“Once all you have left is the Gospel, and someone says, ‘Yeah but justice is a Gospel issue’, and all of a sudden it’s possible to move left to the applause of the cool kids, without abandoning the Gospel…but it is leaving the Gospel unprotected” This isa great sum up of what is happening.
Doug, hard core Lutheran here. You are correct when you say you can get along better with someone who knows what he believes and why he believes it than with those who are, shall we say, superficial.
rule of thumb: if someone is trying to get you to go along with an idea/movement/organization that uses terms or phrases that are so open ended and ambiguous so as to be undefinable its all a lie with dangerous ulterior motives.
@@noahmcdaniel4920 Ehhhh…..you may as well just say that’s what all people in general do and have done, throughout history, past and present. The Christians who are vague aren’t special in that sense. It’s just a basic and unfortunately common feature of humanity.
Mercy and Justice. I used to conflate them- now I believe that Christ’s incarnation ushered in this time of mercy which continues- and in which we should be so very grateful. Justice is God’s to have when He comes again or when we meet him in our death. May we love our neighbor and our enemy and may God have mercy on us all.
Yes spot on. I have had this experience for years where politics wasn't allowed into the church and then all of a sudden it's BLM BLM BLM. I think one of the issues is that we keep trying to make movements inside of the church instead of live the life that Christ has commanded us.
The true gospel is the good news of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, it is concerning who Christ is and what He did to save His elect only. The gospel includes the how and why, which can only be seen by faith. It is a message that declares how the eternal Son of God came down, took on a body of sinless flesh (John 1:14) as He was born of a virgin (Mat 1:23). He was both God and man in one Person. He was born under the Law to keep and fulfill it (Mat 5:18, Gal 4:4). He did that, not for Himself, but for all those He represented because they could not keep it themselves. The word of God calls these people the elect or His sheep, among several other names. His obedient life also included the part of dying. He took on the sin of His people as both a Substitute and Representative of those people. The Bible said He was "made to be sin" (II Cor 5:21) and the way that was done is by God imputing (legally reckoned or charged to the account of) sin to Christ. That means all the sin of all those people God chose was "laid on Him" (Isaiah 53:6). This sin was legally transferred to His account and He then owned it in such a way to be guilty of it all. God the Father poured out His wrath and hatred toward sin on His Son and had pleasure (Isaiah 53:10) in doing so, in that, He was completely satisfied in Christ as a Sacrifice that met all the demands of His strict Law and inflexible justice. Christ finished the work of paying the penalty of the Law and then said " It is finished" (John 19:30). He secured salvation for all God’s chosen people that would even be born. His resurrection is evidence of the acceptance of His sacrifice to the Father. The combined work of His obedience to the Law and His obedience unto death on the cross was considered establishing righteousness. This is what one of the Old Testament prophets prophesied as "bringing in an everlasting righteousness" (Daniel 9:24) as Christ died effectually and exclusively for those chosen of God before the world began (Eph 1:4). This righteousness is what God imputes to His people in the context of giving the life to believe in Christ. This puts them in a state called "Justification" and as a result they are eternally secure, in Christ. This is the gospel (Rom 1:16-17). All this takes place in such a way to show God as both a God of justice and a Savior. This is how grace reigns through righteousness (Rom 5:21)
I don't hear anyone raising alarms for "lets go brandon" chants in church. I don't know what area you live in, but in my area far right politics have found a comfy home in many churches.
Unfortunately, it wasn't "all of a sudden". The church has been heading down this slippery slope for years, with its man-centered gospel of "Jesus is here to fulfill all of your felt-needs". Well, the corrupt culture decided to take the church up on that offer - with a vengeance!
Agreed. Get in the ring and westle with scripture until it pins you down and makes you beg for mercy. Those who have done this have experience spectators don't.
Oooooh, those scriptures that just cut you to the bone; lay to waste all those things you thought you needed or wanted; arrest you in mid-thought and render you speechless before you can do more harm to yourself.
