Michael Horton on Charles Finney

Michael Horton is a distinguished professor at Westminster Seminary. He wrote a short article I read recently on Charles Finney, American evangelist of the 19th century. I will come back to Finney's effects on American Christianity later, but suffice to say, he has deeply influenced all of Protestantism in America since before and after the Civil War, through his writings and teachings about such topics as Christian conversion and revival.

Horton quotes the following from Charles Grandison Finney (Systematic Theology, pg. 46):

"But for sinners to be forensically pronounced just, is impossible and absurd... As we shall see, there are many conditions, while there is but one ground, of the justification of sinners ... As has already been said, there can be no justification in a legal or forensic sense, but upon the ground of universal, perfect, and uninterrupted obedience to law. This is of course denied by those who hold that gospel justification, or the justification of penitent sinners, is of the nature of a forensic or judicial justification. They hold to the legal maxim that what a man does by another he does by himself, and therefore the law regards Christ’s obedience as ours, on the ground that he obeyed for us."

Let me put this in layman's terms:

The idea that people who break God's law can be legally declared "not-guilty" (by God), is impossible and foolish...I will show you that there are many conditions for a person to be declared righteous by God, but all these are based upon one root condition...As I have already said, law-breakers cannot be said to be "not-guilty" (as by a jury, judge, or God)...there is no such law-breaker freeing verdict given by anyone, rather, the one condition for being declared "not-guilty" is whole-hearted, completely fulfilled, and constant (for all of life) obedience to the moral law of God. This idea, of course, is denied by those who say that Gospel declaration of repenting law-breakers means that God calls such repenting law-breakers "not-guilty," (often called judicial justification). They hold to the legal idea that a person may have another person do something to take his or her legal obligation (his obedience or punishment for example), and therefore that Christ's obedience may be said to be ours, because he obeyed God for us.

This paragraph, which I have tried to paraphrase rightly, reveals that Finney could not abide the idea of one person fulfilling another person's moral obligations to God's law--even if it was Jesus Christ! Never mind that the moral law flows from God's character and that God has shown in both OT and NT scripture that He allows one person to take another person's moral obligations!

Romans 3:21-26 does not show God calling a person "not-guilty" on the basis of their moral behavior...no way! This whole section says that a person's "faith" or trust in Christ's death for himself/herself is the way a person is declared "not-guilty." In other words, God gave Christ as a gracious substitute for law-breakers and law-breakers embrace Him as their substitute in order to be declared "not-guilty" of their deeds.

Paul even goes on and says: "Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, the contrary, by a law of faith." (Rom. 3:27 HCSB).

Still with me? Does it sound like Finney was in line with the Bible? That's right! He taught error instead of the truth concerning the most important doctrines...how guilty law-breakers are to be relieved of the guilt of their wrongdoings. This is a very serious error...in fact, it is the most serious error...it is the error of the Pharisees of Jesus day: Trying to get right with God by good behavior!

As I said before, Finney is revered among many evangelicals, Horton says:..."Jerry Falwell calls him "one of my heroes and a hero to many evangelicals, including Billy Graham." I can add to this testimony, as I was listening to Dr. James Dobson one night on the radio and he commended Finney on his radio program by reporting a positive testimony of someone converted under Finney's ministry. If you ever read "Hell's Best Kept Secret" or "The Way of the Master" materials (by Ray Comfort), you will find he deeply respects Finney too.

Despite what I have shared with you here about Finney's understanding of salvation, many evangelicals blindly see him as a great man...and in the human sense, he probably provoked many to better behavior. Yet, tragically, he did not give people what they needed, the Word of God on salvation that would save their souls...he left them hoping to reach heaven by works--utter folly.

Finney is worth investigating also because of his lasting impact on the church. Ever heard of a church altar call? That's Finney's baby. Ever wonder when the sinner's prayer began to be highly popularized in America? Finney again. Ever wonder where modern revivals that focus on getting people to "get right with God" (in behavior) and which focus on people's emotions to get them to respond to God come from? Finney a third time. He didn't invent these things by himself, except the alter call, but all are children of his view of sinners getting right with God by behavior.

