Paul's Passing Thoughts

2014.ttanc.com

There are two reasons why we hold these conferences every year and the reasons are reflected in the title.

First, “gospel discernment.” In the book, Quitting Church, written by Washington Times religion editor Julia Duin, she states the following on page 13:

…plenty of people in this country are interested in spiritual matters. They are simply not going to church to feed this interest.

Why? I have sensed for several years something is not right with church life, especially with evangelical church life. It’s been reported many times that most Americans have fled mainline Protestant churches in the past half century, cutting denominations such as the Episcopal Church and Presbyterian Church USA by half. But in the past decade, it’s the evangelical churches that are losing ground.

Duin then documents many symptoms of the problem in her book, and seems to suggest that correcting the symptoms is the answer. We disagree. We think the fundamental problem that she has sensed all of these years, and many with her, is rooted in a false gospel. The problem is simply this: the original gospel of the Protestant Reformation is patently false, and the fruit has not fallen far enough from the tree to affect a vibrant Christian life within the church.

Our ministry is twofold, and this first side contends that the errant Protestant gospel is a matter of simple theological math; Martin Luther and John Calvin proffered the continuance of the law of sin and death as the definition of justification for the believer. Instead of the new birth ending the law of sin and death for the believer and eradicating it as a standard for justification, their gospel calls for the perpetual fulfilment of it by Christ in our stead.

But the law of sin and death is not fulfilled by the imputation of Christ’s obedience to the law of sin and death—Christ came to end that law altogether. Hence, it is a false gospel that defines believers as under law and not under grace. Under grace does not exclude law, but obligates the Christian to the perfect law of liberty for sanctification—not justification. Sanctification by justification is a gospel that keeps people under law while yet calling them Christians. This is an egregious false gospel.

You can nuance this fact with the word-crafting of, “living by the gospel [living by justification],” “Christ-centered [justification-centered],” “cross-centered [Ibid],” “transformed by the resurrection of Christ [transformed by justification rather than regeneration],” “disciplined by grace [disciplined by justification],” etc., but we will not be deceived with subtle word replacement.

How did this happen? It happened because the Reformers did not approach the Scriptures exegetically as opposed to the narrative promoted by the shameless traditions of men. The Reformers were first and foremost philosophers, and they foisted their philosophical worldview onto the Scriptures. Reformed “orthodoxy” is nothing more than dignified mythology and philosophical eisegesis.

This brings us to the critical second purpose of the conference. Understanding the particular philosophy of the Reformers enables us to understand the results of their integration: their gospel, and its abhorrent fruit… this part of the conference shows how specific ideologies always produce the same behavior throughout history regardless of being clothed in Bible verses. Not understanding the philosophy of the Reformers results in endless Scripture-stacking debates in the midst of perpetual carnage. Ignorance of philosophy enables the Reformers to hide behind, “secondary issues.”

The results are detrimental to both discipleship and secular quality of life. Justice is no less important whether in the church or outside of it. An indifference to quality of life will not endear the world to Christianity by any means whatsoever. Christians who are knowledgeable about life simply reflect that they are children of the God who created it. Faith is a friend of reason, and by no means a license for ignorance.

Press release version pdf: 2014 Purpose Statment