When I went to church this morning I knew the service was to congratulate the graduates. I was one of those. I go to Atlanta, GA the 24th of June 2022 to walk the stage to receive my papers to validate my Chaplaincy I was denied last year due to COVID. A secondary issuance will be given me towards completion of a course of study on Suicide Awareness & Prevention. This is just a preface to say one sole thing. I’m committed to God. There’s nothing else to say about that. I’ll let you contemplate the tie in to the rest of this post.

The thread through the message this morning peaked my interest to delve into an absolute. That thread was God’s principles are not negotiable. We look around us today and see so much compromise in the church. I don’t care about the world’s thoughts on things. We all know what their thoughts spring from and it is only natural to them, but the church subjugating with parties they should not be a part of is reprehensible.

God laid down principles to follow in the law under grace at the moment Jesus declared upon the cross “It is finished”. If we do not follow them we judge ourselves either deserving or not deserving. Therefore the judgment that befalls us is not from God’s hand directly, but from our own to exact our own judgment by God’s principle. Therefore God’s mercy cannot save us under grace if we do not heed those principles. This is where man’s free will takes hold. People wonder how free will works. Well, there it is. If we accept salvation under the conditions laid down by God we become bound by that covenant to obey it and true believers will. Those that wish to compromise themselves will find themselves without the cover on the final day when God is forced to exact His judgment because of the decisions each individual makes. This line of thought destroys the “once saved, always saved” doctrine. You can lose your ability to see eternity on the right side of God’s grace.

I’m old in years (not mind). Seventy-one and fast approaching seventy-two has its advantages. Life experiences tell me I’m on the right track. If you feel otherwise, I suggest you search God’s Word to prove this wrong. There were many days in my life I chose to not take for the truth that was posed to me at face value. I dug it out and searched the scriptures to see that what I heard was true. The same goes for you, the reader of this post.

I’ve had people tell me we’re all God’s children. All, being the key word tells me that I’m being told this includes the unsaved and the saved. I beg to differ. When we become saved we then become children of God. Not till then. Before then we are the children of the first Adam bound by the curse. This is why God afforded us salvation. That was to adopt us back into the family of God. I’m not going to discuss this thought. Dig it for yourself.

There are absolutes in God. The following comes from BibleInfo online so I don’t have to go freshly digging. These are but a summation of absolutes of God.

“I am the LORD, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6, NKJV).

“Your statutes stand firm . . . O LORD” (Psalm 93:5, NIV).

“All His precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever” (Psalm 111:7, 8, NKJV).

“Your word is truth” (John 17:17, NKJV).

“The word of God . . . lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23, NKJV)

 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35, NKJV).

“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20, NKJV).

God will judge everyone on the basis of His absolute, eternal, unchangeable law. “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether is it good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14, NIV). “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom” (James 2:12, NIV).

The above drawn from online distinctly says God’s law is unchanging and eternal. Churches deviate from the truth and make the Word of God of no effect.

I sat one morning discussing this subject with the associate pastor of our church in similar light. The conclusion is that the Word of God must be preached and taught in a Christcentric fashion.

Christocentric doctrine is a term within Christianity, describing theological positions that focus on Jesus Christ, the second person of the Christian Trinity, in relation to the Godhead / God the Father or the Holy Spirit. Christocentric theologies make Christ the central theme about which all other theological positions/doctrines are oriented. Anything outside of that is skewed doctrine. I believe this to be true.

The very idea of swaying people to believe anything different is inherently sinful and will bring judgment upon those that espouse it or upon those that believe it. Anything less than Christ Jesus being the center of all teaching is up for judgment.

When I was a young man considering the calling upon my life as an evangelist I was so eager to fulfill that calling. But over the years of learning I found myself thinking a lot about the judgment upon myself for not leading people properly to the Light of the world. Leading people to Jesus is a huge responsibility and it should not be taken lightly. That is why I am so adamant in studying the Word in scripture right down to the roots of the original language. Our Western culture has deviated the Word with filters of our own making. We need more studying into not only the language of those days, but the culture as well. Another words, we need to think like they did in the days that Jesus walked the earth and also to understand where the writers of the original scripture got their inspiration via their understanding and culture.

God’s Word is not negotiable. His absolutes are still absolute. What is being preached and taught today in a vast number of churches is partial truth mixed with opinion and the mores (customs) that more likely will mislead people into an incorrect understanding of who God is in truth.

Don’t mollycoddle people’s interests. Show them the honest truth of God’s love for them and His desire to see them made perfect (mature) in His way afforded them through salvation. I don’t want people that come into the Kingdom already lame and spiritually fraught with wrong teachings. Be sure of your calling first. Then make it your absolute endeavor to understand the truth that God has laid out for the eternal goal for His people. Be a worshipper of God without blemish.

Leading people to God’s plan for their salvation is not negotiable on anything less than what He has said in scripture.