Paul's Passing Thoughts

I was four different kinds of Baptist for about twenty years and I can tell you there isn’t a more contentious environment anywhere. In addition, a cursory perusal of history will reveal that the vast majority of wars are religious by nature.

In this ministry, which is a think tank and not a Christian organization though religion is part of what we study, we are constantly plagued by petty issues brought up by religionists. What’s going on?

Answer: under law.

In the New Testament, we find a dominant theme: those under condemnation condemn. Love isn’t the order of the day; it’s all about sin sniffing. This flavors all of reality. The worthiness of a person is judged by their lack of faults from the perspective of everyone who has their own mental court of law.

Think about how scary that is; everyone you come in contact with is going to judge you by their own perception of what is good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable. And think about gossip for a moment; it is the combined condemnation of multiple courts of law from different perspectives. Gossip condemns you from multiple angles while rarely missing any fault and even adding some that aren’t true. The endgame of condemnation is condemnation and slander is a handy shortcut for that purpose.

And don’t forget Bible verses. A single verse standing alone can be twisted to say anything about everything.

What is the biblical prescription? The law is to be used for love and not condemnation. When one is born again and no longer under condemnation, the preoccupation is love towards others and not fault finding; or at least it should be.

Another attribute of being under condemnation is the desire to control others and it shouldn’t be a surprise that condemnation is used to accomplish that by people who are under condemnation. It goes something like this: “Because you are unworthy, you need to obey me for your own good.”

Condemnation is also used by those under condemnation to uncondemn themselves and proclaim themselves innocent in their own personal court of law. “My wife is frigid; therefore, I had no choice but to commit adultery.” Examples along this line are inexhaustible.

Most marriage counseling is unsuccessful because it seeks to rectify two condemnation lists from two different courts of law; good luck with that. If the focus is love, sin will be displaced as a natural consequence. In contrast, condemnation is a bottomless pit that can never be sufficiently rectified.

No surprise then: God so loved the world that He gave His only Son who didn’t come into the world to condemn it, but to save it.  

You CANNOT fix anything predicated on condemnation and that includes church as the quintessential example. Where the Bible is used to condemn rather than to instruct in regard to love which does no wrong to its neighbor, only strife and misery remain.  

paul  

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Source: John Piper’s Law Problem

Those who know me know I am all about the objective. But I must admit, love is at times mysterious to me. Here is one example: love possesses an unexplained patience with its object. Susan and I are very busy and she is a very social being. She works days; I work nights. So, this morning was not an unusual event.

I was awakened from a coma-like sleep by Susan on a bedside soapbox prior to her leaving for work. In her very welcomed new radio series, “Coffee Commentary with Susan Dohse,” her research has led her to an issue that is new to her: the whole Reformed “Idols of the Heart” doctrine. Her conversation with me in this particular venue began per the usual: at first I am not sure if I am dreaming, then I realize what is going on. Then I ask myself if she realizes that I got home at midnight followed by answering myself in the affirmative. Then the whole love thing kicks in and I begin to focus on the content of her speech followed by actual dialoged.

The Idols of the Heart doctrine is very familiar to me and was the focus of my fulltime research circa 2009. Undoubtedly, Susan will be addressing this in her new weekly series. I am excited about this new endeavor by Susan because it represents the possibility of ongoing teaching unique to present teaching among women taking place in a parched desert. Remember, all of these female puppets are “under the authority” of their Platonist husbands. For all practical purposes its Islam Light. I believe God has charged Susan with being a unique light among women. She is a born teacher, and loves THE truth, not A truth that fulfills misguided needs.

As her words became more and more in-tune as I awoke from my slumber, I understood exactly why she would be so exercised over such a doctrine. As she spoke, the Christmas tree still erected in the TANC conference room was dominate in the background of my mind. I am nowhere near the social being that Susan is, and I am nowhere near a lover of days either. For six years, I have pondered her love for days because God wants us to live with our wives according to understanding, so I always seek to understand her more and more.

On our very large Christmas tree is custom made ornaments that recognize what is going on in the lives of people near and dear to us. The ornaments testify to new careers, new preferences, new relationships, new arrivals into the world, and other elements of life. It testifies to this fact: I have never known a person who loves life and the people in it more than Susan. And I am married to her. And as a result, I am becoming more of a person who recognizes days because these days are when we pause to celebrate life and the people in it. Susan is one who sees little separation between God and His creation.

Any argument about the existence of God defies intuitive knowledge; the real debate is the character of God. Does He love His creation, or does He hate it? Does love for God necessarily demand a hatred for one’s life and all things material because God hates such? In regard to Protestantism, if you know what it really is, the answer is, “yes.”

Hence, we must not “eclipse the Son.” What does that mean? Well, ANYTHING that obscures the sun blocks the glory of the sun shining on us and creates shadows of truth. And in regard to relationships, responses to those relationships tell us whether we love/desire that relationship or any other material thing in the universe more than God. So, if we have an indifference towards the failings of our spouse, this indicates that we love God more than our spouse. Ahmen. Wow, look at him/her; married to a horrible spouse but yet has that silly spiritual grin with glassed-over eyes. Proof positive of a real lover of God and a hater of all things material.

Folks, read the book titled “Uneclipsing the Son” by John MacArthur sycophant Rick Holland; this is the very thesis of the book. This is mainline evangelical stuff that underpins the massive biblical counseling movement.

So, anything in our life that we “desire” more than God (as indicated by our response to the woes of life) is an “idol of the heart.” Gospel counseling teaches us to “reorient our desires” so that we desire nothing but God. Please note: this doctrine doesn’t call for a reorientation of desires that will result in a desire to DO things according to God’s law, this is merely a desire apart from anything we do. Remember, John Piper’s ministry is simply, “Desiring God” ministries and not “Desiring to do good stuff” ministries. It is “beholding as a way of becoming,” but as I reminded Susan in the dialog process during the morning event, this “becoming” is strictly perception. The goal of all of this a “bigger cross” in our lives. Remember, Soli Deo Gloria! For the Glory of God Alone. And trust me, “alone” means, ALONE.

But wait a minute still: because we are totally depraved, “the human heart is an idol factory” (John Calvin). So, all of life is repenting of heart idols that our heart is continually producing. Paul David Tripp calls this a “lifestyle of repentance.” We are right back to the cross chart that this ministry continually shoves in your face. The sum and substance, supposedly, of sanctification is a perpetual return to repenting before the cross of Christ in order to keep ourselves saved. Oh, and by the way, you only have access to this ongoing forgiveness for newly created idols in your heart via church membership.

And remember this: like all other Protestant doctrines, the whole Idols of the Heart thing comes right out of Calvinism. BUT, when you call them out on that we hear this: “Calvin isn’t our authority, the Bible is.” That’s just a lie straight out of the pit of hell. EVERY fundamental of Protestant soteriology is found in the Calvin Institutes without exception.

It will be interesting to see how Susan references all of this with her book review. Be sure to tune in.

paul