Extension of the Truth

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Jul 25, 2007 at 19:30

My friend:

We are not all that different in our Christian discipleship, so much so that I purpose to call you friend even in the face of your challenge of my faith.

This is indeed the time to witness the love of Christ, to proclaim His salvation to all who would accept His death on the cross for their sins and receive Him into their hearts for eternity, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and others, even those who call themselves Christian but have yet to make their confession of true faith by the power of the Holy Spirit in His Holy Name.

You keep trying to insist that I am one who foments or incites hatred towards the Muslims by making insistent mention of their actions, and yet we have all heard the hew and cry from Mosques all around the world and here in these United States rejecting the very message above and calling for the eradication of all other religious belief in submission to Islam. Granted, the ones making such proclamations are considered by many including, other Muslims, to be extremists. Still, Christians in the areas of their greatest influence are being cut off, like the young Korean by the Taliban.

We are told by our LORD to be bold in our faith. We are also given information regarding the circumstances of the times, and are instructed to watch for His return when the times are ripe as the fig. By most fundamentalist evangelical observations, are these not the times spoken of by Jesus in Matthew, the other Gospels and the writings of Paul? Speak to any in the Southern Baptist Convention, the General Baptists, and some independent Bible disciples and they will say that this is what they are seeing.

Now, I will not debate the truth of the Scripture, nor, by your surmising of my insufficient Scriptural knowledge, am I in a position to recount the years of learning and absorbing what truth the Scriptures have taught me and will still be learning in spite of my imperfections when He calls for me. Nor shall I diminish the truth of the Scripture you have provided, for it may serve to benefit someone else whose knowledge of such things needs edification. Almighty God will always honor His Word and it will not come back to Him void, and I count on the very truth of that.

It seems here that we are focused on the issue of tolerance, between Christians and others for this example. My take here is that we adopt the position of Jesus and love the people, but hate their sin. He forgave the adulteress, but directed that she sin no more. He died loving the people, but taking the judgment for the sins of believers to the cross with Him. This is available to all who will accept His gift of salvation. For those who do not, Jesus Christ is given authority for judgment against unbelief.

Like you, I have had acquaintances over the years with whom I have shared the love of Jesus, and I continue to do so, even with Muslims. But this does not diminish the truth of the circumstances regarding those who espouse their hatred for things that do not conform to their world view, let alone Christianity.

So while I believe in my heart that whosoever will may come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ by the power of His love and in His Holy Name, to sit by and make no noise while the declared enemies of Western societies try to make a lie out of the truth by ridicule and outright blasphemy of our LORD, yes I'll reprove that, for we are called to the truth, and according to Romans, hearing the Gospel from Christians is the means we are given to do just that.

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