December 18, 2011
Ken Lokken vs. the Gospel, pt. 1
A few months ago, I had an e-mail exchange with a group of people, led by Anthony Buzzard and Ken Lokken. Ken initiated the exchange. What follows is my first post to that e-mail group.
==========
Ken –
What did you mean when you wrote this:
I’m especially curious about that last sentence. There seems to be a word missing, and from the context it seems to be the word ‘moment’. If so, then the full sentence reads “At that precise [moment,] Jesus began his existence.” If you intended to add a different word please say so.
If Jesus began his existence at the moment he was conceived, then he was not God in the flesh. If he was not God in the flesh, then his sacrifice of himself on the cross was not of infinite value, and therefore insufficient to atone for the infinitely heinous sins of his people. This is blasphemy.
God’s “program” for his people is not merely to give them something to do, or even something to look forward to. His “program” is to cleanse them from their sins:
The gospel is God’s promise to save His people, giving them all the blessings of salvation from regeneration to final glory, conditioned exclusively on the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, totally apart from the sinner’s works and efforts. It reveals the righteousness of God – how God is just to justify the ungodly based on the work of Jesus Christ alone. The gospel is not merely the fact that Jesus lived, died, and rose again, considered apart from the purpose of these truths, which were accomplished to establish a righteousness for all whom Jesus represented.[Gen 15:5-6; Psa 103:2-12; 130:3-4; Isa 1:18; 45:21-25; Jer 33:14-16; Mat 1:21; Joh 3:16; Act 13:32-39; Rom 1:16-17; 3:21-26; 4:5-8,13-25; 10:4,15; 1Co 15:1-8; 2Co 1:20; 5:21; Eph 1:3-2:22; 3:6; Col 1:5; 2Ti 1:1,9-10; Heb 10:4-17] (Christian Confession of Faith V.B.1, http://www.outsidethecamp.org/ccfv.htm )
But your version of God’s “program” is good news to NO ONE, because there is no divine savior, and therefore no atoning blood, no imputed righteousness, and no “blessings of salvation from regeneration to final glory“.
You go on to confirm that you don’t believe in the divine nature of Jesus Christ, when you write:
“Jesus who alone has immortal life, who alone is a glorified man in heaven, is now waiting, …”
Without a savior who is God Incarnate, there is simply no good news:
Jesus of Nazareth is really and truly God as well as really and truly human. He is the only descendant of Adam with two natures, human and divine. These two natures are continually without confusion, without change, without division, and without separation. Scripture rejects the lie that Jesus Christ was merely human and not fully divine. It likewise rejects the lie that Jesus Christ was a supernatural being but not fully human. [Deu 18:15; Psa 2:7; 110:1; Isa 9:6; Luk 2:7; Joh 1:1,14,18; 3:16,18; 5:18; 8:58; 10:30-33; Act 20:28; Rom 1:3; 1Co 15:47; Gal 4:4; Phi 2:6-8; Col 1:15; 1Ti 3:16; Tit 2:13; Heb 1:1-5; 5:5; 1Jo 4:9,15; Rev 1:17-18](Christian Confession of Faith IV.A.2, http://www.outsidethecamp.org/ccfiv.htm )
Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and men, for He alone has partaken of both the divine and human natures and is alone able to lay His hand upon both God and Man. Scripture rejects the lie that Mary or any “saints” mediate between God and men. [Job 9:32-33; Isa 53:12; Zec 6:13; Luk 23:34; Joh 14:6; Act 4:12; Rom 5:1-2; Eph 2:14-18; 1Ti 2:5; Heb 4:15; 9:15; 10:19-20; 12:24] (Christian Confession of Faith IV.D.1, http://www.outsidethecamp.org/ccfiv.htm )
If you (or anyone else on this cc list) would like to respond, I would welcome the exchange. But I ask that you make some effort to deal with the Scripture references I have put forth here (a job which you utterly failed to do in your original post — a sad commentary on a post that was supposed to be about “the message of God’s kingdom”).
May 17, 2010
The Definition of the Gospel, pt. 1
Before we can expose the enemies of the Gospel, we need to have a definition of the Gospel. This definition will serve as a standard for judging if, and when, a doctrine (and anyone who defends it) is in opposition to the Gospel (Isa 28:17).
I subscribe to the Christian Confession of Faith, and it defines the Gospel this way:
The gospel is God’s promise to save His people, giving them all the blessings of salvation from regeneration to final glory, conditioned exclusively on the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, totally apart from the sinner’s works and efforts. It reveals the righteousness of God – how God is just to justify the ungodly based on the work of Jesus Christ alone. The gospel is not merely the fact that Jesus lived, died, and rose again, considered apart from the purpose of these truths, which were accomplished to establish a righteousness for all whom Jesus represented. [Gen 15:5-6; Psa 103:2-12; 130:3-4; Isa 1:18; 45:21-25; Jer 33:14-16; Mat 1:21; Joh 3:16; Act 13:32-39; Rom 1:16-17; 3:21-26; 4:5-8,13-25; 10:4,15; 1Co 15:1-8; 2Co 1:20; 5:21; Eph 1:3-2:22; 3:6; Col 1:5; 2Ti 1:1,9-10; Heb 10:4-17]
Obviously, there are a lot of implications to this definition of the Gospel, and the rest of the Confession goes over them in great detail. If this is a definition of the Gospel that you have never seen before, I strongly encourage you to take some time to study the Scripture references, and read the rest of the Confession. For more information on specific parts of this definition, please see the article Essential Gospel Doctrine, which is a compilation of sermons preached be Marc D. Carpenter.
