Christianity and Liberalism

Monday morning, June 30, 2008
I am somewhat disappointed that more of you did not enter my desired discussion regarding “church” but life is that way and it is OK. Should you decide to offer your comments, I would be happy to hear them, as I really am interested in knowing how you perceive the state of the “church”.
Anyway, until then, I want to share an excerpt from a book I am reading [“Christianity and Liberalism” by J. Gresham Machen; © 1923; page 105]: “According to the Christian view, as set forth in the Bible, mankind is under the curse of God’s holy law, and the dreadful penalty includes the corruption of our whole nature. Actual transgressions proceed from the sinful root, and serve to deepen everyman’s guilt in the sight of God. On the basis of that view, so profound, so true to the observed facts of life, it is obvious that nothing natural will meet our need. Nature transmits the dreadful taint; hope is to be sought only in a creative act of God. And that creative act of God—so mysterious, so contrary to all expectations, yet so congruous with the character of God who is revealed as the God of love—is found in the redeeming work of Christ. No product of sinful humanity could have redeemed humanity from the dreadful guilt or lifted a sinful race from the slough of sin. But a Savior has come from God. There lies the very root of Christian religion; there is the reason why the supernatural is the very ground and substance of the Christian faith. But the acceptance of the supernatural depends upon a conviction of the reality of sin. Without the conviction of sin there can be no appreciation of the uniqueness of Jesus; it is only when we contrast our sinfulness with His holiness that we appreciate the gulf which separates Him from the rest of the children of men. And without the conviction of sin there can be no understanding of the occasion for the supernatural act of God; without the conviction of sin, the good news of redemption seems to be an idle tale. So fundamental is the conviction of sin in the Christian faith that it will not do to arrive at it merely by reasoning; it will not do to say merely: All men (as I have been told) are sinners; I am a man; therefore I suppose I must be a sinner too. That is all the supposed conviction of sin amounts to sometimes. But the true conviction is far more immediate that that. . . The truly penitent man glories in the supernatural, for he knows that nothing natural would meet his need; the world has been shaken once in his downfall, and shaken again it must be if he is to be saved.”
This, my dear friends, explains one of my major concerns for the “church,” one of the major reasons liberalism has become the accepted norm. If what Mr. Machen has said is true, then, obviously, the church has “watered-down” the gospel to the point that all one has to do to be saved is respond to an “invitation,” walk an “aisle,” repeat a “sinner’s prayer,” sign the proverbial “card,” and be baptized.
What ever happened to true repentance and the miracle of miracles—the redeeming work of Christ? Indeed, it is a “world shaking” event—every time! Hallelujah for the cross!

Blessings,

Mac