John Piper Proclaims “Christians” Condemned and in Need of Continued Salvation
One of the major truths that will be emphasized in the present TANC book project is that the Protestant Reformation was NOT based on the Bible. The Protestant kerfuffle with Rome concerned differences in world philosophy—not theology. Sola scriptura is a blatant falsehood. Martin Luther concocted a contending worldview in opposition to an increased influence of Thomism in the Catholic Church. Luther then dressed up his philosophy in Bible verses. Actually, to be more specific, he dressed up Neo-Platonism in biblical garb. This is hardly some deep, dark secret; a cursory observation of church history reveals this, unless you get your church history from a Protestant seminary.
Since the Protestant Reformation was really based on Plato’s Republic, the necessary theological fit was/is progressive justification for those who are preselected and the last to know if they are really selected or not. They get the news at the final judgment. Until then, EVERYBODY is presently under condemnation and in need of continued justification because we have “present sin.” In order to be perpetually rejustified, we must “preach the gospel to ourselves every day,” obey the pastors, and be a faithful church member.
Due to the fact that sola scriptura is a farce, the present-day expression of authentic Protestantism via New Calvinists routinely contradicts the plain sense of Scripture in insane fashion, and nobody blinks an eye. Moreover, cowardly pastors who know better even as confused Protestants allow the New Calvinists to be named and quoted among their sheep.
Let’s talk about one example, the one that prompted this post. On August 22, 2015, John Piper prayed at a Christian anti-abortion rally at a Planned Parenthood location in St. Paul, Minnesota. In that prayer, he stated:
And we acknowledge in the face of your holiness and power that we are sinners. Everyone standing here in this gathering is a sinner in desperate need of salvation that you offer in Jesus Christ. We know that our conscience condemns us, and if our own consciences do, how much more your holy law. So we have not lived up even to our own standards, let alone to your standards. And we confess our sins corporately before you as individuals.
In direct conflict to the Bible’s clear definition of a believer, Piper proclaimed everyone at the gathering as condemned under the law; this is the Bible’s succinct definition of a lost person. In addition, Piper clearly proclaimed in the prayer that Christians are still in need of salvation.
How does he get away with this and stand as one of the most beloved evangelicals of our day? Because he supposedly has authority, and we the believers have no real ability to perceive truth. Clearly, if it comes down to what we understand our Bibles to say versus what John Piper says, he will win the day every time.
So then, for all practical purposes, he speaks for God.
paul
The Neo-Protestant Happy Death Culture
TANC Ministries is presently in the middle of a book project that will hopefully produce a finished product by our 2016 conference in August. In the midst of the grind, one is reminded of why somebody has to do this. What is the this? And what reminds me of the why?
TANC Ministries attempts to supply a service to people searching for the truth. It’s a valid service because the Bible states that something comes part and parcel with the new birth (salvation); a love for the truth. That is the tie that binds, a mutual love for the truth.
When I was young I didn’t think truth could be known, and therefore, life looked futile to me and I lived it out according to that attitude. But life brings challenges resulting in a search for meaning, and I thought I found it in the Baptist church. I did find God, and then spent 32 years trying to make sense of church. Finally, the right church folk came along and ruined my life, and as a result, unwittingly set me free to pursue truth without their presuppositions. I was so thoroughly betrayed by the church that everything I had ever learned there was not salvageable for any use in the new journey.
Paul’s Passing Thoughts is the blog for TANC Ministries. There are over 2000 articles posted here. They are pieces of the journey. Presently, several people are scouring these articles trying to make their own sense of church. Some keep in regular contact with this ministry, others don’t for whatever reason. It’s painful to watch as I can track their process; some are up to 400 articles.
This is why I am working on this project with the help of other TANC associates; I want a book that I can hand these people and say, “Here, this will explain it.” That’s what I want. I want to be able to summarize the most important things I have learned in the past eight years and hand it to them on a silver platter. I want them to know in one month what it took me eight years to learn. That’s my joy, that’s what I live for.
