War on Freedom and Faith

Pastor Imprisoned

I love to share the gospel, but there's a war raging on freedom and on faith.  In America, we're currently free not only to have faith in Jesus so we may have eternal life, but also to share that life-saving, life-transforming faith with those around us without fear of persecution, imprisonment, torture, or death.  In Muslim controlled areas, however, there's no such freedom.  Either you believe the Quran--that Jesus was merely a prophet and nothing more--or you risk your life if you believe in and seek to follow the true Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus who is both God and Savior, the only Way, Truth, and Life (John 14:6).  There's a radical difference between the Jesus of the Quran and the Jesus of the Bible.  The differences result in radically different cultures--a culture of repression on one hand, and a culture of freedom on the other.  Which do you prefer?  Which is true?  What you believe has eternal consequences.

First, the culture of repression, the culture created by orthodox Islam.  Take, for example, the case of Iranian-American Pastor Saeed Abedini, who believes in and follows the Jesus of the Bible.  He has proven his faith genuine by being willing to follow Jesus and fish for men and women in Muslim controlled nations, such as Iran.  For that, his freedom has been stripped by Muslim authorities, and he is being tortured in an Iranian prison for obeying Jesus's command to go into the all the world and preach the life-saving Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).  Pastor Abedini is serving eight years in a brutal Iranian prison because of his Christian faith. The Iranian regime has cut the pastor off from his wife and children who live in the United States.  When you love Jesus for laying His life down to save a wretch like you and me, you want to join in His eternal mission of seeking to save the lost.  That's why Pastor Abedini was willing to share the gospel even in a hostile nation like Iran.  But the Jesus of the Quran condones such mistreatment and brutal repression.

More recently, Fox News reported that Saudi Arabia’s notorious religious police, the mutawa, swooped in on a private gathering of at least 53 Ethiopian Christians, shutting down their private prayer, and arresting the peaceful group of foreign workers for merely practicing their faith.  The latest crackdown on Christianity in the ultra-fundamental Islamic country comes on the heels of a brutal 2011/2012 incarceration and torture of 36 Ethiopian Christians, and drew a sharp rebuke from a U.S. lawmaker.  Amazingly, these Christians showed their faith genuine by being willing to practice their faith despite the threat of violent retribution.  They love the real Jesus enough to worship Him despite the consequences imposed by those who believe in the Jesus of the Quran.

In Christian cultures, the contrast could not be more stark.  In Christian cultures, people are free to worship as the please, free to worship what they please, free to share their beliefs whatever they may be--including Islam--without any fear of reprisal.  Muslims are free to worship as the please in Christian cultures without fear.  Muslims can share their faith in Christian cultures without fear.  The Jesus of the Bible grants people the freedom to choose whether they will love Him and follow Him or believe in a different Jesus.  As a consequence of Jesus's emphasis on love and freedom to choose, genuine Christians love others so much they would never blow them up for disbelieving; instead, Christians do what Jesus did--they lay their lives down, like Pastor Abedini, in an effort to seek to save those who are lost in sin and separated from the true God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

That's one reason why I love to the share the gospel--because the real Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, is the One who can truly save, who can truly change lives, and who can bring the best out of humanity and cultures.  The phenomenal transformation of the Motilone Indians is powerful proof of the power of the real Jesus.

The Jesus of the Bible declared that unless you believe in Him, you will die in your sins (John 8:24).  He said that unless you repent (cry out to God for forgiveness of all your sins and turn to Jesus) and believe in the true Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, the one who died as the perfect substitute to pay the price for the sins of the world, and the one who rose from the dead on the third day to prove He really is God, you will not see the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15).  Once you repent and believe, you will be born again with a new heart and new nature (John 3).  Your eternal destiny will be secure (1 John 5:11-13).

Which Jesus do you believe in and follow, the Jesus of the Bible or the Jesus of the Quran?  If you believe in the Jesus of the Quran, have you investigated the evidence showing that the Jesus of the Quran is not the real Jesus?  Investigate it before it's too late.  For some great resources, please consider the following:
 

William Lane Craig's debate with a Muslim scholar on the historical fact of Jesus's resurrection from the dead.

Dr. Craig's article showing the Jesus of the Bible is the real Jesus, not the false Jesus of the Qur'an.