Why did Jesus speak so strongly against lukewarm faith? | GotQuestions.org
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Are lukewarm Christians saved? What is a lukewarm Christian, and how can you tell if you are a lukewarm Christian? In this video, we answer the question: “Why did Jesus speak so strongly against lukewarm faith?”
Source Article: https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-lukewarm-faith.html
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- Why did Jesus speak so strongly against lukewarm faith? We're going to answer that question.
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- You can also discover more on gotquestions .org. In Revelation 3, 14 -21, the
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- Lord is describing the lukewarm heart attitude of those in the Laodicean church, an attitude manifested by their deeds.
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- They were neither hot nor cold in relation to God, just lukewarm. Hot water can cleanse and purify.
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- Cold water can refresh and enliven, but lukewarm water carries no similar value.
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- The Laodiceans understood the Lord's analogy because their city drinking water came from an aqueduct from a spring six miles to the south, and it arrived disgustingly lukewarm.
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- Laodicean water was not hot like the nearby hot springs that people bathed in, nor was it refreshingly cold for drinking.
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- It was lukewarm, good for nothing. In fact, it was nauseating, and that was the
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- Lord's response to the Laodiceans. They sickened him, and he said, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
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- The letter to the church at Laodicea is the harshest of the seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor. By his indictment of their deeds,
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- Jesus makes it clear that this is a dead church. The members of this church see themselves as rich and self -sufficient, but the
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- Lord sees them as wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Their lukewarm faith was hypocritical.
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- Their church was full of unconverted, pretend Christians. Jesus frequently equates deeds with a person's true spiritual state.
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- By their fruit you will recognize them. Every good tree bears good fruit. Clearly, the lukewarm deeds of the
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- Laodiceans were not in keeping with true salvation. The deeds of the true believer will be hot or cold.
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- That is, they will benefit the world in some way and reflect the spiritual passion of a life transformed.
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- Lukewarm deeds, however, those done without joy, without love, and without the fire of the
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- Spirit, do harm to the watching world. The lukewarm are those who claim to know
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- God but live as though he doesn't exist. They may go to church and practice a form of religion, but their inner state is one of self -righteous complacency.
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- They claim to be Christians, but their hearts are unchanged and their hypocrisy is sickening to God.
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- The fact that the lukewarm individuals to whom Christ speaks are not saved is seen in the picture of Jesus standing outside of the church.
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- He has not yet been welcomed into their midst. In love, the Lord rebukes and disciplines them, commanding them to repent.
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- He sees their lukewarm attitudes as shameful nakedness. He urges them to be clothed in righteousness, to be earnest, and commit themselves totally to him.
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- Our Lord is gracious and gives the lukewarm time to repent. The Laodiceans enjoyed material prosperity that, coupled with a semblance of true religion, led them to a false sense of security and independence.
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- The expression, I am rich, I have acquired wealth, stresses that the wealth attained came through self -exertion.
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- Spiritually, they had great needs. A self -sufficient attitude and lukewarm faith are constant dangers when people live lives of ease and prosperity.
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- That answers the question, why did Jesus speak so strongly against lukewarm faith?
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