God Hasn’t Changed-Have We?

“We cannot change God. If changes are to be made, they must be made in us.” R.C. Sproul

The last few days and weeks have been interesting, have they not? It is hard to believe that it is only March, it seems as if several years of events have happened in the space of only a few weeks. Let’s face it, gone are the days where we can just warm a pew at a church once in a while. We must take time to understand God, His Word and the happenings in the world. After all, without Him, we have no hope. 

Our walk with Christ requires introspection

There are times when we truly look at our walk with Christ, that there will inevitably be moments of discomfort. Church, we’ve gone the way of the world. If it’s uncomfortable or deals with sin, we run from it like the plague. Discomfort has been replaced with “God loves me just as I am, I’m perfect because God made me.” Absolutely, God does love you, He sent His son to die for you, but dear ones, I want to share some words with you that the late great Voddie Buacham said. “All the Gospel requires is repentance and faith, nothing else. You may ask, ‘What about obedience?’ That’s not what the Gospel requires, it’s what the Gospel produces. If the Gospel were to require obedience from us, then that would mean that we can be obedient apart from the person and work of Jesus Christ and Jesus died for nothing. The Gospel produces obedience in us, joyful obedience in us.”

Let the Gospel do its work

Reverend Baucham’s words were truly poignant. It’s almost like an If-then statement. Many churches have joyfully proclaimed the good news that God loves everyone and they’ve left out the other part. God desires for us to come to him in our brokenness and let His Gospel do the work in us to make us more like Him. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis: Christianity is not about improvement, it’s about transformation. There are many good people who are not believers, if the goal was to make us good, then Jesus came to Earth and died for nothing.

The thief steals, kills and destroys

If you grew up in a faith tradition, particularly in the South, you might remember the huge evangelism push during the 80’s and 90’s. I remember the rapture movie that was shown during a youth group session. Jesus came for the church to take them up to Heaven before the Great Tribulation took place on the Earth. Many who thought they were Christians were left behind to live through the Anti-Christ and the impending doom that unfolded. Death, beheading, starvation, the mark of the beast. It was scary. I remember wondering if I wasn’t a Christian or holy enough to make the cut of the rapture. It was a bit disconcerting. Between the rapture movies and hellfire and brimstone sermons, I can see how that would cause many from the church to question the exegesis of the Gospel they heard. I have a theory as to why that happened. It was all a plan of he who comes to steal, kill and destroy. 

All of this deconstruction and division has led us right to where we are

I want to take a moment and discuss something I’ve seen happening in the church over the years. Dear ones, I want to talk about this because I am just as guilty of falling into the trap of deconstruction. God has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. We’ve let the enemy creep in and change God’s Word and its meaning. Think about it, when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days, what did the enemy use to torment Him? The enemy quoted God’s Word! “If you are the Son of God, speak to these stones. Tell them to become bread.” Jesus combated him by giving God’s Word right back to him. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Let’s face it, Satan is pulling the same tricks today. We are not “more enlightened” or “more modern” we have been lied to, stolen from and we’ve become a soft church tip-toeing around everyone’s feelings. To summarize, I’ll use the words of one of my favorite pastors: “New Days, old demons.”

What does the modern church say versus the Scripture? 

• The modern church often defines sin more in terms of injustice, oppression and broken systems. 
• Salvation may be described as healing, liberation or earthly victory over systems. 
• The modern church often emphasizes Jesus’ teachings on love, inclusion and justice.
• Many churches interpret Jesus’ substitutionary atonement and the resurrection as symbolic or in non-literal ways. 
• Jesus is a moral example rather than the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. 
• The Gospel is subject to re-interpretation (particularly difficult passages) in light of modern ethics and scholarship. In other words, doctrine is open to development and reform. 

What does the Scripture tell us?

• Sin is primarily rebellion against God. 
• The Scripture teaches repentance and faith as necessary.
• It affirms eternal realities such as Heaven and Hell
• Jesus was fully God and fully man
• Jesus’ resurrection was literal bodily resurrection. 
• Jesus’ death was atonement for sin.
• Jesus was not just an example-He is also Lord and Savior
• The Scripture is divinely inspired and authoritative
• Doctrine is settled and not subject to cultural revision

So you see Church, throughout Scripture in one way or another, God tells us He is the same and unchanging. He never lies. However our enemy, he lies often. He steals from our joy, he causes us to live subject to our fleshly desires, rather than crucify our flesh and aim to be more like Christ. Look at the state of the world right now. The drums of war are beating, social media is a dumpster fire, narcissism is rampant, many are being slaughtered all over the world. Some are paying the price for their faith in Christ, others are being slain because humanity is so very cruel.

We need a letter from Paul

If Paul were here right now, we’d be getting a letter. We’ve become the Church of Laodicea, we are neither hot nor cold. God will spew us out!  Why are we not the beacon of light in the darkness right now? These times call for prayer, fasting and reflection, not coffee bars and social gospel. I write this to challenge you, dear Christian to recommit to prayer and to God’s unchangeable nature and Word. When I was praying about writing this article, I was afraid that this would bring fear to you, dear readers. I was tempted to be fearful myself.  God in His still, small voice reminded me that for us, those who trust Him, abide in Him and seek Him; We will be given a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. God’s not changed dear ones, we have. Selah