Elzinga, Kenneth - Exclusive Territory

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Exclusive Territory
by Kenneth G. Elzinga
Text: John 14:1-10
Topic: What exclusivity means to Christians
Big Idea: God's demands of exclusivity are for our own good.
Keywords: Acceptance; Salvation; Self-righteousness


Introduction
  • The exclusive claims of Christ in the Bible are scandalous in our society, which applauds diversity.
God places exclusive demands on our behavior.
  • These demands free us to be all we can be.
    - Illustration: Elzinga’s former student always slept with the women he dated and wondered why he couldn’t sustain a long-term relationship, so Elzinga explained the freedom in saving sex for marriage, and the student’s relationships improved.
    - Illustration: Married libertarian philosopher Ayn Rand had an affair without remorse, but when her lover cheated on her, she became enraged, endangering her libertarian movement.
God does not want us to be exclusive of others.
  • Illustration: The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates how God wants us to treat our neighbors: The Good Samaritan stops to help the beaten man despite the victim’s different background.
  • Illustration: Pro-lifer John Rankin has won the respect of his adversaries in the abortion debate by not hating them, but by praying for them.
  • Christians are to be ambassadors to the unsaved world, not self-righteously exclusive.
The gospel makes an exclusive salvation claim.
  • All roads do not lead to God; only one does..
    - Illustration: Elzinga uses the example of the root canal he had to prove the point: if his doctor had said there were other ways to access the tooth than through the mouth, Elzinga would have gone elsewhere.
    - Illustration: One of Elzinga’s friends thinks that for the sincere, all roads eventually lead to God; however he doesn’t think that if his van needs new tires he can fix the problem by investing in a new ignition system.
  • The scandal of the gospel’s exclusivity is not a scandal to those who have been broken, realizing they don’t deserve salvation.


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