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The Necessity of a Risen Savior

8/24/2019

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Since the time of Christ, artists have sought to depict almost every scene from the gospels. The two scenes most chosen, Jesus as a baby or as a crucified Savior, says a lot about religious thought throughout history. In each case, the artists captured the context of religious man by depicting religious man's thoughts of Jesus Christ, as needy and powerless—either as a little baby dependent on His mom or as a dead man on a cross. The one who chooses artwork to remember Jesus this way, will continue to think of Jesus in this weak and feeble fashion.  
Today's Christianity follows this same 2 layered focus in our worship and teaching. The nominal Christian usually chooses to focus on the birth of Jesus and the death of Jesus. Each year we are inn-undated by the imagery of the baby Jesus in the manger scene during the Christmas season. While it is certainly wonderful to realize that God came in the flesh to dwell among men (Jn 1:14), this world's version of Christianity and its obsession with Christmas tends to hit pause, seeing Him in the position of a cute little baby for all time, ignoring His greater purposes and works… Hollywood even mocks this aspect of Christianity's obsession with Christ in the manger with Ricky Bobby's prayer in Talladega Nights. He prays to the little baby Jesus, which is a very sacrilegious scene, but it serves a purpose to show how most pseudo Christians view Jesus in this light by celebrating Christmas to the neglect of Jesus the rest of the year. You see, most people that claim to be Christians do the same thing. They choose the baby, defenseless, harmless little Jesus, and that is the one that they want to worship, and this is the one that stays with them throughout life.  

In addition, the constant refrain, especially among fundamentalists is this question, "Have you been saved?" This is a most important question! The question is undoubtedly sincere, and the missionary mindset is a testament to a love for Jesus. Yet, it seems that their only goal is to call as many people forward as possible to pray "the prayer of salvation", accepting Jesus into their hearts (which is found nowhere in Scripture). "Jesus Christ died to save you from your sins" is a true doctrine, but falls short, as He died to save us from the wrath of God!—but He did not (please hear me carefully) stay on the cross any more than He remained a babe in the manger clinging to His mother.  

The apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:10 though that there is more than his birth and death...  "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life". I am so thankful for the Easter season, which focuses on the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, but its impact on society and nominal fake Christians is very minimal. About the most that those who call themselves Christians get from it—and even this is only partly true—is that Christ's resurrection opens the way for them to get to heaven and enjoy eternal life. This is as far as it goes for most who merely walked an aisle to get saved or repeated some words (sinner's prayer) to "get saved". 

When we understand this phrase: "We shall be saved by His life" The resurrection showed that He is Lord over Death and Life… Most people understand that we are saved by His death, but that is only half true! Rather, it is better to understand that we are justified by His death; our sins are forgiven and we are declared righteous through the blood of Jesus Christ for our sins. Our salvation, however, is anchored on the fact that Jesus Christ is Life! He is Lord over sin death and hell and makes us sons and daughters of God (see Hebrews 2:10-16). 
Because he rose again, we can enter the throne room with boldness and "in full assurance of faith" by Jesus Christ Hebrews 10:19-22). Paul explains, "It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us" Romans 8:34.  This is the rest of the Gospel, the Good News. We are justified by his death and saved by his life. He is not a weak, defenseless little baby Jesus, he is Lord of Life. For the Christian, it starts now. He came to bring Life and that we have Life abundantly. It is this knowledge, it is this true sight of our sovereign King that reforms our Life and anchors our hope in Him.  


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Phony Baloney "Christianity"

7/29/2019

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The epidemic of people claiming to be Christians yet reflecting their culture more than the New Testament's way, truth and Life, is nothing new, and is an issue that has always been and will always be a part of the church of Jesus Christ. The wheat grows with the tares and goats will not be separated from the sheep until the Day of judgment, except through some exposure through necessary church discipline.

Soren Kierkegaard struggled with these same issues greatly in his day, and wrote attacking the church for it's strong display of hypocrisy and lack of following the true Jesus of the Bible. He writes in his "Attack on Christendom" on p. 168 

“People had not so much as the courage and honesty and truth to say to God bluntly, "That I cannot agree to," they resorted to hypocrisy and thought they were perfectly secure." 

This was much the attitude of Israel all throughout the New Testament, and the attitude of the pharisees in the New Testament. However, it has not stopped there. It has continued to be the attitude of many professing believers today as well. 

