"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."
Matthew 7:15 (NASB)
One of my friends keeps "backyard chickens". She has done so for some time. The other day she got some new hens; she drove a long way to pick them up. Two nights later they were dead.
I doubt it was a ravenous wolf that killed her chickens; more likely it was a coyote. Still, seeing the results of such a massacre is hard on the eyes.
The same holds true of apostasy and apostate preachers/prophets. Hard to witness. Hard to watch.
In our local area, one of the notable pastors has taken a deep dive off into apostasy, declaring that the Old Testament is no longer relevant to our lives today, as Christians....that the 1st century church fathers divorced themselves from the Old Testament teachings.1 This false teaching is very similar to 2nd century Marcionism.2
A similar apostasy, revealed in the New Testament was the opposite belief - - that all Christians, Jews and Gentiles, had to conform entirely to Mosaic Law and the rabbinical traditions which grew up around it. This position was taught by the apostate Judaizers, which I have blogged about in this recent post:
Today, Judaizers can be seen in certain Messianic Jewish communities, such as the wrong-headed Hebrew Roots movement.3
A third form of apostasy is that belief in a particular church or denomination brings salvation...that saving faith in Jesus Christ is not sufficient, that obedience to a bunch of ecclesiastical practices and regulations is required. This essentially becomes "works-based salvation" or earning your way into Heaven by following a set of rules/practices not mentioned in Scripture. Adherents become enslaved to their particular church, trusting in that church for salvation, instead of relying on Jesus Christ alone.
A third form of apostasy is that belief in a particular church or denomination brings salvation...that saving faith in Jesus Christ is not sufficient, that obedience to a bunch of ecclesiastical practices and regulations is required. This essentially becomes "works-based salvation" or earning your way into Heaven by following a set of rules/practices not mentioned in Scripture. Adherents become enslaved to their particular church, trusting in that church for salvation, instead of relying on Jesus Christ alone.
All three of these heresies are just that - - heresies, apostasies.
Behind all three are an insatiable drive for power and prestige - - to gain or increase a religious "following". At the foundation are selfishness and pride.
In the case of what can be observed happening with the Atlanta pastor referenced in source #1 below, the driving force seems to be a general appeasement of American culture. There is no doubt that the American culture war seems to be swinging in favor of those who view aberrant sexual behavior to be acceptable, both socially and religiously, despite prohibitions of such in both the Old and New Testaments. In order to appease these increasingly clamorous voices for both social and ecclesiastical legitimacy, some pastors are veering off into a theological ditch, taking their usually sizable congregations along with them.
The Assault and the Struggle:
On a larger scale, all throughout the days since Jesus was here among us, the assault on grace along with the resulting struggle to define appropriate outworking of grace in the life works of believers have raged hot.
Behind all three are an insatiable drive for power and prestige - - to gain or increase a religious "following". At the foundation are selfishness and pride.
In the case of what can be observed happening with the Atlanta pastor referenced in source #1 below, the driving force seems to be a general appeasement of American culture. There is no doubt that the American culture war seems to be swinging in favor of those who view aberrant sexual behavior to be acceptable, both socially and religiously, despite prohibitions of such in both the Old and New Testaments. In order to appease these increasingly clamorous voices for both social and ecclesiastical legitimacy, some pastors are veering off into a theological ditch, taking their usually sizable congregations along with them.
The Assault and the Struggle:
On a larger scale, all throughout the days since Jesus was here among us, the assault on grace along with the resulting struggle to define appropriate outworking of grace in the life works of believers have raged hot.
I imagine it will continue to be so, until Jesus returns.
So, where is the balance?
I am not much of a theologian and, frankly, there are times writing this blog scares me to death, for fear that I might fall into the trap of teaching heresy. Still, by the grace of God and for His glory, I'll take a crack at it.
1. Salvation begins in the life of a person when he or she realizes that there no way to "earn" salvation by "being good" - - that is, conforming to any set of moral rules, from the Old Testament or otherwise. (Romans 3:10-12; Romans 3:23) . Since God's standard is total perfection, none of us can achieve it on our own.
2. Salvation is conferred by the Holy Spirit when the person then puts his or her faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, as Savior and Master/Lord. Period. Done. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
3. Walking by faith means living one's life as an outflowing of that saving grace, living it according to the words of the New Covenant given to us by Jesus Himself in Luke 22:19-20. We need to recognize, however, that Jesus' New Covenant is directly derived from (flows from) the rules for moral living typified in the 10 Commandments.4 5
4. The Old Testament should be honored as co-equal with the New, because it is an indispensable part of God's complete written revelation of Himself to His people, Israel, and the Church of Jesus Christ. It should be studied, in light of the New, to learn how God fulfilled so much of the Old Testament through Jesus' life and work, revealed in the New. Remember that when Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3:16-17, he was referring to the Scriptures which we today call the Old Testament!
5. If redeemed people of faith want to (out of love and gratitude) practice such things as keeping the Jewish feasts with a Messianic view, or using Hebrew in their worship services and so forth, they should follow their own convictions to do so, recognizing that eternal salvation is found in Jesus Christ, and in Him alone.
Dear Lord Jesus, please give us clear eyes and pure, humble hearts, to follow You in grace and truth. May we fare better than my friend Diana's chickens. Please protect your flock from ravenous wolves. In Jesus' name, amen.
Sources:
1 http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/moralistic-therapeutic-marcionism/
2 https://www.gotquestions.org/marcionism.html
3 https://answersingenesis.org/presuppositions/dangers-hebrew-roots-movement/
So, where is the balance?
I am not much of a theologian and, frankly, there are times writing this blog scares me to death, for fear that I might fall into the trap of teaching heresy. Still, by the grace of God and for His glory, I'll take a crack at it.
1. Salvation begins in the life of a person when he or she realizes that there no way to "earn" salvation by "being good" - - that is, conforming to any set of moral rules, from the Old Testament or otherwise. (Romans 3:10-12; Romans 3:23) . Since God's standard is total perfection, none of us can achieve it on our own.
2. Salvation is conferred by the Holy Spirit when the person then puts his or her faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, as Savior and Master/Lord. Period. Done. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
3. Walking by faith means living one's life as an outflowing of that saving grace, living it according to the words of the New Covenant given to us by Jesus Himself in Luke 22:19-20. We need to recognize, however, that Jesus' New Covenant is directly derived from (flows from) the rules for moral living typified in the 10 Commandments.4 5
4. The Old Testament should be honored as co-equal with the New, because it is an indispensable part of God's complete written revelation of Himself to His people, Israel, and the Church of Jesus Christ. It should be studied, in light of the New, to learn how God fulfilled so much of the Old Testament through Jesus' life and work, revealed in the New. Remember that when Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3:16-17, he was referring to the Scriptures which we today call the Old Testament!
5. If redeemed people of faith want to (out of love and gratitude) practice such things as keeping the Jewish feasts with a Messianic view, or using Hebrew in their worship services and so forth, they should follow their own convictions to do so, recognizing that eternal salvation is found in Jesus Christ, and in Him alone.
Dear Lord Jesus, please give us clear eyes and pure, humble hearts, to follow You in grace and truth. May we fare better than my friend Diana's chickens. Please protect your flock from ravenous wolves. In Jesus' name, amen.
Sources:
1 http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/moralistic-therapeutic-marcionism/
2 https://www.gotquestions.org/marcionism.html
3 https://answersingenesis.org/presuppositions/dangers-hebrew-roots-movement/
Hi Gena, So glad to visit you here and read your blog. I too am a child of the King.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for visiting, Amy, and I hope you will visit often.
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