What is the most important message that people must get in this book? Answer: the Reformation was NOT founded on an exegetical interpretation of the Bible. Yes, that is the filthy lie of the Protestant Reformation, sola scriptura, and behind that lie is the reality of the Reformation: it was founded on a worldview that finds happiness in hating life. When we see a picture of a Middle East terrorist holding up a head without a body with a big smile on his face, we don’t see a Protestant, but we should. Is that an outrageous statement? Get over it…I can prove it.
In my book, no pun intended, standing up at your father’s funeral and proclaiming him a “wicked sinner” with a proud look on your face is barely less honorable. You can add to that idea that Protestantism holds the keys to your salvation through membership in their local churches. No, no, a Protestant won’t cut off your head because of American jurist prudence, they will merely have your name removed from the book of life for daring to refute their authority. Gee, no terrorism there in the least.
This brings me to the post sent to my email yesterday that reminds me of why I have to do this project, and with the help of our wonderful associates, it must be done well. The post came from a typical New Calvinist mommy blog. The article is indicative of how the original Reformation ideology of death is manifested in our present day. On the one hand, the author of the blog is, “a wife, mom, & seeker of joy!” And what is the worldview that brings this happiness? The same worldview she prescribes for her children: “…feel less than. Esteem not yourself. Feel lonely. Feel unworthy. Feel unaccomplished. Feel small. Feel lost. Feel broken. Feel least. For if you believe you are greater than, your father and I have failed miserably. Among the broken you will find Christ. My prayer for you is that you see Him everywhere.”
Well, there you have it. Imagine laying on a hospital gurney, prepped for major surgery, and hoping that the surgeon performing the operation is a Christian. And in fact he is. And so he comes in and introduces himself with a big, big smile on his face: “Hi! My name is Bob! I am no better than Adolf Hitler, unworthy, and unaccomplished; praise God!” Also, per the normal, the article includes at least one snarkey reference to America because this ideology disdains individualism; their nuanced word for everyday “freedom.” Neo-Protestantism is no friend of liberty, and the original article never was.
What kind of havoc will this worldview wreak in the lives of people? I have seen it for 32 years. Many have struggled in the milieu of this ideology for years and are looking for answers in order to know whether to stay or go, and where to go if leaving is the answer. That’s what this project is about: answers for truth-lovers.
And in regard to the researchers coming to PPT, we could use you. If the book fills your needs, that’s the proof that’s in the pudding. If you are a typical dumbed-down Protestant looking for answers—you are perfect. Join the editing committee. If you have interest in that regard, email the PPT moderator, Pearl, at mail@ttanc.com
What you are looking for, what you understand, and what you don’t understand would be invaluable information.
paul
The Dirty Dozen: 12 Things that the Lying Calvinists Want You to Assume
Originally published June 16, 2013
1. Total Depravity pertains to the unregenerate only. No, they mean the saints also.
2. Sola Fide (faith alone) only pertains to Justification. No, it pertains to sanctification also.
3. Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) means “alone” and not other “subordinate” truth that also has authority though “subordinate.” No, creeds and confessions also have authority; it is not Scripture “alone.” What does “alone” mean?
4. Solus Christus (Christ alone) only regards the way to the Father. Not so, Christ is the only way to understanding all of reality. This was the crux of Luther’s Theology of the Cross.
5. Progressive sanctification sanctifies us and is separate from justification. No, they say, “never separate” but “distinct.” Then why not call it “progressive justification”? Why not clearly say that we are sanctified by justification?
6. Election predetermines our eternity. No, the elect have to persevere. The perseverance of the saints is not a characteristic of the saved, it is something that the saints have to add to their faith to complete their justification. They call this “already-but not yet.” The promises of God are “conditional.”
7. Proponents of synergistic sanctification are mistaken. No, Calvinists think they are lost and promote a false gospel.
8. Spiritual growth is about change. Absolutely not. Calvinists believe we experience manifestations of Christ as we live by faith alone.
9. The imputation of Christ’s righteousness is only imputed for our justification. No, they believe it is imputed to our sanctification as well.
10. We should learn what the Bible teaches and apply it to our lives. No, they believe we should look for the cross in every verse which results in Christ manifestations in the Spirit realm. They call this “the imperative command is grounded in the indicative event.”
