 Offered are the examples beginning with the changes that started taking place
even with the Apostles in the first century regarding the entire discussion of
the Jewish Christians who maintained the obedience to the law plus the faith in
the Messiah. The Apostle Paul spent a great deal of time and effort writing his
epistles outlining his reasoning for not depending on the law (works) in regard
to salvation and sanctification. Even though this was addressed in the first
century by the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter at the time, it is very
evident in religions around the world today that followers depend on works more
than faith in what Jesus did on the cross once, for all. If it started that
early in the church, so goes the reasoning, then it is reasonable to assume that
changes will continue throughout the ages.
Throughout history we have seen the influence of culture on the church. With
each impending influence it appears there is yet another incremental change that
either adds to or takes away from a fundamental teaching of Christ. Even in
great moments of history we see significant shifts in the message and the
Gospel. From the politicalization of secular Rome with Constantine, to
Christianity becoming the state religion of Rome, and the establishment of the
"Vicar of Christ" with total power of Christ centered in the "Rock of St. Peter"
as the pope over the "universal church" through Catholicism, all the way to the
Reformation, with Martin Luther protesting what the church had become through
years of change. Even in the 19th century we experienced the Restoration
Movement, even then sometimes referred to by a few as "Campbell-ites." From the
establishment of the Restoration Movement to now, we have splinters, many of whom
continue to preach "unity," even though that has not always been achieved.
Indeed, other great "movements" have ensued in the past 150 years that have
tried to return the church to the original, or at least reawaken the spirit of
the church. "The Great Awakening, the second Great Awakening, the Restoration
Movement, the Spiritual Renewal movement, and the Third Wave movement of church
fellowship." (Steven Chapman) Beyond even those few examples we see hundreds or thousands of variations of
denominational practice even to the point of disassociation with each other.
That doesn't even count for the thousands of sects that are culturally relative
throughout the world. In order to marginalize the authenticity of the church, some would like for us
to believe that the church has been subverted throughout history by cultural
change and the different arguments from various factions that have contributed
altering, and somewhat, contradictory interpretations of doctrine. By having
such altering movements through history and cultures the truth established by
Jesus is said by some to have been altered to such an extent that it is
difficult, if not impossible, to unravel the current Christian worldview from
what it is now back to the original founder of the church. So the conclusion of
that thought is that we have incrementally moved from the true representation of
Christ beginning with the time He was waving at His disciples as He ascended,
and each subsequent year afterward.
To many it has the sound and logic of relative truth. In some people's mind it
sort of makes sense given all the arguments and doubts the early church had as
recorded in The Acts. Jew verses Gentile; circumcision verses non-circumcision;
speaking in different languages as a sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit;
miraculous healing with the touch of a hand, or even having a shadow fall over
you; or eating/not eating clean/unclean food. Even the very debate that the
Apostle Paul so eloquently presents in relation to the law (works) versus faith
in the work that Jesus alone did on the cross. If we have been so fully
corrupted by the subsequent years and the multiple cultures in which men have
created and lived, then there would be no way to uncover the real representation
of Christ since it would have been so far removed.
[to top of second column] |
 One thing in the above analysis has been omitted: God's
power! I
believe that God’s power and timeless message will stand firm until
He decides to return and claim His own. God looks at mankind and our
having fallen in love with our sin nature. Knowing that we cannot do
anything to save ourselves from our own sin, we are still in need of
salvation. God knew that if redemption was going to be completed at
all He was going to have to do it Himself. He gave the first clue as
recorded in Genesis 3:15. So here comes Jesus who presents Himself
as a perfect sacrifice and does His work on the cross. God judged it
and counted it perfect; accepted Jesus’ sacrifice and raised Him
from the dead. Satan was defeated, death was cheated, and we,
covered by the blood of Jesus, now can walk across that once-deadly
chasm that separated us from God and stand directly in front of His
throne because we are covered by the blood of Jesus. Now as we stand in Jesus, covered by His blood, saved by His
grace
our faith in Him urges us to walk in Him. How do we do it? We follow
the Apostle Paul’s example and declaration: “Live by the Spirit and
you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has
desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires
that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each
other, so that you cannot do what you want.” (Galatians 5:16-17)
Find a Bible and read the entire book of Galatians to discover that
you can be free in Christ, led by His Holy Spirit, and grow to
maturity in Him.
I believe that we can truly know what God wants from us. He wants us
to worship Him, accept Him and seek Him. I believe that God
transcends all cultures and even our timeline that controls
generations. He uses the power of His Word to convict us of His
truth and our simple job is to accept it or reject it. It is our
"free will' that hinders us. We choose to hide ourselves in
everything else, including our respective cultures, to refrain from
submitting to Him. But when we do finally see Him and accept His
grace and become obedient to Him, He gives us His Spirit, along with
power, to live in the reflection of Jesus. We must, however,
continue throughout our entire lives to exercise our "free will" and
submit to Jesus and have faith in the work He did on the cross and
His work saves us; as we continue to submit to Him He gives us His
Spirit to grow us through the power that comes from the Holy Spirit. So, what I am trying to say with this little piece is even with such
variances and incremental changes throughout the past 21
centuries, the church has stayed in tack through the power of the
Holy Spirit pointing to the Grace of God and the work that Jesus did
on the cross. I believe that has survived through the ages and we
can still be called "Christians" because the power of God's Holy
Spirit has protected the Word through the ages and continues to
testify of Jesus and His work on the cross relative to our salvation
and growth. Even with the incremental changes passing through
various cultures, God has not, nor will He, allow His church to be
destroyed or buried under cultural relativism even though the modern
church of various religions have built the "broad" road through
their front doors.
[By JIM KILLEBREW]
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