Paul's Passing Thoughts

For all of you Calvinists out there, I will soften the blow of this and make the comparison between the infamous International House of Prayer and “New Calvinism” (wink, wink). So, I am not going to discuss the progressive justification that Calvin taught, only the progressive justification that those rascally New Calvinists teach.

As we all know, New Calvinists emphasize the “gospel-centered life.” So, since words mean things, let’s analyze that. What is the gospel? Well, according to the kings of New Calvinism, CJ Mahaney and John Piper, the gospel boils down to, “Christ died for our sins.” So our life, that would be our sanctified life as believers, centers on the same gospel that saved us. Hence, the gospel-centered life. In fact, Piper and Michael Horton both state: to move beyond the gospel that saved us to applying our own efforts in sanctification causes one to lose his/her salvation. Therefore, mere gospel contemplationism as the primary means of the gospel growing, not us, is what maintains our justification. We don’t grow, but rather manifest the gospel by continually seeing our need for a savior in a deeper and deeper way; ie, progressive justification.

As the revelations are rapidly unfolding in regard to the International House of Prayer and its cultish behavior, one might take note that IHOP is predicated on progressive justification just like Calvinism New Calvinism. It’s the same doctrine with all of the special trimmings. We read the following on an IHOP website:

Hope – go deep in the good news of God’s love, and learn to live a gospel-centered life individually, in community, and in love for your neighbors and the nations through the lens of God’s mercy, justice, power and grace (http://nbihop.org/category/resources/).

In the IHOP University curriculum for 2012, we read:

Walking in the power of grace extends to all aspects of life, from how we relate to God and others to how we utilize our resources. Through this course, students develop a proper perspective on grace as the foundation of everyday Christian living.

They also hold to the typical New Calvinist doctrinal position on “Christ-centered justice”; ie, we are all totally depraved and don’t deserve justice. If justice was served, we would all be in hell. In the same curriculum:

Forming a biblical, Christ-centered message of justice in students and giving them practical training prepares them to engage in intercession-based works of justice on behalf of the needy and the oppressed in diverse settings….The human experience of suffering and God’s commitment to justice are two sides of one burning question in the human heart. Through the media, this generation is aware of immense injustice and suffering….Yet it is often difficult for Christians to give a bold account of what God’s justice is and how He will make wrong things right. Understanding this topic is crucial, as we anticipate a time when injustice will reach new heights and God will allow unprecedented global suffering. Students approach this two-sided question biblically as they focus on Jesus, the righteous Judge, who brings forth justice and comforts those who suffer.

Notice that we don’t do anything to affect justice; we merely “focus” on the righteous judge and are comforted thereby. Supposedly. We know exactly how this works in New Calvinist organizations like Sovereign Grace Ministries. Their “Christ-centered justice” is well documented. In the same curriculum, we see the New Calvinist Redemptive Historical hermeneutic that propagates the idea that the Bible is a gospel narrative to be used for contemplationism:

Students examine this teaching but also place it in the context of the grand narrative of God and His people, looking at what Christians have believed over the centuries and what they should believe in light of Scripture and history.

The curriculum is also peppered with the same worn-out New Calvinist truisms concerning the evils of “living by lists”  and a “personal” relationship with Jesus because he is a “person not a precept” ad nauseam.

Like New Calvinism, Christ’s learn and apply is conspicuously missing. The Bible is a gospel narrative for contemplation. You can also read our free ebook on how the Emergent Church uses the exact same hermeneutic as well.

And that’s the point: progressive justification is the core doctrine that drives most of the control groups of our day.

paul