I would say finally, that all these things were well intentioned...but woefully off base in their origin. The Gospel itself is a command to repent and have faith in Christ alone for salvation; Finney put the focus on the quality of the individual's repentance, in fact, all the load for salvation is based on the individual's behavior. Therefore, Finney's system leads to both pride (for the morally strong) and despair (for the morally weaker sort), and both pride and despair have wreaked havoc on the preaching of the Gospel in America.

Many called Christians and churches have based salvation on the strength of the moral impulse. In other words, particular conformity to a Christian group's scruples becomes a substitute in salvation for the brokeness, humility, and love toward God that ought to characterize true salvation. It's not that Christ didn't give commands for us to carry out, but many in the American church (because of Finney) have added to them and required near behavioral perfection in the Christian life or adaption to a particular group's commands as the basis of whether a person is Christian or not. No wonder that we have pride in the American church. No wonder that we don't reach out with the true Gospel as we ought. Many of us are confused. Charles Finney has lent us part of our Christian legacy in America, and that legacy is tainted with dangerous error.

Here is the link to Horton's article: http://www.mtio.com/articles/aissar81.htm

A poem inspired by Dylan Thomas

Do Not Go Lonely Into That Coming Night

Do not go lonely into that coming night,
A soul should seek company at close of day;
The way alone is the darkest of ways.

Though worldly wise then know that way is right,
Yet, their homegrown wisdom has no sight, they'll say:
The way alone is the darkest of ways.

Good folks, their deeds in scales bouncing, ever slight
Flawed deeds hold little weight on that day, they'll say:
The way alone is the darkest of ways.

Wild ones, who merry made in sunny day light,
They learn, alas, they wasted life in delay, they'll say:
The way alone is the darkest of ways.

Grave souls, near death, who see with blinded sight
Blind eyes, missed the Blaze, Torch of Days, they'll say:
The way alone is the darkest of ways.

And you, my belov'd, there in dark vale's gate,
Call, bless me now with your broken tears, I pray.
Do not go lonely into the coming night.
The way alone is the darkest of ways.


(This poem was inspired by Dylan Thomas. Thomas was a hard-drinking writer, and his intent was to express his desire that his father not regret death. My view of the world is quite different than Thomas' and consequently, my fears for those who die depart from his, though my poem's form is the same)

Thank God

I want to say thank you to God. He is so good to me--"Thank you Lord." I can't say enough about Him: he chose me in Him (Jesus Christ) before the world was made, he called me from death to life, he made me right with him through the gifts of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ...He gave me my physical being and my soul...He has given me my wonderful family, my friends, my church family. He is caring for our physical needs through the job He has provided, and has protected us from harm. He is walking with us through our trials.

Lord, thank you for being in my life..I love you.

Greg

When I Get Where I'm Goin

Lately, certain songs have touched my heart deeply. This is one of those songs...my heart literally aches with joy and sadness when I hear this song. Christians ought to be happy to be "going somewhere," which happens to be the abode of God--the Son, Jesus Christ, His Father, and of the Holy Ghost, not only that, but there is the hope of seeing those gone on there, and that place is devoid of the many things that make us hurt here. The key (or door to use His words) is our Lord Jesus Christ--no man comes to the Father or that place without the Son. He demands our lives, but promises a greater life in return--life with Him forever.

Update on Ruthie

This is to catch you guys up on my mother-in-law Ruth Colyer. I ask you all to continue to pray for her and for us and those around the family (friends and church family who are helping to care for her). She has finished radiation on her brain. MRI scans showed she has gallstones, and some more cancer growth. She needs your prayers for strength because she will soon embark on another round of chemo treatments for these growths. Pray for her physical comfort, as she is hurting badly from time to time. Also pray for her spiritual and physical strength as she goes through these difficult days, that she might be able to go successfully through treatment. Again, we are still praying for a miracle (Is anything to hard for the Lord?), so continue to pray and don't give up...we never know what can happen when we pray!

Love to all of you brothers and sisters,

Greg

Bye Sarah (part 2)

This is a post to again say an updated goodbye to our beloved Sarah Logsdon. Sarah, you have done so much for us at Community and we love you and thank you sister. May the Lord bless you wherever you go and may he make your time with your family fruitful!

