08 April 2010 | 5 comments

Too much cross of Christ? Gordon Cheng

dave miers08/04/2010 03:38 AM

good post.

Bernie Wojcik13/04/2010 10:49 PM

I happened to see this via Tim Challies. A few comments (with the disclaimer that I haven’t read the book you are commenting about) -

I agree that preaching the gospel without preaching the law ends up producing a meaningless message - evangelicals have been doing this for a while, and with disastrous results. I think this is how you are understanding and using Stott.

However I find your interpretation of Stott interesting light of a couple of facts.

Stott has denied your “place where the fire burns without being extinguished” (see http://www.the-highway.com/annihilationism_Packer.html )

Stott’s book on preaching, “Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today” has been used as a defense by evangelical speakers for ‘practical’ sermons in place of preaching law and gospel.

Thoughts?

Bill Weber20/04/2010 07:30 AM

A new and more powerful proclamation of law is perhaps the most pressing need of the hour; men would have little difficulty with the gospel if they had only learned the lesson of the law.—J. Gresham Machen

dave bish20/04/2010 10:56 AM

Our sinfulness is important, but surely more so is seeing why this God is worth knowing -why do I want the access that the cross makes possible, why the relationship, why the adoption etc. If we don’t portray the glories of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit then why would anyone want to know… and you can do that from the law, you can do that as you preach the cross, you can do that from any of Scripture.

Gordon Cheng20/04/2010 02:38 PM

Bernie, I am sorry that Stott has gone down the annihilationist route and I think it’s a grave mistake. I believe it is a position he has come to late in life; I don’t at any rate see evidence of this mistake in his Cross of Christ.

As for the preaching of practical sermons as a <i>substitute</i> for preaching law and gospel, that is a mistake that I believe Stott neither falls into nor endorses.

Bill, great stuff. Gresham Machen da man.

Dave Bish I don’t for a moment deny that portraying the glory of God is more important than depicting our sinfulness. But we have to start somewhere, and it seems to me that Stott’s point is about starting where we are—mired in sin, needing divine assistance and radically unaware that we are in any trouble whatsoever.

Of course, a right portrayal of the glory of God may reveal exactly our predicament; Isaiah 6:1-5 springs to mind as a perfect exmple.

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Paul is one of the Staff Editors at Matthias Media. He is married to Cathy and has three fantastic kids. He loves student ministry, reading, writing music and playing the saxophone, and is looking forward to meeting Jesus face to face.

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