Your profession of faith in Christ may be worthless, Has that thought ever crossed your mind? You might say, "Yes, but I just remind myself of Roman 10:9", "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." But think, are there people in the bible who call upon the name of the Lord and still burn in the fiery puts of hell? Let's check out Matthew 7:21-23, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.(lawlessness)" He says depart from me, those of you who claim to have the spirit living in your heart and yet you live as though I never sent a law.

Modern day evangelists would have you believe that as long as you can think back on a day when you walked an isle, and prayed a prayer, your salvation is secure. They send you off with statements to never doubt your salvation. That doubt comes from the devil and we are to war against it. That is not what the bible says! The bible says to "examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5) How does the bible give us assurance of our salvation, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5: 17) If you don't feel a regenerate heart within yourself, maybe that doubt isn't coming from satan at all, maybe it's God pricking your heart.

You say , "Well, yes, a close examination of myself reveals that I still have many of the sins of the world in my life but you know, I'm never going to be perfect, and none of it is really that bad. Well, maybe some of it is bad, but I know I'm forgiven and maybe I'm just one of those carnal Christians 1 Corinthians 3 talks about. Let's examine those passages a bit.

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" 1 Corinthians 3:1-3.

Here is the jist of your modern day evangelists interpretation of these, few, short, passages. There are three types of people; The natural man who is unsaved and on his way to hell, the spiritual Christian who is saved and regenerate. you can see evidence of Christian growth, and the carnal Christian who is saved, but while there may be short bouts of "revival" the pattern always leads back to the old life and there is no real growth. Well let me tell you, if that's true and the rapture comes, this planet is gonna be mighty empty because almost everyone that I know is a Christian. The Bible says, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matthew 7:13-14. Either my bible is lying to me or a large chunk of those people walking forward during the Billy Graham crusades are false converts.

And hmmm, did those verses point at all to this third person, the carnal Christian, who supposedly gets into heaven with the smell of smoke on his clothes? Nope, only two ways there. Notice it said not only the gate was narrow but the path as well. But let's look for that third person in some other passages. Matthew 7:16-19, "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." No third person there, only good trees and bad trees. How about Luke 6:46-49, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great." Nope only two, and those of you who what to say that this is an example of a spiritual and carnal Christian and the only thing the foundation of sand caused was a messed up life here on earth would have to be blind not to see the similarities between "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" and "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord... And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that practice lawlessness."

What does Romans say about this carnal living, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (8:5-9) "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (13-14) It does not say here that fleshly, carnal living bring about a loss of reward, it says the result is death! It does not say that spiritual and carnal Christians are the sons of God, it says only they that are lead by the Spirit!

The fact is, Christians, though walking in the spirit, do falter from time to time and act like carnal, unsaved men. A period of time such as this was all Paul was addressing in 1 Corinthians 3. David committed murder and adultery but this bout of carnality was not the defining characteristic of his life. To stretch these verses to apply to someone living a life of continued sin is heresy!

One of my favorite teachers has changed the words of an old hymn to reflect this version of Christianity, "Free from the law, oh happy condition, sin all I want with Jesus permission." Paul says, "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Galatians 6:7-8

The Enemy

Before conversion he had light thoughts of sin. He cherished it in his bosom as uriah his lamb. He nourished it up, it grew up together with him. He did eat, as it were, of his own meat and drink of his own cup and lay in his bosom and was as to him as a daughter.
But when God opens his eyes by conversion, he throws it away with abhorrence as a man would with a loathsome toad which in the dark he had hugged fast in his bosom and thought it had been some pretty and harmless bird.
When a man is savingly changed he is deeply convinced not only of the danger but the defilement of sin. And oh how earnest is he with God to be purified. He loathes himself with his sins. He runs to Christ and casts himself into the fountain set open for sin and uncleanliness. If he falls, what a stir is there to get clean again. He has no rest till he flees to the word and washes and rubs and rinses in the infinite fountain laboring to cleans himself from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit.
The sound convert is heartily engaged against sin. He struggles with it. He wars against it. He is too often foiled but he will never yield the cause nor lay down the weapon while he has breath in his body. He will make no peace, he will give no quarter. He can forgive his other enemies. He can pity them and pray for them but here he is implacable. Here he is set upon their extermination. He hunts it as it were for the precious life.
His eyes shall not pity, his hands shall not spare though it be a right hand or a right eye. Be it a gainful sin, most delightful to his nature, or the support of his esteem with is worldly companions. Yet he would rather throw his gain down the gutter, see his credit fail, or the flower of his pleasure wither in his hand than he will allow himself any known way of sin. He will grant no indulgence. He will give no toleration. He draws up on sin where ever he meets it and frowns upon it with this unwelcome salute, " I found thee, oh my enemy."

Joseph Alleine "An Alarm to the Unconverted" 1671

Recreational Dating

I have come to realize that dating is just practice for divorce. You go through a series of relationships and breakups and then by the time you are in a marriage you already have a lot of experience under your belt and when things get tuff, it makes leaving that much easier. People think that premarital sex is the big marriage killer today, but while that may be true, I think the dating itself has to be partly to blame.
Second, I don't believe dating is the best way to find out if some is the person you are supposed to be with. When we enter into relationships we put on a good show, our best behavior. After marriage the real person comes out because we don't feel we need to work to keep them interested anymore. I believe a much more effective way of getting to know someone is to watch them live their life. How do they treat people around them? What are their priorities? Too often, inside a relationship, your priorities get put aside for the person you are with. While this is an admirable quality within a marriage it has no place in the life of someone just learning to become an adult. There is too precious, little time between now and real adulthood.
Lastly, dating is not biblical. Marriage has always been a very sacred institution set in place by God. I believe that if He would have thought it important to date before marriage, He would have included an example for us. He says instead that a woman is her fathers until he gives her hand in marriage to another man. Do I think this means forcing women into arranged marriages? No, I don't think any godly man would force his daughter to marry a man she didn't love. But I also don't think children should be allowed to make these decisions without recognition if the authority of the parents.
There was also no such thing as adolescence in the bible. All men were considered children until they came to a right of passage and became a man. There was no in between period of experimentation with manhood before the child was ready. God is wise. You don't let a baby play with fire. The bible says that youthful lust is more dangerous than satan. He says "stand against the wiles of the devil" (Eph 6:11) but "flee youthful lust" (2Tim 2:22).
My ideal for my boys regarding a relationship of this nature would be for us to forbid anything beyond friendship until we can recognize them as men. That they have the right priorities; they know what kind of woman they should be looking for, they are prepared to be a financial support and spiritual leader for her, and are willing to lay down their life for her as the bible says a husband should do. If these things are in place in their lives and they come to us about a woman, then they should have our permission to speak to the girl's father. If this father agrees then a plan should be set in place that they still not be alone together until their wedding night.
I know this all sounds extreme for today but Gods way is different than the world's way. It really wasn't that long ago that men and women courted in a large parlor with the girls father close by, shot gun in hand. Well, maybe not the shotgun part. Old fashioned courtship needs to be brought back to save our marriages. "Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16. There is a lot of wisdom in that verse.
I know it is our first inclination, in this modern day, to say a standard such as this is unrealistic but I believe saying that is to deny the power of God. We teach our children great things by adhering to Gods standard and letting them see the contrast between His holiness and the world's destructive nature. We will fail to measure up, but that doesn't mean we don't try.