Finding the Truth

Most people are familiar with the song of that title that was written by Charlotte Elliott and William Bradbury. It’s one of my favorite songs, and its message tells us to come to Christ no matter what state we’re in. We don’t have to clean up our lives before we come to him. Christ is the cure, so trying to get well without him doesn’t make a lot of sense.

But sometimes people take this approach of “just as I am” a little differently. When they use it, they mean coming to Christ just as they are, and then staying that way. They think that being a “Christian” is nothing more than claiming to be one – that no outward sign of their conversion is necessary.

However, I’ve never been able to find any passages that back that up.

Instead, we have the examples of the Israelites under the Old Law who were punished when they didn’t follow God’s commands. We have passages (1 John 5:2-3; Galatians 2:20; Romans 12:1-2; and many others) that encourage us to turn away from our own desires, and live the way Christ longs for us to.

A sick person doesn’t go to a doctor with the intention of remaining sick. How can we expect to come to the “Great Physician,” but continue to live our lives the way we always have? Christ is totally committed to us – as he proved by offering himself on the cross for our sins. Doesn’t it make sense that we, therefore, should be totally committed to him? As Paul said in Romans 6, “how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. – Luke 6:44

What kind of fruit do you bear? And when people see it, who would they think you serve?

Sorry, but I couldn’t help myself in posting (***There was an article linked here, but I decided to remove it, primarily because of the other content on the site and the poor title choice of the article***).

I want to point out that I don’t endorse this particular church, or their broader beliefs. However, I thought this article was pretty good and to the point. I think too many times people think they need to “help God out” by adding in some rules that he didn’t actually give us.

In reality, God gave us all the info we needed, and we don’t need to forget the condemnation Jesus brought against the Pharisees for “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9).

***EDIT***
Well, it’s October 4, about 5 months since I wrote this article. If you decide to read the comments, you can see that a lot has been discussed. I thought I’d write a follow-up in here, just in case someone reads this, but doesn’t take the time to read every comment.

If you fall into that group and skim through this thread without a thorough reading, please don’t rush to any conclusions about those who have posted. Several of us adjusted our responses somewhat by the end of the discussion. I, for one, came away from it with a more conservative view than the one I started with. In hindsight, I wish I had approached this topic in a better manner. My initial post here, and some of my first comments were way too casual and did not use enough scripture.

So if you decide to read through some of this thread, let me again ask that you not jump to any conclusions about the people who posted on here or their positions, unless you are willing to carefully read the entire discussion. I’ve decided to leave the post on here, in case it is helpful to someone at some point. I’ve tried to discourage any further comments on this thread, but if you feel the need to add something you can. I may or may not approve it.

Thanks.