Secret Weapon: Old People Die!

In 2015 75% of people in the United States were reported to be Christians (Pew Research Center).

In 2015 80% of the people of the United States believed in abortion in some or all cases ((Gallup Poll).

In 2015 55% of the people in the United States favored same-sex marriage (Pew Research Center).

In 2015 55% of Christians in the United States favored same sex marriage. Mainline protestant Christians favored it by 66% and Catholics by 70% (Pew Research Center).

At the present 60% of the people in the United States believe in the evolution theory of existence. What's more 73% under 30 support that theory (slate.com). That article quotes Evan Wolfson, the president and main architect behind Freedom to Marry. “That was our secret weapon: Old people die.”

Therein lies the problem: old people die! With that evil counts on the young people.

The secret weapon of all evil is that old people die. However, it's not  secret but people just refuse to believe it! Marxism, the epitome of evil, quantified this concept when Friedrich Engles said: youth has never before flocked to our colours in such numbers. The hope of  socialism is the youth of today. Old people are the problem, but old people die!

Youth are the Petrie dish of change. Mature people have learned by experience, and temper rebellion with that. Old people know what we have is not best, but it beats fear of something worse. Young people, only as vulnerable as they believe they are, are willing to take the chance on something new, but as Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun."

As a practical example, how many old people rappel or kayak class fives? How many old people jump narrow ledges on tall buildings or even parasail? They don't do such things because they are wise. Wise people don't flirt with death! Change, for our youth, is merely adventure without regard to the destination. Couple with that the lack of wisdom, and tyranny is inevitable. Marxists use adventuresome youth to further dangerous causes.

Youthful people age. Time is the enemy of evil because with time most people obtain more wisdom. Evil shortchanges time by indoctrination. A Marxist principle is to remove the family from the education of the young and have the government do the educating - a socialist government in particular. All these pre-school education programs for our children are a means of indoctrinating children before the parents can mold values into them. Children can be convinced that wrong is right, but most older people cannot be.

As younger people are remolded - brainwashed most say, it is only a matter of time before old people die! The increase in the statistics above are because of two reasons: (1) liberal education, and (2) old people die. Evil counts on those two things to increase evil. In Marxism, that is called creeping socialism. They patiently wait while children are indoctrinated as old people die. Evil does the same thing! It's not a conspiracy but a principle of evil. It is the method of Satan himself!

Notice that 75% of our citizens purport to be Christians, but a large majority of them support unchristian ideas: abortion and same sex marriage. Add to that 60% of the women who support feminism (Washington Post and Kaiser Family Survey-1996), and America has a real problem with their Christianity. (Yes, feminism is sinful because of it's support of homosexuality and abortion; as well as sexual freedom for women).

Well, if 75% of the people in the United States are Christians, where are they? They say they believe in Jesus, but don't trust Him! God says certain things are wrong, but Christians reveal that their belief is that God is wrong.  In other words, America's Christians are false Christians. They have the false perception that they are true to Jesus, but at the same time crucify Him again on a daily basis.

Hebrews 6:6 "If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

By not trusting Jesus for truth, they put their so-called Savior to shame. When Christians support sinful activities, they spit in the face of Jesus, symbolically, who died in their place. Supporting evil is serious business for of we're not for God, we are against him! (Matt 12:30)

The rules God plays by are called the "straight gate" and the path to the finish is the "narrow path". Few enter the straight gate and fewer stay on the narrow way. Hence, according to scripture, 75% is a wishful number. Sure, people believe in God - even the demons do, but He is not the God of Holy Scripture in whom they believe. That path will get even more narrow as old people die. Hang on to your head, because, young people, your head is your fate! In the end, faithful Christians will be beheaded for their belief.

Satan's only positive attributes are that he is patient and persistent. He need only to deceive the youth and wait until old people die. You know that, but you still allow that to happen!

Jealousy and Envy

Human beings were created in the image of God. One of God's characteristics  is jealousy.

Exodus 20:5 "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them (other gods), nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God..."

Hence, jealousy is a human trait, and all that God does is good. Therefore, some jealousy is natural for the right reasons. In this case God is jealous of other gods with whom his bride fornicates; His people being His bride.