So my question coming off the heals of reading Kierkegaard's attack on Christendom, Are there unsaved Christians? Kierkegaard delineated between Christendom and True Christianity. I believe that such a clear distinction needs to be drawn like a line in the sand through every cycle in history. So, my question in this post is concerned with this question:
"is there such a thing as an unsaved Christian?"

In the "Christian American" culture, and perhaps some parts of the world, there is an unwritten code of thinking that if you live a good life, go to church, and don’t do anything too bad (big sins), you’re considered a Christian; this, however, is not True 
Biblical Christianity, it is "Cultural Christianity". It’s what the culture says is so. So culture is the one who has redefined Christianity to be something it really is not, therefore, it is a lie, is most undoubtedly deceitful and is dragging millions to hell. So, I want to write, expose this epidemic and call it out for what it is. This was Kierkegaard's big problem in the Danish Lutheran world in which he was ordained for a time and served. This is what we are facing today. This can be very confusing when talking to people. The same Christianese language can be used, without any true knowledge of Jesus Christ and the gospel he has so graciously given us.

Because this is the case, I would contend that because Cultural Christianity is so pervasive, one of the most passed over mission fields in America is sitting in church pews on Sunday morning. Therefore, it’s important to know what Cultural (counterfeit) Christianity looks like, how to confront it, and how to avoid it. 

At Twin Lakes Bible Church, where I have the privilege of pastoring and teaching, we are going through the Apostle's Creed on Sunday mornings. This Sunday we looked at the Lordship of Jesus Christ from Matthew 7:21–23: “Not everyone who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

The sad reality is that there are many who profess the name of Christ without actually knowing him (being possessed by Him). The word "Lord" has the understanding of absolute, complete and total ownership. Our only allegiance is to Christ and Christ alone. We are bought with a price and as the first part of the Heidelberg reminds us, "I am not my own, but belong in body and in soul, both in life and death to my only Savior, Jesus Christ my Lord." But how different this is from modern understanding of "Christianity" today.

The words of Jesus, if spoken directly to the modern culture, might read something like this: “Didn’t we pray before we ate? Didn’t we vote our old American values? Didn’t we believe that prayer should be allowed in school? Didn’t we go to church every Sunday? Didn’t we believe in a God? Weren't we moved whenever we heard ‘God Bless America’ at a baseball game? Didn’t we give money to the church? Didn’t we treat women with respect? Didn’t we own Bibles? Didn’t we get the baby sprinkled? Didn’t we want America to return to its Christian roots? Didn’t we stay married and faithful?” These aren't bad things... However, this thinking, of course, is a false gospel with eternal consequences, and true Christians need to be able to exercise discernment and make careful application of Matthew 7 with our current situation. 

One thing I have noticed in speaking with those who have the "Christianese", is that a cultural Christian does not recoil when they’re asked about their faith, but they respond with generic answers that deal with how great they are, like going to church and the importance of being good people. Rarely do they talk about the greatness and glory of Jesus, the love of God or the power of the Spirit.

The hardest part about reaching a cultural Christian is that they don’t think they need Jesus completely. They are Christians who admire Jesus, but don't think He is Lord. Thus, the American pastor can be faced with the difficult task to bring Jesus to a place where He is admired but not worshiped as Lord of all, Sovereign King over every person and aspect of life. 

Does the Cultural Christian believe in some of the right things? Yes. The cultural Christian believes in God, heaven, the Bible, but also places a strong emphasis on values, heritage, and stepping stones of faith. Stepping stones of faith are areas they feel automatically induct them into Christianity.

Stepping stones for those who come from the mainline protestant movement might be things like catechism class, baptism, communion, saying the Lord’s Prayer, and going to church on important holidays like Christmas and Easter.

For Fundamentalists and many Southern Baptists this includes things like summer camp, Vacation Bible School, being the head honcho of the youth group, getting the Christian Character award at the Christian School you attend, walking an aisle to make a decision, getting saved (saying the salvation prayer for the 1000th time), also go to a Christian college to get a ministry degree, and go through life never drinking, smoking, getting a tattoo and women cannot wear pants. If you do those right external things, then you're a good Christian.  For others, it includes reading from the right version of the Bible like the KJV 1611. 

