5月14日
How to pervert the Gospel
A Dialogue...
Old Believer - So I hear you're going to become a pastor.
Young man - Yes, that's right! I am.
Old Believer - And may I ask -- what exactly are you going to preach?
Young man - The Gospel, of course!
Old Believer - The Gospel? You are a fool, young man. If you do so, you will preach to empty pews.
Young
man - Really? John Piper preaches the Gospel, and he has a very
large and respectable congregation. Everyone agrees that he preaches
the Gospel. So even though he preaches the Gospel, he's still really
popular.
Old
Believer - Are you sure Piper is actually preaching the Gospel? I
mean, the Apostles preached "the truth as it is in Jesus" (Eph 4:21) --
they proclaimed the pure simple truth -- and they were not popular.
Young man - Hmm. Then what do you think I should do? Your comments -- I must admit -- have rather confused me.
Old
Believer - Oh! Your question is easy to answer -- Preach something
extremely similar to the gospel. The more similar to it, the better. Do
everything possible to stir up your followers. And then present to them
something that appears to give peace to their guilty consciences. In
other words, after you alarm them then speak of the righteousness of
Christ, dwell on the value of his atoning blood and magnify the riches
of his free grace. And do this as much as you like.
But make sure you do not stop here.
Along
with these doctrines you must slip in hints, that something is required
to be done by the creature before he can be assured of his salvation.
Let your followers know, that despite of what you said about Christ
having "finished salvation", that something must be done by them in
order for them to know they are objects of his love. Preach that,
"Eternal life is not just knowing some facts about our future, as
precious as those facts may be. ... It consists in possessing an
intimate personal relationship with the Creator and Redeemer of the
world. ... To be certain of eternal life means to be certain of an
INTIMATE personal relationship with the Father. And if we have a
personal relationship with the Father, then we know that he hears us
when we pray according to his will."{1} This way the ground of their
confidence is not "the light shining into their heart" (2 Cor 4:6),
rather their hope will be based on how sincerely and humbly (how
"intimately") they can "walk with God".
Of
course, your followers will be left wondering, "Am I sincere enough?
And am I truly humble enough?" So you must convince them to be
satisfied with the up-and-down confidence that will be tied to their
fluctuating intimacy and humility. Preach that, "demand for a kind of
absolute, mathematical certainty about [your] right standing with God
is asking for too much."{2}. And to justify this, ignore the fact that
the Apostles said the Psalms are about Christ alone. Instead, pretend
that Psalms like "your wrath lies hard on me" (P88:7) describe the
experience of believers. This way they'll believe you when you preach,
"God has his reasons why he should leave one of his children feeling so
forsaken" {3} If you do this (and assuming you possess a popular
personality), you will satisfy your hearers and gain a strong power
over their affections.
But
beware! Since you value your influence over the people, be careful of
saying that the work of salvation is completed by the Son of God
himself without reference to any thought, feeling or act on the part of
the creature. Be very careful of saying that the believer is assured of
his salvation solely by the manifestation of the truth in his
conscience. Don't say that faith is simply a passive certainty about
the everlasting righteousness without any emotions or commitment.
Because
if you say that nothing is required from a man for him to be assured of
his salvation, you leave your followers nothing to do in the matter of
salvation. If you say that merely having understood and believed the
truth is faith, you will deprive their fleshly consciences of something
to do. And while under the natural notions of religion your followers
will always delight in building their assurance of salvation upon their
own sincerity.
So
-- Preach a mixed Gospel. Appear to magnify Christ, but in reality
magnify the creature by listing things he must do to be assured he is
saved. Make sure they base their assurance on their own humility, not
on the truth in them. Tell them, "the evidence that the Holy Spirit
presents to our own spirits and to the community is first of all the
evidence of love. The Spirit puts within us a HUMBLE HEART of love and
so gives EVIDENCE of his presence and power..." {4} Make sure it's
their own love and humility, not the doctrine of the Gospel in them
that will assure them they are saved.
Instead
of leading the creature to glory in Christ alone, make him glory in
himself. And that way you sneakily set aside the finished salvation of
Christ, by causing the creature to suspect that in one way or another
he must become his own savior. In his way, you flatter the human pride
and have your followers under your power (it so happens that mankind in
religious matters love to be deceived, Jeremiah 5:31).
Now,
once your followers believe that faith = sincerity, they will never be
infallibly assured of their salvation. Since faith = sincerity, when
they are less sincere, they will lose their assurance of salvation.
"Assurance will diminish in the presence of concealed sin...We must
often wait patiently for the return of assurance." {5} And since their
assurance depends on their affections (and you control their affections
through the power of your personality in your preaching), you will have
them surely under your power. Of course, you will need sensitivity and
talent to manage all this. But after it is well executed, you will be a
popular pastor.
{1} www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/
1985/494_Our_Father_Hears_Us/
{2} When I Don't Desire God, p217-218
{3} When I Don't Desire God, p232
{4} www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1985/
488_Test_the_Spirits_to_See_Whether_They_are_of_God/
{5} www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/
1999/1134_Helping_People_Have_the_Assurance_of_Salvation/
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