Paul's Passing Thoughts

I know, it’s a drag. You have been calling yourself a Calvinist for 10, 20, maybe even 30 years, and now it is coming out that Calvin didn’t believe that justification is a finished work. Justification by faith alone means faith alone in sanctification as well via a Gnostic application. Total depravity also pertains to the saints. Christ alone doesn’t mean the only way to the Father, it means Christ has preeminence over the other two members of the Trinity. Bad things man. In the Calvin Institutes, Calvin states plainly that sins committed in the Christian life, “separate us from grace.” Yikes!

Now what? Though few in the Calvin gene pool, you really want your parishioners to think for themselves. When these contradictions come up, you don’t want them to merely look at you while waiting for you to say, “Move on, nothing here, all is well.” Moreover, you actually believe you will stand before Christ to give an account for leading the sheep in a gospel that propagates an unfinished justification. You imagine Christ saying, “What did you think I was talking about when I said, ‘It is finished’?”

As one who lost my identity as a Christian, my church “family” of 20 years and all of the friendships thereof, a marriage of 24 years and the privilege of living in the same house with my son, my reputation, my job, and….I think that covers all of it on the loss side…let me encourage you.

First, you could really grab the bull by the horns and get up in front of your congregation tomorrow and ask forgiveness for leading them astray. You could try to sell them on the idea that this begins a new adventure in your life and you want them along for the ride. And by golly, this time you know what you are talking about! (Have another job lined up first).

If that doesn’t sell, there is always the truth and a clear conscience. Besides, you will not lose all of your friends. This is where leaving big tips for Sally Lou down at the local diner pays off.

The encouragement is the following: ultimately, standing with the truth is a win/win situation. God will give you another ministry—one that you never saw coming. And he will replace your friends with new ones, and this time, real ones. Friendships built on a common love for the truth.

And you will be free to pursue the real truth unhindered by the standards and acceptance of men. It will take patience because words mean things. I will leave you with one more tip: this is something you will be saying often;

Ok, I will read it again, but you aren’t dreaming, and you didn’t see a UFO, this is what he wrote, it’s right here…

…words mean things.