Pointing to Christ

  As Western Civilization has become more globally aware and more religiously and culturally diverse, many evangelical Christians honestly wonder about the fate of those who have never had the opportunity to hear the gospel—the unevangelized. Many ask themselves. “Will God really condemn people who have not even had the opportunity to hear about Jesus?” On account of this, some have abandoned the faith and embraced pluralism, denying the uniqueness of Jesus and affirming the salvific nature of all religions that promote good. Others, however, seek to stay true to the Bible and affirm that salvation is Solus Christus , in Christ alone. Nevertheless, not all evangelicals agree about the fate of the unevangelized. The Bible teaches that though all mankind, including the unevangelized, are dead in their sin and destined for eternal separation from God, God lovingly redeems those who, upon hearing the gospel in this life, place their faith in Jesus. Thus, hearing and believing the...

           Part of the beauty of the gospel is expressed by Paul’s words in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The gospel crosses ethnic and social lines. It cannot be confined to one culture, and the beautiful result of the gospel is that men, women, and children believers from all cultures can worship Christ together, without the ethnic or social prejudices that are common in every culture.         The question arises, however: should churches express a single ethnic or social identity or multiple ethnic or social identities? Should churches be formed around a single cultural identity that will attract others from that culture? Or should churches seek to be multi-ethnic? Ralph Winter argues that the question should be answered in terms of Christian liberty and, ultimately, evangelist...

By the fourteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church was in desperate need of reform. Previous attempts to reform the church had achieved little success and had only resulted in more legalism and hypocrisy within the church. The papacy was once again on the decline, grappling for power with the nations of Europe. Moreover, many priests and other church leaders were corrupt and abused their authority. For those in the lower-classes, Bibles were virtually unattainable, and only priests were allowed to partake of the cup in the Lord’s Supper. These abuses within the church produced a negative reaction, and some within the church began to press for reform. Among these were John Wycliffe and John Huss. Both denounced the corruption evident within the church and pressed for a return to the authority of the Scriptures. Their efforts were met with much resistance by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church would win for a time, but the legacy of both of these men would live on and...