Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Multiple roads to the same (eternal) destination? Nope.

I am sorry. But to me, this is just sad. I know to most people in our culture this is a win - "religious tolerance" they say. I say it is a sign of a sinful world warping The Truth to the point that such consciousness is seeping into our churches, our faith. I truly believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. And in John 14:6, God clearly tells us the one way to salvation:

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Living a good life is a wonderful goal. Giving to charities is nice and commendable. Being nice and considerate to others is great. But none of this leads to Heaven. Faith in God and belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was sent to earth to die for our sins as an atonement sacrifice - the perfect lamb - is the only way to salvation and Heaven. All of these other things SHOULD happen as a result of our faith and acceptance of Jesus Christ - an outgrowth of our faith - but do not in themselves constitute faith and a "ticket to Heaven."

The reason why the Body of Christ is becoming less relevant in our culture - indeed being overtaken by our culture - is because we are buying into Pluralism (i.e., multiple sources and routes of salvation, religious "tolerance"), buying into Secular Humanism (i.e., to each his own, if it feels good do it, etc.), buying into Moral Relativism (i.e., there is no "truth", truth is relative to the individual and circumstance) within our own faiths and churches. Why do you think that those that profess a faith and are regular church attenders look NO DIFFERENT from people without a faith. Divorce rates, infidelity, and so on are just as rampant in the church as out of the church. It is because we have bought into the secular worldview. This is in direct contradiction to what our faith is SUPPOSED to teach us (see II Corinthians 5:17):

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!

Of course Christians are not perfect - we make the same mistakes as others because we (all) are sinful creatures. However, we ARE expected to repent of our sins and TRY to live as Christ-like a life as possible. We are to love everyone, care for everyone, be concerned for everyone. But that does not mean we are to be the SAME as everyone. God clearly teaches us this, prepares us for a time like this, warns us of a time like this... Check out Colossians 2:8:

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

...or even Colossians 2:20:

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules...

So, are we in moral decline in this world? Absolutely. Are people's faith being warped by our culture? Yes. Are we standing in the gap to fight against the teachings of this culture? NO!

Wake up people.

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