All Things Made New

When the leaders and biblical scholars of the ELCA try to justify their radical agenda, such as the Human Sexuality-Gift and Trust statement, they typically cite 2 Corinthians 5:17, saying that God has made all things new. Again, this is only part of the truth, since the leadership of this wayward denomination revels in half truths. Just as the evil one uses only the parts of truth that are pleasing in order to tempt us into sinful acts, the leaders of the ELCA use the same tactic. Taken out of context, this verse would lead one to believe that everything is new and maybe the old things, such as God’s law, written so long ago, must be updated and made new to better relate to our modern society. But, when one delves into the word and discerns the truth of God’s will, one will have a different idea of “new”. 2 Corinthians 5:15-21, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
 
Once we take the entire portion of this passage and listen to the word, we have a much better understanding of God’s will. While the leadership of the ELCA would have you believe that God is now telling us something new and that we should disregard portions of God’s law because we are now more enlightened, this is a false message. We are a new creation because we have set aside those things of the world that came between us and the Lord. We now deny ourselves and place His will before our own. Jesus said that we must be willing to take up His cross and love Him above all else, our families and especially ourselves. The doctrines promoted by the leaders of the ELCA lift up the self above our Lord and place human reasoning and experience in authority of Scripture. This is worse than heresy. This is a clear violation of the First Commandment, because to accept these doctrines is to worship yourself, your identities, and your worldly desires.

Revelations 21:1-5, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” The time to make all things new in this world is when our Lord and Savior comes in glory to begin His new kingdom. For the leadership of the ELCA to lead their flock astray with the false promises that their sin is somehow now acceptable to God is beyond reprehensible.

The evil one uses deception in order to convince us that our sinful behavior is justified. The leaders of the ELCA do no differently. For if we continue as slaves to sin, we will die in that sin. We need to become slaves of Christ, for only then will we be truly alive in Him. Romans 6:19-23, “Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If we follow the false gospel promoted by the leaders of the ELCA, we will become slaves to ourselves and wallow in our own sinful behavior. If we reject this false gospel and follow the Truth that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we will be set free from sin and truly be able to accept the gift of God’s grace. There will come a time when we will all be made new and sin will be no more, and that is when our Savior returns in glory, not when the misguided leaders of a church proclaim that certain sins are no longer sinful because they believe that now God is telling them something new!.

Spare the Rod

The old adage, spare the rod and spoil the child, is no longer acceptable in our modern society. Corporal punishment is frowned upon since it may negatively affect the child’s self esteem. The more modern and enlightened parent will simply try to reason with their child, sometimes treating them as if they were equals. As we can see from our dysfunctional society, this weak handed approach is seldom successful. When there are no consequences for inappropriate behavior, there is no deterrent to prevent the child from continuing to misbehave. Our responsibility as parents is to make certain that when our children engage in behavior that is dangerous or inappropriate, that we reinforce that those types of conduct are unacceptable. The punishment meted out must be equivalent to the severity of the objectionable actions of the child. Any punishment must serve as a deterrence, so that the improper behavior will not be repeated. We must also explain why those acts are considered improper and reinforce that we love the child.

Our God has provided us His rules of conduct, delivered to us in His word, the Bible. As disciples of Christ, we are obligated to obey these rules of conduct. Although these laws were written thousands of years ago, they remain authoritative to this day. Many laws adopted by society mirror those laws that our God gave to the Israelites long ago. So, why would a church adopt doctrine to ignore those rules of conduct that are so plainly set out by our God? The leadership of the ELCA wants to preside over a truly enlightened church, complete with a variety of opinions, thereby allowing a “Big Tent” where many people that have a wide variety of beliefs can have fellowship. They feel that the similarities among them are larger than their differences, and that somehow a diversity of opinion can make them grow stronger. Well, the first foray into the diversity pool has left the ELCA in the deep end, realizing that they don’t know how to swim and are without a life preserver. What’s worse though, is that those trusting members of the ELCA that accept this false gospel are dragged under by the leadership’s plunge away from the Lord.

Lifting up the identities of the LGTB community, thereby placing the emphasis on the self, not on our God, the leaders of the ELCA have rejected Scriptural intent and have reinterpreted God’s word to feed worldly desires. By invoking the doctrine of bound conscience they have opened the door to sin freely and have placed human reasoning, experience and understanding in authority over Scripture. By accepting the validity of other religions and agreeing that there are alternate ways to Salvation, they encourage those who do believe in the Risen Christ to look elsewhere. By promoting the false gospel of affirmation, they advance the opinion that there truly is no sin, no need for repentance or forgiveness and that a Savior is unnecessary.

It would appear that this experiment into “diving into the pool of heresy with both feet” isn’t working out so well for the misguided leaders of the ELCA. Congregations are leaving at a rate that may cause this enlightened new world order of Lutheranism to fall by the wayside before the end of this decade. Pensions to retired ELCA pastors are being reduced, the operational budget of the synod has been reduced 40%, synod staff have been let go, and losses from congregations that have left or have redirected benevolence has cost the ELCA well over 14 million dollars this year alone. When will they realize that those that are searching are not looking for a social club to gather with those that they have little in common with? Those that are searching are looking for the only thing that can truly fill their longing hearts, the love of Jesus Christ. Only He can fill that empty place in our hearts. Only when we come to accept the truth that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ will we truly be fulfilled. As the petulant child that receives no guidance or discipline from their parents continues to misbehave, the leaders of the ELCA promote this new religion that has no consequence for sinful behavior and leads their membership away from the Lord. Romans 2:12-13, “All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” Without the rod that is God’s law, we shall truly be like a spoiled child and be disobedient to the Lord. While we have God’s grace through our faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ, we must also adhere to the law that our God provided for us. Continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will open the hearts and minds of all to the truth that our unity is in Christ, not to a church that surely denies Him.