When Gospel Seperated From Law Becomes Bad News For Our Children
“….but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; their heart is unfeeling like fat,
but I delight in your law.”
~ Psalm 119:69,70
Don’t mess with the world’s children. If you do, they don’t care who you are. Retribution and justice will be swift and severe. At Penn State University, they quickly dispensed of Joe Paterno, a Penn State icon/legend because he did the right thing, but didn’t follow-up. He reported a child rape to his superior that he did not witness and named the one who had reported it to him. But when his boss did nothing, Paterno didn’t call him on the carpet and threaten to go public. The university could have defended him based on the fact that he reported it, and then could have left the minority outcries to their eventual certain death. But instead, Paterno was unceremoniously fired and his long iconic life went down in flames. The university president was also fired for good measure. Once thought to be a leader’s leader, a reputation that took at least fifty years to earn, he was specifically fired for “failure of leadership.”
There is the secular world with the law of God written on their hearts, Christianity, and religion. Religion has always been a child’s worst nightmare—the monster in the closet going back to the days of Molech who burned children alive on the altar of bad theology. Nazism did the same to unproductive Jewish children while faithful Christians living in Germany never missed a Sunday. Discussions of rich worship and praise could be heard everywhere while Nazi atrocities were routinely published in the German press and presented as heroic.
The Penn State antithesis was projected in my mind as I sat in a church worship service two weeks ago. During a presentation by a ministry director, it was proudly announced that Dr. Michael Loftis would be the featured speaker at an upcoming conference sponsored by their ministry. Really? Loftis was recently let go by ABWE which is still dealing with the Donn Ketcham pedophile scandal. No formal reason was ever given for Loftis’ dismissal, but everybody knows the timing was no accident. This is different from Penn State who left nothing to the imagination and showed no pity. Paterno wasn’t asked to resign, they outright fired him. And if you put the secular persona scale next to the GARB persona scale—Loftis and Ketchum are no Joe Peternos. Not even close.
Loftis knew. He not only knew, he cooperated with the cover up. The results? Well, let me quote from the promotional material proudly issued by the ministry sponsoring the upcoming conference:
Speaker : Dr. Michael Loftis
Executive director of DNA Global Network & former director of The Association of Baptists for World Evangelism.
Where is the shame? In the Penn State incident, those who knew and didn’t speak up are facing criminal charges. Ok, so the fact that Loftis has an executive position is one thing, but mentioning that he was formally the director of ABWE clearly shows that the GARB church in general lacks remorse in this affair. Why in the world would this be added to his credentials? Obviously, his tenure there is not seen as tarnished in any way. But you might say: “Yes Paul, but he accomplished many good things there.” Right, and likewise, Paterno accomplished many good things. Bottom line: he didn’t mess with the ones who were messing with the children, and the secular world found that to be completely unacceptable. Loftis also knew of how ABWE reframed one of the incidents as an extra marital affair and invoked a confession from the fourteen year old victim. This is because the sex was supposedly consensual. Therefore, Ketcham was suspended from the mission field for misconduct rather than pedophilia. And, the proper authorities were not contacted in Michigan to boot.
What would the world say about that? Come now, must I recite all of the news accounts of public school teachers who have had truly consensual sex with under-aged students? They are in prison for rape. And they are done, they will never teach again. In fact, they will be forever on a national list that prevents them from coming within a thousand feet of a school that teaches children. My wife works with a secular company that supplies services for disabled children. If she fails to report abuse—it’s a criminal act, that is constantly made clear to those who are in her profession.
Clearly, worldly standards, not only for protecting children, but in general, are becoming higher than the bar set by Christians. Why is that? Basically, as Jesus and the apostles predicted, the last days will bring a focused devaluing of God’s law. Most lost people see law as a good thing (the apostle Paul said the law of God is written on the hearts of every living being and utilized by the conscience). But theologies that place law in another realm, and separate from God’s power imparted to us are becoming more and more prevalent in our day. Some of today’s premier evangelical teachers constantly advocate the supposed necessity of “separating law and gospel.” Yes, more and more, Christians are learning to “live by grace alone apart from the law.” Or, as the mantra so goes: “living by the gospel.” And on the other hand, the law is separate from the gospel. Is this a good thing?
I had a wonderful lunch with an author last week who I consider to be an authority on Reformation history. I posed a question to him: “If the works of the law are written on the hearts of all, can humanity really be “totally depraved.” His reply: “That’s a good question, isn’t it?” (I thought it was, but I am probably biased). I understand that we are not saved by the law, but in salvation, it would seem to me that the law of God that is already there should be set on fire and greatly expanded. We won’t keep it perfectly, but it will certainly be the direction of our changed heart and the standard for our lives. We are declared righteous apart from the law, but only truth sanctifies. The law is not only that which was written on tablets of stone, but “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
If the law is devalued among Christians for living life, it only makes sense that eventually the world will have more law than we do. And in the Bible, especially Psalms 119:70, lack of attention to the law leads to cold-heartedness. And that’s when the world has more compassion than us, and uses the law to protect the focus of that compassion. It is a day when the lost world has more law than we do.
