Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Genesis

Sin

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Almost all our sins will fall into two categories. We sin because we are trying to make ourselves equal with God, or by refusing to be who God created us to be. Either way, we spend our days in rebellion, as both forms of sin deny God is who He says He is. When we make everything about us, we place ourselves on God’s throne.

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We deny the sufficiency of Christ and fall into sin when our desires overrule our surrender and our wants become needs (James 4:1-3). This has been the story of mankind since the Garden of Eden as our pride and selfishness usurp God’s authority and drive a wedge between us and our Creator (Genesis 3:4-6; Romans 1:21-23).

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We Love Sin

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Did you ever wonder why the world hates Christianity, and by extension, Christ so much? The world doesn’t care if you’re a Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu, but a Christian? That’s unacceptable. Years ago, Matthew Henry wrote, “Christ is hated because sin is loved.” Deep down, we all know that’s true. We love sin (John 3:19). Even those of us who follow Christ and reject sin know that our affection for it never goes away (Romans 7:15-20).

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Our natural desire from birth is to sin, to follow the patterns of this world, and to resist anything that would restrict our freedom to pursue sin (Ephesians 2:1-3). I’m uncomfortable with even the thought that I might love sin, and it’s difficult to write it in such a public place. But if we didn’t love sin, we would not struggle to follow the commands of God (Romans 7:21-24).

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The Authority of Scripture

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Perhaps nothing is more foundational to our Christian faith than the authority of scripture. God reveals Himself to us through His Word, and any attempt to undermine or minimize the inspiration of God’s Word weakens our faith and conviction. We acknowledge and recognize that Jesus Christ is the author and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2), and that the Bible is God’s Word given to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to instruct us in the knowledge of who God is and the way we are to live.

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Through God’s guidance, Paul teaches us that all of scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching and training the saints (2 Timothy 3:16-17). He did not say some scripture or even vaguely state that scripture was inspired, but made it clear all scripture is God’s Word. This means we can trust the authority of scripture over every area of our lives. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s Word is true.

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More Than Emotions

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Modern churches place an enormous amount of focus on the emotional experience of being a Christian. Worship teams craft songs and services to evoke an emotional response from those listening. Sermons focus on engaging stories rather than the plain truth of Scripture. And I don’t know about you, but it’s a rare day when my mailbox (physical and virtual) doesn’t find an impassioned plea for help from some ministry or another.

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Social media adds to the play for our emotions by hyping the latest heresy or cause to which the church should be attending. Humans are emotional beings and Christians are no exception. But following Jesus involves more than emotions. Jesus said we must love Him not only with all our heart (emotion) but also with all our strength, mind, and soul (Mark 12:30).

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Outsiders

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If you follow Jesus with any consistency in this life, you’re going to find yourself as a cultural outsider. There’s no way around it. Our values are different. Our morals are different. Even our goals in life are different. We are not of this world, and we do not live like we are of this world (John 17:14-16). The very act of following Jesus Christ puts you on the outside, looking in on the rest of the world. You’ll be weird.

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The people of this world will hate, despise, and maybe even kill you. For certain, they will never understand you. Jesus lived on the outside too and he promised we would face trouble (John 16:33). He told us in advance that the world would hate us because it hated him (John 15:18-19). Authentic followers of Jesus will never be on the inside of the coolest and most popular circles. They will always be outsiders.

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