After the World

One of my favorite bands for a while has been Disciple. This band is heavy heavy Christian rock (though some of you might say "no way!"). Anyways, this band puts a few acoustic songs on its records and its latest record, Scars Remain, contains this gem called "After the World". This song touches my heart, because it is about how the Lord is there leading us to Him, no matter what. It breaks my heart every time I hear them sing "...did I create, the rhythm your heart makes" because it does so many things to my mind...I remember Dad and how God created and appointed the day for his heart to cease beating, how that one day my heart will stop beating and I must face my Maker and Savior, and how that all these things give glory to God. Perhaps the song won't matter so much to you, but I commend it nonetheless...

You break the glass, try to hide your face
Recorded lines that just will not erase
And buried in your loss of innocence
You wonder if you'll find it again

Was I there for the worst of all your pain?
And was I there when your blue sky ran away?
Was I there when the rains were flooding you?
I hope you feel those were My tears falling down for you, falling down for you

I'm the One that you've been looking for
I'm the One that you've been waiting for
I've had My eyes on you ever since you were born
I will love you after the rain falls down
I will love you after the sun goes out
I'll have My eyes on you after the world is no more

Did I arrange the light of your first day?
Did I create the rhythm your heart makes?
Could you believe when your candle starts to fade?
I want to be the One that you believe
Could take it all away, take your heart away

Isn't My life a clear sign since I have crossed over this chasm
To fill the space between Me and you?
And I will do it all over again
Just look for Me, just wait for Me

The One you've been looking for
The One you've been waiting for
You won't have to look anymore

What's happening to the church?

Since I have been a Christian, several different views of the church have been mine.

First, when I was young, my view of the church was very limited, being confined to my local congregation, though I was not an active member till later in life. I had no thought as to what was going on in the wider church scene in America, nor did I know anything about other congregations except those stories and other tidbits given by visiting evangelists (in fact, I didn't think of evangelists as pastors--though many of them were!) I did not know or care if the church was growing in America...the things I knew that were most important to me about church were: 1) Jesus is God and Savior and He needs to "save" you if you want to go to heaven 2) That one should go to church 3) That I did not believe some things that science taught (like human evolution) because of my faith in the Bible.

I knew only the basics and continued that way for years. One other aspect in which I understood the God of my church was through conscience--in effect, I was a sinner that needed to be saved and I felt in my conscience when I did evil. I also came to believe that I was not saved after I was 17 or so because of the wickedness in my life.

It is at this point that I give you my second view of the church: something of which I did not want to be part. As I said, my life spiraled into sin and my conscience screamed that I was without the love of God. I had horrible nightmares about being separated from God. In the midst of all this, I refused to go to church because I wanted to get away from it. I figured that my conscience and raising would be dulled if I could ignore the church. I never could completely ignore the church, though.

The third way I looked at the church was as a necessary evil. My wife, whom I love asked me to go with her to church as a precondition when we began dating. I grudgingly agreed, and for the first time in many a year entered the corridors of my childhood church weekly. At first, I was not accustomed to the church as I had been...in fact, I was less worried about the church itself and more worried about Teya.

Then it happened...I was called by God to repent...my forth view of the church was born...I saw the church as my brothers and sisters and a body of which I was definitey a part and to which I definitely belonged. I loved the church (and still do). Upon entering this dynamic part of my Christian life, I began to recognize the efforts of churches across America, the state of the church in America, and other broader concerns. I had come a long way from the particular, traditional, and simple, to the world-wide, the dynamic, and the more complex in my view of the church.

How do I view the church now? Stay tuned...

Construction Work and the Bible

One of the favorite bits of wisdom that my late father used to share with me when I was young was that, regarding school, "its just like a house...first you pour a good foundation...that's what grade school is like Greg...that's why it is necessary to try to do well now!," he would say. Dad was a construction worker most of his life. Master plumber to be exact (and a darn good one to :) He was using Jesus technique of teaching truth by common analogy--taking his life and what I knew of it, and giving me encouragement on the purpose of early education through a picture of a house being built.

