8/12/2019 2005 Issue 4 - What We Can Learn From Muslims - Counsel of Chalcedon

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What We Can Learn From MuslimsDr. Greg L. Bahnsen

The Word, Volume 12, Issue 9 (November 2001)http://vvww. scccs. orgl scccs/wordlPenpointArticle

The terrorists attach s on New York CitY and fVashington,D C. on September 11,2001, have brought milit ant Islamvividly and threateningly to the attention o he Americanpublic once again. fVho are these people? i hat do theybelieve? Is their resort to violence an abberation or anessential tenent o heirfaith These and other questions havebeen addressed again and again dur ing the weeks followingthe attack The following edited portion o a sermon bY Dr.Bahnsen is not a theological or apologetic critique o hereligion o slam. Rather, while f ({jecting the Musl imfaith,Dr. Bahnsen.finds, in their zealfor a lifo-encompassingdevotion and obedience to God, a f itti ng rebuke for manycontemporary American Christians who too often separatetheirfaitll in Christfi om large and significant areas o ifoand culture. His exhortation is as apt todaY as it was whendelivered in FaY ette, N. C in January 29, 1995.

I've decided I'd preach to you this Lord's daymorning -- I know this is going to surprise many ofyou -- on What We Can Learn from the Muslims."The Muslims have something that Christians need topick up on. Of course, we know the Muslims don't haveanything good that they didn't get from Christianity-- from the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.But isn't it a shame that the Muslims today more purelyreflect a couple of themes in Christian theology thandoes the Christian church as a whole?

I want to draw your attention to something theMuslims understand which we as Christians shouldunderstand more than anybody else, and should beliving out. Muslims understand that Allah is sovereignover all things, and therefore everything in life must

serve Him. Muslims don't look upon religion as partof life. They look on religion as life itself. That's theway we ought to see things Christianity is not just onepart of life among many. The Bible teaches us that ourChristian faith is not just part of life -- it is our life. And

1 Dr. Bahnsen llsed the American Standard Versiono he Bible (1901) in preaching and teaching. Some o hequotations below are read i om that versioll, others quotedfi Olll memory, and still others riflec t hisowlltranslation o hepassage being cited.

therefore, as Christians, we are to live out this religiousfaith -- our relationship to the LORD -- in everythingwe do. There's nothing that doesn't belong to the LordJesus Christ. He's risen from the dead and ascendedon high. Everything is now His. And consequently weare supposed to follow Him, and seek His guidance,and submit to His rule, in everything that we do -- in allareas of our lives.

Look at 1 Peter 1:14, As children of obedience .."Now wait. We have to stop there for a moment.

Children of obedience?" There are many in the churchtoday who would balk at such a designation. They say,"We're not 'children of obedience.'We're 'children offaith.'We believe." And, of course, we do. I t is certainlytrue that we are justified by faith. No doubt aboutthat. But the Bible says that those who have faith inthe Lord Jesus Christ will obey Him. And so those ofus who have been born again to a new life do not sitback and say, 0 glorious condition I can sin and haveremission." Rather, we are captured by the wonder thatGod would save us -- not only from the guilt of our sin,but from the power of our sin as well. So those whotrust in the Lord Jesus Christ should be obedient toHis '\Tord.

Peter declares, As children of obedience, notfashioning yourselves according to your former lusts inthe time of your ignorance: but like as he who calledyou is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all mannerof living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy; forI am holy" (vv.14-17). Notice, first of all, that Petercontrasts the holiness of our current life of obedienceto our former desires when we were unbelievers.Most churches grasp that point. But in the thinking ofmany Christ ians today, the idea is that now you havebeen redeemed by Christ from your former lusts anddesires, you are to serve the Lord in all areas of piety.And by that is meant things like church attendance,prayer and Bible reading in your personal devotions,"evangelism, and perhaps the way you live in your family.But your work, your entertainments and recreations,how you spend your money, vote, or what you dopolitically, educationally, etc. -- these areas have nothingnecessarily to do with religion. They have nothing todo with the life of obedience. But what was it that our

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sinful desires were all about before we were Christians?Were they not about these very things? Peter's contrastis between what you used to think about these manyareas of life as anon-believer, and how you view themnow, having come to faith in Christ. Formerly, in allthose things, you were self-worshiping and self-serving,a law unto yourself (autonomous). But now you havebecome holy as children of obedience," and yourholiness needs to be as comprehensive as were yourformer ways of unbelief and sin. That's why Peter saysyou must be holy in all manner of living." Everythingis holy once you become a Christian. We don't have a"sacred" and "secular" dichotomy in life, where somethings are "religious" concerns while others are not.Holiness touches everything now. There's nothing inthis world that isn't now given to the Lord Jesus Christ.So be holy in all manner of life.

