Unbelievable: New Calvinist Anti-Trinity Heretics Dissing TD Jakes
There they go again, the supposed stalwarts of the faith attacking soft targets to prove to themselves and everyone else that they are brave defenders of the faith once delivered by Robert Brinsmead and the Australian Forum. It’s truly enough to gag a maggot. Their usual target is Joel Osteen who is at least partially created by the New Calvinists themselves—a backlash from people starving for some practical application and sick of hearing how totally depraved we are. His prosperity gospel is unacceptable, but not completely void of spiritual common sense like New Calvinism which makes him the lesser of the two evils.
Apparently, Jakes is into Oneness Pentecostalism which teaches that the Trinity primarily finds its identity in Christ and devalues the distinctions between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Unnamed notable members of the heretical Gospel Coalition attempted to bully James MacDonald into cancelling an appearance by Jakes at MacDonald’s church. MacDonald refused and resigned from The Gospel Coalition board of which he was a charter member.
But what’s the difference? The Forum rejected the significance of the Trinity and emphasized Christ over the Father and Holy Spirit, and this same mentality is constantly seen among New Calvinists. John Piper often states that, “God entered history through Christ.” He also continually refers to “the imputed righteousness of Christ” as the bases of our justification. This is a blatant contradiction to Scripture which always refers to our imputed righteousness as coming from God the Father. John MacArthur is far less ambiguous, stating the following in the forward of a book written by New Calvinist Kool-aid drinker Rick Holland:
This book is an insightful, convicting reminder that no one and nothing other than Christ deserves to be the central theme of the tidings we as Christians proclaim—not only to one another and to the world, but also in the private meditations of our own hearts….They ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:42). That is the only blueprint for church ministry that has any sanction from Scripture….The pastor who makes anything or anyone other than Christ the focus of his message is actually hindering the sanctification of the flock.
paul
What’s Causing This New Covenant Theologian To Act This Way?
He saw something. But all those reading forward must promise to read all of this post before you click on the link at the end of this post to see what he saw.
I have been getting emails from NCT guys in response to my latest posts. Because I believe words mean things, I’m “uneducated,” “clueless,” “unregenerate,” a “moron,” to name a few.
Because NCT guys wear you out with the same nonsense over and over again, I have learned to pick out the highlights of their falsehoods. That’s aside from them claiming to advocate Gospel Sanctification while denying they are New Calvinists. Right.
Here’s a comment by one of them In defense of John Piper: “There is a huge difference between saying sanctification is ‘necessary’ and saying it forms any part of the basis of our right standing before God” Then why is sanctification “necessary”? Synonyms for “necessary” are essential, required, needed, compulsory, obligatory, indispensable, basic. The guy is paid millions to communicate, why would he have not said, “resulting in sanctification” instead? Answer: Piper, like all good Adventists, believes that sanctification completes justification.
Another statement: “This verse teaches clearly that it is the same grace that justifies us that sanctifies us.” Then sanctification is also monergistic. It’s not rocket science. That’s what Piper means by “Christ 100% for us.” Right, if sanctification is monergistic, obviously, Christ has to do it all for us. But here is where New Calvinists haven’t completely thought this through; if sanctification completes justification, then what we do in sanctification factors in whether it is doing something or nothing. The goal now is to find some formula that doesn’t “make sanctification the grounds of our justification.” Massive confusion and complicated formulas ensue.
This statement is also telling: “The believer’s union with Christ assures both our judicial fitness for heaven, righteousness, and our moral fitness for heaven, holiness.” Again, you see the necessity for a doctrine that prepares us for some kind of future judgment concerning “fitness for heaven.” In some way, we must be kept righteous. Not so, we have already been declared righteous and the full righteousness of God has been credited to our account. It’s a done deal. Because NCT holds to a fusion of justification and sanctification, with sanctification linking the two together with glorification, we need to (supposedly) be KEPT in a righteous standing during the sanctification process.
What did the New Covenant guy see?
paul
How Most Pastors Today Use The Bible
“….if the higher law of love abrogates the law of Scripture, it sure as hell abrogated your by-laws. I find the incredulous demeanor of people who come to me with these reports both adorable and naive. It’s time for Christians to wake up and start drinking more coffee.”
I’m wondering; can we begin calling our present day, “The Age of the Australian Forum”? If you really want to understand what’s going on in the church theologically, read the Forum’s journal: Present Truth Magazine. It can be obtained online for free through a Progressive Adventist church that archived most of the issues.
The Forum’s hermeneutic was based on their thesis, the centrality of the objective gospel completely outside of us (COGOUS) which is supposedly the lost doctrine of the Reformation. It’s monergism on steroids. We are so wicked and totally depraved, that objective truth can only be outside of us. When truth starts being processed inside of us, the only result can be subjectivism.
