The BIBLE VIEW #871 — Liberalism

In This Issue:
The Damage They Have Done
The Old Is Better
Christianity above Philosophy
Whose Christ?

Volume: 870     August 8, 2022
Theme:  Liberalism

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The Damage They Have Done
Bill Brinkworth

A liberal philosophy has existed throughout history, but rarely has it done as much damage to society as it has done in the last fifty years.  Many boast and are not ashamed of having such a philosophy, but its destruction to individuals and the populace is far-reaching.

Webster’s dictionary (1828) defines “liberal” in many ways.  The definitions applied to a liberal philosophy include “not literal or strict, licentious, lacking decorum, unseemly beliefs, favoring changes, progressive, tolerant of other views.” Liberal thinking is usually a value system that deviates from what is traditionally considered normal and moral.  From a Christian’s perspective, it includes beliefs that reject and want to change moral truths preserved by God in His Word, the Bible.

Any variance from how God wants man to believe and live will only lead to an individual or society becoming more immoral and living a lifestyle further from God’s demands.  The outcome of accepting immorality has never been good for cultures of the past.  Societies deviating from following God’s guidelines have suffered, whereas those abiding by His commandments have flourished.

Over the years, we have not discouraged these philosophies contrary to God’s Word.  In too many cases, liberal thinking has even been encouraged.  Liberal philosophers, politicians, preachers, professors, and teachers, whose beliefs kept them from being employed in the past, are now sometimes given preferential treatment in getting a job.  Although their thinking is often accepted, the price it has cost society is immeasurable.

Here are some of the negative changes liberalism has caused in our society:

  • Where the morality of the majority of society was in line with scriptural teachings, the Bible has been banned in many institutions, societies, and even in conversation.  In doing so, the standard that says lying, stealing, taking of lives, adultery, homosexuality, worshipping other gods, and other moral limitations, has been removed.  Without God’s standards, it is acceptable to tell “little” white lies, take things that do not belong to you if you are needy, kill unborn babies because they are unwanted, commit homosexuality, and worship anything you want, because you feel better when you do so.  Without God’s measuring tool, the Bible, anything goes.
  • Leaders who once could not get a job or be elected if their character or beliefs strayed from biblical teachings are now elected to positions that make decisions that alter society’s morals.  Elected leaders in the United States have passed laws that allow over 4,000 murders of unborn babies every day.  They have also removed mentions of anything about God or His Word in public situations (including the Ten Commandments that were posted in many public buildings), encouraged public acceptance of homosexuality, making it a crime if anything is said contrary to their beliefs (“hate crimes”), and countless other anti-scriptural laws.
  • Liberal religious schools have produced preachers and leaders brainwashed to question and doubt God’s Word.  When they preach, they instill those doubts to their congregation, and now few under their preaching know what the Bible says, believe it, and certainly do not follow His Word.  Because of the liberal infiltration of pulpits, “thus saith the Lord” is no longer instilled in minds.  The “fear of God” has been removed from many churches!
  • Tolerance of anything, including others’ beliefs, has allowed unscriptural, damaging lifestyles to breed.  Humanity’s depravity is now laughed at and accepted most times, as there are no longer any standards that say anything is wrong.
  • Teachers and professors with little biblical character and standards are allowed to guide and direct young minds during most of their students’ day.  How do you think a student’s thinking will be after 12 years of liberal propaganda?

As an old ad said, “We have come a long way, baby.”  Unfortunately, the way we have gone is morally downhill, and it is not good — in God’s eyes!

Just because the liberals are confused, have few biblical standards, and in many cases, are rebellious against God does not mean that we have to follow and conform to their way of life that we are forced to live!  We, as Christians, know where the Truth is. 

Our responsibility is to be examples many will want to follow.  Christians are to be a light in this dark, sinful world.  We need to lead Biblically, not follow unscriptural pathways.  If one by one, we each live our lives according to what God has preserved in His written Word, once again, it will be unpopular to think and live contrary to what God’s Word says to do.

“Usually, the liberal tries to camouflage his true identity.”
Dr. Harold Sightler


The Old Is Better
H. Cameron

What is the new theology?
Some substitute for Calvary?
Exalting sinful self, guilty man.
Ignoring Heaven’s peerless plan?
It cannot give my conscience peace,
Nor find my spirit’s sweet release.

