ADRIFT DEFINED
Monday, March 4, 2019
Colossians [GW]
2:6-10 You received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live as Christ's
people. Sink your roots in him and build on him. Be strengthened by the faith
that you were taught, and overflow with thanksgiving. Be careful not to let
anyone rob you of this faith through a shallow and misleading philosophy. Such
a person follows human traditions and the world's way of doing things rather
than following Christ. All of God lives in Christ's body, and God has made you
complete in Christ. Christ is in charge of every ruler and authority.
1Peter 1:18-25
Realize that you weren't set free from the worthless life handed down to you
from your ancestors by a payment of silver or gold which can be destroyed. Rather,
the payment that freed you was the precious blood of Christ, the lamb with no
defects or imperfections. He is the lamb who was known long ago before the
world existed, but for your good he became publicly known in the last period of
time. Through him you believe in God who brought Christ back to life and gave
him glory. So your faith and confidence are in God. Love each other with a warm
love that comes from the heart. After all, you have purified yourselves by
obeying the truth. As a result you have a sincere love for each other. You have
been born again, not from a seed that can be destroyed, but through God's
everlasting word that can't be destroyed. That's why Scripture says, "All
people are like grass, and all their beauty is like a flower of the field. The
grass dries up and the flower drops off, but the word of the Lord lasts
forever." This word is the Good News that was told to you.
Last Friday’s DT
is titled ADRIFT. In it I wrote: “Claiming to trust God while denying that
truth can be known is expensive double-mindedness; travelling in the company of
muddled unitarian universalist philosophy, we can expect nothing …”.
Knowing that my assignment to edify includes
education, at times indicated specifically by DT’rs questioning “What in the
world are you talking about?!” – I today explain what unitarian and
universalist philosophy is so you can see how it is in conflict with the fact
of God’s Word, and determine how the philosophies involve double-mindedness for
the professing Christian.
---
“Unitarianism is historically a
Christian theological movement named
for the affirmation that God is one entity, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism,
which defines God as three persons in one being.[1]
Traditional Unitarians maintain that Jesus
of Nazareth is in some sense the "son" of God (as all humans are
children of the Creator), but that he is not the one God himself.[2]
They may believe that he was inspired by God in his moral teachings and can
thus be considered a savior,[3]
but all Unitarians perceive Christ as human rather than a Deity. Unitarianism
is also known for the rejection of several other Western Christian doctrines,[4]
including the soteriological doctrines of original
sin and predestination,[5][6]
and, in more recent history, biblical inerrancy.[7]
Unitarians in previous centuries accepted the doctrine of punishment in an
eternal hell, but
few do today.
The Unitarian
movement was not called "Unitarian" initially. It began almost
simultaneously in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and
in Transylvania in the
mid-16th century. Among the adherents were a significant number of Italians.[8][9]
In England, the first Unitarian Church was established in 1774
on Essex Street, London,
where today's British
Unitarian headquarters are still located.[10]
Since the theology was also perceived as deist, it began to
attract many people from wealthy and educated backgrounds,[11]
although it was only at the late second half of the 18th century that it
started to gain some wider traction within Christendom.[12]
In the United States, it spread first in New
England, and the first official acceptance of the Unitarian faith on the
part of a congregation in America was by King's
Chapel in Boston, from where James Freeman began teaching Unitarian
doctrine in 1784, and was appointed rector and revised the prayer
book according to Unitarian doctrines in 1786.[13]
In J. Gordon Melton's Encyclopedia of American
Religions, it is classified among "the 'liberal' family of churches".[14]” [From Wikipedia]
---
"Is universalism /
universal salvation biblical?"
Answer: Universalism is the belief that everyone will be saved. There are many people today who hold to universal salvation and believe that all people eventually end up in heaven. Perhaps it is the thought of men and women living a life of eternal torment in hell that causes some to reject the teaching of Scripture on this issue. For some it is an over-emphasis on the love and compassion of God—and the neglect of the righteousness and justice of God—that leads them to believe God will have mercy on every living soul. But the Scriptures do teach that some people will spend eternity in hell.
