Andy Stanley preaches to an estimated 33,000 people every Sunday at North Point Ministries' five metro-Atlanta campuses. | Photo courtesy of North Point Ministries
Posted on 01/10/2019 8:11:47 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Andy Stanley preaches to an estimated 33,000 people every Sunday at North Point Ministries' five metro-Atlanta campuses. | Photo courtesy of North Point Ministries
Christians should quit erecting Ten Commandments displays and should instead consider making monuments dedicated to the Sermon on the Mount, popular pastor Andy Stanley said.
In a column published by Relevant Magazine, the North Point Community Church pastor argued that the Ten Commandments are “the old covenant” and no longer apply to believers.
"[I]f we’re going to create a monument to stand as a testament to our faith, shouldn’t it at least be a monument of something that actually applies to us?" he posed.
“Participants in the new covenant (that’s Christians) are not required to obey any of the commandments found in the first part of their Bibles,” wrote Stanley. “Participants in the new covenant are expected to obey the single command Jesus issued as part of his new covenant: as I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
This new commandment is "a replacement for everything in the existing list. Including the big ten," he maintained. "Just as his new covenant replaced the old covenant, Jesus’ new commandment replaced all the old commandments."
Stanley went on to say that he believed so much of the evils committed by churches over history were connected to them trying to mix aspects of the old covenant with Christianity and that although “Jesus was foreshadowed in the old covenant, he did not come to extend it.”
“Dear Christian reader: Why? Why? Why would we even be tempted to reach back beyond the cross to borrow from a covenant that was temporary and inferior to the covenant established for us at Calvary?” Stanley continued.
“The author of Hebrews says it best. Jesus was the ‘guarantor of a better covenant’ (Hebrews 7:22). Later he writes, ‘the new covenant is established on better promises.’ Besides, you weren’t included in the old covenant to begin with! So why are we fighting to build monuments to it?”
Stanley's comments echo the arguments he made in his recent book, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World, which was released last September.
In the book, Stanley spoke about "old covenant leftovers," stating that he believed Christians had "an uncomfortable history and habit of selectively rebranding aspects of God's covenant with Israel and smuggling them into the ekklesia of Jesus."
Stanley wrote that while the covenant God made with ancient Israel was "divinely ordained," it was also "temporary," adding, "Careless mixing and matching of old and new covenant values and imperatives make the current version of our faith unnecessarily resistible."
Last year, Stanley garnered controversy when he argued in an April sermon that Christians should “unhitch” themselves from the Old Testament.
To justify this, Stanley cited Acts 15, which described how early church leaders 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," preached Stanley. "Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well.”
He argued that what launched Christianity was the resurrection of Jesus, not the Jewish scriptures.
Many, including Messianic Jewish author and radio personality Michael Brown, have denounced Stanley's “unhitch” comments.
"A pastor as influential as Andy Stanley needs to distance himself from such heresies, making a public, clear, and unequivocal correction that undoes the confusion he has caused. (He knows that I write this [as] a friend, out to help, not to hurt.)," wrote Brown in a column last year.
"He can preach against legalism and against Judaizing, exalting the grace of God and celebrating the newness of the New Covenant, without undermining the very foundations on which that New Covenant is established."
Ray Ortlund, senior pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and the president of Renewal Ministries, also denounced Stanley’s views in a speech at the Gospel Coalition's West Coast Conference last October.
Preaching from 2 Timothy 1:3-8, Ortlund noted that when the Apostle Paul was writing to Timothy, he stressed his religious heritage through Judaism.
"Paul looks back into his own deepest roots. He goes back to David, to Moses, to Abraham. He reveres the faith that came down to him even filtered through Jewish tradition," said Ortlund.
"Unlike some preachers today, Paul did not 'unhitch' the Christian faith from the Old Testament … And for him personally, Christian conversion did not take his Jewishness away. It made Jesus the Lord over his Jewishness and over his conscience, both of which, he continues to honor."
For his part, Stanley explained that critics needed to understand the context, especially since his remarks were more for an audience that is turned off by biblical arguments.
"I told my kids growing up, if anyone ever asks you 'do you believe Adam and Eve are real people?' here is how you are to answer: do not say 'yes because the Bible says Adam and Eve were real people,'" commented Stanley in an interview with Michael Brown last July.
"You say this: 'I believe Adam and Eve were historical characters because Jesus did. And when somebody predicts their own death and resurrection and pulls it off, I go with whatever they say.'"
It isn't the Law is bad or for a set time. It is meant to draw us to God and our fellow man. The sad fact of the matter is that we don't want to obey it. We don't want to love and honor God the way He should be honored, nor do we want to love our fellow man as ourselves. Paul states this in Romans 2:17-23 that people who boast that they follow the Law simply don't.
