Oh, the Wonderful Cross!

That last scripture in the video about the cross always brings back to my mind the first time I heard my pastor quote 1 Corinthians 1:18 in conjunction with 2 Timothy 3:5...

1 Corinthians 1:18
[ Christ Crucified Is God's Power and Wisdom ] For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

2 Timothy 3:5
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

Others can draw their own conclusions. I had always understood 2 Timothy 3:5 (in the past) to mean people who didn't think they had to--or could--be perfect (were denying the power of the Holy Spirit to "help us" go on to perfection). When my pastor preached on these two passages together, a huge light bulb went on for me. It is THE CROSS that is the power of God. Denying the power of THE CROSS to save us is having a form of godliness but denying its power. I realized I used to be one of those people the Bible says to stay away from. I cried out to God to forgive me and I embraced the power of the cross.

To those who are perishing, it is foolishness... (thinking Jesus paid it all -- how many times had I heard that belief ridiculed as "taking the easy way").

No wonder I am blessed the most deeply and profoundly when I sing songs, like this one, about the cross. In the past, those songs had little depth for me because I wasn't taught that the cross accomplished anything more than the forgiveness of my "past" sins. Considering I received the Holy Spirit at 7 and considered myself to be a believer all my life, that didn't make the cross very powerful.

I don't say this to be critical. How I love my old friends. If only they knew how badly they are missing it. How I want them to be set free. I could just weep over the deception of those teachings. I have been so torn up inside lately thinking about many of them more than usual. I must pray more than I've ever prayed in the past for their deliverance.