To Not Lose How We Should Love the Lord

From: January 15 – 21, 2013

TOPIC: “To Not Lose How We Should Love the Lord” Isaiah 1:11-18

The mere external religion is always a mantle to cover the iniquity of those who practice it. The Lord Jesus exposed all that fake vain religion with its strong accusation in all of Chapter 23 of Matthew. Just the same as we read in these verses that this happened with Judaism it also has appeared and developed a lot in Christianity. The conscience of the believer can become so hardened as to practice the religion and at the same time live in sin. We should then realize that God does not accept rituals without the reality of a true disposition, that He does not accept sacrifices without obedience, or gifts without a giver that does not have a genuine intention. As long as the people live in sin their assistance to the services of the temple is an insulting way to trample His atriums. The mixture of iniquity and solemn feasts is abominable to God and, therefore, He will not pay attention to the extended hands or the many prayers. Hypocrisy cannot be for God. God will never receive hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is due to the hypocrite. Isaiah 29:13 "The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men”. Since the religion is completely external, his only fear of God consists in memorized creeds. God will perform a deed of supernatural judgments forsaking the experts in wisdom and discernment (vs. 14). The scribes and the Pharisees sat in the lessons or teaching of the laws of Moses. But, although Jesus told them to comply with what Moses had taught, their deeds were wicked. Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices __mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law__ justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former ". They performed everything as a ritual without the reality. They were meticulous when tithing to the Lord even from the most insignificant plants cultivated by them. Jesus didn’t condemn that because of their concern for the small details of the obedience, but he reproached them severely for totally lacking scruples as far as showing justice, mercy and fidelity towards others. They were very dedicated in the small things, but coarsely blind to enormous sins like hypocrisy, the lack of honesty, cruelty and covetousness. It is that the sense of proportion is lost. Galatians 4:8-11 Here we see the apostle Paul’s reproach to the believers in Galatia who would listen to the false teachers and because of this they would return to the external rituals, and thus drifting away from the purity of the true Gospel that gives life. The false teachers taught in those times and of course now, that salvation occurred by means of two things: by the faith in Christ and also by the observance of the law. This was a mixture of Christianity and Judaism, of grace and law, of Christ and Moses. They tried to keep Paul away from the Galatians saying that he was not a genuine apostle of the Lord. They tried to destroy the confidence in the message undermining the trust in the messenger. Many believers were affected by this. Galatians 4:11 "I fear for you, that some how I have wasted my efforts on you." What pain and frustration must have seized Paul’s heart when receiving the news of what was happening in Galatia! Was his work in vain among those

people? Paul made a quick and decisive action. He took his pen and with much indignation wrote this letter to his beloved children in the faith. The Galatians ABANDONED THE PURITY TO TAKE ON HYPOCRISY! Now they became legalistic preferring to comply with the Saturdays and with their feasts and religious seasons rather than with a life of faith, sanctity, of sincere prayers and of love; that is not what Paul taught them, but for them it was more sweeter what the false prophets taught them and that is what they chose. What happens is that the incredulous, those who have not repented, not regenerated, may also observe days, months, seasons, years and all kinds of rituals merely externals. Some of them think that with their own strength they can gain God's approving smile. This implies that by doing this men demonstrate they have certain strength and therefore do not need from the Savior. But we know that there is no other source of eternal life and salvation but rather Christ as our Lord and personal Savior. Col 2:20-22 "Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch! These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings? "The absence of Christ wants to be covered with the precepts. The rituals of Judaism had already lost their place before God. The rituals of the Old Testament were "the basic principles of this world", in the sense that it taught the elementary principles of religion: the ABC. That is easier than being obedient and sincere with God. Anyone can do that. But, to believe Christ and serve Him, to love the brothers, to keep away from evil, to be meek, merciful and humble, to be clean and sincere at the heart, is not for everyone. One should not be just anyone, but the image of Christ upon the earth. We are the salt of the earth and that salt cannot be insipid. Let us live in such a way that we honor Christ in all our lives. Amen.