Keep the Faith

In the parable of the weeds, Matthew 13:24-31, Jesus teaches us about the kingdom of heaven and compared it to a man who sowed wheat seed in his field. While the man slept an enemy came and planted weed seeds among the wheat. When the weeds grew, the man’s servants wanted to pull out the weeds. The man advised his servants to leave the weeds grow among the wheat, so that none of the wheat would be lost when pulling the weeds. He said that the weeds and wheat should grow together until harvest, when the weeds would be collected in bundles to be burned. Then the wheat would be harvested and taken into his barn. In Matthew 13:36-43, Jesus explains that the weeds are the evil doers of the world, planted by the evil one, and that they will be separated from the wheat, those judged as righteous, at the day of judgment. The field is meant to denote the world around us that is filled with evil. As we go about our lives in this world, evil is all around us. The evil one sows many seeds of discontent throughout our world and tempts us with worldly desires. At the final judgment, all who do evil will be cast into the burning fire of hell and the righteous will dwell in eternity with our Lord.

As this enlightened ELCA evolves, more and more of God’s Word is challenged, maligned and twisted to be more acceptable to their modern sensibilities. Often, the message that is underscored by the leaders and scholars of the ELCA is one of skepticism. The Bible is referred to as a book of faith, a collection of stories by authors trapped within their own time and influenced by their own opinions, traditions, and experiences and whose values and teachings are not suitable to the issues facing this current generation. Of course, how could someone from thousands of years ago have any idea of the dilemmas that 21st century humans would encounter? It is because that God himself authored, by inspiring those human writers, the very Scripture that the ELCA so conveniently cites when certain verses bolster their secular ideas and reject those verses that refute their secular desires. What they do not understand is that all of Scripture was inspired by our Lord, including those verses that provide evidence that the current doctrinal changes promoted by the ELCA are contrary to God’s Will.

Because modern science cannot justify the virgin birth or the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the ELCA casts doubt upon the very foundation of the Christian faith. There is no need to understand the science, we only need to believe that there is nothing that God, who created the very universe that our world is a part of, cannot accomplish, despite what the learned scientific community or leadership of the ELCA believes. If our Lord’s resurrection and victory over death did not occur according to Scripture, we will have believed in vain and lost our salvation. How can those who have the responsibility to defend God’s Word and to safeguard proper doctrine, that in which we believe and profess, continually question the validity of Scripture? The ELCA is charged to enforce discipline against those that teach false doctrine and to guard the historic and orthodox Christian faith. How can the ELCA discipline any church when they promote doctrine that contradicts Scripture?

While the ELCA continues to sow the seeds of doubt in the field, how do we remain as the faithful wheat while remaining in fellowship with his wayward denomination? The Apostles taught that we should gather with other believers in order to keep our faith strong. We are taught to pray together and dwell in the Word. In His Word, our Lord has prepared a plan for us to keep our faith strong. We need to continue to grow in our faith with Bible study, prayer, and continued fellowship with believers, encouraging and supporting each other in our Lord’s name. Jude 20-21, “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourself in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”