Connections

Col. 2:5   "...your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.... " 

These were military terms, and Paul uses them because he believes there's a battle going on as Satan tirelessly seeks and works to turn people away from God.  Other verses that talk about this: 

• John 10:10
• Ephesians 6:10-20
• 1 Peter 5:8-9

 Easy Christianity - one of the greatest "plausible arguments" (Col. 2:4) being used by our enemy to turn people in the Church away from God

• Sometimes preaches that following God will result in earthly prosperity.
• Some people in the Bible were blessed with wealth and earthly prosperity (Gen. 24:34-35, 41:41-45, Job 1:1-3, 42:10, 2 Sam 5:10, 1 Kings 3:10-14, and others)
• But this is not promised to all of God's people (Matt 8:20, Mark 12:41-43, John 16:33, Mark 13:9-13)

Some versions of Easy Christianity state that we become Christians in order to avoid hell and gain heaven, that we do this by "believing in Jesus," but that here and now, sin will just be a part of us, and we can't do much about that.

Some of the sins we have decided to overlook:

• Drunkenness
  •  What God says about it (incomplete list) 
    
    • Forbidden:  Ephesians 5:18   
    • A work of the flesh and excludes from God's Kingdom:  Galatians 5:21
    • Debasing:  Isaiah 28:7-8
    • Takes away understanding: Hosea 4:11
    • Leads to
          a.    Poverty. Pr 21:17; 23:21.
          b.    Strife, woe, and sorrow.  Pr 23:29-30.
          c.    Error. Isa 28:7.
          d.    Contempt of God’s works. Isa 5:12.
          e.    Mockery. Ho 7:5.
    •  We should avoid those given to it:  Proverbs 23:20, 1 Corinthians 5:11
• Sexual Impurity (The word that is often translated as "sexual immorality" in many of our modern english translations also included sex outside of a godly marriage, which would in turn have included other sexual sins).
  • What God says about it (incomplete list)
    • The body is not meant for it, but for the Lord  1 Cor 6:13
    • A sin not just against God but against your own body, and we should flee from it 1 Cor 6:18
    • Put it to death Col 3:5
    •  It is the will of God for our sanctification that we should abstain from it  1 Thess 4:3
• Language
  • What God says about it
    • It reveals what is in our hearts  Matt 12:34 
    • It can corrupt or build up  Eph 4:29
    • Foul language, foolish talk, and crude jokes are out of place  Eph 5:4
    • Gossips are grouped with people who are haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil,  foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Romans 1:29-31
    • Gossips should be avoided  Pr. 20:19
    • A man of understanding holds his tongue    Pr. 11:12
• Lust
  • What God says about it
    • Equal to adultery  Matt 5:28
    • Adultery forbidden  Exodus 20:14

Other versions of Easy Christianity teach that while we should seek to be better people who sin less, not everyone is called to be a disciple, that the call to real discipleship is issued only to a select few.

Problems with these teachings:

• Ignores the fact that the age of Grace in which we live in on this side of the cross was inaugurated with a call to repentance.  Matt 3:1-3, 4:17
• Repentance, transformation, and a call to righteousness continues to be a major theme in the New Testament    Mark 6:12, Luke 5:32, 13:3, Acts 2:38, 17:30, 26:20, Romans 2:4, 12:2, Col 3:1-10
  
• While it is true that we can do nothing to earn Grace, and that our works cannot save us (Eph 2:8-9), we are created and saved so that we will go on to do good works (Eph 2:10)
• We are all called to maturity in Christ, and to imitate Him.  Eph 5:1, Col 1:28, Hebrews 5:11-6:2, James 1:22-25

Christianity is NOT easy, and it requires effort on our part, (Matt. 7:13-14, Luke 13:24) and yet that effort is enabled by God's power (Col 1:29, Philippians 2:13).

God's guidance ("rules," "commands," etc.) are not meant to stifle us, but to give us life and freedom  Psalm 119:32

While we can do absolutely nothing to bring about our own salvation, when we have been saved and filled with the Spirit of God, we begin to cooperate with him as we repent of our old ways and live in God's way.  This is not something that earns us anything, but it is a sign that Jesus truly is our Lord.  Luke 6:42