A lot of publicity had been given to the Episcopal Church of America (ECUSA) national convention in Anaheim California and in particular, to the statements made by it's presiding bishop, Dr. Katherine Jefferts Schori.
Richard Mouw, from Fuller Theological Seminary in his article last week in "Christianity Today" entitled, "The Heresy of 'Individualism'?" writes:
"In her opening address to the Episcopal Church's recent General Convention, the Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the church's presiding bishop, made a special point of denouncing what she labeled "the great Western heresy"—the teaching, in her words, "that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God." This "individualist focus," she declared, "is a form of idolatry."And also:
In all of this, however, the presiding bishop would discover an important nuance. We evangelicals never downplay the importance of individuals—as individuals—coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. We never say that an individual's very personal relationship to God is not important. What we do say is that individual salvation is not enough.
........Call that "individualism" if you want. But for us not only is it not heresy, it is at the heart of what it means to affirm the gospel of Jesus Christ."
As a young boy, before the age of seven, I came to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour and the Book of John in the Bible was a major key that helped me understand the Gospel. I learned of John chapter three early and the story of Nicodemus. Jesus' reply to this religious ruler of his day was that "no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again"....Do not marvel that I say to you, 'You must be born again'. This leads up to the sixteenth verse and John 3:16 is well-known by true Christians and is displayed on road signs and has been on display at many sports venues. It is as much for the individual as it can possibly be and it's for the whole world too!
It is always good to recommend and to read the "Gospel of John" because of the very words of Jesus and how He has made them simple enough for even a child to understand! I think that the story of the "Good Shepherd" really demonstrates this in chapter 10 and aren't the events of last week ironic in light of what Jesus says that anyone that does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up another way is a thief and a robber! He goes on to say, "Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep" and "If anyone enters by Me he will be saved". Today we hear so many so called "learned" people saying that all the major religions lead to God and eternal life even without Jesus. In fact, last week I was listening to a Christian radio station where they played some audio clips from a few years ago of Mrs. Jefferts Schori saying this very thing about three major religions of the world aside from Christianity. This has to be a major departure from Christian orthodoxy on her part and truth is not determined by what seems right in the mind of a religious leader but by what has been plainly written in God's Word, the Bible.
Are we being idolatrous or even boastful? The apostle Paul says "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Gal. 6:14 (Boasting Only in the Cross -by John Piper)
Can we know and have complete confidence that the Gospel is really true?
("I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." I John 5:13)
Theologian R. C. Sproul has a good presentation of The Gospel - on his Ligonier Ministries Web-site:
The Gospel
"There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the Gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the Gospel to you when they tell you, 'you can have a purpose to your life', or that 'you can have meaning to your life', or that 'you can have a personal relationship with Jesus.' All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the Gospel.If you still have some questions about this please read the excellent post by Dan Edelen from over at Cerulean Sanctum blog from a week ago. I think it is helpful and the link is below.
The Gospel is called the 'good news' because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness – or lack of it – or the righteousness of another. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.
The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the Gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith – and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him – and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity."
R.C.Sproul-
How to Become a Christian HERE
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