This is the problem with man-our sinful nature. And God knows it. The reason we are not under the law but under grace (thanks be to God) is because our hearts are rebellious to those things the Law is trying to help us accomplish (love God and love our neighbor). The Law brings transgression (Rom 4:15) because we refuse to follow it. It isn't that the Law is bad. It simply reveals our rebellious nature. And we don't like that. If it was not for the Law, I would not know sin (Rom 7:7). The Law is good, righteous, and holy (Rom 7:12). One cannot argue with that assessment. Paul certainly didn't view the Law as being in the past.
The Law does not save. It exposes our sin. But the Law is good and isn't going to go away. It is a blessing from God to provide a guide for us for righteous living. That's not to say that every Old Testament law does this. Some have passed into history. But certainly not the Ten Commandments. It is totally appropriate to display these at Christmas time because it reminds us of righteous living and how shows us how far short we are to God's standards. It reminds us to love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves.
I've heard from many large church pastors ignorant, incorrect explanations of Biblical passages - Rick Warren comes to mind.
It seems to me that these people are so caught up in the administrative demands of pastoring they shortcut on basic Biblical understandings.
And in Christian Colleges: The Racist Speech a Christian College Doesn’t Want the Public to Hear
“So, in your study of the Old Testament scriptures, you understand that the Apostle Paul has another Jesus and another gospel than what Christianity teaches?
The Old Testament proves it. That’s not denigrating ‘that part of the bible’.
It’s testing and proving all things with the scriptures Paul studied.. The Old Testament.
And it can be argued that Judiasm today and Islam actually follow what Christianity teaches as opposed to what Paul studied and taught..”
Your first paragraph and last paragraph were the problems for me...especially the part about it might be argued that “Judaism and Islam following what Christianitiy teaches.... as opposed to what Paul studied and taught?
Glad you added more context.
Mat 19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Mat 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Why did you stop at verse 19??? Jesus wasn't done speaking yet...You not only have to follow the 10 Commandments, you have to sell everything you have, give the money away and become poor...
Yikes!!! The entire world is doomed...
Naw...It was created for the Jews who painted their doors with blood...
Jesus was Lord of the Jews...The Jewish Messiah...
Mat_10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Rom 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
The Gentile church was a mystery...Jesus was the Jewish Messiah for his Jewish people...The Laws were written for the Jews...
Rom 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Rom 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
Eph 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Mt. 19:21 is an interesting verse. I take it be like “if your right eye offends thee, pluck it out.” (Mt. 5:29)
The rich young man was being obnoxious. As an educated Jew he certainly knew about the commandments, and even that the entire purpose of life is to enjoy each day, one day at a day, while taking care not to violate the commandments (Eccl., see also Mt. 6:34). As Americans, we would be more positive. The purpose of life, we would say, is the pursuit of happiness (of course, while respecting others). But, this understanding of the purpose of life wasn’t sufficient for the rich young man. So Jesus said if being a Mensch isn’t good enough for you, then renounce the world and live like a monk. It’s a Jewish idiom, full of sarcasm and exaggeration. I would say the same thing to those who disparage capitalism. You don’t like cars and air conditioning. Then go live naked in a jungle, but don’t bother me with your virtue-signalling and your sanctimony.
Did a CONTRACT become involved at some point?
I think that if that is what the minister believes, he failed as a communicator.
I actually think that that’s what a lot of people believe.
There’s no hard and fast absolute statements made.
An old post, but I had to comment. I went to this “church” yesterday to see my niece baptized. They called it a “Baptism Bash!” for kids. It was so horrific that we walked out early, feeling that we needed a shower and perhaps an exorcism. It was one of the most disrespecful and disturbing displays I’ve seen in my 70 years - and I was 3 days old when I went to my first church service.
When a kid came out of the water, people shot off confetti “poppers” and blew air horns. The music — I can’t even describe how awful it was. The decibel level HAS to exceed OSHA limits, and strobe lights were flashing to the point where it was nauseating (literally).
Not one man was involved in the service except for one short prayer - no male role models. A woman did the baptizing, and called the boys, “Little Dude” .
Can’t post more. Am headed for (real) church. I hope to wipe yesterday’s abomination from my mind and soul!
Jesus said His Kingdom is not of this world - he RULES in the spiritual Jerusalem i.e. Christianity
God never wanted child sacrifice and He does not change. When you really study the OT you meet the same loving God of the NT. When Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac he responded in amazing faith. When Abraham responded in faith God provided a ram to sacrifice instead of Isaac. A replacement sacrifice in Isaacs place. Who do you think the ram prefigured? The entire OT points to Christ and prepares the Jews for His arrival, God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
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.