The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his101/inst10d.arj/INST10D.TXT

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                        THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST
                           by Bill Jackson
                            (part 4 of 4)

                              Chapter 4

                THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST AND EVANGELISM


.    It is imperative that in the outworking of the Great Commission
of the Church, evangelism, we keep the Lordship of Christ in the right
perspective.  While there are human tendencies that would endanger
this, there is ample scriptural truth that should keep us on the right
track.
.    Since we must have a reason for doing anything, we will start by
considering our motive for evangelism.  Strange to say, this has so
often been mis-stated that many Christians think that the basic motive
for evangelism is a burden for souls.  While every Christian should
feel burdened for those outside of Christ, as valid as this feeling
might be, it can never be thought of as our basic motive.
.    Christ is Lord; Christ told us to evangelize.  Our basic motive
must be obedience to Him.  He said, "If ye love me, keep my
commandments," and He commanded "Go ye into all the world and preach
the Gospel to every creature."
.    If we evangelize when we feel a burden, our evangelistic activity
is based upon the depth of our feeling, not on the Lordship of Christ.
If we wait to feel led, then we'll only evangelize when we feel led.
Our Lord plainly told us to evangelize.
.    Neither should our primary motive be to get results.  If this is
our prime motivation, we will be willing to present a shallow message
that doesn't truly glorify our Lord Jesus Christ in order to get
results.
.    We must also remember that evangelism and winning arguments are
not synonymous.  The winning of arguments is a totally human endeavor.
People can win arguments even when they are wrong.  The winning of an
argument often alienates the loser so that our audience is lost.
Winning an argument proves how smart I am; evangelism displays the
perfection of my Savior.
.    Neither do we evangelize by calling attention to all the things
that are wrong with the person's religion or life.  We don't
evangelize Catholics by talking about immoral popes or priest-nun
relationships, or Mormons by ridiculing the teen-aged "prophet" who
continually dug for "buried treasure".  We evangelize by preaching the
scriptural perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
.    We must never sully the Gospel messages with half-truth,
exaggerations, undue sensationalism or undocumented stories.  Be
zealous for the truth, as it is the truth that sets men free.
.    God doesn't decry our human abilities.  He gave them to us, but
the preaching of the Gospel is something that demands the operation of
the Holy Spirit for success.  Our activity must always be empowered by
Him.  He will not witness to our well-thought-up philosophical
arguments or our astute logic.  He will bear witness to the truth of
God's Word; therefore we must always use this, His Sword, in our
evangelistic efforts.
.    In this present age, there are a number of religious thoughts
that militate against the Lordship of Christ by impugning His Person
and Work.  We should understand these, but always remember that the
correct way to refute them is to present Christ, for when He is
faithfully presented, the error of these will be obvious.
.    Millions from various denominations embrace some form of
sacramental salvation.  A sacrament is a religious ceremony performed
by one on behalf of another.  In this way grace is received as a means
toward salvation.  Catholics have 7 sacraments; most Protestant groups
have two.  The number doesn't matter; the error is in supposing that
the actual essence of saving grace is sacramentally administered.
.    There are four reasons why sacramental salvation is invalid; and
all four hinge on the Lordship of Christ and Him being the Infinite
Savior.
.    (1) Sacraments are unscriptural.  While Roman Catholics claim
that all their sacraments were begun by Christ, you can search the New
Testament and you will not find one place where any one of the seven
sacraments was used as a means toward salvation.  If God had meant
them to be His method of salvation, He would have made it crystal-
clear in the Bible, for therein are all things pertaining to
salvation.
.    (2) The moment of effectual grace is the moment of application of
the sacrament to man; therefore sacraments are subjective in nature.
The actual saving work of Christ is Objective and is not lessened or
increased by any subjective experience.
.    (3) In the administration of sacraments, human instrumentality is
essential.  Even if the saving grace flowing to the sacrament were
efficacious, the toughing of this by a human administrator would sully
it.  This is why true Bible salvation is administered soley by the
Holy Spirit, Who imparts no imperfection to the saving grace that He
administers.
.    (4) Sacraments don't give assurance of salvation.  A Catholic
could avail himself of every one of the Sacraments during his life-
time and, just before death, commit a mortal sin that would send him
to Hell.  Even Catholic authors admit that, having done everything
possible for salvation and having received the last Sacrament, "one
may not go straight to Heaven." (Rev. G.P. Dwyer, PURGATORY).  We must
also consider Baptismal Regeneration.  This is the first of  Roman
Catholic sacraments, and one of two in many Protestant churches.
According to C.H. Spurgeon, "baptismal regeneration has sent more
people to hell than any other error."  But, not to just take his word
for it, let's see what the Bible says.  John 1:13 says the New Birth
is not of the will of man.  Every baptism, whether Catholic or
Baptist, can only be effected if the will of man is employed.  Yet
Catholic teaching is very explicit: baptism is being born again,
regenerated.  This supposed regenerative act is effected by the proper
application of water and the recitation of the proper formula, both of
which require the will of man.  God said this could not be the New
Birth.
.    There is always a human tendency to want to do something to aid
in one's own salvation.  It is not normal to want to completely rule
out self-effort.  Even some evangelicals talk about one's being
willing to pay the price for salvation.  That is utter nonsense; the
price has already been paid.
.    In St. Peter's Catechism (1972), it states: "The sin of
presumption is believing that you can be saved by God alone... without
your own efforts."  While it is an eye-opener to read this in print, I
already mentioned about Rev. Despars, a Roman Catholic priest,
publicly stating that Jesus did "about 90%" of the work for our
salvation.  It is clear to see that such assessments of the work of
Christ can immediately be reduced to foolishness when a clear biblical
presentation is made of His perfect, substitutionary work of atonement
on Calvary.  And it is to this complete work of a perfect Savior that
the Holy Spirit will witness, thus bringing the person to a place
where human response is possible, and actual regeneration and
salvation become effective.
.    In recent years the Roman Catholic Church has been playing down
the medieval concept of Purgatory.  Regarding this place of cleansing,
the Irish used to sing:

