The
Doctrine That Hurts Protestantism
For
it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God
not by works, so that no one can
boast. (Ephesians 2: 8, 9)
According to Joe
Carter, an editor for The Gospel
Coalition, 62 percent of the
United States identified as protestant in
1972 and only 52 percent did so in
2010. (http://news360.com/article/283344690#
) It is a well-known fact that
membership in mainline Protestant
denominations has been in decline for
several decades. Here are some examples
dating from 1965 to 2013. The
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a
67%decline; the Reformed Church in
America, a 62% decline; the United Church
of Christ (Congregationalist), a 52%
decline; the Episcopal Church, a 49%
decline; the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA),
a 47% decline; the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA), a 27% decline,
and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a
20% decline. Many people who left these
mainline churches did not give up their
faith. Instead, they migrated to
denominations that more closely followed
the Bible. Therefore, other protestant
denominations have enjoyed significant
increases in membership during this time
period. Regardless, the overall picture
is not good. These declines are
especially troublesome when we factor in
a growth of 125 million people in the
U.S. (a 63% increase). Protestantism did
increase by 28 million members between
1972 and 2013; most of this growth was
due to Protestants having children.
Today, fewer non-Christians are becoming
Protestants and there are fewer
Protestants in 2013 as a percent of U.S.
population than there were in 1972.
Measuring church
growth or decline is a difficult and
complicated task and it is even more
difficult to identify specific causes. Historically,
Christians have been a fractious group of
people. Since the first century
A.D., Christians have constantly divided
and separated from each other to create
new groups because of differing
theological, social, or administrative
views. Undoubtedly, Christians will
continue to separate over differences in
understanding the will, ways, and plans
of God and how sinners are saved.
Protestantism Has
Fallen
I believe mainline
Protestantism has fallen because the
doctrine of Gods grace has been
distorted and abused for decades.
Gods love for sinners is truly
amazing and overwhelming. Gods
grace is a powerful doctrine when it is
properly understood and applied, but its
power becomes spiritually destructive
when grace is misunderstood and wrongly
applied. Spiritual decline and atrophy
can be the only result when church
members believe that Gods
grace is sufficient, that human
conduct and behavior have nothing to do
with salvation, and that salvation costs
nothing, requires nothing, and demands
nothing, spiritual decline and atrophy
will surely follow.
Just sixty-five
years after returning to Heaven, Jesus
appeared to the prophet John while he was
in exile on Patmos. Jesus had some
choice words for seven churches in Asia
Minor and grace was not one
of them. Jesus specifically identified
many sinful behaviors that had
infiltrated His church and then gave the
churches stern warnings, followed by
seven promises. In each case the
assurance of salvation came with the same
prerequisite: To him that
overcomes
When the doctrine
of grace is used to diminish the
necessity and importance of overcoming
sin, the doctrine of grace has been
distorted and abused. Do not be deceived.
A large crowd attending a megachurch does
not necessarily mean a large number of
people are overcoming sin. Mans
nature is not inclined to overcome sin.
Dealing with our sinful natures is a
daily struggle that will not end until
the sealing occurs. There was a time when
mainline Protestant churches thrived with
inspirational preachers and large crowds.
In those early days, ministers believed
and taught the importance of overcoming
sin. Then slowly, almost imperceptibly,
the doctrine of grace was lifted out of
its context, distorted, and abused,
resulting in the demise of mainline
Protestantism.
What Is The
Doctrine of Grace?
Every Christian
should understand three codependent
doctrines which are Grace, Law, and
Faith, and they operate similarly
to a three-legged stool. No single
doctrine can operate by itself. For a
three-legged stool to perform correctly,
each leg has to be sturdy and securely
planted. If one leg fails, the entire
stool will fail and whatever it supports
will fall. Similarly, if these three
doctrines are separated from each other
or if one is improperly advanced to the
detriment of the other two, the result
will be a spiritually toxic experience.
These three doctrines flow
together in a profound way and
understanding that flow is important for
overcoming sin.
God is love and His
laws are righteous, comprehensive, and
eternal. Gods entire kingdom is
governed by the rule of His laws. He
places His law within the hearts and
minds of His children when they are
created. God never changes. Grace became
necessary when Adam and Eve violated His
law. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were
not defiant. Instead, they sinned
due to the Lucifers predatory
efforts. God extended grace to Adam and
Eve 9and their offspring) by staying
their execution. Remember, anyone eating
of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
was to be executed on the very day he
sinned. (Genesis 2:17)
When Adam and Eve
sinned, they were no longer in harmony
with Gods laws. Sin transformed
them from being selfless to being
selfish. Since Adam and Eves
first sin, the cancer of sin continues to
grow within their offspring. All human
beings have sinned and because the wages
of sin is death, God extended grace to
Adam and Eve and their offspring. This
grace has several dimensions. For
example, God has allowed human beings to
live for a period of time. God has given
us time to mature spiritually so that we
might begin to comprehend His love and
choose to walk in His ways. God has
provided atonement for our sins through
the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit,
God has made a way to overcome any sin.
Finally, God has given us the assurance
that He will save everyone who fights
the good fight of faith.
