Knowing Your Heretics, Part 3

April, 2008

by: Edward Wilde

The next test for whether one is truly a “Christian” as defined by the authority of the Bible is the question of the identity of God.

A Muslim group has recently started a website called a “Common Word” which claims that Christians and Muslims have a basis for unity in that the “foundational principles of both faiths [are the same]: love of the One God, and love of the neighbor.” In response to this web posting, various Christian and Jewish groups have proposed an agreement.

The basis for the proposed agreement is perceived common belief in “the One God”. A letter from the Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio wrote, “We do believe, Christians and Muslims, in the one God…” The Nuncio quoted Vatican II as follows, “The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God…” In the last paragraph of the letter, the Nuncio wrote, “This type of interreligious dialogue requires that it be conducted in a full climate of faith and in a spirit of dependence on God that is characteristic of many religious beliefs.” [Emphasis added.]

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches wrote a response which included this statement, “We do have an interest in furthering a dialogue based on our common commitments to love God and neighbour.” There is also a letter signed by 300 Christians of all stripes. (See John Piper’s wonderful response to this letter at http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/01/piper-on-common-word-and-response.html)

Jesus Christ said plainly that the primary responsibility—the great command of all human beings is to “Love God”. Right? Actually, that is not correct. Jesus specifically said, “You shall love the Lord your God…”Matt. 22:37. The difference between those phrases makes a world of difference.

The word “Lord” is a reference to the Covenant name for God as revealed in the Old Testament, Yahweh. You see, we are not called upon to just “love God” but to love a particular God. That God is the only true God who has revealed himself as one God in three persons and in the person and work of God incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The world is stuffed with “gods.” 1 Cor. 8:5. But not everything which is called “God” is “God”. Merely to speak of the “One God” without specifically acknowledging that God is a trinity and that Jesus Christ is God incarnate is not to speak of the same God as the God of the Bible.

Muslims plainly deny the essential truths of the Christian faith concerning God. Muslims are unapologetic about denying the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ. That the Vatican and numerous Protestants would find these references to the “One God” as in any way being the same God as the God of the Christian faith is erroneous as well as odd.

Mormons likewise refer to “God” and commonly refer to themselves as “Christians” and then proceed to deny belief in the Trinitarian God of the Bible. Mormons explicitly deny the Trinity and then claim that such denial is proof that they are “Christians”. In fact, Mormons deny far more than the Trinity. They actually think that God is “an exalted man.” (Joseph Smith, The King Follet Sermon). As Mormon Apostle Lorenzo Snow once said, “As man is, God was, as God is, man may become.” According to the “LDS.org” website, “[T]he teaching of President Lorenzo Snow is both acceptable and accepted doctrine in the Church today.”

We all meet people every day who talk about “God” but do not talk about the same “God” as the God of the Bible. Unless we confess the Trinitarian God, we do not confess the same God as Jesus Christ. As Paul writes in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The God whom we confess is to be the same God as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we do not so confess, then we have put another god before God.

This question of the identity of God is not new. The prophet Elijah faced the question of the identity of the true God on Mount Carmel. (1 Kings 18:20-40) The people of Israel had taken to Baal and had given Baal the worship due to God. While on the mountain, Elijah said to the people, the King and the prophets of Baal, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions. If Yahweh is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”

To test the identity of God, Elijah noted that the true God could send fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice. After the prophets of Baal failed to rouse their deity, Elijah simply prayed, “At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word.” God answered Elijah’s prayer. “When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.’” Here is the next great test for whether one is a true believer in God, the identity of God.

• Knowing Your Heretics, Part 1
• Knowing Your Heretics, Part 2
• Knowing Your Heretics, Part 3
• Knowing Your Heretics, Part 4