Comment on PPT Articulates Calvin’s False Gospel of Progressive Justification
The Reformed false gospel is a perfect storm of deception because it is works salvation via not working. Folks have a difficult time grasping that because it seems like an oxymoron. But it isn’t. When justification and sanctification are fused together, or said another way: when sanctification finishes justification; EVERYTHING we do in sanctification determines whether or not the links of “the golden chain of salvation” stay together properly. We are Protestants which means that our tradition is based on lay-ignorance and unwarranted trust in Christian academia to begin with; so, this compounds the effectiveness of Reformed deception.
Hence, the most effective means of destroying the Reformation myth and putting a stop to its tyranny is developing power statements that effectively accuse this falsehood in terms people can understand. Then the debate can proceed from there. The Reformation myth and the human carnage it heaps upon history will never be defeated unless it is brought to trial. These power statements reduce the Reformed false gospel to its least common denominator.
A friend of PPT recently communicated a good one:
Well as one of my cousins who got involved with Calvinism a few years back told me (and she was previously “saved”) that now she has to go “deep with her sin” and be saved every day. So she has spent the last few years being “saved” over and over every day going deep with her sin. It has not made her more loving nor has it given her hope. But she is busy contemplating the cross, her sin and being saved over and over.
Where is her hope? Her “new life in Christ”? (Which she used to live, btw)
It is insidious.
Calvin’s gospel, stated in its least common denominator, is a daily re-salvation. No? Well then, why these mantras? “The same gospel that saves you also sanctifies you.” “We must preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” What does the gospel do? Answer: it saves us. So if we need it every day, we must also need what it provides every day. No? Yes.
That’s the debate starter, and the focus of this ministry is to educate Christians on where you take it from there. I close with an additional comment by the reader that really speaks for itself, so I will conclude with it accordingly:
Paul, the worst part is that it made my cousin very unloving on many fronts to other believers. She has shunned some who have dared to question some of her guru’s. In fact, she claims they are violating scripture. And the worst part is that she used to have a real heart for the lost. Now she is busy dealing with her very deep sin and getting saved over and over.
paul
PPT/TANC Strongly Recommends “New Calvinism’s Upside-Down Gospel” by Dr. Robert Congdon
Book Review by Paul M. Dohse
Dr. Robert Congdon is in the process of publishing a series of booklets in contention against New Calvinism. I have read the first booklet and for the most part, it represents an answer to prayers presented to God over a six-year period.
This work is not half pregnant. It doesn’t sit on the fencepost. It favors truth over friends. It warns the sheep in no uncertain terms, and it focuses on the disease—not symptoms. Dr. Congdon gets it. And when you finish reading the first booklet, there aren’t any questions. No ambiguity there that we are accustomed to being waterboarded with. This is a unique work among the Christian academics of our day, and long overdue.
The fact that this series is being presented in booklets reveals Dr. Congdon’s heart as concerned Shepherd. As he states in this first booklet, New Calvinism is dividing churches and families—this is information that can’t wait another day. God’s people can begin digesting the information right away instead of waiting for a completed volume of work. Congdon also mentions that the church has failed to supply sound alternatives to searchers who fall prey to New Calvinism, and offers suggestions for future prevention.
I like the author’s presentation of the true gospel as a prerequisite to exposing New Calvinism. He rightly asserts that the New Calvinist gospel cannot save, and will neutralize existing believers. He rightly asserts that New Calvinism poses the greatest threat to the church in our day.
Many will find Dr. Congdon’s research shocking. Many will not understand all of it, but most will grasp his demonstration of how New Calvinists deny the new birth. I’m not sure much more than that is necessary to understand. This ministry also learned some things from him that our six years of research did not reveal.
This is an important first step. We feel like Elijah who prayed earnestly for rain, and prayed that much more when he saw the first cloud rolling in.
We will now continue to pray for a downpour of truth that will drown this despicable beast called New Calvinism.
paul
Stuart Scott’s Joyful Fellowship With Spiritual Despots is a Microcosm of New Calvinist Reasoning
“Hence, and don’t miss this, justice is not the point. The concept of justice and fairness digresses from Reformed Calvinistic dualism.”
“….six months after Luther’s 95 Theses launched the Reformation, the true magnum opus of the Reformation was written by Martin Luther; his Heidelberg Disputation to the Augustinian Order. The document reflects Luther’s utter Platonist disdain for humanity.”
“Now, let’s take this information and evaluate why Scott et al are completely indifferent to suffering and injustice.”
Once again, Stuart Scott will break bread with the elders at Clearcreek Chapel (Springboro, Ohio) as he is the featured speaker at this year’s “Family Enrichment” Conference. Clearcreek Chapel having a family enrichment conference is like the Nazis sponsoring an endowment for Judaism. It’s a mockery; the Chapel has ravaged innumerable families and Christian lives since its orchestrated takeover by Russ Kennedy and aided by former Clearcreek elder Greg Cook. Cook brought in a group from another Baptist church which included present Clearcreek elders Chad Bresson and Dr. Dale Evans.