The second thing I want you to see in this text isthat Peter says, " . .it is written, Ye shall be holy; for

I am holy.'" Not only must Christians dedicate andconsecrate every area of their lives to the Lord JesusChrist, but Peter says the standard of that holiness, ofthat consecration, is God Himself You can't make upyour own standard. God doesn't say, for example, Iwant you to live like Christians in politics. Now whatyou do is get together and pray and ask yourselves,'What would be the best thing to do?'" No. When we gettogether and think about political matte rs, we need tobe set apart by the Word of God. We want the characterof God to be our standard. God says, Ye must be holy;for I am holy." Our holiness must be a reflection of theholiness of God Himself And that divine holiness is

revealed in Scripture. That means, therefore, that ourreligion has to cover everything in life.

Now why is it the Muslims understand that, andChristians so often cringe when they hear it? Thesuggestion that there's a Christian view" of economics,or entertainment, a Christ ian way to raise yourfamily (not hopelessly compromised by humanisticpsychology), is met with horror in too many Christianchurches. "No, no," we are told, "you've forgotten thenature of the Kingdom of God. Jesus said, 'My Kingdomis not of this world.'" He sure did, but you know whatHe meant? He said to Pilate, the Roman governor , "MyKingdom is not from here. My Kingdom is from above.I 'm going to receive my authority from above. I don'tneed your (Rome's) endorsement.

Isn't that amazing? We need to have the boldnessto say that in the United States of America today.We've got it wrong. We have the idea that "democratic"procedures, which we use for electing officers andenacting legislation, should also be used to decidewhat's right and wrong. But it's not. We do not establishmorality by Gallup polls. Who cares what percentage of

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Americans favor abortion? Since when did God allomen and women to decide for themselves what whatwas right or wrong? The Word of God stands supremAnd we don't need the permission of our culture, orthe Congress, or the President to say so The Kingdoof the Lord Jesus Christ is from above. Its authority ifrom God Himself. It's not from Washington, D.C. Atherefore, Washington D.C. had better get on its knebefore the Lord Jesus Christ (Ps. 2:11-12). Now theBible teaches this so clearly, and yet so many Christitell us, Oh no, you can't mix religion with these othareas of life." Listen to the Word of God. Every arealife is now consecrated to the Lord Jesus Christ. Evearea of life is now governed by the holiness of GodHimself which we learn of only in Scripture Therefoevery area of life is governed by the Word of God. Thhow the Muslims use their Koran Why don't Christuse their Bibles in the same way?

Another question then arises: How much of the

Word of God is His standard for our imitative holinesMany evangelicals would say, Only the New TestameThat's because many today think that Jesus saved usfrom the Law of God What a terrible confusion Anwhat terrible practical results have followed in theAmerican church We're not saved from the Law. Wesaved from sin, which is defined by the Law of Godsay that we're saved from the Law is to say that we cnow go on to live any way we want. Now that is notthe Bible says, no matter how many Christians maywish it were true . You've been born again as childrenof obedience." Hebrews tells us that Jesus becamethe source of eternal salvation for all who obey him

(Hebr. 5:9). You've been turned around, made over bthe Holy Spirit. We have new life, and that new lifedoesn't go back to our former selfishness and pride.You now want to serve the Lord Jesus in all things. Yhave not been saved from the Law. You've been saveunto obedience to the Law. You were not saved by ylaw-keeping. No doubt about that. The Pharisees anthe Judaizers got that wrong. You cannot be saved bthe Law of God. But you know what the apostle Paulsaid? He once took pride in his "blamelessness" beforthe Law (Phil. 3:6). But when he encountered Christon the Damascus road, and came to faith in Christ,saw his law- keeping efforts for what they truly were- dung v. 8). In Galatians 2:19, Paul wrote, I diedthe Law that I might live unto God." But if you lookthe text you might be surprised to discover how t wthat Paul died to the Law." He says, "For I through thLaw died unto the Law, that I might live unto God."was the Law itself that taught him not to be a legalisWhen he read the Law as a Christian, he understoodthat it was a declaration of God's grace, that we mustfollow it by faith, and that the obedience we give isbecause of the life God has granted us. The Law tauPaul that. The Law taught him that he had to die to