This was excellent, and is also very applicable w/ my experience in the army chaplaincy. I think I might’ve even used that term before, lowest common denominator, with respect to the ecumenical dynamic in the military chaplaincy. Anyways, obviously relevant to the cultural moment, great wisdom here.
i'm continually shocked at how in-touch with internet spawned culture Pastor Wilson is. edit: I'M ONE OF THOSE HARDCORE LUTHERANS!!! it's nice to see someone recognize we exist lol. and i'm no expert on Calvinism, but from what i can tell (because i have given it a bit of study), hardcore Calvinists are closer to us (theologically speaking) than anyone else. the problem is that most Calvinists would recoil at the thought simply because they don't know anything about Lutheranism, and they assume that the ELCA and people like nadia bolz-weber are lutherans and represent lutherans (they don't). they're not even christians, let alone a german flavor of christian.
I was wondering the same thing, Suburban Yute. I often wonder if I qualify as "hard-core Lutheran". I was raised Lutheran, in a largely German Lutheran congregation, and I'm a Lutheran now. I agree with you on the ELCA, etc. I find myself agreeing with Doug Wilson a lot. When does being a confessional Lutheran become "hard-core"? Or maybe I just answered my question.
@@kendrahelmes5024 I will say that Lutherans do have great debaters and thinkers. They just don't engage with new media nearly as much as the Calvinists do. And that's what I mean by not having the temperament.
I learn a lot from Doug. I disagree with the very end. I get along better with people willing to question their hard core system than those who won’t budge. Give me a Lutheran who says “I’m 95% in but working through the rest” any day. Love me some Doug Wilson though!
How did secular world views become prominent in the church? Because men who were put in the position of proclaiming the God spoken Truth and trusted to delegate it to their congregations failed to do so in favor of popularity and financial gain.
5:49 If Lewis said that then Chesterton also said something similar. He said that creeds help us clearly see where the boundaries are between separate communions and hence allow us to get as close as possible with others we are divided against.
The gospel touches upon everything, and there is a difference between this more complete view (eg, Horton's Gospel-Driven Life), and the narrower eva 'gospel-issue' category. In this latter case, the point is merely to elevate human salvation to the highest rung on the hierarchical ladder. What is not a public context which directly bears upon a person's salvation, is not considered pertinent to the gospel -- as if the gospel were not supposed to be transformative for the whole of society.
Christ is Logos, that ontological understanding affects every aspect of your life. Only someone who doesn't understand metaphysics thinks the political sphere, economic sphere, any sphere, is separated.
This speaks VOLUMES. Not about Moore but about you and those who are drawn to Wilson. You admit that you share more in common with an atheist than a brother who professes and displays faith on Christ. Pretty clear that your commitment isn't to Christ/the Gospel but to some notion of Western civilization and political ideology.
@@chadwells8088 My worldview is a 180 from Hitchens. But he’s honest about his beliefs. He can say yes yes, no no. Moore claims to be in my camp, but he’s a slithering snake. Doing the world’s bidding. You can’t nail him to a wall. His statements are all qualified. He is a true politician. Says a thousand words yet says nothing at all.
I’ve been thinking about ecumenism. I think it’s NECESSARY (but not in the way you think) in light of John 17 and everything that your particular view of Revelation holds to. Not ecumenism that compromises. But we have to have the believe that the whole church can eventually have perfect doctrine. I think for that to happen, we have to have something going on like right now, where everyone can be exposed to it all and the Holy Spirit with God’s word sorts it out. Pastors don’t do that so well because very few feel free to change their view on anything. For one thing, they may likely lose their job! I have had several experiences where I run across theology that has fallen “out of fashion” but once I see it’s possible as a view, the whole of scripture has that “transformer” movement and everything falls into place. (I have read the Bible many, many times through in my life and am autistic and a linguist. All sorts of things that I couldn’t get to fit bother me. And I have found a lot finally that help these parts fit without tossing out the rest of the Bible. That make it all fit!)
6:00 Yeah, it's in Mere Christianity, the first section I believe. Lewis also suggests it's better to be in a denomination decidedly regardless of whether it's the 'correct one' rather than staying in the proverbial lobby of Christianity where one can't fully mature in the faith.
