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The dangers of social Christianity

Posted on October 26, 2015 by | Comments Off on The dangers of social Christianity

Biblical-Studies-DegreeThere has been a trend in both American and western European societies that has led to a lot of scriptural misunderstanding. This trend, known as social Christianity, is a delusion that leaves the soul hungry for truth, is spiritually void, and does not have the power to save. It is a false gospel that serves no other purpose than to confuse, to distort the love of God, and to remake the faith that God has called Christians to have. Social Christianity, and the social gospels it teaches, is acceptable and appealing to the world because it sets aside the standards set by God and replaces them with a non-threatening interpretation of the gospel of Jesus where the distinction between unrepentant sinner and sinner saved by grace are distorted.

Social Christianity compared to biblical Christianity

The true gospel of Jesus is much different from the social gospel in many areas. The Bible is very clear in its presentation of the gospel: 1) there must be genuine repentance for sins [Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19)], 2) conversion (salvation) happens when we call upon the  Lord [For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:10), For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16), and For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13)] and 3) our belief in Jesus is our only means of salvation [Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6) and Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12)]. There are literally hundreds of other verses I could use to show the Lord’s plan of salvation that is freely offered through His grace and love for us, but I believe Paul said it best: Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:5-9).

Biblical Christianity places the focus of the relationship between the individual believer and the Lord Jesus Christ. That focus is centered upon the concept of individual repentance, individual recognition of our original state of being a sinner and the recognition of our need for redemption from the wages of sin [For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23)]. It is placing our full and complete faith in the completed works of Jesus, His death, burial, and resurrection, the sacrifice of His sinless, spotless life in the place of our sin-stained life as our only hope of Heaven. The Bible clearly teaches that just one of our sins places us in need of judgment; Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life (Romans 5:18), but that through Jesus’ sacrifice, we are offered the free gift of salvation. Salvation is not earned by our own perception of righteousness, fairness, or by good works, but by the standards that have been set by God, of whom Paul wrote, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). 

Social Christianity has a number of teachings within its framework that cloud the simplicity of the true gospel of Jesus. Within the last three years, there have been a number of national-level politicians within the United States who have used the phrases national salvation and national redemption as calls for Americans to support their various agendas. Even Israel, a nation and kingdom established by God never had this kind of total and complete redemption for all its citizens. Even the Old Testament teaches salvation of the individual believer but does offer national blessings when the nation is in obedience to the will and teachings of the Lord. Will God bless our nation, if as a nation, we are obedient to the will and teachings of God? Yes. But this is not the same as national redemption or national salvation. Salvation is, even under the New Testament teachings, a relationship between the person and God.

Continued on next page.

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Christian Living, Our relationship with God, Our relationship with ourselves

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The gospel of Jesus and technology

Posted on October 16, 2015 by | Comments Off on The gospel of Jesus and technology
© Pamela Hodson Dreamstime Stock Photos

Image © Pamela Hodson Dreamstime Stock Photos

Technology is all around us and can be a very powerful tool, increasing our productivity or even expanding the reach of the gospel. It can also be a great distraction, often keeping us from being as productive as we possibly could be throughout the day. Earlier this morning as I was on Facebook taking a break from grading exams, I and an acquaintance of mine began discussing whether the Lord would approve of Christians linking the gospel of Jesus and technology. Folks, keep in mind that I have never been to Bible college or any seminary. I simply began studying the Bible the way that I studied for the various exams in graduate school. In other words, I approach the Bible with an understanding based on common sense and that the Bible says what it means.

Jesus and technology – an implied understanding

Within the Bible there is no mention of the use of contemporary technology such as television, radio, Internet, or even text messaging. We all have seen the postings on Facebook that tell us that if we really love Jesus we will post something on our wall or share it (and I can tell you this, posting a picture of a cross or of some artist’s interpretation of what Jesus looks like does not mean the person sharing it is a Christian). Yet, various radio ministries have been in existence for nearly a hundred years. In fact, KHJ-AM Radio which began broadcasting in April 1922 (the three-letter call sign was the initials for Kindness, Happiness and Joy, a part of the Immaculate Heart Radio Network founded in the early 1920s) was the first FCC licensed Christian broadcaster in the nation. From those humble beginnings of early mass communication, the gospel of Jesus has expanded its reach as new mediums for mass communications have become available. With each new development, there are men and women who feel led by the Holy Spirit to share the gospel using the latest developments in mass communications technology. In fact, even in the days of the disciples, the gospel of Jesus and technology have always had a close relationship.

Within the book of Acts, it is recorded that Jesus told His disciples: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). As they heard Jesus charge them with spreading the gospel message to the uttermost parts of the world, there had to have been a feeling of being given an overwhelming challenge. In our era and with the use of modern technology, today’s Christian can actively participate in the spread of the gospel to those uttermost parts of the world. Even this website is viewed in eighty-six countries – more countries than I could ever visit in one lifetime! Whether it is through a website such as this one, a YouTube channel, or through a simple text message, technology can and should be used to expand the reach of the gospel.

Jesus expected the disciples to use whatever means they had at their disposal to spread His gospel. Paul wrote, And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:15) as a testimony to the most obvious means of sharing the message of Jesus – the feet of the believer. The other way the disciples possessed is stated by John, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:13). One involves being there in a literal presence, sharing the gospel by presenting to a specific audience. The other is to send the message of the gospel to be presented by some other indirect means of presentation – such as the writing of this letter by John. With either case, we see the gospel of Jesus and technology working together to reach the lost. It reminds me of the verse, So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (Isaiah 55:11).

