Gospel Beliefs

1 Corinthians 15:2     By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

 

I was reading a blog yesterday written by a seminary student, who has been assigned to a hospital for six months as part of his practical training. He writes about his experiences, and also of the restrictions that have imposed upon him for the chapel services. He has been officially told that he cannot use any New Testament scriptures in the services, or refer to Jesus in any of his prayers. If he insists on using Bible readings, then they must come from the book of Psalms, Proverbs or Ecclesiastes.

 

I wrote back to him and told him that I had served as a part-time hospital chaplain for ten years in Scotland and no one placed any of those restrictions upon me. I dealt with people from all walks of life, and a multitude of faiths, or even no faith at all. During my tenure at the hospital, I never once saw a person die from being exposed to the New Testament, nor get any sicker from hearing Christ’s Name in my prayers. In fact, the reverse was often the case. Most people appreciated what Jesus had to say, and most of them were truly thankful for being prayed over in His Name.

 

In our current climate of trying to not offend anyone, we've neutralized our faith and diminished Christ. Instead of being confident about being Christians, we're in danger of becoming religious freaks, who pray to Christ in private, but God forbid that we should do so in public!

 

We forget our heritage and sell our Christian birthright too easily. If the followers of Christ in Paul’s time had accepted the religious restrictions imposed upon them by the Roman Empire, we would never have heard about Jesus at all. We do well to remember that we are saved by the gospel, when we hold firmly to what the New Testament teaches us. Otherwise, as Paul clearly says, we will have believed in vain.

 

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, keep us from surrendering our salvation and belittling our beliefs when we remain quiet about Who You are to us in our daily lives. Help us to be compassionate and caring, loving and forgiving, all in, with, and by the power of Your Sacred Name. Amen.

The God Who gave us Life also gave us Liberty