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The Loss of the True Church Service

One of the things that I find most disturbing regarding Evangelical churches today is that they are consumed with what the world thinks about the church service and how they are perceived by the world. There is one thing that is omitted and replaced by a thousand lesser concerns.

The typical church service is about relevance and how it is presenting itself before the world. What is important in so many churches is what comes across to the world.

The consequence of this is the loss of the true church service. We simply cannot have both the true church service and also be concerned for what the world thinks. What has happened is simply a repeat of Satan’s age old strategy of attacking what should be protected for the people of God.

Psalm 74:2-10 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance; and this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt. Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins; the enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary. Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting places; they have set up their own standards for signs. It seems as if one had lifted up his axe in a forest of trees. And now all its carved work they smash with hatchet and hammers. They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your name. They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.” They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land. We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, nor is there any among us who knows how long. How long, O God, will the adversary revile, and the enemy spurn Your name forever?

Our churches are being burned down! Spiritually and physically. Spiritually, by the wicked coming in with all of their own ways of doing worship, in which what should be there is now removed, even as flames remove what is good. Physically, in that as traditional churches are closing down they are being destroyed and the land used for other purposes.

What I mean by the true church service is a simple service that is not cumbered with things that take away from worship that is according to the Spirit [John 4:23,24]. The world would have us worship God according to the flesh. This is demonstrated in churches with everything from idols to entertaining music.

The one thing that must never be omitted and must be the only thing that we are about is the true worship of God! The true church service is not about looking toward the congregation, but toward God. Indeed, we are all to be focused on the Lord and not focused on how those among us may be feeling or perceiving what we are about. Mary was right to be focused on Jesus, though her sister Martha perceived that there were more important things she should have been focused on [Luke 10:38-42].

The common objection is that the church will not be relevant and people will not attend.

If we are wanting to compete with sporting events and theatrical attractions then we will be as relevant as they are.

If we do have great numbers, but do not have the Lord, is that not the worse possible thing? It is better to have a few worshippers and yet that blessing that only He can bring. Truly, the problem is that we don’t know what it is like to know the presence of God and we are enslaved to an outward sense of the meeting. We are governed by a secular way of thinking and do not know that peaceful spiritual way of thinking that is just about meeting with Jesus.

Leaders who are influencing the church with this sort of thinking are tools in the hands of Satan who would love to reduce Christian worship to Baal worship.

Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?

What the world needs is the Lord, not more of the world. What will truly impact the lost is something they cannot find anywhere else. To be at the feet of Jesus with a solemnity, a seriousness, a power, in which the Holy Spirit speaks the living Word of God to us, is what we are losing.

True Christianity

It is imperative that we ask the question, “What is true Christianity?”

The reason it is so important is because a false view of Christianity will necessarily mean that we are not saved. This is my concern for you, for myself, and for everyone. Paul had the same concern and he did not address it casually [Galatians 1:6-9]. I think his comments to Timothy are very important.

1 Timothy 4:16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.

It mattered to Paul what Timothy was believing and what he was teaching simply because it was necessary to ‘ensure salvation.’

Colossians 2:4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.

In Colossians Paul again expresses such a concern for what was being understood by the people of God. Notice that in Colossians chapter two he explains that the wealth of true Christianity ‘comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ [Col. 2:2-3].

True Christianity is only found in Jesus

But that is not all that Paul says in Colossians. His concern is for a full and right understanding about Jesus and how He saves us. There are many who profess to follow Jesus but Paul says that they are enemies of Christ [Paul’s Warnings].

Consider and take to heart what Paul furthermore says regarding true Christianity.

Colossians 2:6,7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

True Christianity is only found in Jesus, but the following must also be understood: in the same way that we became a Christian, so we are to walk.

True Christianity is only found in Jesus, from beginning to end, meaning, that it is only found in our Conversion that we then walk in

There is no Christianity without Jesus, but what does that mean? That means that in order to be saved we have ‘received Christ Jesus as Lord,’ in which it can be said that we are ‘firmly rooted’ in Him. Many profess a faith in Jesus but then they hold to a form of “Christianity” that denies its power [2 Timothy 3:5] and they subscribe to a “Christianity” according to the flesh [Phil. 3:3,18].

