Paul's Passing Thoughts

“We reject the church gospel because it is merely confessional and does not call for a once and for all time transformation of the saved person’s state of being.” 

I recently reposted a pretty heavy theological explanation of why the church gospel is false. By the church’s own admission, it is a hot mess because “There is no prefect church” and “Well, if you don’t come to church because we are hypocrites come and join us and we will have one more.” Ha, ha.

However, if one is paying attention, no deep theological discussion is much needed. Church is constantly admitting that the only difference between it and the world is a mental ascent to some salvation formula and supporting the formula through ritual.

Hence, merely partake in some church ritual and live any way you want to while having your ticket punched to heaven. But, that isn’t even the church gospel either as real church orthodoxy rejects assurance. The Catholic gospel is much better because it gives you a second chance to get to heaven via purgatory. Original Protestant orthodoxy rejects assurance altogether; church is merely your best shot at getting into heaven.

All in all, unbelievers reject the church gospel because they know better. Intuitively, they know what the new birth is and what Jesus meant by being born again. They know being born again is not merely a confession; they know it means a miraculous work by God that destroys their present life and transforms them into a new one. Paul stated it this way: the “I”(me) that is me that you see right now is not the same “I” (me) that died with Christ but the new “I” (me) that was resurrected with Christ. Typically,  unbelievers understand the gospel better than church people.

This is why church evangelism is ineffective; those being evangelized know better.  We reject the church gospel because it is merely confessional and does not call for a once and for all time transformation of the saved person’s state of being. Unbelievers reject it for the same reason because they do not want to lose their present life as they know it.

Even in the church’s pithy truism’s, some mentioned above, you can see the reality of what the church gospel really is: a rejection of the biblical new birth and the embracing of mere confessionalism. Dr. Albert Mohler even bragged about bringing the SBC back to a “confessional gospel” at a recent conference. In addition, this can be seen in a commercial by Franklin Graham:

I’m Franklin Graham. Do black lives matter? Absolutely, you bet they do. God created each and every one of us and your life matters. Because you see, all of us are precious to God, but we have a problem and that problem is called “sin,” and sin separates us from God. But the Bible tells us God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. If you would like to invite Jesus Christ to come into your heart he will come in and change your life—change the direction of your life for eternity. Just pray this prayer with me; just say, “God I’m a sinner, I’m sorry, forgive me. I believe Jesus is your son, that he died for my sins, that you raised him to life, and I would Like to invite him to come into my heart right now. And I pray this in Jesus’ name. If you prayed that prayer, we have someone who would like to speak with you and pray with you. Just call that number [on the screen]. God bless.

So, this is none other than Billy Graham’s son who took over his dad’s ministry. What is his gospel? Notice who is being addressed: believers and unsaved people; “each and every one of us,” “all of us,” “but we…” etc.

And, we all still have a problem according to Graham, that is, sin. We could refute that on some technical theological grounds, but let’s keep it simple; how does Graham define “sin”? Here it comes: “and sin separates us from God.” Get it? Even as “Christians,” sin still separates us from God. And no, Graham isn’t talking about some family fellowship issue; it is clear that this separation is in the same way unbelievers are separated. It’s very subtle, and also very profound. If Christians are still separated from God by sin in the same way that sin separates the unsaved from God, and the grammatical construction by Graham clearly illustrates this to be the case, what’s the solution?

Obviously, this requires church to be some sort of process that continually atones for the ongoing sin that separates believers and unbelievers alike from God.

We contend that the gospel of justification by new birth does not separate the believer from God through a failure to love. And remember, what is this so-called separation?

In the same way…unbelievers are separated.

paul