Men who thought the best of Dr. Norman Nagel reported how he used to interview new professorial candidates and ask them this question: “If you were to be accused of any heresy, which one would you choose?”
Now, think about that for a moment. Which one would you choose if you were asked such a thing?
The answer he was looking for was ‘antinomianism.’ Why? Because if someone gave that answer, they probably ‘got’ the Gospel.
Now that Dr. Rosenbladt’s presentation “The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church” is now available for free, we’re beginning to get the expected concerns regarding antinomianism. Dr. Rosenbladt is simply being ‘too free’ with the grace, isn’t he?
But think about this for a moment: In our daily lives—at the office, with our spouses, with our children and friends and extended family, with acquaintances or business contacts, even people we meet as we do daily mundane things like running errands, and sadly, even in church—how often do we receive, or expect to receive, any level of grace whatsoever?
In this world, we are simply immersed in law—of all kinds, God’s law as well as civic. And we’re used to it. A little too used to it. We’re used to being fenced in. But on those (tragically rare) occasions when someone finally preaches the Gospel in all its sweetness—”200-proof” as Dr. Rosenbladt calls it—those fences are taken away. The law was completely fulfilled in Christ.
And pouring with a liberal wrist like that typically causes one of two reactions. One kind of person—in our experience, modern-day Pharisees—quickly reacts to this kind of talk with comments like, “Well, you can’t tell people that they’re that free, because they’ll run afoul of it as St. Paul puts in the mouths of his accusers in Romans 6, sinning more in order that grace may abound more! They have to be reined in somehow! You have to bring those fences in a bit to corral the freedom so that their sin doesn’t run amok, even more than before.”
The other kind of person comes from a completely different point of view, that of the “bruised reed” and “smoldering wick”. These are the people with whom we engage regularly. And I will tell you right now that the modern-day Pharisees of whom I just spoke almost never comprehend these bruised reeds and smoldering wicks. The bruised reeds and smoldering wicks have been deeply hurt, spiritually and emotionally, and they’re running very low on hope, on the edge of rejecting Jesus entirely because they just can’t measure up to the requirements set before them. There are more people out there like this than people can imagine. They’re suffering greatly under errant and false teachings. And it is primarily for these people that Dr. Rosenbladt wrote and presented “The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church.”
Here’s an interesting question: To those who are worried that teachers like Dr. Rosenbladt may be offering the grace of the Gospel too freely I would ask when was the last time you got up out of your chair and actually spoke to the average guy or gal on the street? When was the last time you had a discussion with someone who was struggling with their lack of “good works” and self-focused (and false) teachings they’ve been receiving and which are driving them to despair? What would your counsel to them be, exactly?
I’ll tell you what I usually hear from these Pharisees. Their response often starts well—that Jesus Christ died for their sins on the cross and was raised from the dead in order that they, too, may have eternal life with Him. But then there’s a follow-through. They can’t leave it there. Their next step is making sure that the hearer knows that from his or her faith that he or she must/should/will produce good works.
The problem lies here not in the statement itself, but in how it is being taught to be applied by the listener. For the correct answer to this, I would simply ask, “Who gets the credit for one’s faith in Christ, according to Scripture?” (“…and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Cor 12:3) The One who bears the burden of bringing a person to faith is the same One who bears the burden of following through with the good works borne of that faith.
And to those who will say that I am arguing that antinomianism doesn’t exist, or that Christians aren’t bound by God’s law and can willfully sin even more in their faith to receive more grace, or that we don’t need to hear the law preached to us, I say now that the law is good and must be taught and preached, and you do not understand to whom or about what I’m writing. Refer back to my comment about getting out there and talking to people on the street. As Dr. Rosenbladt says, the people who particularly need to hear this message “…need more law like they need a hole in the head.” Heaping more law on top of the mountain of law they’ve already received may very well break the camel’s back and drive him or her out of the faith entirely.
The broken yet faithful believers in Christ find themselves in the same position as St. Paul himself: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Rom 7:19 – ESV) St. Paul understood that this struggle was the very nature of what it is to be a Christian.
But the bruised reeds and smoldering wicks are not being taught that the Gospel is exactly what should be their comfort in their affliction. They are instead told to “work harder”, “pray harder”, “have more faith” or any other number of hideous teachings, driven by the terrible fear that their faith and eternal salvation is “on the line.” They aren’t hearing that, even in their Christian faith, Christ died for them and their sins. And not just the sins which they committed before they were Christians, but all of them, even the ones which occur in their faith—even the ones they committed on purpose, knowing they were sinning the whole time!
This Gospel of which I speak is what is too often missing in most churches today. But the Gospel is the good news.
Are you torn asunder by the fact that you continue to sin while still believing in Jesus Christ? Did you know that you are lumped in with the saints in that struggle? That struggle between your fallen flesh and your faith in Jesus is the nature of being a Christian! But who is saying that these days? Very few.
So Dr. Rosenbladt puts this presentation out there to those who are not hearing the good news that Christ died on the cross even for sinful Christians like them. Controversial? You bet. But it is the truth. If you aren’t hearing this message anywhere else, please make sure you download Dr. Rosenbladt’s presentation for free. Listen to it or read it over and over. Let it sink in slowly. Like sitting in a nice jacuzzi, let it seep into your pores. Enjoy the comfort of the Gospel in all its sweetness. You’ve been fed nothing but law, law, law for so long and your despair and fear are great. You need to marinate in the Gospel for a long time now. Enjoy it like the finest wine. Breathe it in like the best incense. Let it permeate your muscles, down to your bones.
To you bruised reeds and smoldering wicks (and all those Dr. Rosenbladt calls “those broken by the church”) I say this is most certainly true: Christ died for you. And the Spirit will continue the good work He started in blessing you with faith in Jesus. Good works will be and are borne of your faith—whether you are conscious of them at the time or not. (And I suspect that most often, we are not aware of our good works when they happen—“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ Matt 25:37-39) Christ died for sinners. If you are a sinner, you qualify—regardless of whether you’re already a Christian believer or not. Even while you sin in your faith, Christ died for you, and through faith His perfect works are imputed to you as 100% gift.
But don’t take it from me. Dr. Rosenbladt is the maestro to whom I always defer. Let him speak these words of comfort and assurance to you himself. Download “The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church” for free right now.
By Ted R
Welcome to another installment of the ‘Weekly Word’, our effort to highlight Gospel-centered preaching from Lutheran pulpits.