What is the old theology?
‘Tis Jesus died instead of me.
Jehovah’s law he magnified.
God’s justice is fully satisfied;
I died in Him, yet live I again
With Him forevermore to reign.

“God’s perfect will and way need not be modernized.”
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Heb. 13:8


Christianity above Philosophy
Author Unknown

Every system of philosophy is little in comparison to Christianity.  Philosophy may expand our ideas of creation, but it neither inspires a love for the moral character of the Creator nor a well-grounded hope of eternal life.

Philosophy, at most, can only place us at the top of Mount Pisgah, but there, like Moses, we will die.  It gives us no possession of the good, Promised Land.

It is the province of Christianity to add, “All is yours.”  When you ascend to the heights of human discovery, some things are beyond reach.  Scriptural revelation is the only medium by which standing, as it were, on “Nature’s Alps,” we discover things which the “… eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

“Man’s philosophy is a bully that talks very loud when the danger is at a distance, but when facing life’s real difficulties, it runs away and cannot be found.”Author Unknown


Whose Christ?
Herbert Lockyer, An Instrument of Ten Strings

Christians who love to be in places of worldly, sinful amusement give the world a false conception of Christianity.  Their being in those places indicates by their presence that Jesus Christ can save, but He cannot satisfy and that there has to be some addition of the world to make the Christian happy.

I met a girl in Liverpool who listened one evening as I spoke about complete separation from the world’s ungodliness.  She went home and was very unhappy.

She returned in desperation to tell me that if the theater, movies, and worldly amusements went out of her life, she would have nothing to live for.

I said, “God help you.”

“But,” she said, “I belong to the ___ church.”

“Well,” I said, “what has that to do with it?”

“We are told to have our quiet time in the morning,” she answered, “and then we can take Jesus into all these places.”

“Well,” I said, “you may take your Jesus into those places, but you cannot take the One of the Bible into there.”

But, those who go to the limit to enjoy all the things that the devil provides in this world find that the way in the end is hard.  For the moment sin appears to be the thing that you need, and there is a thrill in it, the ‘thrill’ soon harms the sinner, and it becomes a burden and a heartache.” — Dr. Harold Sightler

The BIBLE VIEW #859 — Religion

In This Issue:
Be of Christ, Not of Man
Don’t Follow the Religious.  Be the Righteous!
Real “Religion”
Avoid It Not
The Real Thing
When to Go

Volume: 859     May 16, 2022
Theme: “Religion”  

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Be of Christ, Not of Man
Bill Brinkworth

In the early church at Corinth, they had a problem that occurs even today within a church family.  The new church had some declare allegiance to the one who baptized them (I Corinthians 1:12).

Today, one hears of similar allegiances.  Instead of those claiming to follow the teachings of early church leaders and biblical principles, we hear of some claiming to be “Ruckmannites,” “Calvinists,” “Jimmy Swaggart”s, or another popular preacher they model their religious doctrines after.  Even a denominational name is used to make it sound like their association with them shows they are as correct as they think their leadership is.

A spiritual leader may be close to God and even faithful to biblical teachings, but following any man closely does not guarantee anyone else will be biblically correct.  A church label may indicate generally believed doctrines, but each congregation and member may have different beliefs.

I attend a Baptist church.  I believe that historically Baptist beliefs have been one of the closest to what the Bible teaches.  However, many Baptist congregations are as dead as a doorknob.  Some of them have had “Ichabod” spiritually engraved as their epitaph.  God has long ago departed from them.  Most “religious” labels mean very little.

What labels often do, however, is create divisions among the brethren (I Corinthians 1:11).  The contentions these divisions create often make a ministry have a poor testimony to those around it.  Ultimately, disputes among Christians give the Lord a bad testimony. 

Can you imagine what the unsaved must think of a church that cannot get along with each other?  “They’re Christians, and they can’t get along with each other.  I certainly don’t want to be a Christian if I end up like that!”

Paul reminded those fighting among themselves that Christ was not divided.  If we are born again, we are on the same side.  Above all, our testimony that the world should see should be only one label.  That label should be “Christian” — or “Christ-like.”

