Should Gospel Disagreements End a Friendship?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Good Monday morning and welcome to a new week
00:00:06.440 | on the podcast.
00:00:07.280 | Today we have a question from a listener,
00:00:09.120 | Scott in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
00:00:11.720 | Here's what he wants to know.
00:00:13.560 | Dear Pastor John, hello and thank you
00:00:14.920 | for the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:00:16.320 | My question is personal.
00:00:18.380 | A very close friend of mine who has historically
00:00:20.640 | been strong in his Christian faith
00:00:22.640 | has recently embraced a pop theology
00:00:24.640 | in which God has no wrath and there's no hell for anyone.
00:00:28.900 | My friend now argues that the vengeful God
00:00:31.040 | of the Old Testament was a Jewish myth,
00:00:32.900 | not the real God who is only found in Jesus.
00:00:36.840 | To him, Jesus died mainly to demonstrate
00:00:40.200 | God's patience with sinners.
00:00:42.760 | He now denies penal substitutionary atonement.
00:00:46.640 | In all these things, I have shown him his error
00:00:48.880 | from scripture, but he will have none of it.
00:00:52.480 | Because he continues to claim to be a Christian,
00:00:54.120 | I have begun to treat him in accordance
00:00:55.720 | with 2 Thessalonians 3, verses 14 to 15,
00:00:58.560 | not hanging out like we used to.
00:01:00.760 | Have I done the right thing and should I tell him why?
00:01:04.840 | - I think the answer is yes.
00:01:07.200 | You have done the right thing and I think the answer is yes,
00:01:11.480 | you should tell him why.
00:01:13.620 | But let's step back first for just a moment
00:01:17.960 | and get the bigger picture of the way
00:01:20.880 | the New Testament deals with those
00:01:22.960 | who claim to be Christian and have abandoned
00:01:26.880 | things essential to the Christian faith.
00:01:30.280 | First, let's clarify the verses in 2 Thessalonians
00:01:35.280 | that Scott refers to.
00:01:36.520 | The situation in Thessalonica is that some in the church
00:01:41.520 | have departed from Paul's teaching about the second coming
00:01:44.840 | and are so sure that it's happening in the next weeks
00:01:48.920 | or months that they've stopped doing any work
00:01:52.600 | and are walking in idleness, he says,
00:01:55.760 | and mooching off of other believers
00:01:58.120 | instead of doing their work because they think
00:02:01.320 | the Lord's gonna be there any minute.
00:02:04.400 | So Paul says in chapter three, verse six,
00:02:07.880 | we command you brothers in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
00:02:11.600 | that you keep away from any brother
00:02:14.100 | who is walking in idleness and not in accord
00:02:18.140 | with the tradition that you received from us.
00:02:21.640 | And then eight verses later,
00:02:23.300 | this is what Scott refers to.
00:02:25.840 | If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter,
00:02:29.280 | take note of that person, have nothing to do with him
00:02:32.960 | that he may be ashamed.
00:02:34.920 | Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
00:02:39.100 | Now, the problem with using these verses
00:02:43.720 | to guide Scott in the situation he describes with his friend
00:02:48.720 | is that the situation in 2 Thessalonians
00:02:52.160 | is not so serious that Paul considers
00:02:56.440 | the delinquent idlers as unbelievers.
00:03:01.440 | He tells the church to assume, for now anyway,
00:03:05.920 | that they are brothers and that they should be won back
00:03:10.920 | as brothers by this temporary ostracism.
00:03:15.960 | Do not regard them as an enemy,
00:03:17.960 | but warn them as a brother, he says.
00:03:21.160 | I don't think that's the case with Scott's friend.
00:03:25.440 | He has reinvented another Jesus than the one in the Bible.
00:03:30.440 | And another Jesus can only offer another gospel.
00:03:36.400 | His errors go right to the heart of the gospel.
00:03:39.720 | So I don't think Scott's friend
00:03:41.880 | should be considered a Christian.