.    "O place of happy pains,
.    And land of dear desires;
.    Where love divine detains
.    Glad souls among sweet fires."

.    Today, some theologians are not sure if there really are fires in
Purgatory, or if punishment and cleansing after death are accomplished
by one great blast of judgment.  But the concept of necessary
cleansing after death is still present; one Catholic group,
specializing in praying for souls in Purgatory, sent out this idea:

.    "One day, you and I will die.
.    "Our remains will be laid to rest, to return to the earth that is
the mother of our physical man.  Within a year, many people will have
forgotten our name.  Even to those who love us most, our face will
become unclear... though the ache to be with us again may only grow
greater.
.    "Our soul goes straight to God.  We see our Creator...the Love
that brought us into being to know Him and serve Him.  It is so clear
to us that we cry out, 'Oh, my God, why did I ever sin against such
Love!  If I could only live my life again.'  We cannot stay with such
goodness until we ourselves have atoned.
.    "That is why God, in His mercy, gave us Purgatory...
.    "Because sins can be forgiven 'in the world to come'... the world
that comes with our death and detention in purgatory - our infallible
mother, the Church, sets November aside for us to aid our dear dead on
their way to Heaven..." (Marianhill Fathers, Dearborn, Michigan)

.    According to St. Peter's Catechism, "Purgatory is a middle state
where souls destined for heaven are detained and purified.  Those
souls go to Purgatory who die in a state of grace gut are guilty of
venial sin or have not fully satisfied for the temporal punishment due
to their sins of which the guilt has been forgiven.  All souls in
purgatory will go to heaven when they have atoned for their sins."
(No. 206,207,212)
.    While the idea of the necessity of being cleansed from remaining
sin is clearly logical to the Catholic mind, it is repulsive to the
Christian.  Why?  Simply because we have been cleansed by a perfect
Savior and have now received the atonement:  reconciliation with God
through the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.  To
imply further cleansing is necessary, is an insult to Him.
.    If you were invited to a friend's house for a special dinner, you
would expect that the housewife had properly washed her dishes and
silverware.  To sit at the table and clean your silverware with your
handkerchief would be grossly insulting to the hostess.  So it is with
the theory of purgatory.  The only sins left to cleanse in purgatory
would be the sins that Christ had not cleansed, and the Bible says
that His blood cleanses from ALL sin (I John 1:7).  Furthermore, we
have the precious words of the Roman Catholic Confraternity New
Testament (Hebrews 1:3): "Christ has effected man's purgation from
sin."  No thought of Purgatory there!
.    You could argue about purgatory from the standpoint of logic, or
medieval tales or of theological differences among Catholic
theologians.  But by far the only scriptural way is to underline the
perfect work of Christ; this annihilates any thought of Purgatory.
.    Doctrinally, the biggest problem is the Roman Catholic Mass.
Theologians have stated over and over again that it is the Mass that
matters.  With its validity Roman Catholicism stands or falls.  We can
argue about substance and accidents, transsubstantiation, the
Tridentine Mass, the gestures and vestments used.  We could win all
the arguments and still miss the point.
.    The Council of Trent said, "The Sacrifice of the Mass is a true,
proper and propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the living and the
dead."  Too out-of-date, you say?  St. Peter's Catechism (1972), page
48, states, "The Mass is a real sacrifice because in it a Victim is
offered for the purpose of reconciling man with God."
.    What does the Bible say?
.    Hebrews 10:12 - "But this man (Jesus), after he had offered one
sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God."
.    Hebrews 10:14 - "For by one offering He hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified."
.    Hebrews 10:17,18 - "And their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more.  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering
for sin."
.    Is there a need to argue or debate?  Let the Word of God, the
Sword of the Spirit, cut deep into the hearts and convince men and
women who are relying on Masses, sacraments, prayers, merits or works
- JESUS PAID IT ALL!
.    Thus, in every aspect of our life for Christ, our testimony is
that of Peter in Acts 10:36, "He is Lord of all."  When we first came
to Him for salvation, as we live our Christian lives daily, as we meet
together in a local church and as we win the lost to Him.  This is the
one truth above all truths; upon this blessed revelation Christ is
building His Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against
it.

 Entered by Sherie Bennett for S.O.N. (Salvation Online Network)
 Edited by D. Moore (Computers for Christ #11)