I have heard it said that Christianity is more a relationship than a religion, and that is certainly true. But where Christianity is called a religion, it is one that is built on convictions and affirmations, on the assertion of revealed truth. Already that sets it up as politically incorrect. Today we are said to be dogmatic, bigoted, narrow-minded, and even ignorant, if we make claims to knowing the truth. What about other religions? How can we dare say that we are right and they are not? What an unattractive lot we are, so arrogant to be so certain and sure!

Well, all that depends. Am I more arrogant than the person who describes me thus and says instead that his beliefs are true instead? Or says that all our beliefs are true even when they contradict? Is it not arrogant of others to say that they are right and Christianity in its exclusivity has got it wrong? By claiming that I am arrogant, how can you be so sure that it is not you who is being so instead? Or being simply ridiculous by saying that we are both speaking truth even although such a joint claim defies the law of non-contradiction where both cannot be true about the same thing at the same time. There is only one way in which I cannot be arrogant in asserting a truth claim, and that is if the truth does indeed come from God Himself, revealed by the Sovereign Creator of all.

Nineteenth century Europe gave rise to a system of ideas we know as Liberal Theology, a movement with its own definite agenda. It was fundamentally anti-supernatural and determined to get beyond supposed myths, legends, miracles and sagas that appeared to contradict that which was believable, contending that enlightened and rational man cannot accept anything so unscientific as the supernatural. Thus Christianity, in order to be believable in these more sophisticated times, had to be stripped of all that which could not be understood and proven in empirical scientific terms. Miracles as the immediate intervention of God had to go, plus those obvious things that just never ordinarily happen… virgin births, bodily resurrections, instantaneous healings.. and the idea of devils and demons.

The strange thing about all this these days is the way that so many folks hold on to certain ideas even in their unbelief. Glance down the death notices in the daily newspaper and you will see evidence of belief in some kind of afterlife. Usually it is a belief in universalism. It is assumed that the deceased has entered a new state of being, one where there will be no more pain and suffering, one where they will meet up with other dead family members, one where their interests and passions will be satiated without hindrance… the great bowling green in the sky, the eternal fishing ground, a so-called “better place”, together with Mom and little Joey, and with Grandpa and the angels. How do they know? How can they be so sure? Who has told them that? What truth is there in such a sentiment… what authenticates or validates such notions? Anything? If it is assumed that the Bible says so, then have they actually noted and met the prerequisites for entering this better place?

In response to nineteenth century liberalism and the way it attacked the Biblical tenets of faith, classical Christian scholarship reacted by asserting the fundamentals of Christian belief - that which is absolutely non-negotiable, the core or essence of Christian belief, the precepts of historic Christianity. To deny these fundamentals is to deny Biblical Christianity. Today “fundamentalists” have been branded as anti-intellectual, legalistic, simplistic and primitive. Such is liberal theology’s self-serving propaganda, rejecting as it does the cardinal truths of Biblical Christianity. Liberal theology is based on unbelief. Its primary agenda is a social action one, dealing with ethical issues but not personal redemption. It is antinomian, hostile to the law of God and provoking conflict with historic classical Christianity. It is anti-Christian as it does not simply redefine Christ but takes away Christ, denying and ridiculing the doctrine of atonement, the virgin birth and the resurrection. If a Christian these days has not been labelled narrow-minded, bigoted, legalistic, or in a derogatory manner “fundamentalist” then that Christian had best be very concerned indeed for the state of his soul.

Liberalism defines Christianity by its own errant reductionism, claiming for Christianity the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of mankind. However, these two core concepts are not even found in Biblical Christianity. While it is true that God is the progenitor or creator of everyone, the assumption that therefore we are all His children is a pagan idea. The Biblical concept is far more specific than that. We are certainly all His creatures, but we are not all His children. Jesus argued this with the Pharisees who were horrified that He referred to God as His Father… and taught His disciples to say “Our Father” as well. In those times this was truly radical and simply not done! True sonship of God is defined in relation to obedience to God, by adoption through belief in Christ, through redemption and salvation in Him. This results from a unique relationship to Christ, not automatically accredited by the possession of 23 pairs of human chromosomes. It is the church that is the family of God, and brotherhood comes through membership of that family or household of God. Universal brotherhood is no more Biblical than universal sonship or fatherhood.

