Because the Lord commands it, professing Christians know that what is owed the government must be paid to the government or that government will punish them. The same attitude prompts them to pay the tithe. However, those same salvation seekers, once the tithe is paid, are loathe to pay God the other “things” that are owed Him. By dutifully paying their required taxes and obeying the local, state and federal laws (“things”) they proclaim their fear of the government. Then they loudly and repeatedly proclaim their lack of fear of God by refusing to render to Him the “things” they owe Him. They refuse because they are ignorant of those “things.” Their leaders have convinced them that they (the leaders) will tell them everything they need to know. They are instructed to adhere strictly to the denominational doctrines that reflect their group’s theology. And if a parishioner should hear or read a Scriptural passage that contradicts that theology, they are told to reject it, that it is heresy of the highest order. One friend, after I showed her what God said about keeping His 7th day Sabbath (Saturday), made the mistake of asking her pastor about it. His words to her were, “There’s nothing to it.” This “minister of righteousness,” using just four words, robbed her of her chance for salvation. The Sabbath commandment is one of the Ten Commandments all God seekers must obey. The Apostle James wrote that to break one commandment is to break them all (Jam. 2:10). First John 3:4 tells us that breaking the Law is sin. Romans 6:23 tells us that sin brings death. By not observing God’s Sabbath and obeying Satan’s sabbath one breaks all ten commandments, making him a worker of “iniquity”–Lawlessness. Not long after she rejected God’s Sabbath commandment my friend paid the ultimate price for her rebellion. More on this later.

The ultimate question is: What, other than the tithe, does one owe the Lord? He tells us in many places. A pointed statement concerning our debt to Him is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19,20: “YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN; YOU ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE.” It is true that Jesus paid with His life for man to be given the opportunity to qualify for eternal life. This takes place when a man truly repents and is forgiven for all of his “sins of the PAST” (Rom. 3:25). Does this mean that upon receiving justification (forgiveness of PAST sins) at a particular point in his life, that he can continue to sin with the assurance that he will still inherit eternal life? that all future sins are automatically washed away because Jesus is
“crucified afresh” with each sin (Heb. 6:6)? The entirety of the Institutional Church says, “Yes.” Does God agree? Does it matter if He doesn’t agree? The woman mentioned above once said, “God doesn’t like sin, but He won’t do anything about it.” I contend that when His Son is spiritually crucified again when a man sins, that the Father will bring forth wrath on that man such as man cannot imagine. Being a member of a church will have no effect on the situation. As God says many times, being super religious will save no one from His wrath. First John 3:7 tells us that the sinner (one who sins) is of the devil. In verse 6 John tells us that whosoever abided in Jesus does not sin; whoever sins has not seen Him nor knows Him. JOHN IS WRITING TO THE CHURCH. It is imperative that we know what those other “things” are and that we do them. Only those who obey God’s Word will inherit eternal life. L.J.