The doctrine of the atonement is, however, one which is often lost sight of in our pulpits; men refuse to believe in the heinousness of sin, refuse to believe that the justice of a perfectly holy God requires full satisfaction for sin, and, by rationalistic arguments derived from degraded human reason, dwell only on the fatherhood and love of God to mankind. There are two rocks, Scylla and Charybdis, against either of which all Christian people may make shipwreck of their faith; they stand one at each end of the line of intellectual thought. The first is Formalism, the second Rationalism.
The former is the outcome of a kind of parasitic religion, handing over the conscience to the direction of another, and considering that the individual has no right to think for himself and examine the doctrines whether they be of God, or else thinking that a feeble acquiescence in certain dogmas and the performance of certain forms and ceremonies is all that is necessary.
The second phase is the result of revulsion of feeling from the other extreme, not only refusing to listen to the voice of the Church, the directions of the Bible, and the dictates of conscience, but setting up their personal puny and corrupt intellect as the supreme appeal—refusing to believe all that seems contrary to their individual ideas of justice or expediency. This latter is perhaps the more fearful error, as by it the finite utters the awful blasphemy of daring to dictate to the Infinite.
Charles Dent Hastings from 1886
Wow. Very insightful. It confused me at first, had to read it a few times. But, I do believe that most are heading in the wrong direction. There is too much out there today for our young adults to fall prey to. It is up to us to point them in the right direction. This includes taking them to a church (that tells the truth) at an early age and allowing them to 'grow up' in the church. Proverbs 22:6 'Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.'
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Great quote! Even though this quote is over 100 years old, it still holds true! There really is nothing new under the sun. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Debbie.. it's so hard to raise kids these days! It's a horrible culture... even among so called Christians.
ReplyDeleteYes, Emma... I thought the same thing! This quote could have been written today! Well, except for the polished language!
AMEN!!! SO many go up in the church never even hearing a full gospel...only tidbits and sound bites. We need to hear of our need for HIm, and only Him or we will have the crazy thing called "self-worth", Self-justification" Self everything. IT is so freeing to know that as awful as I am, and as broken as I am He chose me, and He died to pay for my inheritance as Princess of the King....not simply a good person, but a child of God. This culture even in the church is not thinking that atonement, justification, sanctification, elect, wrath, even forgiveness are easy words to "sell" or "explain". When my 6 yr old can talk about the trinity, and my 17 yr old can go across the world to preach the gospel to Asia...saying He must be Big and I must be small...and He will do the work...let me be a vessel in His hands....I know that those words are not simply words. They are breath and life to our faith.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your posts and for your great books...How about a further story on Merrick....???
Momof5Ladys, thanks for your insightful post! I couldn't agree more with what you said. Most churches seems to "water down" the Gospel, making it more palatable for the masses, less offensive. But Jesus was very offensive! He never minced words. People are dying to hear the hard truth. So happy to hear that your kids have been raised on this life-giving truth and are breathing that life to others! Good job, Mom!
ReplyDeleteAnd Merrick? Yes.. I'd love to!! We shall see what God has in store. :-)