In Tim Challies’ review, he quotes a very troublesome passage from Osteen’s new book:

“We’ve all sinned, failed, and made mistakes, ... But many people don’t know they can receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.” ... “As long as you’re doing your best and desire to do what’s right according to God’s Word, you can be assured God is pleased with you.”

So as long as we are “doing our best”, God is pleased with us? From multiple angles this is problematic–it makes our standing with God contingent upon works (justification by works), and it dramatically lowers the standards of God’s holiness to the level where we are able to meet His demands.

While Osteen’s case is dramatically off the path of Scripture, I’m afraid I was guilty of the same thinking when I was growing up as an Adventist. I found ways to “keep Sabbath” by meeting various trivial requirements such as showing up to church or not watching TV on Saturday, while ignoring the fact that I was continually falling short of God’s standard of righteousness which the law was designed to reveal. Jesus said, “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Paul tells us the law is a harsh schoolmaster whose job is to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:23-25). As a young Adventist, I did not see the law this way, rather, I saw the law as a trivial set of requirements that “proved” my obedience was better than most other Christians, since I was “keeping” more of the commandments than they were. In short, my intentions were good, and like Osteen says, I believed God was pleased with me.

I believe this is one of the most dangerous teachings in the modern evangelical church–that God will somehow bless us with eternal salvation because our intentions were good–because it breeds a complacency and feeling of “rightness with God” that is artificial, taking the focus off of our need for repentance and reconciliation with God. The need to examine ourselves in the light of God’s law is replaced with an easy-to-swallow brand of religion that says “Don’t worry about it, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”. What American consumer wouldn’t love this version of God, but what a horrible thing it would be to hear Him say, “Depart from me, I never knew you” as a result of believing it.

Greg

Aaron, Greg, and Stan,

Thanks for the response. I regret the tenor of my posts. And I’ll read the clarification between Reformed Calvinism and Hyper-Calvinism, you provided Stan. I may have drawn some ill-advised conclusions from our other discussions.

Aaron, you mentioned the discussion on Challies site. I only read the first few comments after I posted and I didn’t particularly find those persuasive, but in context with what Greg has posted, I may have grounds to reconsider.

As an Adventist, I can see why someone like Osteen is troubling. But from a Reformed perspective, with the role of the Will normally given such short thrift, it is unclear to me what exactly the concern would be with an Osteen message that that doesn’t focus on sin and judgment, since such a focus is what many Formers repudiate in Adventism.

Here is a Michael Horton essay related to the Osteen exchange in which Horton calls Osteen to account for not discussing Sin.

http://www.wscal.edu/faculty/wscwritings/horton.osteen/whathappenedtosin.php

Towards the end Horton makes a statement I find troubling. He basically puts words in God’ mouth by virtue of quotation remarks:

[quote author="Michael Horton"] Even when we try–in fact, especially when we try–to supplement Christ’s perfect righteousness with our “sincerity” and our good intentions, God says, “What, as if it’s not enough that I bear all the burden of saving sinners, but you now want to add something of your own and get a little glory for yourselves? You presume to add a little bit of your own ‘righteousness’ to the finished work of my Son?” So we add ingratitude to our explicit violations of God’s law.

But God has said no such thing. In this essay Horton picks some Bible verses that are charitable to his point of view, but ignores a wealth of others that state pretty clearly that God does look at--i.e.judge--our actions and thoughts of our hearts.

It just seems curious to me that Horton’s theme is that we cannot keep the law, God does not judge our hearts, we should feel assured of our salvation (he makes this point in other essays) but at the same time, Osteen’s happy talk bothers him. The two don’t seem all that different.

In a prior thread, we discussed whether believers needed to repent of sin, and whether such an act or process was efficacious.  If it is not necessary, than I don’t see a great deal of practical difference between Reformed theology and anything Osteen is saying.

