Conservatism Does Not Equal Salvation


This post is influenced by what I have been hearing the last few weeks on talk radio and Fox News channel (which I enjoy watching) and seeing since the early 1980s. I am very conservative in my Biblical Theology and Liberal in my Methodology which means I preach Christ is the only way to heaven but serve others with God’s love with no strings attached. God draws people to Himself not me. When it comes to politics I try to be apolitical; meaning, I do not use God’s pulpit to preach the GOP or the DNC platform. I hold to what Billy Graham once said, “I’m not for the right wing or for the left wing; I’m for the whole bird.”

I think in our churches; especially the evangelical ones (once called fundamentalist churches) that when we see and hear someone who is a conservative politician who think they are a Christian; especially if they claim to be one. I’ve learned to not make that assumption. Some who claim to be are and some are not; God truly is the only One who knows His children. I want to caution Christians to not leap to that conclusion.

I agree with Glenn Beck on somethings and I think he and his radio partners are funny; however, I can not and will not call him a Christian. He is a Mormon and if you know anything about the “Latter Day Saints” you know they are not Christians. They hold to works to earn salvation and they believe that God (or what they call God) is only one of many gods. He is the god of this section of space but there are others. There is only one true God and there is only one way to heaven and it’s not through works; it’s through Jesus Christ. So use caution when you put too much into what Glenn Becks says when he is saying America needs to get back to its foundation. He is speaking about “spiritualism” and not Christianity. He sees (I heard him say this on the O’Reilly Factor) the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and any other group’s god as being the same; they are not. Research it out; yes the Christian and Jewish faith hold to one true God but the Jews do not see Jesus as the promised Messiah. When you research Islam, Allāh is not the same name for the God of Christianity, but is the name of the moon god thus the use of the Islamic symbol of the moon and star.

I am saying this so you don’t assume a conservative politician is a Christian, or a liberal politician isn’t a Christian; check them out. Since the 1980’s rise of the “Religious Right” more politicians have made the claim of being a Christian. I can not say who is and who is not but actions speak very loudly. The best test to determine if a person is a true Christian (not fool proof) is if they say Christ only when speaking about eternal salvation. If a person says Christ plus (anything) they are most likely not a Christian or really theologically ignorant. If they say Christ plus the church, Christ plus good works, or Christ plus . . . a read flag should pop up because of John 14:6 (Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.).

I write this only to make sure people are not blindly following anything or anyone other than the one true God and relying on Him through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. Be a person a political conservative or a political liberal; if they confess Christ only for salvation they are a child of God. If a person is a political conservative or a political liberal and says Christ plus whatever, there is a good chance they are just religious. Being religious will not get a person to heaven; the person Jesus Christ does. It’s something to think about.