Paul says that true Christianity is that we walk in the same manner as we received Christ Jesus as Lord. He explains that this is by the means of faith, which is everywhere emphasized in the Scriptures [some examples]. In Galatians, Paul shows that by means of ‘hearing with faith’ we became saved and that with the same ‘hearing with faith’ we are to walk. It is this emphasis on faith in Christ from beginning to end that makes for true Christianity.

Galatians 3:1-5 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain–if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

Notice that Paul says that we received the Spirit, which is salvation, by hearing with faith and that the Lord provides us with the Spirit and works miracles in us (e.g. ongoing sanctification) by the same hearing with faith.

Yes, Jesus is true Christianity and without Him there can be no true religion, but the concern that is so pervasive in Paul’s writings is in understanding that true Christianity is that we walk in the same manner as we became Christians, by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

There is a pervasive problem in Evangelical Churches that is nothing more than a repeat of the problem that Paul the apostle addressed in his epistles.

To understand what true Christianity is, read my book, Take Up Your Cross: Our Only Power to Live and Walk by the Spirit.

 

 

The Hypocrisy of Calvinism

The Reformed Faith is a proud faith. Those who hold to the position of Calvinism have a spirit of arrogance, cloaked in a pseudo-humility. Pride is commonly found among false doctrines, but it is especially particular to Calvinism. The error of Calvinism’s partiality based upon indifference (i.e., Unconditional Election) engenders pride.

They make no denial or excuse for it. They are unashamed in saying so and make it a matter of emphasis. They wholeheartedly assert that their doctrine is that which alone glorifies God. There is the clear demonstration of pride when there is disdain for those who are counted simple in their soteriology and especially when there is anger against those who would say that Jesus weeps over the lost [Matthew 23:37].

This is hypocrisy. Those who make much of saying that their view honors God need to reflect on Jesus’ words. Read this text from Mark 7:1-13.

The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’

Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER’; and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH’; but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

There is much in this passage that exposes the hypocrisy of Calvinism. Just as the Pharisees thought they were the ones who were honoring God, so the Calvinist thinks likewise.

It is important to understand the hypocrisy that our Lord is addressing. It is not what is most commonly thought of as hypocrisy. What is most commonly considered hypocrisy is when someone says that something should be done by all, but then they do not do so.

This is not the hypocrisy that Jesus has in mind.

The Pharisees were not telling people to wash their hands and then were secretly eating with unwashed hands! On the contrary, they were meticulous about the washing of hands before eating.

Their hypocrisy was this, they were misrepresenting themselves by misrepresenting God’s truth.

Jesus was exposing their lie, that they were clean before God because they washed their hands before they ate. This is a particularly vile hypocrisy because it is about twisting God’s holy truth and using it for the purpose of self-glorification. Notice that such an arrogance necessarily includes the wrong spirit that has disdain and anger for those not considered to be similarly honoring God.

It is shocking to see what Calvinists are doing with their own misrepresentation of God’s holy truth, namely His love for all of His image bearers. Ironically, while the Calvinist claims to be the one who is honoring God, he is really about honoring himself!

They say that they honor God but their heart is far away from God. They do not know what spirit they are of. Like the Pharisees in this passage they construct a doctrine in which they invalidate God’s Word, so that the heart of God is opposed by their wrong use of God’s Word. God’s heart is that children should care for their needy parents in their old age, but the Pharisees constructed a doctrine that undermines the burden of God’s heart.

The Calvinist has similarily constructed a doctrine that undermines the burden of God’s heart for the lost, by disguising it as that which alone honors God. This deluding influence is so pervasive and powerful that even the most well known Scripture verse is invalidated by Calvinists.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

They are masters of reconstruction in which they rip out of God’s Word His immeasurable love for all mankind and replace it with a view that then makes them indispensable to obtaining the “truth”. It is a fearful thing to do as the Pharisees have done in invalidating God’s Word, so that men will follow them and glorify them.

 

 

I have written a book entitled Recanting Calvinism, which provides numerous counter arguments to the Reformed position. My most recent book Take Up Your Cross: Our Only Power to Live and Walk by the Spirit is a fruition of coming out of Calvinism. I heartily commend both books to you!

