The Gospel Divides Campus Ministry

On October 29th, Christianity Today published an article titled, Not All Evangelicals and Catholics Together. To be honest, it is quite refreshing to see some Protestants still believe the Gospel is worth not only defending, but also see the Gospel as what defines a Christian. For far too long many have taken the position stated by Timothy George in the article.

"The gaping divide between evangelicals and Catholics is ecclesiology and authority, not justification and salvation, as important as that debate remains," George said. "There is enough commonality that evangelicals and Catholics with a living faith can recognize one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ with a common Lord and common grace that brought them together. The hard issues are questions related to the church, such as the Petrine office [the papacy] and the Eucharist. Those discussions will occupy us for the next 100 years."

So the Gospel will not be the center of discussion, nor the idea that man needs the imputation of Christ's righteousness alone through faith alone. In other words, Christ's life being given to the believer as a free gift as opposed to the sacramental system of Rome is not enough to divide a true religion from a false one.

I have seen this personally in churches I have attended. This is not merely an academic debate but a debate which affects the life of the local church.