If assurance of salvation is essential, and continual confession and repentence of sin in the Christian life is not legally, forensically, necessary to our salvation, than Osteen isn’t really doing anything wrong by not talking about sin that I can see.

Horton quotes from the Old Testament but I wonder what he thinks of passages such as Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 4-5, Ezekiel 18 and others which emphasize that the blessings of God are conditioned on our obedience, and that such people as obey God’s commands will live and those who do not will not. Jesus in Matthew and the other Gospels reaffirms such statements, but Horton does not allude to these either. His Biblical foundation seems rather selective to me.

Hi Glenn,

I only have time for a short reply, but I’m certain Horton does believe repentance and obedience are important. The Reformed faith stresses obedience, but in a fundamentally different way than in works-based systems like Catholicism or even Adventism. Instead of works as a means for God seeing you as worth saving (works-based justification), the Reformers (Horton included) see works as a response to the justification that Jesus has wrought for us. Repentance and turning from sin are part and parcel of this, because one who has been forgiven much owes much in the way of obedience to the God who forgave him. For more of Horton’s thoughts on this, please see the old thread Guilt, Grace and Gratitude or refer to his book, The Law of Perfect Freedom.

The problem here lies in confusing justification and sanctification. If these two concepts are confused, then anyone who talks of God’s ability to completely save regardless of works (election) will be accused of minimizing man’s responsibility to repent and obey.

The issue with Osteen is completely different, because he’s not even talking about justification or sanctification, he’s talking about a god who is essentially a “cosmic vending machine” who doesn’t care about sin or obedience, but about giving us our “best life now”. The damage this does to the reputation of Christ and the Christian faith is tremendous, as I alluded to above.

Greg

[quote author="Stan Ermshar"]Glenn,

Here is a helpful link explaining the differences between genuine Calvinism and false hypercalvinism:

http://www.jesussaidfollowme.org/hypercalvinism.htm

Stan

This is certainly a more balanced piece than I have read elsewhere. 

Hi Glenn,

I also apologize if I have erred too much on the side of emphasizing God’s sovereignty over human responsibility. If you have picked that up from my postings then it is possible I haven’t balanced this. I think that link on hypercalvinism is excellent.

John Reisinger also has an excellent article on this:

http://www.soundofgrace.com/jgr/index005.htm

You quoted Michael Horton as saying:

“God says, “What, as if it’s not enough that I bear all the burden of saving sinners, but you now want to add something of your own and get a little glory for yourselves? You presume to add a little bit of your own ‘righteousness’ to the finished work of my Son?” So we add ingratitude to our explicit violations of God’s law.”

-------------------------------------------------------

Ephesians 2:1-9 says this:

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9not by works, so that no one can boast.”
----------------------------------------------------

It seems like Horton is just paraphrasing Ephesians 2.

BTW Glenn, have you read Horton’s book yet from start to finish so you can get the complete picture of what he is saying?

Stan

[quote author="Glenn"]Horton quotes from the Old Testament but I wonder what he thinks of passages such as Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 4-5, Ezekiel 18 and others which emphasize that the blessings of God are conditioned on our obedience, and that such people as obey God’s commands will live and those who do not will not. Jesus in Matthew and the other Gospels reaffirms such statements, but Horton does not allude to these either.

Glenn,

Last year the White Horse Inn presentations were centered on the epistle of Romans and it was a real blessing to me in becoming familiar with one of the most fundamental acievement of the reformation, namely the Law-Gospel distinction. And it’s not a distinction between Old Testament (supposedly the Law) and the New Testament (supposedly the Gospel).

No, it’s about two kind of statements we find in the Bible. There are law statements and there are gospel statements. The Law statements can be recognized by the formulation “Do this and you shall live, do that and you shall die”. Blessings are promised if the people obey the law, and curses are pronounced on those who disobey the law.