Is Calvinism or Reformed Doctrine Taking Over Your Church?

Many pastors are closet Calvinists who know that their congregations are not yet ready to understand Reformed doctrine, that is, until they can instill certain half-truths that must be accepted before a church becomes Calvinistic.

It is certainly inevitable that any pastor who reads theology, who has connections, who has a theological degree, will have become aware of Calvinism at some point along the way. At the very least every pastor will be asked at some time, by someone, somewhere, “What is Calvinism?”or will be given a little booklet by an advocate for Calvinism. In fact, any pastor or elder who is unfamiliar with the threat of Calvinism is dangerously ignorant and is not adequate to defend the flock against error.

Calvinism or Reformed theology is very popular. All popular systematic theologies and commentaries on Romans are written by Calvinists.

Here are some signs that your pastor or church is adopting Reformed doctrines regarding salvation.

An emphasis is made in the preaching and teaching on:

  • sinners are not able to believe unless God first causes it
  • faith is a gift from God, in the sense that God causes people to have faith
  • the grace of God is the gospel
  • people are unable to hear God’s Word
  • God is not God unless His will is done/ God cannot fail to save all that He purposes to save
  • the church needs to avoid a man-centered gospel and “to return” to a God-centered gospel
  • the marvel is that God loved Jacob, not that He hated Esau
  • the ultimate purpose of God is to glorify Himself or the greatest attribute is His sovereignty
  • quotes from John Calvin, Martin Luther, and contemporaries like John Piper

There is the neglect of the following from the pulpit. The pastor avoids saying specifically to the congregation:

  • “God loves you”
  • “Jesus died for you”
  • “Believe in Jesus and you will become born again”
  • “Calvinism is wrong” – Beware that many Calvinists will preach against Hyper-Calvinism, but that is not enough. It is easy to burn a straw man!

Useless Shepherds who intentionally sit on the fence, so as to not offend the Reformed in their church, will say, “The emphasis the Calvinist makes on the Sovereignty of God is not a bad thing is it?” Quite the contrary! The Reformed understanding of the Sovereignty of God is that what is is the will of God. They worship a god who wills the existence of evil for his glory. The Lord’s prayer makes it clear that God’s will is not being done on earth and that we are to pray that it will be done [Matthew 6:10]. The Scripture says that the sins of men are not the will of God, nor did it enter into the mind of God that they should do such things [Jeremiah 32:35].

Ask these questions:

Why Are Good Pastors Getting Caught Up in Reformed Doctrine?

  • They are presented with arguments that seem to be Scriptural [Calvinism Says it is Scriptural]
  • The most popular Systematic Theologies and Commentaries are Reformed [See an example in: Calvinism Says Faith is a Work]
  • They go to seminaries, and to week-end seminars and retreats, where popular Reformed teachers introduce them to a teaching that results in the following:
  • There is a simple answer why people are not saved, which answers a deep-seated question about our generation
  • There is an organized effort by Reformed churches to plant like-minded churches and to spread this message that is counted more profound than the gospel promise itself!

This web site is by a former Calvinist, Steven L. Hitchcock, who is passionate about equipping Christians against the error of Calvinism. [About Steven]

I have written a book entitled Recanting Calvinism, which provides numerous counter arguments to the Reformed position. My most recent book Take Up Your Cross: Our Only Power to Live and Walk by the Spirit is a fruition of coming out of Calvinism.

Here are some helpful links on this web site:

John Piper’s Serious Error on Taking Up Your Cross

Here is a portion of John Piper’s article at Desiring God: Deny Yourself for More Delight.

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Piper’s understanding of Jesus’ great statement in Mark 8:34 demonstrates the pervasive misunderstanding among Evangelicals regarding what Jesus meant when He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Like so many others Piper is applying Jesus’ great statement to our discipleship, when Jesus is speaking about what is necessary for our salvation. What it means to deny ourselves and to take up our cross, for our salvation, is what we must understand.

His error has caused him to paint himself into a corner. He knows that it cannot mean that in order to be saved we have to literally take up a cross. Namely, that only martyrs are saved. Instead he goes, like so many others, to a mere willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice. He reduces Jesus’ awesome requirement for salvation to: “Jesus has become more precious to us than approval, honor, comfort, and life.”

