11/08/21 A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME...

11/08/21 A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME...

Some call them Woke.
Some call them Liberals.
Some call them Socialists.
Some call them Communists.
The Bible calls them Fools.
God calls them out of their darkness and foolishness and calls them to repentance and newness of life in Christ.

Isaiah 55:6-8
6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

John 8:21-24
21 Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
22 Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.
23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

John 12:35
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

John 14:23
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Acts 2:40
40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

2 Corinthians 6:16-18
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Hebrews 3:12-19
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
How they respond to God's call will determine if they are chosen of God or are the foolish followers of the father of lies.

Remember, many are called but few are chosen. It is not that God's call is anything less than real, sincere, honest and clear. The problem is not in God's call (as if He would fake a call to salvation, or taunt a sinner with a call to salvation and then withhold the offer). The problem is the free choice of the hearer, who refuses to humble himself and receive the Gift of God.

If there is no free choice, there is no choice.
If there is no choice, there is no guilt.
Guilt is not inherited (regardless of what men teach).
Human corruption is inherited.
Separation from God is inherited.
But the atonement of Christ provides reconciliation for every person, from the time of their conception.
Though the child's nature is corrupted because of Adam's sin, the child is redeemed from the separation because of the death of Christ on the cross.

The inherited sinful corruption leads to sinful action, which produces the guilt. God makes it clear that each person will be judged by his or her own actions, thoughts, words. Each person will be judged on his or her own guiltiness.
But it is not the will of God that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Though all children are covered by the blood of Christ, from the time of conception until they become accountable for their own sins, they then must believe on Christ and repent (turn) from their sins and follow Jesus by faith.
This is why the Bible says,
1 Timothy 4:9-10
9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.