Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. –Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)–
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. –1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)–
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” –Galatians 5:7-9 (NIV)–
Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. –Matthew 6:33 (NIV)–
Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. –1 Timothy 6:9-11 (NIV)–
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Dr. John R. Rice, Why Preach Against Sin? (SLP, 1946), p. 4. “Other preachers, who do not have the courage or the conviction or the devotion to preach hard against sin, rationalize and excuse their failure. Sometimes they pretend that love and kindness of heart prevent their preaching against sin. They do not want to ‘hurt their testimony’ by offending anybody! How much nicer such preachers are than Jesus Christ Himself who preached so plainly against sin!”
David Wilkerson, Hey, Preach…You’re Comin’ Through! (Revell, 1968).
A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Wingspread, 1998).
Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline (HarperOne, 2018).
Google A.I., “Top 50 Actors That Have Died In the Past 10 Years.” Reality check: all of these famous actors are no longer alive! Carl Weathers, Raquel Welch, Bob Saget, Sidney Poitier, Betty White, Sean Connery, Kirk Douglas, Max von Sydow, Luke Perry, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, Val Kilmer, Martin Landau, Bill Paxton, Ray Liotta, Margot Kidder, Mary Tyler Moore, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Gene Wilder, and Chuck Norris.
—. “Top 50 Musicians That Have Died In the Past 10 Years.” Reality check: all of these musicians are no longer alive! Prince, David Bowie, Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, B. B. King, Eddie Van Halen, Chris Cornell, Neil Peart, Tina Turner, Coolio, DMX.
They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness…While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. –2 Peter 2:15, 19 (NKJV)–
Certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. –Jude 1:4 (NKJV)–
Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. –Galatians 5:16 (NKJV)–
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit. –Romans 9:1 (NKJV)–
In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. –Luke 1:75 (NKJV)–
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called. –1 Timothy 6:12 (NKJV)–
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. –Proverbs 28:1 (NKJV)–
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John Fletcher, Checks to Antinomianism (Beacon Hill Press, 1948).
Mark Jones, Antinomianism (P&R Publishing, 2013).
Whitney Gamble, Christ and the Law: Antinomianism… (RHB, 2018).
Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity (Zondervan, 1994).
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! –2 Samuel 1:25 (KJV)–
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. –Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)–
They officially teach that homosexual behavior is sinful and they publicly oppose same-sex marriage. At the same time, these churches generally welcome people who experience same-sex attraction to attend services, hear the Gospel, and participate in church life. Their flagship college, Baylor University, now admits these perverted homosexual students to their campus and even has a FAQs page about it on their website.
They permit significant diversity on fundamental theological questions: old earth creationism (billions of years in Genesis 1:1), theistic evolution (God made Adam and Eve out of monkeys over millions of years), metaphorical views of Hell like annihilationism and symbolic hell fire are all tolerated. Much of their preaching has become more therapeutic, conversational, optimistic, and seeker-oriented than the old way of confrontational preaching against sin associated with evangelists like Charles Finney. However, they’ll always allow some fringe preachers the permission to continue to preach regularly on sin, judgment, repentance, holiness, and eternal punishment. But they’ll remain on notice and under threat of removal.
Their pastors and professors mostly hold cessationist views about prophecy, tongues, dreams, and visions. Their official doctrine strongly affirms the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in convicting, guiding, empowering, comforting, and sanctifying believers. But within a deistic and anti-supernatural bias, you’ll still find them pray for healing without expecting answers to prayer, seek God’s guidance without any direct action of the Holy Spirit, and expect the Spirit to work actively in believers’ lives, maybe by helping them to stop looking at pornography on their phones for a while. Listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit and praying for miracles are viewed as “New Age,” while at the same time many of their parents let their kids watch Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter because that’s “just fantasy” and “magic’s not real.” For this reason, C. S. Lewis is considered a great theologian, even though his writings are full of the humanistic, liberal, and metaphorical views of the Bible mentioned before. Many of their kids are put in the public schools without a second thought.
While they haven’t officially abandoned conservative Bible doctrine, they do allow for such substantial diversity, that many of their leaders have liberal and secular views on sexuality, Hell, biblical authority, creation, spiritual gifts, and support the typical soft serve preaching style. Critics from evangelical revivalist traditions argue that this broad-mindedness has resulted in a less supernatural, less experiential, less confrontational form of Christianity, than they believe characterized the earlier evangelical movements that brought the organization into being.
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