I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel (Galatians 1:6)
Chaos and confusion can be happening all around us, but that does not mean they should overtake us. Who we are on the inside determines our ability to respond to the pressures and circumstances around us. As Christians and children of God, we are being built up a spiritual house for God. Our lives’ structure is being erected, supported, and sustained by the gospel message so that we don’t implode and collapse by the pressures coming from this world.
Many of us are witnessing too many believers young and seasoned not recognizing or appreciating the time we are living and not seeing the connection between our freedom in Christ and our fruitfulness in Christ even though our lives depend upon it. Martin Luther King Jr. understood that freedom won and experienced are for something in his historic “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincon Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. He said, “when we allow freedom to ring when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men, and white men, Jews, and Gentiles, Protestants, and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” Freedom is the opportunity and new landscape upon which we are to venture out and be fruitful.
Our freedom in Christ remains before us, but our fruitfulness can be hindered if we do not watch out for the detours of temptations, and addictive forces drawing us from the straight and narrow path. We must recognize that unfavorable circumstances can make us all vulnerable enough to think we need another gospel. Why, because our attention is on what is going outside of us instead of what is going on inside of us. When your life is undergirded by the word of god, the sleeping giant in us can awaken in full assurance that God’s love is enough, His mercy is enough, His forgiveness is enough, and His amazing grace is enough in our weaknesses. As children of God, we must reflect His character made alive in us.
Finally, the apostle Paul reminds us that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but those who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18). In times like these, we need the gospel. In times like these, we need the power of God moving in the hearts of his people. In times like these, we need the power of God to renew the minds of his people. In times like these, we need the power of God uniting his people with one voice and one clear message; God loves you. Live with Gospel Integrity!
Because He lives,
Pastor Reggie Sheppard