United Methodist Church vs. Secular Humanism

The United Methodist Church ended its special conference on Tuesday February 26, 2019 in St. Louis. They reaffirmed their “decades-old” rule concerning LGBT clergy and marriages. It was supported by a 53% majority. As expected, the 47% dissenting are not happy. In Bishop Gregory Palmer’s message to the West Ohio Conference he spoke of “lament and hope,” and stated that the Bible “talks about if parts of the body is hurting, the whole body is hurting,” referring to 1 Corinthians 12:26.  He goes on to say that this “injury in the church is in some way an injury to the whole.”

What is this “injury” in the church? We should understand that this is a self-induced injury. And yet “injury” is really not what is meant here. What is meant is a grievance. It is something they want and the 53% has voted against it based upon Biblical authority. Specifically, their grievance is that they want to allow LGBT individuals authorization to seek ordination to the clergy and gay marriages.

There are plenty of Scriptural passages which support the 53% majority.

Concerning homosexuality:

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. (Romans 1:26-27 NASB)

 You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. (Leviticus 18:22 NASB)

Concerning marriage:

“Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4–5 NASB)

In addition, Paul’s instruction to husbands and wives in Ephesians chapter 5 views husbands as males and wives as females. Peter views the marriage relationship in the same manner, making reference to the wife as a ‘woman’ (see 1 Peter 3:1-7).

Changing the meaning of these words, husband and wife - as the LGBT crowd is so inclined - so that each might indicate either male or female is to clearly obliterate the correct interpretation of God’s Word. When Christians refuse to interpret the Scriptures as God intended, they are the ones who initiate division in the whole of Christianity.

Too often, the spirit of the culture creeps into the Church. The modern day acceptance of un-Biblical trends (women preachers, homosexuality, gay marriage) is an attempt to pervert Christianity and its witness to the world. To think that we will help others who are lost to accept Christ as their Savior by showing tolerance to these un-Biblical trends, demonstrates the lack of sound Biblical teaching, starting with the seminaries down to the person in the pew.

It is a Biblical norm that Christians are to obtain their basis for truth from the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17), but only when it is rightly interpreted. Biblical truth is never, never based on a personal feeling or emotion, nor is it determined by what the culture practices. Be aware of the fact that the mainstream media are not Christian. They will say and do anything to obstruct the unity of faithful believers and promote their godless secular-humanist ideology.

The bottom line is that if Scripture is not viewed as the literal Word of God, then mankind has no basis for absolute truth and no revelation from the God of the universe. All that is left than is a book that can be interpreted in a broad manner without a consensus, having no cohesiveness or singular standard for Christian living, resulting in an inconsistent witness of Christ to a lost and dying world. This spells out confusion and chaos, and it should be noted that confusion does not represent the character of God (1 Cor. 14:33).

SALVATION/SANCTIFICATION

The notion that a person must do something (penance, rituals, good deeds) in order to gain eternal life has no basis in Scripture – it is a man-made fabrication, it is misleading, it is evil.

So a clarification of the essential nature of biblical salvation and its inseparably related theme of sanctification is given here in a concise approach.

Biblical salvation requires no work on the part of man - Christ did it all. Even the act of faith in Christ is "not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Having said that, once a person is saved, he is considered sanctified - set apart from his old position of unbelief into union with Christ (John 15:4-7; 17:23, 26). This is known as positional sanctification.

He is set apart now to a new position of service to God: "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10), this is known as present sanctification.
This is what Paul meant when he told the Philippians (2:12) to "work out your salvation." He did not mean for them to work in order to attain salvation, but to work serving the Lord, which is the standard for the believer while present on the earth.

Ultimate sanctification is when the believer is finally in the presence of the Lord, either when death occurs or the Rapture of the Church. (See Romans 8:29; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:23)

Unfortunately, many miss out on the blessing of serving the Lord while present on the earth because they have believed and failed to understand that they have been set apart for a higher calling in this life – to serve the living God and have fellowship with Him. They will die and experience ultimate sanctification, but miss out on the associated eternal rewards.

 

Note the two extended Scripture passages bearing on the doctrine of rewards: 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 and 9:16-27; also the passages on the various crowns: 1 Cor. 9:25; Phil. 4: 1; 1 Thess. 2:19; 2 Tim. 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev. 2: 10; 3:11.*

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* Chafer, Lewis Sperry,  Systematic Theology, 7.269

What is the “Normal” Life? – Part 2

This present article is an attempt to further the study of how the ‘normal life’ can be defined.

