God’s greatest desires for us

God’s greatest desires for us

If one removes all preconceived notions of Christianity, all religious traditions, all ordinances, and all rituals, the essence of one's faith would be reduced to what God truly desires from us; to believe in Him, and to learn of Him. How can we know this? Well, the Word of God tells us,

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

The bare essential of this scripture is like two other passages where God reveals the simplicity of His love and desire for us.

In Isa 1:11-14, God expresses that He is not interested in sacrifices of animals or blood offerings. He questions why the people feel the need to worship Him in this way and states that these ceremonies hold no meaning for Him. Additionally, God expresses His dislike for assemblies, festivals, and holidays, finding them burdensome and tiresome. All God wanted is the hearts of His people to believe in Him, turn from their evil ways, find His heart, and love Him.

As simple as that

The simplicity that is in Christ

Gen.2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God gave Adam and Eve only one command to adhere to. Other than this one command, they could enjoy the garden and all of creation. When the serpent came along, it homed in on God’s one command and subtly twisted its truth to deceive them.

Similarly, in our dispensation of grace, God gave us only one instruction,

Act.16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Complicated Christianity is Not Biblical

Complicated Christianity is Not Biblical

2Cor 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

There are a few things this verse tells us.

First, Satan, through subtlety and craftiness will beguile people by enticing or luring them into a form of godliness, 2Tim 3:5, which appears genuine and sincere, but has slight deviations from the truth, consequently nullifying the grace of God and diluting the doctrine, Gal 5:3-4, like a little leaven that affects the whole lump, Gal 5:9.

Religion is one of the primary lures that deceives many. Religion focuses on an outward form of piety. All the rules, demands, holydays, observances, traditions, rituals, and practices, are all just a performance system that glorifies the flesh, or the outer man. There is such complexity in some of these religious practices that the Bible is utterly lost in all the theology and identity promoted by that institution.

The Simplicity of Grace Living

A short while ago I watched a video of a theological debate featuring 3 prominent speakers who represent 3 different denominations. As a host asked various questions, each of the panelists would respond, and the theology of these participants differed from mild to wild depending on the questions. It was interesting to watch how each defended their particular view of theology, and even though they validated their points with scriptures and good arguments, it was quite sad to see how they made the whole debate complex and divisive based on their differences.