We live in a culture where people enjoy picking and choosing what they want to believe. Especially if it comes to difficult passages or specific sins.

Strong words? Well, yes. (prepare for rant)

Over the years, the church has been infiltrated with the "self-help" gospel where Jesus is a big "santa clause in the sky" that overlooks our sin and is at our beckon call.

What this creates is a self-centered lifestyle. Instead of obeying God's Word many learn how to use the Bible to fit their decisions. Instead of denying self, we want to gratify ourselves into a belief system that makes our lifestyle choices less about conviction and more about comfortability and conformity to "whatever else anyone else is doing" or just because 'we are free to do it."

If the culture continues to downplay sin and its affects, we simply say that the sin that murdered Jesus is not that big of a deal.

The same truth that sin is serious is that God's love is bigger still. This is why we should believe the totality of God's Word including grace and justice. Including holiness and grace. Including peace and righteous anger.

How would our lives change if we took sin serious and stopped using the gospel as a license to continue living sinful lives and hurting others?

God is holy. God is the almighty. God is gracious. God is our friend. He is not one dimensional. He doesn't fit into our boxes we set up to fit our lives. He calls us to die to ourselves and submit our life, beliefs, convictions in order to conform us into the character of Jesus.

What are you picking and choosing to believe in the Bible? What are your thoughts?