Seeking Peace???

The blog below is in response to an article that was recently printed in a local newspaper about a message that was placed on our church sign several weeks ago. I’ve gone line by line in an exegetical manner in outlining and responding to those things stated in the article, focusing mainly on the last paragraph. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me via our church email: [email protected].

For reference sake, the quote that appeared on our church sign read: “All religions that deny the cross nullify the grace of God.”

• Grace
  • Grace is giving something to someone they don’t deserve.
  • What has God given us that we don’t deserve? = Forgiveness of sins.
    • Psalm 103:10
  • How was this grace made possible? = through the blood of Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary.
    • Colossians 1:19-20; 2:13-15
    • 1 Peter 1:3-21
    • Isaiah 1:18; 43:25; 44:22
    • 1 John 1:7
    • Ephesians 2:1-10 (8-9)
    • Leviticus 17:11; Heb. 9:22
    • Exodus 12:13, 23-24
  • So when we reject/resist/deny/ignore God’s sacrifice of His Son on the cross, we nullify (to deprive something of value or effectiveness; make futile or of no consequence) the grace of God.
    • *** Nullify does not mean to eliminate or destroy; no one can “undo” any work of God, but we can nullify the blessings of His work and power in our lives by choosing to reject His holy standards; without repentance you cannot receive God’s gift of grace (Matthew 13:58; Joel 2:12-13; Ezekiel 18:19-32; 33:11).
    • Galatians 5:1-4
    • Hebrews 12:14-15
  • We are all under grace; that is, grace is indeed available to everyone/all people, but all people everywhere have a choice to accept it or reject it.
• There was never a claim in the church sign, nor from anyone of our church that God’s grace is exclusive to any one faith; simply that any/all of those who deny the cross reject the grace made available through it.
• Remember, if you start with a faulty premise, you’ll end with a faulty conclusion.
• The only attitude created here is the one from those refuting the validity of God’s truth. Those who accept truth as such find comfort, joy and freedom from confusion, chaos and sinful living. Those who reject it do so based on an attitude of arrogance and rebellion towards God’s standard that is contrary to the lifestyle they want to choose in place of God’s holy standards.
• Suspicion – imagination of anything to be the case or to be likely; a vague notion of something.
• By definition suspicion is caused by not knowing specific intentions or purposes of another.
• There is no suspicion as to what we believe: we believe, teach and live God’s inerrant Word completely, wholly and literally within its historical and theological context.
• Because we truly believe all of God’s Word; that He intends for us to live our lives according to His standards without compromise before the world and without blending in with other false doctrines of this world; because we believe and know that what we believe is true; we strive to tell everyone of the truth of Jesus Christ out of a heart of love, for how is love demonstrated through silence when there is known danger lurking as a consequence of believing anything contrary to the truth?
  • If you truly stand together with respect and hope of Christians, why are you condemning what we believe?
    • If you don’t want division, what’s the point of this article?
      • Romans 12:18
      • Psalm 34:14
      • Hebrews 12:14
    • Scripture tells us theological differences separates truth from error. How then can we stand together if our core beliefs differ so drastically? We are to love one another, but not at the expense of compromising God’s truth or condoning sinful lifestyles.
      • 1 John 4:1-11
      • Galatians 1:6-10; 3:1
      • Hebrews 5:14
      • Numbers 33:50-56
      • Deuteronomy 7:1-8:2
      • Joshua 23:10-13
      • Judges 2:1-23
      • 1 Kings 2:3-4; 3:1-3; 11:1-6
      • Jeremiah 2:1-23
      • Isaiah 44:9-20; 45:20
      • 2 Corinthians 6:17
• While God may be beyond our comprehension as human beings with limited abilities/minds, He is not beyond our imagination. He has revealed Himself to us through His Word, His sacrificial work on the cross, through our conscience and through creation. God isn’t some distant, obscure, mystical deity figure who wishes to remain in the dark. He is the one, true living God who has stretched His hand out of eternity to make Himself known to a lost and desperate world. – Psalm 19:1-4; 89:5-6; 119; Deuteronomy 10:14; Isaiah 65:1; Job 38-41; Colossians 1:16-17; Romans 1:18-20; 2:11-16; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16
• We DO NOT ALL believe in the same God; anyone with a basic understanding of Islam, or Buddhism, or Hinduism understands that.
• And anyone not proclaiming, teaching or believing the same Gospel, God’s Gospel, is to be exposed with the light of God’s truth for the purpose of repentance and turning them to the truth of God which will save their soul from hell; eternal separation from God.
• John 3:17-21
• 2 Cor. 4:1-6; 5:9-11
• Ephesian 5:8-15
• 2 Timothy 2:23-26; 3:16- 4:1-5
• Rev. 20:15; 21:27

• We too believe in living peaceful, faithful and just lives to build up our community.
  • But anything that is built must have a solid foundation; otherwise it crumbles. If we believe, teach and promote heresy and lies, what is our foundation? Worse yet, what is our end?
    • Matt. 7:15-29
    • 1 Timothy 2:1-6
    • 2 Timothy 2:19
  • We also must understand that true peace is not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of truth and love that is grown out of the mind of Christ.
    • Philippians 1:27-2:11