It might come as a surprise to most, but Jesus was and is still not widely accepted despite His promise of mercy, salvation, and eternal life. Why? Because He is Light and the Light reveals the truth. Light overcomes darkness and exposes what is hidden. People would rather hide in their darkness than be exposed in the light. They love what pleasures the eyes, the flesh, and their pride too much—they refuse to let them go.
This includes those who claim to be Christians but do not live according to the Word of God. They are guilty because they have not permitted the Holy Spirit to enter their hearts. Have you ever heard someone say that being a Christian never clicked for them or that they don’t feel different after “accepting" Christ? The reason why people feel this way is because they haven’t displaced whatever they have sitting on the throne in their hearts. How can you be changed if you keep the door to your heart locked? Non-Christians never opened the door, they never tried to walk into the light. How can you let something in if you have no space for it? “Christians” opened the door but had no room, they've only permitted the most acceptable pieces of themselves to see the light.
This is the verdict: You can’t keep the world and have God. You can’t keep your sin and have salvation. You can’t keep your old life and have new life (Matthew 22:37).
This is the irony: Those who embrace the light are not less sinful, less broken, than those who choose not to. The difference is that one desires to be changed, to leave their old ways, while the other does not (Romans 3:23).
Why do we reject what is good and cling to what is evil? It’s in our nature since Adam and Eve we have been shaped by sin and our deviance from God (Romans 12:9). We love what is evil and hate what is good. Similar to a child, we know what we should and shouldn’t do but we still do the wrong thing (Romans 7:15-20). Those who cling to ignorance and error thereby rejecting instruction from the Son of God are without excuse (Romans 1:20). They love their vices and lusts which only exist in the darkness because they are the fruits of their evil deeds (Matthew 7:16). Their palettes have been corrupted by their carnal nature, and their perverted preferences only push them further into the darkness—away from salvation and mercy (Romans 1:26-27). We need a new palette, a new heart, but it won't come unless the old is discarded (Ezekiel 11:19, Proverbs 4:23). A lot of times it's so hard for us to get rid of things, to throw things away that we’ve created a special place for. The only thing required to go from A to B is a great longing for change—for something better.
This is the answer: Surrender to the Light that darkness cannot overcome.
It might come as a surprise to most, but Jesus was and is still not widely accepted despite His promise of mercy, salvation, and eternal life. Why? Because He is Light and the Light reveals the truth. Light overcomes darkness and exposes what is hidden. People would rather hide in their darkness than be exposed in the light. They love what pleasures the eyes, the flesh, and their pride too much—they refuse to let them go.
Have you ever heard someone say that being a Christian never clicked for them or that they don’t feel different after “accepting" Christ? How can you be changed if you keep the door to your heart locked? Non-Christians never opened the door. How can you let something in if you have no space for it? “Christians” opened the door but had no room.
The verdict: You can’t keep the world and have God. You can’t keep your sin and have salvation. You can’t keep your old life and have new life (Matthew 22:37).
The irony: Those who embrace the light are not less sinful, less broken, than those who choose not to. The difference is that one desires to be changed, to leave their old ways, while the other does not (Romans 3:23).
Why do we reject what is good and cling to what is evil? It’s in our nature since Adam and Eve we have been shaped by sin and our deviance from God (Romans 12:9). Similar to a child, we know what we should and shouldn’t do but we still do the wrong thing (Romans 7:15-20). Those who cling to ignorance and error thereby rejecting instruction from the Son of God are without excuse (Romans 1:20). They love their vices and lusts which only exist in the darkness because they are the fruits of their evil deeds (Matthew 7:16). Their palettes have been corrupted by their carnal nature, and their perverted preferences only push them further into the darkness—away from salvation and mercy (Romans 1:26-27). We need a new heart, but it won't come unless the old is discarded (Ezekiel 11:19, Proverbs 4:23). A lot of times it's so hard for us to get rid of things, to throw things away that we’ve created a special place for.
This is the answer: Surrender to the Light that darkness cannot overcome.
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