Paul's Passing Thoughts

“And the promised results of the recipe are to die for: it makes the cross bigger.”

Truth is a delightful thing. Jesus said it sets us free, and it is the only thing that truly sanctifies (John 17:17). And when you bait an animal, you use its preferred food. Nothing wrong with the food, the food is good, but in this case the food is being used to bait the animal into an unfortunate demise. For the animal that is. Its death will supply a tasty meal for the hunter or a prized trophy above his mantle to display his hunting savvy.

Eve was a superior being, and the serpent clearly baited her with some truth. It was true; she wasn’t going to die—physically. And it was true; if she ate of the tree, her eyes would be opened, but not for the better. Satan stated specifically that her “eyes” would be opened, and the Holy Spirit used that exact same illustration to describe what happened when Adam and Eve ate the fruit.

The serpent also used some other truth to bait Adam and Eve. He understood the dynamic behind what it would take to bring about the fall. Notice: their eyes were not opened until Adam ate. The serpent didn’t go to Eve first because Adam was created as a smarter being; it’s more likely that Satan didn’t want to exclude Eve from the fall. Apparently, Adam was standing there the whole time observing the conversation, which I find perplexing, but I have to believe that the absence of immediate ill effect on Eve contributed to his decision to eat as well. Hence, another element of truth that the serpent excluded: when Eve’s eyes would be opened. Truth plus error (God’s motives for not wanting them to eat which also had an element of truth), and exclusion of the whole truth resulted in incomprehensible misery and suffering being foisted upon mankind. Satan excluded the whole truth about the results of their eyes being opened, partially misrepresented God’s motives, and excluded mention of when it would happen.

And the kingdom of darkness has not changed their mode of operation. Why in the world would they? The mode of operation that deceived two  intellectually superior beings worked wonderfully; why change what works?

In fact, it works so well that in our day we have a hoard of pastors that are the heroes of death. Death has never looked better since Eve gazed upon the fruit hanging from the tree. I would like for you to think with me for a moment. Think about the long list of “premier teachers” of our day, as if they are hanging on trees everywhere. Go into any Christian bookstore of our day and thoughtfully observe. Now read your Bible; something doesn’t add up. The first century church was saturated with false teachers, and then we have the apostle Paul stating that the “latter days” would be “perilous” compared to their day!

That message doesn’t make the cheeseburger easy to swallow—even with a cold beer. It doesn’t make for pleasant conversation when meeting Christian friends at Applebees. Truth is looking and sounding good, coming from the pulpits via well-dressed, hip academics. Some even have sexy European accents. And regarding our pesky consciences tapping us on the shoulder regarding the cult of personality, these stalwarts of the faith assure us that they hate such, while continuing to wear it. They have thus spoken—all is well, move on to the “new Reformation” at hand.  But their message is death in the same way that Satan preached to Eve in the garden. This ministry has noticed what seems to be an inordinate number of femitruthers in our day when compared to the men shining the shoes of the who’s who of today’s pulpiteers. I guess you can fool them once, but well, you know the rest.

With the same MO used in the garden, the hordes of New Calvinist pulpiteers in our day deceive the masses on a roadway to death.  They use truth, and partial truth, and we now have a Christian subculture living on a steady diet of Esther Price recipes. Like in the garden, death comes by truth left out; death comes by the lack of the whole counsel of God’s word. In essence, let me employ the name of a desert you can get at Applebees: “death by chocolate.” Feed your children nothing but chocolate for a couple of months, and then observe what you have. But in turn, while observing the pitiful sight, ask them if they are happy. Assuredly they will tell you that they are for fear that you will change their diet. Such is the New Calvinist subculture of our day.

And what exactly is that diet?  Well, but of course, the name of the diet must sound good. How about, “gospel-driven”? Or, “gospel-centered”? Or better yet, “Christ-centered”? Who would argue with that recipe? Yum, yum. But dare I ask the forbidden question of our day? “What’s in it?” Well, I have been called mentally ill lately by chocolate-fed-children because of my assessment of the recipe, so let me tell you what the New Calvinists themselves say is in the recipe. Fair enough? In fact, I will use the following illustration from a New Calvinist organization:

Primarily, the recipe has exposition of how great God is, “Yum, yum!” Hey, as Christians, we could listen to that every day and all day long, right? Secondly, the recipe will involve humbling us by reminding us of how much we fail God and are utterly unable to please Him with our own efforts . “You mean, the pressure is off me?” “No expectations?” Yes, in fact, to have expectations of living by a standard is works salvation, we must “get used to our salvation” by living a “gospel-centered life in the shadow of the cross.” Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!!!

And the promised results of the recipe are to die for: it makes the cross bigger. Wow! Who would argue with that? Make the cross bigger and us smaller, yum, yum. New Calvinists say that the implications for marriage alone are over the top:

“Hey honey, I have some great news!”

‘What dear?’

“There are no longer any expectations in our marriage! You’re totally depraved, and I’m totally depraved, and change is a pipe dream. There is no longer any need to create tension in our marriage through expectations and efforts to please each other. We have a new goal for our marriage—to make the cross bigger by focusing on how sinful we are and exulting God’s greatness at church.”

‘But what about our testimony?’

“Oh yes dear, that’s very important, but we are called to preach the gospel, not be the gospel.”

‘So, what do we do?’

“Focus on the greatness of God and our own wickedness. That will result in spiritual formation. In other words, it’s not about what we do, but what Jesus has done. We can’t make ourselves better in the flesh, and we can’t make ourselves any better than what Jesus has already imputed to us. So we need to rest and feed on Jesus and let Him make the cross bigger in our lives.”

‘Wow! No wonder those New Calvinist couples always look so happy together on their blogs!’”

Christians should certainly focus on God’s greatness as can be inexhaustibly exegeted from the Scriptures; therefore, there is no lack of material that can be expounded on thereof by the likes of John Piper. Like the preaching of Satan in the garden, New Calvinist preaching has plenty of truth that Christians never get tired of hearing, especially from the lips of interesting characters. But what is missing can kill you, and what is missing is the whole counsel of God. That is why the apostle Paul went from house to house day and night teaching the WHOLE counsel of God—the life of the church depended on it.

And secondly. Like the deadly sermon in the garden, there is partial truth. Yes, Christians still sin, but we are not sinners. The difference between “sin” and “sinners” is very subtle, like the difference between the first death and the second death. Both are death, but the differences in the two are between the temporary and eternal. Satan told Eve she wasn’t going to die, that was the truth, he just didn’t expound on the complete subject.

Thirdly, like the sermon in the garden, a certain result is promised that is the proverbial snapping of the trap. We are led away from the whole counsel of God with the tastier portions including the promise that it will make the cross bigger. This leads to sin, weakness, and a DE-escalation of discernment. And eventually, death.  As glorious as the cross is, man does not live by the cross alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.  People only truly live by the whole counsel of God. To the extent that we live by the whole counsel of God, we are free.

A teacher that I used to deeply respect recently stated that the Christian life is always “sweet, never bittersweet.” You know, like chocolate. But the pure milk that we grow by is the whole counsel of God, the counsel that the apostle Paul expounded on day and night and from house to house. Pure milk is not only void of poison, it is not void of any ingredient that facilitates growth. It is the whole counsel of God, and not death by chocolate.

paul