Pla-ce-bo:1. Medicine/Medical Pharmacology; A substance having no pharmalogical effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine.
Medical science has really put emphasis on the human body healing itself as much as possible without medication. They do this by using means of a placebo medication. This is medication, as defined above, that has zero healing effects. They are often refered to as sugar pills. When placebo medication is prescribed, the patient is unaware that the medication is false. But they are able in some instances to go on under the assumption that they are getting better. In some cases, those patients taking a placebo medication will even be convinced that their pain or whatever ails them is going away. This is sometimes called the placebo effect.
The only problem with this treatment is that it at times produces a false hope in the patient. If there is a real problem or sickness, the placebo may trick the patient into thinking they are better and reduce their pain, but the sickness may still be there. Because once again, the placebo has no healing components. It is lulling the human body into a false sense of security. It is convincing the patient to believe all is well. In a word, its a lie. It masks the real problem.
In the same manner as the sugar pill, religion is the placebo of the spiritual world. Those of us who would consider ourselves Christians all want to go to Heaven. In fact, I will go so far as to say everyone who believes “there is a God” wants to end up in a Heaven like state when the pass on from this life. But Satan innoculates many professing believers with a false sense of security in their salvation.
Many people think Satan is against church and organized religion. But honestly, Satan is a huge fan of religion. Even the religion of Christianity to some extent. And I say this because we as a people, and I include myself in this, can be so shallow in our faith. Satan is fine with people going to church. He is fine with people labeling him the bad guy. He has no problem with you singing praises on Sunday and reading Bible stories. Thats all good with him. As long as the life you live behind closed doors doesnt reflect your faith in Christ.
Satan whispers to Christians……
“Go to church, read your bible, say your prayers, and believe that you are securely saved…
…just as long as you dont live like it……
Lust…..hate….covet….idolize…..swallow that pill…..everything is just fine….”
Many have no idea of the urgency Jesus spoke with in the scriptures. Many people want to claim that the reason they will go to Heaven is because they are a good person and they go to church. But the problem in the diagnoses is that many define themselves as good by comparing themselves to the worlds standard of good and evil.
We think, “Well Im not a murder, I dont cheat on my spouse, and I volunteer at the church from time to time, so I am a good person.” And those are all good things. But we weigh them on a worldly scale instead of looking to see what God says is good.
Jesus said if a person hates then he has committed murder. (1 John 3:15)
Jesus said if a person lusts, then they have committed adultery. (Matthew 5:28)
The Bible speaks of a Narrow Gate to Heaven (Matthew 7:13). Jesus also mentions the many will seek entrance into Heaven (Luke 13:23-24) but few will actually find their way. It is so imperative that we all examine ourselves in light of scripture constantly. Dont just swallow the placebo that you are a good person and you go to church. I want so much to put an emphasis on the Bible. The Lord says that those who seek him whole heartedly will find him. But Sunday and Wednesday evening worship alone is not seeking God. When we seek something, that means we really want to find it.
Imagine losing your car keys or your favorite t shirt. You seek that which you want. You look everywhere without hesitation. Even if it takes a long time. You have a hunger to find it. Thats what God wants. For us to seek him in the scriptures. Because you cant know him if you dont seek him. You cant fully understand the weight of our sin and the majesty of his grace unless you know scripture.
Think back to when you began dating your spouse or boy/girlfriend. You talk to them all the time. You want to be with them. If they write you a love note you read it over and over. Maybe analysing each sentence as to what they are feeling. You would read and
re-read that love letter over and over. You wanted to know them. But could you really know and understand who they were if you only spent a few hours a week with them and what you mainly knew of them, you had heard it second hand from others? Dont only rely on church to deepen your understanding of God. Dont only know him second hand. Seek him for yourself!
How is it that we have a love letter from our creator God who loves us more than we can imagine and we so rarely take the time to open it? So many of us have such a surface knowledge of the Bible and yet we claim we know him! It stands to reason that a person cannot know God unless they know his word.
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” (I CORINTHIANS 6:9-11).
Dont just read that verse, compare it to the scriptures! This verse is not saying that if you have committed one of these sins, you cannot inherit eternal life with God. God is a God of forgiveness! All of these sins can be forgiven if a person turns to Christ and repents! But…..if a person chooses willingly to continue living in these sins as a regular part of their lifestyle, then they know not God!
Is lusting after anyone other than your spouse viewed as “just a innocent glance”? A person that does this is choosing to live in and justifying that sin. Or do you consistently guard your heart and view even a look as a punishable sin from God?
Do you have people in your life that have done you terribly wrong? Maybe you have made it justifiable in your mind to hate them? Jesus says we are to love everyone, even our enemies. The Bible says that God is love. And if we know God, we are free from hate.
There are also those who have a very shallow knowledge of God and believe that if you are good, you go to Heaven.
In Isaiah, the bible tells us that are greatest and best works are like filthy rags to God. (Isaiah 64:4-9). Good works apart from Christ disgust God. Basically unless we knows Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior, good works dont mean a thing. You cannot know Jesus second hand. When you and I stand before the throne of God on the day of our judgement, we at that moment will not give an account for all of the good deeds we did. We will not give an account of all the people we witnessed to over the years or how involved in church we were. There will only be one thing God will examine. That being our personal relationship with him. Are you currently seeking God in your life? And for the record, seeking God is not a one or two time thing….its a daily lifestyle.
I have been seeking him whole heartedly for three years. And it seems the more I learn of him, the more I see that I havent even chipped the tip of the iceberg in all that he has to teach me. And the more I dive into his word, the more I love him. Have you ever hurt someone so badly and thought that they would never forgive you, only to find out that they did forgive you and continue to love you? At that moment, you heart explodes with gratitude and with love. I see more and more daily how totally unworthy I am, and gratitude grows.
The reality of Gods word sheds light on a unsettling truth to humanity and to our sinful nature. That we are without excuse when we choose a life of sin over Christ. And to sooth this blow, Satan offers us an alternative that allows us a false security in salvation as we proclaim the name of Jesus while at the same time we justify our sins. Satan offers deception. A lie. A small placebo that unless we repent and awaken to the reality of how seriously God takes sin, we will live an eternity in regret. Salvation is not a complicated process. It takes only to repent and to believe. The problem comes when we dont realize the seriousness of our offenses to God, and how righteous and just he is.
“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” Romans 1:25.
