Christian Persecution in Pakistan

photo: Kim Chaudary AP

Two Islamic terrorists blew themselves up via suicide vests outside All Saints’ Church in Peshawar, Pakistan this past Sunday, 22 September 2013. This atrocity—the murder of 78 adults and 7 children—is the biggest massacre of Christians in Pakistan’s history. You can read about it here and here.

Once again the world can see firsthand that this is not a “religion of peace.”

But hear this, dear Muslims. You can oppress us, persecute us, even murder us, but you cannot rob Christian of the joy of being children of God who are clothed in Christ’s perfect righteousness. The peace you claim to have is ours abundantly in Jesus Christ. It can be yours too. For you we pray. For you there is forgiveness. For you Jesus Christ was born, baptized, lived, died, rose again, ascended, and even now sits at the Father’s right hand.

Fellow Christians, remember the blessed words of your Lord:

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” [Matthew 5:11-12]

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” [John 15:18-19]

Salvation in No One Else

Despite what God’s Word says, you can get to heaven apart from faith in Jesus Christ. How? By obeying your conscience. So says the supreme pontiff.

In a recent letter to Eugenio Scalfari, founder of La Repubblica newspaper, Pope Francis wrote the following:

You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying—and this is the fundamental thing—that God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience. [source]

Are the pontiff’s words faithful to Holy Scripture? No! Salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone.

What does God’s Word say about our obedience? Our works? Our merits?

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” [Romans 3:10-12] 

“By works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” [Romans 3:20] 

“No one is justified before God by the law.” [Galatians 3:11]

What does God’s Word say about salvation and Jesus Christ?

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” [John 14:6] 

“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4:12] 

“We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” [Romans 3:28] 

“We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” [Galatians 2:16] 

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” [Ephesians 2:1-10]

Don’t go searching for salvation in your heart, your conscience, your obedience, or your works. Look instead to Jesus Christ and Him crucified for you. Find His grace in Word and Sacrament. Hear and believe His word of forgiveness to you. Jesus alone is your salvation!

Many Roads, One Way

Many are the roads that lead to God’s throne,

Each path with doctrines and scriptures their own.

Some teach God is one, some say One-in-three,

Some claim heaven’s earned, some say that it’s free.

Diverse believers of each tribe and race

Will one day appear before the King’s face.

And there they will find, ’tis God and not man,

Who chooses the path of His saving plan.

There’s only one way, the Lord did provide:

The Son whom He loves, enthroned at His side.

He is all of truth, He is all of life,

The sole way to God is His sacrifice.

Many are the roads that lead to God’s throne,

But heaven is reached in Jesus alone.

Author: Chad Bird [via his blog]

Atrocities

Last evening the President of the United States of America addressed the nation concerning the atrocities in Syria, specifically the use of chemical weapons. Here are a few of the President’s remarks:

Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war. Over a hundred thousand people have been killed. ...

The situation profoundly changed, though, on Aug. 21st, when Assad’s government gassed to death over a thousand people, including hundreds of children. The images from this massacre are sickening, men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas, others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath, a father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk. On that terrible night, the world saw in gruesome detail the terrible nature of chemical weapons. ...

When dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory. But these things happened. The facts cannot be denied.

Were these atrocities? Yes! Should they be condemned? Yes!

But for the next few minutes, replace the word “gassed” with the word “aborted,” and the phrases “this massacre,” “chemical weapons,” and “atrocities” with the word “abortion.” While the names, locations, and victims are different, the end result of abortion is really no different than the end result of chemical weapons.

While children in utero are not gassed to death, they are murdered in a whole host of other grotesque ways. Pharmaceuticals cause an unborn baby to starve and suffocate (for example, RU-486 blocks progesterone—a crucial hormone during pregnancy—and therein cuts off food, fluid, and oxygen to the tiny developing baby). Sharpened tools cut an unborn baby into tiny little pieces so that he can be expelled. Vacuum aspiration sucks an unborn baby out of his mother’s womb.

In Syria, children are dying at the hands of those who do not see them as valuable, useful, worthy of life. In the womb, unborn children are dying for the same reasons.

Our President is on to something very important when he states that dictators depend on the world to look the other way when they commit their atrocities. I would argue the same is true of abortion. When mothers and fathers consent to an abortion and a medical staff performs an abortion, they depend on the world looking the other way. They do not want you to picture the horrifying reality of abortion. But as the president stated so pointedly, these things happened. The facts cannot be denied.

I’m glad the President is upset that children are being put to death. I simply wish he was consistent when it came to the 1,000,000+ children who are aborted each year here in our own country.

Lord, have mercy!

Ashamed of Who We Are

This past week I learned that Walther Lutheran High School in Melrose Park (Illinois) has changed its name. It no longer wishes to identify itself with the name Lutheran. It is now Walther Christian Academy.

Four years ago their enrollment was near record highs (approximately 425 students). The name Lutheran gave the school a sure and certain anchor in a church that champions God’s Word of truth and a faithful confession of it.

Now, four years later, we are led to believe that the name Lutheran is the cause of their decreasing enrollment and financial troubles. That’s a straw man.

I had the privilege of leading several chapel services at Walther years ago when I served two nearby congregations. I was not ashamed of the name Lutheran then, nor am I now. I wish the folks at Walther who made this change weren’t either. What a sad day this is when Walther no longer wishes to identify itself with its own heritage and roots. The students deserve better.

Lord, have mercy!