ACCRA, Ghana (ABP)—Representatives attending the Baptist World Alliance Annual Gathering in Accra, Ghana, celebrated freedom during a plenary session July 4.
BWA President David Coffey of England noted the near-concurrence of America's Independence Day, Ghana's Republic Day (July 1), and the July 4 release of a British journalist who had been held hostage in Palestine.
JIM WHITE
A mixed chorus of Baptists from Accra, Ghana, provide inspiration at the Friday morning plenary session of the BWA's Annual Gathering.
Drawing on a text from Galatians 5, Coffey said the apostle Paul had written to the Galatian church in a “thunder-and-lightning tone” due to the seriousness of a heresy that faced believers there.
That heresy was legalism, Coffey said, brought on by misleading teachers who came after Paul and convinced many that they must follow Jewish laws to be truly Christian. Paul stressed that all who trust in Jesus are made free and “clothed with Christ,” so there was no more distinction between rich and poor, slave and free.
Being free in Christ does not mean believers live without any boundaries, for “to be truly free is to be truly yoked to Christ and serving one another,” Coffey said.
Christians must resist the temptation to impose legalistic requirements as a test of fellowship, Coffey said. He asked participants to imagine what it would be like if the alliance required members to give the correct answers to a series of questions before they could have a seat at the table.
Coffey suggested that the questions might be like:
• “What version of the Bible do you prefer?”
• “Explain briefly just how you believe the world began, and how you think it will end.”
• “What is your preferred worship style?”
• “Do you dance?”
• “What do you drink?”
• “What do you think about the Holy Spirit?”
• “When you pray, do you ever speak in a private prayer language?”
Legalistic answers should not be required for full participation in Baptist life, Coffey said. Rather, Christians should remember that “in Christ, they are free indeed.”
Earlier, Asha Sanchu spoke of how women who are exploited by the sex trade need ministries that can lead them to freedom.
Originally from the Nagaland region of India, Sanchu lives in Bangkok, Thailand. She works with an organization that provides counseling, job training, and employment opportunities to help exploited women gain freedom from the sex trade and find a better life. Many of the women also come to know Christ.
The work is demanding, risky, and tiring but “worth it all for the joyful experience of seeing the fruits of one's labors,” Sanchu said.