What to do then? Answer: focus on central truth that is the “power of the gospel.” Basically, gospel, gospel, and more gospel transforms us into Christ likeness. We need to saturate ourselves with information about the works of Christ, not anything we would do. Hence, pithy truisms like, “Not, ‘What would Jesus do?’ But, ‘What has Jesus done.’”
Supposedly, saturating ourselves with what Jesus has done, not anything that we would do fills our hearts with gratitude and makes us willing and joyful participants in obedience. However, the key is to focus on gospel and then allow works to flow from that. Obedience when we don’t feel like it, or out of duty, is not “done in love” And, the point isn’t how well we do that—because we are not “under law, but under grace.” The point is not to “obey in our own efforts.” Results are not the goal, we can’t affect any results anyway; the goal is to avoid “making our sanctification the basis of our justification.” In other words, all works must flow from justification truth and the “power of the gospel.” Just focus on gospel, and let the “active obedience of Christ” take care of the rest.
This is because Christ was not only obedient to the cross (known as His “passive” obedience), but also lived a perfect life so that His obedience for sanctification could be imputed to us as well (Christ’s “active” obedience). Hence, and don’t miss this, if we try to obey in sanctification, we are trying to accomplish works that have already been finished by Christ as part of the atonement, and thus making our sanctification the grounds of our justification because the two are fused together and part of the atonement with Christ living a perfect life here on Earth for one, and dying for the other. Got that? This makes sanctification very tricky business. At any time, we could be unwittingly “making our sanctification the grounds of our justification.”
Come now, admit it, we hear this lingo all the time reverberating throughout churchianity.
Where does the use of the Bible fit into all of this? Answer: it is a tool for the gospel contemplationism needed to transform us into the likeness of Christ. All of the commands in the Bible are to remind us of the fact that Christ obeyed all of them for us (this is the basis of the New Calvinist motto, “Christ for us”). Biblical imperatives are supposed to remind us of the futility of trying to keep them ourselves while invoking thankfulness for what Jesus has done “for us,” not anything we do. However, polity framework is considered to be a separate issue. They concede that the Bible contains guidelines for structuring the church, but that is for practical function and is separate from “spiritual formation.” Moreover, this view contends that the Holy Spirit only illumines when the Bible is used to see the gospel in a deeper and deeper way. And also, aside from practical use for structuring, seeing the Bible through the prism of gospel (ie., Christ the person and His works) interprets the Bible itself for all uses in “spiritual formation.”
Now, since Christ already fulfilled the law and imputed it to us, our goal isn’t to follow specific imperatives in the Bible, but rather to fulfill the “higher law of love” that Christ has instituted to replace the “fulfilled” law which is now abrogated by the “higher law of Christ.” What does that look like?! Answer: it looks like whatever the gospel produces! Because, when it’s the result of the gospel, it can’t be wrong! If the elders of your church are “saturated with the gospel”—they can’t be wrong, and it may, or may not look like “the dead letter of the law,” ie., biblical imperatives not seen in their “gospel context.” As Francis Chan states it: “When you are loving, you can’t sin.”
Look folks, this ministry sees this approach to the Bible fleshing itself out in real-life church situations daily: “But, but, how can they do this?! It is clearly against Scripture!” No, in their minds, it is against a law that has been abrogated by the higher law of Christ. “But, but, what’s that?” Answer: whatever results in the elders being saturated with the gospel, that’s what. And then there is the whole issue of New Calvinist elders poo—pooing church constitutions and by-laws. Trust me, if the higher law of love abrogates the law of Scripture, it sure as hell abrogated your by-laws. I find the incredulous demeanor of people who come to me with these reports both adorable and naive. It’s time for Christians to wake up and start drinking more coffee.
Let me tell you what the perfect cover is and why so many pastors get away with using the Bible this way. In fact, I will begin to explain with a question: how many great sermons can be preached about the awesomeness of Christ and all that He has done for us? Answer: how many books has John Piper written? And people rave about all of them! But what is missing? Answer: aside from a truckload, Matthew 7:24-27. One of the best friendships I have was brought about when she objected to an article I wrote along these lines, and mentioned a book by John Piper that was supposedly “full of biblical instruction.” I then responded and encouraged her to reread the book and list every biblical life application she could find. She did just that and contacted me by email: “Your right. This is a real eye opener.”
What prompted this post? I read this article here: article link. Read it for yourself and let me know if it rings any bells.
paul
The New Calvinist Takeover of Southwood Presbyterian Church: Part 26; Some Questions for the Southwood “Ruling Elders”
Dear Southwood ruling elders,
In your letter to the congregation (which you posted on the World Wide Web), you say that Larroux’s theology has been fully vetted by the Presbytery and found to be in accord with the Westminster Confession, and the larger and shorter Catechisms.
But throughout the time that he has been there, Larroux has referred to his own beliefs as “scandalous.” The scandalous this, the scandalous that, the scandalous other, etc. Where has it ever been said that the Westminster Confession of Faith is “scandalous”? In fact, where in the Bible does it say that the gospel is scandalous? How can “good news” also be scandalous?