11. Calvinists don’t believe in absolution. Not so. Calvin believed Christians need a perpetual forgiveness of sins that can only be found in the church. Augustine and Luther propagated this as well.
12. Christ works within us. Only BY faith, and faith only exists in the object that it is placed in. Calvinists believe that when the work of Christ moves from outside of us to inside of us that it makes “sanctification the ground of our justification.” The contemporary doctrinal term for Calvinism is “the centrality of the objective gospel outside of us.”
If Calvinists want to deny this, have them explain to you what all of the aforementioned para-biblical expressions mean. If they don’t mean what is stated above, what do they mean? Perhaps there is a perfectly logical explanation for all 12.
paul
The Protestant Twisting of 1John: A Clarification, Part 5 – Law, Gospel, and Love
Originally posted April 27, 2015
Listen to show audio or download audio file.
Welcome to Blogtalk Radio False Reformation this is your host Paul M. Dohse Sr. Tonight, part 5 of “The Protestant Twisting of 1John: A Clarification.” If you would like to add to our lesson or ask a question, call (347) 855-8317. Remember to turn your PC volume down to prevent feedback. Per the usual, we will check in with Susan towards the end of the show and listen to her perspective.
If you would like to comment on our subject tonight, you can also email me at paul@ttanc.com. That’s Tom, Tony, Alice, Nancy, cat, paul@ttanc.com. I have my email monitor right here and can add your thoughts to the lesson without need for you to call in.
This is our final segment on 1John, and next week we will be doing a book review on “How People Change” by Paul David Tripp. I will be doing an overview of each of the 16 chapters in the book according to the theses of each chapter, and then will explain how the different points of each chapter fit together to form a particular doctrine. All in all, the book represents a pretty impressive application of Reformed mysticism.
Then, the following week, starting on May 8th, I think the time has come to do an in-depth evaluation of the Heidelberg Disputation. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses launched the Reformation, but all Reformed doctrines flow from the Heidelberg Disputation. Though very subtle, our present church culture is saturated with a collectivist doctrine of death, and I want to show exactly where this culture of death came from. We will be evaluating the Heidelberg Disputation theses by theses. How many Baptists know anything about the Heidelberg Disputation? Few, if any, yet the foundation of evangelicalism flows from this document.
Last week, I got away from our Gnostic theme and showed a correlation between John’s theology and that of the apostle Paul. The focus was the new birth, which Gnosticism denies. The historical backdrop is John’s pushback against Gnosticism which denies that people change. The Gnostics of that day believed that the material realm is evil and the spiritual realm is pure.
The goal is well-being that comes from getting beyond the five senses in order to gain knowledge. The particular vein of Gnosticism that John was contending against believed that sin only occurs in the body, and man’s spirit has never sinned per se. As a result, God’s people were being taught that what they did in the body was insignificant, and man didn’t need to deal with sin. Gaining spiritual knowledge for their own well-being was the key to having a happy life.
They denied that Christ really came as a man and was God’s Son. They taught that there were two Christ’s; one born of men and a Christ that was a spiritual avatar of sorts.
At any rate, the doctrine denied Christ’s deity, that He came to die for sin, and that mankind needed forgiveness for sin. Consequently, it also denied the new birth. In the same way Protestantism obviously denies that people change, redefine the new birth as an ability to perceive realm manifestation, and have their own unique distortion of the Trinity. When it gets right down to it, authentic Protestantism posits the Father and the Spirit as shadows of Christ.
Therefore, in chapter 3, John focuses on the new birth and why it changes us. But the dominate theme of the book, especially chapters 4 and 5, concentrates on love. Why is that? Because love in action should be the primary focus of Christians. Instead, what is the primary focus of Protestantism? Right; sin, sin, sin, sin, sin. Yes, our focus must be keeping our sins covered by the perfect righteousness of Jesus. Every song you sing, every sermon you hear is about how glorious Jesus is as set against our wretched vile selves. It boils down to praising our ability to see how rotten we are in the name of Jesus. (more…)
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