It would seem reasonable, then, that humans can be spiritually healthy, and be jealous of their mate. Indeed, without jealousy there remains apathy. Jealousy is hostility toward a rival or being vigilant toward ones possessions.  (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Marriage partners are in unity, and hence belong to each other. They are each others possessions for the duration of life. If there is to much attention given to the mate, or the mate to another, jealousy is a natural emotion. Some jealousy is expected as a demonstration of love. (Of course, sometimes one mate wishes the other didn't love them quite too much because excessive jealousy can make a relationship more of a prison).

God is jealous of us but we're not imprisoned by Him. He could have created mankind such that there was no need for jealousy, but when he gave mankind a will, then choice was included. Because humans are free to make decisions, just as God can, He allows us to be jealous. Hence, our jealousy is not a prison unless we construct one. Of course, nobody wills to be imprisoned, but the human nature with which all humans are born, seek slavery over freedom. That's because sin is slavery:

Galatians 5:1 (ESV) "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Since undue jealousy is sinful, then the jealous person enslaves themselves by their own uncontrolled emotion. We are all called to self-control because our self gets, well, selfish!

Titus 1:8 (ESV) "But hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined."

Sin is essentially lack of love of God because sinners don't care enough for God to care what His will is. Hate is the absence of love. Therefore, jealousy is the emotion that vacates love, which yields hatred. In fact, extreme jealousy creates insecurity, stress, anxiety in oneself and hatred for another. Hate is that prison in which the anxious person is imprisoned.

Jealousy is not only a result of loving someone selfishly, but includes envy: a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Envy is the emotion of jealousy because another has an advantage you want. The sin is called coveting:

Exodus 20:17 "Thou shalt not covet... any thing that is thy neighbour's."

Coveting is wanting strongly whatever advantage another has.  You see, there is a continuum between excessive jealousy and coveting -  the sin.

When I was young many of my friends were older and more established. They had nice things that I didn't. I barely made ends meet, and my family and I actually went hungry while my church friends were affluent. I never was jealous of what they had because it was theirs. They worked for it. Why should I have automatically, what they worked hard to get? Of course, I didn't deserve what was theirs. With that attitude, God blessed me. With hard work, over the years, I became affluent. I believe that if I had coveted what was theirs, I would not have been blessed.

In life there is competition. We all are rivals for things. It may be for love, wealth, recognition, status, or about anything. I like to see my competition for these things be successful. Their success has no bearing on my own status. Some, it seems, want others to be minimized or fail, to effectually build their own esteem.

I write because I love to. I have even written a few books. However, I am not a writer; I'm merely a man with ideas that I want to share. Most of those ideas are religious or political. As long as I can get my ideas out there, I have met my objective. If others get more of their ideas out there, that's no reason for jealousy; I am glad for them. I will not put myself in a prison of envy as they succeed!

We are all human. Envy and petty jealousy are just other ways to hate our neighbors. We must love one another, and that means being happy when they are successful in spite of our own lack of success. God tells us that if his people love and honor, he'll take care of the prosperity. That doesn't mean richness but happiness. I will rely on God for my contentment, not the failures of others!

Modern Churches

The Church is the total sum of all Christians without regard to affiliation or even whether they belong to a church or not. They are the true believers and followers of Jesus Christ as taught in the four gospels. Other "Christians" who worship a Jesus whose life was not according to scriptures are heretics, and in the end God will say "I never knew you." Jesus is more than a name; He is God in the flesh who judges the righteous and unrighteous. Those unrighteous either sin without regard to conscience, or worship a Jesus not true to gospels.

What defines a Christian in addition to truth is a profound belief to the extent that the Christian trusts Jesus for salvation, realizing that the individual has no power to save, and that no other gods can save them. That profound belief is called enlightenment, and is the born-again experience. Being born-again is necessary for salvation because it's the ultimate Light which a person can receive to be saved.

All those born-again is the true Church (John 3:3). Jesus said that but few believe Him! Some don't even know what born-again means let alone do they have the second-birth. They fail to realize that the only way to avoid the second death is to have the second birth, the latter which delivers the believer from the second death - or hell. Many people attend church each week who are headed toward eternal death because they haven't seriously considered Jesus.

Many "Christians" inherit their belief. They believe in Jesus because their forebears did. Their belief lacks trust, remembering that it's Jesus that is to be trusted for salvation, not anyone else or even their own self. Many of these "Christians" know good works and some even try to do them, but that is in effect endeavoring to save themselves. Their intentions are good, but their trust is someone other than Jesus. Those "Christians" never consider their own relationship with Christ because they have always believed. Unfortunately, the born-again experience never came about. I would suggest that they focus on the story of Nicodemus, and learn how to be reborn.