Do any of the four Presbyteries that vetted him think the WCF is scandalous? Did Larroux inform the congregation going in that he considered his beliefs to be scandalous? And if he didn’t, should he have done so?
Words mean things. Synonyms for “scandalous” are: shocking; outrageous; immoral; shameful; indecent; reprehensible; appalling. I’m thinking that these things fall under the realm of full discloser. Is it just me?
paul
The New Calvinist Agenda: Take Over All of the Church With COGOUS
A New Calvinist takeover is coming to a church near you—probably yours. Is that a good thing? Well, think with me: they think the original doctrine of the Reformation was lost shortly after it made its impact. And, it was recently rediscovered by men like John Piper. In fact, Piper doesn’t think most of us are really “ready” for the recently rediscovered Reformation that is “ongoing.” Do you doubt that? Well then, let’s pause to watch the following video:
You see, that’s why New Calvinists like Al Mohler aren’t honest about what they really believe—us poor ignorant souls are not “ready” for the whole truth yet. Bless his heart, in a letter to me last year, he lied to me and said he didn’t know anyone who believes what I described. Al was just looking out for me until am “ready.”
Who rediscovered the lost doctrine of the Reformation? Answer: a Seventh-day Adventist who is now purported to be an atheist. Of course, they don’t tell the truth about that either. Most of us Bible thumping evangelicals don’t have sense enough to know that God would use such a person to rediscover the “lost Reformation doctrine” of the centrality of the gospel completely outside of us. We just aren’t “ready” for that yet. Do you doubt that? Keeping in mind that the project headed by this man was called the Australian Forum, and their theological journal was named Present Truth, consider this statement by well-known Presbyterian John H. Armstrong:
The sixteenth-century rediscovery of Paul’s objective message of justification by faith [and sanctification also because justification is supposedly progressive] came upon the religious scene of that time with a force and passion that totally altered the course of human history. It ignited the greatest reformation and revival known since Pentecost.
Now, if the Fathers of the early church, so nearly removed in time from Paul, lost touch with the Pauline message, how much more is this true in succeeding generations? The powerful truth of righteousness by faith needs to be restated plainly, and understood clearly, by every new generation.
In our time we are awash in a “Sea of Subjectivism,” as one magazine put it over twenty years ago. Let me explain. In 1972 a publication known as Present Truth published the results of a survey with a five-point questionnaire which dealt with the most basic issues between the medieval church and the Reformation. Polling showed 95 per cent of the “Jesus People” were decidedly medieval and anti-Reformation in their doctrinal thinking about the gospel. Among church-going Protestants they found ratings nearly as high…. I do not believe that the importance of the doctrine of justification by faith can be overstated. We are once again in desperate need of recovery. Darkness has descended upon the evangelical world in North America and beyond, much as it had upon the established sixteenth-century church (The Highway blog: Article of the Month, Sola Fide: Does It Really Matter?; Dr. John H. Armstrong).
Truly, Armstrong is one of the New Calvinists that talks too much. It must drive those other guys crazy. But the survey he talked about in Present Truth can be seen in the following illustration and denotes the basics of the Forum’s thesis: COGOUS. Basically, it teaches that the new birth is not part of the gospel and that all of the gospel’s power is completely outside of us. Before we get to the illustration, do you doubt that? Well then, consider these quotes by New Calvinists and members of the 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
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)
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)
And let’s tie this in with the video that we watched as well:
In it [Goldsworthy’s lecture at Southern] it gave one of the clearest statements of why the Reformation was needed and what the problem was in the way the Roman Catholic church had conceived of the gospel….I would add that this “upside down” gospel has not gone away—neither from Catholicism nor from Protestants.
~ John Piper
Now consider these illustrations from the Forum’s theological journal:
These men are out to save the church, and you had better not get in their way. The takeover mentality was ignited by this amazing “rediscovery” and fueled by visions of grandeur and the egos of men. “Founders Ministries” was an organization founded in 1982 for the sole purpose of taking over the Southern Baptist Convention with this doctrine. CCEF successfully took over NANC and formed the “Biblical Counseling Coalition” to finish the job of taking over what’s left of biblical counseling organizations.
This year’s “Together for the Gospel” (T4G) convention is not geared for individual spiritual growth, but for individuals who are dissatisfied with their church! They will be indoctrinated at the conference and sent back to their local congregations with the supposed answer to the dilemma: the lost Reformation! Observe the following T4G promo:
Of course, this is playing on the real problem in today’s churches and why they are dead—living by biblical generalities and an unwillingness to align with biblical truth at all cost. Another aspect is “stupid obedience” verses “intelligent obedience.” Learn about intelligent obedience here: http://www.nouthetic.org/
Got a sick church? Trust me, Dr. Kevorkian isn’t the answer.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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