I have Secondary Progressive MS and have lived with the disease for twenty seven years. I have been under the care of a physician and neurologist for the past thirteen years. To this day, the only treatment that I have received is medication to relieve pain. Every two weeks, $300 is spent at the Pharmacist. I take high levels of…
A response to an emerging church question.
I have been spending the last 6 weeks in the beginning chapters in the Book of Romans. It’s my time alone with God. Paul is in Corinth and on the last leg of his missionary journey. He stops to write what the Holy Spirit must be burning into his soul. He has visited hundreds and thousands of people both within and outside the Jewish nation. It has been a pretty thorough study on the nature of man and the power of God.
The letter to the Romans has long been considered one of the finest pieces of literature in literary history both because of the perfection in style and the clarity of his argument. Paul is prompted by the Holy Spirit to put into words what is God’s definitive answer to that question, “does salvation include people outside of Christianity?
In our local paper a recent ad grabbed my attention, just as they hoped it would. An emerging Church has that very question as the theme they want to explore with people. Luckily for this “Church”, the answer was the very one that Paul provided in most every letter he wrote.
Furthermore, of the answer that Paul provided, he writes in Galatians 1:6-8Galatians 1:6-8
English: World English Bible - WEB
6 I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel;
7 and there isn’t another gospel. Only there are some who trouble you, and want to pervert the Gospel of Christ.
8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any gospel other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.
WP-Bible plugin, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel — not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!” I’d say that this is a powerful reason to make certain that you are preaching the gospel as Paul presented it through the Holy Spirit.
This gospel that Paul speaks of is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-24Rom. 3:23-24
English: World English Bible - WEB
23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
WP-Bible plugin). Prior this statement Paul has described how every man short of God’s glory is subject to God’s wrath and that if it were not for the grace of God that provided justice through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross we would still be in that state, whether a law abiding Jew or one living outside the Jewish nation. This grace becomes ours personally when we embrace Christ’s salvation through faith in the resurrected Christ.
Should the Church of Jesus Christ ask the question? Of course it should. But don’t lower the dignity, power and truth of God by slumming with others that seek to elevate themselves by speaking of how humble they are. Isn’t that one worth chewing on for a while.
The only way you can answer a “yes” to this question is to make less of the Scriptures, God, Jesus Christ and the whole purpose of why Christ died on the cross. Their answer will elevate the loving nature of God without the cross. A different gospel.
To answer “yes” to their question, you will have rewrite Romans 3:23Romans 3:23
English: World English Bible - WEB
23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
WP-Bible plugin so it says, “for all men are okay and God has fallen short of the glory of man.” Nowhere in Scripture has God ever suggested that this type of thinking is even close to his salvation equation.
Today’s Church is indeed in need of a reformation, not away from Christianity but nearer to the truths of the Scriptures and further away from the wise thoughts of men.
I can bet you the seminar will not be delving too deep into Romans. Whether a simple reading or digging a bit deeper will only show how they are seeking to emerge from the gospel of Christ.
For a closer look into Romans, follow my daily journal at: faithjourney.ca
Romans 1:16-17Romans 1:16-17
English: World English Bible - WEB
16 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.
17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
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The book of Romans is a compelling book that Paul wrote to carefully and thoroughly describe the depravity of man and the power of the gospel.
As I read Romans 18-32, I see the downward that mankind has taken. On the last step are those that practice immoral and same-sex relationships. The hard truth thought is that we’re all on that step. We may not be having an immoral relationship, but look at the long list that follows:
As I think through the list I cannot help but begin to understand how desperately we need a solution from the God that we have wilfully sinned against.
Paul is in Corinth at the time he writes this. The city lies in the shadow of Mount Acrocorinth with a plateau at 1900 feet above the streets of Corinth and upon which the temple of Aphrodite overlooks the city.
Aphrodite was the goddess of love, beauty and sexual pleasure. The temple was known for its prostitutes that would entice visitors. These “ladies of the night” were highly valued priestesses and were honoured guests at public festivals in Corinth and surrounding areas. Furthermore, a high-born male was expected to have a young boy for sexual pleasure. In both the Grecian and Roman culture, pedophilia was not only condoned, it was considered part of their education.
As Paul writes this great epistle, he is sitting in the shadow of the mountain top temple. While he is overwhelmed with the deep depravity of man, the Holy Spirit speaks directly to Paul about the pleasures at Corinth. We are reading those words in the book of Romans which include what God thinks of our sin and his impending wrath on the unrighteous.
Here’s the point: It’s a tough one. We stand alongside the pedophiles in need of God’s solution. We have all wilfully made choices against God and deserve the full extent of God’s wrath. You need to see this because understanding the depth of our sin and our separation from God. This is our first step in receiving salvation.
What if?
Hopefully this question grabs your attention. All of our Christian life, our faith, morals, Church and all matters of life hinges on our trust that the Bible is not only free from any error, it is also incapable of error (inerrancy and infallibility). That is Classic and Orthodox Christian Doctrine.
If there was an error in the Bible (in its original writings), then how could we trust it in other matters.
I remember when Schneider Meats (in Kitchener, Ontario) was found out to have “errors” (E.coli) in some of their products. They quickly ceased production and pulled everything from the shelves. Why? Because trust was broken. The company quickly went into major “trust control” to restore that missing quality.
If we were to discover that there were errors in any of the matters written in the Bible, then it needs to be pulled from the shelf. At least in terms of our Authority for life. How are we to know if there are not other errors?
However, that error has never been found and furthermore, the testimony of God’s Word and Jesus Christ tell us of how we should view the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:162 Timothy 3:16
English: World English Bible - WEB
16 Every writing inspired by God literally, God-breathed is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction which is in righteousness,
WP-Bible plugin Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness
We can have confidence!
Why Even Bring Up The Question?
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