Ironically, out of a high regard for Jesus’ teaching Piper has undermined the true seriousness of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus says that we must deny ourselves and we must take up our cross in order to come after Him. How can Piper reduce it to a mere willingness to do so? Sadly, he has trumped up a position based upon a confession of ignorance, for in introducing his argument he says, ‘he meant at least this….’ For those who listen to him there is only a lesser understanding, which is to err seriously.

Piper says that taking up our cross is when we subject ourselves to opposition, shame, suffering, and death. Ok, go ahead and try to come after Jesus by any one of these things or all four upon a literal cross and it still will not determine your salvation. This is perfect teaching for those who are self-righteous, who think that they can merit coming after Jesus by the sad story of their life.

The problem with Piper’s understanding of equating things in our life that we could consider opposition, shame, suffering, and death, as taking up our cross, is that our bodies, our flesh, our very selves, are counted dead in sin. It is of as much value as beating a dead horse. Our flesh merits nothing, no matter what it suffers, and is useless as a medium in order to follow after Jesus. While we are to put to death sin, in doing so, our flesh has not suddenly become meritorious.

Piper’s view of taking up our cross is also incomplete because it is necessarily of an undefined measure, unless we are actually put to death! Can we say that we have taken up our cross when we have had only a little opposition, a little shame, and just a little bit of suffering? What if it is only for a short period of time? Do we still count ourselves having taken up our cross when we are enjoying life and there is no opposition, no shame, and no suffering? Furthermore, if a mere willingness fulfils our Lord’s requirement, in order to follow Him, what is the outcome of even the slightest vacillation?

Why do I feel like I am opposing a Roman Catholic? Evangelical Christians, like the Galatians, are time and again constructing idols. Idols are easily smashed by the truth of God’s Word, though they are skillfully crafted by persons who wield spiritual authority when they misrepresent the truth.

There is a reason why men teach such things. By putting people under burdening error the hearers become dependent upon false teachers and will seek them out for the false fulfillment of such errors. As Paul warned, ‘They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.’ [Galatians 4:17].

Taking up our cross cannot mean a mere willingness to suffer and to die. Jesus was speaking about what is necessary for our salvation and that means we need to be able to say concretely that we have denied ourselves and we have taken up our cross! Jesus was saying that in order to come after Him we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross in a far more profound way than what Piper would have us to do.

We need to take up a cross that causes us to die to sin and to the Law, not a cross of our own estimation that is of no fleshly value.

For more information about what taking up our cross really means, by which we can be enabled to come after Jesus, read my book, Take Up Your Cross: Our Only Power to Live and Walk by the Spirit.

Listen to my sermon on Matthew 16:24,25.

Other sermons found on Preaching.

John Piper’s Serious Error on Self-Denial

Here is a portion of John Piper’s article at Desiring God: Deny Yourself for Greater Delight.

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John Piper’s understanding of our Lord’s great statement in Mark 8:34 demonstrates the pervasive misunderstanding among Evangelicals regarding what Jesus meant when He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Piper’s view necessarily undermines the most important of doctrines regarding salvation.

His brief treatment of the subject of self-denial at Desiring God is shocking.

His title Deny Yourself for Greater Delight is not based on Jesus’ teaching. Jesus did not say to deny ourselves for our greater delight. He said that we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross in order that we might be saved. Piper is merely operating within his self-made world of the Christian Hedonist and is using the Lord’s teaching in order to justify his weird teaching. Piper is seeking to explain how the Christian Hedonist relates to Jesus’ great statement. It is the solemn duty of any man who speaks God’s Word to make known what the Lord would have for us, not to do our own thing. Ironically, he says, “We’re dealing with Jesus here. You don’t pull Jesus’s words apart and take your little favorite phrase or my little favorite phrase.”