A few questions: Is the “gospel-centered movement” a formal movement in the sense of a unified set of priorities, an organization, etc.? Have the men featured in the thumbnail (Keller, Chandler, Platt) ever self-identified themselves as such? I don’t think they were mentioned in the video, but presume these comments are aimed at them. However it seems the primary criticism is that they are “soft” on political and/or cultural issues. Can someone identify a passage of Scripture in which we are commanded to wield political power to change a culture? Could it be that those opting out of the fruitless and endless culture war in the United States in favor of getting back to basics (the Gospel) have struck a nerve?
@@racheltilly7335 My church has been doing a study on 1 Timothy from David Platt - I’ve yet to hear any political posturing from him or the other two guys pictured in the thumbnail. Any specific examples of that? I legitimately am unaware of any, unless advocating for humility, generosity towards others, respect for all peoples regardless of race, etc. is now considered political - these days it wouldn’t surprise me…
@@chaserboy818 they say they aren't political, but they just prefer leftist politics. Keller is a member of the Democrats. Christians need to use scripture as the standard, all of these guys are afraid of that because they think Gods law is to harsh, the prefer to make up a vague law, "Christs law" they call it. They dont seem to understand that God and Christ can't have different laws.
@@jpfiero Apprecoate your reply and perspective. I’m certainly not liberal in my theology, politics, or values but am just unaware of any compromise from the aforementioned pastors. Something I can look at closer I suppose.
@@chaserboy818 I am not an expert on any of them either, my experience comes from followers of these guys mostly. Definitely do your research, I much prefer Wilson's willingness to follow scripture wherever it leads. No man has everything right though. I have found it very freeing to just let scripture be the standard for all of life, including politics. Gods law is so much better than anything we could hope to come up with!
Interesting what he says about having more in common with a hard-core Lutheran. I find I relate better to the "messy people" (so-called) than the people who act like they've got it all together. The messy ones know who they are, and there's no camouflage.
This is the weakness within protestantism movement after movement since the reformers. It comes down to ego and personal preference/interpretation. Additionally, the bulk of holy scripture has been interpreted and understood to mean X for the first 1000 years after Christ. By Christians who actually had a link to the culture of the lavant and of the mind of the church. We in the west unfortunately have no reference to this and look at scripture as an academic exercise. The concept of Supremacy of the church (head being christ) has been lost.
For someone who often criticizes peoples’ beliefs as “scriptureless”, Doug sure likes to go around in circles with his logic while talking without quoting any scripture whatsoever. He also loves to make arguments without defining the terms he’s using at all. I’d love to hear him elaborate on how BLM is defining justice as Karl Marx does. Of course, he neither describes how BLM or Karl Marx defines justice whilst making this conflation.
Good Word Sir. But one correction of definition I would offer, an axle is bolted to a wheel, the " rim " is the outer edge of a wheel. I enjoyed your video. May God Bless You and your Ministries.
Modern day things are increasingly going away faster and faster. Have you noticed that? 100 years ago battles for tht gospel and truth took years. But today we see solid guys from just a few years ago are completely utterly void of the truth. Perhaps its because of the internet?
@@tdot3407 also possible. I have a feeling that many have just jumped on the bandwagon of popular teaching. 20 years ago Calvinism resurged. And Platt, chandelier, Chan, Keller, Moore and many others are or were calvinist. Either because of conviction or convenience. Now they have added the woke idelogies. They didn't have to reject their Calvinism, they are just adding like the added Calvinism to their 'faith' years before
Everything is a gospel centered issue. All of mankind's history is centered on it. Mankind received a promise from it's creator in the garden of Eden about the salvation that would come and it did. This has to be our message.
Does this man ever do any encouraging? Or is he just a very smart grumpy republican Christian? Lift people up with your knowledge and stop in fighting!!! Self-less love is what we are after Church. :) ❤️
It's called discernment. Without critical thinking skills you can't think. Jesus did a lot of criticizing of other people. This generation has no idea what love is. It isn't accepting everything and not being able to accept criticism.
Does Doug have any videos where he constructively refutes worldviews being pushed by Chandler in particular? I don't love the inclusive of them in the thumbnail, but lack of reference to what he/they have said / are saying currently that is out of step. I know Platt has said some whacky stuff on BLM/white privilege and TK as well, but less familiar with Chandler. Chandler has been a super impactful teacher in my faith journey, so want to clearly understand where he may or may not be straying, as I'm not an active listener to TVC sermons/podcasts anymore. Thanks!
