Lukewarm Christianity
- Mar 6, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 28
7th March 2025 l Ava J Dearden
What is a lukewarm Christian?
There are two very distinct camps emerging in Christianity. God is moving, He is separating the wheat from the chaff. There are many Christians who appear to be blinded to the things going on around them. They love their lives here, they are not storing up their treasures in Heaven or taking up their cross daily to crucify the flesh. They have itching ears, not wanting to hear God's truths. They are living worldly, they are lukewarm.
2 Timothy 4:3 - For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
Is a lukewarm Christian the same as being backslidden?
The terms lukewarm, backslidden and fallen are sometimes used interchangeably. They all realistically describe Christians who are currently not living righteously, they are not living for God.
But, if I am lukewarm or fallen, God will pick me up
God will always pick us up yes, He is always waiting with open arms but the danger is that if we continue on the wide path, human nature dictates that we will eventually choose our lives here over the things of God. Our hearts will harden, quenching His Spirit and in the end we won't be able to hear His voice, worse still... we simply won't care.
God sees our hearts
Matthew 13:15 - 'For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.'
We harden our own hearts towards God when we refuse to listen to His voice.
We need to work out our own position in Christ;
The saved but lukewarm / backslidden / fallen away Christian - God's Spirit lives in them, they are converted, born again but they currently have more interest in worldly things. They live for themselves, not for God.
The none saved lukewarm Christian - Christian in name only, they are not truly converted and have little to no interest in the things of God.
I know I'm lukewarm, I'm going to do something about it...
But some never do, they continue on their downward spiral to worldliness, calling on Jesus only when they're desperate or in need. I've heard this with my own ears from brethren who I truly believe have been converted. God's Spirit lives in them, I can see Him at work trying to wake them up from their worldly slumber. They grow colder by the day, blindness descending, their hearts hardening with no intentions of returning to God because they love their lives here. In the end, God will not be mocked!
Being lukewarm and depending on God alone for our salvation has a fine line
Lukewarm Christians are choosing to ignore God's voice as it doesn't fit in with their day or plans. They refuse to read His Word with lame excuses. Some still pray but half heartedly. If we were to ask a lukewarm Christian and a Christian who is currently living right with God the same question, their attitude and answers would be very different.
'Saved by grace through faith' is being used by lukewarm Christians to continue living in their sin. Yes, God is sanctifier but we are expected to use our free will to obey His voice, to grow in our faith and become more like Jesus, to move closer to God and purify our hearts.
Shall we go on sinning?
Matthew 3:8-9 - Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.
There are consequences for living as a lukewarm Christian
We all want to eventually hear the words "Well done, my and faithful servant, " but God tells us clearly that if we choose to continue on the wrong path, there will be consequences for the unsaved and for lukewarm Christians.
There are accounts in the Bible of believers being handed over to Satan or even taken home to save their souls. We are told that the righteous are scarcely saved, that our works will be tested by fire and that judgement begins at the house of God.
Matthew 25:28-30 - “So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
God loves you
God loves us all so very much. If we have strayed, He waits with open arms to welcome us home. Its our choice. But contrary to modern day heretical beliefs, He absolutely commands that we obey His teachings, the whole Bible is a call to obedience. We are given different levels of faith but we are expected to use what we have been given to it's fullest. To love God with all that we are and to love others.
1 John 5:3-4 - Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.
God's commands shouldn't be burdensome
But not one of us is perfect. We all need Jesus to help us
We all face difficult days in our Christian walk, don't beat yourself up if you are a Christian and struggling, we all do. The key to not becoming lukewarm is prayer. Go to your quite room, be upset, get mad if that's how you feel, He wants you to be real. Cry out and ask Him to help you through whatever He is teaching you.
Don't give up. Don't turn away and say "this is too hard." It definitely is too hard in our own strength but we are to call on Jesus always. That's how we grow in our faith, and in the end it's how we get to hear those prized words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Comments