Gen. 2:17 π Jdgs. 21:25 π Isa. 64:6 π Mt. 6:10 π Mt. 7:21-23 π Mt. 22:11-13 π Mt. 24:12 π Mt. 24:13 π Mt. 24:14; 2nd π Mk. 13:36 π Lk. 12:42-44 π Lk. 12:45-48 π Lk. 13:24-27 π Lk. 19:27 π Jn. 3:19-20 π Acts 17:30 π 1 Cor. 13:13 π 2 Cor. 5:10 π 2 Cor. 6:14 π Gal. 3:4 π Gal. 6:7-8 π Eph. 1:10 π Eph. 5:8-11 π Phlp. 2:10-11 π Col. 2:14 π Jas. 1:3-4 π Jas. 2:22 π 2 Pet. 3:10-14 π Rev. 3:17 π Rev. 9:20-21 π Rev. 14:6-7 π Rev. 19:15 π Rev. 22:11 π Rev. 22:12
“In those days [of the judges] there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” ( Jdgs. 21:25; top ) Christendom, those people who purportedly profess to follow Christ, can be similarly described. Christ is not the King of the vast majority of people who claim to belong to Him. He is their vassal, their slave, their lackey to do and provide for their wants and desires as they pursue what they think they need in order to have a “good life.” Routine lip service (“God bless…”), vicarious charity, “church” attendance, tithes and offerings, passive listening to (enduring) the “pastor’s” sermons – these are the price these people pay to keep this “Christ” who leaves them alone in their lawlessness.
Yes, lawlessness. The Greek word is anomia [458] and it literally means “no law.” Since the follower of Christ has been released from all legal requirements of the Old Covenant ( Col. 2:14 , etc.), why would having “no law” be a sin for which one is dismissed from the eternal kingdom of God? (see Mt. 7:21-23 ) Because the idea of being lawless is that of doing whatever is right in one’s own eyes. We must be sure to note carefully that the one who does things he knows to be sinful or wrong is not the one the New Testament calls lawless. Such a one is simply evil or wicked. The one who is lawless does what he believes to be right and good - not because God says it is right and good but because he, the man, the individual, thinks of it as right and good. This is the fruit of the forbidden tree, the independent knowledge of good and evil. ( Gen. 2:17; top )
Being lawless is rejecting the Lordship of Christ and erecting one’s self as the ultimate ruler and standard for one’s life. It is this self-centered, self-defined relativism that Jesus said would abound before His return – accompanied by a near total absence of love for one another. ( Mt. 24:12 ) The greatest of the Christian attributes – love ( 1 Cor. 13:13 ) – is laid low and slain without mercy by lawlessness. It is for this reason that lawlessness (what is right in a man’s own eyes) has nothing in common with righteousness (what is right in God’s eyes – 2 Cor. 6:14; top )
- Who would want King Jesus when He would demand of you absolute honesty (in your business dealings, on your taxes, with your neighbors and friends, with your family)?
- Who would want King Jesus when you can take whatever parts you like of the many “Christian” (or even non-Christian!) religions and make it fit however you like into your busy lifestyle?
- Who would want King Jesus when He demands that we forsake our favorite sins and our lawlessness too?
- In a backlash against the “church” fallacies, many have come to question why they would want King Jesus since all He demands of them is to “go to church” and gives them nothing that works in real life!
Yet, many on the day when He judges all men for what they have done in this life ( 2 Cor. 5:10 ), will say to Him, “Lord, Lord…” But for many it will be too late to call Him “Lord” when He was never the Lord over their life. ( Lk. 13:24-27 ) Hypocrisy may seem to work well at “church” but God is not deceived and He will not be mocked. “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” ( Gal. 6:7-8; top )
The cure for lawlessness is to repent of being one’s own king (or queen) and “God,” bow down before the One true King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and begin to seek His will in all things. ( Mt. 6:10; top ) We have been rebels against the King, serving His enemies (sin, self, Satan, this world) even in His name! Yet, wondrously, the King still holds out an offer and grant of pardon, amnesty and even redemption and glorification!