Other "Christians" follow false teachers. Even many mainstream denominations fail to accept that Jesus is divine, or that the gospel is ultimate truth. Many even propose that Holy Scripture is not God-breathed, and is the mere words of men. Scripture self-identifies with divine inspiration. To believe profoundly in the Resurrection and eternal life through Jesus means that believers must believe scripture all to be true.

Some deny the miracles of Jesus. Thomas Jefferson created his own Bible without the miracles. If Jesus can't heal, Jesus can't save. If Jesus can't provide bread and fish to a few thousand, He can't provide eternal life to millions. It is paramount that believers trust Jesus' miracles. Many mainstream denominations do not! I was baptized by aspersion in one of those many years ago. I went home a wet sinner, but still an unbeliever bound for hell. Sure, I believed in the existence of Jesus as even the demons do, but I failed to accept His death as my salvation.

Those churches which are social activists (the social gospel) do good things. However, they are not true churches. It's okay to do good things, but if the focus is on doing good leaves out trusting Jesus, and that He is the only way to salvation, then Jesus is left out of the worship of Him. Many social gospel churches even laugh at the Church's dependence on Jesus Christ and ridicule those born-again. They call born-again Christians right-wing zealots and haters. Social gospel churches don't bother that their church is righteous and take in Nicolaitanes of all sorts. God hates their deeds and doctrines.(Revelation 2) They are those who bring fornication and perverse sexual practices into the church - not for reproof but for acceptance!

Social gospel churches are little more than secular humanism. Many are Marxist in thought and have adopted every facet of socialism - (1) the sharing of property (confiscation is taught as righteous), (2) feminism, (3) racial division, (4) civil disorder, (5) destruction of institutions, (6) elimination of the true Church, (7) sharing of the wealth by decree, and even benign things such as (8) industrial technology. Most social justice churches have little to say about Christ, but much negative to say about real Christians!

Although those churches are the modern church, they are ancient, even since apostolic times. The churches of Asia of which John wrote in Revelation was for the churches then and now. It took little time for "Christians" to change the purpose of Jesus. Let's look at those churches:

The seven Churches are named for their locations. The Revelation provides descriptions of each Church (from Wikipedia).

• Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7) - the church known for having laboured hard and not fainted, and separating themselves from the wicked; admonished for having forsaken its first love (2:4)
• Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) - the church admired for its tribulation and poverty; forecast to suffer persecution (2:10)
• Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17) - the church located at 'Satan's seat'; needed to repent of allowing false teachers (2:16)
• Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) - the church known for its charity, whose "latter works are greater than the former"; held the teachings of a false prophetess (2:20)
• Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) - the church that has a good name; cautioned to fortify itself and return to God through repentance (3:2-3)
• Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13) - the church steadfast in faith, that had kept God's word and endured patiently (3:10)
• Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) - the church that was lukewarm and insipid (to God) (3:16)

Without going into detail, some of these churches were partly righteous and partly not. Some were salvageable, and others not.

As can be seen, the church at Thyatira was the social justice church. We learn later that this false prophetess was Jezebel, not the wife of Ahab but one in like manner. There were problems in the church. One major influence in destroying churches was women speaking up with things contrary to truth. Men were to have dominion, but some women assumed the role God gave to men. This Jezebel was surely an early feminist. Naturally, since feminism includes sexual freedom, that fornication and homosexuality was accepted in this church. It is the forerunner of modern denominations which allow these perversions within.

The church at Ephesus are those who pulled away from those wicked, but became wicked themselves by neglecting Jesus. I believe this type of church describes some charismatics who have separated themselves from mainstream Christianity, and went out on their own. They focus on the worship of the Holy Ghost, and neglect that He is Jesus on earth. Some of them leave out the Father entirely, forget Jesus, and kneel only to His Ghost.

The church at Pergamum was the location of the altar to Zeus and also the center of emperor worship (Caesar proclaimed himself a god). Caesar was Pontifex Maximus, a title later adopted by the Roman Catholic Pope. Zeus or Jupiter was the king of the Gods, and was worshiped by many in the Roman Empire. The early Roman Catholic Church easily adapted pagan god worship with Christianity to gain acceptance.  This church at Pergamum may have been symbolic of what the Catholic Church would become world-wide. As scripture says, for then and now, that church needs to repent of allowing false teachers. The Roman Catholic Church has placed the bulls of the Pope above the word of God, and only those true Christians within can save that denomination from itself! I believe God will save a portion of that church.