Their attempted takeover of the church they left failed, but their endeavor at the Chapel succeeded—the spiritual carnage notwithstanding. Cook, as the former (?) director of Clearcreek’s counseling program, was giving wives the green light to divorce husbands who had “ruined the family finances” while he himself was just under $200,000.00 in due and owing debt. It is unclear as to whether this revelation led to his stepping down as an elder, or not. Probably not since hypocrisy is a requirement for eldership in our day.
Other present Clearcreek elders have been forced to step down in the past, but have been reinstated; specifically, Mark Schindler who was re-baptized after his prior eldership. Apparently, not being sanctified by justification was the prior cause of his disgrace. Whatever it was specifically, his wife gave testimony that she never considered divorce and was determined to make the marriage work. It’s a pity that such wifely resolve that saved Schindler’s marriage is not encouraged among wives in the counseling rooms of the Chapel in this day. But one must remember that such resolve is only honorable in regard to saving the marriages of New Calvinist philosopher kings.
It all seems insane, until you realize that people act from their logic. Why would Scott give credence to such a camp? Why would he ignore the pleadings of the oppressed? Why is he, like all New Calvinists, utterly indifferent to justice? We get a clue from his book, The Exemplary Husband on page 72. He states the following:
God uses everything in our lives for His perfecting (growing) purposes (Romans 8:28-29; James 1:2-4). As we learned earlier, our growth as Christians toward Christ-likeness is a life-long process, often referred to as sanctification. Because God is so intent on sanctifying us, we know that He will certainly use our most important human relationships to do this.
Right. As I have worn out multiple keyboards emphasizing here on PPT, New Calvinism is a dualist philosophy. Let’s go over this again. Below is THEIR illustration, NOT mine:
Note first that regardless of their verbiage, they don’t believe we really grow, it’s the cross (what it represents) that grows. That’s obviously job one. The endeavor thereof requires a primary focus on two goals and two goals only: a deeper and deeper UNDERSTANDING of our sinfulness, and absolutely nothing else, as set against God’s holiness. Part and parcel with this is also the idea of worthlessness on our part.
The cross represents bigger and bigger salvation which must be manifested more and more until the day when our “final justification” is “revealed.” This occurs as we are sanctified the same way we are saved, by partaking in the realizing of our sinful worthlessness before God and His holiness. The more we understand the difference between the two, the more our salvation is manifested. We don’t change, only the greatness of our salvation changes in order to glorify God. Of course, this obviously redefines the new birth and denies it.
As prorogated in the satanic treatise, “How People Change” by Paul David Tripp, ALL tragic and sinful events in life serve the bottom of the cross chart, and ALL good that occurs in our lives serves the top of the chart. As we contemplate the gospel narrative, the goodness of God is manifested which contributes to more understanding at the top of the chart. Goodness is not our fruit, its God’s fruit only for the purpose of aiding us in understanding His goodness—not ours. Hence, and don’t miss this, justice is not the point. The concept of justice and fairness digresses from Reformed Calvinistic dualism.
The next point is that in the neo-Calvinist gospel schema, the Scriptures serve as a Cross narrative to help us see this dualism in a clearer way. In the mind of the neo-Calvinist, the Scriptures do not define what is right and fair; the Scriptures define Luther’s “cross story.” Here is what the vast majority of Christians do not understand: six months after Luther’s 95 Theses launched the Reformation, the true magnum opus of the Reformation was written by Martin Luther; his Heidelberg Disputation to the Augustinian Order. The document reflects Luther’s utter Platonist disdain for humanity.
In Luther’s Disputation, all reality must be seen through the cross story; i.e., the cross illustration at hand here, and ALL else is the “glory story” or anything at all to do with us—our glory, not the cross story that makes God bigger and mankind smaller. To any degree that we are in the equation, the cross story is diminished.
Now, let’s take this information and evaluate why Scott et al are completely indifferent to suffering and injustice. What did the Clearcreek elders do that is wrong? Nothing because the purpose of the Bible is not to judge the authority of Reformed elders, it is to show forth the cross story, not our story, and injustice is an Us Story kind of thing. Have former parishioners at Clearcreek suffered unjustly at the hands of the elders? Well, that’s a good thing! That suffering shows us the bottom of the chart. And besides, “justice”? If we got what we all deserved, there wouldn’t be any grace! Is this like Paul’s protest in Romans against propagating more evil that grace may abound? Yes, I think so. To the contrary in the minds of neo-Calvinists, we should bow down and thank God for bringing such abuse into our lives.
This is the gospel construct that rules the majority of biblical counseling in our day and is taking over the church in this country. It is a Platonist world view that set Europe on fire for hundreds of years with unspeakable horrors. And it is a story that is playing at a local church near you.
