Jul 18
23
The Way Some Call Heresy
“But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call
heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which
are written in the law and in the prophets…” (Acts. 24:14)
Someone recently referred to our congregation as a cult saying, “They
don’t believe like most churches. They have this weird view of God as
sovereign in everything, even to the point of saying that He doesn’t
actually want to save everyone, and that Christ didn’t die for everyone.”
Isn’t it a shame that the state of affairs is such today that people
actually consider what we believe as heresy? Yet, we can take heart in
knowing that natural men have always considered the truth of God’s
sovereignty in all things as heretical. That is because the flesh is at
enmity with God. That is why they said of Christ, “He has a demon,”
(John 10:20). Look at the context! It was because He said that He came
to redeem those sheep that the Father had given Him and not everyone.
Our Lord concluded with these words, “But ye believe not, because ye are
not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them (from all eternity), and they follow me.”
If you are the Lord’s, why would men say anything less of you than they
said of Him? As the Apostle Paul testified, “That after the way which
they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all
things which are written in the law and in the prophets.”
Is anything but a sovereign God taught in Scripture? (Psalm 115:3) Then
I confess Him as He is! Do the Scriptures teach that my salvation is
because of His choosing me, not me choosing Him? (Psalm 65:4) Then I
give Him all the glory! Does the Bible say that I am dead in my sin and
that God must give me life in order to know the Lord Jesus and believe
on Him? (John 6:63-65) Then I bow to Him and agree with God.
Because the Bible teaches that God loves only those He has chosen in
Christ, will I then try to alter His Word to make His saving love
applicable to all? No! That is to pervert the Scriptures to my own
destruction, (2 Peter 3:17) I confess that the only way I or anyone else
can worship God is if He accepts me and receives me as His own. How does
He do that? By His sovereign electing grace, through the blood and
righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, whereby all that He has chosen are
made accepted in Him (Ephesians 1:3-7). Is this your confession of faith?
Don Bell