Jeremiah 7:4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
The people of Israel were being rebuked by God through Jeremiah the prophet when they led lifestyles that were contrary to the Word of God.
What God was rebuking them for addressed the heart of the issue which lies in this verse that seems a little odd at prima facie – a repeated phrase “this is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”
If you take a quick read of the entire chapter, you will see that the rebuke was on the fact that they had put their faith in a structure – the Temple of God, as a blanket coverage for salvation to the erroneous point where no matter what evil they were engaged in, they felt exempted from judgment.
God’s word to them was simple – “do not be deceived”.
This same word applies to us in our day and age where we can put our faith in the religious label “Christianity” on our identity cards – “I go to church”, “I serve in a ministry”, “I help children”, etc. We need to understand that faith is not a trust in the “Christian” label, nor is it a license to continue in a lifestyle that displeases God. That is not faith; that is deception at work.
We have been called to re-present Christ to our world. Let our lifestyles be a hallmark of what faith means!
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