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From earliest times the Christian Church, in
its practices and worship as well as in its witness and defence before
the world, has expressed her faith in creeds and formulae that encapsulate
essential, non-negotiable truths. The most fundamental of these is the
simple yet profound statement, "Jesus is Lord." John the Baptist referred
to Jesus in this way when he said:
I am the voice of one calling in the
desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord (Jn.1:23)
Jesus said of himself, the Son of Man
is Lord of the Sabbath (Mt.12:8)
When Peter stood and preached at Pentecost he declared:
Let all Israel be assured of this: God
has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts
2:36)
The apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Rome that true confession
of Jesus as Lord is the very key and portal of salvation:
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus
is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved (Ro.10:9)
And as Christians stood arraigned before magistrates and governors challenged
to declare and attest to their loyalties their reply was invariably,
"Jesus is Lord", indicating that the Christ who bought them with his
blood and not any prelate, king, or emperor had their first allegiance.
Whatever the world and its powers demanded of them they tested against
the demands of their Lord, Jesus and when conflicts ensued it was Jesus
they obeyed. When Peter and john stood before the Sanhedrin charged
to stop preaching Christ:
Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves
whether it is right in God' sight to obey you rather than God. For we
cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20)
This is not to say that Christians should look for confrontation and
controversy, for the Bible teaches:
Make every effort to live at peace with
all men and to be holy (Heb.12:14)
But when men tempt and urge us to sin against the Lord who saved us
we must, with Peter, John and all true Christians confess, "Jesus is
Lord" and that our decisions, thoughts, conversation and conduct are
subject to him alone.
Is Jesus Lord?
It was disturbing therefore to read recently that the House of Deputies
of the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church (the Anglican
Church in America) has now refused to affirm Jesus Christ as Lord. The
excuse of the liberal denomination is that they have done it in the
past and so there is no need to do it again. The article from VirtueOnline
reports:
The Rev. McDowell of the Diocese of North
Carolina told VirtueOnline after the floor vote, "In the Episcopal Church
we don't do up and down votes on Jesus Christ as Lord, and to do so
is potentially a mean-spirited approach, to ask questions that aren't
meant to be questions."
McDowell explained that how one lives his life is the more important
issue than whether one affirms Jesus as Lord. To place a statement of
belief over actions is the essence of "self-righteousness," he said.
"Actions speak louder than proclamations...What Jesus calls us to do
is to live our lives." But, of course, this puts the Episcopalian Church
in the position of tacitly agreeing with the worldly view that a Christian
is a 'good person' rather than a sinner who trusts in Jesus Christ as
Saviour. The report goes on to say:
But the message was clear to the Rev. Donald
Perschall, rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Centralia, Illinois,
as he left the convention hall Tuesday, shocked by the events of the
day. "On top of leaving the Anglican Communion, we've decided to leave
Jesus Christ behind as well."
Dr. Michael Howell of the Diocese of Southwestern Florida is quoted:
"If we cannot affirm the unique salvific
power of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are no longer a Christian
church." Switching to a sarcastic tone, Howell declared, "We have no
need for a Creed. Why do again what we did in the past?"
I understand what he means. It's a bit like
telling your wife that of course you love her, you told her on your
wedding day and don't need to say it again. In fact, if you applied
the same reasoning to marriage vows that the Episcopalians have now
applied to issue of Jesus' Lordship our marriage partners might be forgiven
for thinking that we were playing around. And of course the Episcopalian
Church is playing around, denying the Lordship of Jesus in their pursuit
of a liberal agenda, and presenting an 'apologetic' for their policies
that speaks of 'equality', 'felt needs', 'progress', and failing to
cite Scripture, or mention Jesus. No wonder they "Don't want this man
for our king"!
We shouldn't be surprised, when a church's starting point is 'my lifestyle,
my philosophy', that that church departs from Scripture, truth and Jesus
Christ. Yet it is no less shocking for all that and we need to pray
for the greater traditional Anglican Communion that seems determined
to hold fast to Scripture and all it teaches.
But there were also false prophets among the people,
just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly in
introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Soveregin Lord who
bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will
follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have
made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their
destruction has not been sleeping...The Lord knows how to rescue godly
men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgement,
while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those
who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority
(2 Peter 2:1-10)
Of course, Spurgeon once famously said:
You can sin in company, you can go to hell
in company, but you will face judgement alone
It will be no good standing before the judgement seat of God and excusing
your denying him on the decisions made in the councils of your denomination,
or passed on to you by your leaders. It is true that leaders are doubly
accountable for what they teach but that does not absolve us of responsibility.
Each one of us will be help to account for our lives and our loyalties.
Do you examine and test yourself to see whether you are in the faith
regardless of how councils vote?
Is Jesus Lord in your life?
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