His view necessarily undermines salvation by faith. The article emphasises the point, “We are not all the way saved. We are being saved.” He says regarding himself, “John Piper is not all the way saved. He is being saved. Therefore, every day, there’s stuff in me that needs to be denied for the sake of joy, for the sake of maximizing my satisfaction. Not only eternally, but in a hundred practical ways….” This is shocking! If we are not completely saved we are completely lost. If we are only a little bit not saved we are completely lost. I am not disputing the responsibility of a Christian to abstain from sin, but what Piper is saying is that we are facing this struggle in a state of uncertainty. He undermines the only power we have to then walk by the Spirit. We can only walk by the Spirit with the knowledge that we live by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).

In explaining the verse that says, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it”, he says, “I’m telling you how to save your life. I’m telling you how to be a Christian Hedonist. Lose it. Lose it for the sake of the poor. Lose it in missions. Stand up for what is right at work. Lose it.”

We are to save our life, according to Piper, by acts of self-denial and this will give us ‘Greater Delight’. Go and lose your life for the poor, on the mission field, or by getting fired at work!

Do acts of self-denial result in salvation? Is this biblical?

If we give all of our wealth to feed the poor, if we travel over land and sea to make one proselyte, if we give our body to be burned, if we refuse to do any evil thing, will this give us a certain hope of eternal life? Piper says he is telling us how to save our life!

We are not “all the way saved” so long as there is a question regarding what we are to deny.

There will always be something else we could deny for the the sake of Christ. If our salvation depends on this then let us make an order that makes the Jesuits look like the cub scouts!

The problem with Piper’s understanding about denial is that it is merely something a Pharisee can do. In order to come after Jesus we need a denial that a Pharisee does not do!

Piper’s view creates confusion, by recklessly subjecting the hearer to the most vague understanding imaginable. Say hello to the bondage of Pharisiacal legalism, in which we never obtain peace and joy. There is nothing new under the sun, especially when it comes to doctrinal error.

There is a reason why men teach such things. By putting people under burdening error the hearers become dependent upon false teachers and will seek them out for the false fulfillment of such errors. As Paul warned, ‘They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.’ [Galatians 4:17].

What is biblical is that the people of God are to know that they are certainly saved and because they are saved they have the power to then walk according to the Spirit.

For more information about a denial that can enable you to come after Jesus read my book, Take Up Your Cross: Our Only Power to Live and Walk by the Spirit.

Listen to my sermon on Matthew 16:24,25.

Other sermons found on Preaching.

John Stott’s book The Cross of Christ Has Serious Error

John Stott’s very popular book The Cross of Christ, Inter-Varsity Press (1986), has very serious error. He undermines the very gospel itself!

In part four: Living under the cross, under Self-understanding and self-giving, Stott has taken the glorious truth of the cross and made it into a works righteousness that can never be accomplished by any saint.

Under the heading Self-Denial [p. 278] Stott says, ‘First, the call to self-denial. The invitation of Jesus is plain: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ (Mk. 8:34). Jesus has just for the first time clearly predicted his sufferings and death. It ‘must’ happen to his followers as well. He must go to the cross; they must take up their cross and follow him. Indeed, they must do it ‘daily’. And, as the negative counterpart, if anybody does not take his cross and follow him, he is not worthy of him and cannot be his disciple.’

Say hello to works righteousness! What a burden that was never intended by our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ. Stott wrote these words in a comfortable chair, perhaps in a lush office at Ridley College or the like, while the true gospel was proclaimed by Paul the apostle, while in less comfortable circumstances. It is ironic that those seated in lush offices, with all sorts of prestige and honor, burden the people of God, while our beloved apostle Paul, who was not so honored, gave us the right understanding of Jesus’ teaching!

Galatians 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Stott’s error with Jesus’ teaching about denying ourselves and taking up our cross is that he applies it to our discipleship. Jesus was speaking about our conversion and that in order for us to come after Him we needed to know a profound denial of trust in ourselves and a death of our sinful selves that is to be counted as a completed event.

Stott opposed this. He says in The Cross of Christ [p. 280], ‘This death is not something which has happened to us, and which we are now told to ‘reckon’ or remember, but something which we must deliberately do ourselves, though by the power of the Spirit, putting our old nature to death.’

Go ahead and try to take anything in your life and say that this is taking up your cross. This is moralism. Putting to death sin in our lives is not a fulfillment of taking up our cross. Rather, taking up our cross, in being crucified with Christ, is the only power to then put to death the deeds of the flesh, by the Spirit.