We watched this happen in our church. Focus & definitions changed. Then Covid enhanced their crooked thinking & those that didn’t get the jab were on the wrong side. Praying for pastors 🙏🏻 We need true shepherds!
Movements are almost always fads. And I'm not referring to events that lead to movements but self important people seeking to do something "New" and wanting to be followed, those "Movements" if we just worked on the old stuff and doing it well we wouldn't have time for the newest fad
You're comments on Lutherans has me curious. I'm a Missouri Synod Lutheran (LCMS) and as I watch the videos with Doug Wilson I find myself agreeing. What do you consider a hard-core Lutheran? What are the topics you think we would find disagreement? Baptism? Communion?
images in worship, women as deacons, baptism, communion, importance of aesthetics, form of church government, whether salvation can be lost, are some of the first things that come to mind
@@eltonron1558 , I am mostly German and raised Lutheran, but I actually left the Lutheran church Missouri Synod at one point and went to a couple different non-Lutheran churches (4, as a matter of fact). After a few years of that I went back to a conservative Lutheran (LCMS) church because the theology is simple, straightforward and Biblical. It's not that the other churches weren't Christian, it just seemed like they were complicating Scripture rather than letting it speak for itself.
@@philagon what are "images in worship"? I can tell you in the LCMS we don't have women as deacons and I was under the impression Calvin was a pedobaptist. Do Calvinists consider communion purely symbolic? Most Lutherans consider the "importance of aesthetics" as adiaphora, although we do appreciate how aesthetics can point us to Christ. What are the differences in church government? As far as I know, Lutherans do not believe salvation can be lost, is that what Calvinists believe? I'm asking all this sincerely, by the way.
@@cliffrichardson Let me answer for him. Imagery in worship, are crosses, statues of Mary, Christ in the manger, ornate cathedrals, costumes, and funny hats, that amount to theatre. My concern is your statement about being biblical. Do you use,(not necessarily worship), graven imagery? Crosses? Fishes? Doves? Flames? What do you see engraved on tombstones? You are aware, are you not , that there is a day, God, sanctified and made holy? Where is the scripture, making that day not holy? What is scriptural, about Sunday keeping? You are a Sunday keeper? I'm constantly baffled, at how, all offshoots of the Catholic church, have embraced most of it's heresy, strictly on a biblical basis, as in, not biblical. I'm genuinely concerned, especially with those, who have been raised, on unbiblical tradition. Are you not aware, Christianity, is not under one roof, but should be? I am opposite. Hardcore atheist, until being called at age 35. No denomination. The one church I donated money to, collapsed, when it's founder died. He was my mentor. My mentor, proved, the current state of Christianity, is bogus, while God is not. I'm not sure if I'm trying to rescue you, or demand scripture for your traditional beliefs. Please indulge me, with a scripture based explanation for Sunday keeping. Please don't state because Jesus rose on Sunday, which is debatable, or that the apostles met on a Sunday to break bread, as the passage clearly states, they met to break bread, not turn God's royal law on it's head. Neither passage, contains any command for Sunday. If you want, you can be honest, and say you don't know, which means you play hooky alot, or maybe you have some kind of rote, prepared response to the question. I honestly, want to know, why an entire denomination, woud deny, and defy, Christ, in his insistence, that those who love him, keep the commandments of God. Not the law of Moses, as Moses, didn't give the commandments, God did, with his voice, and they HEARD, thus, from the very beginning Jesus said Mt. 4:4
Like these guys....!!....but I got a question for them....you talk a lot...and it's good value...but have you led anyone to the Saviour lately?.....now THATS gospel....!
