Reformed. Christianity. Evangelism. Modern Culture.
The high point of my week was this message. Needless to say I will jump right into it (see video below):
False conversions are a serious problem that could lead not only to the “suicide of the church” but also to the defaming of God’s name, an evangelical pastor warned.
Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., told some 8,000 ministers Tuesday at the Together for the Gospel conference that he fears there are thousands, if not millions, of people in churches who are not truly converted.
“My fellow pastors, could it be that many of our hearers each week aren’t saved, even many of our members?”
The problem isn’t just the “occasional hypocrite lost in unrepentant sin,” but “systems that seem to produce false converts – not just one man, but whole congregations,” he lamented.
While some may brush off the problem as inevitable and one that pastors should not worry too much over, Dever sought to underscore how false conversions could dim the light of the church.
More importantly, “false conversions obscure God’s plan” – which he described as God doing all things for the glory of His name.
The Southern Baptist preacher described false converts as those indistinguishable from the world and who don’t hold to certain Scriptural truths.
A big source of the problem, he named, is false teachers, and that includes “health and wealth” preachers.
“We need to know that we can teach the wrong things with disastrous results,” he said, noting that the New Testament has “too many” warnings about false teachers.
Dever listed five truths that are frequently distorted and attacked: God’s judgment is coming, we should be judged by God, our only hope is in Christ, we don’t see the fullness of our salvation in this life, and we can deceive ourselves and others about our relationship with God.
By not teaching these truths clearly, churches become filled with those who do not “evidence the fruit of the Spirit” or who aren’t truly born-again.
“We have to be clear … that because God is good and we are not, we deserve God’s judgment,” he emphasized. “How many churches seem to downplay, if not deny, natural human depravity and lostness?”
Audio download: Here!
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Reblogged this on Captivated by Christ and commented:
Well worth the read.
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