Here is an article from Mike Desario(www.standingthegap.org)
It would apply to all those in ministry, or church leadership who think they have the truth, defend against us few who preach it, and are under the great delusion God promises to send on those who love not the truth!
It would apply to all those in ministry, or church leadership who think they have the truth, defend against us few who preach it, and are under the great delusion God promises to send on those who love not the truth!
A Word to the Pastors:
The responsibility of our present day morass rests solely with the Pastors. They delineate the doctrines and set all the standards. When the entire System disincarnate's into fairly tales about Magic Covers and pre-forgiveness of sin it’s time to step back claim your losses and stop making excuses. I know a great deal is at sake for all of you and it’s difficult now to see that your standing on sinking sand. But many of you have no excuse whatsoever, you've been warned sufficiently already. In our email campaigns alone and blogging, we have exposed this Message to thousands of churches and ministries. We have ran long threads with Pastors and other church leaders. I know it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the immensity of the System but nevertheless they have been warned and choose to ignore it in favor of their lies. So woe unto you.
The responsibility of our present day morass rests solely with the Pastors. They delineate the doctrines and set all the standards. When the entire System disincarnate's into fairly tales about Magic Covers and pre-forgiveness of sin it’s time to step back claim your losses and stop making excuses. I know a great deal is at sake for all of you and it’s difficult now to see that your standing on sinking sand. But many of you have no excuse whatsoever, you've been warned sufficiently already. In our email campaigns alone and blogging, we have exposed this Message to thousands of churches and ministries. We have ran long threads with Pastors and other church leaders. I know it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the immensity of the System but nevertheless they have been warned and choose to ignore it in favor of their lies. So woe unto you.
Addressing those of you in the System is not easy. There is such a wide cross section of individuals involved in the ministry. Many are Scholars and know the things we're talking about are true. Others are clueless of church history to any great degree. Their understanding is based on what they have taught by their mentors and most of them are not even aware that the Saints of old believed things ENTIRELY different then what they are preaching to their flocks.
We've covered the major Doctrinal fallacies in great detail already. (its all we write about!) Our approach has been to show the glaring contradiction in Reformed teaching compared to the Bible. Most of what is believed in the System is the exact OPPOSITE of Scripture. For example: the church has the entire world convinced that no one can Judge, ‘Judge not’ everyday says automatically when someone points out a sin. YET the Bible says to Judge all things with Righteous Judgment and that the Spiritual man Judges all things. (Jh7:24, 1Cor2:15) The exact opposite!
Does anyone care? Not a chance, that would mean they may have to answer for their sins. So the fallacy remains intact. Professed Christians and non-Christians alike use this common excuse to convince themselves that God knows their hearts and has forgiven their transgressions. That’s how this works. Everyone has a Bible. Anyone can find the passages I sited and read them. The Pastors know. But the Judge not defense is too good to let go. The same thing holds with all the fallacies, they are just too good and while everyone agrees they are true why challenge the System.
Pre-forgiveness of sin is another stronghold that fits into this mold. It is based on the fallacy of Substitution and Provides the Magic Cover everyone loves so much. But again, there is NOT a Single Passage in the New Testament that promised pre-forgiveness of sin. In fact it’s the Opposite again.
Rom3:25 specifically says ‘Sin Previously Committed’ Wouldn't it stand to reason that IF indeed sin is forgiven Past, Present and Future, it would be stated clearly in Romans? But the Cloak is to appealing.
So you continue to ignore the obvious.
Then take into consideration the effect this Doctrine has had on the People. They sin with impunity! I've heard stories of men who have come out the System and were truly Saved, who said they were hopelessly addicted to Pornography and lust. When they sought help, time and again, the Pastor and other church leaders would tell them not to worry about it, God will clean him up in time and remove the desire, so focus on your service. In this case the service was ‘Children’s ministry’ ! WOW. They allow someone with a dangerous addiction to teach the kids. Outrageous, yet common.
People with these addiction need to Repent, they are NOT Christians. The Promise Keepers have no real impact on them because they preach the magic cloak. They need John the Baptist! Your churches have been infiltrated by them and as a ‘little’ Leaven, leavens the whole lump, they have brought society to the depths of Satan. Still you Pastors refuse to wake up and claim that everything is fine. This is Christianity, You claim. The people are hypocrites and the Chief of sinners. They can't help what they are and that’s why we need the Cover. Without it everyone will be lost.
