Scripture: Galatians 4:3-7
This morning I read an article called, “Moralism is not the Gospel
(But Many Christians Think it Is),” by Dr. Al Mohler (President of my seminary,
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ’76).
Here are some thoughts I have from this article.
One of the most dangerous false gospels is moralism or what I call
false religion. The basic structure of
moralism comes down to the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to
improvements in behavior.
Much of Christendom today is communicating to lost persons the
message that what GOD desires for them and demands of them is to get their lives
straight. This is much of what the
Church is known for today. It does not
appeal to the longings and yearnings of lost people created in the image of GOD
who are searching for deeper things in life and who are searching for answers
to the ultimate questions of life: Who
am I? Why do I exist? What is the meaning of life? Isn’t there more to life than this?
People who are “raised right” emerge as adults who obey the laws,
respect their neighbors, give at least lip service to religious expectations,
and stay away from scandal. People
negotiate a moral code that defines acceptable behavior with innumerable
loopholes (religion). Most moralists
would not claim to be without sin, but merely beyond scandal. This mind-set enslaves believers and does not
register with individuals who are seeking ultimate truth.
As the Church continues propagating this dangerous lie we subvert
the authentic Gospel and we communicate a false gospel to a fallen world. It reduces the Bible to a codebook for human
behavior and substitutes moral instruction for the Gospel of JESUS.
In Galatians 2:16 Paul does not mince his words: “A man is not justified by the works of the
Law but through faith in CHRIST JESUS, even we have believed in CHRIST JESUS,
so that we may be justified by faith in CHRIST and not by works of the Law;
since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
Moralism produces sinners who are (potentially) better
behaved. The Gospel of CHRIST transforms
sinners into the adopted sons and daughters of GOD. The authentic Gospel is “the power of GOD
unto salvation to all who believe” (Romans 1:16). The authentic Gospel is the rock upon which
JESUS is building His Church. As the
Church proclaims the authentic gospel of JESUS the very gates of hades will not
have the strength to prevail against it (Matthew 13:16-19). Why would we want to compromise the authentic
Gospel of JESUS by substituting this powerful truth with political and
moralistic debate?
This is the glory and power of Easter and why it is absolutely
imperative that the Church rise up and crazily celebrate as never before. I am not motivated to celebrate a legal or
moralistic argument. But I will be
counted among others who will go bonkers this Easter in celebrating the
resurrection of JESUS CHRIST . . . the most incredible historical event the
world has ever known!
JESUS is Risen . . . !
Richard Holloman
No comments:
Post a Comment