In the last newsletter we started to look at the idea of what practical Deism is. This is basically the same thing as what A.W. Tozer calls “evangelical rationalists.” One way of thinking of this very serious problem is to say that it is when Christianity is conceived of in terms of what is rational or moral. It is when we think that if we know the letters of the words on the page of the Bible and live moral lives then those things are enough. It is to think about the Bible as if it influences the mind and then make moral choices based on the information that is given in Scripture. The Pharisees could be described as practical Deists and evangelical rationalists. Their systems did not allow for the supernatural to be expressed in their day. It seems as if this is repeating itself.
The modern version of practical Deism or evangelical rationalism is heard or seen in much of the preaching that goes on in our day. It is addressed to the intellect or to the moral choices of the human being, but it leaves out the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in the human soul. A text is used or even preached in a way that a person can understand all the words in their context. The text may be exegeted in such a way that the words are understood. It may be pointed out that Christ is the focus of the text. But there is little to no mention that whatever truth there is must be taught by the Spirit and the focus of Scripture is on the indwelling life of Christ. A true believer is the temple of the living God in reality and not just in doctrine. God lives in the soul of the believer and He will not be ignored, yet in our preaching the focus is all on the human soul and what it must do rather than on the life and work of the Spirit in applying the life and work of Christ in the soul.
In evangelism the same thing is going on. We go out and tell people some intellectual truths and then tell them that they must make a choice. We tell them that they are sinners and that they need to recognize that and make a choice. But we are not telling these people that the Spirit must convict them of sin in truth and reality if they are going to be truly convicted of sin. After all, that is what the Spirit was sent to do (John 16:8). We teach the Gospel as if it is nothing more than some facts that a person has to be intellectually convinced of. We teach faith as if it is nothing more than an intellectual decision or an act of the will to choose what is best for self. But what we have to see is that when we evangelize like that we are doing nothing more and expecting from others nothing more than what fallen human beings can do. Instead of that, we are to be messengers of the living God with a message of what the living God will do in the souls of human beings. If we approach dead sinners with a dead message then we should not be surprised to see deadness remain dead. Instead we are to approach dead sinners with a live message about the living God who actually works in sinners to convert them.
In the New Testament we do not see the apostles going around like practical Deists. What we see is men who had the resurrected Savior living in their hearts and they went out and preached a resurrected and living Savior who truly converted souls. In Acts the resurrection of Jesus Christ is mentioned at least 23 times in various ways. These men did not just preach a crucified Savior, they also preached a resurrected Lord. We don’t just have a Savior who died for sinners, but also a Savior who was resurrected from the dead to be the life of sinners. He is now the enthroned Lord Jesus Christ who sent His Spirit to convert souls and live in His people. “Beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us– one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection” (Acts 1:22). “Being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (4:2). “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all” (4:33). “And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”– because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection” (17:18).
When the resurrection of Christ and the work of the Spirit are either ignored or denigrated, of necessity we have just been given over to a form of humanism and have practiced practical Deism. Christianity is not just a logical system of facts that we have to learn and then dispense; it is about the resurrected Lord Jesus who is now and forevermore the Sovereign of the universe. We do not just have a few verses to memorize and tell others in a way to convince them to make a choice; we have a real Lord on the throne who they must submit to and love without reserve from their hearts. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and of God is not one that is simply filled with information; it is about the God who is sovereign over all human affairs and the salvation of human souls. This God is the One who alone can grant new hearts and truly convert the souls of human beings. This is a salvation that is not just up to a person to choose, but instead it is in the hand of God to do as He pleases by grace alone. The apostles went around with the life of Christ in their souls preaching with great power. Until we begin to preach with a living Christ in our souls who converts souls by His Spirit we will not preach with spiritual power at all.
Our churches are filled with people who are smart and have plenty of information. Our seminaries have people who have a lot more information. But all of the information in the world could be stuffed into one human brain and that would have no power to convert one soul. The only thing that can save souls is the work of the Spirit in applying the work of Christ. The Holy Spirit converts souls from dead sinners to living saints. The Holy Spirit converts sinners from those that hate God to those that love Him. The Holy Spirit converts sinners from lovers of self to deniers of self. The Holy Spirit converts those who are filled with unclean thoughts and lusts to those with pure hearts. The Holy Spirit takes souls that have the wrath of God abiding on them and makes them into souls where the love of God dwells in them. Salvation is not just a simple thing, but a truly saved soul is converted soul that is now a new creature in Christ Jesus. That new creature has a new mind, new affections, and a new life.
In Acts 8:35 we see an important point: “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.” Philip did not just preach the true doctrines about Jesus, He preached Jesus Himself. Jesus was the life of his soul and He preached Christ Himself and not just dead doctrine. We must hasten to add that doctrine is important and even vital, but we must preach Christ Himself as the content and object of our doctrine.
Acts 16:14 sets out another important truth: “A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” It was the Lord who opened her heart, but He did not just open her heart and leave it in its own power. He opened it with a purpose. He opened it to respond to the things spoken by Paul. This is how the Gospel is to be preached today. We must have the living Christ in our souls and we must look to Him to open the hearts of sinners to respond to the truth preached. If we water the Gospel down then there are not words of truth for sinners to respond to. We must preach in a way that looks to God to open hearts rather than water things down in order to get sinners to respond in their own power. We must look to God to open souls rather than sinners themselves.
We see the same thought in II Corinthians 4: “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (vv. 5-6). The Gospel is not just a written message; it is about Christ Jesus as Lord now. The God who created light out of darkness must shine Himself into the hearts of sinners in order to give the “Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” The Gospel is supernatural and it is in the hands of God to do with it as He pleases. The Gospel can only be preached when we tell people that they are in the hands of the living God and He alone can shine Himself in their hearts. They must be confronted with the truth of the living God if they are going to be converted by God. We cannot just live as if God existed at some point in the past, but we must believe in this God now and we must speak of Him as the living God who acts in the souls of human beings now.
The teaching of Scripture on conversion is seen in Paul’s preaching which was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (I Cor 2:4). Paul had met Christ and knew that His Savior lived. Paul was not satisfied to preach some things about Jesus, but instead He preached Jesus Himself because Christ had been resurrected from the dead and was on the throne now and forever. He preached in the “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” because He preached a living Gospel that had the Holy Spirit working these things in the hearts of sinners. We must begin to see that until we have the life of Christ in our souls and we are preaching a living Christ and demonstrating the Spirit in our preaching, we may have nothing to say but dead words that consist of dead letters as we speak to dead sinners. There is no good news in that and there is nothing that will make sinners alive. The good news is that God can change sinners rather than that they must change themselves. The good news is that God can change their hearts and make them alive rather than they have to work things up themselves. The good news is that God will make them new creations in conversion rather than this being the work of the sinner. Until we repent of our practical Deism we will not preach the enthroned Christ Himself and the Gospel. We may preach with dead letters and dead words, but it will not be with the life of Christ. To preach Christ is to preach with the living Christ in our souls by His Spirit and of the work of the Spirit in the souls of dead sinners to convert them and make them alive. There is hope in a living Savior who really converts sinners. There is no hope in dead sinners themselves.
God Loves... Himself 
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