This Traditional Faith

THIS TRADITIONAL FAITH
W.T. McClendon
     On October 11, 1981, a young man eighteen years of age reclined on the floor
of his bedroom. Looking to the ceiling light of his bedroom, he admired the
model Klingon cruiser suspended underneath while listening to music many in
his church found disturbing. Given the behavioral patterns typical of young
men in that situation, he quickly found his mind wandering about the week's
events. Foremost in those musings was the sermon pontificated by his portly
parson but a few days earlier. "You must be born again" puzzled him enough
that he read over some materials given him and opened his old family Bible.
Shortly, he bowed his head silently and prayed a very special prayer that he
had never prayed before. "God, I come before You knowing myself to be a
sinner. I cannot ever know You as I am. So I turn my back on my sin and
toward You. Thank You for paying for my sin on the cross so I don't have
to. I accept You as my Savior and give myself to You as my Lord. Please
keep me from sin and keep me living as You would want me too."
The upbringing of this tortured young soul was far from ideal. Having been
bludgeoned and humiliated his entire life, he had become accustomed to being
victimized and accepting his own worthlessness. Suicide had crossed his
mind more than once. He never recovered from his childhood. But the Gospel
message he had encountered at a church he would later realize as far from
Biblical radically changed his life. Somebody loved him. That somebody who
loved him just happened to be God in the flesh. And Jesus Christ had loved
him enough to die for him.
     In the future lay college, graduate school, the persecutions common to those
who go blind and the death of his entire family. All of these occurrences
would take place in fifteen short years. He would face the hostility of the
world to blind people who want to work, employers who literally abused him
for a physical flaw not of his doing. Even churches in the heart of modern
American Christianity would persecute him, force him into helpless
adulation, deny him ministry opportunities and show little but pity toward
him because of this physical flaw for most of his adult life. From all of
this he would become convinced that the approval given him by Christ was all
the approval he would likely have. But he also quickly realized the
approval of that same Christ was all he needed and all he should even want.
Let the opinion of others be what it may.
     Through all of this, that single prayer dominated his existence more
forcefully than any single experience of his life. The prayer introduced
him to a world filled with hope and gave purpose, drive and a mission for a
rich lifetime. At the hands of his Savior he would fight a lifelong battle
against his own personal flaws and eventually find in himself a man his own
pessimistic mind would respect. The change wrought by the simple prayer was
more than a acceptance of a new ideology. It was a surrendering of the self
to the Lordship of another and a relationship that would govern his life to
the day of his death. For in this new-found faith, he would finally know
love and peace.
     In our day there are many who teach "believe in Jesus" for salvation and
contentment in this life. Others deny the spiritual realm, hoping
erroneously that the Bible and the nearly four millennia of history and
archeology supporting it are mere fantasy. Still others interpret Holy writ
as allegory, choosing a symbolic or aesthetic interpretation despite the
fact the Bible claims historic intent in multiple passages. (II Peter 1:
16-21, Luke 1: 1-4, Acts 1: 1-3)
     Outside the Church, many suppose the claims of the Bible false with no
knowlage to that effect and precious little knowledge of its content. And
then there are those who know the message of the Bible and with no
justification at all dismiss it as mere fiction or hope with blind faith it
does not mean what it says. Even in the halls of many "churches," people
are taught not to interpret the Bible literally, that there is no sin,
heaven, hell, Satan or judgment with no justification at all, thereby
attempting to eliminate the possibility that behavior just might have
consequences.
     For the sake of this writing, the assumption is made that the reader
generally believes that there indeed is a God and that the Bible is, if not
His very Word, a genuine attempt by mortal men to honestly report the
historical events they have witnessed. These two assertions have faced
scrutiny for millennia, and the debate will continue, perhaps in these very
pages. But the intention of this writing is to equip any individual willing
to grant these first two assertions the ability to surrender to the Lordship
of Christ, thereby securing peace and joy for this life and the hope of
eternal life with Christ in the future. This is no attempt at defending the
Christian belief system. It is a humble attempt to empower the reader to
follow Christ should they elect to do so.
