One of my biggest pet-peeves in my faith is bad theology. There are legitimate differences in opinion and interpretation, but there are also differences based solely on ignorance.
I recently came across a posting on digg.com, a totally secular site, lambasting Christians for boycotting Verichip, because many see it as either a precursor to the mark of the beast or they see it as the technology that will be used for the mark itself.
Now I am agnostic on this particular issue. Verichip may very well be the technology used to allow people to buy and sell, but the scripture in Revelation 13, in my interpretation, requires an outward, visible mark. It is Satan’s form of cattle branding.
What inspired this post wasn’t the opinions about Verichip, however. There was a comment left by a naive Christian that in order to be saved, one must be baptized. Similar beliefs that torque me are Pentecostal teaching that one must speak in tongues.
This is where the thief that hung on the cross next to Jesus is invaluable. He came to a belief in the savior that was hanging next to him, dying with him, and asked that Jesus remember him. Jesus promised that before the day was over, they would be together in heaven.
There is no record of the thief coming down from the cross temporarily in order to be baptized. Likewise, there is no mention of tongues being spoken.
Anyone who has ever been saved, from Adam until now, has been saved in the same manner: faith in their savior. Before Christ, that faith was in an unknown future messiah. Since Christ, that faith has been in Jesus. It has always been faith in Him though. There is no record in the Old Testament of anyone speaking in tongues upon being saved.
Baptism is a form of Christian witness. It as an outward expression of an inward cleansing. It is not a religious act required for salvation. If it were required, Jesus would have been lying when he told the thief they would be together in heaven. If your church teaches that you must be baptized to be saved, your church is wrong.
Likewise, tongues are a gift of the spirit. Some have it, others do not. Those who do not are not condemned to hell because they haven’t been given that particular gift. Paul said the greatest gift is prophecy. The least of the gifts is tongues. To say that someone who has the least of the gifts is saved, while someone who has the greatest of gifts is not is ludicrous.
Thank God for the thief!
Thank God for the thief, indeed!
Well said.
well said, indeed! that thief has offered me much comfort over the years…
I’ve spent some time trying to decide which bad theology is worth getting all upset about.
Eventually, I concluded that the reverse approach works much better – For which theological beliefs will I drive a stake in the ground and fight to the death to defend?
When all is said and done, there aren’t all that many, and they are best summed up by
the Apostle’s Creed and Eph 2:8. I try not to get as worked up about issues beyond these, because – from God’s point of view – they really aren’t all that important.
I should have said “as important” instead of “all that important.”
I think it damages peoples faith to say that one is not saved unless they were baptized/speak in tongues, or anything else that doesn’t have a rock-solid scriptural backing.
I get really upset when someone who is Pentecostal tells me I am not going to heaven because I have never spoken in tongues. How many people in Pentecostal churches start babling during worship so others will think well of them? It hurts those people and it hurts the church.
These teachings actually do run contrary to Eph. 2:8. They say that it takes faith AND some kind of works. Ephesians teaches it is faith only. Not only that, it teached that faith itself is a gift from God.
I heard that Walter Martin used to have a great response to the tongues people. He would ask if the person has ever raised anyone from the dead. When they say no, he apologizes for their clear lack of faith.