Machen Chapter 5

    The reading this week was based primarily on the basis that Jesus is the object of our faith. Machen asked the question, “was Jesus really a Christian”? That is quite a good question. I think the answer is no. The point being made here is that liberalism does not accept Jesus as the object of their faith, rather he is an example for them to live their faith out. To me, that makes no sense. Our relationship with God and our place of eternity solely relies on who Jesus was and is. If he was just an example, then our salvation would have been nothing. Instead, Jesus was and is God and he came to down as the greatest example, yes, but more than that as God. He was both Human and God and did what no human could ever do. He took on the flesh of life and lived it perfectly. Not faulting once.

    I recently watched a video made by a man who is from the LGBTQ community who claims to believe and have a relationship with God Almighty. I decided to watch this video because someone who used to attend my church posted it. I often will watch and read her posts because they intrigue me, and it provokes good critical thinking. The video was on the issue of being accepted and affirmed by your Christian friends if you are gay. To start off, I did not agree with what this man was saying. I believe he was deeply misguided and was sharing unbiblical information to his followers. He was basically saying that if one of your Christian friends claims to love you as a homosexual but will not accept and affirm you for being gay, then you should not be their friend. Within that context, he was inferring that Jesus’ sacrifice was for nothing because God loves them no matter what. He was saying that people are not sinful in his mind.

    This man was thinking just like a liberal-minded person. He threw the relevance and deepness of sin out the window and was focused on what we should do as a human. He did not focus on what God was saying we are, but rather, we decide, and God will still love us. That is completely denying what Jesus has done. It makes me think of Machen’s book and specifically this chapter. It denies the importance of Jesus’ work and that we can live a life without it. It makes me quite sad that so many people think this way. Jesus is not just an example of how to live, but he is the object of our faith. If we want to live an actual Christian life, we should not just be trying to live like Jesus, but we should be striving to live for Jesus. He is the reason we are alive. He was not the first Christian. Rather, he is the reason we are Christians. If we lose sight of that, he will be looked at as just an example, and not the object of our faith, just as many liberals think today.