Sunday, February 27, 2011

Whatever happened to conviction?

It is interesting being a Christian with convictions.  I have had fellow believers tell me; "Don't push your convictions on me" or "What's a sin for you may not be a sin for me!"  I didn't realize that scripture teaches individual sin.  I think what they are referring to is the fact that they may not have the same convictions as I do because I fully believe that we all are held accountable for the same sins.  God sets the standard and if we don't meet his standards then we have fallen short.  There are not different sins for different people.  If it is a sin for me then it's a sin for you.  To follow the other idea and accept the distorted theology would mean to accept the idea that murder might be a sin for one person but not a sin for another.  I know that is an extreme example but either that theology is true or it's not.  Some people like to misinterpret 1 Corinthians 10:23 which says; "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive" (NIV).  They try to say that "As a Christian I can do what I want because my sins are forgiven."  How absurd is that?  In Romans 5 Paul says that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. However, in Romans 6:1-2 Paul says; "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (NIV)  I won't force my convictions on anyone but I have to ask: "Whatever happened to conviction?"  So many Christians watch the same movies, listen to the same music and live the same lifestyle as non-Christians.  It's hard to tell the two apart.  Now, I'm not in to be religious or legalistic but I fully believe that holiness means to be set apart from the world.  We might be in this world but we don't need to live like it.  We need to set our minds on things above.  If you think I'm "holier-than-thou" then so be it.  I'd rather live in obedience to the Lord than worry about fitting in with the world.

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