Hosea 4:1-2 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

The People’s Sins

1Hear the word of the LORD,
O children of Israel,
for the LORD has a case
against the people of the land:
“There is no truth, no loving devotion,
and no knowledge of God in the land!
2Cursing and lying,
murder and stealing,
and adultery are rampant;
one act of bloodshed follows another.”

Now I am going to relate this to our world and church (the people of God) today, focusing on mainly my own nation (the USA), which is what I know and understand. Now, under the Old Covenant God’s people were the Jews, Israel of that time, so they were God’s people by physical heritage, because they were descendants of Abraham. Today God’s people are all people (Jew and Gentile by physical birth) who have by faith in Jesus Christ denied self, died to sin, and chosen a path of obedience to the Lord, by the grace of God.

But not everyone who has received Jesus Christ into their lives by biblical faith in Him is presently living for the Lord in obedience to His commands. Many have returned to their sins and are living to please the flesh. And not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ ever did become true followers of Christ, for they immediately continued on in their sins and not in obedience to the Lord, because they were led to believe that God does not require of us repentance (turning from sin) and obedience to His commands.

Therefore, we have many people in my nation, and perhaps in the world as a whole, who are giving lip service to the Lord but by their actions they deny Him. Sin is still their practice, and not obedience to our Lord’s commands. So they have no loving devotion to God, for to love God is to obey His commands. And many of them will lie to whomever in order to cover up their sins. And adultery is definitely running rampant!! With the invention of home computers, the internet, but especially smart phones, many are adulterers.

So many professing Christians today are living in addiction to sexual immorality via the use of pornography coupled with self-gratification. So they hide what they do in secret, and they lie about it, or perhaps they are bold about what they do, but there is no indication of true remorse, and there is no genuine repentance because they keep repeating the same sinful patterns over and over, some of them their entire lives or most all of their lives. And many of them just keep making excuses for why they do that.

Hosea 4:6-9 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

The Shepherd’s Sins

“6My people are destroyed
for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I will also reject you as My priests.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I will also forget your children.
7The more they multiplied,
the more they sinned against Me;
they exchanged their Glory
for a thing of disgrace.
8They feed on the sins of My people
and set their hearts on iniquity.
9And it shall be
like people, like priest.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.”

We have many people (mostly men) serving as pastors and elders or bishops in today’s modern market-driven institutional “churches” who are charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing who are feeding lies to the people, saying what itching ears want to hear. They may teach some of the gospel, but not all of it. And many of them are telling the people that they do not have to repent and obey God to be saved. Or if they do teach that, it is more like a suggestion or a recommendation, but not as a requirement for salvation.

But the Scriptures teach that by faith in Jesus Christ, a faith which comes from God, and is gifted to us by God, and is persuaded of God, we must deny self, die to sin, and obey God as a matter of life practice, not necessarily in absolute sinless perfection. But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin against God and for deliberate disobedience to His commands. For if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

Hosea 5:4-7 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

A Spirit of Prostitution

“4Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God,
for a spirit of prostitution is within them,
and they do not know the LORD.
5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
even Judah stumbles with them.
6They go with their flocks and herds
to seek the LORD,
but they do not find Him;
He has withdrawn Himself from them.
7They have been unfaithful to the LORD;
for they have borne illegitimate children.
Now the New Moon will devour them
along with their land.”

I have heard many Christians excuse away habitual and deliberate sexual sin, claiming that the one addicted to sin just can’t help what they are doing. But is that biblical? Absolutely not! Or they will suggest counseling for them, much of which is psychological garbage they are feeding the addicts while pacifying them in their sins of idolatry and adultery. But the addicts’ deeds do not permit them to return to God, for an evil spirit of prostitution is within them, and they are not genuinely saved, i.e. they don’t know God.

But this is not to say that it is impossible for them to be saved and to be delivered out of their addiction to sin. But addiction does have a strong control on people’s minds, hearts, and behaviors. But addiction to sin and Christianity do not mix together. For Jesus said that many will call Him, “Lord,” but they do not obey God, but they obey their sins, instead. And so they will not have eternal life with God unless they genuinely repent and die to addiction to sin and now walk faithfully in obedience to God’s commands.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

A Case Against The People
An Original Work / August 26, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

[A Prayer of Devotion to God Alone]