No one has any right to believe that he is indeed a Christian unless he is humbly seeking to obey the teachings of the One whom he calls Lord. Christ once asked a question (Luke 6:46) that can have no satisfying answer, “Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”Right here we do well to anticipate and reply to an objection that will likely arise in the minds of some readers. It goes like this: “We are saved by accepting Christ, not by keeping His commandments. Christ kept the law for us, died for us and rose again for our justification, and so delivered us from all necessity to keep commandments. Is it not possible, then, to become a Christian by simple faith altogether apart from obedience?”
Many honest persons argue in this way, but their honesty cannot save their argument from being erroneous. Theirs is the teaching that has in the last fifty years emasculated the evangelical message and lowered the moral standards of the Church until they are almost indistinguishable from those of the world. It results from a misunderstanding of grace and a narrow and one-sided view of the gospel, and its power to mislead lies in the element of truth it contains. It is arrived at by laying correct premises and then drawing false conclusions from them.
I think A.W. Tozer is correctly identifying an error that happens when too much emphasis is placed on the doctrine of justification by faith alone, or sola fide. Following Christ is more than lip service or beliefs kept in your mind. Following is actions based on ones beliefs. I think all Christian traditions believe this, even though they may word it in different ways.
2 comments:
A lost catholic spreading Romes lie--Christ have mercy on you.
Too much emphasis on the Doctrine of Justification by Faith? When is the last time anyone heard a sermon or teaching or anything written. In today's Christian literature on the doctrine. Heaven help us.
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