Anything that deminishes or destracts from the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross is to be opposed with all that is within us. It is not to be tolerated!
(This is an excerpt of part three of a four part series entitled 'Another Gospel: The Challenge of the Theraputic Movement', recorded at Covenant Life Church. C.J. Mahaney leads Sovereign Grace Ministries.)
[...]
The Doctrine of God We exist to glorify God, he doesn't exist to gratify us. [...] In his
book, "A call to Spiritual Reformation", D.A. Carson begins by asking
the following question: "What is the most urgent need of the church in
the Western world today?" Ponder: how would you answer?
There could be many seemingly legitimate answers, but his answer, I
believe, is accurate: "The one thing we most urgently need in Western
Christendom is a deeper knowledge of God." We need to know God better!
In his book: "The Supremacy of God in Preaching", John Piper says:
"People are starving for the greatness of God, but most of them would
not give this diagnosis of their troubled lives. The majesty of God is
the unknown cure. There are far more popular prescriptions on the
market, but the benefit of any other remedy is brief and shallow. It
does not matter if surveys turn up with a list of percieved needs that
does not include the supreem greatness of the sovereign God of grace."
This is the deepest need: our people are starving for God.[...]
1. We must teach the doctrine of God. 2. We must teach, in respons to
the theraputic movement, the doctrine of sin.
The Subject of Sin J.C. Ryle: "Dim or indistinct views of sin are the origin of most of the
errors, heresies and false doctrines of the present day." If in his time
(late 19th century) there were dim and indistinct views of sin, what do
you think Mr. Ryle would say, if he were alive today? I think he would
write: "Non-existent recognition of sin." I believe that one of the
chief wants of the church in the 19th century has been and is, a clearer
and fuller teaching about sin.[...] This topic has not only been
neglected in our culture, but it has been distorted as well.
Look at this, by William Kilpatrick: "Christiany does not make sense
without sin. If we are not sinners turned away from God, there is no
reason for God to become a man and no reason for him to die. Our slavery
to sin is the thing Christ came to free us from. That is the most
fundamental Christian belief. It follows that if you have no
consciousness of sin, you will not be able to see the point of
Christianity. Now, it is possible to create a climate in which people
have a very little sense of sin and therefor little chance of
comprehending what Christianity is all about."
We know it's possible, because that's the climate that exists today!
Listen to this quote by J.I. Packer: "The subject of sin is vital
knowledge, not optional. To say that our first need in life is to learn
about sin may sound strange, but in the sense intended, it is
profoundly true."
If you have not learned about sin, you cannot understand yourself, your
fellow man, or the world you live in, or the Christian faith, and you'll
not be able to make head or tale of the Bible; for the Bible is an
exposition of God's answer to the problem of human sin. And unless you
have that problem clearly before you, you'll keep missing the point of
what it says.
Getting it Clear The theraputic movement does not have that issue clearly before them.
That's why they miss the point of the Bible. Apart from the first to
chapters of Genesis, which sets the stage, the real subject of every
chapter in the Bible is what God does about our sins. Loose sight of
this theme and you'll loose your sight of the Bible at once. With that,
the love of God, the mening of salvation and the message of the Gospel
will all become closed books to you. You may still talk of these things,
but you won't know what you're talking about.
It is clear therefor, what we need to fix in our minds on is what our
ancestors would have called: 'clear views of sin.' That's the greatest
need we all have. And often that is what we are most unaware of. It's
not only the existens of sin, but the seriousness of sin.[...] The God
we serve is a God of wrath. The God we serve is a consuming fire, and it
is a frightening thing to fall into his hands - apart from having your
sins substituted for by the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Anthony Hocome: "In todays world there is little emphasis on the
biblical doctrine of sin, but a person with a shallow sense of sin and
of the wrath of God against our sin will neither feel the need for nor
understand the biblical doctrine of justification.
Martin Luther said: "The ultimate proof of the sinner is that he doesn't
know his own sin. Our job is to make him know it."
If you aren't aware of wrath as a result of holiness and your sin, you
will never appreciate grace. It is only those, who are aware of their
need, who are growing in their perception. For at the end of his life,
Paul makes this declaration: "I am the chief (or worst) of sinners." He
didn't grow out of an understanding of sin as a result of being
reconciled. He grew in his understanding of the seriousness of his sin,
of the depth of his sin, in light of the holiness of God.
Now this didn't result in the paralysis of condemnation. It resulted in
worship, because grace to Paul was truly amazing. And when grace isn't
amazing to us, we have lost sight of wrath, we have lost sight of
holiness; we no longer understand that when we sin, it is serious!