The first study (February 2016) described that a person who has accepted Christ as their Savior has the unique opportunity of living a normal life provided they were to place Christ at the center of their lives.

The problem for believers in Christ is that the world about them is driven to eradicate any and all Christian influences which would advocate an absolute moral standard for living. This viewpoint is mandatory for them to invert that which is morally degenerate and claim it as socially acceptable. This is how they assuage their guilt complex regarding same-sex marriage, lesbianism, homosexuality and gender-bending, to name of few, labeling them as alternative lifestyles. However, they are not satisfied with the term ‘alternative lifestyle’ – they would have all within our culture to perceive them to be ‘normal’ lifestyles. 

And what is distressing is that many Christians have allowed themselves to be duped into this false narrative because of an erroneous understanding of “Love thy neighbor.” “Love they neighbor” ends when Christians are coerced into condoning the aberrant lifestyle. That doesn’t mean we express venomous anger towards them and treat them in a demeaning manner.

As in the previous study, the normal life was defined as a life that conforms to a set of norms and standards. The Word of God has instituted a set of norms and standards for mankind. For those who have obeyed His calling, they are enabled to live this ‘normal’ life by diligent study of His Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to empower and guide them in their moment-by-moment walk of faith.

It can safely be suggested that since God has provided the normal, ideal lifestyle, then all other lifestyles are man-made abnormal lifestyles – and no matter what ‘good’ they may entail (i.e. committed-loving relationships), they are not pleasing to God.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper. (Romans 1:26-28)

From this point, it can be stated that this ‘normal life’ of faith in Christ is the Divine ideal. And since it is God’s ideal life for all men, He has made it available to all men. However, in order to have the power to live this normal life, a person must recognize that He does exist and that He sent His Son to die on the cross for their sin. And so this ideal life, this normal life can be attained by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior.

Many have done so through the ages. These have realized the true significance of their existence – to serve God with their lives and in so doing, bringing glory to Christ.  And in turn, they secure for themselves eternal peace and harmony with God, and peace with others and within themselves.

THE 21st CENTURY NOTION OF PRAYER

   One of my favorite television programs this summer is the PBS presentation of “Grantchester.” Set in the 1950’s, it’s main character is Sidney Chambers, the vicar of a church in Grantchester, a village just outside Cambridge. Sidney helps Inspector Geordie Keating in solving mysteries, much like Father Brown.

   In a recent episode, Sidney is found struggling with a moral question: should he pursue an intimate relationship with a divorced woman prior to her divorce. We see him in the church praying for guidance. Aloud he prays: “Tell me what to do.”  However, believing himself to be alone, someone behind him states: “Some days I wish He’d answer back.”

   It seems to be the notion of many in the 21^st Century – desiring some type of audible, physical or observable answer to every one of our prayers – and instantly while we ask. Where this notion has come from is difficult to determine, but it does not come from Scripture. There is much evidence in Scripture that supports the idea that we are to wait upon the Lord for His guidance, including – but not limited to – the answering of prayers. 

Here are some examples:     

    1)     Isaiah 8:17 -  This chapter is a section which deals with the coming of Messiah. Isaiah wrote:

    “And I will wait for the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him.” 

    2)     Isaiah 40:31 – Isaiah states a promise to those who wait: 

    “Yet those who wait upon the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary”

    3)     David wrote in Psalm 27:14:

     “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.”

    4)     A particularly key verse is Psalm 130:5:

     “I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope.” 

      This verse is important to the principle of waiting because it directs us to be active while we wait. For us to have hope (confident expectation) in His Word, presupposes that we are involved in studying His Word in order to understand fully His workings in our lives.

    5)     Paul provides a corresponding observation in Romans 8:25:

     “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

   But it is so difficult to wait. And yet there are blessings for those who learn to wait and are active while they wait. The activity believers should occupy their lives as well as their time of waiting is in the study of His Word. Gaining a fuller knowledge of His Word provides us with His standards for our lives. We’ll know what is expected of us in our moment-by-moment walk of faith. We’ll know that He ‘has our back’ as Peter stated: “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Instead, we would simply seek His strength to obey His Word and the resolve to wait upon Him.