If we refuse to bow the knee to the Lord of life, we are, by default, bowing our knee to the lord who steals life. If we refuse to serve the One Lord of light, we, by default, serve the many lords of darkness. If we refuse to obey King Jesus (not referring in any way to the many frauds and charlatans who have exalted themselves even in His name!), then we can expect to receive the same condemnation as His enemies. ( Lk. 19:27; top )
One day, every knee in heaven (the knees of the angels and “gods,” demons and “devils”), on earth (those of all people everywhere) and under the earth (those of the dead and departed souls), every knee will bow to King Jesus and every tongue will admit that Jesus Christ is Lord – King, Master, Absolute Sovereign – of all people and all things. ( Phlp. 2:10-11 , Eph. 1:10; top ) The wise man will bend his knee now!
In the face of the time of lawlessness, the true followers of Christ will be called upon to endure. ( Mt. 24:13 ) The testing of our faith is what has always produced endurance – and endurance is what always produces a perfected work in our lives, so that we are complete and lacking nothing ( Jas. 1:3-4 , so that our faith is not dead ( Jas. 2:22 ) or in vain. ( Gal. 3:4 ) Unlike the lawless Laodiceans who foolishly boasted that they needed nothing (when in God’s eyes they were “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” – Rev. 3:17; top ), the one who endures to the end – though he may have nothing the world thinks is valuable – will have eternal life and the rewards of the One true King.
As these true followers of Christ endure, “the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations.” ( Mt. 24:14 ) Where men have failed to take this gospel – or perhaps in order to correct any errors which men have made in communicating God’s good news - an angel will be dispatched to ensure that all men everywhere are without excuse. ( Rev. 14:6-7; top ) The gospel of the kingdom – “Repent! The King is here!” – will be proclaimed in all lands to all people.
And then the end will come. ( Mt. 24:14 ) Then it will be clear that when light came into the world most men preferred darkness. ( Jn. 3:19-20 ) Those who, even in the face of God’s severe judgments, refused to repent ( Rev. 9:20-21 , etc.), will come face to face with the King and be destroyed by the “sword” that comes out of His mouth. ( Rev. 19:15; top )
“Therefore, since [all the earth and the works that are in it] will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness [what is right in God’s eyes] dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.” ( 2 Pet. 3:10-14; top )
The lawless – especially the lawless “Christian” – will mock, ridicule, dismiss and disdain this message to repent. No mere writing – not even this one – is likely to penetrate their religiously hardened hearts. No, their “theology” has explained all of this away long ago. They will continue on in their lawlessness and there is nothing that can be done for them until they obey God’s command for all men everywhere to repent. ( Acts 17:30 ) The warning at the end of The Revelation stands more pertinent and relevant than ever: “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” ( Rev. 22:11 ) Jesus will return unexpectedly and He will bring His reward with Him “to give to everyone according to his work.” ( Rev. 22:12 ) The lawless “Christian” is the one who, upon His sudden coming, will be found asleep ( Mk. 13:36 ) – and that one’s punishment will be in keeping with how much of the Lord’s will that one actually knew. (see Lk. 12:45-48 ) But the servant of the King who is vigilant and diligently doing the work the King assigned will be blessed upon the Master’s return. ( Lk. 12:42-44; top )
Lawlessness and righteousness have only one similarity – each brings its own reward. But, oh, how different are the rewards! Blessed is the man who is accounted righteous in God’s eyes but woe to the man who appears before holy God in his own nakedness or clothed in his own putrid rags, expecting to be welcomed with open, loving arms to the most prestigious wedding ceremony ever – the joining of the Lord Jesus Christ to His wife, the people who have come out of all darkness to be true children of light. ( Mt. 22:11-13 , Isa. 64:6 , Eph. 5:8-11; top )
Let he who has ears hear.
- Lawlessness That Abounds Bible Bullet: Matthew 24:12 - Neil Girrard
- Spiritual But Not Religious - Neil Girrard - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- The Eternal Gospel - Neil Girrard - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- The Kingdom Is the Key - Neil Girrard - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
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