The Problem of "Self-Esteem" Do you know what has replaced the doctrine of sin today? Teaching about
self-esteem. Paul said to Timothy: "In the last days, people are going
to love themselves." Our problem isn't low self-esteem. It's very high
self-esteem. That's the problem. [...] Anything that deminishes or
destracts from the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross is to be
opposed with all that is within us. It is not to be tolerated! [...]
Robert Schuller: "To call sin rebellion against God is shallow and
insulting to the human being. Were the 16th century reformation
returned our focus to the sacred Scriptures as the only infallable rule
for faith and practice, the new reformation will return our focus to the
sacred right of every person to self-esteem. The most serious sin...",
he says, "...is the one that causes me to say: 'I am unworthy'." And
then finally: "I don't think anything has been done in the name of
Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more
destructive to human personality and hence counterproductive to the
evangelistic enterprise than the un-christian, un-couthe strategy of
attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinfull condition."
[...]
I believe Scripture teaches dignity of human beings, but their dignity
is an extrinsic dignity, not intrinsic. Extrinsic because they have
been created by God and in the image of God. Now, the emphasis in
Scripture is not on our dignity. The overwelming emphasis is on our
depravity. We were worthy of wrath. That's what we were worthy of. And
only by understanding the doctrine of sin in light of his holiness, will
you grow in appreciation of just how worthy of His wrath you are. [...]
Dan Madsen: "The cross reveals the depth of our sin, not the hight of
our worth before God."
"I have often heard it said: 'If I were the only person on the earth,
Jesus would still have died for me.' Allthough our Lord could have given
his life for just one person, it most certainly would not have been
because that person was so valuable, but because God was so gracious.
Such an incurring should therefor be regarded as a source of pride or
self esteem. For me to argue that Jesus would have died for me if I were
the only person on the earth, simply indicates that my sins alone -
without the rest of you contributing your share - were sufficiant to
demand the severe punishment of Jesus Christ vicariously assumed in my
place. When faced with that reality, we ought to weep for the selfless
sacrifice of our Lord, instead of finding in it one more opportunity for
fealing good about ourselves."
Heresy! This is a man named Ray Anderson. He is teaching a course on the
intergration of self-esteem and theology at Fullers Theological
Seminary in Pasedena, California. And he is complaining about the
psychological battering of the Cross. This is a man teaching in a
seminary, training future Christian leaders: "If our sin is viewed as
causing the death of Jesus on the Cross, then we ourselves become
victims of a psychological battering, produced by the Cross. When I am
led to feel that the pain and torment of Jesus' death on the Cross is
due to my sin, I inflict upon myself spiritual and psychological
torment."
A writer comments: "There is no doubt that the Cross of Jesus Christ
does inflict upon us a psychological battering. Theologically, we have
considered that to be a part of the process leading to repentance. The
Law reads as a series of algebra problems, we have failed, and the
failing grade is read alloud: for all have sinned and fallen short of
the glory of God. It is a meassure of just how greatly secular concepts
have revolutionised our daily discourse as Christians, when evangelical
seminary professors can look at the Cross and its suffering and its
physical and spiritual battering and then warn Christians about the
danger of being psychologically battered by the event."
This is error! This is heresy! I don't care what seminary this
individual teaches at, he should be led through a process of discipline.
And if he doesn't respond, he should be removed.
The Greatest Need of the Church We are not talking about personal preferances here. We are not talking
about non essential subjects. We are talking about why that man is
hanging on that tree, on that hill! We are talking about why is that
now unrecognisable individual, who is recieving the full fury of the
wrath of God and experiencing unimaginable torment as he cries out:
'My God, my God! Why hast thou forsaken me!' We are talking about why
did he do that! He didn't do it because of low self-esteem. He didn't
do it because we were wounded. He didn't do it because we have been
sinned against. He did it because we have sinned against God himself!
And in his justice our sin must be judged. And so the Father initiated
a plan. The plan was that his son would recieve the full expression of
his wrath that we deserved, so that one day we could sing with all our
hearts: 'Amazing grace, amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved
a wretch... a God hating, rebellious wretch like me!' And don't you
entertain any thought to the contrary.
If he had reserved his comming for this generation, he would have still
been killed. And if it wasn't for his grace, we would participate.
Luther said: "We all walk around with his nails in our pocket."
Why is he hanging there? He is hanging there because of my sin. And if
it was only my sin, he would still be hanging there. And this teaching
on low self esteem, positive self-esteem, has all but replaced the
doctrine of sin today. And it's wrong and it's deminishing and it's
destracting from the finished work of Jesus Christ. [...]
The greatest need of the church is not to discover the deepest needs of
human beings. The greatest need of the church is to discover the
doctrine of God. The greatest need of the church is to understand the
doctrine of sin. The greatest need of the church is to proclaim the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the greatest need of the church and the
greatest need of our lives today.
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