Jeremiah 31: 31-34 says; "in the new covernant...no man will teach his neighbour to know the Lord". No one teaches the gospel anymore. We live the gospel now and God witnesses or teaches the gospel inaudibly in mid-air through his angels. Men don't audibly or open-air the gospel in the new covernant. This means, when Jesus said; "go ye forth and teach and preach the gospel to the uttermost parts of the world", Jesus must have meant finishing off the old covernant withe the first seven years of the church. This is what made the 12 apostles teaching the gospel (rather than living the gospel) after the first seven years of the church false apostles. This includes Paul who said in Galations chapter 1 "if anyone teaches a gospel other than the gospel we preached to you, even if an angel proclaims the gospel, let him be cursed". And yet when we get to the new covernant book of Revelation 14: 6 angels proclaim the gospel inaudibly or on "mid-air". This means, the first century apostles trying to keep the old covernant gospel of teaching and preaching going after the first seven year's of the old covernant had been "shut" Revelation chapter 3, has been finished. So no more curses for living the non-congregational gospel, instead of teaching it as if the congregational age still needs adding too.
If, as you said, "No one teaches the gospel anymore," why is teaching one of the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11)? God does raise up people to teach his flock. Although technically everyone can teach, there are some members of the body of Christ who are especially adept at it. Just the same way as everyone can and should preach the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20) but not everyone is called to be an evangelist.
I think the “gospel-centered“ movement was fatally flawed from the beginning, because at least practically and functionally they identified Calvinism with the gospel. Even if Calvinism were true, it’s not the gospel. Identifying something as the gospel that is not the gospel is a very bad move (Galatians 1: 8-10). “Gospel centered“ was commonly used for being a Calvinist. For example, Jared C. Wilson on the gospel coalition website has “gospel centered“, “neo reformed“, and “young, restless, and reformed“ as synonyms.
@@TheDrummaBen yeah, most of the old guard Calvinists seemed happy with what they were doing; they were spreading Calvinism, and I think the old-school Calvinists thought they could control them. But then they kicked off their mahout and are starting to treat the old guard (and its agenda) like they had been treating the rest of us.
@@paulchamberlain4810 Yeah. It's gotta go deeper than just realizing the sovereignty of God in salvation. Right now I am encouraged because a lot of my reformed brethren are discussing and understanding the law-gospel distinction which I think would be just the doctrinal medicine someone would need to escape this crap.
It's not fatally flawed because the gospel is identified with calvinism, but because the gospel, that must've been centered in Christ's life and salvific work, is redesigned to address current issues of the world(social justice, wokeness,etc.) As an identified person subscribing to reformed theology, i can clearly say with conscience and Spirit that at least, soteriologically, calvinism is the gospel. If you truly know what calvinism is, it would lead you to a biblical, theocentrical understanding of Jesus. Calvinism is not about John Calvin, not even close that it started after his existence. It's not just mere label; it's the biblical concept of it. I believed Calvinism not because of some prominent theologian affirms it so. Rather, I believe calvinism because it has no goal but to exalt the gloriousness of salvation that Christ is offering to the world. Therefore, Calvinism could be rightly identified with the gospel. If you are skeptical about calvinism, I challenge you if you can define it first correctly without strawmanning it. Calvinism has been caricatured so many times that people has been washed by entirely misinformed teachings. Only true reformed (calvinism) christians knows its invaluability. Though calvinism is commonly briefed with TULIP, i guarantee you, there's just more to that. I encourage you to be objective in discovering the teaching of calvinism, and discover it for yourself. Prayerfully, God will enlighten you and lead you more to Christ.
@@johnrenerbuenconsejo3759 No, Calvinism is not the gospel. Look at the clear gospel presentations by the apostles in the book of Acts, I Corinthians 15, and John 20, and you will not find Calvinism. These gospel presentations are not even the common proof texts used by Calvinists. Thus, the critique from Galatians 1:8-10 stands. (Interestingly, these passages would be proof texts I would use for the soteriological position I hold - Provisionism.) Also, there’s a reason why Calvinists usually present the gospel in a way that it makes it sound to the unbeliever they’re not preaching Calvinism. And I can present Calvinism in a way that Calvinist agree I understand it. I’ve even done this a couple times in person to five point Calvinists who suggested I might not understand Calvinism. Considering Calvinist so often call anyone who disagrees with them a heretic, a Pelagian, a semi-Pelagian, worshiping free will, only interested in man’s free will, trying to steal God’s glory, etc. etc. this claim that we don’t understand Calvinist beliefs seems like projection. Because even if we were wrong, that’s usually not what we hold or why we hold it. Would you be able to explain my beliefs, Provisionism, in a way that is not a strawman?
