Take the example of marriage. A theological liberal in a mainstream denomination should be considered covenantally a Christian, even though he denies the virgin birth, the substitutionary death of Christ, the resurrection, and the final judgement. He is a Christian in just the same way that an adulterous husband is a husband – even though he has slept with Suzy, Sally, Shirley et al. The fact that a man is a husband compounds his guilt; it does not lessen it in any way. If we knew that a man was promiscuous, and then found out he was married, we wouldn't say, "Well, at least he's married!" His covenant vows make his sin worse. When a single man sleeps around, his sin is great. When an infidel says that God didn't create the world, his sin is great. When a married man is sexually treacherous, his sin is multiplied many times over. And when a liberal bishop says that Christ was merely a man, he is more than wrong. He is treacherous, and an antichrist. But he does belong to that which he betrays.
Douglas Wilson, A Primer on Worship and Reformation
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