Who Is The True Author Of Salvation? (Eight)
(…continues from part seven…)
8) Muhammad believed in Jesus whom he tagged Isa, the son of Mariam. This Jesus told His disciples to shake off the sand of wherever they were not received and to leave that place. Faced with another acceptance palaver this is the record of Scripture: “And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54) And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55) But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56) For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village” [Luke 9:53-56]. Muhammad slaughtered unbelievers of Islam in the name of Allah.
What do you think Muhammad of Islam would have done if he were the accosted Jesus at the night of Gethsemane, when Peter lopped off a soldier’s ear? Your guess is good as mine! He would never have gone to the cross. Why? Simple. He is not the Saviour of the sinful nature of mankind. I do not know of any Apostolic enjoinment of Jerusalem pilgrimage. You cannot embark on the annual Jewish pilgrimage to Jerusalem without shedding an atoning blood of an animal. It amounts to mere religious heavy laden enterprise – of none spiritual effect. The holiest blood of Jesus had taken care of all sacerdotal offerings. “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” [Matthew 26:28]. Who constitute the many? Romans 5:19 reads, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” 1John 2:2,“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” This is how many.
“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me” (Isaiah 1:11)?
Mohammed could not make this invitation of Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The God that he served saves through religion. Jehovah of the Bible is not comfortable with religious toil. ‘Come’ is an imperative adverb deute (dyoo’-teh): ‘come hither, come here, interjection, come! come now!’ ‘Labour’ is kopiaō (kop-ee-ah’-o): ‘to grow weary, tired, exhausted (with toil or burdens or grief).’ Phortizō (for-tid’-zo) is the Greek for ‘heavy laden’ meaning: ‘to place a burden upon, to load; metaphorically to load one with a burden (of rites and unwarranted precepts).’ From all these vexatious ritualism of religion Jesus promises all those who deute a ‘rest,’ which is the Hebraic anapauō (an-ap-ow’-o): ‘to give rest, refresh, to give one’s self rest, take rest.’ Not until one is relieved of religious palaver, he would never understand the upheaval he truly goes through in the name of religion.
Let us see Jehovah’s reaction to all the sanguinaceous activities of the Temple. “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats” [Isaiah 1:11]. These slaughtering stem from the carnal proclivities of religious insincerity, as far as God is concerned. John 3:13 is laden with so much profundity; “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” There was no way Mohammed could have been what Jesus claims to be here in John 3:13. Only the unique Son of God could perfect this stunt of being present in heaven and on earth simultaneously! Muhammad could not go the whole hog of John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It entails His Sonship, which Muhammad grossly lacked.
Islamic pilgrimage
Muhammadan Islam teaches that salvation is accomplished by practicing and repeating the Five Pillars. The Five Pillars of Islam are: fasting, pilgrimage, giving alms, prayer (five times a day), and confessing that Muhammad is the true Prophet. A continual practice of these things, according to Muhammad, is what saves Adamic beings. An interesting point concerning this religion is that one is never really sure about his salvation. Muslims can do all the right things and still not be saved because Allah may decide to consider you deficient in some way or another that only he knows. With Islam, the only sure way to be in paradise is by inflicting death through jihad (killing, or dying in the defence of Muhammadan faith). It reads in Al-Baqara, the 2nd chapter of the Qur’an verse 62, “Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the Christians, and the Sabians; anyone who believes in God, and believes in the Last Day, and leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.” Where is Jesus in this verse? Is the Author of salvation not missing in Muhammadanism?
Spiritual acquittal and discharge takes place only when one is born again. To be born again, say, with all your heart, this simple prayer:
“Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”
(…to be concluded…)
Read part Seven here
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