Just the Convenient Parts

Some of my friends really dislike my sarcasm. I’m surprised they remain my friends. I do attempt to employ sarcasm for effect and impact, though I don't always get the result I hope for.

But let me warn you ahead of time, this post might not be fun for some. These thoughts are partly a result of my study of 1 John, chapters one and two. And in particular, 1 John 2:6.



Can Christians just keep and obey the Scripture they are comfortable with and they feel is convenient? No, really! Should we just keep the feel-good verses, chapters, and books? Or those that are in times with the social thought of our day?

Some who who say they are called by His name so easily and routinely toss aside certain parts of the Word. Passages that have recently been brought to my attention are those that deal with our body-not-being-our-own, verses against homosexuality, premarital and extramarital sex, and others like those.

Well if we’re going to ignore any of His Word, why not John 3:16? I mean, accepting God’s free gift and then trying to live for Him, or avoid living for Him, is just too tough, and as I was informed recently, that half of the church doesn’t live the life their pastors and the Bible expect them to anyway. Oh, really, now?

Then let me propose that we go a step further and toss all the salvation-is-a-free-gift kinds of texts. Why not? I say let’s stop making others feel guilty about the worry of hell by saying goodbye to grace and mercy! I mean, the majority of people, in or out of the church, don’t believe at least some parts of the Word, so maybe they're onto something. And offending the majority is not what we want, is it?

NOW! BACK TO REALITY!

Is all of the Bible His Word or is it not? How dare we cherry-pick His Word for our convenience' sake, or because of what a certain percentage of so-called-believers is not doing! God have mercy on us for our blatant arrogance! We are to respond to Him and obey Him, or we are lying to ourselves.

AW Tozer said:

"It is altogether doubtful whether any man can be saved who comes to Christ for His help but with no intention to obey Him. Christ’s saviorhood is forever united with his lordship. Christ must be Lord or he will not be savior. Any professed faith in Christ as personal Savior that does not bring the life under plenary obedience to Christ as Lord is inadequate and must betray its victim at the last. The man that believes will obey; failure to obey is convincing proof that there is not true faith present."

John wasn’t advocating that salvation comes through perfectly obeying a set of rules, and neither am I. Yet, John didn’t pull any punches when he wrote that those who claim to live in Him cannot separate themselves from obeying Him.

Here’s part of what he wrote...

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:3-6

In His Grip,
Kevin