The church at Sardis sounds much like the modern or contemporary church. In belief, it is genuine, but in practice it has deviated. They are those churches who have adopted modernism. They are more places of entertainment than of praise. They are more your house than God's house. They do things the way you want them rather than the way God wants them. They mix fresh water with salt, and that can't be done. They seem to be under the spell of two masters. Even evangelic churches have went the way of modernism. They need to repent and get their priorities in order!

The church at Laodicea is symbolic of the end-of-age church where God and other gods are worshiped. I believe these churches are those which allow anything as long as it's in Jesus' name. In other words, they are those churches which attempt to sanitize sin by including Jesus. This type of church is called syncretic, and is much like the Jews under Aaron who didn't abandon God but adopted the Golden Calf. I believe the modern Golden Calf is eastern religions and their focus on Karma and the self. They balance forces for spiritual enlightenment, and do it in the name of Jesus. Many modern churches allow Yoga and other transcendental practices. Even people in my own church use Yoga, a form of spiritual enlightenment outside of Christ.

With the bad immigration policies of the western world this Golden Calf of oriental spiritualism is alive and well, diluting Christianity at every step. It's in the field of psychology and even in the military and educational system. Foreign gods are everywhere accepted as pseudo-science and even devout Christians turn to foreign mysticism for holistic health. That will be the end-of-time church, and socialism and Islam has much to do with it. I perceive that as long as that church is no longer Judeo-Christian that the Muslim church will be quite content. I believe that Islam becomes that end of time religion with a nice mix of Mohammad and Jesus.

The churches at Philadelphia and Smyrna represent the true Christian Church. The Smyrna Church represents those faithful who will be beheaded in the end-of-time for their faithfulness. Of course those will be post-rapture Christians, so that faithful Christians until then, are part of the church at Philadelphia (symbolically). Their faith is steadfast and endures until the end. This is THE CHURCH which is real today and will be until the end. That's my Church! That may not be yours.

Won't Be There in Heaven

People don't want to change. They don't become exemplary Christians because they still enjoy pleasure. Of course, pleasure itself, is not sinful, but sinful pleasure is! The most fun things are for this earth only. Satan didn't create them, but those who are deceived by him did. Let's take television for example. It exists because God made the things needed to transmit pictures. However, it's not his picture show that most watch!

I grew up Nazarene. In those days we were taught that television was bad. Many of us asked, "How can that be? It's just a signal." Television was fairly tame in those days, so we questioned the biasness of the preacher.  Many years passed by. My then Nazarene preacher said, "We used to preach against watching television. We were wrong." By that time I had become a sincere Christian, and was disappointed in him for liberalizing. Television hadn't gotten better, but more degenerate, and even more degeneracy would come soon!

Now television is a cesspool for liberalism, feminism, licentiousness, homosexuality, and drug use. Television is the lowest of the lowest standard, yet Christians still watch whatever is placed before them, but worse yet, few are convicted that what they watch is wrong.

I still watch television. Too much! However, I am more discerning of what I watch. Some shows have bleeping to filter out the sin. When the bleep occurs, my mind processes the lips, context, and beep and sounds the word out in my head. Even with the bleep I still mentally hear the filth. You do too, and so do your kids. I rationalize, at least they are censoring it, but that is a façade.

Even worse than the speech are the ideas presented on television. The visual media propagates sin. Any sin that the public will buy into, they present it. Have you noticed that since the SCOTUS ruling on same-sex marriage, that about every show and commercial have same-sex partners and happy homosexuals? That's not by accident. Their M.O. is to propagate the notion that it's acceptable. Why? Because statistics reveal that same-sex couples have greater income, and more equity to spend.

If you let your children watch Nickelodeon, the messages which they get are liberal thought. They teach your kids what Christians should abhor. Because they are children's shows does not make them benign. In fact, patient liberals realize you won't likely change one-eighty degrees but your children can be taught that direction without question. Right now, your children are being remolded, not into mini-you but into mini-liberals and little sinners.

This generation of youth march on the streets in favor of secular causes which most Christians should disdain. They are there because of the teachers and professors. The next generation will wage war on moral values because you parents let the entertainment industry mold them. No remolding was required because many will be raised with washed brains. Guess what? They will turn on even you as well with what values you have left!