God requires each
sinner to trust Him. Only through faith
in Gods care and wisdom can we stay
on the path of righteousness. The
doctrine of faith teaches us that faith
means obeying God without regard for the
consequences. (Hebrews 11) God has
promised that He will take care of the
circumstances if we place our trust in
Him first and obey Him. (Romans 8:28)
Therefore, when tempted to do wrong, we
can overcome temptation by asking God for
the desire to do right and for the
strength and courage to stay on track.
When God hears our cry for help, He
immediately sends the power to achieve
victory and transformation! (Romans 6:14,
1 John 1: 9-2:1)
For many people, the
book of Romans is often difficult to
understand. Paul seems to contradict
himself with every other verse and four
centuries, Bible expositors have
exploited these apparent
contradictions to appease
mans sinful nature. (2 Peter 3:16)
However, if we understand that Paul was
attempting to address misconceptions of
believers in Rome, the contradictions
will disappear. Paul is addressing two
toxic conditions affecting early
Christians in Rome. The first condition
was legalism (Jewish converts to
Christianity were captives of this
religious experience). The second
condition was a distortion of grace
(Gentile converts to Christianity were
captives of this religious experience).
These opposing problems explain why Paul
appears to contradict himself. He
was attempting to get Jewish converts out
of the ditch of legalism while trying to
get Gentile converts out of the ditch of
distorted grace. So where is the middle
of the road?
Pauls summary
can be found in Romans 7 and 8. Believing
that obeying Gods law alone
produces salvation is wrong, but
believing Gods grace is sufficient
and has nothing to do with the necessity
of changing human behavior is just as
wrong. If we continue to behave in ways
that we know are wrong, we do not love
God or have faith in Him. (1 John 2: 4-6)
Jesus said no one can serve two masters.
Informed Christians know that sinners
cannot overcome sin on their own.
(Jeremiah 13:23) Revelation 20 says a
huge number of people will be thrown into
the lake of fire at the end of the age.
The cause of their annihilation is
because a God of love does not offer
grace to defiant people, but to repentant
sinners. Grace is offered to each sinner
in three ways:
1.
Time: God delayed the annihilation
of Adam and Eve, and their offspring. He
gives us time to discover and know Him
that we might choose to walk in His ways.
2.
Sacrifice: God provided a perfect
sacrifice at Calvary so that our guilt
might be transferred to Heavens
altar.
3.
Deposit: To make overcoming sin
possible, God has given a measure of
faith to every person. He has also given
us the deposit of the Holy Spirit and the
promise of a new heart and a new mind.
Transformation is possible through the
indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
Illustration
A college teacher
assigned a term paper. He told the
students the project would represent 75%
of their grade. He said the due date was
six weeks away. Monday, October 10,
no exceptions. (Teacher declared
this law.) John and two classmates
were injured in a auto accident (through
no fault of their own) Five days before
the term paper was due. They were
released from the hospital three days
later. So, there was not enough time for
the recovering students to meet the
deadline. They contacted the teacher
(they asked for grace). Given their
circumstances, the teacher said he would
accept their submission by Wednesday noon
(grace was given). The injured students
struggled to meet the deadline (they
believed the teacher would do as
promised). Burnt some midnight oil
and all passed the course.
In this
illustration, grace (an extension of
time) was given to three students because
the teacher cared enough to help the
students. He wanted them to
complete the course even though they had
been notified six weeks earlier of the
due date. The injured students accepted
the teachers grace and after
putting forth extra effort, they met the
deadline and the requirement of the
course. They were grateful for the
grace they had received and their efforts
(works) reflected their appreciation.
Gods grace
requires a human response. We are saved
through faith because God has given us
grace in the form of time, sacrifice, and
deposit. Many Protestants will ask,
How can grace be called grace if
overcoming sin is required (works)?
Gods grace exists because
Gods laws have penalties. We show
God that we appreciate His amazing grace
by putting faith in Him and obeying His
commands. How fair would it be to
the other students if the teacher had
told the injured students, You do
not have to submit the term paper, I will
give each of you an A.? Would such
a dispensation of grace be appropriate
given the accreditation of the
institution or would it be academic
deception (giving passing grades to
students when there is no evidence the
students met academic requirements)? If
a peer review by his colleagues was
conducted, would the teachers
extension of grace be viewed as
unauthorized use of authority to defeat
course requirements or would the jury
conclude the teacher was justified by his
action?
The Bible does not
touch that we are saved by a dispensation
of grace, but instead the Bible teaches
that salvation has been made possible
because God has extended grace to all
sinners. His grace comes in the
form of time, sacrifice, and deposit.
When properly understood, the doctrine of
grace is a story of overwhelming love
because God has taken every initiative
necessary to save sinners. On the other
hand, when the doctrine of grace is
distorted and abused it causes harm to
individuals and ultimately denominations.
Here is a simple test: If overcoming sin
is diminished so that grace can be
exalted, God is not honored and the
importance of the doctrines of Law and
Faith are denigrated. Salvation does not
come through grace, grace makes
Gods offer of salvation
possible. Salvation has always come
through faith in God. The life of Christ
is a flawless example: Not my will,
but yours be done. (Luke 22:42)
Given the attention which is given to a
distorted doctrine of grace today, I
think it is fitting that we thoughtfully
consider Jesus
words,
However, when the Son
of man comes, will he find faith on
the Earth? (Luke 18:8, emphasis
mine)
Larry Wilson