One of the greatest regrets I have for the Christian population on earth is that we allowed PRIDE to steal the symbolic meaning of the rainbow to use for the symbol of sinful behavior, thereby causing Christians to stop using it as the original symbol of hope. Or maybe that’s just me? But I won’t buy apparel or anything else to wear outwardly because I don’t want people to associate it with that agenda. And as for the word tolerance (which is the definition of long suffering), it too leaves a bad taste in my mouth because it is now a justification not to speak out against sinful behaviors in the name of love, when in actuality God never put His okay on tolerance in those circumstances.
Galatians 5:22-23 says- “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
There is no law against any of that conduct. Those are beautiful words with beautiful truth. But what about the words before them. What about putting scripture into context and not just talking about the pretty parts? Let’s put it in context of the law of God and understand His expectation of His children.
Scripture tells us that by the blood of Jesus Christ we are no longer under the law in Romans 6:14 –
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
But read the scripture leading into Galatians 5:22. It too mentions that we are not under the law. But that doesn’t make the law of no effect, it just means when the law is broken, God gives us grace to return to Him, who is Holy.
Galatians 5:18-21 KJV
[18] But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. [19] Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, [20] Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, [21] Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The problem with allowing the PRIDE movement to take the rainbow as their symbol for sin is that the rainbow was created by a Holy God. The nauseating thing about tolerating behaviors that go against everything in scripture is that every time a Christian tolerates (meaning accepts) sinful behaviors as okay, we distance ourselves from God. Because He has zero tolerance of their nonsense or ours. The same is true for any sin. Not just that of one organization. Tell me some of our own sins don’t fall in the descriptions in verses 19-21 of Galatians 5. Tell me we all have not been guilty of some those sins, but because we’re not under the law, we understand that the grace of God forgives us. Grace is a wonderful thing. But it too is a word misused. Discover how Mitolyn and the Purple Peel Diet can work together! Read Mitolyn reviews to learn about its brain-boosting benefits and how the Purple Peel Diet aids in achieving a balanced lifestyle.
I once heard an acronym for the word grace which is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. It not only makes a great bumper sticker, it should remind us that those things which we tolerate, Christ died for. He was beaten, spit on, had his flesh torn into pieces and nails driven into his hands and feet, and then jolted down into a hole as He hung on that cross, likely tied as well, so when they dropped the cross into the hole it would tear his flesh and allow Him to come off. This was a reminder for myself of what Christ did for me as I tip toe around people trying not to hurt their feelings.
If you are not a child of God, you may or may not agree with my opinion. And that’s fine, you have that right because God gives you free will. He wants you to make your own decisions including the decision to get to know Him. But if you are a child of God, you know that it’s not my opinion. It’s the word of God and it is right.
This is not a Jesus Chick blogpost against homosexuality or any of the other tolerated sins of the world. This is a blogpost about getting back to the holiness God intended for His people. Not the pious holiness of religion. That makes me want to puke. But the separation of the child of God from sin by never tolerating what takes people away from Christ. The reason people have stopped believing what a Christian tells them is there is no evidence that the Christian believes it either!
When a Christians says that sin is okay, the very thing that God gave His life for so we could have a relationship with Him and unimaginable by the Old Testament saints, we’re causing the word of God to be questioned. How am I to tolerate and justify sin and then say “be ye holy because God is holy,” (Paraphrased from 1 Peter 1:16). The world has watered down holiness.
It’s like watered down sweet tea that’s set in a hot car for a couple of hours while you shopped. Then you get back in the car and take a big swig and it’s like “Yuk!” That’s no longer tea. Well when you put enough tolerance in things in your life, your life is no longer holy, and it makes God want to puke. That’s what He said in the book of Revelation to the church of the Laodiceans when He told them in Revelation 3:16 “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
This word really hit home with me this morning. I am tired of tolerating people in more ways than I care to admit. They say offensive things to me or in front of me and I smile in understanding when I should grimace because it was a slap in my Lord’s face if it was done by a child of God. When we tolerate the absolute disgusting behaviors of the world around us we’re saying that it’s okay because God died for that. No, God died for that so they could come out of it and have a relationship with Him, not continue to live in it or see it condoned by the church.
Several churches in our area have recently came out of their denomination because of denominational tolerance and acceptance of sin. God bless you! I pray your congregations grow and that God’s blessings are poured out upon you for taking holiness seriously.
What ever the sin, it’s not worth the price of hurting my Lord. That’s the thought I want to drive into my own brain. The price of tolerance with acceptance is separation from God. We can love people even if they choose to stay in a life of sin. God gave them free will to live as they determined. But He did not give us the right to tell them it’s okay.
Holiness doesn’t give anyone the right to be hateful. God died for all people. Regardless of how they’re living. But if you want to know Him… you’re going to have to open yourself up to a conversation about what’s right and what’s wrong.