Saturday, May 17, 2014

The Wedding Garment



The Wedding Garment

(my devotion this morning)...

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Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Kehilah (believers' assembly, church). He is loving, kind and considerate to sinners, but at the same time uncompromising against sin, and He demonstrated it by dying on behalf of sinners on the cross.

If we can put it this way for the sake of compassionate understanding, God has a problem, a dilemma: God is holy and cannot coexist with sin. God loves us but will not accept us unless we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus), via repentance and forgiveness of sins (Acts 11:17-18).

In light of the above, read the parable of the wedding garment in Matthew 22:8-14. (verse 14 can also be interpreted this way: 'For many are called, but few choose to respond properly ... thus disqualifying themselves).

Sadly, some preachers also preach a defective gospel, and fail to prepare hearers to respond properly ....

For the sake of inclusiveness, some preachers/teachers are telling others they don't need the 'wedding garment' to partake in the Kingdom of God; they emphasize on God's love but ignore His Holiness and justice; they inflate God's grace but ignore 'repentance' and forgiveness of sins.

One hot issue in some American churches is to brainwash people to view 'practicing homosexuals' as acceptable before God, while painting the uncompromising ones on this matter as intolerant, unloving and unspiritual --- in America the secular media ridicules the Christian position of one man one woman in marriage. Not two men or two women.

The question is: in the name of love, grace and tolerance, should the church endeavor to make all comers comfortable and refrain from telling them the King's demand for 'wedding garment' to partake in His Kingdom?

The garment of holiness (Ephesians 1:4... holy and blameless). (Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:16; Jude 20-21). (Connecting the dots: People saved by grace are to live holy, Ephesians 1:4; 2:8).



Holy Holy Holy, Lord God Almighty!


Amen!

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