A stranger in his middle 70s came in to see me last week. He said he had admired the work our church was doing and asked what we believed. I began to explain our doctrinal position, which sparked him to respond by telling what he believed. He said he was an ordained minister in a Christian Church.
He went on to explain a totally heretical view. He explained that it was never God’s desire for Jesus to be crucified, man did that out of rebellion. The cross as a sacrifice to atone for man’s sins was a concoction of man’s mind, he said. He thought Paul was a Pharisee and all his teachings oppose what Jesus taught. It all came down to one key thing for him: Repentance. He didn’t need a Savior because he was saving himself by his good works.
He told me he had studied the Bible thoroughly and that God at no time ever required a sacrifice. So, I reminded him of the story of the Israelis in bondage in Egypt and how God directed them to all slay a lamb and offer it as a sacrifice, putting the blood of that lamb on the doorposts of their houses. Then the death angel passed over them. John the Baptist said of Jesus: “Behold the Lamb’. He scratched his chin in confusion, and had no rebuttal. His main point had been subverted.
We left on friendly terms and I told him I would be praying for him. We agreed to disagree.
We must know what we believe and why! If he is right, we’re both safe. But if I am right, this man is in big trouble on judgment day. He has no Savior but himself.
Tags: atonement, cross, heresy, sacrifice
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a world-famous Russian author who had been sent to a Siberian prison because he criticized communism. Languishing there under intolerable conditions year after year, he decided to end his life. But suicide, he firmly believed, would be against God’s will. He thought it would be better for a guard to shoot him.
So, at a public assembly of the prisoners, he sat in a front row, planning to get up and walk toward an exit, compelling a guard to kill him. But to his surprise, another prisoner sat down, blocking his exit. That unknown man leaned over and, to Solzhenitsyn’s astonishment, drew a cross on the dirt floor.
There in prison Solzhenitsyn became a Christian and was eventually set free to bear witness to the world. There is still life changing power in the cross.
Tags: cross, prison, testimony
There were three crosses on Calvary’s hill. On one was a man dying in sin – he did not accept Jesus. On another was a man dying to sin – he trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord (Luke 23:40-43). And on the middle cross was One dying for sin. He could die for others because He was God’s Son and had no sin of His own. The center cross made all the difference for those two men hanging beside Jesus – the difference between an eternity in hell or heaven.
The whole world is represented by those two thieves and their response to the Lord Jesus. We see in the three crucified individuals a picture of the sinner, the saint, and the Savior.
What does the cross mean to you?
Tags: cross
Some Christians make it a habit to wear a cross. It may be on a necklace or a lapel pin. It may be worn thoughtlessly as a piece of jewelry or prayerfully to let people know of the wearer’s personal faith, and it also can be worn as a good luck charm of sorts.
In April 2006, a Methodist church in the city of Dudley, England, found out that it would have to pay a fee to put a cross on its new building. Yes, a fee was required because under British law the cross is an advertisement. It proclaims to the world, whether on a person or a building, that the cross has a value.
What if the government assessed a fee (tax) for you to exhibit a cross? Would you pay it?
Tags: cross, tax
Easter comes this year as early as it can on the calendar. Easter is a season of spring breaks and getting ready for warmer weather. It is a season for tulips and robins and mud and spring cleaning. Its also a season when people go shopping for warmer clothes.
But did you ever think of it being a season of revival in a person’s spiritual life? As people begin to look outward from the winter seclusion, it is also often a time when people attempt to make improvements in their homes as well as their lives. The cross is all about improvements in the life of a believer. The Book of Ephesians is a great teaching about the believer being in an exalted spiritual position. But it ends by challenging the reader to live according to this exalted spiritual position. Its a challenge to a life of holiness that draws attention to Jesus, not us.
The classic parable of the Prodigal Son is also a story of personal improvement. The son went back home, but his attitude was never the same. He was now the new and improved version. When Legion was delivered of the multitude of demons, his life was dramatically improved. Prior to the resurrection, Peter cowardly denied Jesus three times. After the resurrection, the same Peter boldly declared the resurrection of Christ before multitudes. His ministry had been vastly improved.
Let’s take some time this Easter season to do some spring cleaning inwardly. Let’s be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Tags: cross, Easter, holiness, improvement, spring, transformation