Soft Preaching And Cheap Grace

SOFT PREACHING AND CHEAP GRACE __________________ A Paper Presented to Dr. Tim McAlhaney The College at Southwestern

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In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for IDE 3101-C

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by Wes Terry October 23, 2008

SOFT PREACHING AND CHEAP GRACE A growing number of preachers today could be defined as those who have been accumulated by men with “itching ears.” Those who have disassociated themselves with sound doctrine and have instead aligned with the proclamation that satisfies their own passions.1 However, “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”2 Those who preach are called to preach the whole counsel of God’s Word. John Wesley believed similarly. Wesley wanted a wholistic approach to preaching that would couple the precious content of the gospel with the convicting nature of the law. A study of Wesley’s reasons will show how and why preaching should consist of both law and gospel and the disastrous results of elevating one above the other. Setting the Stage Before establishing why one should preach the gospel coupled with the law, it is necessary to define the terms as Wesley used them. For Wesley, the gospel was “preaching the love of God to sinners, preaching the life, death, resurrection and intercession of Christ, with all the blessings which in consequence thereof are freely given to true believers.” By preaching the law Wesley meant “explaining and enforcing the commands of Christ briefly comprised in the Sermon on the Mount.” 3 It should be 1

2 Timothy 4:3-4

2

2 Timothy 3:16-17. All Scripture quotations will be taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted by the author. 2

3 noted that although Wesley used the Sermon on the Mount as an example4, that does not mean by necessity that Old Testament passages were to be excluded.5 Wesley was plagued with many of the same questions that the reformers before him had been preoccupied with. What was the relationship between faith and works? How does regeneration and justification work together for salvation? Is there a connection between sanctification and assurance? These questions all revolve around two words: law and gospel.6 What captured Wesley’s attention was how salvation in Christ should shape individual people. He searched for how one should preach and live so that more people might receive salvation in Christ. He wrestled with the following questions. What is the role of the believer and what is the role of God in the process of salvation?7 How can one walk wisely and make the best use of time in these evil days?8 These questions helped to 3

Albert C. Outley, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 232. 4

For Wesley, the beatitudes were a summary of the Christian religion. He admired the balanced and interrelated presentation of "happiness" and "holiness" in the beatitudes. Experienced religion will have outward consequences due to the likeness with Christ. In short, the beatitudes reveal the complete way of salvation. Tore Meistad, Martin Luther and John Wesley on the Sermon on the Mount (Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, 1999), 94. 5

For example, when Jesus uses the phrase, "You have heard it said" he is usually referencing an Old Testament passage (for example Mt. 5:21 cf. Ex. 20:13, Deut. 5:17; Mt. 5:27 cf. Ex. 20:14, Deut. 5:18; Mt. 5:31 cf. Deut 24:1.) It would be beneficial when explaining these words of Jesus to use the Old Testament references in one's preaching. 6

Jr. Cobb, John B, Grace and Responsibility: A Wesleyan Theology for Today (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), 22. 7

Harald Lindstrom gives an extensive treatment of these questions by Wesley. However, due to space, they will not be explored now. Harald Lindstrom, Wesley and Sanctification: A study in the Doctrine of Salvation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980), 83. 8

Ephesians 5:15

4 shape Wesley’s theology and influenced the way in which he coupled preaching the law with the gospel. According to Wesley, the gospel would appeal tothe contrite and humble while the law would convict the proud and self-sufficient. The gospel saves, the law is for discipline. It is the paradox in Christianity that fights legalism on one front and liberalism on the other. So, if the law is such a powerful asset to the proclamation of the gospel, how does one establish the law in their preaching? The following will be a summary of Wesley’s methods and reasons for establishing the law. Establishing the Law Wesley’s methods were a reaction against those who exempted the law from their preaching, taught that faith supersedes the need for holiness, and lived their personal lives as if faith in Christ was a license for lawlessness. For Wesley, faith was a means of producing the good essence of the law in one’s Christian life.9 The biblical undergirding for his method is found at the end of Romans three. “He [God] will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”10 The law must be of indispensable value to the individual Christian. The Old Covenant should never be separated from the New Covenant. The two go hand in hand. As one commentator put it, one is God’s promise to man, the other is the fulfillment of His promise. “The fulfillment of the promise makes the promise more sacred; and the promise will never be forgotten as long as we remember its fulfillment.”11 9

Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 222. 10

Romans 3:30-31

11

J.P McBeth, Commentary on Romans (Dallas: Crescendo Book Publications,

1937), 128.