00:03:45.080 | Paul has very harsh words
00:03:49.240 | for those who claim to be Christian
00:03:52.040 | and reject the biblical Christ and the biblical gospel.
00:03:57.040 | He says, for example, in Galatians 1, 8,
00:04:01.680 | "Even if we, or an angel from heaven,
00:04:06.400 | "should preach to you a gospel contrary
00:04:09.200 | "to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed."
00:04:13.580 | As we have said before, so now I say again,
00:04:17.340 | if anyone is preaching to you a gospel
00:04:19.280 | contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
00:04:24.280 | That's the situation for Scott's friend,
00:04:27.520 | as far as I can see.
00:04:29.460 | And that kind of false teaching
00:04:31.700 | in a person who claims to be a Christian
00:04:35.560 | cannot help but stir up serious divisions
00:04:38.920 | among professing believers.
00:04:41.200 | Claiming to be a Christian while rejecting Christ
00:04:46.840 | can only split Christ.
00:04:49.280 | So both the apostles, Paul and John,
00:04:54.440 | have strong words to tell us to withdraw our fellowship
00:04:59.440 | from such a person, claiming to be a Christian
00:05:04.000 | and yet rejecting the biblical Christ.
00:05:07.840 | For example, 2 John 1, 10 says,
00:05:11.280 | "Everyone who goes on ahead
00:05:15.460 | "and does not abide in the teaching of Christ,"
00:05:20.420 | which is what Scott's friend has done,
00:05:21.980 | he's moved on to a new Christ
00:05:25.180 | that he's inventing out of his own head,
00:05:27.600 | "they do not have God."
00:05:31.020 | If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching,
00:05:33.700 | do not receive him into your house
00:05:36.780 | or give him any greeting,
00:05:38.820 | for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
00:05:43.100 | Then Paul says in Titus 3, 10,
00:05:46.460 | "As for a person who stirs up division,
00:05:49.240 | "after warning him once, then twice,
00:05:53.320 | "have nothing more to do with him."
00:05:55.840 | Or again in Romans 16, 17, "I appeal to you, brothers,
00:06:00.840 | "watch out for those who cause divisions
00:06:03.280 | "and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine
00:06:06.400 | "that you have been taught, avoid them."
00:06:10.260 | Or again, 1 Corinthians 5, 11,
00:06:12.820 | "I am writing to you not to associate with anyone
00:06:16.300 | "who bears the name brother,"
00:06:19.500 | Christian in other words,
00:06:21.020 | "if he's guilty of sexual immorality or greed or idolater
00:06:24.420 | "or reviler or drunkard or swindler,
00:06:27.720 | "not even to eat with such a one."
00:06:30.120 | Now that last list from 1 Corinthians 5
00:06:34.760 | focuses mainly on blatant behavioral sins
00:06:39.760 | that we don't repent of,
00:06:42.340 | but the reference to idolater in that list
00:06:46.860 | points to a much wider application
00:06:49.580 | than just a few behavioral sins,
00:06:53.460 | like creating a new Christ
00:06:56.520 | that is not the Christ of the Bible
00:06:59.420 | and claiming to worship that false Christ.
00:07:02.840 | So from these seven passages that I just quoted,
00:07:08.320 | I would say that Scott has made the right choice
00:07:13.320 | in pulling back his fellowship from his friend
00:07:17.640 | who claims to be a Christian
00:07:20.880 | and has rejected the very heart of Christ's saving work,
00:07:25.880 | namely his taking our condemnation on himself on the cross,
00:07:31.840 | according to Romans 8, 3.
00:07:36.580 | And I would say, Scott,
00:07:39.620 | that you most definitely should explain to your friend
00:07:43.980 | why you are pulling back.
00:07:46.060 | Won't do any good otherwise.
00:07:47.560 | He won't know what's going on.
