The Imperative of Christ:
A Christian Response to Islam and Global Ecuminicism
Elder R. Keith Hamilton
Part 1 of 3
The diety of Christ is
all-important to Christianity. It is
essential to the validity of all tenets of redemptive theology and
distinguishes Christianity with a unique theological identity and hierarchy. It is this imperative, that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, that is the central issue in all Christian conflicts with the
world’s religions and political bodies.
It is at the heart of all ethical, moral, philosophical, and spiritual
debates in American society, and the world society of nations, whether present
as a silent undercurrent or prominently disputed. For Christians to surrender or compromise the
profession of Christ as the Son of God is to deny Christ himself.
There are any number of present day threats to Christianity. Very prominently, the threat of Islam, Global Ecuminicism, and other worldly institutions is distortion and pollution of the Gospel so as to invalidate or minimize the work and person of Christ and to repudiate the necessary Christian tenets of salvation. Almost universally these religions and institutions declare the Gospel invalid and fraudulent and offer in its place a humanistic, utopian agenda based upon man’s alleged good will and the ever elusive doctrine of harmony with nature. But Christ cannot simply be ignored. He must be dealt with, and Christianity is the world’s ever present reminder of this.
Islam’s threat is direct and rather sinister. For centuries, Islam has had the stated
intent of conquering and destroying Christianity. The battle goes on. But Global Ecuminicism
is resurging again and its threat is more subtle than Islam. It can be simply defined as a world-wide
movement founded in humanistic ideology to unify all world religions,
philosophies, and Christianity into a single “spiritual brotherhood” in which
all religions and beliefs are regarded of equal value and purpose. That purpose of course is to form a
universal, global alliance of peace and harmony between all peoples that
eradicates war, poverty, hunger, disease, and suffering.
But Christianity is all about an entirely different agenda
and set of priorities. This agenda is
not only disharmonious to these humanistic ambitions, but overtly declares
their futility and completely destroys their credibility. It sets Christ not only as example and
pattern, but Savior, Redeemer, Sustainer, and Lord. It makes Christ necessary, imperative, for
man to have hope.
In Christianity’s confrontations with Islam, as well as other
world religions and philosophies, the question of Christ sooner or later
becomes prominent and discordant. In the
worldly spirit of bridging differences, tokens of appeasement are repeatedly
offered on behalf of the world’s interests to attribute unto Christ any number
of titles and noble status, but these are always short of adequately professing
His
true authority. The world
is willing to concede nobility regarding Christ, but will not and cannot afford
to declare Him Lord and King. They will
not and cannot afford to claim Him to be anyone or anything other than a simple
man whom they can discredit and repudiate.
None of the world’s concessions regarding Christ are satisfactory. Christ is the one Lord, and there is not any
latitude for Christians to compromise on this.
To concede Christ as mere prophet, messenger, or worthwhile example is
to overtly deny His authority.
The Imperative of Christ is simply stated in the words of the
Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:37, in which he says, “I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God”. That testament is
the dearest and single most important conviction that any Christian can
profess. It is of such critical
importance that it defines Christianity itself.
From this testimony, Christian doctrine then further asserts that this
same Christ was the elect Savior, and that he sacrificed himself for the
redemption of God’s children.
In his first epistle to the Corinthians (I Cor.
Christ is a great number of things to us, as his large number
of biblical titles indicates. However,
He cannot in any circumstances be any less than the Son of God and propitiatory
Redeemer. It is in this regard that
Christianity must remain rigid and inflexible, even intolerant. But the prostitution of Christ, and His
teachings, is the very concession demanded by world interests and those
religions in conflict with Christianity, Islam in particular.
To achieve appeasement with those worldly elements offended
by Christianity would require a complete repudiation and rejection of all
critical convictions about Christ by Christians. That is why there has been such a universal
campaign to malign and undermine His credibility and authority. From declaring that He was the illegitimate
son of a roman soldier, to the assertion that he carried on an extended sexual
relationship with Mary Magdalene, to the claim that His twin brother assumed
His identity after the crucifixion, the world and its agents are obsessed with
compromising the authority and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Christians must hold the line on the character, person, and
work of our Savior. Christ is the one
way, the one truth, and the one life.
Indeed, there is no parallel or even theological necessity of one like
Christ taught in the world’s religions.
Christianity alone teaches the necessity of a Savior. There simply are not multiple ways to God,
and there are not multiple truths, regardless of the claims of originality or
authenticity. True Christianity must be
dogmatic about these points, no matter how unpopular or savagely criticized
they may be.
In both of his epistles to Timothy, the Apostle Paul exhaustively warned Timothy to defend the purity and truth of Christ’s Gospel. No less than four times in this writing, Paul specifically and distinctly called upon Timothy to prepare himself to defend against prostitution of the Gospel of Christ for the political, socio-economic, and humanistic interests of men. It was in this writing that Paul warned that even Christians would become lovers of themselves, high-minded, not able to come (or profess) the truth, and forsaking sound doctrine, yielding instead to their own self-interests and supposedly noble pursuits. Timothy was admonished to vigorously repudiate any teaching or doctrine that was contrary to Christ and to godliness. It would also do well for present day Christians to heed Paul’s exhortations and come to terms with the significance and importance of ably and knowledgeably defending the Gospel, as it stands, without regard to the interests or threats of Islam or any other of the world’s institutions.
In confrontation and argument with the world, it is apparent
that the debate of truth is not clearly tangible in all aspects, and it is
vitally important that Christians, in the pulpit as well in the trenches,
remain “on subject” and firmly adhere to the Gospel. This requires that Christians have a
fundamental knowledge of the specifics of what Scripture actually says and a
grasp on the theological implications of departing from the Imperative of
Christ and the salvinic principles and doctrines as
presented in the Scriptures.
It is important that we Christians see ourselves as the
representatives of Christ and His righteousness in the Earth. It is also important that we as Christians,
at home and abroad, reassert an identity and credibility based upon our
convictions of faith and to clearly communicate that identity in every
confrontation, challenge, and exchange with alien religions and humanistic
causes. We must discipline ourselves to
not retreat or feel compelled to reach an amiable compromise with those who
disagree with us. It is not a
prerogative, nor do we have scriptural authority, for Christians to appease the
world’s objections or inordinately strive to establish cooperation and goodwill
with the agents of anti-christ.
Christians are compelled to love all men, and declare to them
the Gospel of Christ, but that does not include adulteration or mutilation of
the Gospel in order to make it more palatable.
We are required by God to love all men, but Christ clearly stated we
were not to expect all men to love us.
Indeed, the calls for Christianity to surrender the offensive points, be
less contentious, and be submissive to different view points universally
require abandonment of the Imperative of Christ or an outright denunciation of
Christ himself.
Worldly man’s ignorance or denial of the need for a Savior
causes a natural rejection of the character, person, and work of Christ, and a
natural objection to the messenger. To
be palatable and acceptable to world religions, Christ must be flawed in some
manner. His purpose, work and demeanor
must be something other than Lamb and Sacrifice. He can be no more than noble sage, and humble
advisor of self-denial. Not really
different than so many ungodly thinkers and meditationists
the world exalts as enlightened, but harmless.
Satan, the world, and those institutions and religions set against
Christianity recognize that Christ, the Imperative of Christ that Christianity
requires, is not harmless, and He yields a threat to their power and
influence. Even Christ himself said his
ministry and teachings would be divisive and controversial, rejected of the
world and hated of men. But even so, He
likened the truth of His authority and gospel as a fire on the Earth, consuming
and destroying the false ideas and ambitions of men.
End of Part 1 of 3
(January, 2003. R. Keith Hamilton)