I keep seeing so many “Christians” and church denominations cave to societal pressures. Yet Jesus is calling to us to raise the bar and grow a backbone. I don’t know about you but I’m sick of it and I’m sure it sickens the Lord.
Christians today have been called intolerant and hateful by today’s culture if we take any moral stand based on Biblical principles that we follow because the father of lies twists reality to make us look evil. Those who cave to peer pressure end up talking openly against basic principles in the Word of God and change their stances to fit the culture’s current narrative.
But, we MUST NOT be bullied or suckered into the lie that it’s okay to gray or skew the word of God to make others happy. Truth is not relative. Truth is found in the Word and in Christ alone.
Jesus didn’t come to get rid of or nullify the law from the Old Testament. Instead He holds us to an even higher standard. So don’t ever think by grace alone can we enter the kingdom of heaven. We still have to follow the Word and hold ourselves accountable for our word, thought, and deed.
By our fruits will we be known as true Christ followers. Meaning we can’t act like the world does, doing whatever we feel, and expect that we’re following the will of the Lord. We must be set apart and live, think, and behave differently according to God’s Word.
Don’t buy satan’s lies and confusion any longer. We must pray for wisdom, clarity, and direction on what the Lord wants from you and I. Study the Word so you don’t forget or skew any lines and lead several others astray because you will be held accountable for doing so.
Society’s Celebrated Moral Standards
Jesus taught us higher standards of living that we cannot ignore, especially in the days we are living in with evil, lies, and perversion everywhere. By society’s standards today it’s okay and even celebrated to have open marriages, live in sexual sin, practice homosexuality, have gender transition procedures done, divorce if you’re “unhappy”, be hateful on social media, have abortions done, have drag queens read to our children in schools, call men women and vice versa if they “identify” that way, do drugs, abuse alcohol, be addicted to porn, watch “soft porn” in TV shows and movies, and the list goes on and on… but Jesus calls us to righteousness, not filth. Take offense by my usage of the word filth if you want but that’s what it is. It’s sin and totally against God’s Word.
Just take a moment to think about the repercussions of the filth living listed above… Sexually transmitted diseases, broken relationships, never truly being at peace, empty bank accounts, becoming angry and numb, inflicting self-harm, watching our children grow up to live in bondage and be self-loathing, murder, thoughts of suicide or actually taking one’s life, etc. If you don’t believe me, ask someone who has come out of a similar lifestyle and see if they had any consequences and felt truly fulfilled during all of it. Do these examples of repercussions sound good to you? I don’t think so.
On the opposite side of things, God calls us to freedom from sin and bondage that leads to a life of peace, true enjoyment, and fulfillment. Will life be perfect if we follow Christ? No, it will still be life which is hard but the difference is that we will have Him to help us through anything and everything.
We can have peace and joy in EVERY circumstance, even the hardest ones knowing He causes all things to work for our good. Even the things the enemy tries to throw at us to destroy us.
Jesus Raising The Bar
In Matthew 5:16, He directs us to “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”. Let’s take a look below at some of the higher standards together found in Matthew 5…
- Follow the OT Commandments and laws of the prophets found in the Old Testament (v17,19). Don’t erase them because of grace. Meaning, the commandments are the foundational pillars of our faith.
- Being angry with a person, calling them a fool, or cursing them puts you in danger of hell so reconcile with them before you do anything else (v22-24).
- Lusting after others is the equivalent of the act of adultery (v27-28).
- Divorce for reasons other than sexual immorality causes one and their spouse to commit adultery with others after they divorce (v31).
- Don’t make promises, swears, or oaths on anything or anyone. Simply, let your yes be yes and your no be no (v34-37).
- Don’t get even with anyone who does you wrong but instead be merciful and generous (v38-42).
- Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you (v43-47).
If you’ll notice, many of these higher standards, if you will, feed off of Old Testament laws which is probably why Jesus mentions it first. He explains He didn’t come to abolish the law but to accomplish its purpose.
Unfortunately, many Christians take grace too far and believe they can live how they want and ask for forgiveness later. It’s easier to live that way because we wouldn’t have to change much and could do whatever we want.
People can use the excuse, “well Jesus knows my heart and that I tried. No one is perfect.” Sure those things are true to an extent. No one is perfect but there is an obvious difference…
Jesus is concerned with our heart. We have a heart issue if we believe that truly loving God doesn’t mean sacrificing our own desires to do the Lord’s will. Sacrificial love is the ultimate example Jesus left us with in His final act of dying on the cross for our sins.
Picture this, Jesus the night of His arrest, praying in the garden of Gethsemane sweating drops of blood because He was so distressed knowing that His crucifixion was imminent. He still prays to God and asks Him to spare Him from the suffering yet says “not My will but Yours be done”. As in, I don’t want to go through this but I trust You and will do Your will anyway. That’s sacrificial love.
If our hearts are right before the Lord, we can’t help but strive to please Him and follow His Word. Will we be perfect? No of course not, but we won’t be using His grace as a license to sin and do whatever we feel.
For some reason, I can’t mention these things without talking about 7 things the Lord detests which is mentioned in Proverbs 6:17-19. I feel like this helps give a good picture of righteousness as well although it wasn’t necessarily a Jesus teaching moment, it was His Father. These things may seem obvious but it’s important to know what Father God hates.
Let’s have a refresher on them…
- Arrogant eyes
- A lying tongue
- Hands that shed innocent blood
- A heart that devises wicked plans
- Feet that run rapidly to evil
- A false witness who utters lies
- One who spreads conflict
We want to make sure the person looking back at us in the mirror doesn’t reflect these things. We also want to be living out the commandments in the Old Testament before we can start living up to the higher standards Jesus calls us to in the New Testament.
The Bottom Line
Jesus calls us to righteous living that is considered really “traditional” for the time we’re living in. Traditional is almost a dirty word by today’s standards but remember that’s what satan does, he twists truth so many believe a lie. The recklessness and evil we’re seeing in society today isn’t anything new. It happened in Sodom, Gomorrah, Rome, and countless other places throughout human history.
Remember what happened to these places though? They were destroyed or fell apart from within. The sins today are still the same and have been since the garden. Seeking self-gain and living with a prideful heart instead of following the Lord.
We MUST have some backbone and realize that the only One that matters that we impress and appease is God. We can’t make everyone happy, especially when they themselves are already unhappy, let’s be real. We have been called to a higher standard of living that is only found in the Holy Word of God, not man made elusive ideas or feelings.
I don’t know about you, but I want to hear “well done my good and faithful servant”. I don’t want to be spewed out of God’s mouth for having lukewarm faith or leading others astray…
This comes from Jesus: “Since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”
Revelation 3:16
I can’t imagine where I’d be today without Jesus and His radical mercy and grace. I can’t help but worship Him and do all I can to follow Him. I’ve lived without Him and in sin, being totally rebellious and it was never worth it. Knowing and serving Him has been totally worth it. I hope you have found out the same!
A Prayer For You
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You for your sacrificial love. Lord please create in me a clean heart and spirit that serves only You. Please show me anything that is not pleasing to you and help me to overcome it. Help me to be a light for You, totally set apart, and bold in my faith. No more lukewarm faith. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.