1 Verily, verily I say unto you, He that entereth not in by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But he that goeth in by the door, is the shepherd of the sheep. John 10:1-2 (1599 Geneva Bible)
Just because a person claims to be a Christian does not mean that he or she is Regenerate, Justified, Sanctified, or Adopted into God’s family. Many base their standing as a Christian on religious acts they have done. Others claim salvation based upon their good words plus their religion. Tragically, there are also many, and more each day it seems, “Christian leaders” who preach and teach things that they portray as the Good News, but are, instead, only the result of marketing techniques.
I listened to part of a “sermon” by Joel Osteen several years ago. My wife had left the room as I came in. I had to wait for her to come back so I could run an errand for her. She had been in the process of changing channels when I came into the room and for some strange reason it stopped right on Mister Osteen drawling out his feel good message of doing good works and being positive about everything. While there was nothing wrong with what he was saying, the message was not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There was an absolute value of zero of any theological value in what he was saying. He did not tell anyone that without God’s grace they were hopelessly lost in their sins. No, there was no preaching of the Good News. Sadly, the “church building” he uses now that used to be a basketball arena was packed full of smiling people eating up everything he was saying.
What is Jesus’ standard of being one of his shepherds? Look at the passage I placed at the top of this post. Who was Jesus speaking to when he made that statement? We have to back up a few verses for that. <Continue reading post>