“I have a question regarding something I believe is called contextualizing of the gospel message…I would like to understand more about this….”

The contextualizing of the gospel is a concept that has been popularized by the emergent churches out west, which in itself is a cause for concern. It is essentially an attempt to accommodate social change, culture, tradition, and religious views of other so-called faiths when presenting the gospel. The Word of God is then conformed, as needed, to adapt to these areas more effectively to minister to others.

For example, the Muslim holds a monotheistic view of Allah. That is, there is only one true God. Contextualizing theology asks the question whether this is compatible with Christianity since it also holds to a monotheistic view of God. With what appears to be common ground they feel they have an open door to advance the gospel. While this is only one facet of contextualizing, it is a practice that is questionable at best, and in some cases heretical.

The Word of God stands alone as the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. It does not need the assistance of concepts, which only serve to undermine the Scriptures. There is one true and living God whose name is Jesus Christ, “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). All other gods or views of gods are false!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

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