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From the Prophet Isaiah 7:9 (b)

If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.

From the Epistle Paul, Hebrews 9:14

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleans our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Two statements, both equally as powerful. One a statement of hope, one a statement of warning.

I enjoy taking a look at contrasting statements in the Bible, because most people see these as contradictions, or out right heresies. How can God be love and judgmental.

Let's take a look at the first verse from Isaiah. The warning, that statement that engulfs much of what *gag* religion has become today. If, this word is part of an if then clause, signifying cause and effect, signifying a choice to be made. So all you Calvinists out there get over it, we have a choice. If you do NOT stand firm in your faith. There is the cause, you don't stand firm in your faith, not the faith of your mother or father, not the faith of your pastor or teacher, YOUR faith. This means that at some point you had to make this faith your own, if you've never done that you can stop reading. Go sit down with the Bible and start asking yourself and God if your faith is your own. Standing firm on something means that there was some kind of foundational truth, meaning the word of God. Yes the word of God is true, unfailing, and unchanged despite what some people may try to force you to believe. So if you do not stand on the word of God, the faith that you have claimed as your own, THEN (here is the effect) you will not stand at all.

Ouch.
If you have no basis for your faith, if you do not believe the word of God for what it is, then you basically have no reason to stand for Christ, others will walk all over you, and you're going to look like the biggest moron this side of the Mississippi.

Welcome to modern religion.

The second statement I don't need to brake down quite as much. God, came to this earth to eradicate the old covenant that he made with Israel. He determined that it became obsolete because they did not obey it in the first place, and that it was time as creator to come down and take care of not just Israel but all of his creation. The hope that we have in Christ is this, that once we have accepted his blood we are washed of sins, past present and future.

Don't stop there. Your fluffy messages of peace love and joy and the Christian faith need to stop. Christianity is not some fluffy pie in the sky, in the sweet bye and bye, when we all die we'll fly with wings like angels.

There's work to be done son. The gospel is that of a commission, once you have found Christ get out there and share it, work it, flesh it out. Wrestle with it, build your foundations. Church isn't about a meeting come Sunday, love it and leave it. I see Christians come into church each week like that. I see them leave each week like that too.

What are we doing to make a difference, what are we doing to stand firm in our faith so that we're not lying on the side of the road like a poor beggar. Once we accepted the blood of Christ our consciences were cleaned of all sin so that we can claim the riches of Christ, stop begging on the side of the road and start working out our faith in him.

Oh yeah, I kind of forgot to mention the last part in that verse in Hebrews...THAT WE MAY SERVE THE LIVING GOD!

First of all we are supposed to SERVE, not sit on our butts. Second of all the God that we serve, he didn't die and stay buried. You see the discovery channel got it wrong kids, Christ rose out of that grave and left nothing but the burial clothes in the grave. People witnessed this resurrection, people testified to this resurrection. Why? so that we can claim the hope we have in Christ.

That's why I love and identify with Paul so much. I love service, I love the fact that Paul is blunt about the fact that Christians are downright terrible people most of the time and that they are the ones that unfortunately need a lesson. You can't expect lost people to act godly. They're lost, expect them to act how they act. Stop wallowing in it. It's a done deal they're heading to hell unless you do something about it. You can't do something about it until you get the beam out of your eye and start putting some work into your faith.

Faith.Work.Love.Service.Life