The Moralistic Gospel

"Fifty years ago, many evangelicals were caricatured with the following statement: 'You don't drink or smoke or chew or go with girls who do.'  Worldliness was defined as a handful of habits: movies, card games, etc.  Messages against these practices thundered from the pulpit.

In a moralistic world, repentance is sin-management.  Salvation is about getting control of the sins on you church's sin list, so that you can then achieve respectability.  We still do the same thing today, even if our list of sins has changed." 

Trevin Wax, The Counterfeit Gospels, 122.

In this paragraph, Wax makes a very good observation concerning one of the enduring characteristics of evangelicalism in the West.  I am also sure it is a characteristic of bible-believing spirituality around the world!  Why?  The heart of religion is always to make the spiritual life about behavior.  Such a move marks all the major world religions, and it matches what our fallen hearts desire.

The moralistic gospel appeals to us because it is safe.  One of our greatest desires is to "know how to act" in any given situation.  One of the reasons it is so hard to be a teenager is the realization that I do not know what to do or how to fit in becomes a strong emotion.  We want to conform, even if we do not want to conform, because conformity brings safety.  

Being told how to act to 'fit in' remains appealing for most.  I believe this is one of the constant attractions of very strict fundamentalist churches.  These churches clearly tell you, even if they may not tell you audibly, "this is what you must act like, look like, and think like if you wish to fit into the Kingdom of God."  This message is coupled with a call to such moralistic teaching as reflecting the universal morality as set up by God.  Now, we learn that we are saved by grace, but we need to live by the law.

The problem is that the moralistic gospel is wrong and dangerous for our souls!  The moralistic gospel minimizes the work of Christ, and instead it emphasizes our actions as what please God.  The true power source for the Christian life is dependence upon Jesus and reliance upon His finished work.  

The moralistic gospel also sets us up for failure, disillusionment, and either self-righteousness or despair.  I find that when I focus on changing my behavior, I quickly lose sight of the gospel.  I find that I use my effort to change or suppress some behavior (think of dieting or eating healthy).  As I focus on this behavior, I become proud of myself for achieving my goals.  Then after a while, sometimes a day, or a week, or a year, my self-control is lost and I am back where I started!  I am ashamed, humiliated, and not really willing to share my failure.

What happened?  I made my good news my sin management instead of my Lord Jesus Christ.  As a result, I did not change my heart, because I cannot change my heart!  My behavior and my heart are not the same thing.  Changing behavior does not change my heart since from my heart flows all behavior.  Only the Holy Spirit can change my heart.  When my heart changes, my favorite sins are no longer attractive.  In other words, 

"When I cloth myself with Christ, 

I do not even think about how to gratify the desires of my flesh." 

Rm. 13:14

May you find rest in Christ and His amazing grace today!  May His Spirit transform your heart by that grace so you are truly transformed.