There is a reason why men teach such things. By putting people under burdening error the hearers become dependent upon false teachers and will seek them out for the false fulfillment of such errors. As Paul warned, ‘They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.’ [Galatians 4:17].

Paul the apostle would have none of this sort of teaching by Stott and others, as he argued in Galatians. Paul only boasts in the cross of Christ. Paul does not have a cross of his own separate from Jesus’ cross. In fact, Paul understood that only by means of the cross of Christ was there a crucifixion between himself and the world.

For more information about a denial and a taking up of your cross, not as a Pharisee would have you do so, but as our Lord Jesus and Paul would have you to do, read my book, Take Up Your Cross: Our Only Power to Live and Walk by the Spirit.

Listen to my sermon on Matthew 16:24,25.

Other sermons found on Preaching.

John MacArthur’s book Hard To Believe Has Serious Error

John MacArthur’s Hard To Believe, Thomas Nelson (November 23, 2010), has very serious error. Here is a section from page six of his book.

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MacArthur’s interpretation of the Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching in Luke 9:23-26 reflects a common misunderstanding that has very serious implications. There is a disturbing spirit of arrogance about this way of interpreting our Lord’s teaching that leaves no blessing upon the heart of a believer. His argument would seem to be correct as he contrasts ‘what Christianity is all about’ against a view that could never be supported: ‘Christianity Lite’.

It is always easy to burn a straw man.

Unfortunately, just because the object of his disdain is false does not mean that his own understanding is correct.

The problem with MacArthur’s use of our Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching is that it burdens the people of God with something that they can never fulfill. It is so easy for teachers like MacArthur to say these things that necessarily perpetuates the burden of the Pharisees.

MacArthur is saying that in order to be a Christian you must deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and to follow Him. To adhere to this teaching necessarily means that you must be able to say that you have done it. You have denied yourself and you have taken up your cross. If you are not able to say this or have in any sense failed to do so, as MacArthur says, ‘It’s pretty simple….’, there is only one answer, you are not a Christian.

If one should answer that failures in the past can be forgotten and that what matters is what is present, then even in this there is a problem. Can you really say that you are presently denying yourself and taking up your cross, in order to meet this requirement? Do you not see how impossible it is to fulfill this way of understanding Jesus’ teaching and that it could only be considered “Fulfilled” by a method that is totally subjective and prone to every contrivance?

Again, if you are going to adhere to this sort of understanding then you need to lie in the bed that you have made for yourself.

To put this great error in its proper perspective we should consider just how great and awesome is our condemnation under the Law of God. It is complete folly to think for even the slightest moment, even as Christians, that we have fulfilled that complete holiness that is required by the Law of God. Paul severely rebukes the Galatians for listening to such teaching and says, ‘For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor’ [Galatians 2:18]. In other words, if we reject Jesus as our only righteousness and seek a salvation according to the flesh, which is to rebuild what we destroyed when we believed in Jesus, then all we will accomplish is a sentence of condemnation, as the Law will find us transgressors according to the flesh.

For more information about a right understanding of Jesus teaching and why such teaching is very serious error read my book, Take Up Your Cross: Our Only Power to Live and Walk by the Spirit.

Listen to my sermon on Matthew 16:24,25.

Other sermons found on Preaching.

John Calvin’s Serious Error on Self-Denial and Taking Up Our Cross

In John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, The Westminster Press (1960), (Edited by John T. McNeill, translated by F. L. Battles), there is serious error regarding the Lord Jesus’ teaching about denying ourselves and taking up our cross [Matthew 16:24].

Faith in Christ is not the sum of the Christian life, but denial of ourselves according to Calvin. John Calvin’s title for Book III, chapter VII, says, ‘The Sum of the Christian Life: The Denial of Ourselves.’

Is denial of self really the sum of the Christian life? It is most certainly a part of the Christian life, but is it the sum of it? To be the sum of the Christian life means that it is the most concise explanation of what it is to be a Christian. It is what is paramount, what is most essential, what is the very thing that defines us as Christians. The sum of the Christian life cannot be something that can merely be done in the flesh, which many monasteries are filled with.

