Preserving the Truth of the Gospel, Part III: A Question to Consider...

I've been reading The Gospel Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World by Michael Horton.

As I have been reading, a question came to mind:

If one claims to believe in Jesus--but at the same time, knowingly holds that they must contribute to their own salvation--does that belief negate saving faith?  That is, does holding to a works righteousness cancel out a claim to have been saved?

Paul's letter to the Romans (Chapter 4) and the entire letter to the churches in Galatia seem to answer the question.  I've had conversations with various friends, mostly coming to the conclusion that adding to the gospel is a false gospel that Paul so vehemently addressed in Galatians.

More later...

Who Is Controlling You?

I just finished another book called Who Will Deliver Us?  The Present Power of the Death of Christ by Paul Zahl.   Powerful.

One of the things he wrote had to do with the power we give to others, power over ourselves.  Zahl wrote:

A ministry of imputation calls for preaching and teaching a dramatic affirmation of the self.  (I had a little difficulty with that sentence, till I read the rest of what he wrote).  It is initially a question of recognizing a virtually universal negative experience (something everyone might experience) of life:  that we allow others to carry our value.  Other people have an extraordinary hold over us:  their view of us, or what we think their view is, matters more than what we think of ourselves.  Imputation (Christ's righteousness credited to us) turns this situation around, declaring that in the great transaction of the death of Christ, God has reaffirmed the priceless value he conferred on human beings in our creation.  (p. 73)

That is pretty heavy.  We all relinquish that kind of control to others every day of our lives--some of us more than others.  How?

FARLEY PART IX: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Summary and Conclusion

One must have sympathy toward, and show mercy toward another who has lived under a legalistic religious system as Andrew Farley has done in the past.  It truly is a burdensome way of moving through this life as a believer, and one that can be very frustrating.  However, having had that experience does not excuse moving completely to the other side of the spectrum.  Rebellion against “religion” does not excuse taking up a position that reinterprets—tweaks—the truth of the gospel.

It is rather ironic that Farley quotes heavily from Galatians, in that the Apostle Paul wrote to that church to chastise them for buying into the ritualism of the Judaizers (circumcision), and casting aside the one true gospel of Jesus Christ.  The church at Galatia had deserted “him who called (them) in the grace of Christ” and turned to a different gospel, preached by those who troubled them and wanted to distort the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:6-7).

By tweaking, misinterpreting, and coming up with premises that are not supported with Scripture, Farley has inched dangerously close to distorting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 Soli Deo Gloria!

Further Reading

Bridges, Jerry, The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness, Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1994, 2006

Chester, Tim, You CAN Change: God’s Transforming Power for Our Sinful Behavior and Negative Emotions, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010