First of all, the Bible is clear that unredeemed men will dwell forever in hell. Jesus’ own words confirm that the time spent in heaven for the redeemed will last as long as that of the unredeemed in hell. Matthew 25:46 says, “Then they [the unsaved] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” According to this verse, the punishment of the unsaved is just as eternal as the life of the righteous. Some believe that those in hell will eventually cease to exist, but the Lord Himself confirms that it will last forever. Matthew 25:41 and Mark 9:44 describe hell as “eternal fire” and “unquenchable fire.”
How does one avoid this unquenchable fire? Many people believe that all roads—all religions and beliefs—lead to heaven, or they consider that God is so full of love and mercy that He will allow all people into heaven. God is certainly full of love and mercy; it was these qualities that led Him to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die on the cross for us. Jesus Christ is the exclusive door that leads to an eternity in heaven. Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If we choose to reject God’s Son, we do not meet the requirements for salvation (John 3:16, 18, 36).
With verses such as these, it becomes clear that universalism and universal salvation are unbiblical beliefs. Universalism directly contradicts what Scripture teaches. While many people accuse Christians of being intolerant and “exclusive,” it is important to remember that these are the words of Christ Himself. Christians did not develop these ideas on their own; Christians are simply stating what the Lord has already said. People choose to reject the message because they do not want to face up to their sin and admit that they need the Lord to save them. To say that those who reject God’s provision of salvation through His Son will be saved is to belittle the holiness and justice of God and negate the need of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. [From GotQuestions.org]
Answer: Universalism is the belief that everyone will be saved. There are many people today who hold to universal salvation and believe that all people eventually end up in heaven. Perhaps it is the thought of men and women living a life of eternal torment in hell that causes some to reject the teaching of Scripture on this issue. For some it is an over-emphasis on the love and compassion of God—and the neglect of the righteousness and justice of God—that leads them to believe God will have mercy on every living soul. But the Scriptures do teach that some people will spend eternity in hell.
First of all, the Bible is clear that unredeemed men will dwell forever in hell. Jesus’ own words confirm that the time spent in heaven for the redeemed will last as long as that of the unredeemed in hell. Matthew 25:46 says, “Then they [the unsaved] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” According to this verse, the punishment of the unsaved is just as eternal as the life of the righteous. Some believe that those in hell will eventually cease to exist, but the Lord Himself confirms that it will last forever. Matthew 25:41 and Mark 9:44 describe hell as “eternal fire” and “unquenchable fire.”
How does one avoid this unquenchable fire? Many people believe that all roads—all religions and beliefs—lead to heaven, or they consider that God is so full of love and mercy that He will allow all people into heaven. God is certainly full of love and mercy; it was these qualities that led Him to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die on the cross for us. Jesus Christ is the exclusive door that leads to an eternity in heaven. Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If we choose to reject God’s Son, we do not meet the requirements for salvation (John 3:16, 18, 36).
With verses such as these, it becomes clear that universalism and universal salvation are unbiblical beliefs. Universalism directly contradicts what Scripture teaches. While many people accuse Christians of being intolerant and “exclusive,” it is important to remember that these are the words of Christ Himself. Christians did not develop these ideas on their own; Christians are simply stating what the Lord has already said. People choose to reject the message because they do not want to face up to their sin and admit that they need the Lord to save them. To say that those who reject God’s provision of salvation through His Son will be saved is to belittle the holiness and justice of God and negate the need of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. [From GotQuestions.org]
---
"What is Unitarian
Universalism?"
Answer: Unitarian Universalism is a fairly small, yet widely influential, religious group. Having some 300,000 registered members, mostly in the United States, they are becoming more and more popular. Relativism, tolerance, and alternative lifestyles are all buzz words used by Unitarian Universalism.
The Unitarian Universalist name comes from their denial of the doctrine of the Trinity and their belief that all human beings gain salvation. According to Universalists, the mere idea someone might go to hell is not compatible with the character of a loving God. Its roots go all the way back to the sixteenth century when Unitarian beliefs became popular during the Reformation. Unitarian thought and Universal thought were merged together during the late eighteenth-century in America during the Age of Reason. The intellectual elite of that time refused to believe in such biblical teachings as total depravity and eternal damnation, but rather embraced the idea of a loving God who would never cause someone to suffer.
Adherents of Unitarian Universalism base their beliefs primarily upon their own experiences and are not committed to any one religious system. They believe that individuals have the right to decide for themselves what to believe in and that others should not infringe upon this right. As a result, one such believer might lean toward liberal Christianity, while another might lean toward New Age spirituality. There is no real dogma beyond tolerance—for everything except biblical Christianity. They reject the Bible as a book of myths—denying it is the Word of God—equating it with barbaric writing that has little to do with modern man. They reject the Bible's portrayal of a Triune God, leaving the concept of God up to each individual's imagination.
