I have been a Christian for almost fifteen years now and in my time as a disciple of Jesus, I have seen many people come and go. I have seen fads come and go. I have seen churches come and go. I myself have changed much from the time I was baptised in 1993 to the present not only by drawing closer to God but also in my own theology. Thankfully, my theology has not changed from biblically orthodox to liberalism or other false teachings. In fact, in my life as a Christian I can thank God that He has kept me in His Word despite my failures, sins, and issues from life.
I believe now more than ever we are living in dangerous times. Postmodern thinking is growing by leaps and bounds all around us and even more so in the Church of Jesus Christ. It is not uncommon these days to not hear messages from the Church on sin, hell, punishment, church discipline, ethics, morality, holiness, obedience, or even prayer (unless it is to get something from God). Many churches today have adopted the seeker message so strongly that you would be hard pressed to know the difference between a seeker church and a night club. The emergent church has introduced the evangelical church to what has been happening in youth ministries for years and that is that there are no absolutes and we need to embrace the culture around us, widen our understanding, and open our closed minds to the fact that “all truth is God’s truth” whether it be in a Christian, Hindu, Muslim, or even atheistic context.
The Bible makes it clear that we are to remain in Jesus’ teachings (John 8:31-32; 15:1-8) and further that many false prophets and false christs will come (Matthew 24:4-5; Acts 20:29). Paul warned Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 that many will turn away from sound doctrine to teachers who will give them what they want to hear. That is why he proceeded this by calling Timothy to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We must embrace the truth of God’s Word and stand firm upon it. We must be willing to defend the Bible and even to die for the Word of God if necessary.
I want to encourage you to listen to the following words from Dr. John MacArthur. Dr. MacArthur calls the Church to stand firm upon the Word of God as he shows that many false teachings are entering the Church. I believe now more than ever we need to study our Bibles (2 Timothy 2:15) and to know what we believe (Titus 2:1; 1 Peter 3:15-16). We must learn to hide the Scriptures in our hearts (Psalm 119:11) and to proclaim as the psalmist did, “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (Psalm 119:72 ESV).
[Link to original post and comments on Roy Ingle’s blog, Arminian Today]
