It’s Your Badge of Honor

“You’re too black and white; you leave no room for grey areas.” How many Christians have had an accusation similar to that thrown at them for their uncompromising stand for the Scriptures of the Bible?! All praise to God if you have. It’s your badge of honor; wear it proudly! As it is presently, you are one of the few. Your Scripture-compromising accuser wears a badge of dishonor; a badge revealing dishonor for the Trinity of God, dishonor for the nature and character of God and dishonor for the truth of God. Unless there’s some divine intervention from our merciful God, a badge of dishonor is what they’ll  be wearing when they stand before Him.

What kind of divine intervention? Persecution probably. A persecution which strips a person of all reliance and dependence upon anyone or anything but God, whose name is Lord Jesus Christ. Many Christians wearing a badge of dishonor place a greater reliance and dependence upon their leaders for their spiritual well-being than they do the Lord. The pope or the pastor tells them climate change is destroying the planet and they hang off his every word, ignoring or rejecting that which God tells us in Genesis 8: 22, While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease. Compromising Christians must face up to this. It is God speaking here. Is it true or not true? Yes or no?

Look at the number of compromising Christians who have been seduced into believing abortion is not murder. They have bought into the lie which says a human fetus is not a human being and therefore it has no intrinsic moral value and rights. Such a belief only applies when the mother doesn’t want to birth the child, however. It’s a completely different story when she does. Harm that child in her womb then and you’ll be had for murder quick smart! How about euthanasia or “death with dignity” as the devil calls it? Eight weeks in the womb or eighty years out of it, murder is murder and God has the first and last word on it: Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man Genesis 9:6.

Enough already has been said about same-sex practice on this blog so my challenge to compromising Christians: you either believe the plain-sense instructions from God in both testaments of the Bible on it, or you don’t. There is no grey area. Again, God has the first and last word on the matter, Jesus and the apostles confirmed it. You say Jesus said nothing about it, but Jesus says to you, Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets ……. Matthew 5:17. The Law on same-sex practice still stands. You reject that Law and your badge of dishonor remains firmly affixed to you no matter the level of your spirituality in other areas. Such a practice is not the unforgivable sin, but any refusal to repent and get redeemed from it makes it so.

How about trangenderism? Like the silly word itself, there is no such thing! So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them Genesis 1:27. Jesus confirmed it: Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ ? Matthew 19:4-5. People identifying as transgender will stand before God and be rightly identified by Him for what they truly are – male if born as such – female if born as such. No mistake has been made; nobody has been born into the wrong body. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you….. Jeremiah 1:5 applies to all.

The Interfaith Movement is accelerating at a rate of knots now with the United Nations and Pope Francis leading the way calling for understanding and cooperation among the world’s religions. The One World Religion spoken of in Revelation 17:1-18 is well and truly on its way. Not only are world political leaders supporting it but so too are “Protestant” church leaders. “The Catholic and Charismatic Renewal is the hope of the Church,” said one of its chief advocates and spokesmen, Anglican Episcopal Bishop Tony Palmer to a group of cheering “Charismatic” leaders. A few weeks after making that declaration he was killed in a motor cycle crash. There is a badge of dishonor attached to every Christian supporting this movement.

For a Christian, there is but one God, Jehovah. Bible Christianity has nothing in common with Roman Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Jainism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism. Each of these religions opposes Bible Christianity. It is unwise to believe otherwise! There is only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live 1 Corinthians 8:6. Again, for a Christian we have, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all Ephesians 4:5-6. Our relationship with God is based on grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, plus nothing else!

Christians refusing to get baptized wear a badge of dishonor. “Why should I”? they arrogantly ask. “The thief on the cross was not baptized yet Jesus promised he would be with Him in paradise that very day.” True, the thief was not baptized, but he was humble and repentant, which is more than can be said for Christians willing to use that as an excuse. Given opportunity, he would’ve jumped into water without giving it a second thought. “Baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation,” too many others say. True again; but obedience is! The gift of salvation is not promised to the disobedient. For with the heart one believes to righteousness Romans 10:10, not the head. Disobedience and righteousness are incompatible.

Prosperity gospel Christians wear a badge of dishonor; the what’s-in-it-for-me/name-it-and-claim-it crowd whose love for money, materialism and success surpasses any and all love for Jesus and His truth. Since Judas Iscariot showed his love for those things and not for Jesus or truth, could it be said of these people that they have a Judas spirit and not the Holy Spirit? Judas was a covetous man, who is an idolater. Greed kept him from receiving any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God Ephesians 5:5. Judas would have been there to hear Jesus tell the crowd, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses Luke 12:15, but selective hearing was where he was at!

Social gospel Christians wear a badge of dishonor when they overemphasize social problems and needs but under-emphasize spiritual problems and needs. Addressing poverty, poor housing, poor nutrition, education, crime and human rights etc. is not the primary message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The primary message is and has always been that of sin, repentance, salvation, heaven, hell, and the kingdom of God to come on the earth. Jesus was not a social or a political reformer; social change was not on His agenda, only heart change. Change the heart and everything else will fall into place as one makes it their business to, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you Matthew 6:33.

Bibliolatry is one of the labels slapped on Bible Christians by those wearing a badge of dishonor. “You worship the Bible more than God,” is one inflammatory and derogatory accusation put on those who hold to the inerrancy, infallibility, and supremacy of the Bible. Nothing riles them more than to be told the Bible alone is our Final Authority – Sola Scriptura! Developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is much more important than studying the Bible, they say. How silly! Unless one does study the Bible it isn’t possible to develop a personal relationship with Jesus, for that is where He reveals Himself. If not in the Bible, then where? How does one become a disciple of the Lord if not for the Bible? John 8:31. 

It is not God’s desire that any Christian stands before Him wearing a badge of dishonor because if it doesn’t mean loss of salvation, it does mean loss of rewards. Therefore it seems to me that severe persecution is the only solution God has left for getting the church of this generation’s attention. He’s tried everything else and it hasn’t worked. There are only two churches: the pure bride of Christ and the tainted harlot of the anti-Christ. Which one we belong to depends on which badge we’re wearing. “You’re too black and white; you leave no room for grey areas.” Has that accusation been thrown at you? If so, praise God. It’s your badge of honor; wear it proudly! If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor John 12:26.