Liberty University welcomed Alistair Begg, who has served as senior pastor for Parkside Park in Cleveland since 1983 and also runs Truth For Life, a Bible-teaching ministry, to Convocation on Wednesday to present a message on the importance of Christians refusing to compromise on the truth of the Gospel.
Reading from the book of Jude, Begg spoke about the relationship that the book’s author had with Jesus. Although he was the brother of Jesus, Jude did not open the letter by introducing himself as such, but instead described himself as a “servant of Jesus.”
“The point that he is making is an important point, and that is that the most significant relationship that he has with Jesus is not actually by virtue of his status in that family, but it is on the basis of the fact that Jesus is his Savior,” Begg said, noting that other believers may have been tempted to use the familial relationship with Jesus as a means for personal recognition.
He argued that this clear distinction mirrors how the Gospel shows no partiality in regard to who needs the saving power of Christ. Even members of Jesus’ family, including his mother, Mary, needed the power of God to save them from their wickedness
“No one is too privileged to be exempt from the need for salvation,” he said.
Begg next addressed how Jude continues the first verse by telling believers that they are called, beloved, and kept. Referencing the song “Forever and Ever, Amen” by country artist Randy Travis, Begg said that God’s love alone can love us for all of eternity.
He discussed the importance of remaining grounded in the truth of the Gospel, stating that the largest threat against the spreading of the Gospel lies in the failure of believers to do what they are called to do.
“Whenever you find a person, a church, (or) an academic institution shifting from a conviction about ‘The (true Christian) Faith’ to (generic) faith, I guarantee you it is the beginning of the end,” he said. “The urgent appeal is not because of the forces and whims that are blowing against the Christians to whom (Jude) writes from the outside. The warning is about a collapse from the inside. A loss of conviction. A loss of a sense of the authority and truth of the Gospel, and as a result you see what happens.”
Begg argued that when Christians do not give the Gospel the reverence and respect it deserves as the inerrant Word of God, they sometimes remove sections from it or add parts of their own. Using the example of biblical marriage, he said that Christians sometimes ignore parts of Scripture that do not align with their beliefs, such as passages about premarital sex or hom*osexuality.
Regarding additions to the Bible, Begg said that groups like the Catholic Church who place other sources, such as the pope, on equal authority with the Bible fail to give the Bible the respect it deserves.
“It is the Scripture that creates the Church, not the Church that creates the Scripture,” he said.
In contrast, he urged Christians to fully embrace the truth of the Bible, believing it all to be the truth of God and rely solely on it for spiritual wisdom.
Continuing on the discussion of internal threats to the Church, Begg warned about people who seek to corrupt the body of Christ by accepting sin.
“What they have taken is the call of the Gospel to men and women outside of Christ to come as you are — you don’t have to clean up, you don’t have to fix up, you just have to come as you are. They’ve taken that and changed it to (say), ‘You can stay as you are. You can just be whatever you want to be.’ What they do is they take the grace of God, and they pervert it. They make a smokescreen for immorality.”
Begg concluded his message with a condemnation of moral relativism in Christian circles.
“I want to say to you as an older man now, that if you are in Christ, you have no freedom to believe anything other than what Jesus has said,” he said. “If you believe in Christ, you have no freedom to behave outside the shepherding boundaries of a God who knows best.”
Begg is slated to speak at Campus Community Wednesday evening, held in the Vines Center at 7 p.m.