And I contend that this is not “good news” for our children.
paul
Tragedy At Southeastern? What’s The Big Deal? I Thought We Are All Totally Depraved!
Stuff like this always causes me to have to stop everything I am doing and post. I didn’t know anything of William Birch or his blog before the breaking story this week that he fell into significant sin and has confessed. Apparently, even though I have never heard of him, he was fairly well known in the blogosphere and was a student at Southeastern Theological Seminary. In fact, the sinful act took place on campus, and we are not talking about getting caught smoking in the boy’s restroom.
Of course, Southeastern is stunned and is busily partaking in damage control. Am I here right now? Southeastern is all but totally in the tank for the doctrine of Gospel Sanctification which is the hallmark of, well, “aggressive Calvinism” or New Calvinism, depending from what perspective you are looking at it. Basically, the doctrine teaches that we are (this includes Christians) totally depraved, really don’t change, and either manifest a sin realm or spirit realm depending on how often we use the Scriptures to contemplate the gospel; ie, Gospel Contemplationism. Supposedly, when we contemplate the works of Christ in the Scriptures, his righteousness is imputed to us in the same way it was when we were saved. In salvation, it is a general imputation; as Christians, specific things are imputed to us in the same way when we see them in the Scriptures. Hence, sanctification is still an imputation of righteousness in the same way justification was.
Therefore, the doctrine denies an orthodox view of the new birth, claims that Christians are totally depraved, and also claims that we do not really change, we only manifest one realm/sphere or the other at any given time. A post that is an example of how they see progressive imputation through use of the Scriptures can be observed here: http://wp.me/pmd7S-1lh . An example of how they view the fact that we do not really change as Christians can be read here: http://goo.gl/T1pMg , but the money quote by New Calvinist Terry Rayburn follows:
There are several problems with that essentially Legalistic view of Sanctification, as reflected in the following observations:
1) Our flesh cannot get better. In Romans 7:18 Paul wrote, “For I know that NOTHING good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh…” Your flesh cannot be improved. Flesh is flesh, and spirit is spirit.
2) Our new nature, on the other hand cannot get better, because it has already been made new and perfect through regeneration. We have been given a “new heart” (new nature, or new spirit), and not a defective one, which would be absurd. This new spirit has been made “one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17), such that when we “walk according to the Spirit” (i.e., the Holy Spirit), we also walk according to our own new spirit.
3) Those who deal with Sanctification by zeroing in on so-called “Progressive” Sanctification as the main point of Sanctification, are at best in Kindergarten.
So, Southeastern will come forth in dismay and act completely incredulous that this has happened. Meanwhile, Southeastern’s conference schedule is saturated with propagators of this doctrine, including Tullian Tchividjian. On the one hand, it’s a tragedy. On the other hand, they invite leaders to speak to the students who teach that we are totally depraved and can’t change! Can teaching seminary students such things lead to said behavior? Well, forgive me for thinking so! How ironic that Tchividjian has already spoken there this year, and is scheduled to return in the fall. Consider this commentary on a post he wrote on the total depravity of the saints http://goo.gl/Jiu4I , and the following tweets by Tchividjian:
I guess I am the only one scratching my head on all of this, but I also wonder if Southeastern is going to get a “I told you so” from New Calvinist Michael Horton who often warns Christians about trying to “be the gospel” rather than “preaching the gospel.” Like all New Calvinists, Horton teaches that the gospel is “news to be proclaimed” not a list of “do’s and don’ts.” They plainly teach that “law and gospel” are separate. This concept can be found in Horton’s book, “Christless Christianity” on pages 117-119, and also on pages 53-54 of “Family Shepherds” written by Southeastern graduate Voddie Baucham. If the same gospel that saved us also sanctifies us, and the law and gospel are separate; well, you do the math (the law is separated from sanctification). Supposedly, a deeper understanding of the gospel that saved us must always precede obedience which then is a “mere natural flow” without effort because we are really manifesting a spiritual realm that was imputed to us at salvation.
