"For 'The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,' as it is written." (Romans 2:24)

Although this verse was formerly quoted in Isaiah and Ezekiel referring to the Jews, it should serve as an eye-opener for the present time believers. Today, the term 'Gentiles' tend to mean those who have not found the true gospel. For those of us who were blessed by God to understand the true doctrine, we no longer refer to ourselves as 'Gentiles'. Therefore, the verse would apply to us just as much as it applied to the Jews when it was first spoken.

With that said, this quote is telling us that we are committing a huge crime worthy of the death penalty; and this is not just one of Texas' death penalties, this is the penalty from God. However, from a more positive light Paul stated:

"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 4:26-29)

Why should we choose to be the stumbling block for the Gentiles when we are the heirs of Christ? Why should we be the reason people reject God when we can be the reason that they come to know God? Instead of rejecting God in our daily lives, we need to remember to live out a Christ-like life. Instead of being ashamed to say grace in the company of our friends, we should be honored that we understand the love from God. Instead of whispering "True Jesus Chuch" when asked which church we belong to, we should proclaim boldly because God chose us. However, this is only half the battle.

Our walk with God is a process. The beginning of our faith is being able to trust in our belief. After understanding the profound Words of God, our belief slowly transforms to a conviction. That conviction is where we draw the energy when we can proclaim loudly that "I go to the True Jesus Church"!. However, belief and conviction will get us no where if it is not followed up by actions. The constant words of "faith without works is dead' (James 2:20) turns in our head. How many times do we stop to realize that those words apply to us and not others only. In order for the Gentiles not to blasphem the name of God, we must 'put on Christ' and 'be holy'. To prevail in our strive to perfection we must keep in mind that:

"In all things showing [ourself] to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of [us]" (Titus 2:7,8).