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Welcome to the Theological Touchpoints podcast . I'm Julian . The focus for this episode is touchpoints at the intersection of biblical theology and everyday life . Liberals look just like the rest of us . As Anabaptists , we typically think of the conservative liberal paradigm in terms of outward appearance . The old order are the most conservative , we are moderately conservative and MCUSA is liberal . But we need a paradigm adjustment . Liberalism has less to do with how we look and more to do with how we think . This doesn't mean appearances are disconnected from conservatism and liberalism , but just that appearances aren't a good litmus test .

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I argue that conservatism and liberalism are best defined in terms of what we believe about truth or , more specifically , what we believe about God . Conservatism , in the best sense , is about preserving the historic tenets of Christianity . We conserve the good and true against the perpetual onslaughts of false teaching . We conserve the gospel , the one and only truth that can lead us to Jesus Christ , our Savior . Conservatism , as it should be , is concerned with preserving true faith , not a set of standards , not a way of thinking or a way of life , but a set of truths , namely the gospel of Christ . We ought to recognize liberalism not by change in appearance , but by change in mindset and belief . The shift in appearance typically follows the corrosion of biblical truth . When appropriate applications are rejected , the war is already lost . The war must be waged along the lines of truth . Externals are not enough .

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Two tests are helpful in recognizing liberalism . First , who is at the center ? And second , what is the standard of truth ? These two questions reveal the heart of the issue . In the first question , we want to know who the main figure in a worldview is . Is this primarily about God or about man ? Is this about what man is doing for God or about what God has done for man ? Biblical conservatism is God-centered . The gospel is about what God has done to reconcile lost rebels to himself . He has redeemed us through the blood of Christ , his gift to all and on all who believe . A gospel that is more about what we are doing for God than about what he has done for us is indeed a gospel of liberalism . I hope you can see in this that I am not arguing that our behavior is of no consequence . Rather , salvation and all of the Christian life is about us receiving grace from God , living by His power , and not our own . The first test recognizing liberalism is asking the question who is at the center ? Who is the central figure ? Secondly , we should try to understand what the standard of truth is . What defines reality ? What defines the gospel ?

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Is scripture the ultimate , unrivaled authority , or are other authorities placed on par ? We may think we have this straight , but we don't always recognize when our authority is compromised . Why is it that we find biblical exposition dry and taxing , but we are inspired by testimonials ? Might it be that we place higher stock in the experiences of individuals than in the unfading truth of God's word ? Please don't hear me say that testimonials are a bad thing . The truth as demonstrated to be true is proven to be true when it's lived out in an individual's life . Testimonials are good , but are they the ultimate ? Do they move us more than the truths of scripture do ?

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When anecdotes surpass exegesis , i'm afraid we've elevated experience over timeless truth . Similarly , when we reject biblical truth because we don't understand it or don't like it , we've elevated human reason over God's truth . Do we first and foremost believe what is clear in scripture or do we refuse to believe something until we understand it ? Do we refuse to believe something until it makes sense to us ? If we do , human reason is a greater authority than God's truth . Again , i'm not disparaging , asking honest questions of the text and seeking to understand it . But in the end , the what of scripture , that is , those things which God has made clear , must win out over the why and the how . But so often , until we understand the why and the how questions , why would God do it this way ? How can he do that ? How is that consistent with his character ? How is it that God can be absolutely sovereign and still hold humans accountable ? When we require answers to the how and why questions before we will submit to and believe the what questions ? I believe that reveals we put more stock in our own reason , in what makes sense to us , than in the Word of God .

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True faith is demonstrated in a willingness to believe the clear teachings of scripture even before we fully understand the why and the how . And then , upon embracing upon accepting the truth of scripture , we move on in faith , in submission to the truth of God , in trying to understand the why and the how and working out the application of the truth , working out the particulars of the truth . But those particulars should not affect whether or not we believe the clear truth of scripture . Does scripture define reality or does something else define reality In a certain worldview . Is it pragmatism ? Is it tradition ? Is it the novel view ? Is it the new and exciting thing ? Is it the rational thing , or is it the truth of scripture itself that wins the day ? Back to the point .

