The Work of Shepherds (7)

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1.15

Christianity and Liberalism
J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)
“According to Christian belief, Jesus is our Saviour, not by virtue of what He said, not even by virtue of what He was, but by what He did. He is our Saviour, not because He has inspired us to live the same kind of life He lived, but because He took upon Himself the dreadful guilt of our sins and bore it instead of us on the cross.”

We cannot follow Jesus if we will not face up to the fact of sin – our sins and the sins of our world. If we refuse to talk about sin in our preaching and teaching, we separate our doctrine, such as it will be, from the central aspects of the saving work of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a sinless life, to overcome sin and provide the righteousness we require to stand before God. He bore the punishment of our sins in His own body on the cross, that we might be free and forgiven in Him. He followed the holy and righteous and good Law of God to show us the path of righteousness and the way of Kingdom greatness (1 Jn. 2.1-6; Matt. 5.17-19). If we do not preach these central components of the work of Jesus, then we are preaching Jesus merely as an inspiring example or a trusted friend. And that’s another gospel, not the Gospel of the Kingdom.

How consistent are you, in your preaching and teaching, to bring in the work of Jesus as it relates to our sin?

T. M. Moore

The Celtic Revival
We have much to learn from our forebears in the faith. One of the most overlooked periods of the Christian movement is that great revival of true religion which began with Patrick and extended through the eighth century – nearly 400 years of vibrant faith, witness, and transforming power. We’ve prepared a brief introduction to the Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800 AD), and you can have a copy by writing to John Nunnikhoven at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Request The Celtic Revival: A Brief Introduction.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.All quotations from J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1923, 1974).