And the present-day New Calvinist movement got this doctrine from Seventh-Day Adventist Robert Brinsmead, who combined Reformed theology with Platonism to come up with the centrality of the objective gospel outside of us. Instead of reality or truth being completely outside of man (Plato), in New Calvinism, the gospel must remain completely outside of us, and nothing of grace may be infused within us. Hence, consider the following quotations by the who’s who of New Calvinism in our day:
When the ground of justification moves from Christ outside of us to the work of Christ inside of us, the gospel (and the human soul) is imperiled. It is an upside down gospel. ~John Piper
Thus, it will inevitably lead not to self-examination that leads us to despair of ourselves and seek Christ alone outside of us, but to a labyrinth of self-absorption. ~ Michael Horton
So what does this objective Gospel look like? Most importantly, it is outside of us.~ Tullian Tchividjian
The blessings of the gospel come to us from outside of us and down to us.~ John Fonville
It robs Christ of His glory by putting the Spirit’s work in the believer above and therefore against what Christ has done for the believer in His doing and dying.~ Geoffrey Paxton (Australian Forum)
But to whom are we introducing people to, Christ or to ourselves? Is the “Good News” no longer Christ’s doing and dying, but our own “Spirit-filled” life?~ Michael Horton
And the new-birth-oriented “Jesus-in-my-heart” gospel of evangelicals has destroyed the Old Testament just as effectively as has nineteenth-century liberalism. (footnoted to Paxton’s article with above quote). ~ Graeme Goldsworthy (Australian Forum)
Of course, the only practical application of Platonism is Gnosticism, and incredibly, some of the most popular New Calvinists of our day have Gnostic themes for their ministries as illustrated by the following two screen shots that clearly illustrate Gnostic dualism.
Then if one googles “Plato Two Worlds,” you get:
And the similarities between the New Calvinist concept of separating law and gospel is eerily similar to those of the 2nd century Gnostic heretic Marcion. In regard to the gospel being completely outside of us like knowledge of reality (Plato), many New Calvinists now teach that the gospel cannot be fully known: http://5ptsalt.com/2012/02/23/grasping-the-gospel/
Lastly, I heard on the news that this brother that fell is going to enter counseling at Southeastern! Right, that’s all this brother now needs—to be taught that he is totally depraved, that he can’t change, and that the primary cure for his problem is a deeper understanding of the death, burial, and resurrection. After all, as Southeastern hero Paul David Tripp often states: applying biblical instruction to this problem would not be seeing the problem in its “gospel context,” and instruction also denies Christ’s saving work on the cross by replacing Christ’s personhood with “a cognitive concept applied to a new formula for life.”
The brother has it bad right now. Counseling at Southeastern will finish the job. I am reading a lot on the blogosphere about all the friends this guy has. Ha! We will see.
paul
Final Statement Concerning Controversy at Bellefontaine, Ohio “Men of God” Conference
No rights reserved.
Things have taken a dramatic turn in the past 24 hours concerning the controversy surrounding an article I wrote about my experience at the conference. I wanted to pull down the original post, and take some time to prepare a big picture perspective/statement. The original post was 1,575 words dealing mostly with doctrinal concerns. The firestorm was over 297 words about what I experienced at the conference. There has not been one peep over doctrine in this issue. This has been glaring at me throughout the controversy.
Susan has been helping me put the statement together. The goal was to read two books, and listen to all of the mp3’s from the conference. Part of Susan’s task was to read a copy of “Family Shepherds” written by Voddie Baucham and obtained at the conference. At the end of chapter four, she approached me with a legal pad and what she shared was rather shocking. Almost immediately, when adding the other things I have learned this week, I began to look at this issue in a whole new way. That I will now share.
God has blessed Paul’s Passing Thoughts (PPT) since its conception in 2009 despite the pettiness that often occurs here. Susan has helped with that problem, but I think recent events have helped to jettison that element of the blog much further. That’s good, and here is only one reason among many: one of the pastors I talked to this week is bi-vocational, and yes, a follower of Voddie Baucham. But New Calvinism is very subtle, and there probably isn’t any way a working pastor is able to stay on top of this stuff. For crying out loud, the brain trust of John MacArthur’s church is not even on top of it! But in the post that I pulled down, I call followers of Baucham “koolaid drinkers.” This bi-vocational pastor loves the word and the truth, and I called him a koolaid drinker. Furthermore, he shared that he equated that term with people who died at Jonestown under the leadership of cultist Jim Jones. Ouch. Not fair. That’s one of many reasons that the post is down.
Secondly, five years of research on this subject has yielded a vivid picture of this movement, and such pettiness is not necessary for the cause. A complete picture of this doctrine will bring it down, I’m confident of that. And along with it, the rampant spiritual abuse. That needs to be exposed to draw attention to what will ultimately destroy it—its doctrine found wanting, and the fact that the doctrine leads to indifference, spiritual abuse, and cult-like churches. But episodes like the one that came out on March 3rd will not get the job done. In fact, it will hinder the cause.