Technology does not excuse us from personal evangelism

While it is possible to reach others for Jesus through Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, our use of technology does not excuse us from our responsibilities of personal evangelism. After Jesus’ resurrection, He met with the remaining eleven disciples and he charged them, And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). The disciples were given the personal responsibility to go out and to share the gospel with all they would come across. Our personal evangelism efforts must be sincere. Each of us have a story of what the Lord has done for us; without any great training, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? (John 4:29). The book of John tells us this woman at the well, after meeting Jesus and realizing she was in the presence of the Messiah, went out and immediately brought others to Him.  She had experienced the saving grace of Jesus and wanted all around her to experience the same peace, joy, and forgiveness she enjoyed. 

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It is either right or wrong; there’s no grey area

Posted on June 3, 2015 by | Comments Off on It is either right or wrong; there’s no grey area

right or wrongEvery situation and every decision we make boils down to one thing – it is either right or wrong. Sometimes it is difficult for humanity to accept this and we try to justify what we know to be a wrong decision by claiming what we face was somehow in a grey area in between both right and wrong. We will sometimes cry that others should not judge us by what we have done but by the intentions of our heart, believing that as long as our intentions were noble then it excuses our acting on the bad decisions we’ve made. A quick glance at human civilization, particularly what is happening in the West today, gives many examples of what happens when we begin to cloud the decision-making process with imaginative grey areas, a departure for biblical absolutes, and a lack of moral clarity.

Each situation has but two choices

Earlier in my life I bought into a lot of the humanistic philosophies that teach there are no absolute morals and no absolute right or wrong. I believed what I had been taught in public school that each person is free to assign their own personal value system based on what is best for them. In 1988, while attending college, I had an emotional experience with the Lord; I do not call it salvation because I was anything but saved – something that I have heard others refer to as being a pseudo-Christian. I bought into the worldly logic that even in Christianity, there were those grey areas where there simply was no guidance found in the Bible for situations faced by people in our modern society. There are many Christians today that not only believe this false teaching, but actually excuse their sins by claiming that God didn’t provide any guidance to them (I could literally do a number of posts revealing God’s will for the specific “grey areas” that I have heard people discuss within the last six months).

A study of the Bible shows the nature of the two choices we face with every situation: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deuteronomy 30:19) and No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13). Every situation we face in life boils down to us making a right or wrong decision. It has taken me a while to understand this teaching found all through the Bible. With God, there are no grey areas; there’s simply right or wrong. The prophet Isaiah was led by the Lord to write, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD (Isaiah 55:8); it is easy to understand this once we get a good look at how we try to justify our failures and poor decisions and not to accept the simple truth that we made a wrong choice.

Right or wrong – a study in practice

A few days ago I was reading an article on CNN news about the ongoing social debates within our nation. The article was written about how the moral standards in America – what is considered as proper and inappropriate behavior – are rapidly changing. Issues such as abortion, alternative lifestyles, personal gender determination, gay and alternative marriages, and even euthanasia and right to life are being questioned. As I read the comments from those responding to the article, one thing became painfully clear – many wanted to blame God for the hardships in their lives. One female poster actually asked the question “where was God when I was planning my abortion?”  Again, the verse from Deuteronomy comes to mind: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deuteronomy 30:19). Is it really that simple? Yes, it is. Every decision we make comes down to a very finite point – either our decision will bring forth life or death. Life simply is in obedience to the Lord, death is simply the results of rebellion.

Without becoming bogged down within the topic of abortion, there are some startling truths about abortion that society ignores. Under the banner of women’s rights, society has created an excuse and solution for an age-old problem. Although advocate for abortion will say that it must be available for cases of incest, rape, and the preservation of the life of the mother, statistics available through the Department of Health and Human Services and Planned Parenthood actually tell a different story. According to statistics, there were 1.21 million abortions performed in the United States in 2014. Of those, less than 1% (actual percentage was 0.067% or 187) abortions were because of rape or incest. The three most common reasons for abortions performed in 2014 were 1) 37% – less than ideal relationship status or personal convenience; 2) 21% – inadequate finances; and 3) 21% – not ready for the responsibility of parenthood. When Christians and other religious groups point to personal responsibility and refraining from premarital sex to avoid pregnancy, the world lectures and sneers at the suggestion. Instead, abortion is seen as a more responsible choice for the modern woman. In the end, the choice of abortion boils down to a choice between life and death.

Right or wrong – it is our choice

A while back I was reading from a book that has the collected writings of Andrew Bonar, a member of the Puritan clergy from back in the early nineteenth century. One of the concepts he was teaching is that we are a product of our own choices. Much of what we see as our failures or our successes in life are really based on the decisions we made when God provided us with choices. When we begin to see our lives as the results of the choices we have made and not random happenings or even as God intervening in our lives, God’s grace becomes even so much more magnified in the life of the believer. Now it becomes increasingly important to follow the pleading and the calling of the Lord: Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18). It is both eye-opening and comforting at the same time to know that in the past, I made decisions based on my understanding but I do not have to continue to make those wrong decisions now. As a child of God, I am free to come and reason with the Lord, to seek His guidance and wisdom before I make my decision.

 Looking at my own life, I am where I am at because of the decisions – good and bad – that I made. There are also times in my life that I was simply shown mercy by the Lord in spite of my own short sightedness and stupidity. As recently as 2011, I have been impulsive in my decision-making and have not always sought the will of the Lord. The good thing is that I am a work in progress and God’s not finished with me.

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