Time To Mark & Avoid, Recognize & Approve

The truth divides. Division is a result of testing and applying truth...

Romans 16: 17Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Now in our generation, it is time to demonstrate obedience in contending for the One True Faith...

Western Evangelicalism is preaching a different gospel with very little opposition. One recent example reflects that battle within the Southern Baptist Convention when it comes to defending and contending for the Gospel:

The Pope's primacy statement received revealing responses from two prominent voices within the SBC. First, Dr Albert Mohler responded by stating:

"Evangelicals should be equally candid in asserting that any church defined by the claims of the papacy is no true church...The Reformers and their heirs put their lives on the line in order to stake this claim...As Martin Luther and John Calvin both made clear, the first mark of the true Church is the ministry of the Word -- the preaching of the Gospel. The Reformers indicted the Roman Catholic Church for failing to exhibit this mark, and thus failing to be a true Church. The Catholic church returned the favor, defining the church in terms of the papacy and magisterial authority. Those claims have not changed."

Dr. Albert Mohler publicly confirmed that those claims have not changed, as an adherent to the Reformation. Mohler stands in opposition and is separated from Catholicism by the division the Biblical truth creates.

However, it seems that these truth claims of the blood-spilled Reformation have changed for others in the SBC, such as Chuck Colson who writes in the Time Magazine "On Faith" discussion:
"Pope Benedict’s statements about the Catholic Church being the true church is much ado about nothing...The Catholic Church defines the church in terms of apostolic succession and the Eucharist; the Reformation churches cannot make the same claim about apostolic succession, at least in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Nor do we as evangelicals see the Eucharist as Catholics do. These are issues that, as we all strive for unity, may one day be resolved. We are far from resolving them today, however.

The doctrine of the church is one ECT has not taken up simply because the differences are so profound. All good ecumenical discussions proceed not in dumbing down our differences but in exploring them always in service of the truth. As a Baptist, I believe that the Baptist understanding of ecclesiology is biblically correct, that it is the true expression of the Church.

The Pope, of course, makes the statement that his view is the true expression of the Church. But we will keep seeking common ground. As one committed to the pursuit of unity in service of the truth, I welcome honest expressions of our different views. So it’s hardly news.

Much ado about nothing? Would the Reformers who were burned alive because of their opposition to unbiblical doctrines of Catholicism agree with Mr. Colson? Interesting to note that Mr. Colson did not comment on the Pope's "statement" that Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation and the relegation of all other Christian faiths to ecclesial communities, classifying "other Christian communities as defective or not true churches."

So it is obvious that Mr Chuck Colson, who presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention this year is in opposition to Dr. Mohler position regarding the Pope's reassertion of the primacy of Catholicism. Thus, Mr. Colson is in opposition to the Biblical truth. ( A few years' back, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals also opposed the pursuit of ecumenical relations with Catholicism.)

Not only is Mr. Colson (SBC) in opposition to Dr. Albert Mohler and Biblical truth, Rick Warren is also in opposition to Dr. Albert Mohler and Biblical truth.

The Truth creates opposition and division.

1 Corinthians : 18 For, to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 There must, indeed, be factions among you, so that the approved among you may be recognized.

In this challenging trumpet call, Pastor-Teacher Ken Silva writes:"Men and women, we have now reached the point where either men like Charles Spurgeon and Dr. John MacArthur are Christians or people like Rob Bell and Erwin McManus, both leaders in the neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church, are. Because the time has arrived to be brutally honest and publicly admit that we are simply not preaching the same Gospel."

It is obvious that a Truth War is raging, not just within the SBC, but in Evangelicalism. As Dr. John MacArthur writes:

"Truth is under heavy attack, and there are too few courageous warriors who are willing to fight. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, believers from this generation will not be able to justify their apathy by complaining that he strife of the conflict over truth just seemed "too negative" for the kind of culture we lived in-or that issues were "merely doctrinal" and therefore not worth the effort."

It is time for all blood-bought, repentant, Spirit sanctifying, sin-mortifying, Bible-believing Christians to fulfill their duty to contend for The One True Faith.

Revelation 2: 2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.