The superiority of Christ, the cost of discipleship, and the genuine Gospel

1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. Hebrews 1:1-4 (NASB)  (Read verses 3-4 on the site)

The Church in the early part of the 21st Century is very sick. This sickness has not happened all at once. Instead, it is the result of centuries of compromise after compromise on the part of Christian leaders and their followers to adapt the Gospel and the Church doctrines to conform to what men want. As a result, the Church has lost its savor. It is no longer salty. The countries in Europe where the Reformers restored the Gospel at the cost of untold numbers of martyrs would not now be considered Christian at all.

In the United States, the visible Church still has some influence in politics and society, but is that what the Church is supposed to be about? The segment of the American Church that would consider itself evangelical has become so doctrinally shallow that most of the members as well as their leadership have no idea what they really believe. If they are confronted with the Arminian/Semi-Pelagian vs. Calvinism debate they would be clueless about what each side believes and does not believe. In fact, they are so spiritually shallow, they don’t understand why it is important to know what you believe and why you believe it.

The reason this sad state of affairs is prevalent in our time is that most professing Christians are fleshly and, therefore, hard of heart. They are self-focused and believe that they are Christians because they are religious or they made some decision when they were a child or their whole family has always been Christian, or they heard a sermon once that spoke of hell and it scared them into walking an aisle, praying a prayer and filling out a card. They may or may not have been baptized later. Is that how people become Christians? What is the mindset of these people in regards to Jesus Christ? How much of their time each day do they spend with Him or meditating about Him? How much of what He taught governs their lives? Is this real Christianity?  View article →