“The Truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”
The funeral was taken very sympathetically and efficiency. Although the deceased was not a church goer, he was a ‘good man’ and the Anglican priest said he was confident about his future in eternity. Indeed it was assumed that all of us were all in the hands of a loving God who, after all, had died for us so that we may all go to heaven. The deceased was in fact an outspoken agnostic who had rejected Jesus’ teaching about himself.
I was asked to take a service in a local village parish church. The talk was on the text, “What must I do to be saved?”. After the service we all met up for coffee in the lady church warden’s home. The church warden made an announcement to the fifteen or so present. She said,
“I am not sure that I am a Christian.”
There was a hushed silence which was interrupted by her friend,
“Of course you are, you are lovely!”
Unfortunately there are other spurious messages coming from people in our churches. Exaggerations are made in the knowledge that people will always follow success.
“Last week we saw over forty people converted at our evening service.”
It does seem that many people are gullible and will believe anything.
“The Lord is telling me that there is someone here who is troubled by chronic back pain. Come forwards and let the Lord heal you. In our meetings we have seen the lame walk, the blind see and the deaf hear.”
Both the Old and New Testaments are full of warnings for God’s leaders not to teach anything that is contrary to what God teaches. In today’s Protestant churches there are four prevalent heresies.
The first is to regard the gospel as primarily to give a benefit in this life. Christian values are emphasised and there is a great concern for loving, moral and communal behaviour. Such an approach overlooks the Biblical emphasis that we should all see ourselves as God sees us. Jesus’ concern was that people should become members of the Kingdom of God and so avoid an eternal hell. Jesus and his apostles taught that admission to God’s kingdom is certainly not found by trying to live according to Christian values. High moral standards can be applauded by people of any faith. (It needs to be emphasised that ‘humanists’ and ‘atheists’ have a very distinct faith.) Jesus and his apostles teach that salvation is only given to those who have personally become followers or disciples of Jesus and have accepted his sacrifice on that cross as the substitution to pay for their sin. Without Jesus we carry the responsibility for our sin into eternity with awful consequences. For this group the cross becomes a token of self sacrificial love, not an atoning sacrifice. The mystery of ritual can become a substitute for a real saving relationship with the Lord Jesus.
The next group consider that the end justifies the means and consider dishonesty can help increase God’s kingdom. Sometimes this group do not realise what they are doing. They are enthusiastic in calling people to repent but see it as a once off event. They will make many appeals and count the number coming forwards. They talk of the number of conversions but fail to realise that the large majority of those making these decisions are nowhere spiritually a year later. Others rightly teach that God is all powerful but then go on to say that God wants to heal organic diseases supernaturally. They rely on their own interpretation of Biblical texts without a thorough overall analysis to ensure that their teaching is what God is about today. They make astounding claims but fail to check the veracity of their claims later. There is very limited audit - there are seldom any follow up studies by these practitioners to show if real permanent organic healings have occurred. They are high on emotionalism but low on truth, high on hype but low on hope. Many people are attracted to these public displays with the result that Christianity is regarded by many to be simply emotional sometimes fraudulent showmanship. Jesus was never like that. His healings, who proved who he was, were simple, astounding and complete. They were verified independently. His teaching was not about healing but about the need for repentance, following him whatever the cost. In contrast too often these new teachers offer material benefits and even prosperity to their followers, sometimes shamefully with money involved. Such teachers do want people to have faith in Jesus but too often it is not the selfless faith which looks to eternity as the goal. This is what Jesus talked to his disciples about.
There is another group of church leaders who are orthodox in their creedal beliefs. They do believe and teach that Jesus is the incarnation of God. They do hold that Jesus’ death was to pay for our sin and that he will take his people to heaven and not hell. They encourage people to join the church and emphasise the benefits of doing so. Society and children do, after all benefit from being in a Christian environment. Yet there is one thing they do not emphasise, that Jesus and his apostles saw as mandatory – REPENTANCE.
The prophets in the Old Testament repeatedly called God’s people to repent and return to life closely with him.
John the Baptist preached a ‘baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins’ Jesus began his ministry saying,
‘The kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the gospel’.
Peter, at the first sermon told his hearers,
‘Repent and be baptised’.
The only way to salvation is through repentance, a turning back on living for myself and starting a new life with the Lord Jesus in control, relying on his death to pay for my sin. Without a personal surrender to Jesus Christ there is no salvation, even for church people who have baptised .
The final heresy is very common today in evangelical circles. These people are orthodox in holding to biblical doctrines, in fact sometimes very ardently. They can argue cogently for true doctrine. However they do not emphasise the need for a close walk with the Lord Jesus and a personal love for him. They glory in doctrine and not in their Lord. Like the Ephesian church, they have “lost their first love” (Revelation 2:5), they do not radiate the joy of being forgiven and accepted as a child of God. They do not understand such texts as the following,
“Come and share your master’s happiness” Matthew 25:23
“I have told you this that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:11
“I say these things, while I am still in the world, so that they (his disciples) may have the full measure of my joy within them.” John 17:13
“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” Ephesians 6:24
What is the solution? Surely we can do no better than heed the warning that Paul gave to Timothy when he saw similar problems developing in his day.
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” 2 Timothy 4:1-3
BVP
