Good morning,
There is nothing new about the challenges we face in our cultures and in our churches. By the time that the last of the New Testament books were written, almost all of the major doctrinal errors were already plaguing the newly established church. In less than a generation after Jesus died and rose again, men like Paul were writing letters to the churches to get them back on track with the truth that Jesus gave his followers for living life the way God designed them to live. I am sure that Paul had no idea how important his letter to the believers in Rome would be to our generation 2000 years later. Paul was deeply concerned that people in Rome had lost touch with the truths that Jesus had given them to identify who really was a part of God’s eternal family. It seems to me that those of us who call ourselves Evangelical are facing the same situation that Paul was writing about then.
Are we as Evangelicals any different from the Jews of Paul’s day who were sure that they were a genuine part of God’s family because of the family they were born into, or the kind of outward ceremonies or written prayers they had prayed? Our present church cultures seem to be built around our health, our wealth, our success, our knowledge of God’s written truth or the rules we have set up for our church groups. As Paul pointed out to the Jews of his day, we need to remember that a genuine Evangelical is someone whose heart is right with God. Keeping the rules of our churches or our organizations is all outward stuff. What God longs for is that we, as his people, have hearts that are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit and see what God is doing in and around us as part of a great adventure. We must constantly be aware of the truth that a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from the people around us. Genuine believers are people who learn to listen for God’s voice in his Word, as they spend time talking to him in prayer and as they see God at work in the circumstances around them. People with changed hearts face all sorts of challenges, but they come to those challenges with a commitment to obey God’s rules while living out his commands with loving respect for those involved in their lives. They are people who carry with them the gift of peace of mind and heart. They live their lives marked by faith in God, not driven by fear and an unsettled mind and heart. Dear Lord, please help up to have hearts that are right with you.
Romans 2: 28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
Roy Wisner
