Jesus said, “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”Matthew 10:33. What does it mean to deny Jesus Christ?“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”Mark 8:38. What does it mean to be ashamed of Jesus Christ? Let’s look at the dictionary:

Deny: To refuse to recognize or acknowledge; disavow.

Ashamed: Reluctant through fear of humiliation or shame…

-- Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ashamed (accessed: October 15, 2008).

The Obvious Denial: 

Mark 14:

 66And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest:

 67And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.

 68But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the [rooster]crew.

 69And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.

 70And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.

 71But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.

The Subtle Denial:

We Christians are instructed to be the light of the world, and the salt of the earth. “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”(Matthew 5:13).  If Christians lose their distinctive quality or property, they are good for nothing, but to be cast out.

It is apparent that we are expected to be changed by the “born again” experience. Our reason for living is to serve the risen Christ, and not ourselves. (Gal 2:20).   One who is truly born again, does not have the same selfish wants and wishes that he once had. This change is miraculous. Where once sin had dominion, sin no longer has dominion (Rom 6:14), and we are free to choose life and that, more abundantly (John 10:10).

To deny Christ, is to disavow, or turn our back, on Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh (John 1:14) and to proclaim evil as good, and good as evil (Isaiah 5:20). It is to refuse to walk in the Spirit and crucify the flesh, and, ultimately, it is to live a life that does not reflect Jesus Christ and who He is.

“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16 

We Christians live according to the Word on Sunday, and irrespective of the Word throughout the week. 

Our Priests and Pastors forbid to marry, but rape and sodomize the flock, ordain homosexuals, and find nothing wrong with the witchcraft of “Harry Potter”.

We vote for the lesser of two evils, for those who champion the killing of the unborn as a “right”, for those who reward the lazy for their poor work ethic, for those who rob from the rich and give to the poor, as if the poor have a “right” to the fruits of other men’s labors. 

We Christians are afraid of the election, the stock market, our mortgages, our finances, and for our children’s future, because we are carnal (Rom 8:5), refuse to trust in God (Dan 4:17;Matt 6:25-34), and understand not that all these things will be dissolved (2 Pet 3:11).

We Christians refuse to recognize that God gives the power to get wealth (Deut 8:18;Eccl 5:19), and that the Word of God says that if any does not work, neither should he eat (2 Thess 3:10). 

We Christians entangle ourselves in the affairs of this life (1 Tim 2:4), because this earth is where our affections are (Col 3:2).

We Christians shun our responsibility to our children, by divorcing their mothers (or sending them to work), and letting the public schools, television, video games, and daycares raise and indoctrinate them into the evils of this world.

We Christians cheat not only on our taxes (Matt 17:27; Rom 13:6), but on our employers by giving them eyeservice (Eph 6:6;Col 3:22), as if somehow they owe us poorer Christians more than they’ve committed to pay us and more than we’ve agreed to (Matt 20:1-15). 

We Christians cheat on each other, also, by not upholding the standards taught in the Word of God which instructs us to love our neighbor as ourselves, thus fulfilling the law (Rom 13:8). 

And, ultimately, we Christians cheat on God; becoming adulterers and adulteresses by our friendship with the world (James 4:4).

All the while we Christians wonder why God allows evil or misfortune to befall us and our nation, as if we deserve something better! The Word says that “… if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. “ 1 Cor 11:31,32. And others “ … chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Heb 2:10;12:10, 11

God has good thoughts concerning us, to give us an expected end (Jer 29:11). We can therefore endure the chastening of God, or we can deny Him and He will deny us (Heb 12:8).

The founders of this great country, mutually pledged to each other their “Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”, and yet we cannot pledge ourselves to faithfully serve God and live for Him, who has given His Son for our redemption. 

We cannot force ourselves to live according to the Word, for fear of being labeled a “fundamentalist” or an “evangelical”. We will not, we refuse, to suffer with Him who bore our shame, so in the end, except we repent, WE WILL NOT REIGN WITH HIM.

AND HE THAT TAKETH NOT HIS CROSS, AND FOLLOWETH AFTER ME, IS NOT WORTHY OF ME.Matthew 10:38

Is 55:11