5 Willem VanGemeren writes, “Under both covenants, the Lord has one standard for ethics, namely holiness or wholeness of life…under both administrations God wants his people to love him, keep his law, and to depend on him wholly for life.”12 With this theology serving as his foundation, Wesley showed how one should go about establishing the law in one’s theology, preaching, and personal walk with Christ. Declare Every Part of It The first step in establishing the law has already been discussed to some extent. The preacher must preach the whole counsel of God’s Word. “We do not cauponize, mix, adulterate, or soften it to make it suit the taste of the hearers.”13 Soft preaching produces hard hearts and hard preaching produces soft hearts. There are passages in Scripture that are extremely confrontational in nature and complicated in substance. However, these passages should be preached with the same amount of passion and conviction as any other passage. “All that is written in the book of God we are to declare, not as pleasing men, but the Lord. We are to declare, not only the promises, but all the threatenings, too, which we find therein.”14 Likewise, the law should be preached for the transformation of the inner spirit of a person and not just one’s outward appearance. The law was not given as a means of behavior modification but as tutor to the condition of one’s heart. It shows deficiencies both in behavior and in attitudes. Declaring every part of the law also means proclaiming it in such a way that it changes the inner man and not just the outer man. Wesley believed 12

Willem A. VanGemeren, The Law Is the Perfection of Righteousness in Jesus Christ: A Reformed Perspective, ed. Stanley N. Gundry, Five Views on Law and Gospel (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 36. 13

Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press,

1964), 223. 14

Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press,

1964), 225.

6 that the powerful proclamation of the word would lead to changed lives. Thus, his second method of establishing the law is to preach faith in Christ as a means to holiness. Faith Produces Holiness without Superseding It “We establish the law, secondly, when we so preach faith in Christ as not to supersede but produce holiness: to produce all manner of holiness, negative and positive, of the heart and of the life.”15 This is the arena in which Wesley develops his argument that faith is a means, not an end. The end of all of God’s commandments is love. When all else fails, love remains. “Love is the end, the sole end, of every dispensation of God, from the beginning of the world to the consummation of all things.”16 Wesley believed that love was lost because of sin and thus faith was added into the equation. Faith was the means by which God restored man back to the love from which he had fallen: to re-establish the law of love. Since love is the both the image and nature of God, an infusion of God’s love is able to transform the human soul into its pristine stage. Wesley called this state “perfection.” His efforts to keep the law on the lips of his lay-preachers were because he believed that such preaching would spur one on into a state of perfection. Wesley held that the Bible promised the Christian life could be free from sin. He had written and preached on the doctrine of perfection and fought for it at length.17 There were some who claimed that believers who were outside of this state of perfection

15

Ibid., Pg. 226.

16

Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press,

1964), 227. 17

At the end of the 1750's, some Methodists started to claim that they had actually achieved this state of perfection and by 1760 the perfectionist revival was sweepting across the nation. Stephen Tomkins, John Wesley: A Biography (Oxford: Lion Publishing, 2003), 156.

7 were under the curse of God and in a state of damnation. Wesley rejected such radical views but still held that the gift of perfection could come gradually or instantaneously.18 The doctrine of perfection has some problematic implications. For one, it asserts that perfection is achieved after justification. While it is understood that sanctification is a process, this author believes that the completion of that process will not be brought about until the day of Christ’s returning.19 Secondly, if perfection could be obtained in this life outside of justification, it would also necessarily mean that perfection could be lost in this life outside of justification. This cannot be reconciled scripturally.20 The potential result is a low view of justification by faith, a high view of man’s moral abilities, and the denial of eternal security. While these conclusions may not have been held by Wesley, these are the extremities of such premises. That being established, it is important for believers to constantly strive for perfection. Any time that is spent contemplating the gospel should produce a desire for service to God and others. For the apostle Paul, these two worlds were combined with the word “therefore.”21 Paul spent the eleventh chapter of Romans pondering the mystery of gospel. He then began Romans twelve with, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”22 Paul finishes that chapter with imperatives that that 18

Ibid., Pg. 157.

19

Philippians 1:6

20

Romans 8:38-39 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 21

Robert E. Chiles, Scriptural Christianity: A Call to John Wesley's Disciples (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 122. 22

Emphasis added.

