God has truly saved us by grace. (Ephesians 2:8-9) I think it becomes a real consideration then in how our thinking should be like. God is not someone who we can really cut corners with because He's a Spirit with standards we will never be able to obtain on Earth. (Romans 6:23) This should not discourage believers into continuing their lives in sin. Paul states beautifully in Philippians 4:8 :
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
It's call cheap grace when one views God's gift to us as an insurance policy. It is not all about obtaining added assurance that our lives are about pleasing only ourselves. For the unbeliever, God will place judgment upon them. To the unbeliever, a Christian may offend him or her. It's a shame because my sister professes to be a Christian, but tries to be a friend of the world. She is borderline Christian, as far as she can compromise with her friends. It is more about not offending people.
It is quite strange that even though we do not want to offend people, we do so in oddity. Christianity is something we should all not be ashamed of. Paul states in Romans 1:16
"For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-the Jew first and also the Gentile." (NLT)
We should rejoice in Christianity. Spread the love and joy around in Jesus. Even if it offends others, these people are totally out of it. They are only going through a seasonal pain; it's just like missing a day of not showering in a cold winter day. Make sure you do not get too comfortable with backsliding and confess right away. Best to do it daily because the world is not ours for the moment. We are battling principalities and our flesh is weak-we hear people excusing themselves that they are not perfect. We accept each other because we want to tolerate those who we can believe were brought up well enough. Let's pray for each other!
Academy of Scrappy Credible Undergraduate Desire