To the Unitarian Universalist, Jesus was a good moral teacher, but nothing more. He is not considered to be divine, and every miracle associated with Him is rejected as being outside of human reason. Most sayings of Jesus recorded in the Bible are regarded as embellishments on the part of the authors. Among the Universalist beliefs: Jesus did not die to save mankind from sin, as man is not a fallen sinner; emphasis is placed on humankind's capacity for goodness; sin is completely relative, and the term itself is rarely used; man saves himself through personal improvement, salvation being a purely worldly experience, a "waking up" to the world around oneself. This is very important, for death is final. Most Unitarian Universalists deny the existence of an afterlife, so all we have on earth is all we'll ever get.
The Bible, on the other hand, refutes these falsehoods. Jesus does save mankind, which was in a fallen state since the Garden of Eden and separated from God by sin (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24). Man is not good, but sinful and hopelessly lost. It is only through the grace of God and faith in the shed blood of Christ on the cross that mankind can be reconciled to a holy, transcendent God (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-19); John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8).
Unitarian Universalism has nothing in common with biblical Christianity. It is a false gospel, its teachings are contrary to the Bible, and its members strongly oppose traditional, biblical Christian beliefs (while purporting to be free of discrimination or prejudice of any kind). The Bible clearly refutes Unitarian Universalism on all the major points of its teachings. [From GotQuestions.org]
Answer: Unitarian Universalism is a fairly small, yet widely influential, religious group. Having some 300,000 registered members, mostly in the United States, they are becoming more and more popular. Relativism, tolerance, and alternative lifestyles are all buzz words used by Unitarian Universalism.
The Unitarian Universalist name comes from their denial of the doctrine of the Trinity and their belief that all human beings gain salvation. According to Universalists, the mere idea someone might go to hell is not compatible with the character of a loving God. Its roots go all the way back to the sixteenth century when Unitarian beliefs became popular during the Reformation. Unitarian thought and Universal thought were merged together during the late eighteenth-century in America during the Age of Reason. The intellectual elite of that time refused to believe in such biblical teachings as total depravity and eternal damnation, but rather embraced the idea of a loving God who would never cause someone to suffer.
Adherents of Unitarian Universalism base their beliefs primarily upon their own experiences and are not committed to any one religious system. They believe that individuals have the right to decide for themselves what to believe in and that others should not infringe upon this right. As a result, one such believer might lean toward liberal Christianity, while another might lean toward New Age spirituality. There is no real dogma beyond tolerance—for everything except biblical Christianity. They reject the Bible as a book of myths—denying it is the Word of God—equating it with barbaric writing that has little to do with modern man. They reject the Bible's portrayal of a Triune God, leaving the concept of God up to each individual's imagination.
To the Unitarian Universalist, Jesus was a good moral teacher, but nothing more. He is not considered to be divine, and every miracle associated with Him is rejected as being outside of human reason. Most sayings of Jesus recorded in the Bible are regarded as embellishments on the part of the authors. Among the Universalist beliefs: Jesus did not die to save mankind from sin, as man is not a fallen sinner; emphasis is placed on humankind's capacity for goodness; sin is completely relative, and the term itself is rarely used; man saves himself through personal improvement, salvation being a purely worldly experience, a "waking up" to the world around oneself. This is very important, for death is final. Most Unitarian Universalists deny the existence of an afterlife, so all we have on earth is all we'll ever get.
The Bible, on the other hand, refutes these falsehoods. Jesus does save mankind, which was in a fallen state since the Garden of Eden and separated from God by sin (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24). Man is not good, but sinful and hopelessly lost. It is only through the grace of God and faith in the shed blood of Christ on the cross that mankind can be reconciled to a holy, transcendent God (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-19); John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8).
Unitarian Universalism has nothing in common with biblical Christianity. It is a false gospel, its teachings are contrary to the Bible, and its members strongly oppose traditional, biblical Christian beliefs (while purporting to be free of discrimination or prejudice of any kind). The Bible clearly refutes Unitarian Universalism on all the major points of its teachings. [From GotQuestions.org]
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