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Followers of Abraham


When Jesus spoke to the Jewish leaders in John 8, He told them that they were not followers of Abraham. They thought they were! But Jesus said, “If you were followers of Abraham, you wouldn’t be seeking to kill Me. Abraham didn’t do that.” He says, “You are of your father the devil.” Jesus said their religion was demonic—they were following the great Liar.

If what Jesus said is true, then we should not be following our own views of the other religions in the world today. They are not only anti-God, they are anti-Christian. If a member of a Muslim family becomes a believer, his relatives are required to kill him. In these demonic groups, there is no tolerance for people becoming Christians. This is still happening today. When people survive, they are a great testimony to the power of God for goodness and kindness and love and peace, and they are either admired for this or hated for it.

An almost unspoken belief of Christians in the western world is that people are Hindus because they are in India, or people are Buddhists because they are in China, or Muslim because they are in the Middle East, and we’re Christians because we’re in the United States. We do not assume that our fellow Americans are followers of the devil who need to be saved. But that is what they are.

Peter said, “There is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.” This is either true or false. If it’s true, salvation doesn’t come through anyone except Jesus Christ.

“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Preaching the Word of God is how people can repent and turn from their sins, from the devil, and to God.

Christians in the United States go to church. But there is somewhere else we are to go—into all the world, making disciples of all nations and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded. Christians go to church, but on the whole we do not go to all the nations, teaching everything that we have heard and believed.

Not only do we not go to all nations—we don’t go to our own neighbors, to the people across the street. The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is second only to loving God. Loving our neighbor means doing what is best for him. What is best for him is for him to love God the father through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If Christians in the U.S. are guilty of anything, it is this: we are not teaching our neighbors about the Lord Jesus.


This post coordinates with today's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan, please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

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