All religions teach man's search for God -- the Gospel teaches God's search for man. Therefore there are many religions, there is but one Gospel. You do not find God at the topmost rung of the ladder of worthiness, having climbed it rung by rung. You find Him at the bottom-most rung of the ladder. He comes down the ladder in incarnation to us and offers us salvation, not as those worthy of it, but as sinners. "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." He offers us redemption in a nail-pierced hand -- offers it free!
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Wikipedia identifies E. Stanley Jones (1884 – 1973) as “an American Methodist Christian missionary, theologian, and author.” He lived during my great-grandmother’s generation. Of his books I’ve read, the one that impacted me most was his daily devotional, Abundant Living. I also appreciated his biography of Mahatma Gandhi and his autobiography, A Song of Ascents. The quote above is from his book, Conversion.
Jones was known for his roundtable discussions with people of other religions in India where he served as a missionary. He had great respect for people of other faiths, but he was thoroughly Christian. He knew that the gospel is unique. The world’s religions are about climbing to the top of the ladder to save ourselves. The gospel is about God climbing down the ladder to save us sinners.
We must always proclaim the gospel and its power to rescue and transform us. If we don’t, Christianity will devolve into just another religion where we attempt the impossible, to make ourselves worthy.
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Next post: Friday, December 1, “Second Adam” from Charles Wesley
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2 comments:
The last 2 sentences in the 1st paragraph are so powerful. Thank you.
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