The Gospel Changes All Sinners
The gospel changes not only our value system and worldview, but also our actions and lives. Faith that cannot move me is not true faith, and a gospel that cannot change me is no longer the gospel to me.
| Christians may be perplexed to hear, “Churches are disappearing.” Many would think that churches, being the body of Christ, could never vanish—but this is not true. Yes, the churches of Asia Minor, once central to the early church, were wiped out by Islamic invasions, and the North Korean churches—once the heart of Korean Christianity—disappeared under communism. However, even if the disappearance of churches due to external forces was inevitable, the current decline of the European church due to internal factors is a heartbreaking reality for Christians. The European Church, which was the center of Christianity for the last 2,000 years and remains foundational to the global Church, has rapidly declined throughout the 20th century due to internal secularization. Though many scholars have studied this, finding a way to restore it has proven difficult. Therefore, secularization can be defined as the salt losing its flavor; and just as flavorless salt is thrown out and trampled underfoot, so too a tasteless church deserves to be trampled by the world. In the first phase, when Christianity becomes institutionalized and secularized, the church may appear to flourish and grow in numbers. But when it loses its holiness through secularization and its falsehood is exposed, the second phase begins—marked by a rapid exodus from the church. In Christianity, because Christ is the gospel, to lose the gospel is to lose Christ. And when Christ is lost, what remains has no power and no substance. Christ is reduced to a mere symbol or concept, and a personal relationship with Him becomes impossible. The European Church lost the gospel that the Reformers sought to restore. Instead of spreading Christ’s love, they invaded weaker nations and ruled over them through long-standing colonialism. As their pride grew, they lost the core of the Christian faith. Christianity turned into a religious culture that justified and sanctified the selfish desires of Europeans. The secularization of the church is not unique to our time. In the 18th century, Jonathan Edwards, a key figure in America’s First Great Awakening, worked tirelessly to block humanism and secularism from infiltrating the church. Charles Spurgeon, in a sermon in 1886 at Tabernacle Church, rebuked the English church, saying, “The church is covered with the moss of secularism.” In the 20th century, A. W. Tozer lamented, “The church has united with the world and become a pitiful hybrid.” He said, “Many believers remain in a gray area, not because the Bible is unclear, but because Christians do not take its teaching seriously.” Secularism is the mindset that loves this fallen world, disregards or denies God’s values, and exalts the self. It has appeared in churches across every era and region and has become a main cause of their downfall. The term “secularism” was first introduced by New Zealand politician G. J. Holyoake. He argued that humanity could improve itself without religion and that church governance was no longer needed. This idea eliminates God’s world, grace, revelation, and the afterlife, claiming that humans can advance infinitely through their own efforts. In the end, Holyoake’s secularism does not explicitly declare atheism, but its essence is atheistic and one of the Satanic ideologies. The infiltration of such secularism into the Church is closely tied to the rise of humanistic thought in Europe. Especially as Bacon’s empiricism, Enlightenment philosophies including Kant, and the liberal theology of the 19th century entered the church, it slowly became immersed in secular values. The Apostle John summarized the core of a secularized faith that loves the world in three categories: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). John strongly urges believers to cast off all attachment to these worldly things. He warns, “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). John Owen advised, “Let go of living affections to dying things.” In other words, secularism is not just an external issue but a matter of the heart. It begins from within us. He does not focus on outward things like clothing, speech, posture, musical taste, or wealth. He clearly identifies the essence of secularism as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, John wisely leads us to examine not the external, but our inner selves. In other words, before trying to fit into the world, we are first urged to examine the condition of our hearts. |
》Prayer Points
1. The European Church has declined due to secularization and secularism and is now in a serious state where the church is disappearing. But this doesn’t mean the church is gone. It means the church hasn’t truly become the body of Christ. Like the Jews who didn’t believe in Jesus, people who loved the world have failed to follow the gospel. We must admit this honestly and ask for mercy. Only the gospel that brings resurrection through the cross and the life of Jesus can change our values and lead us to true discipleship that lives out God’s Word. Being evangelized doesn’t mean just growing in numbers. Let us pray that many true disciples who love God and joyfully obey His Word will rise among the nations.
3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.(Romans 8:3–4,NIV)
2. As secularism spreads and the world enters an age of religious pluralism and postmodernism, the idea that people can be saved by believing in any god has also surfaced in Christianity. This has weakened believers’ confidence in the truth that Jesus is the only way to God the Father. In these last days, let us pray that the church boldly declares Jesus is the only way and stands firm in the truth without compromise. Only the Word of Truth and prayer depending on the Lord can give us the power to overcome this evil world.
For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.(2 Corinthians 13:8,NIV)
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