We Disagree on the Premise…So How Do We Know Who’s Right?
Originally published October 17, 2016
One can always determine the validity of a metaphysical assumption (that being the moral and thus one that is correct and true) by considering the axiomatic results the logical conclusions of such assumptions must produce.
“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil…I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life…” ~ Deuteronomy 30:15,19
In dealing with reformed/protestant theologians, at best you will only ever get them to acknowledge that the two of you are coming from differing points of view (“we agree to disagree”). What they are really saying is that they are acknowledging a difference in metaphysics (the nature of reality and existence). They do this unwittingly because such a statement is philosophical and not theological, and they are not trained in philosophy even though their theological position requires them to adopt a philosophy. In other words, they won’t couch it in philosophical language.
Second, they will reject your premise out of hand because to them “authority” always trumps reason. So even though you have a more reasonable argument, it cannot possibly be valid because it is not authoritative.
I submit that it is indeed possible to objectively determine that one metaphysical assumption is indeed true and thus the correct “moral” premise. And you do that by evaluating each one and looking at what are the end results of each. I would submit that the premise that results in life would be the correct, moral, and valid view of reality and existence.
If we understand that the Bible is God’s philosophical statement to mankind, then what God is saying is, “This is how the world works; this is the way I made it to work; this is reality.” Therefore, if you follow this philosophy to its rational conclusion, the result is life! (This is ostensibly what God was saying to Israel in Deuteronomy 30.)
Said another way, we can reject the metaphysical premise of authentic protestant/reformed theology and its accompanying epistemology of historical-redemptive hermeneutics, because following it to its rational conclusion the result is condemnation, fear, and ultimately DEATH!
Clearly, the one that results in LIFE would be the moral ideal, and thus the correct and true one!
~ Andy
The Righteousness of Christ by the Virgin Birth, and Justification by New Birth, and Sanctification by Family Life, NOT Church
As far as those who want to apply Christianity via church, and try to distance themselves from being Protestant, they answer the following question in the affirmative without hesitation: “Was Christ’s resurrection from the grave an affirmation by the Father that Christ lived a perfect life?”
By answering in the affirmative, they reveal true kinship with Protestant tradition regardless of their denials. Christ didn’t obtain righteousness through living a life of perfect law-keeping, He was holy because He became a man through the power of the Holy Spirit; He was the righteous God-man by virtue of the virgin birth. Nothing following could have made Him any less than what He was or is. No one born of God can be unborn.
No righteousness can come from the law; righteousness comes by being born of God. The New Covenant was a promise made to Abraham and Christ, that the Holy Spirit would raise Christ from the grave as the first fruits of many brethren. This alone ends the law of sin and death for the new creature and allows him/her to live by the law of the Spirit. Same law; different relationship (Romans 8:2).
This is why Christians must insist that we do not sin, if not to at least make the point that we are no longer under law. If Christ kept the law perfectly to prove He is righteous, or as most Protestant theologians shockingly claim, that He actually OBTAINED righteousness by perfect law-keeping, then righteousness is indeed by the law. Who keeps it is irrelevant. What then, defines righteousness? What then, makes us holy? Answer: the new birth.
“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
Any questions? The born again may fall short of the law in love because of the weakness of our mortality, but we must reject the whole under-law premise that we are “sinners saved by grace.” All sin is against the law, but where there is no law there is no sin (Romans 3:19,20; 4:15, 5:13, 7:6,8; 10:4, 1Timothy 1:9, Galatians 2:19, Colossians 2:14). Once a person actually grasps that we are no longer under the law, it changes one’s whole perspective on life and their relationship with God and others.
Christ was righteous by virtue of the virgin birth, and we are righteous by virtue of being born again. This is the baptism of the Spirit; we literally die with Christ, and the old us that was under the law of sin and death is gone, and we are resurrected as new creatures with Christ. Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection is the establishment of the new birth…”you must be born again.” We now live by the law of the Spirit of life; we can no longer be condemned by the law, but the law can only give us life to the degree that we fulfill it in love.
This is the significance of the Father and the Son; salvation is a family affair, not an institutional salvation based on law. God’s people meet as a family in a family home because it is a statement of our gospel; salvation is a new birth into God’s family, not a law-based institution.
Justification is NOT a “legal/forensic declaration,” it is obtained by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and following Him in Spirit baptism.
Go now in peace; there is no law to judge you. Go and aggressively love God and others with no fear of condemnation. The banner over us is love, not fear of condemnation. Our goal is not abstaining from law-breaking, our goal is love according to the law of the Spirit of life, not fear under the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
We need no “atonement.” Christ didn’t come to cover sin; He came to end it. Church is about an ongoing covering, family is about our true identity in Christ.
paul
Paul and Susan Sunday BoxCast
Page 1: The Divorce Question (1Cor 7:12).
Page 2: What the Reformers Really Taught About the Trinity
Page 3: Protestants Who Deny the Label
Live Link: Sunday 10/15/2017 @ 6pm
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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