"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." —Hebrews 1:9
The
word "iniquity" in Hebrews 1:9 is the Greek "anomia," which means
"transgression of the law, the condition of without law, i.e., injustice,
wickedness, unrighteousness." Hence, Jesus Christ was not pacifist
when it came to evil and corruption. The Word of God states that Jesus
HATED iniquity. In John 2:15 we read that Jesus made a whip and drove
the thieves out of the temple. Then he poured their money all over the
floor, and overturned their tables. How many Christians do you know
today who get as upset as Jesus did when people exploit Christianity to make
money? I don't know many. Well it makes me mad, real mad, and it
should make you mad too! Read here about
Greedy Televangelists!
We read further in Proverb
8:13, "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the
evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." Proverbs 6:16-19
proclaims... "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are
an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed
innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift
in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth
discord among brethren." An "abomination" is something that really
makes the Lord upset, His pet peeves so-to-speak. Most people
would expect to see such horrible sins as homosexuality, abortion, adultery,
or bank robbery on the list. Rather, God lists PRIDE first on the list!
America is extremely proud, murdering their own children through abortion
while at the same time boasting of being a nation that VALUES LIFE! A
lying tongue comes second—God hates lying! America has become a nation of
LIARS, who break their marriage vows! America is guilty of shedding
innocent blood in Iraq. Our nation is guilty of bearing false witness
against the leaders of Iraq. We are guilty of stealing their oil and
murdering the innocent. Woe unto America!
Jesus Came to Bring a Sword; Not Peace!
Jesus said, "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Matthew 10:35,36). Jesus explains His Statements in Matthew 10:37,38... "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." You see, when you decide to live godly in Christ Jesus, the world will turn on you and hate you, sometimes even your own family... "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2nd Timothy 3:12).
We hear much talk nowadays about Jesus' teachings on love, peace and turning the other cheek; BUT Jesus plainly stated that He DIDN'T come come to bring peace... "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). Do you know why? It's because God wants us to be divided over truth; rather than united by error. The Ecumenical Movement unites in error with unbelievers. Apostate churchgoers unite in error with the sinful world. Satan's goal is to pervert the Truth. As believers, we ought to love the Truth and proclaim It. Few people love the Truth nowadays, which is why the Satanic New International Version of the Bible is so popular.
The Truth either makes people angry or causes them to repent. The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. The Word of God is a "hot potato" in the world. To the Christian, there is no possession any more precious than the Bible; BUT to the unsaved person, there is no Book any more hated, despised and criticized than the Bible. The famous author Mark Twain said, "If there is a God, He is a malign thug." That is the foolhardy utterance of an unsaved man.
The Word of God is powerful,
cutting to the heart and convicting It's hearers (Hebrews 4:12). This
is why Jesus said that He came to bring a Sword... because the Truth causes
fights, raging debates, and irreconcilable differences. The Truth is
intolerable. 1 + 1 = 2 and there's nothing you can do about it.
You can say 1 + 1 = 3 if you want; but you'd be wrong, like it or not.
Abortion is murder (Exodus 20:13). You can say it's not; but you'd be
wrong, and there's nothing you can do to change God's Law. The Bible
is God's Word and the Truth It proclaims is intolerable. Jesus is the
Living Word, and the Bible is the Written Word. They are
Inseparable (John 1:1-3,14; Revelation 19:13). Anyone who talks about
Jesus, without quoting from the Scriptures, is a phony.
Peace With God Through Jesus Christ
Some people accusing me of condemning others through my website ministry; but that is not true. I preach the Truth of God's Word; but I am a sinner just like anyone else. It is not my place to condemn anyone. Romans 3:19 tells us that God's Holy Law condemns the whole world of sin. It is only through Christ crucified that we can escape the condemnation which sin brings, and the justly deserved penalty in Hellfire... "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).
At Jesus birth, the heavenly host
praised God, saying... "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). The "peace" spoken
of here is not world peace, for there will NEVER be world peace
until Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming to establish His
Millennial Kingdom. The "peace" which the heavenly host spoke of is
found in Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The ONLY remedy to bring
lasting peace is through the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ for
the sins of mankind. We can have peace with God through Jesus Christ.
There is NO other way (Acts 4:10-12).
Divided by Truth or United by Error?
Again, God wants us to be divided over truth; rather than united by error.
The Homosexual Agenda is one such ERROR. The Bible teaches in 2nd Thessalonians 3:6 that a Christian should SEPARATE from any professed believer who lives in sin... "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition [i.e., the Word of God] which he received of us." And again we are warned in 1st Corinthians 5:9-11... "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."
But you say, "Wait a minute
buster. Wasn't Jesus was a friend of sinners, Who ate with them and
befriended them?" Yes, that is certainly true; but Jesus DIDN'T keep
company with sinners. The Greek word for "company" in 1st Corinthians
5:11 is sunanamignumi, and means "to be intimate with."
Although Jesus ate with sinners in order to express God's love and to bring them the
Gospel; Jesus DIDN'T travel with sinners, or partake of their sinful habits,
or become intimately involved with them personally. In sharp contrast,
Jesus had an intimate relationship with the Apostles, i.e., they traveled
with Jesus, and spent much time with Him, and knew Jesus better than others.
To say that Jesus was a constant companion of unrepentant sinners is
blasphemy. Jesus befriended sinners, teaching them the Truth; but
Christ DIDN'T partake of their drunken parties, lewd festivals, and sinful
ways.
Jesus Wasn't Passive Towards Sin
Jesus hated sin and wasn't passive towards it. We learn in John 2:15 that Jesus even became violent over sin... "And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables." When's the last time you got that angry over sin?
It is a sin to portray Jesus Christ as Someone who never spoke a negative Word about sin, evil or corruption. Jesus plainly warned against "false prophets" in Matthew 7:15. In Matthew 23:17,19 Jesus called the Pharisees "fools." In John 8:44, Jesus told the religious leaders that their father was Satan. In Matthew 16:23 Jesus rebuked the Apostle Peter, calling him "Satan." Jesus said what needed to be said, when it needed to be said. Jesus hated sin and spoke out against it.
In John 4:18 Jesus confronted the
woman at the well about her 5 husbands, and her new boyfriend. Jesus
didn't avoid the subject of sin like many preachers do today. In
Matthew 23:23 Jesus rebuked the unsaved religious leaders, "Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise
and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other
undone." Jesus preached against hypocrisy, false religion, and
self-righteousness!
Conclusion
In the absence of Light, darkness prevails. This is why Jesus continually spoke the Truth everywhere He went. It made many of the Jews angry at Jesus... "And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?" (John 10:20). Can you imagine... people calling God Who created them crazy and of the Devil? Whom do you say that Jesus is... Liar, Lunatic, or Lord?
Jesus hated iniquity. He spoke out against injustice and evil. Jesus wasn't a pacifist Who kept silent concerning sin. Jesus was a man's man, and always addressed the issue of sin when He dealt with people. This is why the Pharisees brought the woman taken in the very act of adultery to Jesus (John 8:3). They knew that Jesus preached against sin, and hoped that He would condemn her; BUT Jesus never condemned anyone (John 3:17). Jesus hates iniquity; BUT He loves people, even those who sin horribly... "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Thankfully, God doesn't love us because of who we are; but rather, because of Who He Is. This is why Jesus was willing to die upon the cross for our sins, knowing exactly how rotten we are, because He loves us for Who He Is. What a Precious Savior!
