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December 15, 2014

YES, JESUS DID CARE ABOUT CORRECT DOCTRINE, AND SO SHOULD WE [Excerpts]  

 

At HuffPost's Religion Blog, author Mick Mooney recently posted a popular article with the intriguing title "Jesus Didn't Care About Correct Doctrine, and Neither Should We." Mooney's title hardly squares with the actual... well, Bible, but he does make a valid point: Christians need to befriend people in every social sphere.

 

Christians who constantly isolate themselves from non-Christians are-plain and simple-not following Jesus.

 

Yes, Jesus enjoyed people from all walks of life. He healed them, hung out with them, and-lest we forget-He also taught them. He knew His beliefs were 100% true. So, He invited everyone to join Him in His accurate view of God, man, sin, salvation, angels, the church, and last things-that's doctrine. Doctrine has the unfortunate reputation of being dry, dusty, and divisive. But when Jesus said "The Scripture cannot be broken" in John 10:35, He was expressing His commitment to the foundational doctrine of Scripture's inerrancy.  

 

When Jesus stood before Pilate and summarized His life's mission, He didn't say He came to befriend everyone. He said: "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice" (John 18:37).  

 

It's tempting to take a few bits of information here and there that we like about Jesus and make Him into someone we want. But it's far better and more authentic to embrace the record Jesus left about Himself in the New Testament.

http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/christian-trends/yes-jesus-did-care-about-correct-doctrine-and-so-should-we.html

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The awesome sense of the greatness of God and the cosmic and eternal proportions of the work that He is doing seems largely absent from Christianity today. Could this be why so many carry the self-imposed burdens of man-made "programs" they are trying to put into effect in order to "live victorious lives" or to "advance the cause of Christ"? When we see that the task is totally beyond our capabilities, then we cease from our striving and begin to allow Him to work in and through us by His mighty power.

 

Many object to this heavenly/eternal perspective as "pie-in-the-sky in the sweet by-and-by" talk. There are warnings about being so "heavenly minded" that one is of "no earthly good." We must be practical, so the argument goes, meeting first of all the earthly needs of ourselves and of others and doing our best to make this world a better place for everyone.Yet Christ himself continually turned the focus of His followers from earth to heaven.

 

Throughout Scripture, we are counseled to live at all times with the understanding that life on this earth is very brief and is followed by an eternal existence of either indescribable bliss in God's presence or unbearable agony in separation from Him. Peter declares that the knowledge that "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise...[and] the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10) causes us to live godly lives. And John adds that the hope of being transformed into His likeness when He shall appear causes us to purify ourselves (1 John 3:2,3). Many would have us believe that self-love is the answer to the world's ills. Both Christian leaders and the unsaved are teaching and preaching this lie. In fact, it is self-love that has wrought the ills of the world: greed, lust, envy, and strife. What we actually need is a passionate love for God and His Word, turning us from earthly ambitions to heavenly hope. Not even a kingdom ruled by Christ on this earth is our hope, but heaven itself.

 

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