Spiritual Growth

I was given a copy of "The Complete Green Letters" some years ago by a pastor in FL. It didn't say much to me then. However, I successfully turned him into a Calvinist. That caused a split in that Independent Baptist Church.

I moved away and called down there recently to find out that this minister friend of mine divorced his wife and ran off with someone else, deserting 3 children. When confronted he said it was God's "sovereign choice." He still pastors but obviously at a different location.

I am sick and tired of the legalism in Calvinism. I have come to realize that I have bought into a "system" rather than what the Bible teaches. I am unimpressed with the Puritans and their prolific writings. They were spiritual naval watchers by and large. Most of my friends in the PCA are leaning toward "high church" liturgy and are quite friendly with Episcopalianism and even Romanism. I have an article from a Catholic source "Sursom Corda" that lists over 50 protestant ministers trained at RTS and Gordon Conwell who have defected to Romanism. At least Romanism is a more consistent place for one who is using legalistic means to secure their salvation. I am sure you have heard the story of Scott Hahn.

You know I see a huge momentum toward Covenant/Reformed Theology today. The Law perspective is appealing to the natural man and fits in well with self improvement and other kinds of hype-oriented works-based attainment theories -- no different than Dennis Waitly, Earl Nightingale, or Tony Robbins.

The Covenant people are extremely prolific in their writings (just look at Gurnall's 1200+ pages on the Armour of the Christian; Richard Baxter's 70+ volumes; John Owen's endless elaborations where he digresses almost in every paragraph to rhapsodize about our state as "worms, worthlessness, etc, etc." This kind of writing chews up reams of paper and gallons of ink.

This is not surprising as law-orientation by nature is quite voluminous since it spirals and diverges on endless elaborations regarding degrees of holiness or measures of goodness. The Talmud is a huge expansion of the Torah's 613 or so discrete commands. Law-prose can literally go on forever and this level of production tends to intimidate the believer. Faith encourages an outward look and a heavenly perspective. Law insists upon spiritual naval watching, constant measurement and pulse-taking; the search for goodness and power from within (which is impossible) and endless "to-do's" -- all of course through the power of the Holy Spirit -- the typical tack-on slogan to avoid the kind of conclusion that readers might conclude which is the dreaded leaven of the Pharisees - legalism.

Paul said he knew nothing except Christ and Him crucified. He could have quoted from his own considerable storehouse of knowledge, his own Puritanical John Owen's, Thomas Goodwins if you will, in the form of the Rabbinical teachings but he counted those perspectives as worthless and a distraction to the illustrious work of Christ. He wrote 14 succinct letters in themes of doctrine/instruction; reproof of practical failure, correction of error.

Paul's kind of writing is what is in demand in the business world and for those in highest level of responsibility. It is consistent with our calling as eventual rulers in the next age. Mountains of detail and elaboration are quickly dismissed by executives as worthless speculation. The correspondence that leads to action and production is what drives the business world and the Bible message to the servant-king believers is no different.

It appears that Reformed Theologians are increasing and the great light of dispensational teaching from the mid 1800's to the late 1900's is about to go out. After Ryrie and Walvoord, then who? MackIntosh, McClain, Kelly are out of print. Chafer is slandered as an antinomian even though his scholarship and insights are impeccable. Scofield is branded a heretic while loud-mouthed legalists like Gentry, Rushdoony, DeMar, Sproul, flood the channels with their spiritual cyanide which is the message of works wrapped in irrationalism and antinomies ("you are saved by faith alone, but a faith that is not alone;" "Works are not meritorious but they are essential;" " You are completely dead in sin and a spiritual corpse, but you must pray (that is perform an operational act as a 'lively' corpse) to receive the new birth; "You have only a new nature that loves God, but sinning comes from a beachhead/remnant/flesh/humanness/members kind of source that was fully eradicated but not quite...." "Biblical Law is the road to holiness (regardless of the testimony and demonstration of Israel's failure." All of these incomprehensible theories are distributed in a scholastic presentation format to unwitting people who gorge on spiritual husks and pods, fill their bellies, then die of spiritual malnutrition. Heavy weight but no nutrition.

I have a friend, Dr. John Robbins of the Trinity Foundation who thinks he is reformed. Yet, he rails against this irrationalism and calls justification a result of believing the Gospel. He also absolutely dismantles reconstructionism, yet he clutches to his covenant theology and supralapsarian presuppositions. He doesn't realize that Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Beeke, and others are consistent. Robbins' lucidity is in direct proportion to his own inconsistency with the suppositions of Westminsterism.

Thanks for your ministry Dan. I guess the Lord's rhetorical question "Will the Son of Man find faith in the earth..." is the answer to the patterns I see. Faith will be rare and works-theology will abound.

Michael T, 8/1/99
Charlotte, NC

Dear Dan:

The following analogy should make it clear that in order to progress spiritually, you have to go beyond dealing with the outward manifestations of sin...

A Whitewash Christianity

Anyone who has lived in a old house should have, at sometime, experienced a leaking roof. The displeasure of having to deal with the dripping water during a downpour cannot however be compared with the horrifying brown splotches left on the ceilingboards. Horrifying to look at, yes but worse, try and get rid of them. Once the roof is fixed most people would tackle the brown problem with a bit of white paint. Excellent...no more splotches. Just give it a few days though and those marks will be back, now presenting and awful yellow coloration. And it does not matter how many layers of paint you apply, those marks keep coming through! For homeowners there are the right paints for the job so, do not despair!

For Christians there is something for us to learn about the strength of sin. You see most people are content with just dealing with the outward manifestations of sin. The perception is - no sin, clean Christian, presentable to God. However the focus is altogether wrong. It may be our sins that condemn us, but it is our nature that produces such bad fruit [and condemns us as well]. Jesus said that a tree can only produce fruit according to its kind. Good tree = good fruit. Bad tree = bad fruit. What God wants us to look at is the source. The old Adamic nature is what we are born with, it is condemned and produces fruit worthy of condemnation. But as Christians we come in contact with a new source of Life--Christ Jesus. God's provision for salvation ensures that we are partakers of this Divine, perfectly holy nature because we have been included in Christ. The facts are indisputable and become life and salvation to us when we are taught them by the Holy Spirit.

In our experiences, trials, and battles, we are molded to become vessels of honor fit for the Master's use. Do not be content with a thin coating of self righteousness which is of the Law. Despite your blindness and denial, your sins are shining through--[just like the ceiling stains]. Rely on your flesh and you will only reap corruption. There is a much higher way, a life to be lived apart from the flesh. And even better, it is God that has initiated and will complete His work. Glorious Grace comes from a God who knows what I am, yet includes me with Christ. Christ is my righteousness.

In Him