Chuck Currie, the UCC poster boy for false teaching, was at it again when attacking the Jews for Jesus organization.
Are non-Christians doomed to the fires of hell for their lack of faith in Jesus? No.
That seems rather dogmatic for someone who says the remaining things that Chuck does. Chuck’s human understanding – which he makes up himself – is that no one goes to Hell (or that it doesn’t exist – I’m not sure of his exact error). But the word of God teaches that there is a Hell.
And it is important to get the claim right: Non-Christians are doomed to Hell as the appropriate punishment for their sins against a perfect and Holy God. Christians are pardoned from their punishment based on their trust in Jesus, whereby our sins were transferred to his account and his perfect righteousness was imputed to ours.
The New Testament is very clear that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and to reject him is to reject God. Telling Jews otherwise is profoundly unkind and un-Christian.
I can say that Jesus is the truth and the light and feel confident that I’m hearing God’s word.
But why? He and other liberal theologians dismiss the Bible left and right, so why is it true for him? Why would the exclusive claims of Christianity be true for one and not another?
However, God is obviously bigger than human understanding and I feel confident that God speaks through many religious traditions. Christians have as much to learn from other faiths as we have to share.
This is just plain ignorance, wimpiness or lies. Religious pluralism is intellectually bankrupt. What shall we learn from Hindus — that reincarnation is correct instead of that we die once and face judgment? What shall we learn from Islam — that Jesus was just a prophet and did not die on the cross? That would change a “few” key Christian doctrines. What shall we learn from Buddhism — that there is no God? And so on.
These pluralists reject the essentials of Christianity and disagree with Jesus on all sorts of important issues. They try to affirm Jesus to please Christians and simultaneously deny him to please the world.
Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
1 John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world.
If people are too gutless or uninformed to defend the faith, then Christianity may not be their forte (as my friend Ms. Green might say). Jesus was not a pluralist. Even the Sermon on the Mount – which Chuck and other liberal theologians claim to agree with – shows Jesus making it very clear that there are spiritual truths and lies, right and wrong ways to give/pray/fast/etc., and an eternal Hell.
Filed under: False teachers | Tagged: apostate, Bible, chuck currie, False teachers, God, heretic, Jesus, Jews for Jesus, religion, UCC
I think the key phrase is: “They try to affirm him to please Christians and simultaneously deny him to please the world.”
I think Jesus said something about trying to please two masters as well. Which master will they please? You cannot do both. That Jesus fella is always getting in the way of good heresy.
Chuck Currie’s biggest problem is that he doesnt believe in the Bible unless its a few cherry-picked scriptures about love.
Nothing else whets his personal fancy so he dismisses it like most liberal idiots.
Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. Isaiah 5:14
Jesus talked about hell twice as much as he talked about heaven and it will have a diverse population. But according to Carlton Pearson clones like Currie “nonchristians” couldnt possibly end up there.
This man needs to go back to pre-K sunday school class.
What exactly do you mean by reject, Neil? I need to know before I respond, because I have a different take on this religious plurality if you’re interested.
@Mizclark:
To deny who the New testament says Jesus is.
An old preacher once told me that after the early church first defeated paganism, Satan decided to join the church and defeat it from the inside. He created divisions, which today we proudly call denominations. He also weakened the church through liberal tolerance of ungodly worldly practices which diluted and clouded Gods truth. Slowly but surly Satan has been able to infect the modern church with the most evil of sin and corruption. Christians must be fully armed with all of Gods armor in order to stand against the slander and lies that Satan throws at true believers. The hounds of hell have been loosed against the church in these last days. But Glory Be!!! We know how it all ends. To God be the Glory!! God Bless, Herm
@Adam
People seem to be disagreeing about what the New Testament says. Some people believe Jesus was God in the flesh where I have never read anything that confirms it. Sure there are instances that would lead to imply, but even Jesus denies this.
I’m more inclined to agree with Herm in that Satan decided to destroy it from the inside. Sorry Neil but the more I read the more I am sure this began with Paul. If you disagree…pls show me!
Hi Mizclark,
Where do you think Jesus denied that He was God?
This is a pretty clear passage (think back to when God appears to Moses and says his name is I AM) – John 8:58-59 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
We just came across this tonight at Bible study: Romans 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
Here are a couple links that might help:
http://www.whatthebibleteaches.com/wbt_130.htm
http://www.crossandthrone.com/2006/07/28/10-claims-in-the-bible-on-the-deity-of-christ/
Thanks for the links. I will check them out and get back to you. As far as John 8:58-59 you have to understand what he is saying in 54.
“If I honor myself my honor is nothing. It is God that honors me and you say he is your God. You don’t even know him, but I do if I didn’t I’d be lying. Abraham rejoiced to see my day”
The Jews want to know how a man so young could presume to know of what rejoiced Abraham. Jesus was comparing his faith and obedience to that of Abraham.
In a land of idolators he is the only one with truth. How does he know what made Abraham rejoice? God (I am) existed before Abraham.
10 claims is a great article!
The only example that comes even close to an admission though is Mark 14:62.
I have trouble with this example because I AM was God’s name not a declarative sentence as it now. 14:27 makes this example contradictory… who is I, who is the shepherd, who are the sheep?
Hi Mizclark,
The Jews knew He was claiming to be God: John 10:33 “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
Or look at OT passages that desribe who created the Heavens and the earth and every thing else (Gen. 1, Isaiah 43:7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made., and more). Then compare them to John 1:1-4 (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.) or Colossians 1:16 (For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.)
If God created everything and Jesus created everything, then Jesus is God.
Hope that helps.
“However, God is obviously bigger than human understanding and I feel confident that God speaks through many religious traditions. Christians have as much to learn from other faiths as we have to share.”
How does this guy explain John 14:6(b)? “… no one comes to the Father but through me”
heart breaking, it really is…
Good point, Tom. They can’t explain John 14:6 or the other 99 verses that state directly or indirectly that Jesus is the only way to salvation.
And they haven’t even touched on the OT. We were discussing Elijah on Mt. Carmel at church yesterday and I wondered how false teachers like this would address that. They’d probably say Elijah was a bad guy because he didn’t see how the Baal worshipers were just following God in their own way.