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 God’s
grace has been distorted and abused
for decades. God’s love for
sinners is truly amazing and
overwhelming. God’s 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
“God’s 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. Man’s 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.
God’s 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 Lucifer’s
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 God’s laws. Sin
transformed them from being selfless
to being selfish. Since Adam and
Eve’s 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 God’s 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 man’s 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?
Paul’s
summary can be found in Romans 7 and
8. Believing that obeying God’s
law alone produces salvation is
wrong, but believing God’s 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
Heaven’s 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
teacher’s 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.
God’s 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)?”
God’s grace exists because
God’s 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 teacher’s 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 God’s 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