8 stress the practical implications of good theology. So, faith should produce holiness. However, it will never supersede one’s holiness in justification. This leads to Wesley’s third principle of establishing the law, and that is to establish it in one’s own life. The Law Should Be Established in One’s Own Life This is the most pastoral approach to Wesley’s reasons for the establishment of the law. Without it, “all our preaching would be so far from profiting ourselves that it would only increase our damnation.” 23 The preacher’s power does not lie in great talents or rhetorical splendor but in his likeness to Jesus. As Charles Spurgeon put it, “True and genuine piety is necessary as the first indispensable requisite; whatever ‘call’ a man may pretend to have, if he has not been called to holiness, he certainly has not been called to the ministry.”24 Preachers should imitate what they persuade others to be. Excellent content can be void of power when a preacher refuses to practice what he preaches. Orthodoxy must always lead to orthopraxy. “We do not trust those persons who have two faces, nor will men believe in those whose verbal and practical testimonies are contradictory. As actions speak louder than words, so an ill life will effectually drown the voice of the most eloquent ministry.”25 This principle is what fueled Wesley’s desire for a pious life. According to Wesley, if the preacher has established the law in his own life, seeing faith as a means to produce holiness, and he has dedicated himself to preaching the whole counsel of God’s Word, he is equipped to couple the preaching of the law and the

23

Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press,

1964), 227. 24

Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to my Students (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1954),

9. 25

Ibid., Pg. 17.

9 gospel. It is now appropriate to explore the reasons why, methods on how, and what will result when a preacher chooses not to. Why One Should Preach the Law with the Gospel Wesley gives several reasons why the coupling of the law and the gospel should be incorporated into every sermon. Two will be mentioned here. The first reason is that the law begets faith in penitent sinners and the second is that it stimulates spiritual vitality. These two reasons incorporate the two pillars on which Wesley rested his theology of piety: justification and sanctification. Begets Faith in Penitent Sinners Paul asks these questions in Romans 10:14. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” The proclamation of the gospel is essential in order for people to come to faith in Jesus Christ. While Wesley believed in public proclamation, he condemned “gospel preaching” that taught the good news of salvation but gave sinners an inaccurate view of their depravity and the necessity of a pious life. For Wesley, preaching the law shows men the standard. It testifies to the separation between God and man and the need reconciliation. We are helpless in our natural condition and the law confirms our depravity. In the words of Wesley, “Only corrupt fruit grows on a corrupt tree. And his heart is altogether corrupt and abominable, being ‘come short of the glory of God,’ the glorious righteousness at first impressed on his soul… If then sinful man finds favor with God, it is grace upon grace. If God vouches still to pour fresh blessings upon us – yea, the greatest of all blessings, salvation – what can we say to these things but ‘Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!’”26

26

John Wesley, "Salvation by Faith," in Whitefield and Wesley on the New Birth, ed. Timothy L. Smith (Grand Rapids: Francis Asbury Press, 1986), 81.

10 Stimulates Spiritual Vitality Wesley also believed that preaching the law and gospel together would stimulate spiritual vitality. “The law not only convicts the unbeliever and enlightens the believing soul, but also conveys food to a believer, sustains and increases his spiritual life and strength.” 27 When one contemplates on the message of the gospel it has the potential to create in that person such a love for Jesus Christ that they walk in obedience to his commandments. The insights gained from the preaching of the law spurs one on to good works out of thankfulness to his Savior. So, the law is not incompatible with grace. Faith lives harmoniously with works in the paradox of love and duty. Freedom in Christ should always serve as a catalyst for righteousness and not as a license for immorality. Samuel Bolton writes, “In those who are justified it [the law] acts first of all as a doctrine to drive them to duty, next as a glass to reveal their defects so that they may be kept humble and may fly to Christ, next as a restrainer and corrector of sin, and then again as a reprove of sin.”28 Wesley thought that in preaching the law, one should preach for fresh life. He believed in preaching that would instill vigor and strength to run the way of Christ’s commandments. Both law and gospel should be preached: both at once or both in one. 29 Soft preaching does not produce spiritual vitality. Rather, it redefines it. However, the

27

Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press,

1964), 234. 28

Samuel Bolton, The True Bounds of Christian Freedom (Great Britain: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1978), 78. 29

Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 232-234.

11 unadulterated preaching of the whole counsel of God will produce hearts that burn30 for Jesus Christ and a church body that exercises its faith with good works. Wedding the Law with the Gospel In addition to giving a theoretical philosophy of why one should preach the law with the gospel, Wesley also gave very practical methods on how to do it from the pulpit. Unlike his methods on “establishing the law” these principles applied to the nuts and bolts of one’s rhetoric. Again, two methods will be established here. The first principle is that the preacher should condition his content according to the environment of his congregation. Secondly, one should preach the law not as the cause but as the fruit of salvation. Conditioned by Environment Wesley summarizes this point saying, “… preach the law in the strongest, the closest, the most searching manner possible, only intermixing the gospel here and there and showing it, as it were, afar off. After more and more persons are convinced of sin, we may mix more and more of the gospel in order to beget faith…therefore it is not expedient wholly to omit the law; not only because we may well suppose that many of our hearers are still unconvinced, but because otherwise there is danger that many who are convinced will heal their own wounds slightly.”31 Any good public speaker will know his audience. He will know their values and needs, what they like and dislike, and, most importantly, what they can be persuaded by. Though preaching is unlike any other communication forum, there are points of similarity between it and other mediums. Wesley believed that the function of the law was to show the true condition of one’s heart and create within that person complete disparity over sin. The weight one 30

Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 31

Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 232-233.

12 feels in regard to their depravity is proportional to how powerfully the law is preached.32 In essence, the preacher must understand the spiritual chemistry in a room in order to decide how much of either element is to be elevated above the other. For the hard of heart there should be a powerful proclamation of the law. For the penitent and broken, the preacher should offer the hope and peace that is found in the gospel. Not the Cause but the Fruit The second method is to preach obedience to the law as the fruit of salvation and not the cause of it. Obedience should result because of love to Christ and its stimuli should be rooted in his first loving us. One should preach the law in such a way that it is tempered by and animated with the spirit of the gospel.33 It is only in Christ that we can find life. All strength is found in him alone. If Christ is lifted up above the law then the preaching of the law will enlighten and strengthen the soul. It will nourish and teach those who find their identity in Christ.34 The law should never be dangled over men as a means of obtaining salvation in Christ. Good works are the fruit of faith in Christ. When one preaches obedience to the law as the cause of salvation, they preach damnation on their congregation. The law is a tutor and a mirror. It teaches us how to live righteously and shows us our short comings. However, redemption is only found in Jesus Christ and any obedience to the law should spring from a personal relationship with him.

32

Gene E. Bartlett, The Audacity of Preaching (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1962), 30. 33

Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press,

1964), 234. 34

Ibid., Pg. 235.

13 Conclusion The coupling of the law and gospel while preaching is something that might be seen as irreconcilable. However, in reality, it is the only way in which salvation can be rightly understood. If one clings only to the law there will be problems. It could result in legalism, man-centered theologies, and spiritual hopelessness. If one clings only to the gospel there will be problems. It could result in spiritual laxity regarding obedience, a low view of God’s standard and man’s sinfulness, and a false sense of perfection. The answer is found in middle. Good preaching will establish the law in the hearts of men and counter hopelessness with the power of the gospel. The law of love should be the driving force of all preaching: love to God and love to people. Good preaching will hold man as the chief of creation yet the chief of sinners. It will show humanity as honored but undeserving; as responsible but dependant; as estranged from God but reconciled in Christ. Preaching that fails to wed these two will result in shrinking congregations. Men and women under such proclamation will suffer from spiritual anemia. Without the blood of Christ, the hope of glory is lost. Salvation is unattainable. Man is enslaved to sin forever. However, failure to recognize the price and worth of the blood that frees man from the chains of death will result in soft preaching and cheap grace.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartlett, Gene E. The Audacity of Preaching. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1962. Bolton, Samuel. The True Bounds of Christian Freedom. Great Britain: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1978. Chiles, Robert E. Scriptural Christianity: A Call to John Wesley's Disciples. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984. Cobb, Jr., John B. Grace and Responsibility: A Wesleyan Theology for Today. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995. Lindstrom, Harald. Wesley and Sanctification: A study in the Doctrine of Salvation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980. McBeth, J.P. Commentary on Romans. Dallas: Crescendo Book Publications, 1937. Meistad, Tore. Martin Luther and John Wesley on the Sermon on the Mount. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, 1999. Outler, Albert C. ed. John Wesley. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964. Spurgeon, Charles. Lectures to my Students. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1954. Tomkins, Stephen. John Wesley: A Biography. Oxford: Lion Publishing, 2003. VanGemeren, Willem A. The Law Is the Perfection of Righteousness in Jesus Christ: A Reformed Perspective. Edited by Stanley N. Gundry. Five Views on Law and Gospel. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996. Wesley, John. "Salvation by Faith." In Whitefield and Wesley on the New Birth, ed. Timothy L. Smith, 79-90. Grand Rapids: Francis Asbury Press, 1986.

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