I have been in both mainline churches, and the Independent fundamental baptists, have rubbed shoulders with plenty of southern baptists and see that this Christianese takes its own ugly form on in each camp, but at the end of the day, you can spot it once you've stepped back, immersed yourself into who Christ is and question the circus sideshow freakiness of it all. It is really quite silly and sad at the same time.   

​To understand this, sometimes it helps to tell a story to help crystalize the point in your mind. The Smith family are decent moral people with old fashion values. They are well liked by just about everyone. They’re a typical young family with a really busy schedule, running their kids to their endless array of activities. When they have time to eat together as a family, they’re always sure to hold hands, and they give their children opportunities to pray. They often hear cute little prayers from the younger children, but everyone thinks it’s just so special. A recent family picture in front of the the church on Easter received several hundred likes and dozens of comments on Facebook, which was super important to the self focused, immature third wave feminist mommy. The Smiths are in their mid-thirties and go to church about once every three months, mainly because they stay so busy. If you ask them about where they have been, you can find that they have an ample supply of excuses for why they have not been there as the explanations (excuses) delves into an endless list of good deeds that they have done. Stand back and watch their heads swell, you can literally see it happen.

The dad's father has a lake house, and they try to go there on the weekends to catch up on rest and family time or go camping to get some down-time since daddy works so hard and daddy needs a break... (from God). I mean, after all it’s just a huge hassle to force everyone out the door to make it on time for church, and you can forget about Sunday School.  When they are in town, they definitely try to make it to church because it means a lot to gramma and gramps, mom's parents. Gramps has attended that church for over 25 years, and serves as a deacon, while gramma taught Sunday school for 25 years. She just loves showing off her grandchildren. Going to
church is good for the kids, because it’s important for them to learn good moralistic lessons. They want their children to be good kids and efficient citizens. They don't go to big church, after all, it's way above them and they need to have fun during the service. Someday when they are older they can go once every 3 months like mommy and daddy to boring church. When on rare occasion the family finally does get around to attending church, they feel pretty good about themselves—and it is good for the kids to wear their cute little church clothes. The service isn’t too bad, but they think it could be better.

The preacher speaks for twenty minutes about loving their neighbors and if he goes too long, someone is sure to scold him. Theirs always the watch guy in the back to signal the cue with the scowl and the look above the rim of his glasses as he pats his Rolex watch. It's usually a power family in the church (usually wealthier) that keeps track of these things so it is run like a well oiled machine.

The Pastor tries desperately to make sure everyone just loves and adores him. If someone is not happy it just ruins his day. He is very effeminate and soft. The women love this, because they can manipulate him to get anything they want. He also tries so hard to be soft, relevant and easy to understand, so that people can follow along. He is just the nicest person you would ever meet. He doesn't want to challenge them to dig too deep into understanding the Bible. His goal is to be liked by everyone. He really makes sure that He keeps their attention, uses graphs, videos, and makes sure the music is super duper exciting. It's really quite the show each week. And the message is inspiring and makes them feel really good about themselves.

After the church service, they all head to gramma's house to eat lunch. They feel good that they checked off Sunday from the "Stuff I did for Jesus List." 

What I just described is the typical life of a cultural Christian and represents far too much of what is passed off as Christian in this country and other countries as well. It is a consumer driven false teaching that promises a life of comfort and ease, rather than a cross and a narrow road.

The  sad reality is that the Smiths are comfortable yet lost in their state of living. They have a strong emphasis on morals, family values, attend church every so often (when it is convenient), have plenty of exposure to Christian lingo, and consider themselves to be people of strong faith. Like many American families, the Smith family is culturally defined as 
Christian but they would not know Jesus Christ if He walked right up to them. For most of these Cultural Christians, if Jesus walked in and started preaching, they would either repent and believe for the first time, or get angry and try to nail Him back on that bloody tree. Most in the States, I contend, would do the latter. But I hope I am wrong. 

God does not call us to sit back and take it easy, this is not what God produces. He does not produce bounty soft, passive, comfort loving people. He produces saints whose lives are radically transformed by the power of the Gospel of God. A Life that is reformed by repenting and believing is a faith which is a true faith, and it is the only kind of faith that produces fruit, and results in knowing Christ and making Him known. 



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    ​Marc White

    I am a great sinner saved by far greater  grace. God has blessed me with a wonderful family and a beautiful Gospel congregation at Twin Lakes Bible Church. 

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