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
Have you ever wondered what God thinks of His church so divided into various denominations and differing in so many varying odd belief systems? Do you think He might be a little miffed at His children having such little respect for the ministry gifts (ministers) He has called to lead His church? That’s not new. Samuel Stone wrote this verse to The Church’s One Foundation in 1866:
Though with a scornful wonder Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed:
Yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.
Satan’s number one target is the church, because it is the organized body of believers. So, it is no wonder there is so much division and false teaching that has arisen. Yet the faith of the believers continues to wait upon the Lord and we long for the day when he shall return.
Tags: division, heresy, hymns