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| of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:16,17 NKJV |
It has taken me most of this week to
put into words the outrage I felt this past week while sitting in a
“Christian” women's group, led by a pastor's wife, as she mocked
the Gospel of Jesus Christ by declaring that “all religions lead to
God – who are we to think that only Christianity has the answers?”
It was my first time attending this class and I was both shocked and
unprepared for what I heard being taught and agreed to by this group.
These are affluent, middle class women, members of the Christian
denomination that hosts this group weekly. They were quite content
in their affluence – bragging about their travels around the world,
where they have had the opportunity to witness people of many
different religions.
According to these women, anyone who does not
see that all religions are equal doesn't see it because, the poor
ignorant souls have been “programmed” to believe the teachings of the Bible. Who
can believe that, they declared? Ridiculous in the minds of these
ladies.
It would require much more space than I
have time or room to detail the incredible number of lies that were
stated in this group regarding the Bible, the Gospel, and the Person
of Jesus Christ. Why then do they call themselves Christians?
I challenged their beliefs, with no
small measure of shock on my face, I'm sure. They approached me with
smiles on their faces and patronizing, condescending looks as they
tried to educate and enlighten me. Admittedly, I felt a bit like
Moses asking “Why me, Lord?” I certainly didn't plan on being
the one in the group who would have to defend the Gospel. And, to
some extent, that's the point of my story – we do not know when or
where we will be asked to defend our faith. We need to be
prepared...
Maybe this is going on all over the
church today, and I am just experiencing it. I suspect this is the
case. If so, we who believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the
truth of the Word of God, must stand up for the Gospel of our Lord
and Savior. We must know the Bible backwards and forwards and be
prepared to defend our faith. The reason these women are so lost is
because they have rejected the Word of God. They don't read it.
They don't understand it. They dismiss it as if it is the Sunday
Funnies. Apparently, no one ever told them that “faith comes
through hearing, and hearing through the Word of God.” Romans 10:17
When I left that meeting, I went home
and cried. Cried for the belittling of my Savior. In their words, I could feel the nails being hammered into the hands and feet of Jesus all over again.
How dare we call
ourselves Christians and mock the very Gospel we are called to
defend. How dare we belittle the Word of God and speak glowingly of
false religions. How dare we prop ourselves up in false pride and
arrogance against God. We have “eaten of the apple” and bought
the lie, when we set ourselves up as the ones who define for
ourselves who God is. God help us to be true to the Gospel for which
Jesus Christ suffered and died that we would be saved. Those who
mock the Gospel, and the Savior, in the church or out of it, will pay
with their eternal salvation. God forgive us "if we fail to defend the Gospel of our salvation.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we
do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself
against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity
to the obedience of Christ...” 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5
"He said to them, "But who do you say that I Am? Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Matthew 16:5
"Jesus said to them, 'I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6
I feel sadness for people who refuse to accept Jesus into their hearts . I wish they could feel what I feel . . .. pure contentment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Lottie - it is very sad. But, there was something more going on with these ladies. They called themselves Christians, they knew well the teaching of the Church regarding salvation and yet they were fully content in their rejection of Jesus as Savior. They mocked the Gospel very self-righteously, all the while calling themselves Christians. That is another level in rejecting Christ, I believe. They are resting in their self-induced contentment. All the way to hell.
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