We definitely don't want to be a part of that group, and Psalms 2:5-9 tells us why. God will deal harshly and angrily with them. They will be ruled with an iron scepter, and broken like pottery. Those who don't follow after the will of God will be utterly destroyed. We see a reference to this in Jude 1:5, where it talks about the people who complained about the Manna from Heaven, and we see that God destroyed all of those who complained.
Psalms 2:10-12 tells us what to do: serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling, kiss the Son, and take refuge in Him. Jude 1:20-25 gives us a correlation to that as well, showing that not only should we take refuge in Christ, but that we should bring as many in with us as possible, saving them also from the wrath of God. Romans 12:1-2 says to give our bodies as a living sacrifice, and not conform to the world, but let God transform our minds to follow Christ. Let us not join in the world and be mocked and destroyed by God, but let's follow Jesus and save as many as we can through His power in our lives.
2 comments:
Thank you for this Nathan. My question is how do we define the world? Having been taken out of the world through our belief in our Lord, must we still be bound by it's traditions and convents? What if we feel led by our beliefs to make our own way? What if that way goes against the traditions and convictions of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, leading us to be judged by them?
I recently had this very discussion with a gentleman, and my statement to him was this: We are saved by grace through faith that Jesus was God, died for our sins, and was resurrected by God on the third day. Nothing we can say or do will earn us salvation.
However, the Bible does also give us a road map, and we should definitely follow what the Word of God says, as Romans 7:7 points out: without it we won't know right from wrong. Examine closely what you believe and make sure that your way agrees with the Bible; true following of God will not lead you against the Bible.
I think that Romans 14 best addresses your question about being judged by others and your beliefs not fitting with others' beliefs: We shouldn't judge each other for our convictions, but we also shouldn't do anything that will cause someone else to lose their faith.
Feel free to email me here directly if you have some more specific questions or want to share and discuss the beliefs you're referring to. I'd be happy to help you research and learn from God's Word.
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