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Liberalism may be identified by looking for what is the standard of truth . Is it experience , tradition , orthodoxy , or is it the unadulterated Word of God ? These other things like tradition , orthodoxy , even reason , find their rightful place when subjected to the authority of divine truth . So again , liberals look like the rest of us . We don't identify the liberals among us by looking on the outside . Rather , they are identified by who they talk about and how they define the truth , regardless of externals . One who's gospel is about his work for God and not God's work for him is a died-in-the-wool liberal . Or one who defines reality by experience , tradition or preference rather than by scripture is a liberal .

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Recently , an administrator at an Anabaptist Christian School in Pennsylvania publicly argued that a belief in salvation by grace through faith is incompatible with a concern for social , cultural or moral change . That is , if we believe that salvation is based on Christ's merits and not our own , then we will be unconcerned about what we do and how we live . She specifically argued that those who believe in justification based on Christ's atoning work are consequently unconcerned about racial reconciliation . Substitutionary atonement is juxtaposed to any concern for gospel applications . He argues that , quote if one views salvation as primarily involving personal absolution and the finished work of Jesus by grace alone , through faith end quote then the logical result is that one will be unconcerned about living the gospel out in tangible , practical ways , the end of that sentence being a summary of the rest of his argument . If one views salvation as primarily involving personal absolution and the finished work of Jesus by grace alone , through faith , then the logical result is that one will be unconcerned about living the gospel out in tangible , practical ways .

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This argument comes from one of our own , but in this our works become the main thing . The gospel is changed from being about redemption in Christ and is reduced from salvation by grace , through faith , which is God-centered , to salvation by obedience through sincerity , man-centered Salvation by obedience through sincerity . If we do the right thing and we're sincere enough , we will be saved . That's not the biblical gospel . Justification , the finished work of Christ is rejected .

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This view fails the first litmus test . It is not a gospel that glorifies God for his provision in Christ . It is not God-centered . It seeks to please God by human effort and is thus man-centered . Works become a component of our salvation , not a response to our salvation . See the difference .

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This gospel is one where we cooperate with God to save ourselves . We do our best and God does the rest . But that's not the biblical gospel . According to Scripture , god does it all . Salvation is by his grace alone .

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While it is true that some have argued for loose living on the basis of free grace , that is an unbiblical argument . No true believer gives himself to a life of sin . Your scriptures can be given to prove this . But that's not the point of this podcast . Justification by grace through faith is not a motive for sin . It is a motive for righteousness . It is precisely because we have been saved by grace through faith , not by works , that we are compelled to live lives of holy worship , serving God with our entire beings , because he has redeemed us . God does not leave us to work our way to him , or does he reward our futile efforts at righteousness with salvation . Salvation is given to undeserving sinners by his grace . Our response is loving service . True faith always produces fruits of righteousness , but salvation is not by discipleship .

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This is where , in my opinion , much of this generation of Anabaptists gets the gospel wrong . I absolutely believe believers are called to be disciples . Jesus wants disciples . He wants us to follow him . But discipleship is not the means of salvation . Those who are redeemed , those who are justified , are those who then follow Christ as his disciples . But this so often gets turned around , where discipleship becomes the means of salvation when we think we're saved because we're living in relationship with Christ , rather than being saved based on what Christ offers us in the Gospel . If we think we are saved because we are obedient , we are dead wrong . Salvation is not for the self-righteous . Jesus does not call the righteous but the sinners to repentance . So long as we think of ourselves as good enough on our own , we are sterile to the Gospel . God does not save us based on our goodness , but on Christ's . We receive this grace through faith , but that's all we do Receive in unconditional surrender .

