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[Note<\/strong>:\u00a0 <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 2<\/strong>\u00a0 page.]<\/span><\/p>\n How do men reject Jesus? What attitudes or activities constitute such rejection? Jesus answers: \u201cHe that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him\u201d (John 12:48a). One need not burn a Bible or murder a Gospel preacher to reject Jesus; if he disregards His Word, he has done it. Regardless of loud claims to the contrary, one does not really believe in Jesus if he consciously rejects any point of teaching of His Word. The only way to truly believe in and follow Jesus is to steadfastly obey His doctrine. There are three common ways in which men disobey the authoritative teaching of Christ:<\/span> These are commonly called \u201csins of commission.\u201d God said to Adam and Eve, \u201cThou shalt not eat of it,\u201d but they ate and committed sin (Gen. 2:17\u20133:8). Jesus said, \u201cJudge not,\u201d and when we become hypocritical and hypercritical judges, we reject His Word and Him (Mat. 7:1\u20135). The Lord forbids us to lie, to let anger control us, to steal, and to speak corruptly (Eph. 4:25\u201329). To do such things in spite of His forbidding them is to reject the Lord Himself. Perhaps this is the most obvious way by which men reject Jesus.<\/span> These constitute \u201csins of omission.\u201d When the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God through John in refusing to be baptized, they rejected God Himself (Luke 7:30). Like them, many today consider certain commands of God, with which they disagree, to be unreasonable, unnecessary, and foolish, and they treat them with contempt. Jesus said, \u201cHe that believeth and is baptized shall be saved\u201d (Mark 16:16). However, men, bound by prejudice and human tradition, reject baptism as a condition of salvation, saying that faith minus <\/strong>baptism saves. God\u2019s own people often fail to obey<\/span><\/p>\n the Lord\u2019s plain commands for us to put His cause absolutely first in all of our interests (Mat. 6:33), to be alert for false teachers (7:15\u201316), to attempt to make disciples for Him as we go about our daily activities (28:19), to give of our money according to our prosperity (1 Cor. 16:2), and such like. It is not man\u2019s place to question God\u2019s Word, but to obey it. To reject the commands of the Lord\u2019s Word is to reject the Lord Himself. <\/span><\/p>\n Usurping His Authority <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n One way in which men usurp the Lord\u2019s authority is by substituting human preferences for Divine requirements. Another way is to add commands or practices God has not authorized. Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees for this behavior: \u201cBut in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men\u201d (Mat. 15:1\u2013 9). The Judaizing teachers in the Jerusalem church insisted on adding circumcision to the Lord\u2019s perfect plan of salvation (Acts 15:1), and this attempted usurpation of Divine authority was summarily dealt with (vv. 22\u201329). Rebellious brethren in the nineteenth century added instrumental music to Christian worship. Currently, liberals in the church are trying to outdo each other in their innovations. To thus usurp Divine authority is to reject Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for and it was published in The Lighthouse, <\/em>weekly bulletin of Northpoint Church of Christ, Denton, TX, October 10, 2010, of which I was editor.]<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution:<\/strong> From thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 0[Note:\u00a0 This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 2\u00a0 page.] How do men reject Jesus? What attitudes or activities constitute such rejection? Jesus answers: \u201cHe that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him\u201d (John 12:48a)….<\/p>\n
\nDoing What He Forbids <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nNot Doing What He Commands <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n