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Vision Christian Media recently reported that Dr Aaron Edwards has failed in his attempt to be re-instated at Cliff College in the UK after he had been dismissed for publishing tweets defending biblical sexuality. The original statement which he published on social media was as follows:

“Homosexuality is invading the Church. Evangelicals no longer see the severity of this [because] they’re busy apologising for their apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not it’s true. This is a ‘Gospel issue’ by the way. If sin is no longer sin, we no longer need a Saviour.”

Until about five minutes ago in the history of the Christian church such a statement would have been uncontroversial. However, in a sign of just how bad things have become, Dr Edwards is now being persecuted by the very organisation which should be defending him.

The  New Testament book of Jude is a timely reminder though, that this is what we should expect. That there is always doctrinal and ethical compromise within the church, and that as such, believers must earnestly contend for the faith. As Jude writes:

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 3-4)

While the latest example mentioned above is to be lamented, unfortunately it should not take us by surprise. The people of God have always had to deal with such things. What we must do in response then is be prepared. In particular, to contend for the faith especially in the face of such opposition. Jude continues in his letter with the following explicitly Christological exhortation:

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire (Jude 5-7).

Sadly, there have always been people who experienced the external blessings of God’s salvation, and yet in the end they were not ultimately saved (see 1 Cor. 10:1-5). And what’s more, they try to justify their rebellion by wrongly appealing to the grace of God or twisting the evidence to suit their own conclusions. For instance, in the case of Dr Edwards, the Tribunal which decided his case made the following finding:

“The claimant’s Article 9 rights [freedom of thought, belief and religion) are not engaged in this case. This is because the claimant did not suffer the treatment on basis of his religious beliefs in and of themselves, or because of a manifestation of his beliefs. The treatment of the claimant by the respondent (Cliff College) was not because of his expression of views rooted in Christian beliefs, but because of the severe reaction to them.”

But as the Christian Legal Centre (CLC) who supported Dr Edwards rightly argued, this ignores “…the fact that many students and members of the public did not react ‘severely’ to the tweets but supported him”. Truth is not decided upon the reaction of the general populus but upon the Word of God. As Chief executive Andrea Williams said:

“Aaron was sacked because he challenged the church to uphold God’s teaching on human sexuality. Contending for that truth publicly meant that he lost the job that he was so good at. The judge says Aaron’s tweets could have damaged ‘the brand’ of Cliff College. What is the brand of a Bible college if it no longer believes in or is prepared to defend or teach what the Bible says is sin?”

Similarly, the book of Jude goes outlines that these are incredibly serious matters, resulting in the ‘eternal fire’ of judgment (Jude 13). These are not secondary issues upon which followers of Jesus can agree to disagree but are Gospel issues which will exclude someone from the kingdom of God (see 1 Cor. 6:9-11).

The Church throughout the West needs to ready herself now to courageously hold fast to the good deposit with which she has been entrusted. As Jude writes:

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy without fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh (Jude 17-23).

– Mark Powell