You might not like the idea that I denounce liberalism. However, that ideology is the movement away from scriptural truth. It's the dogma that accepts whatever the world says is right, and creates a new world where the herd follows deception. Marx operationalized liberalism by writing his manifesto; liberalism is the way to Marxism. It is the strategy of tearing down old institutions which hamper their perceived notion of Utopia. The Church represents the institution which stands in the way of Utopia, and it must be destroyed. That is a strategy of the manifesto.

There is a big difference between heaven and Utopia. The former is where God rules, righteous love exists, and accord is the way. Utopia is where people enjoy pleasure to the extreme. It is an Epicurean society with an unknown God, as Paul warned the Greek philosophers. The motto there is: Do what thou wilt! because that is the motto of Satan.

Now back to what will and won't be in heaven: There won't be entertainment as we know it, but people will take delight in real pleasure. Imagine if you will the best voices on earth and the most perfect instrumentation. That will be pleasure in heaven. Every note will ring perfect!  There won't be suggestive gestures or antics on stage in heaven. Provocative behavior won't be there. I even believe that there will be no rock music in heaven because that term derives from backseat sex. There will be nothing sinful allowed in heaven.

Liberal ideology won't be in heaven. It's against God! Only messages which match God's will can be spoken because God speaks only truth. Liberalism is based on deception: eat whatever we feed you because you won't surely die!

The media won't purvey their message there because only truth will be allowed. Imagine, everything you hear will be based on truth, and you'll likely not find many members of the media in heaven. The media even now presents messages which leads to eternal death. They are the product of the forbidden tree. If one wants truth, there is a book in print where it can be found. It's called The Holy Bible.

To be truthful, some of the things which I hold dear won't be there either! I'm glad of that because then I won't have to deal with them. There will be no temptation in heaven because those there have already passed the test; they chose the will of God over the deception of Satan. Temptation will no longer exist. Even in hell temptation won't be a problem because sinners there will hate what damned them. They will even despise Satan because the atmosphere of hell is hatred!

There are many other channels of deception which people love that won't be in heaven. There is a point to all this criticism of things of the flesh: Why not change now, so that you won't be out of place in heaven? Imagine if you will, if your entertainment has been those rock groups and actors who are the most sinful, suddenly in heaven, things which you loved won't be there! What a day that will be! but will you be comfortable with that?

My colleagues winced when I criticized the entertainment that they loved. They saw me as a narrow-minded right-wing Christian. Guess what? They were right! I'm a zealot for God. They can keep their John Lennon. With his eastern religion, he won't be in heaven unless he gave it up on the way through death's door. Some wait for that door before they are willing to change. Remember, the only way we have to show God our love is our willingness to quit doing our will, and do His will.

I'm Okay. You're Okay.

In 1969 psychologist Thomas Anthony Harris wrote a self-help book called I'm OK – You're OK. It sold over fifteen-million copies. In the book Harris proposed four life positions:

1. I'm OK, You're Not OK
2. I'm Not OK, You're Not OK
3. I'm Not OK, You're OK
4. I'm OK, You're OK

Now, many years later, We're all OK - at least we all believe that we are! There are many reasons for this, but many once offensive taboos are now commonplace. People have become comfortable with not being okay,

Of course okay (OK) means different things to different people, to different cultures, and in different realms. In society, being OK may mean that a person obeys the law and contributes something to society. In psychology I'm OK may mean that the person is functional -  a person can live with whom one is. In religion one may be OK if they have faith in what they believe. Even atheists may feel OK because they have learned to live with mortality.

Are people born OK? Is the newborn infant OK? Of course, that is certainly debatable.  Most people accept that babies are born innocent.

Matthew 18:3 "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Here Jesus seemed to say, You're not OK, Little children are OK. With that said, it would seem that little children are innocent.  However, does this speak of the moral condition of the child or the ability to believe without questioning? Little children are easy to convert because they believe what they are told by those in authority. Perhaps, being as little children is the readiness to convert.

On the other hand, are little children innocent? There are two major positions on that: (1) They are innocent because they don't understand the concept of right or wrong, or (2) they are guilty of sinning but not held accountable because of their lack of understanding.

Indeed parents begin to teach children right and wrong at birth. Are they unintentionally condemning their own children. Should they teach infants that anything goes so that everything is right? We find that the Jewish people did what was right in their own eyes (Deut. 12:8). That's being as little children because that's exactly what they do!

There is scripture which specifically addresses this question:

Psalm 51:5  ^"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

I believe, as do many ancient theologians that original sin was using sex for pleasure rather than for reproduction.  That viewpoint is from the act of covering their genitals of which our forebears were ashamed. They had the right tools, so to speak, but wrong purposes. For that reason, ever since, mankind has been conceived in ecstasy rather than in obedience. To be honest, I love that part of conception. However, could it be that, that is because I too was shaped in iniquity?

Regardless, it would seem that because people are humans, they are born in sin. That is the human nature of all.  Let us look further:

Psalm 58:3 "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

Wicked people come right out of the womb as sinners who speak lies. Of course babies can't talk but their actions are deceptive from the beginning. Even with their crying babies are trying to convince the mother that something is wrong when all they want is appeasement.  Shortly after that, as they begin to speak, they outright lie to get what they want. Possibly at the moment of birth, they are innocent but immediately sin, of course without the knowledge of good and evil. That is at least a propensity to sin, and infants are not OK!

Isaiah 53:6  "... the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

As such everyone is a sinner because Adam was. Iniquity is sin. We are all sinful because Adam sinned. Indeed:

Romans 3:10  "There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. "

No one is without sin. Given that by human nature, none seek after God, that in itself is sinful. Since infants don't seek anything but attention, they are under the law of Sin. However, because of God's grace they are not held accountable for sinning because they fail to understand. As such infants are not OK but fail to know that they are not! I'm not OK, and babies are not OK.

Because no one is OK, everyone, even from birth, requires redemption.  God provides that:

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

If you can accept this verse as truth, you're still not OK but you're forgiven for not being OK. Christians still sin, and to believe one is without sin, is sinful because the Lord created everyone in iniquity since the time of Adam. In order to be saved, one must profess, I'm not OK!

The world teaches that most are OK. They proffer that even the killer has redeeming qualities which merit compassion. Of course, we must be compassionate, but on God's terms, not ours. There are consequences to crime, and thus sin, because all crimes are sins. The consequence of atrocious acts is that some pay with their very life. Of course, that's for those who are reprobate -  those that even society knows will never reform. They are not OK.

I'm OK; you're OK is the lie of Satan because none of us are OK. We can be reprieved but we're still not OK until our bodies are glorified, thus returned to the original condition in which God created Adam. That is when we're glorified after death.

Some say, "I've been good. I deserve heaven." God says, "You are evil from birth. You deserve death." Someone is lying and my suggestion is that it's not God! You're not good. You're not OK. However, you can get OK in the Lord's eyes because he has the power to forget past sins. You're still not OK but his sacrifice made you acceptable. That's called justification because he paid the price for your non-Ok-ness. It is not as if you were always OK, but that you're not OK but forgiven!

 

The Flesh

We think of the flesh as our skin. Of course, in some contexts it is but in others it's not. Let's look at the best example of when it's not:

Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

The Greek word for flesh is sarx and the best fitting definition for that is human nature or carnality. Carnality, in turn, is our appetites and passions. We all are carnal because we are mankind. That carnality is a result of original sin, which is desiring what we want without regard to God's will - or our will prioritized over God's will. Mankind seems to have wanted pleasure, wealth, and knowledge because those were what was available from the tree. With those three things, man in his own mind, became as gods.

Our flesh, then, are those things which appease us. As such each person is their own god and the idol of all mankind is the flesh. We all live to appease our god by living for it vicariously through our nature. Scripture tells us that all people have sinned and come short of God's will (Romans 3:23 paraphrased). In essence, all of mankind have their gods before God, and that is each of the individual's human natures.

The nature of mankind is to sin. We are all born this way! However, each and every nature, although having a propensity to sin, the sins of choice are each different. Because Adam and Eve covered their sin by hiding their genitals, the nature of sin is often sexual or pleasurable at a minimum. Hence, the abundance of sexual sin, drunkenness, and illicit drugs. Often neglected are the sins of how we adorn our gods. What I mean by that is the priorities in life. Everyone has a innate desire to provide for their own satisfaction first. Adam and Eve never abandoned God. They took on other gods besides Him, and subsequently their priority was on themselves. We are no different.

