Real Christianity is about obedience, practice

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Website owner:  James Miller

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One of the strongest themes running through the Bible is man’s inclination towards sin.

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Gen 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Rom 3: 23 for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

See: Man’s natural inclination toward sin and wrongdoing

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The Bible teaches us that we are all sinners in the sense that we have all sinned (and continue to sin from time to time). Even if we take God seriously, take obedience seriously, we are all likely to fall short occasionally. David sinned. Peter sinned. I have sinned. (I can remember a number of things that I have done that I feel very guilty and regretful about when they come to mind.). We are all sinners.

Another very strong theme of the Bible is that God is a good, loving, compassionate being who cares about the sinner, wants him to come back to the right road, and will readily forgive him of his sins if he will repent of them, forsake them, and live the good, moral life that God wants.

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Isaiah 55: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Psa 103: 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. 14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

2 Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

See: God is a God of compassion, love, and mercy who will forgive sin

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What is the main thrust of the Bible? The main thrust of both Old and New Testament is the message that the sinner should repent of his sins, turn to God, and live in accordance with His teachings and precepts i.e. that he should live a good, moral, upright life, follow the Ten Commandments, etc. That is what the Old Testament teaches. That is what Jesus taught.

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Mark 6:12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.

Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

See: On Obedience in Following Jesus' Teachings

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The emphasis then of both Old and New Testament is on repenting of sin and living the kind of upright, moral, good life that Jesus taught. It is all about obedience and practice.

It does seem to me that all of the religious denominations that I am familiar with, Protestant and Catholic, are just way off track. And the reason they are off track is that they make Christianity all kinds of things except that very central, most important ingredient of all: obedience — the practice of the teachings of Christ and the apostles. They emphasize dogmas and doctrines; they make their services very enjoyable with beautiful liturgies and enjoyable and spirited song services that reinforce their theological dogma. They emphasize the importance of soul-winning, testifying, and tithing (things that increase membership and church income and make preachers happy). And the people are mesmerized into believing that that is the sum total of what Christianity is. And they miss the central point. It is an interesting phenomenon. You would think that at least some denomination would get it right. Perhaps there is one that does. (But I haven't found it.) What is the explanation for this interesting phenomenon? I think it lies in basic dogmas and doctrines and the theological seminaries that perpetuate these dogmas and doctrines and propagate them (along with the central error) through ministers who just preach what they have been taught. And I suspect the Devil has some hand in it all.

See:

My views on Christianity in America

Everywhere I look I see a Christianity being taught and practiced in which the main, central ingredient of Christianity is missing

True Christianity is about Fear of God, Obedience, Practice

By preachers not talking about the importance of obedience, of practice, the people get the idea that they can live like the rest of the world lives and still be a Christian. They have gone through some rite or formula that supposedly makes them a Christian and see no inconsistency in living an immoral life and also being a Christian.

Well, being a real Christian is all about being the right kind of person. It is all about uprightness, goodness. It is all about the heart. We can't have a right heart toward God and knowingly sin, accept sin as excusable. We have to at least be seriously trying to live a righteous, good life. We cannot forget all of the scripture in the Bible about the importance of obedience, practice. It is all about attitude. I think that just common sense tells a person that sin is not OK. God is not a God of sham. The absence of preaching about the importance of practice in almost all of the churches is very troubling. All of the emphasis on dogma combined with a silence about the importance of practice leads to apostate Christianity, a false Christianity, fake Christianity. People get the wrong idea of what Christianity is.

Mar 2019