Chapter
III : Inadequate Popular Christianity
Sect
I : Scripture Doctrines
That:
“God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.”
That:
our blessed Lord willingly left the glory of the Father, and was made
man.
That:
“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a
man of suffering and familiar with pain.”
That:
“He was pierced for our transgressions, he
was crushed for our iniquities.”
That:
“The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us
all.”
That:
“He humbled himself by becoming obedient to
death – even death on a cross.”
That:
“Jesus Christ who died – more than that,
who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and also
interceding for us”
That:
“being reconciled to God by the death of his
Son” “we may receive mercy and find
grace to help us in our time of need .”
That:
“(our) Father in Heaven will give the Holy
Spirit to those who ask him.”
That:
“if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”
That:
“(we) are being transformed into his image
with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the
Spirit.” &
“the trumpet will sound (and)
the dead will be raised imperishable.”
These
are the leading doctrines concerning our Saviour and the Holy Spirit
that are taught in the Holy Scripture. They are repeated in our
liturgy. Surely everyone has heard them. If only people took them to
heart and learned their power in their lives!
Most
people who call themselves “Christians” have a defective faith.
Surely anyone who really feels the weight of their sins jumps for joy
at Jesus' invitation “Come to me all you who
are weary and burdened and I will give you rest”. But most
people think their sins are so trivial that they set a low value on
what Jesus offers. It is amazing how different the strong language of
the Scripture the creeds and our articles of religion is from the
wishy-washy sentiments of many so-called Christians.
You
may object: “The general population yes, but not the church-people
surely.” I say: “yes even them”. You may reply: “How do you
know – you can't read their minds.” Jesus said: “The
mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” So the test is:
how do church people talk when we lead the conversation to Jesus'
life and teachings – if you can actually get them to talk about it?
I'll tell you: they fluff around so much that it is obvious they are
not accustomed to thinking about it at all. They show no passion
about the fact that he did all this for us. No loving wonder at him
who “loved us and gave himself for us”
and who “was delivered over to death for our
sins and raised to life for our justification.”
But
these great truths – even though preachers so often neglect them –
shine out of our liturgy. Despite this, people hear them and even
repeat them in the liturgy just as though they were only old
fashioned fairy tales! Once church is over they are dismissed from
thought. How can this be! What Jesus did for us – delivery from
eternal misery and the gift of eternal joy and a crown that never
fades – this should make anyone who receives it absolutely bursting
with love and gratitude. They shouldn't be able to stop talking about
it. It should be a delight to tell of his kindness. It should be a
joy to worship him. Caring for others he loves should be our natural
disposition.
So
what does this tell us about the inner faith of most church goers?
They
love little that we can say they believe equally little.
The
doctrines of the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life they
treat even worse. They don't seem to even believe in the Holy Spirit.
They also seem to think that sanctification is so easy that they
don't need any help from God.
Next:
Objection Discussed & Answered
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