J.A. Matteson
Numerous are the opining boasts of men without understanding and deadly is the outcome for the simple who persist in trusting them. "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 5:6). To each generation is given so called authorities of cultural norms, sentinels of the status quo, respected purveyors of antithetical propositions to the word of God. Their boasts are tantalizing, seducing unregenerate minds through self-justificational propositions that appeal directly to the flesh. Religious pluralism, moral relativism, and humanism reign supreme in the present day as alternative explanations and expressions for human existence, purpose, and behavior. These stand juxtaposed to the Christ who dared to proclaim that He came to bear witness to the truth, and that all who are of the truth hear and follow Him. In each generation the pure gospel is deemed by society a scandal, for it collides forcefully with satanic delusions. The tension between the gospel and the world system is constant so that the saints in every generation may know how closely their profession and lives align with it based upon the backlash they experience. Beware when the whole world speaks well of you! There is no accommodation in the gospel, no adding to or deleting from its essential elements so as to make it more desirable--relevant--to the whims of unregenerate souls. To the contrary, by the wisdom of God, it is precisely through the foolishness of the message of the cross that genuine conversion takes place. The power of conversion is in the gospel once for all delivered to the saints. Proclaim the apostolic gospel, and no other, as it alone is the only means through which sinners can be saved.
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