief regarding the timing of the rapture, God is so petty and vindictive that He’ll just leave me here.  

Do you understand how dangerous a thing it is to project your pettiness and vindictiveness onto God and assume that He is as spiteful as you are? Do you know the danger of speaking on behalf of God, for Him, when He did not say what you say He said?

What sort of lunatic asylum did you escape from to insist that whether or not you get caught up will be determined by whether or not you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? Show that to me in the Bible! Yes, I know, sister Janice, the patron saint of stray cats, said it was so, but I’m going to need a bit more than that.

Perhaps it’s a coincidence that the same individuals insisting that tomorrow’s the day we all fly away are insisting that the Bible never said we should stop sinning. It’s blasphemous, don’t you know, to urge people to repentance and sanctification. Selective amnesia is all well and good, but just because you forgot Jesus said to go and sin no more, it doesn’t mean the Bible changed to suit your blind spot.

Not only are these ungodly men of whom Jude spoke keeping believers from preparing to endure to the end, but they’re also ensuring that even if, as they say, true believers get caught up tomorrow, those who have bought into their lies will not be counted among those whom the groom will find in spotless garments.

You have to ignore a lot of scripture to conclude that sanctification is for the birds, and all you have to do is wave a hand in the air. You’d have to ignore the words of Jesus, and even God himself, then twist the things Paul said in such a way that if he stood before you and you shared your conclusion, he’d rebuke you like he did Elymas.

Jude is speaking to the church. Not just one church body, but the church as a whole, warning that there were, there are, and there will be, men who will attempt to abuse grace and turn it into lewdness or licentiousness, perverting both the intent and the nature of it to the point that they would be denying the Lord God. He was not talking about outsiders, the godless, the heathen, or the uninitiated. He was talking about pretend believers who had crept in unnoticed and were now turning men’s hearts back to the world and the lusts thereof by their contrivances.

These individuals aren’t confused or ignorant. They know precisely what they are doing and why, so giving them the benefit of the doubt is pointless. Jude tells us that they were long ago marked out for this condemnation. Like their father, the devil, these men are not ignorant of Scripture. They know scripture better than most casual Christians, but they twist it to their advantage and with the intent and purpose of deceiving the innocent and gullible.

False teachers and false prophets pose the greatest danger to the church, and every new testament writer saw the truth of it and warned against them. If they posed no danger, it would have been a waste of ink, and God’s not known for inspiring irrelevancies. We were warned to be watchful because they are effective and oftentimes sprinkle enough truth into their deception to cause division, confusion, and strife.

The Bible is the antidote to lies and deception. The truth of Scripture acts as a shield and a protective covering over your heart so that anything not of God will not be able to germinate and take root but be rejected outright.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.