Massive fraud in the Federal government’s free money campaign during the Covid epidemic reflects every occasion when government opened its treasury to the public. The 19th century saw repeated Federal programs plundered by fraud: the Homestead Act in 1862; the Desert Land Act in 1877; the Timber and Stone Act in 1878; the Morrill Land Grant Act in 1862. Life History of the U.S., Vol. 7, p. 58. Greed, a sin overlooked in preaching today, has always existed in humanity, with no Bible believer exempt from the temptation to profit from well-meaning governments.
How does Jesus keep Christians from committing spiritual fraud? And don’t be deceived into thinking we can’t do that because we wouldn’t want to. We can do that, are often guilty of it, by the simple fact of taking our forgiveness for granted while not taking our discipleship seriously. Whenever we take the cup in communion, we can so aggressively celebrate Christ’s forgiveness—worshipping a dead Jesus—that we neglect the meaning of the loaf—the demands of the Risen Christ in our forgiven self! As if it doesn’t matter what occupation we have, or what morals we practice, or what speech we use, or how often we attend public worship…et al, et al. Any Christian taking both cup and bread in communion MUST accept as NECESSARILY EQUAL both Christ’s Lordship and Saviorhood! In Matthew 7:21-27 Jesus anticipated the problem of a professed discipleship bereft of our personal embodiment of it. He knew how easily we could claim him as Lord, while depending on our own efforts to be his disciples. After all, he hears his name spoken millions of times a day, many of them by professed Christians—but in vain profanity! “Father in Heaven, save us from being fraudulent disciples, who praise you, honor you and appreciate you, but lack the obedience that proved the Master’s perfection and characterizes our growing spiritual maturity.”
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