"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the
law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a
righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the
Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through
faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by
his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented
him as a sacrifice of atonement, {[Or as the one who
would turn aside his wrath, taking away sin} through faith in his blood. He
did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left
the sins committed beforehand unpunished--". The Apostle Paul (Romans
3:21-25)
     Simply put, the Bible is the story of the attempt by God to reconcile a
sinful and fallen mankind to Himself without compromising His primary
attribute, or His "holiness." Sin in general is anything which falls short
of or "misses the target" of the Holiness of God. The very nature of sin
renders it and anyone possessing it unsatisfactory for companionship with
God. And since it takes just a single sin to place any one person in this
situation, not a single human being can attain the presence of God. All are
fallen and hopelessly lost.
     "I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just
as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to
ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness
leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the
control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the
things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set
free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to
holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in {or through} Christ Jesus our Lord
(The Apostle Paul; Romans 6: 19-23). Just as some people would teach that
there is no set path to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, there
are those who would teach that salvation from sin and its consequences is
merely a matter of accepting forgiveness. They might teach that "I love
Jesus and He loves me, and that is all that matters." While it is true that
the undeserved gift God gives (His Grace) is based on accepting the work of
Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary, saving faith has a twofold definition.
Jesus Christ bore the consequences for sin on the cross. Being both fully
God and fully Man in nature, He alone has the capacity to pay for sin and
its consequences both to the individual and to humanity. He pays the price
for sin so people need not do so. And that gift is indeed given freely in
response to those willing to place their faith in him.
But one must recognize that the Bible clearly teaches that one does not
simply accept the gift of God on the cross and then pursue the same path
that would have eventually led to destruction. There is the element of
repentance. Here an often difficult choice is made. In response to the
offering of Christ to forgive sin by mere faith, the question of Lordship is
addressed. Each person accepting the offering of Christ on the Cross must
also decide whether or not they want to continue in the old patterns of
behavior when they were quite literally enslaved to sin. It is
contradictory to approach God and assert that one accepts the gift He
offers, but is not willing to follow in His ways. And this is the sticking
point that so many churches today fail to honestly teach. The necessary
consequence of accepting Christ as Savior is surrendering to Him as Lord.
The two work together and are inseparable; a slave to Christ or a slave to
sin, which will it be? It is necessary to both accept by faith and be
willing to follow. By "repenting" of sin in the process of salvation, the
convert must also be willing to follow Christ as his or her Lord.
Now please note that this is a act of the will. The Bible also teaches that
there are "none righteous, no not one." No human being is ever without sin.
But in the case of the follower of Christ, the ATTITUDE has changed. A
Christian no longer desires to follow the sinful lusts which dominated them
before. The believer decides to follow Christ as a consequence of the
forgiveness they are given. And the "easy Believism" is the dominant
philosophy today that has the Church in decline. Far to many "churches"
offer Christ as Savior, but not Christ as Lord. The Bible does not teach
that one can believe as they want any more than it excuses hypocrisy in the
church.
     But do not be ill advised. Salvation is a free gift. Faith in Christ leads
to obedience. Following the Lordship of Christ, surrendering to Christ and
following in the ways of Christ are the necessary outcome of faith in
Christ. Christ offers a gift with no middle ground. Take it or leave it.
Believe it or do not believe it. But the offer is there. Will you
surrender yourself to the Lordship of Christ and become his servant out of
gratitude for His work on the Cross to save your soul? If so, approach God
silently in prayer and tell Him. Tell Him you want to serve Him with what
remains of your earthly existence, that you turn your back on sin and its
consequences by accepting the salvation he offers. Pray as the young man at
the beginning of this little article did. And if you do believe it, then
follow up on that decision.
     Use the web as you did just now and find these concepts. Look for schools
that teach this road to salvation, such as Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary or Westminster Theological Seminary. Print this out and go church
hunting. Many Reformed Baptist churches are good; many Southern Baptist
churches or Conservative Baptist churches are good. The Orthodox
Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of America generally hold
true. Other denominations you might want to consider are Evangelical Free,
Missouri Synod Lutheran, Mennonite Brethren or Assembly of God. Print this
out and show it to the pastor; ask for more. Ask the pastor "how might I
secure a relationship with God and secure eternal life?" The answer must be
"surrender to or have faith in Jesus Christ." Ask what you are saved from
and the answer must include "Sin and it's consequences" in some way. If
questions exist, you have this blog. Do so, and you will indeed start life
anew. Following Christ is not easy. The Bible teaches that it is a narrow
path. But on earth you will have comfort, peace and purpose known by few
others. You will have a new Lord, Keeper and Friend that you can never
lose. And you cannot even dream of what awaits you in eternity. So make
your choice; yes or no? And please choose wisely.