You are in error.
How many of us just love hearing that we’re wrong?
It is even more unpopular in today’s growing climate
of pragmatism where there is no absolute right or wrong,
truth or error.
Without absolute truth, we each become free to do what
is right in our own eyes, like we read in the last verse
of the book of Judges.
This initially sounds good to many people as they can
do what they want to do. If they want to get drunk on
weekends, sleep around, gossip & curse, who can
tell them they are wrong?
What they fail to realize is that there are consequences
to those actions, and if they get what they think they
want (no one telling them they are wrong), they will
suffer those consequences.
Here’s a passage which we usually read when studying
about faith:
Heb 11:7 - By faith Noah, being
divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly
fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household,
by which he condemned the world and became heir of the
righteousness which is according to faith.
No doubt, this is a profound example of faith…
faith in response to a warning. God divinely warned
Noah of things not yet seen.
Guess what? All of us have been divinely warned of things
not yet seen! Right here in the God-breathed Scriptures,
He warns us all of the Day of Judgment to come! Will
you move with godly fear and prepare like Noah did?
Or will you be one of those in the world who are condemned?
Warnings are good! We need to be warned. Not being
warned, or ignoring warnings we’ve been given,
can be disastrous.
Imagine we’re walking through a zoo and you see
me mistakenly veer off the correct path… heading
into the bear habitat… please correct me!
Please don’t wait to see if I’ll notice
my error in time!
Please don’t be afraid that I might get mad with
you for correcting me!
What I need you to do is alert me to my current path
of destruction!
Now we can understand that with physical destruction.
How much more deadly is sin which separates us from
God and destroys our body and our soul!
We must have warnings that are based upon the truth.
Not truth as any man chooses to define it, but absolute
truth.
Realize that the only way we could know real truth and
righteousness would be if someone who knew everything
and was completely righteous told us.
Ps 119:160 - The entirety of Your
word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments
endures forever.
How much does truth and error matter to God? Listen
to these passages:
II Tim 2:15 - Be diligent to present
yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth
Gal 1:8 - But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach
any other gospel to you than what we have preached to
you, let him be accursed.
II Jn v9 - Whoever transgresses and does not abide in
the doctrine of Christ does not have God.
God hates error. How much better off would man be if
we hated error… instead of hating correction.
Proverbs mentions hating correction a few times:
Pr 12:1 - Whoever loves instruction
loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid.
Pr 15:10 - Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes
the way, And he who hates correction will die.
Seeing how destructive sin is, and how much God hates
it, why wouldn’t we warn people trapped in their
sin?
Do we care more for their feelings than we do for their
souls?
Is it just easier to ignore their sin and hope they
come around one day?
John the Baptist was willing to die rather than ignore
someone else’s sin!
Confronting a King has never been a safe thing to do.
John could have just ignored Herod’s sin.
John knew that Herod had no hope if he didn’t
repent though, and he cared enough to confront the error.
It cost John his freedom and eventually his life. Do
you think John is regretting his decision now? Not a
chance!
For us, virtually every time we correct someone, the
response will be appreciation (even if it isn’t
immediate). But even if we do receive resentment, are
we not still better off, than if we didn’t warn
them?
Are there times we don’t need to correct someone?
From what I can tell (and please correct me if I’m
in error), there are. Once we have made the error very
clear to someone, if they refuse to listen, then it
is best to leave them alone and work with those who
will listen.
Pr 9:7-8 - He who corrects a
scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a
wicked man only harms himself. Do not correct a scoffer,
lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love
you.
Tit 3:10-11 - Reject a divisive man after the first
and second admonition, knowing that such a person is
warped and sinning, being self-condemned
In summary, there is absolute truth. Straying from
it is a devastating error. God has warned mankind and
He wants us to warn others as well.
Yes, we can’t live in error or teach error, but
we also can’t accept or ignore it either. We must
expose error and hate it.
What about you? Are you living in error? Are you ready
to live in truth?
You must first hear it and believe it, but that alone
won’t be enough. Just hearing that the bridge
ahead is out, and believing it to be true, won’t
save you if you do not change the direction you are
heading.
Unless you repent, you will die in your sins. Is that
my opinion? My opinion is irrelevant. That is a quote
from the Author of Life in Luke 13:3.
You will also need to confess Him… and you must
also be baptized for the remission of your sins - not
because that’s what we teach here, but because
the Word of Truth teaches it… in nearly every
book of the New Testament. Rom 6:4, Gal 3:27, Acts 2:38,
Mk 16:16, etc.
Look for yourself, objectively. Let us help you however
we can.
Christians, we must also always be open to correction,
and offer correction to others as needed. Please don’t
keep the truth from anyone who will listen to it.
Pr 28:23 - He who rebukes a man
will find more favor afterward Than he who flatters
with the tongue.
If you need to respond to the invitation, in view of
the Truth of the Scriptures, I encourage you to do so
as we stand and sing.
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