Such a confusion of beliefs is very common these days, Christianity being defined by many with no reference to what is actually written in their Bibles. Strictly speaking, this is the age of neo-liberalism… modern liberalism, the successor of nineteenth century European liberalism. In many ways this liberalism has triumphed right in the heart of our churches, gaining control in seminary colleges, and in its hostility to Biblical Christianity, attacking the revealed truth of God. While it is frustrating and often pitiful to observe, it is heartening to know that God is indeed Sovereign, that He ordains all that comes to pass, that there are no maverick molecules in this universe - nothing at all outside of His control - and that this is merely one more “age” that like all others will also pass. As Roman Catholic Archbishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979) once pointed out: “Truth is still truth even if nobody believes it. Error is still error even if everyone believes it.”

When Jesus told Nicodemus, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” Nicodemus was confused. “How can a man be born when he is old,” he asked. “He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

Jesus’s answer was conclusive: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3: 5,6)

It is easy to understand Nicodemus’s confusion. The character of the Gospel is revolutionary. Nicodemus was at a loss to comprehend such words. Jesus chided him: “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things?”

No, Nicodemus did not understand. And there are a great many people these days who still do not understand. A fellow Anglican recently told me “Oh, we are Anglicans. We do not need to be born again!” What? Did Jesus get that wrong, then? Hmm, I don’t think so. To believe that He did would be to contradict Who He is. If Jesus really is Who He is, then it is one’s belief that needs some corrective adjustment. The term often heard, “born again Christian”, contains a redundancy. You cannot truly call yourself a Christian, a follower of Christ, one for whom Jesus is Lord and Saviour, and not be born again.

But there is a counterfeit religion that masquerades as Christianity, and starts with the common assumption that we are all basically good people who, being human, have our little quirks that simply make us all the more lovable. Yes, we make mistakes, but that is just a part of being human, and underneath we don’t actually set out to hurt anybody - we are basically good, decent, law-abiding citizens. The counterfeit form of Christianity excuses us these mistakes that we make. Furthermore, being basically good we do good things for others. And doing good things, or not doing very bad things, or only occasional very minor bad things that everyone does, confirms this view of our goodness within.

Oh yay! This is the secular gospel. But what does it have to do with Christianity? Nothing. The Christian gospel declares that we are basically rotten at the core. And if hearing that offends you, then good! The Christian gospel is indeed offensive as that is exactly what it teaches. If you have heard otherwise, such that God doesn’t really mind, will overlook our little quirks, will waft us into heaven on the basis of the kind things we have done for others, then it is absolutely not Christianity you have heard. If you have heard that “God is love” as though He is some benign permissive grandfatherly type, and not heard that He is also holy and righteous, that He abhors and punishes rottenness, then you’ve swallowed the secular gospel. You’ve been duped.

There are plenty of churchy types who will preach this secular gospel. They call themselves Christians but deny the need for repentance, redemption and transformation - the need to be born again. Or else they will simply give it lip-service, as though thinking Jesus was just a little over-the-top in saying what He did to Nicodemus. Their belief is in doubt. Or they really do not believe Jesus is Who He is since such a wrongful over-statement would deny His deity. Some go as far as to claim certain sins are not even sins, but merely a part of our “human condition” and that God has created us that way so it must be OK, thus teaching that we can be excused from repentance and the need for redemption. There is much twisted thinking in that particular argument, a grand hoax of secular contamination that claims to be Christian but is far wide of the mark.

Back in Jerusalem all those many years ago, the Jews were confronting Jesus with their own disbelief over His true identity. “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” they asked Him. And His response is worth noting: “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.” (John 10:25) He did not say that they are not His sheep because they do not believe, but that they do not believe because they are not His sheep - because they do not belong to Him, are not His, are not of His fold.

Likewise, those who teach the secular gospel and not the true Biblical Christian gospel, despite whatever they call it, do not believe as they are not His sheep - they do not belong to Him. Read the Bible for yourself and do not be deceived by this false secular gospel propagated by those who regard themselves as Christians but are not genuine followers or believers in Him. And if you just happen to be one of those yourself, pull up and take stock of just what you believe, and just where you found such beliefs. It wont be in the Bible, that’s for sure! And to my Anglican friend who does not think he needs to be born again… think again. Do you know better than Jesus?