Men will argue about their religion; write about it; fight for it; die for it; anything, but live for it.”  — C. Colton


Don’t Follow the Religious.  Be the Righteous!
Bill Brinkworth

Pharisees were a powerful, controlling Jewish group that boasted about and led “spiritual” activities in Jesus’ time.  They were known for their separation from the scripturally “unclean” practices of the worldly Gentiles.  Their understanding came from the intellectual scribes that had much to do with explaining and preserving the Scriptures.  At the time, if anyone were considered to be “godly” people, certainly it would have been the Pharisees. 

However, Jesus had much to say against that sect.  They were some of the “religious” people that opposed Jesus and tried to stop His preaching.  That group taught contrary to what the Word of God taught.  It was the Pharisees that led people in the wrong direction about spiritual matters.

John 8 tells much of what Jesus knew about this religious, but unrighteous, group including:

  • Their judgments and discernments of what they saw and heard were often determined by their weak flesh and not by God’s influence (John 8:15).
  • They did not know God (John 8:19).  Although this group was known for their wisdom of the Scriptures, Jesus knew that they were not of God.  They did not even know the true God, and He was not their Father (John 8:44).
  • Their garb and practices led people to believe they were religious, but Jesus knew that they were not of God, but of the devil (John 8:23, 44).
  • Their man-made “religion” would not save them.  Unless they believed and trusted in Jesus alone, they would die and face judgment for their sins (John 8:24).
  • They did not realize that they were held captive by their sins.  They were not spiritually free (John 8:31-37).
  • The truth of God did not direct their lives (John 8:37).  They were not obedient to the Word of God they had claimed to follow (John 8:37-39).

Today, the Pharisees may not control us, but we still have “religious” among us that are not righteous.  Even if they are faithful in going to church, doing “spiritual” things, or even talk the “Christian talk,” they may be as spiritually dead as were the Pharisees. 

The Bible reveals that the errors of today’s unrighteous “religious” are much the same as the Pharisees that Jesus rebuked.  “Religion” does not save or change anyone!  Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and trusting and obeying God’s Word will change a person — from the inside out!

“The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, Heaven without Hell.”
— General William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army


Real “Religion”
J. Newton

The “religion” of some people is forced, something they feel obligated to do, not necessarily wanting to do.  Those people are like those that cause themselves to take a cold shower.  They take it not for pleasure but for necessity and health.  Reluctantly, they go into the frigid waters and are glad when they get out. 

Real “religion” to a true believer is like water to a fish.  It is his element.  He lives in it, and he could not be happy without it.

“Real ‘religion’ is a personal relationship with the resurrected Redeemer, not man-made, ritualistic routines under the guise of pleasing God.”
— Author Unknown


Avoid It Not
John Bate

Man does not refuse to cross the ocean because of its storms, travel by air because of accidents, or fight on the battlefield because of weaponry and deaths.  Nor does he fail to study science and philosophy because of their mysteries.  Likewise, man should not refuse to learn and practice God-ordered Christianity because of the various difficulties connected with it and by obeying His commandments.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”  John 3:30


The Real Thing
John Bate

  • One real dollar bill is worth a thousand counterfeits, however dim, wrinkled, and worn the genuine is.
  • One good, fruitful tree in an orchard is far more valuable than scores of trees, which may have beauty, but no fruit.
  • One genuine Christian, to God and the world, is worth a thousand hypocrites.
  • One acceptable prayer to God does more than the million that He rejects, even if the righteous’ prayer is simple, broken, and unpolished.

“I don’t like to use the label ‘religious’, as it usually brings up connotations of something man-made, not necessarily God-ordained.  I prefer the term “biblical.” — Bill Brinkworth


When to Go
John Bate

When considering being saved, some people imagine they should bring themselves into a condition of moral excellence before they seek salvation.  That is like:

  • A sick person waiting until he is well before he sees the physician;
  • Or an invalid waiting until he fully recovers before he seeks a change of air and place;
  • Or a hungry man waiting until his appetite is satisfied before he sits down to eat;
  • Or a person shivering with cold, waiting until he is warm before he lights a fire.

You go to the physician because you are sick, to the fresh air to improve your health, to the food because you are hungry, and to the fire because you are cold.  In the same way, you should seek the Saviour as you are because you have a great need.

“All that the Father giveth me [Jesus] shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37

The Bible View #742

Articles in this Bible View: “What A Christian Has,” “Unconscious of Bondage,” “Having Spiritual Freedom,” “Chain and All,” “The Pilgrim’s Treasure,” …
Theme: False Teachings

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