Ironically, to make self-denial the sum of the Christian life is to fail to deny the very thing we must deny, our self-righteous.

For in making it the sum of the Christian life means that our self-denial is what makes us a Christian. It is this serious error by Calvin that has been so influential to Christians. It is not our denial of ourselves that defines us as Christians, but simply our faith in Jesus Christ. This is because no measure of self denial can equate to what we obtain when we put our faith in Jesus and His righteousness for us [Phil 3:7-9]! Paul the apostle said this about the sum of the Christian life: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”’ [Romans 1:16,17]

Calvin taught that the righteous man shall live by denial of self!

In Calvin’s treatment of this denial of self he teaches that by denial of ourselves we will be shaped, so as to be acceptable to Him. By denial we lay the foundation to be in a right relationship with God. He says, ‘We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to the flesh. We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours.’ [3.7.1]

Calvin is not just saying that Christians should deny themselves for the cause of Christ, he is saying that our denial of self is the sum of what it means to be a Christian, that our denial determines if we are a Christian. We should think that we are not our own, but acts of self denial cannot make us right before God! Hence, the sum of the Christian life cannot be according to mere acts of denial throughout our life.

The problem with this is simply that it is putting the cart before the horse. It is by faith that we become a Christian and it is by faith that we live out the Christian life, which includes acts of self-denial. There is no emphasis on faith under this section that Calvin says is the sum of the Christian life. He is placing denial of self as the foundation instead of faith.

In 3.7.2 he says, ‘This, then, is that denial of self which Christ enjoins with such great earnestness upon his disciples as the outset of their service [cf. Matt. 16:24]. When it has once take possession of their hearts, it leaves no place at all first either to pride, or arrogance, or ostentation; then either to avarice, or desire, or lasciviousness, or effeminacy, or to other evils that our self-love spawns [cf II Tim. 3:25]’.

He, of course, goes on and on. The point of objection that I am making here is that Calvin attributes self-denial as the means by which Jesus’ disciple then can be rid of what is sinful in their lives. If we listen to this carefully what then is the difference to listening to a Pharisee instructing us to obtain the godly life but by acts of self-denial?

He then goes on in 3.8.1-11 explaining how we can understand bearing the cross. The eighth chapter is titled: ‘Bearing The Cross: A Part of Self-Denial.’ He says ‘that each must bear his own cross [Matt. 16:24]’ and he renders it a thing that can be equated to things in our lives. He says that as Christ endured suffering so we must. He says, ‘It is the Heavenly Father’s will thus to exercise them so as to put his own children to a definite test. Beginning with Christ, his first-born, he follows this plan with all his children.’

The problem with this is not that God disciplines His children or that Christians are called to a life of self-denial, but that Calvin uses Jesus’ teaching to burden the people of God by equating cross-bearing with mere acts of self-denial and suffering found in their imperfect lives.

Calvin constructs a burdensome view of Jesus’ teaching by placing the people of God ‘under a continual cross’ that is never completely fulfilled [3.8.2]. No amount of self-denial and suffering can exhaust all that is corrupt in our flesh. Even if we are hung upon a literal cross, it is still only our sinful flesh upon a cross that merits us nothing.

According to Calvin, the cross that Jesus said we had to take up in order to come after Him becomes whatever is a trial in our life, if properly submitted to, and is then said by Calvin as that which removes what is sinful and diminishes any confidence in our flesh.

How is this not Roman Catholicism?

Why listen to John Calvin when we can learn the right way of understanding Jesus’ great teaching by studying Paul the Apostle?

Here is John Calvin’s opening up of Jesus’ great statement: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” and he has not opened up what Paul taught on the subject!

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Paul understood Jesus’ teaching as referring to being crucified with Christ and that this singular event had ongoing and marvelous implications for his life in Christ. Calvin did not understand this.

To understand how Paul the Apostle understood Jesus’ teaching about denying ourselves and taking up our cross, read my book, Take Up Your Cross: Our Only Power to Live and Walk by the Spirit.

Listen to my sermon on Matthew 16:24,25.

Other sermons found on Preaching.

How To Find a New Pastor

There is a pervasive problem in our modern day among evangelical churches. The problem is in finding a pastor.

