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God Has No Sons

 

If your neighbour was a devout Muslim, could you be his friend?  I could.  If your Muslim neighbour invited you to join him in worship to Allah, would you accept his invitation?   I would not.

 

Chrislam, a new religious movement to North America began in Africa during the 1980's.  This movement seeks to find common ground between Islam and Christianity.  Beyond finding common ground, Chrislam seeks to bring Christians and Muslims together in one common worship service.  Both Muslims and Christians are seen worshipping the Almighty of their choice in one gathering.  The end goal of Chrislam is to unite these two religions into one, but is this really possible when the fundamental belief systems of Christianity and Islam are light years apart?

 

There are a number of things stated in the Koran that should disturb Christians.  One particular reoccurring phrase that appears in the Koran is "God has no sons".  God having no sons is fundamental to Islam.  God having a Son is fundamental to Christianity.

 

John 1:1 and 2 state, "in the beginning was the Word, (Jesus) and the Word was with God and the Word was God".  John 1:10 states, "He (Jesus) was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him".  This passage, along with other passages, states that God came to earth in human form which the world failed to recognize.  John 3:16 calls this human form "the Son of God".  It's not that people don't recognize the existence of Jesus in history, because they do.  When people saw Jesus walking the shores of the Jordan River , they recognized Him as Jesus.  What people failed to acknowledge back then and still fail to acknowledge today, and that includes Muslims, is that Jesus is the "Son of God".   

 

Beyond God having one very special Son, the Bible teaches that He has many adopted sons.  John 1:12 states that whoever believes in Jesus has been given the right to become a child, or, a son of God.  Simply believing that Jesus was a man, or even a prophet, doesn't give anyone the right to be an adopted son of God.  Giving yourself to Jesus, the Son of God, does give you the right to become an adopted son of God.  The Bible clearly teaches that God has one very special Son and many adopted sons, yet Islam says that God has no sons.

 

If my neighbour was a devout Muslim, I believe I could be his friend.  I would genuinely be interested in hearing how and why he thinks and believes as he does.  I'm sure we could spend hours on my back deck talking about these things.  That being said, I cannot compromise the truth of the Bible.  I would declare to Him that God does have a Son, and without Him he has no access to God, no matter what name you call Him.  If he struggles with that and ends the friendship, so be it.  I'd stand firm on the truth of Scripture no matter the cost.  

 

If my Muslim neighbour invited me to an Islam, or even a Chrislam, worship service, I would definitely decline.  The apostle Paul would have done the same.  If you study 1 Corinthians 8 you'll understand Paul's thinking concerning such things.  Paul would have no problem eating meat that had been offered to an idol if he was invited to a pagan's home for lunch.  He would have been heavily criticized for that, but meat was not the issue for Paul.  However, Paul would not eat that same piece of meat in the context of a pagan worship service.  He would never participate in any kind of  pagan worship to other gods, even if it provided an opportunity to witness for Jesus.  He knew the Old Testament command too well to do that. My point is simple.  Be a friend to the pagan if at all possible, but never join in worship to his gods.  

 

Many people point out that Paul was often found in dialogue with those of other religions, and that's true.  That being said, his intent was not to find common ground with other religions.  His intent was to persuade people to forsake their gods, repent, and hand their lives over to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  He was not interested in compromising the gospel for the sake of unity, and neither should we.  

 

Chrislam has it wrong.  A Christian cannot unite himself in worship with a Muslim because the Muslim denies the very existence of the God Christians serve, and we would deny Him too if we worshipped with Muslims. Christians worship the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as Paul so often called God (Romans 15:6, 2 Corinthians 1:3 …).  If you take God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, out of the equation, you have forsaken the God of the Bible.  And, if you know how God felt about Israel participating in pagan worship in Old Testament times, that should make you tremble in your boots.  The very thought of worshipping with a Muslim in a Chrislam service should strike your heart  with fear.  

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