Life Together

Christianity and Liberalism by J. Greshman Machen  Chapter 7: The Church  When Jesus was about to ascend into heaven he told his disciples to go stay put in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers and this marked the beginning of the church. The church consists of all people who have placed their faith in Jesus and have been born again. Today we talk about going to church as a place or a building which it is but, the church is more than that. The church really is the body of Christ.  The trouble with the church is that it is made up of humans who though may be desperately seeking after God still have not reached perfection. God knew this and in His word warns the church of things to watch out for. One of those things to be cautious of is false teaching which is anything that is inconsistent with God's word. His word says that the devil is a prowling lion seeking anyone to devour. Theref...

Christianity and Liberalism by J. Greshman Machen  Chapter 6: Salvation In the previous chapter we learned about who Jesus is and that we need to not simply imitate him because he was a good example but we need to place our trust in him because he was and is the Son of God. We are saved not because what Jesus said or was but because of what he did. God so loved the world that he sent his Son to suffer the punishment for our sins so that we could be saved. That is the gospel. It is based in historical fact and truth and only this truth offers us the salvation that we need to have our relationship with God restored.  The issue in the modern or liberal view of salvation is that it depends on people instead of entirely on God. It disregards God's grace which is the only reason we have a chance at salvation. God did not owe us anything and there is no way for man to earn salvation. That is why man must put his faith in Jesus rather than in his own ability to "be good...

Christianity and Liberalism by J. Greshman Machen  Chapter 5: Christ An obvious main focus of Christianity ought to be Jesus Christ. He definitely seems to have something to do with it. (That is me being sarcastic. The religion is called Christianity for a reason). When it comes to the identity and person of Jesus there have been many ideas tossed around through the years. Most people agree that Jesus was a real historical person. Of those who agree on this there are those who think that Jesus was just a man and those who think he was and is God.  Those who think that Jesus was just a historical person believe that he stands as a good example to follow. They do not believe that he is God and therefore do not trust in him. Instead they only seek to imitate him. Those who believe that Jesus is God who came down in human form to earth believe that more than just following his example Christians are supposed to place their faith in him. I mean the Bible does say that the...