17 “Ephraim is joined to idols,
Let him alone. Hosea 4:17 (NKJV)
Idolatry is the natural state of man. Left to themselves, people will worship or idolize someone or something. On the top of the list of those things we place on pedestals of idolatry is self. Professing Christians are not immune. They idolize Christian leaders, their churches, their doctrine, their liberty, their self-righteousness, their denomination, their particular translation of the Bible, and anything else they can view as something that gives them a sense of religious identity….
Tragically, most see nothing wrong with this. Genuine Christianity has been supplanted by man-made religiosity and there are only a few left, a remnant, who see the difference. We lament over the growing apostasy in the Church, but should we be surprised?
There is a false teaching in the “visible church” that God hates the sin, but loves the sinner. This teaching says that God hates no one, but what does the Bible say?