Do we hate every false way?

Psalms 119:104 "Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way."

One of the wonderful truths about the gospel is that it will cast down every vain thought and imagination of man. The gospel is a precious thing and it is in this gospel that asserts that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners that we most certainly believe. Through faith we march with the saints, choosing rather to believe in the promises of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for season. We understand that the gospel came at great cost, indeed, even the life of the very Son of God. Therefore we are to live our lives in such a way as to glorify God and to show testimony or evidence of the work of God in our hearts.

The question that I have been musing of late is whether or not the saints realize what it means to hate sin? Sin is an ugly thing - we can see its staining and ruinous effect in the world in which we live. Even though we have been delivered from the bondage of sin and are told that sin no longer has dominion over us, we sadly even observe sin within the assembly of the saints. What believer who has been saved for any amount of time has been immune from terrible schisms and fights even within local assemblies?

The arminian gospel that has unfortunately invaded the church in modern times tends to not like concepts like repentance and the acknowledgement of Christ's Lordship. This watered down gospel, sometimes referred to as cheap grace, tends to mention that we are sinners and need to trust in Christ. This is true enough as it stands, but this gospel tends to minimize repentance, preferring to place its weight on the recitation of a sinner's prayer. "Every eye closed, every head bowed..." says the good evangelist, "If you just pray the sinner's prayer you shall have life eternal."

Now to be sure, there have been many people converted under ministries that do not embrace the doctrine of God's sovereignty in salvation, often referred to as "the doctrines of grace" or "Calvinism." Even as Paul rejoiced when Christ was preached, even if it be in the spirit of contention, we rejoice, yes, and do rejoice. But sadly enough, the fruits of cheap grace that was popularized by the revivalist Charles Finey and men of his ilk has manifested itself in the church today. Much of what passes as Christianity is sickening indeed. Instead of treating men as vile wretches who need to repent of their false ways and who need to lie prostrate before a God who is a consuming fire, many modern churches defile the holy things by bringing a god down more to the liking of a wretched and seething humanity. Some may think I am an exclusive grouch by so saying, but I am convinced that some of what passes as religion today is nothing more than a false gospel, for they seek to worship a god that they have invented.

There are those who feel that the gospel is no longer relevant for today's seeker. It seems as if lost men in this age don't prefer the preaching of the gospel, which commands people to repent of their sins and warns that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all those who work unrighteousness. Do you suppose Jonathan Edward's sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" would be well received in many modern churches? Hardly! Old Mr. Edward's evidently has never heard of the doctrine of positive thinking. How dare he refer to me as dangling from a slender thread over the fires of hell!

Somehow, churches have been established that lost men can actually enjoy attending. Sensitive seekers feel warm and cuddly as the handsome ministers, with their silk suits, large gold rings, and winning smiles, encourage them by telling them that they are quite alright. The lost man does not understand the things of God. In fact, Paul tells us it is impossible for the lost man to comprehend spiritual things. Jesus warned the disciples that the world will hate them and will hate the light. The gospel is to the Jew a stumbling block and to the Greek foolishness. The lost man, apart from the regenerating work of the gospel, is going to hate God, hate the church, and hate the gospel. These are the true, hard facts. The church is for the saints of God. The church is to be filled with godly people who love and worship God. The elders of the church are to be instructing and exhorting the saints so that they can out and teach others. We've forgotten this lesson, so when youth pastors observed that their rebellious, lost teens actually got bored sitting in Sunday school class learning about being kind and patient, they decided that if they could get the kids interested in jumping up and down in unison to the pounding of drums and the screech of electric guitars that perhaps they coulds see some growth. "We need to be relevant! Kids don't like the old hymns and preaching.", they decided.

We must learn to hate every false way. We first must search our own hearts. We tend to love sin too much. Oh, we hate the really bad things that we don't commit, but we are rather content with our own sins. We don't cheat on our spouses and we are not homosexuals or thieves, so we tend to think of ourselves as quite alright. We must love God's Word and apply it to our lives. We must repent of each and every sin and learn to hate it. We need to learn what it means to weep over our sin and iniquity, to learn what it means to fall prostrate before a holy God, covering ourselves with sackloth and ashes.

We need to learn how to serve God acceptably, with a holy fear, understanding that God is a consuming fire. God has prescribed how He is to be worshipped. It is not up to worship leaders to concoct new and effective ways of modern worship. God is Holy, we are worms, and He has ordered how He is to be worshipped. We most regard worship as a most holy thing - and not follow after the pattern of Nadab and Abihu, who offered strange fire to the Lord which the Lord commanded not. I personally embrace the old doctrine of the regulative worship principle, which states that we must worship God only in the manner in which he has prescribed.

We need to consider every area of life and see as to whether or own lack of knowledge has caused to embrace false ways. Our nation is not Christian. It is wicked to the core. Our lack of Bible knowledge has made it possible for us to embrace much of what is in actuality a pagan culture. How do we buy and sell? How do we till our fields? How do we run our businesses? How do we order our homes? Have we diligently sought out what it means to live in a holy and acceptable manner before God? Does our life's practice look like its ordered through a principled understanding of the precepts of God or does it look like it follows after a postmodern Western ideology?

We have a lot of work to do - in our own hearts, in our families, in our churches, and in our respective work places. We have more to do than we know. This is not a daunting task, however. Let the gospel do its perfect work. Be sensitive to the spirit of God. Learn to hate sin. Learn to love God's Word. Stop doing things just because it is the American way - start purposing in your heart that you are going to do things in another way - a way that lends toward acknowledging Christ as your Lord and Savior, as your sovereign King, for the glory of God.