Posted on 05/14/2018 1:24:16 PM PDT by jeannineinsd
North Point Community Church Senior Pastor Andy Stanley has stated that Christians need to "unhitch" the Old Testament from their faith.
In the final part of a recent sermon series, Stanley explained that while he believes that the Old Testament is "divinely inspired," it should not be "the go-to source regarding any behavior in the church."
To justify this, Stanley preached last month about Acts 15, which described how the early church decided that Gentile converts did not need to strictly observe Jewish law to become Christians.
"[First century] Church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish scriptures," said Stanley.
"Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well."
Stanley argued that it had to be done for the same reason the church in Acts 15 did so, which was so that "we must not make it difficult for those Gentiles who are turning to God." For Stanley, the difficulty lay with the Old Testament and his concern that many Christians are turning away from the faith because of certain passages in the Hebrew Bible.
Stanley argued that the early church showed that there was a need to move past the Old Testament for the sake of gentile believers and that the resurrection of Jesus was enough.
"Jesus' new covenant, His covenant with the nations, His covenant with you, His covenant with us, can stand on its own two nail-scarred resurrection feet. It does not need propping up by the Jewish scriptures," noted Stanley.
"The Bible did not create Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus created and launched Christianity. Your whole house of Old Testament cards can come tumbling down. The question is did Jesus rise from the dead? And the eyewitnesses said he did."
Stanley acknowledged that his comments may be considered "a little disturbing" to some, but then added that for many it is "liberating."
"It's liberating for men and women who are drawn to the simple message that God loves you so much He sent His Son to pave the way to a relationship with you," Stanley said. "It's liberating for people who need and understand grace, who need and understand forgiveness. And it's liberating for people who find it virtually impossible to embrace the dynamic, the worldview, and the values system depicted in the story of Ancient Israel."
While noting that he believed the church needed to unhitch itself from the Old Testament, Stanley still regarded the Jewish scriptures as having importance, saying they were "a means to an extraordinary end."
"The Jewish scriptures are the backstory for the main story," Stanley explained. "They're an important backstory. They're divinely inspired. They are God on the move through ancient, ancient times."
"It's the fabulous story of God the Founder playing by the rules of the kingdoms of this world, to establish a kingdom not of this world. To send a king who would be like no other king. A king who lay down His life for His subjects. A king who would introduce the entire world to God the Father."
Stanley's sermon was the third part of a series titled "Aftermath," in which the pastor was trying to appeal to individuals who left Christianity over what they were taught the Bible said about certain things.
"If you were raised on a version of Christianity that relied on the Bible as the foundation of faith, a version that was eventually dismantled by academia or the realities of life, maybe it's time for you to change your mind about Jesus," stated North Point Community Church.
"Maybe it's time for you to consider the version of Christianity that relies on the event of the resurrection of Jesus as its foundation. If you gave up your faith because of something about or in the Bible, maybe you gave up unnecessarily."
Days before giving the third Aftermath sermon, Stanley preached at the Orange Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, using Acts 15, as well as John 17, to argue that church unity was more important than "theological correctness."
"[Jesus] prayed for our oneness, that we'd be on the same page," said Stanley at the conference last month. "This is mission critical. If they are not one, we will not win ... unity is mission critical and disunity disrupts the mission."
"Will we prioritize our oneness over our politics? Will we continue to allow the kingdom of the world to divide the Kingdom of God that is in this world because of politics?"
The New Testament unhitched it really good for Christians. The New Testament Covenant fulfilled the Old Testament with the coming of Jesus.
There is a common misconception that one must be good to be born again when it often is just the opposite. There are no pre-conditions. One need only accept Jesus to become a born again Christian. Christians may have better accountability than other people but that is the only real difference.
Church is not a rest home for saints, church is a hospital for sinners.
““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Paul didn’t “unhitch” anything, he said we cannot save ourselves by keeping the law perfectly so we need grace.
It doesn’t mean the Old Testament laws are invalid.
Jesus quoted extensively from the Old Testament.
The Gospel writers used the Old Testament as a foundation for their writings.
Paul quoted the Old Testament.
Hebrews would not exist as text without the Old Testament.
I think I will “unhitch” from Andy Stanley.
Its the heresy of Marcion who wanted to purge Judaism from Christianity by having only the New Testament constitute the complete Bible. The Church repudiated.
In the 1930s, Nazi Christians sought to do the same thing.
The leadership of the church he pastors along with the entire congregation should immediately implement the church discipline procedures outlined in Matthew chapter 18.
If "pastor" Andy Stanley doesn't immediately recant and repent of all of his above heresies he should be fired and excommunicated from the church ASAP!
Andy Stanley is another false teacher and a wolf in sheep's clothing.
My heart goes out to his father, Pastor Charles Stanley. He must be grieved in his heart to see what a heretic his son is, how far he has fallen away from biblical Christianity and how many hundreds of thousands he is intentionally leading astray, many to a Christless eternity in hell.
See post 45; Andy Stanley is a HERITIC who should be fired from his pastoral position.
Well, there goes the letter to the Hebrews (for starters)!
Blm
As a preacher I once heard said, “A text without context is just a pretext.”
The context — the OT — is an important part of the story. Christianity did not start with the resurrection, or the day of Pentecost, or the nativity: God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4.
The New Testament is built upon the Old Testament..
The Old Testament is about self actualization and taking control of self, while the New Testament is about surrender to God.
One can not surrender their individual authority to God if they have not first claimed their individual authority from others trying to control them.
Freedom is necessary in order to grow spiritually.
Yes but he still has a problem because Saint Paul said that the kingdom of heaven is not for homosexuals. ...Unless of course you want to edit out the letters of Saint Paul.
He must have missed that whole Romans Chapter 1 thing.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Antinomianism - throw out the moral law and live any way you like.
Of course, there are the pesky parts of the New Testament that need to be cut out as well so his followers can fully enjoy a life of hedonism.
Megachurch Ping needed.
In this, he was quoting St. Augustine.
But why is homosexuality being normalized? What is the grand plan other than lowering birth rates? Does a homosexual culture make people more docile?
Heresy. There is still a ton that the Hebrew scripture teaches. Paul was talking about the OT in 2 Tim 3:16-17.
Was that preacher Sonny Pyles of Texas?
Why do you say no one could follow it perfectly? Dt. 30.11 says: For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.