So at its base your Gospel is flawed. You rest Salvation on a ‘repeat after me’ formula, or a Trusting in the Provision of Christ. In the Bible Salvation is established on Repentance and Faith PROVEN by Deeds. But today Most of Christendom will not even mention Repentance. The small segment that still does preach it has it like everything else, ‘In Reverse’ of the Bible. They have the person getting Saved first and then Repenting….AFTER God has off-set his inbred depravity or nature so he could respond to the Gospel. The reason for this is their own theology. Here’s the Premise:
Man is born in sin. (whether its inherited from Adam, natural depravity or inbred) His natural ability has been affected to the extent that he is incapable of stopping sinning or turning to God. He may be willing but he’s not able. Not without help from above. So the Biblical concept of Sin Stopping in Repentance before a person is saved is an absolute impossibility in the minds of the Pastors. No matter what happened in Nineveh or how many times you show them the arrangement of the passages that say so clearly ‘It’s Repentance unto Salvation’ NOT salvation unto repentance, they refuse to relent. In their minds man CANNOT stop sinning and if he could he wouldn't need Jesus….or you really mean the Magic Cloak.
As I've said this is the fundamental flaw in your Doctrine and it’s the reason no one is getting saved out of their sin. In your attempt to uphold the Sovereignty of God you completely eliminate the Synergy of man being ‘workers together’ with Him. Man is not already Reconciled to God. There’s a process to Reconciliation and it begins with Repentance, Faith and deeds. He doesn't need anything off-set in his spirit to turn to God. His ability is in tact. The Prodigal son sitting in the pig pen came to his senses rose up forsook his sins and returned to the Father. All the Prophets directed their message in this manner, as a given man could turn and do what God has said.
“Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord and He will have mercy on him.” Isa55:7
Why do you pastors continue to preach the Gospel in reverse? Why can't you imitate the Prophets?
The Bible even says: ‘Imitate me as I imitate Christ’ 1Cor11:1 But not only won't you imitate these Saints you INVENT an entirely Different Gospel than they preached! It’s not a different gospel, really. Let’s see:
Your first premise is human depravity man is desperately wicked and can do nothing but sin. Where is this concept in the Bible? Did God say that man was Depraved or affected in any way by sin? When dealing with Cain (first born after the fall) God told him that sin lies at the door and its desire is for you but YOU SHOULD rule over it. (Gen4:6) If Cain had inherited some kind of natural depravity from Adam why didn't God take this into account? Rather He dealt with him a capable and free will being.
Human Depravity is based by such passages as Jer17:9-10, Isa64:6, which speak of the desperate wickedness of the heart….AS COMPARED to doing what is right! NOT stating that all of mankind is depraved! Thus you preach a concept that’s NOT in the Bible. I know you think it is, but nonetheless there’s not a passage anywhere that says man is born depraved.
Next you base the Reconciliation on Substitution. Meaning that Christ took our place on the Cross, became sin for us, and suffered the Wrath of God. Under Reformed teaching it’s called: Penal Substitution and it was codified into Doctrine by Martin Luther and John Calvin. Before Penal the central model was Satisfaction, minus the retributive Justice. And before that from the Apostles to the about the year 1000 AD it was Ransom, or Christ Victorious over the world, flesh and devil.
What you teach was NEVER even thought of in early times, not even by heretic Augustine. It wasn't until a Catholic Bishop named Anselm around 1050AD came up with his Satisfaction theory. Supposing that God, as the Righteous Judge of His universe, had to be appeased for justice sake. He could not merely forgive man his transgressions or risk off setting the balance of His kingdom. The death of Christ then was that Satisfaction (not payment) to motivate man out of gratitude to serve Him. Penal Substitution involving the Wrath and Punishment of God was created by lawyers. They understood God as the Supreme Judge who demanded payment for the crime of sin. Someone had to pay the penalty….the wages of sin….and suffer the Wrath of God. Of course it was Christ mission to endure this punishment for all of mankind, actually become sin for him, suffer all the pains and agony of death and then rise from the dead as Savior.
Baring the obvious legal aspects of this Model it sounds more like a fairly tale than something that’s taught in the Bible. First of all Christ NEVER became sin. Scripture more than confirms that there was no sin in Him. (1Jh3:5) It says He was spotless and blameless lamb of God. (Heg9:14) Rather He was a ‘Sin offering’ (Isa53:19) That’s is how the Messiah is depicted over a hundred times in the Old Testament, as an offering for sin, NOT becoming sin. He died not in our place but on our behalf. His death was not a Provision to cover our sins, but an example for us to FOLLOW. So you don't just Trust you OBEY.
I know you think 2Cor5:21 says that Christ began sin. However this passage in the Greek uses the same word used in the Greek OT for sin offering over a hundred times. Why would the NT writer suddenly change the meaning of it in this single passage? More so why would John say that there is NO SIN in Him if it wasn’t true? As the Isaiah passages that are used to build the Penal Model and prove retribution the real meaning is lost to you because you have swallowed the Penal lie.
