I Am In The Lordship Camp

By Mark Pierson (reprinted from Bluecollar blog)

We can not approach scripture without seeing that those who truely come to Christ in faith experience conversion, a changed life. We can not approach scripture without seeing that those who come to Christ in faith also enter into a relationship of obedience to Him. See 1 Peter1:2 "for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ". The sprinkling of blood in this verse not only speaks of giving believers perfect atonement for sin, but also is speaking of entering into a relationship of obedience to Christ as Lord and Master. The language here of "sprinkling blood" brings to mind Exodous 24:3-8 where the people promised to do all that the LORD had commanded. Then Moses sprinkled them with blood - they were now in covenant to obey God.

No where in scripture does one come to Christ without coming into a place of obeying Him-Nowhere! The calls to salvation and to disciplship are one. Nowhere in scripture is there a division. Such a view is unscriptural and deadly. That view is 1 part exegetical and 99 parts logic. Logic is a great mistress, but a terrible slave owner.

One should be able to lead a person to Christ in Matthew, Mark and Luke just as easily as they can through John. How did the "synoptics" present the message of salvation? Merely by Jesus saying "Follow Me".As someone else has said, " no repentance = no faith = no salvation"!

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Romans 1:18

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

In spite of all the biblical revelation and empirical evidence to the contrary, many people in our culture today are convinced that man is born basically good. As a result of this thinking many churches and preachers present the gospel as a mere call for ‘basically good sinners’ to accept the unconditional love that Jesus Christ already has for them. God’s wrath against human sin is not considered significant and repentance marginalized. There are even some that think that repentance should not even be included or mentioned in a gospel presentation. After all, why should a person that is ‘basically good’ need to repent to God who, they say, unconditionally loves all of humanity. (God’s love for his redeemed is unconditional, but for unbelievers to be told this love includes them without mentioning sin and wrath is a huge disservice to their eternal security.) Not only is repentance unnecessary in the thinking of some, but a Christian can continue to live ungodly and unrighteous lives for the rest of their years safe and secure in a salvation based on a momentary decision of belief. This view has a man made decision of belief, without any sincerity or repentance, binding God to responding with a get out of hell free card.

Paul in verse 18 answers this false teaching loud and clear. They are WRONG and are suppressing the truth of the extent of their depravity and ungodliness. The truth is that the extent of the depravity of ALL mankind is extremely severe and Paul begins to expound on that truth in this verse. Because of this ungodliness, the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven. God, who is holy and just, is extremely angry with the sin of humanity and his wrath is a righteous anger that his justice demands must be satisfied. On the cross of Calvary Jesus received the full brunt of God’s wrath and anger. This was an amazing display of God’s love and also His wrath and righteous anger for human sin. Sinners should understand that the cross indicates that human sin is a very serious problem and that a “so-called” salvation that does not result in a gratitude that addresses unrighteousness and ungodliness is pure folly. Romans 8 reveals that nature has also been subjected to futility and decay and the photo above confirms that even the atmosphere is capable of producing violent outbursts. There was no lightning in the Garden of Eden and there will be no lightning in the new earth and new heavens.

While his wrath is great, praise God that he provided a covering, of the righteousness of Christ, for all that flee to the cross of Calvary.

Olympic Break

Hey, friends!

(Wayne, I hope you don't mind that I post this here...)

I hardly ever watch TV. But during the Olympics that is a different story. All this to say that during the next two weeks I shall be shutting down my blog. Also, in that time I won't be watching for emails. I simply can't give my family their just due of my attention if I were to try to watch the Olympics as well as spend time on the computer. It's just not do-able.

Those of my friends who have my phone number please feel free to give me a call. I love talking to you. However I must work every day from now to August 16, 3-11 PM, eastern. The best time to call would be from 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM, eastern.

The Lord willing I shall see you in two weeks.

Mark