Therefore, PPT is getting back to its roots of being doctrine focused. We will be undergoing a remodeling, so if you like anything that’s up, you had better copy it just in case. The posts will be edited and placed in the new format of a newsletter. That way, PPT’s newsletter, Truth About New Calvinism can be read online or received in the mail. The newsletter will be distributed by a nonprofit organization and will be available for free at several locations. We start a new life on Monday with an in-depth series and the new format.
In my reconciliation with the church’s pastor, we reconciled on the 297 words, but he wouldn’t discuss the 1575 which involved my contentions. Even though you don’t discuss that which is reconciled with others, I think part of the interim statement needs to remain on the record:
Also, let me state clearly that there is no way I can know the motives behind what I saw. At the very most, the only thing I can determine [definitively] is a disregard for others by SOME who attended the conference.
The “Lydia” comment will remain because it is a balanced opinion in my estimation. The fact of the matter is that I had no plans for writing anything more than the one, controversial post. But what Susan has pointed out in Baucham’s book, and what I heard at the conference, is vital and formidable information in the quest to expose the errors of New Calvinism and the Patriarchy movement. The series will be in-depth, lengthy, and will include materials taught at the conference and the general teachings of the host church. This is because the teachings at the conference, the host church, and Baucham’s writings are presented in a way that make them easily presented. It’s an extremely rich resource. Much is also at stake in regard to youth ministry as well which was represented at the conference in a significant way. The pastor of the host church was apprised of the fact that doctrinal offences were not resolved and open for discussion. An endeavor to expose New Calvinism to relevant groups can be greatly served by this series that will be, Lord willing, several parts.
I will conclude with an example of what has inspired me to proceed in this direction. Baucham, in his book on family shepherds, attests to the centrality of the gospel outside of us, denial of the new birth, and the total depravity of the saints. The results of this doctrine can be seen in his assertion that the family is a mere “delivery mechanism for the gospel.” I will demonstrate throughout the series how this central doctrine desensitizes Christians, especially in the area of justice and righteous indignation, mercy, and compassion. This is more than speculation; the coldblooded mercenary mindset of this movement is well documented.
paul
The Cat is Out of the Bag: Biblical Counseling Isn’t About Change
As The Coalition Against New Calvinism is forming, one of my goals as a member is to publish a pdf report to be distributed among churches en mass. The first is almost complete and will be an introduction, but the second will address what is now apparent. David Powlison and the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation have perpetrated a huge fraud upon the church. In the early 70’s many evangelical leaders adopted the doctrine and motif of the Australian Forum, a project that systematized Progressive Adventism. The base doctrine was the centrality of the objective gospel outside of us, and its primary focus was a call to semper reformanda. This was the idea (and still is) that the Reformation didn’t end with Luther, and the Forum had rediscovered the lost gospel of the Reformation (documentation on this and what follows is now ample and convincing).
Church leaders bought into the frenzy wholesale, especially many at Westminster Seminary where the Forum’s theological journal was widely distributed. One of those leaders at Westminster was the mentor of David Powlison and Tim Keller (Dr. John Miller). The movement spawned a massive takeover mentality among its proponents which sought to “reform” the American church with this new rediscovered Reformation gospel. Powlison is on record saying that the fundamental difference between CCEF and NANC (National Association of Nouthetic Counselors) was a traditional view of sanctification verses John Miller’s theology (which he got from the Forum). Therefore, it is no surprise that CCEF sought to assimilate the semper reformanda into NANC, which they have been very successful in doing.
One of the major themes promoted by Jay Adams when he was involved with NANC was the idea that counseling was about biblical change. Though unclear at this time whether the following came directly from the Forum or was added later, a significant portion of the NANC/CCEF counseling culture believes no such thing. Rather, they believe that people do not change (but remain totally depraved whether believers or not), and that the primary goal of counseling is to teach Christians how to manifest one of two realms or spheres. We don’t change, but we can experience and manifest the realm of the Holy Spirit or the flesh/worldly/law realm. This prism enables them, as you can imagine, to use orthodox sounding verbiage to promote this doctrine. In fact, they do just that. Spiritual growth is now, “spiritual formation.” Repentance is now, “deep repentance,” etc.
CCEF has been a lost cause from the beginning, but it is unfortunate that the leadership of NANC shows no intestinal fortitude in dealing with this problem. In fact, they refer hundreds of people daily to these counselors with complete indifference. Daily, hundreds of troubled people seek to be helped by these counselors while totally unaware of what they believe.
It is the coalition’s duty to change that. The second newsletter will be aggressively circulated to churches worldwide. It is our goal to be servants of those who struggle with full disclosure.
paul
18 comments