Some great points about the Emergent Church from Greg Laurie. Feel free to leave a comment. The Emergent Church has some scary stuff going on with it. Be alert!
"There are many ways to God."
"Jesus is just my way."
"All religions are true in their own way."
We have all heard statements like those before. Sometimes, even Christians who don't understand their Bibles will say them.
Have you ever wondered how God reacts to this? It's insulting.
I have mentioned the emergent church before. It's a popular movement within the evangelical church that has caught the interest of many.
Here is a statement from one of its unquestioned leaders:
"Missional Christian faith asserts that Jesus did not come to make some people saved and others condemned. Jesus did not come to help some people be right, while leaving everyone else to be wrong. Jesus did not come to create another exclusive religion."
Sorry to disagree, but that is all wrong.
First of all, Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Plain and simple. As Paul wrote, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15).
He did not come to "help some people be right, while leaving everyone else to be wrong." We all were wrong and separated from Him by our sins. The Bible says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). And only those who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved.
Another emergent leader I quoted before writes:
"I must add, though, that I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherence to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts."
This sounds very inclusive and loving, but it is flat-out wrong and unscriptural. We want people to become "followers of Jesus" in a biblical context!
The Bible teaches that you become a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 says, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Jesus plainly said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life . . . "
That brings us to the sin of insulting the Holy Spirit. What is that? It's when we reject the work He has come to do.
It is the office of the Holy Spirit to present the saving work of Jesus Christ to the unbeliever. Jesus said, "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8 KJV).
But when someone refuses to accept Jesus Christ, he is really denying the very mission of the Holy Spirit and is saying that he doesn't need salvation. They are saying that Jesus cannot save them and His shed blood was a waste! His death was unnecessary.
This is a blatant insult to the Holy Spirit of God. As it says in Hebrews 10:29, "Think how much more terrible the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God and have treated the blood of the covenant as if it were common and unholy. Such people have insulted and enraged the Holy Spirit who brings God's mercy to his people" (NLT).
To resist the Holy Spirit's appeal is to insult God and cut off all hope of salvation.
The Bible poses this alarming question: "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3).
8 comments:
Hi Eric, I just randomly stumbled across your blog. I found this latest post very interesting; I am a Christian who has been brought up in the evangelical tradition, and I am relatively sympathetic to the Emergent Church.
Regarding your first quotation, I am confused as to how your ensuing statements counter it. When the unnamed leader says "Jesus did not come to help some people be right, while leaving everyone else to be wrong," you echo this same phrase yourself and even give scriptural references to support its accuracy. I think the gist of the leader's statement is that Jesus' salvation should be extended to all people, just as Paul remarks later on that there is neither Jew nor Greek when it comes to who "qualifies" for God's kingdom. Everyone qualifies, because God doesn't engage in favoritism. This, I think, is the sense in which the leader says that Jesus isn't interested in promoting another "exclusive religion."
Regarding the second quote: the speaker is not saying outright that all religions lead to salvation. He/she is saying that there may be circumstances in which Buddhists or Jews can encounter Jesus within the context of the faith in which they were raised.
I believe that God is a fully transcendent truth even as he is fully immanent; I believe that the Triune God is the basis of all truth, and I do not believe that he can be limited by such human-created social constructs as differing religious practices. In other words: Yes, it is true that the Bible and the Koran (for example) are 2 very different religious texts. They are obviously not fully compatible with one another. But TO THE EXTENT that the Koran DOES communicate truth about who God is, then that is the extent to which a Muslim may grasp the reality of the Trinity. Obviously it is only a partial, limited knowledge; but then, who are we (as Christians) to say that we possess full knowledge of God? Nobody does; we can only try to know him rightly as much as our human limitations can bear.
I'm concerned about your closing statement: "To resist the Holy Spirit's appeal is to insult God and cut off all hope of salvation." Well, resisting the holy spirit's appeal is simply another way of characterizing anyone who isn't a Christian, right? So are you saying that anyone who has considered accepting Jesus and has subsequently rejected him will never have another chance to do so? This seems deeply problematic to me. I think it is important to remember that the trinity of God-Jesus-Spirit works as one harmonious body, and that this Trinity is always present within our earthly reality-- always working toward reconciliation between the Divine and the creation. I do not think God will ever abandon that cause. If he does, we're all in trouble.
Yes, it's certainly necessary to understand the context of what someone is saying. Sometimes we know, other times we may not.
One thing is for sure, we live in a day of moral and spiritual relativism. That is, more and more, culturally, and even in our churches, we seem to go to extremes to "tolerate."
Anything we do should take people "closer" to God, not farther away. If we would simply read the Bible more, and multitudes of books less, then we can surely understand what God intends for mankind.
While we need to be "patient" and gracious with those who don't know Him, we need to hold accountable those that would "water down" or diminish the Word of God. John 14:6. bb from nc
Kitty, thank you for your comments. They bring up a great point. As much as your heart wants to be inclusive of all religions and points of view, God will not allow it according to His Word. If you are a Christian, not as defined by anyone but God Himself, then you cannot truly say that any other religion can save you. As I Christian you know for sure that only Christ can save you. I know that tolerance of "other religions & beliefs" is popular, but it's hardly biblical. There is absolute truth for eternal life and it's ONLY found in the Bible. Some people are going to hell if they don't accept Christ. Christianity is exclusive. Not because Jesus doesn't love everyone, but because He is the only one that can save us. If God wanted us to look at Buddhism or Islam or anything else, don't you think that He would have said something about it in the Bible? Instead, the Bible records that the disciple Thomas asked Jesus "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" In other words, you are going to leave us and go to heaven with Your Father. How can we get there? And Jesus answered him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:5-6) Jesus is exclusive. He is the only way to heaven. If you don't believe in the exclusivity of the gospel, the Bible wouldn't call you a Christian.
I hope that you don't find this harsh, but search the scriptures and look at the truth. I speak the truth in the love of Christ. "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32
There's so much more I could say, but I need to go for now. In the words that our Savior uttered on many occasions, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Kitty, I'm praying for you.
We shouldn't put a question mark where God puts a period.
I really enjoyed your post. May our Lord continue to bless you in your ministry. God bless, Lloyd
Thanks for the encouragement, Lloyd!
Thanks for the post, Eric. I too just stumbled across your blog. I want to thank you for giving me some words to better understand and hopefully communicate these very thoughts. At one point, I was part of the tolerant group. I was someone who didn't understand the Bible. Thankfully, there are people out there who do and are doing what they can to clear things up!
Thanks, Eric,
Rachel
Thanks for the encouragement, Rachel. I'm glad that you stopped by and shared. It is amazing how God can clear things up for Him if we'll just read and study His Word. I'm so glad that you are another on that journey. Be blessed as you seek Him!
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