The Highway Forums General Discussion Devotional SHORT QUOTE FROM A.W. PINK

"Surely ChristMASS is not some ‘unforgivable Sin’ that will send people to hell. But to know the truth and willingly reject it surely betrays one’s identity. Not only does God open the eyes of his regenerated ones to the truth but gives them the will to take a stand for it. And the one cannot save without the other. “Just as weight cannot be separated from a stone, or heat from a fire, so cannot justification from sanctification”! [A.W.Pink]

Pink is certanly right concerning those who know the truth and yet willingly reject it. The question is, however, who embraces what Pink and others call "ChristMASS"?

For true Christians, the following items are also true:

1. The Roman State Church has no authority to designate any day as "holy" to which the world must obey.

2. The Roman State Church has no authority to "name" a day of the year to which the world must recognize.

3. The Roman State Church has no authority... period! So why do men like Pink acknowledge this authority?

4. There is no inherent meaning in objects which God has created.
.- A tree is good, in and of itself, for it reflects the glory of its creator, Almighty God.
.- An idol which men may create from a tree is nothing; it has no life nor power. (1Cor 8; 10)
.- Decorating a tree with lights and ornaments is not automatically an idol. Idolatry is in the heart. Objects may be used to serve one's idolatrous heart, but the object is nothing in and of itself.

5. The Church should not and cannot mandate its members to observe a particular day. (Rom 14; WCF XX:2)

6. The Church should not and cannot mandate its members not to observe a particular day. (Col 2; WCF XX:4)

7. The Church cannot bring into its worship anything which God Himself has not specifically commanded or given by way of example in Scripture.

Dear Pilgrim,

My husband has read your reply, and his reply to what you have written is - "Excuses! Excuses!

Love in Christ from English Rose

Dear Rose,

Perhaps your husband has misunderstood my reply?

I do NOT give any credence to what Rome has decreed for it has no authority to do so. Thus what may have been done by Rome ages ago has no bearing upon my life.

Secondly, I do not give any credence to "ChristMASS", for it is nothing more than a man-made fiction and blaspheme. My setting aside a time of prayerful reflection and meditation upon the birth of the Son of God has absolutely no similarity to "ChristMASS", nor is it based upon anything to do with the Roman decree.

Thirdly, all true believers in the Lord Christ have been set free from the commandments of men and the vain philosophies of this world. We should never allow such things to dictate what we can or cannot do, particularly when it comes to the glory and worship of God. This includes ALL religious bodies, whether Catholic, Protestant, Sect or Cult. The framers of the Westminster Confession in the sections I referenced above (Chapter XX:2&4) understood this as well.

Romans 14:4-8 (ASV) "Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord: and he that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, unto the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and none dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's."

Galatians 5:1 (ASV) "For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage."