The most devastating thing about the American Gospel perhaps is its avoidance of preaching on subjects deemed "unpleasant" and not "seeker friendly," such biblical doctrines as sin, God's wrath and judgement, hell, atonement, blood sacrifice, suffering, and anything else not in accordance with the "gospel of nice." And yet, to not preach or convey these biblical truths is to not proclaim the true Gospel of Christ or preach the full counsel of God's Word. So how is that truly being "nice?"
And at a more concerning level it means to not be obedient to our Lord's command of the Great Commission, and thus not to see souls saved.
Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes he will convict the world of sin, but if sin is not preached, if the human condition of being dead in our trespasses and sin as Ephesians 2:1 clearly states, is not taught, how can people be convicted of their sins, repent, and come to faith in Christ?
"And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" ( Romans 10:14 )
The American church is shooting itself in the foot by insisting that the love of God, along with His kindness and goodness be taught while God's other attributes, the offensive ones, that don't typically draw a crowd, be downplayed. How does this hollowed-out message help anyone? It doesn't. In fact, it adds a greater burden to the person already looking for relief from their sin, guilt, and shame.
God's attributes are present in God all at once, all the time. He's not like us. When we are angry we can easily forget to love. God's love isn't severed from his justice or his mercy from his wrath.
We tend to think that God's holy wrath is directed at innocence. No, God's holy wrath is directed at evil because He IS love. His love demands that he be a just judge and execute righteous judgement against sin. And He does and will. ( Romans 1:18, 2:5 )
And as believers, we still need to hear the Gospel message. We never get beyond it. I know, I write this a lot. But still, every sermon on any passage of Scripture will point to Christ in some way we haven't seen before. Each passage reveals more of the Godhead to us, and thus more of ourselves, so becoming an applied theology. Faith and practice.
But we must hear the truth, and that means the whole truth, not just the parts we like, if we are to both be saved and then grow. Christ's sheep don't grow on a diet of self-help, positive confessions, pep talks, or bulletin points that more resemble a popular business model than the Word of God.
The true Gospel is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes," ( Romans 1:16 ) and is the same power that transforms us into the image of Christ after our conversion.
In my study on the denominations of Protestantism, I've learned there are three main criteria that biblical scholars, faithful Bible teachers, and Reformation theologians have agreed compose a true church from the Scriptures, ( even AI agreed lol ):
1.) The true preaching of God's Word
2.) The proper administration of the sacraments
3.) The exercise of church discipline
( These blogs are a series in response to my Roman Catholic friend who told me that his was the one true church, because we Protestants are divided into many denominations. And we are. However, another good friend in addition to my MIL educated me since that blog post that Roman Catholics actually do have denominations themselves. )
Spoiler alert: Christ's church is spread out all over the world, and as Saint Augustine reiterated, only God knows who are his. (2 Timothy 2:19 ) We don't. Yes, there are some evidences in a person's life, including their theology and character. However, it is very possible for a new believer to start out in a false church and eventually move to a true church. I suspect this happens a lot.
I'll get to the second and third criteria in a later blog, but I wanted to expound some more on the first one. It's crucial the church get this one right, all of them, yes, but all other components of a true church are built off of the pure preaching of the God's Word.
We have got to have a firm foundation on the Scriptures to ensure proper building.
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." ( 2 Timothy 4:1-2 )
Wow, that's strong language and a heavy exhortation coming from the Apostle Paul - who knows his time is short - to young pastor Timothy. He's charging him to preach the Word in the presence of God and Christ who is to judge us!
With complete teaching!
In other words, don't leave anything out.
Paul tells the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:27 that he did not shrink from declaring to them the whole counsel of God.
All of the Scripture must be taught. Old Testament and New Testament. We must be in churches that feed our souls if we are to be like Christ. That means even the above mentioned "uncomfortable" parts.
We need a contextual understanding of the Bible as a whole as well as that of the smaller parts that form the whole. This is of vital importance because what we believe about the Bible will determine what we believe about God.
I'm going to end here and post Part 3 B tomorrow because I'm attempting to keep these things short, like a 5 minute read, with hopefully small nourishing chunks for us to savor and think on in the between time. Friends, thank you for joining me and reading.
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