Anathema Maranatha!
by David J. Stewart
"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." —1st Corinthians 16:22
The word "anathema" means "cursed."
The word "Maranatha" means "the Lord is coming." The Word of God is saying
that if anyone does not want to get saved, then let him be cursed because the
Lord is coming. You can try to warn people, but they ultimately must make
the decision to accept or reject Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.
If we warn people of the judgment to come and they laugh in our faces, then they are choosing to go to Hell by their own freewill. They will be cursed and burn in Hell if they don't become born-again, i.e., born anew of the Spirit of God by faith.
"A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." —Titus 3:10-11
People may sometimes swear at us and curse God when we witness to them (which I had happen last weekend), but they are the one's who will be the losers when they die without Christ in their sins. I say that kindly. I was courteous to the unsaved man and prayed for him as I was leaving, but he is making a horrible decision. Did you know that no one goes to Hell by mistake? It's true! No one accidentally goes to Hell; people decide to go there by rejecting the Son of God, Jesus.
If Jesus is not your Savior, then your sins have not been forgiven yet and you are still under the condemnation of God's holy Law. If you die in your unrepentant state, you WILL go straight to Hell when you die, to pay for your own sins (Revelation 20:11-15).
Titus 3:10 speaks of a "heretic," i.e., "one who opposes Christ." The Bible says in Titus 3:11 that if someone has witnessed to you at least twice, but you refuse to get saved, then you are "subverted" of yourself. You have chosen to continue in darkness. The word "subverted" in this passage of Scripture in the Greek means "to change for the worse, pervert, corrupt." Hence, people who repeatedly reject the gospel are corrupted within their own heart. Every time you hear the gospel and reject it, you become harder-and-harder in your wicked heart.
Is God saying that we should give up on people? Of course not! Look back to Titus 3:9 please.
"But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain." —Titus 3:9
The issue here is wasting our time arguing with someone who doesn't want to get saved. I have spent countless hours arguing religion with people, to no avail, and have decided not to do it anymore. The Bible teaches that arguing religion is unprofitable and leads no where.
Charismatics love to debate the fraud of speaking-in-tongues, bogus faith healing services and the heresy that salvation can be lost. I don't argue with them because they are brainwashed and will not budge an inch. They are subverted of themselves and fools. Jehovah's Witnesses are also stubborn and indoctrinated in their heresies.
You'll never convince a Charismatic/Pentecostal that every genuine believer has eternal security. Those who believe that salvation can be lost are NOT saved, because they believe that a certain amount of self-righteousness is required to maintain a state of salvation. To claim that salvation can be lost is spitting on the gift of God, which is solely by grace and rooted rock solid in the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Don't you tell me that salvation can be lost! No Sir! Every believer has eternal security!
I don't believe we should ever throw people away by giving up on them, but God does NOT want us wasting our time trying to convert stiff-necked unbelievers who are hardened, when there are so many people in this world waiting to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what the Apostle Paul meant here in Titus 3:10-11. Our time is short upon the earth and we must use our resources wisely for God. Arguing only sheds more heat than light. I have learned over the years that arguing religion NEVER gets anyone saved. Most religious people are conceited and will never get saved. They are fools.
Let's just present the gospel and pray for the Holy Spirit to work in hearts. Romans 1:16 teaches that it is the gospel that is the saving power of God unto salvation; not one's eloquent speech nor cunning words of wisdom. If they won't obey the simple gospel, then nothing is going to change their wicked mind (Luke 16:31).
The Lord's Return is Soon!
The world spends billions of dollars on silly and foolish things. I recently read an article in the newspaper which displayed a diamond designer hat worth $2,700,000! How many missionaries could that money support? All that money wasted for one hat! We may not have the large sums of money that the heathen do, but friend... the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof (1st Corinthians 10:26). God will provide for our needs, even though the world would just as well we perished from off the face of the earth.
"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." —1st Corinthians 16:22
All we can do is witness to lost sinners with the saving power of the gospel of Christ Jesus. Only God can save a soul. We go soulwinning to LEAD people to Jesus Christ, but we can only bring them to the Master. As the saying goes... "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it." We can bring people to the throne of grace, but we can't save them. Each individual must deal directly with God in their heart. If a person wants to hear and obey the gospel, amen! If a person does not, then the Bible says let them be ANATHEMA MARANATHA! Let them be cursed for the Lord is coming.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