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legalism. He had to die to the Law as a way of salvation,so that he might then live unto God. If you've beensaved by grace through faith, you've been saved unto alife of good works (Eph. 2:8.10). God's children needto be children of obedience." Those who bow to theLord Jesus Christ, don't live their own lives, they live inobedience to Christ. Why should Muslims be known asthose fanatically devoted to following the will of theirgod? Why not Christians? So when we ask where we areto find God's directions for our obedience, we find theanswer in the words of Jesus in Matthew 5, Don't beginto think I came to abrogate the Law or the Prophets; Ididn't come to abrogate them. I came to fulfill them v.17). He said, The scribes and the Pharisees cheapenthe Law, and they don't understand it. I 'm here to givethe Law its full measure. I 'm here to fulfill the Lawand tell you what it's all about. For truly I say unto you,until heaven and earth passes away, not a jot or a tittlewill pass away from the Law until everything happensv. 18). Has heaven and earth passed away yet? No. Has

any j ot or tittle of the Law passed away yet? No. Notunless Jesus didn't know what he was talking about."Therefore, any man who breaks the least of thesecommandments and teaches men so will be called leastin the kingdom of heaven" v. 19).

How much of the Old Testament did Jesus endorse?How much did He come to give its full mea sure , to.makc it stand, to confirm it for all it was meant to be?Every "jot and tittle." And if you take the least portion ofthe Old Testament and say, "Well, that's not importantto me." Jesus says, "Well then, you're not important inthe Kingdom."You've been born again as children ofobedience."You've been saved by grace through faithunto good works. God has given you a new life whichis to be lived in holiness in every area of your life. AndJesus defines that holiness through every jot and tittleof His Word. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by breadalone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouthof God" (Matt. 4:4). And the Muslims understand thisbetter than we do. They borrowed this from us. It'sright there in our Bible. They took it from the truesource and corrupted it, and have not used it properly.But if you suggest to a Muslim that you can followAllah one day a week, or in your private devotions, butyou don't have to be a good Muslim when it comesto your politics, or your economics, or your personalrelationships, or the way you conduct your business,he would just laugh in your face. Muslims today seethe great strength of Islam over against contemporaryWestern "Christianity" at this very point: They believetheir faith is foundational and comprehensive for anentire culture and way of life. And they are aggressiveabout spreading that faith, and brining other culturesand societies under the sway of Islam. They are willingto go to any measure to accomplish that goal. But

contemporary Western Christianity" is not biblical

Christianity. Biblical Christianity, as we have seen, isa faith for all of life .. personal, family, ecclesiastical,social, and cultural. Earlier in Matthew 5, Jesus said,"You are the "salt of the earth v. 13) .. a preservativefrom rot and decay. God has put you in this world assalt, to keep i t from rotting as fast as it would in sinand degradation. You're the active agent that's goingto

make a differencein

preserving this world.When

I look around our contemporary society, and see itsflagrant evils; and when I see the impotence of thechurch in the face of such unrighteousness; I have toask, How can that be if this nation is supposed to be a'Christian nation?' The salt has "los t its savor," hasn'tit? And when that happens, the culture doesn't simplysit back in "peaceful coexistence" with us. No, it pressesthe church and Christians hard .. toward a furtherenforced retreat.

Why is it that the church is being walked on by theworld? Why is it that we are being trampled on by the

feet of men? Is it not because we have "lost our savor?"We have lost our preservative value in this world. Andin that condition, we are good for little else than pavingmaterial. So the Muslims can teach us something today.. religion is life. Sadly, they have the wrong religion.They worship and serve the wrong god. But we do notWe have committed our lives to the true and livingGod through faith in Jesus Christ, the King of Kingsand Lord of Lords. And for us, even more than for theMuslim, life lived to the glory of God means life livedunder His holiness and by the direction of His ,,"ord inScripture.

(NOTE: The tape of the sermon from which this articleis taken is available from Covenant Media Foundation,

www.cmfnow.com. tape #GB 1811.)

He who has been with us n sixtroubles, will not forsake us in theseventh. What we have known o f ourfaithful God, .proves that he will keepus to the end. Let us not, then,reason contrary to evidence. Howcan we ever be so ungenerous as todoubt our God? Lord, throw downthe Jezebel o f our unbelief, and let thedogs devour i t .

C. H. Spurgeon

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