People dress in regal apparel. Imelda Marcos was noted for her thousands of shoes. Her god liked shoes. Most women are no different. Likewise, the desire to dress themselves like princesses extends to the wardrobe, hair, and makeup. Not to be misogynic, men do the same thing! Ever since mankind proliferated the face of the earth, their tendency was to dress their bodies as if they were gods. The Picts of Britannia painted themselves up, but pagans all over the earth had learned how to permanently apply the paint. Tattoos have been in vogue for thousands of years! Along with that has been piercings and cuttings to ostensibly beautify the gods and goddesses.

The Lord told Moses how to be holy. Among them were not doing things the pagans do, and as such, He said this:

Leviticus 19:28 "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord."

Why is refraining from tattoos and cuttings so important - listed right along with numerous other sins of the flesh? Because, rather than magnifying God, it is magnifying the self. God is a jealous God Exod. 20:5), and He is big on priorities. He knows that you desire to do what is right in your own eyes (Deut. 12:8) rather than His will.

Furthermore, one cannot cancel out God's command by making tattoos and markings about Him. Tattooing Jesus' name instead of another's does not negate the command! In fact, that is disrespecting God.

Some say, "Then you must honor all of Mosaic Law if you must honor this one." Indeed, we should if we love Him, but it is out of a desire to please God, not because one has to! Obedience is putting God first. It's prioritizing God over oneself. It is doing His will rather than one's own will.

God is a jealous God! He's not jealous of idols of wood, stone, or even gold because he can easily topple them as he did Dagon. However, he is jealous of you! The Creator is jealous of the created because like the monster, we have turned on the master! Of course God can easily topple us as well but he is patient. He doesn't because he loves us so (John 3:16). Because he so loved the world means that we should love Him back, and he says that the way to do that is to obey my commands (John 14:15).

What should Christians do because they profess to loving God: keep His commands. All of them if one can! The can't part is our carnal nature showing. Some are easy; some are not. It's easy not to do as the pagans do, and decorate one's own body as if it was a Christmas tree. We should be decorating God, not our own flesh. The decorations he loves are hymns, praise, prayer, and love!

Filth

Ephesians 5:4 (ESV) "Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving."

A tongue is the mere enunciator of the mind, so when perverse things are said, it's what's on one's mind. Of course, the tongue gets the blame:

 1 Peter 3:10 (ESV)  For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil  and his lips from speaking deceit..."

The tongue is the culprit, but the passage above vindicates it. We are called to keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking evil. Where does evil an deceit derive? From the heart. 

Luke 6:45 ( ESV) "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

The heart is the reflection of what's on one's mind. If the mind is on good, it does good. If it is on evil, it does evil.

Christians, when they are born-again, become new creatures. If the change is efficacious, the mind dwells on new things.

Ezekiel 36:26 ( ESV) "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

In essence then, a born-again Christian is changed. God takes away that old heart which reflects on filthy things and foolish talk and wipes it clean. There is reason to be fearful if you are a Christian who has a filthy and foolish mouth. It may be that the seriousness of salvation was made a petty event. Salvation is more than believing and confessing; those things are the prelude to change. If change is not there, perhaps one failed to take Jesus' sacrifice to heart!

One Christian told of his sexual escapades in a braggadocio manner. The non-Christian replied to the bragging with the comment, "I love to hear a good Christian sex story."  Of course, he was being sarcastic because the entire concept of filth and Christianity is paradoxical. The man was basically accusing the Christian of being a hypocrite, and indeed he was!

The problem with saying filthy and foolish things is three-fold: (1) God is disappointed, (2) the Christian's mind is on unrighteous things, and (3) the filthy and foolish person is presenting filth and foolishness to someone who doesn't want to hear filth and foolishness.

My analogy is that filthy talk is to the obedient Christian as cigarette smoke is to the non-smoker. Indeed, filth pollutes the air. Just as with cigarettes which can't be blamed, the tongue of the filthy talker is innocent. Just as the smoker is the guilty party with smoking, the mind is the guilty party of those who are filthy.

When I lived in Michigan, there were few born-again Christians. All day long I heard filthy talk and foolishness. Then, when I tried to pray, rather than praise, filth went through my mind. Before I could even pray, I had to deal with my own mind. I was thinking on what I had heard, not because I enjoyed filth, but because I had become acclimated to it! I developed the lung cancer, so to speak, even though I didn't smoke!

Now, when one speaks filthy or says foolish things, remember, the second-hand filth is really offensive to the non-filthy.