If I am correct that the theology and methodology taught and practiced in the American aspect of the visible church is horrendously man-centered, then the wrath of God is upon us now. We are being handed over to judgment and God is hardening out hearts toward Him. We can see this from Romans 1:18-32. This passage is not just for pagans who have never heard of God, but for all who suppress the truth about Him in unrighteousness. God hardens hearts and turns people over to their own selfish and self-centered hearts and lives. That describes the American aspect of the visible church very well. 2 Timothy 3 describes this very well too: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these” (vv. 1-5). These verses also describe the visible church in America very well. A whitewash of the five-points of Calvinism will not cover this rotten and godless wall of religious profession. Notice that in verse 5 these people are said “to hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.” People are given over to being lovers of self, lovers of money, and are boastful and arrogant. That sure describes a lot of people within the visible church in the United States today.
The two main problems continue to come up no matter where we look. People are man-centered rather than God-centered and therefore they have a low view of the depravity of man. It matters little what theology a person holds if s/he has not felt the weight of sin on the heart and has been broken by it. This is why I keep saying that the disagreement over the five-points of Calvinism may be hiding the real issues. Until a person has been broken in the depths of the heart in reality an understanding of the truth of the doctrine of depravity has not been reached. Until a person has been broken from all of his or her strength in self and collapses in helplessness before God, crying out for mercy, that person does not understand the doctrine of depravity from a God-centered perspective.
Romans 8:6-8 is a classic statement on the depravity of humanity and the total inability of mankind: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” This text cannot be twisted and turned as a wax nose, but it must be faced up to. The unbeliever is not a person that can please God in any way and has no ability to do so. The unbeliever has a mind set on the flesh and that is death. That mind that is set on death is not just uncaring about God, but it is actually hostile toward Him and cannot (has no ability to) please God in any way. Aligned with that is Ephesians 2:1-3 which tells us that before men are converted they are dead in their sins and trespasses. What ability does a dead person have to raise him or herself from the dead?
If we take those two passages and look at them from a man-centered way, though some might think it is God-centered, we find a way out of the obvious meaning. We will say that the person can make a choice and God will give grace for the person to get out of the bind that s/he is in. A modern Reformed person will say that the person needs to hear the Gospel over and over again and God will give the person faith. Both sound plausible enough and even somewhat focused on God. However, the texts do not say those things. Both texts declare God’s view of mankind. Both texts tell us that human beings are dead in sin. Both texts show the utter inability and helplessness of human beings in sin. Why won’t modern evangelists tell people they are evangelizing these things? A dead person cannot please God in any way so why do we think a dead person can believe which does please God? A dead person is dead to spiritual things and is totally focused on the flesh and is hostile to God. If we water these things down enough to get a dead person to pray a prayer, we have not told that person the truth about him or herself and we have not told them the truth of the character of God. Their prayer and moral reformation would have come from the flesh and they are now convinced they are on their way to heaven while the wrath of God abides on them and they are still hostile toward Him. We have become those who cry “peace, when there is no peace.” A whitewash of the five-points of Calvinism over a rotten wall is not enough to undeceive all those who are perishing. They need to see who the true God is and who they really are. They need to be delivered from the true nature of their depravity into the true kingdom of the living God. Instead of trying to please men we must be those who please God. After all, that is what is truly good for men. It is not true love to please men without seeking to please God first and foremost.
God Loves... Himself 
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