Calvin on Galatians 1:6 and False Teachings

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. Galatians 1:6-7 ESV

6. I wonder. He commences by administering a rebuke, though a somewhat milder one than they deserved; but his greatest severity of language is directed, as we shall see, against the false apostles. He charges them with turning aside, not only from his gospel, but from Christ; for it was impossible for them to retain their attachment to Christ, without acknowledging that he has graciously delivered us from the bondage of the law. But such a belief cannot be reconciled with those notions respecting the obligation of ceremonial observance which the false apostles inculcated. They were removed from Christ; not that they entirely rejected Christianity, but that the corruption of their doctrines was such as to leave them nothing more than an imaginary Christ.

Thus, in our own times, the Papists, choosing to have a divided and mangled Christ, have none, and are therefore “removed from Christ.” They are full of superstitions, which are directly at variance with the nature of Christ. Let it be carefully observed, that we are removed from Christ, when we fall into those views which are inconsistent with his mediatorial office; for light can have no fellowship with darkness.

On the same principle, he calls it another gospel, that is, a gospel different from the true one. And yet the false apostles professed that they preached the gospel of Christ; but, mingling with it their own inventions, 19 by which its principal efficacy was destroyed, they held a false, corrupt, and spurious gospel. By using the present tense, (“ye are removed”) he appears to say that they were only in the act of failing. As if he had said, “I do not yet say that ye have been removed; for then it would be more difficult to return to the right path. But now, at the critical moment, do not advance a single step, but instantly retreat.”

From Christ, who called you by grace. Others read it, “from him who called you by the grace of Christ,” understanding it to refer to the Father; but the reading which we have followed is more simple. When he says that they were called by Christ through grace, this tends to heighten the criminality of their ingratitude. To revolt from the Son of God under any circumstances, is unworthy and disgraceful; but to revolt from him, after being invited to partake salvation by grace, is more eminently base. His goodness to us renders our ingratitude to him more dreadfully heinous.

So soon. When it is considered how soon they had discovered a want of steadfastness, their guilt is still further heightened. A proper season, indeed, for departing from Christ cannot be imagined. But the fact, that no sooner had Paul left them than the Galatians were led away from the truth, inferred still deeper blame. As the consideration of the grace by which they had been called was adduced to aggravate their ingratitude, so the circumstance of the time when they were removed is now adduced to aggravate their levity.

Mirror... See Clearly

Something i'm seeing regarding Biblical orthodoxy being defended, is that those that are determined to hold onto the teaching of our fathers, the teachings of Christ given to the Apostles to be taught for generations, are just Pharisees and need to "let God do His thing". The problem is... God does not contradict His Word nor does He need to add to it. And those that actually take a stand for the truth and get cut down for it have just become enemies (Galatians 4:16).  But it doesn't make them legalistic hypocritical Pharisees. If anything...  adding more to the final revelation of God and neglecting to properly feed your sheep and keeping them in bondage, all while condemning and rejecting any constructive  criticism, is the greater evil.

The Pharisees were not wrong because they were too concerned with orthodoxy, they were wrong because they invented their own orthodoxy. 

Christianity needs to return to the true Gospel, to the truth of the sufficiency of the Scriptures...

Feed my Sheep P.1

The word of the Lord came to me [Ezekiel]: ²“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God:

Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? ³You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. ⁴The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. ⁵So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. ⁶My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

⁷ “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.

¹¹ “For thus says the Lord God:

Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.

Ezekiel 34:1-11 (ESV) (brackets mine)

To whomever this may concern, and whosever is drawn to read my thoughts; Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, from whose grace abounds as the ocean and from it flow rivers and streams of mercy and justice, patience and love, truth and forgiveness.

I am struck as to how insane and fooolish we tend to be, humans that is. It is amazing to me how easily led astray most are. I do not understand it, though I have ideas. What I am writing about is not going to be recieved well by many, and will, most likely, grant me hate and persecution. But I am not in this for those who will persecute me. I am writing this for those who have ears to hear, those to whom God has given new hearts. Persecute me! Shoot me down! God is a shield about me, I could care less. I may not be as great as the Apostle Paul was at it, but I surely will join him in enduring all things for the sake of elect. And what a thing for me to be so enraged at! How have we become so gullible!? How have the people of God become so vain and misguided and ignorant! Alas, this is a call. A call for the Church to WAKE UP! Yet behind this, is the more dire and urgent issue. Teacher, preacher, I am calling you out. Not because I am better, or more learned, or anyhting of that nature. I am calling you out because I weep for you, I fear for you, and because I love you enough to say these things. Let us now go to the issues of first importance. May I note, that when you look around at Western Christianity and see it for what it is rapidly becoming, you may cry out as I:

The Church is not in need of rethinking. It is in need of reforming.

This, dear reader, is what my flow will be, and to it I shall stay and speak, but I must apologize before-hand if I seem to steer of course or ramble on. This is indeed an area of deep concern and contemplation for me. What I am to hammer on is:

• The Pastor/Elder/Overseer, what this is and isn't.
  • He is a messenger of Gospel truth; he is a sound teacher of the Word; he is an example of godliness.
  • He is not a prophet; he is a not an self-help superstar; he is not carried about by every wind of doctrine (or lack therof).
• What the Visible Church should be concerned about.
  • Prayer.
  • Biblical study and doctrine.
  • The Sacraments.
  • The Great Commission

I hope as we get into this, much light will be shed on not just the state of the people of God in America, but also a spark of modern day reformation. Not to be brash, but we are in a mess.