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I believe the argument in question fails the second test as well . Second test we ask the question what is the standard of truth ? I was surprised at how blunt his argument against Scripture was . He specifically criticizes the belief that salvation is a quote-free gift . That entails quote-no-works less . Anyone should boast , but how can this be denied ? He rejects Scripture itself for this that he critiques comes straight from Ephesians 2 , 8 , and 9, . For by grace you have been saved through faith , and that not of yourselves . It is the gift of God , not of works , less anyone should boast .

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This blatant rejection of Scripture reveals a preference for human reason over biblical truth . Scripture is used as a helpful aid , not as the absolute authority . And if this were an isolated text , we could argue the semantics . We could say well , maybe , and this is my interpretation and his interpretation is different . But this is not an isolated text , nor is it an isolated concept . In the New Testament , these verses in Ephesians summarize one of the core truths of the Gospel as revealed throughout Scripture . This is not simply a misinterpretation , this is a rejection of Scripture . It is also said in his argument that a Gospel of grace marginalizes the teachings , life and witness of Jesus .

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But even in the Gospel witness , even in the four Gospels , jesus presents himself as the Savior , that is , he is the one who will provide salvation . He is the one who came to die in our place as our substitute to save us from sin . His work is finished . He says on the cross . It is finished Speaking of his work , of substitutionary atonement . His sacrifice , wherein he lay down his life , suffered the consequence we deserve because of our sin , and through him we are saved . Jesus came to save us , to justify us . He calls people to himself , not simply to embrace his ethic as his disciples , but to find their salvation in him . Jesus saw his substitutionary atonement as his central purpose on earth . Throughout the Gospels he speaks of his hour , anticipating his crucifixion whereby he would atone for the sins of believers . He is called the Lamb of God , which can only be rightly understood as a reference to the Passover Lamb . Jesus is the final Lamb , the one who takes away the sins of the world . He understood that he had come to give his life a ransom for many . Jesus came to save sinners so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life . It is because of his work on the cross that we can be saved by grace through faith . It is because we have been saved by grace through faith that we follow him as disciples .

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Arguing that the teaching of salvation by grace through faith , trusting in the finished work of Christ , saying that is somehow contrary to a Gospel where we care about people and serve them and look to live out the Gospel and bring God's kingdom . Here is a misunderstanding and a misuse of the Gospel of Scripture . It is the finished work of Christ that saves . We put our faith in him . We find our salvation in him , and it is that salvation that motivates , that drives us to care for those around us . Justification is not opposed to Christian ministry , not opposed to social work . It's not opposed to concern about our culture , concern for people . Salvation , when experienced by an individual , will always produce good works , will produce concern for the people around us . So it is the biblical gospel that motivates us to love others , to care for them and to serve them . Contrary to what is argued in the statement already quoted , salvation is not of our works , it is of Christ's .

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To argue against salvation as a free gift is to argue against God himself . So , then , i argued that the aforementioned statement is truly liberal . Though cloaked in conservative garb and emphasizing many good things morality , discipleship , doing good in the world it strips Christianity of the gospel and thus strips Christianity of the only motive for Christian charity . The irony of this argument is that , in emphasizing action over surrender , it undercuts the only thing that motivates a Christian to action The Christian loves because he has been loved . We serve because Christ served us . He laid down his rights , his freedoms , his life . We follow his pattern .

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First , john 3.16 says he laid down his life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren . We love others because Christ has loved us . We care about others because Christ cares for us . And how do we know his care ? How do we know his love ? He has justified us . He has done everything necessary for us to be saved . It is faith in that gospel , faith in Christ . He who has completed the work , has done everything necessary for us to be saved . It's his finished work that saves . We put our faith in him . We find our salvation in him And we seek to glorify him and serve him in everything we do , by bringing the gospel , by bringing his love , by bringing his truth to a world that needs him .

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Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Theological Touchpoints Podcast . This podcast is a production of Sword and Trumpet Ministries . For more information , visit wwwswordandtrumpetorgpogcast or theologicaltouchpointscom . If you have thoughts or questions , you can contact us at wwwpodcastattheologicaltouchpointscom . May the God of Peace himself sanctify you completely . May your whole spirit , soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ , who calls you as faithful , who also will do it .