How Clean are YOU?

A Challenge I've been covering with my youth group lately. Something to chew on as well.

Postitive and Negative

This is a great article from The Scripturist (www.scripturist.com). Many good things for us to remember as we bring God's Word to our congregations. Enjoy and please take to heart.



In order for a car to run, it has to have a battery. The battery has a positive and negative coupling which allows the power of the battery to be used. The negative coupling goes to the frame of the car to ground out the battery. If only the negative is connected the battery will not work and the car will not start. There is no power in just the negative.

If only the positive is connected, the battery will not work and the care will not start. It needs grounded. There is not power in just the positive. You need both the positive and negative sides for the power to be released.

In the same way, we need to understand both the positive and negative side of the Bible's teaching. If all we preach is negative, then we won't know of the love of God who sent his son to die for us and offer us forgiveness and eternal life. If we only preach the positive, we will not recognize the sins which separate us from God nor our need for repentance or grace.

Before a doctor can get a woman with cancer to take the extreme step of having her breast removed, first he must diagnose cancer of the breast and prove she needs to have this procedure. But if the doctor only tells her she has cancer and never gives her a prescription to remove the cancer, she will know she is sick but not ever do what she needs to remove the cancer.

A doctor must give diagnosis and prescription so a person understands where they are sick and receives the appropriate treatment to heal them.

Likewise, if all we do is preach against sin but never give them the hope of the good news of Jesus, they will become despondent and unrepentant. If we only tell them of the grace of God without ever preaching against sin, they will assume they are forgiven without repenting of the sin, which is required to be forgiven. (see Luke 13:3-5).

So, like a battery, we must have both a negative and positive side to preaching. When we preach against sin and about how God forgives us when we repent and turn to him in faith, then the power of the full message of Christ will lead people to repentance.

People who do not think they are sinners’ will not repent nor be thankful. People, who don't think God loves them or that he cares, will never put their faith in Him. We must preach against sin and preach how Jesus loved us and provided a way to overcome our sins.

If they don't understand the bad news, they won’t think they need the good news. If they don't hear the good news, they will give up because they think they can't make it to heaven or arrogantly try to earn their way by being good, which is impossible. We need to preach all of the Word of God, which contains bad news about sin and death and good news about how Jesus provides salvation from it.