It is frustrating how so many of these young bright lights in reformed preaching tilted to the left so easily. And guys like Mohler who really should have known better.
Doug Wilson: Wise man. Anything involving justice, is a Christian issue. Terms are rarely defined, and evidence never provided to support claims. Arguments are either sound or not, whether the argument is proposed by Mickey Mouse or John the Baptist. Attack the argument and leave the ad hominem, personal attacks to the misinformed and the liars.
It already is unprotected. It isn't even preached. Can you imagine Christianity, helping Satan, prevent the return of Christ? The gospel, is not about Christ, but from, and according to Christ. Mark 1:14-15
Hey Kelly - I’ll try.... “Protecting the Gospel” from the pulpit usually means protecting it from either addition or subtraction. In this context I think he’s saying that the term “justice,” as defined by extra-biblical ideologies, has been a Trojan horse that has been added to the gospel. So pastors spend their time preaching on, and wrestling with pop topics, while neglecting things that people need to hear. Justice as defined by the Bible, Justice as it relates to Christ’s atoning sacrifice, etc. Real gospel issues take a lot of maintenance and, if neglected, the church erodes.
A "Cornerstone" also has to be defined in relationship to something. All false gospels CLAIM Jesus is their "Cornerstone" but they certainly can't all be TRUE. Therefore the relationship between a TRUE "Cornerstone" and a TRUE Jesus, IS a TRUE GOSPEL PLAN which DEFINES this RELATIONSHIP ISSUE.
If someone comes with you with another gospel then it isn't the gospel. GOD is the ultimate judge of the heart & the individual. Wokeness needs to be yanked out of the church. The biblical conservative churches & theological churches are growing whereas those on the left are dying.
Wilson pins the problem on drift to the left. I would say the problem is equally that some have drifted too far left-buying into liberal ideologies-and that some are too far right-buying into conservative ideologies-both of which are equally compromising to one’s faith. And these two wings of the gospel-centered movement are tearing each other apart. But it saddens me that Doug does not acknowledge the problem of right wing capitulation, which is just as bad.
Far right means anyone who believes in the Bible and doesn't accept philosophy or other religions as being legitimate nor authoritative. And that the constitution limits government and politicians are supposed to represent everyone and not just one party. Church leaders caught in the pop culture of wokism are taking part with those who would redefine things like justice, marriage, and freedom. The goal of the left is to destroy Christianity. Those who conserve, conserve faithful biblical Christianity and those people are called hard right.
So many factions. So many errors across the board. None will repent or admit fault to their brother. In a pack of wolves who can see the sheep? No the sheep are devowered and the wolf has another sheep's clothing to hunt beneath.
There is the possibility, there would be, one faction, if they would quit calling John 3:16 the gospel, instead of Mark 1:14-15, which is, and according to Christ, BUT, then, there are the other errors.
A false argument here for any Christian is that you become what you are trained to be. Christianity has always the power of Spirit and the reference of the Bible. Ignore these and you are a broken cistern that can hold no water.
Gospel-Centered, Gospel Coalition, Together for the Gospel ... in all cases "Gospel" meant Calvinism. When you talk about defining terms, this is a great example. Gospel =Calvinism. If you are not a Calvinist you are not for the gospel. It was clever.
It seems to me none of this people were gospel centred. If you support abortion, vaccine mandates, critical race theory, LGBTQ causes, women pastors, etc. you do not understand the gospel.
No such thing as a Christian worldview. Not in this world. What he's referring to is the worldview prevalent among nominal Christians. Certain viewpoints that have been handed down over decades and centuries from religious that consider themselves Christian. Real Christians don't consider themselves part of this world. They live as temporary residents. Pseudo Christian worldview is a better descriptor of what he's talking about
“Central” meaning, not to Wilson’s fundamentalist position and bigotry - so it’s wrong. This dude is such a narcissist. Wilson comes from the “two ways to live”, “the bridge to life” generation of the 60’s who hated hippies and feminists. He has no idea to appropriate address this current cultural climate yet he continues sound off like Gods judge. He needs to stop talking and quietly wait for heaven.