Standing In His Presence

Benjamin Hoogterp

Tag: Religion

A Grace Whack Responds

door_ajar2It was only a matter of time…  You post articles, you write books, you spend hours some days conversing with them, driving to meet with them, researching their ‘doctrines’.  Eventually, they respond.  I don’t intend to make any sort of a habit of honoring these with responses.  I’ve tried, they’re just generally not interested.  But, for the interest of study, it is sometimes useful to have a field specimen, of sorts.  Occasionally, a piece is worth dissecting publicly, to see what is at work, for the interest of those observing.

As such, the following below is the latest response to my post on Biblically Confronting the False-Grace movement (here).  The comment was too long to publish on that post for one, and, additionally, the format of comment and response does not allow for adequate interaction with the arguments.

But, when you choose to engage, you have to make a decision from the out-set.  Even when studying and countering the religious spirit, you have to set some ground-rules, or boundaries.  It must be agreed upon that if a subject matter is thoroughly proved wrong through a study of Scripture by one party, the other must question their position.  Unfortunately, of every Grace-Whack we’ve ever come across, not one has cared that every point has been thoroughly contested and disproved.

The Religious Spirit

orneryAnd he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Mark 8:15

Twice in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32), Moses commanded the people to neither add to, nor take away from what He had said.  There is always the trend among religious folk to do this, as it was then, so it is today, amongst men.

Relevant?

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:

1 Corinthians 2:12-15

We must be clear.  We are not to judge those outside of the church, but we are called to judge those inside it (1 Corinthians 5:12).  Those outside are sinners, and we expect them to act like sinners.  If they sin, it is their nature to sin, and we do not do well if we point fingers at the unregenerate.  Likewise, when we enter into soulish, or carnal, judgement against a brother, failing to discern the Lord’s body, we do sin.  Jesus said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30).  He did not use His own mind or understanding to judge, but He judged according to the Spirit, and was right when He prophesied judgement on the Pharisees, on Jerusalem, and on the cities that would not hear His Gospel.

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