Paul's Passing Thoughts

Some woman has started another church civil war, which occur weekly. To be clear, by “church,” I primarily mean the Protestant church represented by the so-called “reformed” group led by John Piper et al. What used to be refereed to as the “Evangelical church,” is now completely dominated by what can be referred to as the New Calvinism movement, which technically began in 1970. In addition, though “church” primarily refers to mainline Protestantism, it also includes all other churches in a peripheral sense because they all believe the same core doctrine. The constant drama is quarrelling over how to execute the core doctrine, which is progressive justification.

What is progressive justification? Basically, it’s salvation by church. Faithfulness to some church doctrine moves the “salvation process” forward to a favorable end. While Catholic Church doctrine is an overt progressive salvation, Protestantism is more discreet. Basically, progressive justification endorses the idea that salvation is a “process,” rather than a one-time finished work that “seals us until the day of redemption.” Salvific redemption is not to be confused with the redemption of the body. However, church teachers often refer to verses about bodily redemption to make a case for progressive salvation. They also redefine tenses in some verses that refer to salvation as a past event in our lives.

It is our contention that if salvation is a process, and we are alive in the process, works salvation, or what Paul referred to as “justification by the law,” is unavoidable. This would seem rather obvious.

So, all churches believe the same thing about salvation; viz, it’s a process overseen by some church authority, but quarrel about how the process should be conducted. For example, Protestants don’t believe Mary should be part of the process, etc. Then there are truckloads of “secondary” issues like women teaching men. So, some woman named Allie Beth Stuckey, aka “ABS,” spoke at a recent TPUSA event in Louisianna or Mississippi…not sure which, and the online church world is unhinged over it. Her comments seemed to lecture men about being more involved with porn than being strong leaders. At first, this issue saturating the online world perplexed me, after all, TPUSA isn’t a church, per se. Then, after thinking about it―it makes sense, because she hit a nerve.

But first, let’s be clear about how manly leadership is defined in the church. It is defined by men being obedient to celebrity pastors who are spiritual tyrants. Churchian men do not lead their families; they receive marching orders from “godly men who have authority over you” and obediently apply that to their families. This includes what to believe and what to think. So-called “submissive” wives in the church, are for all practical purposes, really married to the elders of the church. Over and over and over again, when church marriages are in trouble, wives defer to the elders, and if they don’t, they are brought up on church discipline. I don’t care to name all of the cases here, but they are myriad. But I will mention this: the book, Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes, written by Voddie Baucham circa 2012, proffers this idea of men being the “under shepherds” of their home in the same way elders are the under shepherds to Christ.

So, really, all ABS was saying is that men need to stop viewing porn and model obedience to the church. I believe the trigger that has instantly made her uber relevant in the church is the mentioning of the whole porn thing.

So, now, let me explain why church men are enslaved to porn: it’s the Protestant gospel of justification by faith. Look, the Bible is crystal clear on this: being under law empowers sin. Paul stated it this way: “The power of sin is the law.” Biblically, being a sinner (the biblical term for being unregenerate), is also being “under law,” which is also being “under condemnation,” and is also being “enslaved to sin.”

In the Protestant gospel of justification by faith, the parishioners are still under law. The standard for justification in Protestantism is perfect law-keeping. Calvin made this absolutely clear. In the Protestant gospel of justification by faith, the parishioner is hopefully on their way to salvation, but is not finally saved until the final judgment. Luther made that absolutely clear, and John Piper apes that continually. Because the parishioner is still under law and subsequent condemnation, they must continually return to the same gospel that saved them for forgiveness from “present sin.” Paul David Tripp’s favorite mantra promotes a “lifestyle of repentance.” These guys continually refer to “Christians” as unregenerate and even “enemies of God.”

You can’t separate under law from slavery to sin. You just can’t. So, you have people under law coming to hear God’s law at church three times a week; what does that do? If we believe the Bible, it empowers sin; it throws gasoline on the fire.

This is primarily why the church is a hot mess. Of course, there are people in the church that have “addictions” because they are enslaved to sin. Of course there is no unity. Of course there is abuse. Of course there is no justice. Of course there are control freaks. Of course there are cover-ups. Of course it is mired in politics. Of course, the cognitive dissonance is over the top. Of course, statistics on porn and divorce are no different than the secular world. Of course…you fill in the blank.

The Bible is also very clear that under law and under grace are two totally separate state of beings. In Protestantism, under grace is a covering for remaining under law. You can’t be both…you are one or the other.

But under grace doesn’t mean there are no standards. However, it is a lifestyle of love, not a lifestyle of repentance. The focus is aggressively loving God and others without fear of condemnation, not being obsessed with violating the law and sin sniffing, and “finding the sin under the sin.” Paul stated that “where there in no law, there is no sin.” Salvation is the end of sin, not the mere covering of sin. “Sinners” don’t get to go to heaven just because their sin is covered, only the righteous inherit the kingdom. The true gospel is not a coverup. And, consequences for sin (better stated, “failure to love” for Christians) is not condemnation, but Fatherly chastisement that is done in love. The church conflates condemnation and chastisement accordingly, as well as many other things.

So, what’s the difference? Well, again, Paul makes this clear, Christians are able to “say no to sin.” No matter how strong the temptation is, a born-again child of God is able to say, “no” and walk away from the sin, which is not love. Due to this “treasure being in earthen vessels,” and the subsequent weakness, we will not always say no, but we can, along with a desire to love God and others, which is bound to show up in our life testimony. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” NOT ENSLAVED. Those under law are enslaved to sin, and are unable to turn away from it. Let me give you a recent example, Steve Lawson. Look at what he forfeited. That was insane. He had 5 years to do something about the problem, and couldn’t, against all logic and inevitable severe consequences. That’s enslavement to sin. He was unable to say no…for 5 years. In 2016, Susan and I were listening to John Piper speak at a conference and during the Q and A he stated, “Every morning when I wake up sin is clawing at my mind.” I nudged my wife and whispered in her ear, “That’s a good example of being under law.”

Here it is men. Here is how to be free from porn: Don’t be under law. Justification, which is synonymous with being saved, does not come from someone keeping the law perfectly in our place. Who keeps the law is not the issue, the law is the issue because it cannot produce life. The law is not the fourth member of the Trinity. Christ was the perfect sacrifice by virtue of who he is, NOT because he kept the law perfectly. That’s blasphemy. Christ did not come to empower sin, he came to end it. He is the “end of the law for all those who believe.” He is the manifestation of righteousness, “apart from the law.”

We are justified by new birth, not perfect law-keeping…by anyone.

paul