December 6, 2016
I Would Forget Everything Except Jesus Christ
I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They
deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an
antichrist.
2 John 1:7
I noticed an ad recently for a
new, small-group study about what Christians believe and why. The study is
based on the Apostles’ Creed and considers the subjects of: God, Jesus Christ, The
Holy Spirit, The Church and the Communion of Saints, The Forgiveness of Sins,
and The Resurrection of the Body. One of the largest Methodist churches in
Florida is in the midst of a similar study; theirs is called, Grounded in
Creed. (http://www.egracechurch.com/)
I too taught a six-part series on the Apostles’ Creed to a Sunday School class
a few years ago. All three of the series are taking inspiration from the
Apostle John: “Watch out that you do not
lose what we have worked so hard to achieve” (2 John 1:8a). John was
concerned for the church because many deceivers had gone out into the world and
denied that Jesus Christ came in a real body. (2 John 1:7) That was John’s way
of confronting false teachers, who he saw as a very real threat to the church.
The Apostle Paul dealt with this same subject in almost all of his letters.
The church in the USA has
undergone a dramatic shift in the last several years. Gone; or at least gone
for the most part, is our two-thousand-year heritage of church architecture
with our narthex, altars, chancels, paraments, sacraments and robes. In their
place are preachers in un-tucked shirts, platforms, and auditoriums without
crosses, but with coffee cafes. Let me be clear, I preached many sermons in a
Guayabera shirt, and if the new ways are proclaiming, “Whoever has the Son has life;
There is salvation in no one else!”
-- I am OK with their style. My concern is that we do not lose sight of the
essential tenants of faith in Jesus Christ. Regrettably, some popular preachers
are leaning more to motivational talks about don’t worry, be happy than joining
the Apostle Paul in Gospel messages that begin with, “For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything
except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
It is not liturgy that saves us,
so I am OK with non-liturgical forms of worship. It is Jesus who saves and I am
not OK with forms of worship that are not centered on the life, death,
resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.
Sē’lah
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(Selah is a word that appears in the
Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my
correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about
these things.)
These
meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his
way of life. The meditations are
published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/
and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may
subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by
subscription.
Publications by Alex M. Knight:
·
Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New
Testament and Psalms has been
published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.
·
The second
edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.
·
Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus
Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House
Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
