Paul's Passing Thoughts

Steven Lawson had five years to consider what he had to lose by partaking in a relationship with a women other than his wife. I think Lawson is probably an ok guy, and fairly decent as far as people go, so now we can consider what he knew. He knew what the exposure would do to the cause of Christ, his peers, his family, and his followers. While he revealed his penchant for imagination by preaching about the agonizing details of hell to invoke fear in people, a hallmark that supposedly makes evangelical preaching superior, he was certainly able to imagine the pain he was going to inflict on many. He knew he would lose everything, and lastly, he knew that the relationship was not good for the young lady that he was endeared to. And, Steve Lawson is not stupid, he knew that the affair would eventually be exposed. If, as reported, the sexual aspect didn’t take place until the latter part of the relationship, he had several years to prevent what he had to know was inevitable.

But, he didn’t. Why? Because he couldn’t help himself. He was tied up and dragged away by his own lust. Folks, the Bible calls that enslavement to sin. We can also think about the guy in the Old Testament that raped Absalom’s sister. Absalom’s reputation as a vicious warrior preceded him. What did the guy think the result was going to be? Yet, his sexual lust tied him up and dragged him away into certain death. The Bible tells us that the guy was so consumed with lust for Absalom’s sister that he was bedridden with depression. He had to fulfill the lust he was enslaved to, even though he knew it meant certain death. Likewise, Lawson knew the consequences. Certainly, his conscience cried out to him many times and he was afforded years of escape, but he couldn’t stop.

The Bible has many demarcations between the saved and unsaved. One is enslaved to sin versus not enslaved to sin with the ability to “say no to sin.” So, why do true Christians fall prey to sin? Weakness, not enslavement. That’s why the lives of professing Christians should be demonstrably more virtuous than unbelievers or religionists. Obviously, Lawson couldn’t say no regardless of the consequences.

But wait, that’s the Protestant gospel. It conflates justification and sanctification, and denies a biblical definition of the new birth. It states that Christians still need to be saved (Piper), and that Christians are yet enemies of God (Tripp, Mahaney, Calvin, Luther et al). According to Protestantism, salvation is nothing more than a “legal declaration,” while there is no change in any “saved” person’s state of being. This means that every Protestant is still enslaved to sin by definition. Wouldn’t this explain the train wreck that is church (John Mark Hall) in general and the long list of fallen pastors in particular?

With this being said, I believe there is a difference between the intellectual testimony of some Protestants and their functionality. While some have a proper understanding of the new birth, and even showed signs of having a transformed state of being in the beginning, sitting under bad theology week after week can cause them to be functionally enslaved to sin. Either way, we hear constant testimonies from Protestants about falling into the same sins over and over again and chronic lack of assurance.

Lastly, let’s discuss more corruption that constantly flows from the Protestant industrial complex ruled by spiritual tyrants as would be expected due to a false gospel. What did Lawson’s peers know, and when? This was going on for 5 years and no one knew? Really? I can tell you that his wife knew. C’mon ladies, bear witness. Your husband could have a 5-year affair with another woman and you might not know? I don’t believe that. And if she knew, who else knew?

EVERY one of Lawson’s peers should have to publicly state on the record what they knew and when they knew it. On top of everything else, either Lawson performed an unprecedented level of deception, or many of his peers knew and remained silent.

And if that’s the case, it should be confessed.

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