It should not be this difficult or take so long, nor should there be so many churches without pastors. The reason that this is such a huge problem for churches is simply because they are going about it all wrong. It has become a secular pursuit, in which the man of God must subject himself to worldly methods of seeking employment. Do you want a man of God or someone who can apply for an executive position?

If you want a true man of God do not say that you are looking for a man who can do something secular, such as, ‘you will fit in if you are into hunting’.

John 12:20,21 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

If you are a true church then you are wanting a minister of the gospel that will minister in such a way that you will see Jesus. A true minister will proclaim: ‘For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake’ [2 Corinthians 4:5].

What to Specify in Your Prayers for a Pastor

It is without a doubt that prayer is the most important thing in finding a pastor. That should go without saying, but there is something else that should be a given. It is what to specifically pray about in looking for a pastor.

What I am referring to relates to an underlying issue that is part of a larger problem among churches. So many churches are in such a fix simply because they have become termination points or solitary mountains instead of being what Jesus intended. I am referring to being places where pastors are born.

  • If the previous pastor did not mentor men for the ministry then it is no wonder why your church is in this situation
  • If the church has made too much of one man and it is too big for any man in the assembly to occupy the role, then this can only mean one thing

It means that your church is not a biblical Christian ministry. What is needed by such a church is a tearing down of what is political and replacing it with what is biblical. The reason this problem is so pervasive is that so many pastors are threatened by other men taking the ministry away from them and they worry about how the pulpit time will be shared.  When men prophesied at the tent of meeting and Joshua said that they should be restrained, Moses was not filled with such carnal worry.

Numbers 11:29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”

Consider these texts as well: Mark 9:38-40; Phil. 2:19-22].

When we construct an unbiblical ministry it necessarily becomes impossible for God to answer our prayers that such a church should have the pastor of His choosing. If you do obtain a new pastor of the same sort of ministry, when he leaves, and he will eventually, you will be where you are now, but all over again!

Christian ministry should really be very simple and never facing this problem, let alone a pervasive problem. If you find your church stuck in this rut then do this and God will answer your prayer for a new pastor. Take on board the biblical way of churches being places where pastors are born and take it before the Lord of the harvest [Matthew 9:36-38]. Make it a matter of purpose, that as a church you are saying to the Lord that you only want a pastor who will fulfil this mandate from God, and God will send such a pastor to you.

Pray for what God wants and then you will obtain what only God can provide.

Think about it. Satan wants churches to become dysfunctional in raising up ministers of the Word. He has been so successful that just about any mega church that loses its pastor is not able to fulfill the role from within its own large membership! This should cause us to stop and think. The reason no man from the membership can occupy the position is simply because the former pastor has made himself so important and he has not done what is biblical. Ironically, by failing to raise men up for the same position, the former pastor has rendered his own lasting usefulness to be of significant doubt.

The same dysfunctionality is found in small rural churches. Why was it not considered important that other men in the small assembly should be trained for the ministry? This is why so many rural churches die, simply because they have lost sight of how important every work is and how essential it is to the vision and health of every church. Everyone in the church participates in a man of God being made ready to do the ministry and this communicates significance and gospel participation for everyone in the church.

Anticipate in Faith that He Has Already Answered the Need

Is there not a young David among you, though “inexperienced”? Is there not a man among you whom the Lord can use, even as he looks to the Lord to enable him to provide for his young household and their spiritual wellbeing? Is there not a seasoned saint in the assembly, that though the world says he is retired, he is able to edify the people of God? Cannot all of these labor together and strengthen one another to the fulfilment of the Christian ministry?

What ever happened to having faith in God? Is God distant? Does not God provide by means that often surprises us? Has He not already provided for the church’s need? Maybe what is really needed is that greater faith to see it?

Mark 11:24 Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

What makes a man able for the ministry is not a piece of paper, though biblical training may be of some help, but it is the support of the people of God that makes all the difference. The man of God is the arrow, the congregation the bow. They both need each other! Even Jesus could not do many works in His home town because of the people’s unbelief [Matthew 13:53-58].

A Few Other Texts of Scripture

Mark 6:4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.”

1 Samuel 16:6,7 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’S anointed is before Him.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Titus 1:5-9 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.  For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.