Recently one of my professors asked us to write a thesis. I included this quote, “Jesus stands alone. There has never been another like him. Through him alone, God comes to this world; through him alone, the Holy Spirit indwells his followers; and through him alone, his followers have a personal, loving relationship with God. There is no other religion that can fathom this reality.”
My reference: Colossians 1:12-17: “Giving praise to the Father who has given us a part in the heritage of the saints in light; Who has made us free from the power of evil and given us a place in the kingdom of the Son of his love; In whom we have our salvation, the forgiveness of sins; Who is the image of the unseen God coming into existence before all living things; For by him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers; all things were made by him and for him; He is before all things, and in him all things have being.”
According to C.S. Lewis, “There is no halfway house, and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and asked him, ‘Are you the son of Brahah?’ he would have said, ‘My son, you are still in the vale of illusion.’ If you had gone to Socrates and asked, ‘Are you Zeus?’ he would have laughed at you. If you had gone to Muhammad and asked, ‘Are you Allah?’ he would first have rent his clothes and then cut off your head.”
I long for reconciliation of the body. The Lord never said, “Thou must be Baptist, Presbyterian or any specific type of Christian”; however, it seems that the nonessential doctrine would separate us further than the essential doctrine binds us.
In the moral decline of today’s society and with the nullification of the Christian experience in our schools, courts, and even the liberal tolerance in some of today’s churches, we need to bind together more today than ever. Where and when have we lost the solidity of biblical teaching, and adopted an attitude of social acceptance and moral liberalism? One can only dilute something so many times before the object loses its original properties, and we lose sight of the Lord’s purpose in ministry.