The Simplicity and Purity of Devotion to Christ

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I don’t know about you, but I have the tendency to make many things in my life more complicated than they have to be. Some would say it is because I’m a woman, and I would reply, “Yes, but I am a daughter of Eve.” In fact, all of humanity bears the burden of sin that Adam and Eve chose to take upon themselves in the garden. The one solution for our inherited sin condition is accepting the redemption Christ earned for us on the cross.
Complicating the simple has always been a struggle for mankind. I think of Abraham telling Sarah to lie (twice) and say that she was his sister (Gen. 12 and Gen. 20). I think of Abraham’s struggle because he didn’t simply believe in God’s provision of a son through Sarah. I think of Rebekah’s deception of her husband through Jacob because she felt God needed help with his promise (Gen. 27)... and the list could go on and on throughout the Old Testament of people who made life far more complicated than it had to be. Even the Apostle Paul struggled with believers in his time who had a tendency to stray away from the purity and simplicity of devotion to God. II Cor. 11:3 offers this telling insight: “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (NASB). Paul urged them to believe the simple truth of the gospel and save themselves the pain of straying from its truth.
Paul’s admonition reminded me of a news article I encountered one day this week. In the article, a man who claims to have once embraced salvation through Christ at an early age later embraced his doubts about the deity of Jesus Christ and decided to embrace the man, Jesus of Nazareth, instead. Now he is trying to convince others to view Jesus his way. This is NOT the gospel of Christ! This is the voice of the serpent who deceived Eve in the garden. This is the voice of the father of lies whispering in our ears in an attempt to turn us from the only truth that can save us--Jesus. Along with Paul, I too plead that you won’t let your minds be led away from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. If you have doubts, take them to the only One who can answer them—go to the Word himself! Those who don’t will have an eternity of regrets.

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