00:07:49.380 | Your hope is that your action
00:07:52.300 | will help him feel the seriousness
00:07:55.520 | of his walking away from biblical truth
00:08:00.380 | and his reinventing his own Christ.
00:08:05.020 | You'll tell him that you love him
00:08:07.140 | and that it would not be loving to carry on
00:08:11.680 | as if his view of Christ were unimportant
00:08:16.680 | when in fact his soul hangs in the balance.
00:08:20.700 | You'll promise to pray for him.
00:08:23.180 | And from time to time,
00:08:24.300 | you may communicate with him precious things about Christ
00:08:28.340 | that you pray will awaken a longing in him
00:08:32.820 | for the true biblical Christ.
00:08:35.860 | And I would say one more thing, Scott.
00:08:37.760 | Without going behind his back,
00:08:41.760 | you would say something to him about his church relationship
00:08:47.740 | or you'd ask him about his church relationship
00:08:51.480 | and whether his pastor,
00:08:53.620 | I'm just assuming that if he claims to be Christian,
00:08:56.180 | he's going to church somewhere probably,
00:08:58.620 | and you would ask him if his pastor knows what he believes.
00:09:02.920 | And you might even offer to go with him
00:09:05.960 | to visit his pastor.
00:09:08.040 | And you would explain it's a matter of integrity.
00:09:12.480 | If you belong to a church, it's dishonest.
00:09:16.920 | It's cowardly not to be up front with the church leadership
00:09:21.920 | if you come to reject
00:09:24.160 | some of the central teachings of the church.
00:09:27.880 | And if he says, gets his back up maybe and says,
00:09:32.080 | what, you want to get me kicked out of my church
00:09:34.560 | the way you're kicking me out of my relationship with you?
00:09:38.400 | Well, you might say to him,
00:09:40.900 | you know, you are the one who's changed,
00:09:46.320 | not me, not the church.
00:09:49.520 | You're the one who has turned on Jesus
00:09:52.320 | and kicked him out of your life.
00:09:55.120 | You're the one who's kicked out of your mind and heart
00:09:58.880 | what the church has believed about the Lord Jesus
00:10:01.920 | and the wrath of God and the atonement of Christ
00:10:04.560 | for 2000 years.
00:10:05.840 | I think you should own up to what you have done
00:10:10.640 | and stop pretending that you're a Christian.
00:10:13.320 | Now, I don't know, Scott,
00:10:16.840 | whether those words are appropriate for your friend or not.
00:10:21.840 | I know I'm putting words in your mouth,
00:10:24.760 | but it seemed to me that I ought to at least make an effort
00:10:28.560 | to say the kinds of things that might be said.
00:10:33.560 | And I'll pray for you that the Lord will give you love,
00:10:37.240 | give you wisdom, give you courage to speak the truth
00:10:41.200 | with your friend and that he may receive it
00:10:46.200 | the way you mean it.
00:10:47.360 | - That's a good word.
00:10:49.080 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:10:50.360 | And Scott, thank you for your fidelity to biblical doctrine,
00:10:53.560 | especially in the light of what it can cost
00:10:55.200 | to hold firm to those biblical convictions.
00:10:58.640 | And thank you to everyone who's listening today.
00:11:01.480 | You can ask a question of your own,
00:11:02.880 | search our growing archive,
00:11:03.880 | or subscribe to the podcast all at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn
00:11:08.880 | Well, if God makes much of me, if he saves me,
00:11:13.720 | because he's doing it all to make much of himself,
00:11:17.080 | doesn't that take the luster off of his love for me?
00:11:21.040 | That's a really great question.
00:11:24.280 | And one that comes up often based on some things
00:11:26.360 | that we've been addressing on the podcast.
00:11:27.840 | We're gonna address that question next time.
00:11:30.280 | Does God ruin his love for us by doing it for himself?
00:11:35.280 | We'll see you back here on Wednesday for that.
00:11:36.960 | Thanks for listening.
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