(OPINION) ETH – Senator. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who is a pastor at a prominent Atlanta church, left many in shock on Easter morning after he decided to tweet what many called straight-up “heresy”.
According to Faithwire, The senior pastor of New Ebenezer Baptist Church tweeted (and later deleted) the “meaning of Easter” far surpasses the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Christianity’s core message of the Gospel is known for the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In His death, the Son of God became the substitutionary atonement for humanity, bearing the weight of our sins — the judgment of God — for us. Three days later, in His resurrection, Jesus overcame sin and death, granting those who accept salvation unrestrained access to God. However, for Warnock whose Twitter handle bears the title “reverend,” decided to share a message directly contradictory to the Gospel.
It is then that the senator wrote, “through a commitment to helping others, we are able to save ourselves.” The tweet was immediately met with a flood of responses from Christians calling out the heresy of his post, which is a direct slam on the core message of the Gospel, which is that — no matter how hard we try or how diligently we work — salvation is forever beyond our reach, outside the person and sacrifice of Jesus.
If we could earn our way into the right relationship with God, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross would have been for nothing. “You know this is literal heresy, right?” asked Conrad Close. Allie Stuckey, an author and host of the podcast “Relatable,” added, “There is nothing more transcendent than the resurrection of the God-man, Jesus.
Literally: His resurrection transcends our finite conceptions of science [and] rationality, that the Word became flesh, dwelt among us, then was slain for our sins only to conquer death [three] days later?” “What kind of reverend would say something like this?” replied Army veteran Samuel Williams.
“Jesus Christ died and then rose again to take the sins of the world away. You are poisoning the minds of Christians for political purposes.” “What kind of reverend would say something like this?” replied Army veteran Samuel Williams. “Jesus Christ died and then rose again to take the sins of the world away. You are poisoning the minds of Christians for political purposes.”
