The Enemies Of
God
You might think that the enemies of God are the Athiests, and Agnostics, or
some world religions that do not recognize God's sovereign authority. You are
right that these are all enemies of God, but we need to consider others who
are enemies of God and do not know it.
We might consider what we read about the anti-Christ's. 1 John 2:22 teaches
us that anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ and when one denies Christ,
they also deny God. This group of people are those who deny the Lordship of
Jesus, who reject His authority, and those who do not keep His commandments.
Jesus taught us that His commandments are the Father's commandments. The passage
describe these people as liars, and we know the final outcome of all liars.
"They shall be cast into the lake of fire."(Rev. 21:8). When we know
and understand what God wants from us, and we reject such by living our own
selfish ways, we are guilty of being the anti-Christ, and that makes us an enemy
of God.
The people that add to God's word or take away from God's word are enemies of
God. God's word is sufficient for everything we need concerning salvation (2
Pet. 1:3). Those who teach things differently from what is written are the enemies
of God.
Perhaps the greatest enemies of God are the hypocrites. Those who are putting
on a front for others, but their hearts are dedicated to the world. We must
remember that the people of the world watch us to see how we live, and how we
behave when we are not in church. The moment they see us doing that which is
wrong, they are very happy. Primarily because since they do not want to serve
God, they are happy that those who serve God are no better than they. Actually
these people do not serve God, but they are pretending to serve God.
About two hundred and fifty years ago, a preacher by the name of George Whitfield
preached a sermon called "The Almost Christian". (taken from Acts
26:28, "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.")
Almost means close, but not quite. Many poeple want to be seen as Christians,
but they really are not. They love the world too much to turn from it, and they
love themselves too much to deny themselves. So they pretend to be Christians
when in reality they are not.
In reality, anyone who continues to sin is the enemy of God. Those who have
never obeyed the gospel are enemies of God. Those who serve anything other than
God are enemies of God.
Romans 6:16: Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone
as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of
sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?".
When we allow sin to continue in our lives, we have become an enemy of God.
James 4:4: "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with
the word is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of
the world makes himself an enemy of God."
To be a Christian, one must turn away from the world and all that it offers.
This could be what is considered the ultimate sacrifice. It all depends upon
where your heart is.
So far we have not talked about the enemy that goes by the name Satan, or known as the Devil. Throughout the scriptures he is referred to as the enemy. And his followers also become enemies of God.
Let us learn to be obedient to
God, and perhaps we can be called what Abraham was called; "the friend
of God". What are you doing to make your friendship with God stronger?
By Carey Scott via Eastside church of Christ bulletin December 26, 2010 Vol.
1, No. 11
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