The Fall of John MacArthur Jr.
Excerpt from a protracted social media discussion:
What was rediscovered is true Protestantism; one must continually return to the cross for re-salvation or re-justification. The same gospel that saved you also sanctifies you because sanctification is the progression of salvation. This is the Neo-Protestant / Neo Calvinist / New Calvinism movement in a nutshell; it is a “gospel recovery” movement. Their words, not mine. Hence, in case you have never heard it, “We must preach the gospel to ourselves every day.”
John MacArthur et al have bought into it hook, line, and sinker because they have been shown by Michael Horton and others that this is, in fact, the basis of the Protestant Reformation. MacArthur wasn’t willing to side with the plain sense of Scripture against 500 years of tradition. His closest associate, Phil Johnson, is now clearly stating that salvation is a “process” that can only be effected within formal church membership. That’s Protestantism 101.
John Piper has stated that “Christians still need salvation.” Matt Chandler states that Christians are “wicked sinners who still need the gospel.” He asks, “On Sunday when the gospel is preached, is it preached to Christians or non-Christians who are present?” To this question he presents, he answers it himself…”YES!” This whole thing we have heard for years when we ask why the gospel is preached so much at church, viz, “Because there might be unbelievers present,” is disingenuous at best and outright deception at worst. The gospel is preached at church because Protestantism holds to the idea that Christians still need ongoing salvation found only in submission to the institutional church. While confused Protestants don’t believe that intellectually, they function that way because of the traditional dynamics of church. Hence, effective sanctification is watered down to the degree that the church functions according to progressive justification.
This is at the heart of all we are seeing in the contemporary church. At some point, I believe Christianity at large will have to deal with this reality because the church will not be able to slowly indoctrinate enough people to support its massive industrial complex. Will Protestantism merge with Catholicism in order to survive? That’s my best guess.
Both believe in a spiritual caste gospel; it’s merely a matter of agreeing to disagree on the minor details. Those who are out to save the organized church because their livelihood depends on it will end up finding another means of income anyway or else capitulate to increased ecumenicalism and overall doctrinal chaos.
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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