Having grown up, I have lost Dad's immediate presence for now but tonight I am thinking about his lesson in the context of what the Bible says about construction work. Actually, there is more than you might think...which is also interesting to me, since I am a plumber and construction worker too.

One of the first incidences of construction work in the Bible the building of the Ark by Noah (Gen. 6-9). A construction project was the assignment for Noah, the object of God's command to obedience for him. He had to build a boat to survive the Flood! Interesting that construction work is given a positive spin here in the Bible! This is a story of salvation. Just a few chapters earlier, we find another story about construction: "Cain...he built a city, he called the name of the city after his son, Enoch." (Gen. 4:17). This story shows construction work in a negative light, as the civilization of Cain's family would be completely destroyed, despite their technical competence, because they ignored the Lord God. So one way in which construction work is used in the Bible is its use as a picture of faith or unbelief. Depends on what one is building...it is no wonder that Jesus used two men building houses to picture a life of faith in Him and a life without such faith (Matt. 7).

Another way construction work is addressed in the Bible is regarding its use in sanctification (making God's people like Him through the course of life--not the same as "salvation" in the sense of forgiveness of sin). Exodus 35-40 give a detailed record of the contributions for, the builders of, and the blueprint of God's place of worship given to Moses for the Hebrew people. The purpose of the tabernacle, God's place of worship, was that the people might have a divinely appointed means of expressing their love for Him and service to Him. Many commentators have noted that the tabernacle of Moses was a picture of Christ: after all, Jesus transferred the meaning (in a sense), to Himself, when he said "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19), and this means that Christ, like the temple, is the appointed way, truth, and life, through which we relate to God, and through which we grow in Him. Paul puts it this way: "no one can lay any other foundation, than that which is already laid, which is Jesus Christ.." (I Cor. 3:11).

So there's at least two pictures: I'll give a third and rest. This picture is the way the Bible pictures the church of Jesus...it is a construction project...and Jesus is the project manager, the contractor, the mechanic, and the laborer that builds us into a body of people that love each other in their common salvation in Christ. Paul says "You are...God's building" (I Cor. 3:9), and also says in Ephesians: "...you are fellow citizens with saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." (Eph. 2: 20-22). What about that? The body of Christ's members have been saved individually by building on Him--they continue individually in their spiritual walk by building on the foundation of Christ in sanctification (growth in holiness), and they are built together, by the Lord, through His appointed means, into a holy temple in which they are living stones that cry out "Hosanna...blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Matt. 21:9), and in whom, through the Spirit, Christ dwells, builds, and fashions!

Well, that is all for now. Construction work is given a prominent place in the metaphorical usage of the Bible to demonstrate spiritual truth. Thank God for using my lowly occupation (or if you must, the broader category my occupation is part of) in order to teach eternal truth. Thanks even more to my Father for giving me a sure foundation on which I can stand and have been standing at least since age 21. Like the words of the hymn:

"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is held for your faith in His excellent Word; what more can He say, than to you He hath said, to you who to Jesus for refuge have fled."

God bless

Greg

Childhood Conversion

Basically, here is a one sentence summation of my intent in the poll I offered ealier in the year on salvation experience: Is there really any way to tell if childhood conversion is for real, if it is followed by a long season of departure from the faith? Furthermore, is it possible to verify childhood conversion considering most of the people who believed they where saved at a young age totally ignore Christ and spurn Him at some point for a while (much longer than Peter's short defection)?

I wouldn't make an issue out of this if everybody saved young didn't experience this kind of departure from LORD! I mean, it is near uniform in many cases...declared saved at 8-12 years old in SBC church by "coming forward to confess Christ" then later, the person becomes in many ways what is opposed to Christ. What gives?

Here is my initial impression: a lot of childhood conversions are bogus. Later in your life, many, many of the people who are supposedly converted as children do business with God that becomes the basis of their Christian life. Most do not (as, for example, James Dobson), remain faithful from their young age.

This is all I've got for now, but promise to continue this topic in a little while.

Blessings,

Greg