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. Romans 10:5

That’s the righteousness based on the law, which is not of faith

But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Gal. 3:5

So, we have these statements reflecting the works righteousness, which promise blessings, life on condition on obedience. These are indeed true promises, but unfortunately nobody will get those blessings today, because nobody can indeed “do the law”, or obey the commandments as God require from us in order to bestow His blessings on us. Rather, because of our imperfect obedience to His commandments, we receive the curses of the Law.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Gal. 3:10

Why? Because the Law requires perfect and continuous obedience to all of its pescriptions. Because we fall short of wht God requires from us, He cannot bless us by taking in account our obedience. Our righteousness must come from other part than from ourselves, because from ourselves the sin which is in us brings only unrighteousness.

But the Bible does contain also Gospel statements. Instead of being imperative statements, “Do this, obey this”, the gospel statements are “done” statements, indicative, presenting what it is done for us by God or what God will do, not what is required from us to do.

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:5-9

Both quotations are from Moses, first is the Law statement I already presented, and next comes the gospel statement, which practically says that because of the preaching of the word of faith, this preaching produced in the listener’s hearth the faith necessary for his salvation, it’s something God already did for him, so the salvation is an accomplished thing for him. The believer is not in the position to rise and take hold of Christ or to descend and reach Christ in that place in order to be saved, he already has faith as a gift in his heart, he discovers himself believing. The “if you believe in your heart” you’ll be saved, is a condition already fulfilled by God who gave the gift of faith through the preaching of the word.

It’s a entire different perspective. One perspective sees man doing something in order to be saved, the other sees God saving people by his word. The believer comes to realize that his entire righteousness is external to him, it does not depend on his acts, he comes to see Christ’s crucified for him, bearing the curse of the law for him (Gal.3:13), and being the righteousness of God for him. All is done, and he can rest in God’s righteousness by faith alone, apart from works, apart from anything he had done.

I like very much the book of John Bunyan, “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners” He talks about his struggles with sin, with his guilt and how he finally come to be eliberated from sins’s guilt and power. It was not by something he did, but by discovering something, seing Christ as being his righteousness, something which was “done” for him, the Gospel message

But one day, as I was passing in the field, and that too with some dashes on my conscience, fearing lest yet all was not right, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, Thy righteousness is in heaven; and methought withal, I saw, with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at God’s right hand; there, I say, is my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, He wants my righteousness, for that was just before Him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever Heb. 13:8.

230. Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed, I was loosed from my affliction and irons, my temptations had fled away; so that, from that time, those dreadful scriptures of God left off to trouble me now; now went I also home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God. So when I came home, I looked to see if I could find that sentence, Thy righteousness is in heaven; but could not find such a saying, wherefore my heart began to sink again, only that was brought to my remembrance, He ‘of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption’ by this word I saw the other sentence true (1 Cor. 1:30).

231. For by this scripture, l saw that the man Christ Jesus, as He is distinct from us, as touching His bodily presence, so He is our righteousness and sanctification before God. Here, therefore, I lived for some time, very sweetly at peace with God through Christ; Oh, methought, Christ! Christ! there was nothing but Christ that was before my eyes, I was not only for looking upon this and the other benefits of Christ apart, as of His blood, burial, or resurrection, but considered Him as a whole Christ! As He in whom all these, and all other His virtues, relations, offices, and operations met together, and that as He sat on the right hand of God in heaven. http://members.aol.com/twarren12/articles/grace_abounding4.html

We receive blessings from God not because our obedience, but because of Jesus obedience imputed to us, credited to us. We are in a covenant of grace with God, not in a covenant of works.

Gabriel

Gabriel,

Excellent post!

Thanks for posting the link to John Bunyan’s story. Just reading it right now gave me great encouragement.

Rejoicing in His Amazing Grace!

Stan

BTW Glenn, have you read Horton’s book yet from start to finish so you can get the complete picture of what he is saying?

No, I am afraid I have been lax. I did look through it. It appears to be organized in such a fashion as to describe and defend each of the five pillars of T.U.L.I.P.