And this weekend, Stuart Scott brings his version of the show to Springboro, Ohio. A celebration of suffering in the name of Christ. But I have news for Scott: the sins of the Clearcreek elders does not cause grace to abound. And his appearance there has nothing to do with grace or love.
If there are any parishioners at Clearcreek (who may be reading this) who are presently there against their will for fear of public humiliation or things revealed in counseling —in your desperation, don’t slip Scott a note—he’s one of them.
paul
Justin Taylor: We Cannot Know With Certainty Who is Saved Until the Final Judgment
Justin Taylor answered some questions about Calvinism on a blog recently. Here is how he was introduced:
Justin Taylor is a popular blogger and leader in the modern Reformed movement. The vice president of book publishing and an associate publisher at Crossway, he has edited and contributed to several books and served as the managing editor for The ESV Study Bible. He blogs at Between Two Worlds.
As I have said before, Calvinism is a gospel where you are elected to run a race of faith alone. If you aren’t elected, you don’t even get on the racetrack. If you are elected to run the race, the race must be run by faith alone and we must persevere against a supposed constant temptation to implement our own efforts in the running by faith alone race. The race must be run the same way we were saved, by faith and repentance alone via “obedience of faith,” “deep repentance,” and “new obedience” being the result. Sure, we are elected and our salvation is past (already), but the “not yet” will determine if we finished the race by faith alone. This is often referred to as the already/not yet in Reformed circles.
It also necessitates a single, final judgment of all people that includes those not in the race (non-elect), those who were in the race but were disqualified for adding works to their faith (apostates), and those who finished the race by faith alone and receive the crown of life.
Hence, when the following question was asked,
What would you tell someone who has not been chosen by God to be saved?
Taylor answered this way:
Who is ultimately among the elect will only be known with certainty at the Day of Judgment. Now—in the already/not-yet, “between the times”—we must obey God’s revealed will, which is to preach the gospel indiscriminately. (For the distinction between God’s secret and revealed wills, see Deut. 29:29.)
So I would tell anyone to “believe in the risen Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:9). I would encourage them to “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). I would tell them that Jesus is calling them: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28)—even though in the previous verse Jesus had said that no one knows the Father expect those to whom the Son reveals him (v. 27).
This Reformed gospel construct runs afoul of much literal interpretation, but primary in regard to the clear statements in Scripture that posit more than one resurrection and judgment, and the clear teaching by the apostle John that we can know for certain that we are saved (1John 5:13).
paul
Stuart Scott of Southern Seminary is Just Another Wolf in the Pack
Integrity in pastoral ministry is caring about the one as much as the ninety-nine. It’s like the Jewish proverb: “He who saves one life saves the world.” James chastised Jewish leaders for treating a certain class of believers like they were expendable. Most leaders of our day don’t get that.
Once again, Stuart Scott, Director of “Biblical Counseling” at Southern Seminary will speak at Clearcreek Chapel’s (Springboro, Ohio) annual “Family Enrichment” Conference. Scott has been exhorted by me in the past to not lend the Chapel credibility in this way because they have never repented of a litany of unresolved conflict with many former members, some who fled the state of Ohio to get their families as far away from the Chapel as possible. The elders there are also on record in regard to preaching outrageous, cultish concepts.
Indifference to justice and spiritual abuse in the church is part and parcel with being a visible leader in our church culture today. The abused are expendable and underfoot. And unlike Hollywood where a few stars admit that they are Republicans, the spiritual rock stars of our day share no such intestinal fortitude, not even for what is right. Scott’s indifference is just another example among many. Whether Grace Community Church and their seminary in California, or his present tenure at Southern, Scott runs with the best of the wolf packs.
His former boss, John MacArthur, and his present boss, Al Mohler, both endorse /fellowship with CJ Mahaney. Regardless of being entangled in a lawsuit concerning various abuses by Mahaney’s ministry (SGM) including sexual abuse cover-ups, Mahaney will be a featured speaker at the next Together For The Gospel conference (T4G). Mohler, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and CJ Mahaney are the “core four “ of these bi-annual conferences. Mohler, Dever, and Duncan continue to be staunch defenders of Mahaney. At the very least, Mahaney has never confessed his blackmailing of SGM’s co-founder in an effort to prevent him from leaving SGM for doctrinal reasons. Said co-founder tape recorded the attempted blackmail which involved counseling issues being made public. The transcript of the attempted blackmail has been made public.
Mahaney will also be a featured speaker at this year’s TGC conference (the bi-annual compliment of T4G) in April along with Al Mohler and the who’s who of the New Calvinist wolf pack. This conference includes many Emergent church speakers as well as the rankest of mystic heretics such as Tim Keller who propagates New Age spiritual contemplationism in broad daylight.
These people have zero pastoral integrity and absolutely no love for the truth. Scott, who undoubtedly lusts constantly to be a part of the bigger show, must settle for the smaller stages among the spiritual despots of our day; i.e., Clearcreek Chapel.
And that he will do. That is who he is. He is just another wolf in the pack.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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