Nevertheless,

our God is in the heavens and He does everything He pleases.

He feels indignation everyday toward those who take His name in vain;

and laughs at those who seek to set themselves against Him.

We must let the Scriptures speak, and leave our wicked desires out of them.

As Stephen the Levite puts it:

(Reject!) Anything that I spit you that isn’t biblical/ but don’t assume it isn’t because it convicts or gets to you/

(Accept!) Your responsibility to search the scriptures dude/ it’s written in epistles: the Christian is to be critical/

(Reject!) The misconception that says that you shouldn’t judge/the hypocritical misinterpretation of Matthew seven: one/

(Accept!) Correction comin’ from older brothers and sisters/ consider it with humility please don’t get all defensive kid//

(Reject!) the relativistic philosophy that you can find at "chu’ch"/that says “well, what I got from that was…”/

(Accept!) the fact that what the preacher said is what he said/ whether wrong or right or whatever/don’t try to get all up in his head/

(Reject!) the authority of a popular cliché/ if it isn’t plain in the text then prob’ly doesn’t hold any weight/

(Accept!) the fallibility of any cat that’s preachin’ or rappin’ that isn’t Jesus/ or canonized with His teachin’ please/

(Reject!) the tradition of applaudin’ for all performers/ regardless of what he taught us or how doctrinally off it is/

(Accept!) that you might actually be a whack emcee or a Christian/ too young to be spittin’ gifted but lackin’ in wisdom/

(Reject!) any promotion prior to proper preparation/ in light of the fact your facin’ a greater condemnation/

(Accept!) Cats who communicate the gospel completely/ a Savior still in the grave is confusing news it would seem to me/

(Reject!) the ideology that truth should be followed by an apology/ that doesn’t make any sense to me logically/

(Accept!) the persecution with happiness and humility/praising God that your able to partake in His identity/

(Reject!) the seeker-friendly mentality and delivery/ pickin’ apart the gospel and removing the offensive piece/

(Accept!) the fact that the Father draws ‘em and not your methods/ but methods can turn ‘em off and be flawed and cause a rejection so/

(Reject!) the ways of men when engagin’ a slave to sin/ for the sake of relatin’ the gospel is forsakin’ or way too thin/

(Accept!) the great commission as more than evangelism/ the multiplication of Christians bent for missional livin’ and/

(Reject!) the hypocrisy that says that a woman shouldn’t wear pants but/ the church is full of women “wearing the pants” bruh/

(Accept!) that Jesus though He was equal was still submissive/ and such is the role of a Christian but specifically women and/

(Reject!) the femininity of men whether they’re homosexual or not/ the stumblin’ block has gotta be stopped/ my friend

(Accept!) the roles and responsibilities of a godly man/ and stop the trend of spiritual fatherless-ness we got us in/

(Reject!) the rebellion of the youth and the stubbornness of the older/we’ve gotta learn from each other to reach the culture/

(Accept!) this as the end but if needed there’ll be a sequel/ so read and obey your word to discern between good and evil//

-this is the lyrics to his song, RnA (Reject and Accept) from his "... To Die is Gain" album. 

Almighty... Who?

I am struggling to grasp an issue I see very rampant among the Church. It is cumbersome and something that is more and more crushing me. I see so many brothers and sisters falling into it's grasp and not knowing it. I have seen and experienced it myself. I was once there, among the many. I was once blinded in one eye. The Evil One truly is cunning and 'wise', in his own twisted way.

I am speaking of a tradition. It was the tradition that resulted in the first human sin. It was the traditon that resulted in the Roman Catholic church to fall into apostasy, as they still suffer that blight willingly. The tradition of "The Almighty Man". Women and men masquerading as holy and wise teaching man is over or equal to God Himself. If it is not this then it is twisting historic orthodox doctine. If it is not this it is completely changing Written Word into self help classes, or bringing in heretical teachings and practices that are none to be found or taught in Scripture and slapping an Evangelistic tone on it and then making others feel guilty if not practiced.

What I speak of is everywhere in the Church now and spreading quickly. And the more I see the more I am infinitely disgusted by it. It is leading many astray and keeping them from a sure foundation. It is blinding eyes to clear truth and turning the salvific work of God from His glory alone to our own glory. It is turning the Gospel of Grace into the gospels of wealth, relationships, health, mysticism, and downright selfishness. Sometimes it is all of the above. What saddens me more is the people who are entrapped in this tradition and have had ample opportunity to see the truth as it is, and then turn from it because they value their traditions more than the truth of God. What a shame. What a pity. A sad thing indeed.

Oh Lord, Majestic and Sovereign in all ways, none are Your equal. None have any claim over You. You don't owe us anything. If it were not for your mercy we would all die off and forever be lost, and we would deserve it. For we are unholy while You are Holiness perfected. We hate Your truth and run from it. We want to be our masters, our own gods, rather than bow the knee to the Sovereign King of all things visible and invisible. Humble us Lord God. Shake us up. Let us cry out as Nebuchadnezzar, "His dominion is an everlasting Dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to Him, "What have You done? "" Oh God, in Christs' Name, amen.