One of the worst mistakes we as Christians can make is to sugarcoat the Bible, to avoid offending the very ones who need to hear it the worst. Instead, we go around telling lost people "Jesus loves you!" and "God loves you" and "God is good" to try feebly to lead them to the Lord. Now, all of these things are very true, but they do nothing to convince the sinner of his need to REPENT of his sorry sinful state. And there can be no forgiveness without true repentence.
A sinner cannot be saved until he knows that he is lost. That is so important that I'll repeat it: A SINNER CANNOT BE SAVED UNTIL HE KNOWS HE IS LOST! It does absolutely no good to tell him that Jesus died for him, unless you can make him see that he is the one who deserved punishment, and that Jesus bore that punishment for him.
If I had never realized that I am a sinner who is deserving of death and damnation, then Jesus's death would mean very little to me. But because I KNOW I am a sinner, vile and corrupt and worthless, deserving of death, then the thought of Jesus dying for my sake becomes a precious act of love that I can never earn, never repay, and certainly never deserve.
We think, "Oh I can't possibly tell my best friend that she's a sinner, and is condemned to hell. Why, she'd be so offended she'd never speak to me again!" I've heard many devout Christians say, "Oh, you musn't offend anyone, or they'll never come to church!" Even pastors say "Oh, no! I could never preach such a strong message to my congregation! They would all be offended, and would walk out of the church."
Many people just go to church to put on a show of religion. They only want to have their ears tickled, to hear a little "feel-good" sermon and put their five or ten bucks in the plate so that they can go home feeling good about themselves for having "done their duty" to God. Yet, those are some of the ones who desperately NEED to hear the truths of God's Holy Word. God hates all sin, and unforgiven sinners will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Yet how can they come to repentence if they are never taught that they are wicked sinners, and need to repent. The Bible says:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
and also:
There is none righteous; no,not one. (Romans 3:11)
Many times we think, "Well, the Bible says we aren't supposed to be judging others." Yes, it does, but that is talking about an attitude like that of the Pharisees: a "holier-than-thou", judgmental attitude of self-righteousness. Telling people the truths of God's word is not being judgmental regarding them; it is giving them the plain, unvarnished, un-sugarcoated truth. We already know we are all sinners. A sinner is either saved or he is lost. That is not being judgmental of others; that is God's truth, plain and simple. We are each and every one of us sinners, either saved or lost.
Dear friends, do we really want to let someone we care about go to hell without ever hearing of the saving power of Jesus Christ, just because we're afraid to offend them? If they die without salvation, they will be much worse than offended--- they will be doomed to an eternity of hell. In fact, without Jesus Christ, they are already condemned to that fate. The Bible says:
He that believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)
My friends, Jesus will be coming back to receive His bride, the church. All the signs point to that time being very soon. Yet many, many people are facing eternity every day without ever repenting of their sinfulness and finding forgiveness and salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility as Christians to boldly proclaim the truths of God. We don't have to be the judge or to condemn them; that is the work of the Holy Spirit. But we have to tell them. the Bible says: "I am not ahamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the POWER of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. (Romans 1:16)
Don't be afraid of offending someone with the gospel. Jesus never sugar-coated it; he told them how it was and that no one could enter the kingdom of heaven unless they were born again. He plainly and boldly told the Pharisees their brand of righteousness was not enough. True righteousness comes only through Jesus Christ when we repent and receive forgiveness. We don't have to convince others or convict them; all we have to do is boldly proclaim the word of God. Let the Holy Spirit do the work of convicting them. He will do His part, but we need to do ours, so that we and those we care about will all be ready when Jesus returns.
Life is short,
Death is sure;
Sin is the cause,
Christ is the cure!
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