Daily Devotional for Tuesday April 28, 2009

Calling yourself a Christian doesn't make you a Christian

(Matthew 7:21-23)

Calling yourself a Christian doesn't make you a Christian! Last Monday night, I spoke at the local chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. This is the group whose national leader is Barry Lynn, a true tool of satan who is a former ACLU operative that spends his life trying to stop those true men and women of God who share His Truth in the marketplace. He has gone after many high-profile Christian leaders over the years, including me, using the IRS to try and remove the tax exemption from Godly ministries he disagrees with.

I have debated Lynn many times, so it was strange that the local group would ask me to speak, but I readily agreed. I arrived at the church where they were meeting, and walked into the foyer to find rainbow flags promoting gay pride. A gentleman greeted me and his first words upon seeing me were, "Is that a Bible?" I knew this was going to be an interesting evening when upon walking into a church, my first interaction with someone was asking me if the book I was carrying was a Bible!

The fact was, the 30 people or so who attended were all middle age to older. I have no doubt they were all respectable members of the community. They seemed to be very decent, kind people. They were a great representation of the vast majority of the people who make up our communities. Despite a belief in God, calling themselves Christians, they all believed there was nothing wrong with the sin of homosexuality, that a woman should be able to do whatever she wants "with her body," and that the Bible is NOT God's Word, but a book written by men.

THE POINT I WANT YOU TO HEAR LOUD AND CLEAR TODAY IS THAT THIS GROUP IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN THIS NATION THAT ARE IN THE PEWS OF CHURCHES EVERY SUNDAY!!! I AM NOT EVEN TALKING TODAY ABOUT THOSE OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH, BUT INSIDE THE CHURCH!!!

In case you have been sleeping, there is a new group of people in our nation who call themselves the "religious left." This is a relatively new term so you may not be familiar with it. That is why I felt it was so critical to take the time today to ensure you not only understood what it means, but who actually makes up this new group of people. Forty years ago, this group didn't even exist. They have actually evolved and grown tremendously over the past decade.

The "religious left" is made up of people who identify themselves as Christians and hold strong religious beliefs as well as sharing left-wing ideals. Obviously, this group has risen up in opposition to those who have been tagged the "religious right" or the "Christian right." The "Christian right" is that group of Bible-believing Christians who are politically active and seek to elect to office those candidates who hold to Biblical values on the key spiritual issues of our day that are also political issues.

These would be issues like abortion and life-related matters, gay marriage, family issues, the proliferation of the pornography industry, and the drive to remove God from the public square. Those in the "religious left" actually take an anti-Biblical position on these issues and are also heavily involved in the ecumenical movement, environmental issues, opposing war for any reason, world hunger, and social issues like healthcare, welfare, and education.

There is nothing wrong with pursing these noble social issues.Believers should be more involved on those fronts. The problem with this group is their anti-Biblical position on the key spiritual issues of our day and their involvement in these ecumenical movements that require you to set aside the Absolute Truths of the Bible.

I refuse to try and judge their heart, that is something only God can and will do. However, I have every right to judge them on their actions in accordance with God's Word. How can you say you are a person of faith, yet vote to support the legalized slaughter of over 4,000 innocent babies every day? How can you say you are a person of faith, yet vote to redefine God's Holy Institution of Marriage? How can you say you are a person of faith, yet support special rights for people who have chosen to engage in perverted sex acts God calls an abomination, including their ability to adopt children into their deviant lifestyle?

I guess the real question becomes, what is their faith really in? It is inconsistent to say you are person of faith yet continually take a stand in complete opposition to God's Word. Jesus said that if you love Me, you will obey Me. That means His Word. Of course, those in the "religious left" has been born out of the liberal "churches" of our day who make a mockery of Christ as they operate in open rebellion to the Truth of the Bible while claiming to be followers of Christ.

They support the legalized slaughter of babies, redefining marriage to include men with men and women with women, perverting the family by bringing children into homes with homosexual parents, and embrace ecumenical fellowships with all of the cults and false religions of the world. They deny the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, have rejected God's Word for the Absolute Truth it represents, and have bought into the lie of the world that there are "many roads that lead to God." These are the people who make up the "religious left!"

I love you and care about you so much. It is beyond me how a person can consider themselves a Christian, which means they are a follower of Christ and automatically a follower of His Word, yet take a public position in complete opposition to that Word. You better wake up, since this is the largest growing segment of Christendom, this apostate group who calls themselves Christians but go to churches who operate in complete rebellion to Christ and the Bible.

This is the group that is Biblically illiterate since they don't even believe the Bible to be true. They are the politically-correct crowd who has bought the lie a woman has the right to kill her baby. They are the group who lambasts those who speak out against the sin of homosexuality, calling them names like "intolerant" and "hateful." They call themselves Christians, but support the things Christ and the Bible condemn.

Pray for these people since you can't call yourself a follower of Christ, yet stand on the opposite side of Christ on so many issues. Truth is not what we want it to be, it is what God says it is. We don't have the luxury of giving our heart and life to Christ and then live any way we want. A true follower of Christ is a follower of His Word. Jesus said, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller