Deviation From The Gospel
Frank
Christ showed the Scriptural Gospel (1519)
to enable the Protestant Reformation:
The moment Christ gives us faith
to trust him to be our Righteous Substitute
who imputes his own righteousness to us,
he then gives us eternal life.
That is salvation by faith alone in Christ alone.
(Romans 1:16-17, Romans 3:21-26,
Romans 4-5, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21,
Preface to Luther's Latin Works)
Christ imputes his righteousness to us forever.
That is how we are justified, and there is no
other justification, no added, second, or final,
by any imparted, inherent, actual, or self
righteousness, or by any righteous works,
added in for so-called "double justification".
(Romans 1:16-17; 3-5; 8:28-30; 9-11;
2 Corinthians 5:19-21, Galatians 2:16-21; 3-5;
Ephesians 2; Philippians 3, Hebrews 10:38-39)
Christ showed that Gospel to enable
the Protestant Reformation because over
the centuries the world had developed
its own "gospel" to get "salvation":
That false "gospel" started with
so-called "double justification" that
denies that justification by faith in Christ
to impute his righteousness is sufficient.
That started with Patristic theologians
(Polycarp, Epistle to Philippians, ch 1-2;
Origen, Commentary on the Epistle
to the Romans, book 4, sec 16).
The Roman Catholic Church built up
its "gospel" thru centuries until many
things were required for salvation.
Roman Catholic essentials include:
faith, repentance, baptism, penance,
the sacrament, and works of charity
(Catholic Encyclopedia online:
Salvation; also Eucharist as Sacrament).
For keeping trust for salvation on Christ alone,
Lutheran theology taught that repentance
was distinct from justification (Solid Declar.
3:24,25,27), that baptism and the sacrament
were as though essential means of receiving
justifying faith (Solid Declar. 3:16), that basis
for forgiveness was the righteousness of Christ
(so in penance, not works of penance)
(Solid Declar. 3:4), and that works of love
were the result rather than the cause
of salvation (Solid Declar. 3:23,27).
Nevertheless, because Lutheran theology had
not kept baptism, sacrament, and repentance
totally distinct from justification by faith alone,
but rather had glorified baptism and sacrament
as though means of grace (Solid Declar. 3:16),
and repentance as though a precondition
for faith for justification (Solid Declar. 3:23,26),
Lutherans increasingly came to trust in those
things for salvation rather than in Christ alone.
Yet the Gospel though so clouded up,
still taught that salvation was by faith alone
in Christ alone to be our imputed righteousness
(Solid Declar. 3:4).
The Gospel though clouded up continued
among Lutherans and Reformed, and still
does among some of their denominations.
But in the Church of England and its many
offshoots, a false "gospel" developed:
The Church had both Anglo-Evangelicals
and Anglo-Catholics, and justification by
faith alone was stated for Evangelicals,
but double-justification, as though a final
justification by works, was interpreted
by Catholics.
(Hooker, Ecclesiastical Polity, Book V, Appendix;
A. H. Rees, The Doctrine Of Justification
In The Anglican Reformers, sec VII and VIII)
Coming out of the Church of England (1700s),
but retaining double-justification doctrine,
the Methodists claimed initial justification by
faith alone, but final by "Christian Perfection"
(Wesley, Sermon, The Lord Our Righteousness, II:20).
Coming out of the Methodists (1800s),
and retaining double-justification doctrine,
the Holiness Movement claimed justification
by faith alone and final by "entire sanctification".
One branch of the Holiness Movement,
called the Keswick Movement,
changed doctrine from
being "entire sanctification"
to "baptism with the Spirit".
Coming out of the Holiness movement (1900s),
the Pentecostal movement kept the change from
"entire sanctification" to "baptism with the Spirit"
but claimed "speaking in tongues" as the evidence.
>From the Pentecostal Movement (1960 on) came
the Charismatic Movement and Neo-Charismatics
that claimed any spiritual gifts as the evidence
for "baptism with the Spirit".
This is how deviation from the Gospel
by double "justification" has taken trust
off Christ both after Paul and after Luther:
Because a "final justification" was added onto
the initial real justification, people increasingly
divided trust for salvation between Christ and self
and so were not justified (saved) at all.
The false "final justification" was increasingly
emphasized in doctrine until the initial real justification
eventually was no longer understood and was suppressed.
That occurred after Paul and again after Luther.
In the Church of England in the Reformation,
the doctrine of real justification was emphasized,
and false "justification" present but suppressed;
In Methodism, emphasis changed from real to false.
In the Holiness Movement, that emphasis increased,
as also in the Pentecostal Movement,
such that in the Charismatic Movement,
many Roman Catholics became Charismatics,
since the Catholic Church before had its own charismata,
and since the doctrine of real justification was suppressed.
Thus within five centuries,
"double justification",
that takes trust from Christ,
so that no one is justified (saved),
went from emphasis on real justification
and suppression of false "justification",
over to emphasis on false "justification"
and suppression of real justification.
--
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