WHAT MIGHT MACHEN SAY TO BELL?

What might J. Gresham Machen say to Rob Bell, if Machen were still alive today?  Perhaps the following:

“Jesus did not invite the confidence of men by minimizing the load which He offered to bear.  He did not say: “Trust me to give you acceptance with God, because acceptance with God is not difficult; God does not regard sin so seriously after all.”  On the contrary Jesus presented the wrath of God in a more awful way than it was afterwards presented by His disciples; it was Jesus—Jesus whom modern liberals represent as a mild-mannered exponent of an undiscriminating love—it was Jesus who spoke of outer darkness and the everlasting fire, of the sin that shall not be forgiven in this world or in that which is to come.  There is nothing in Jesus’ teaching about the character of God which in itself can evoke trust.  On the contrary the awful presentation can give rise, in the hearts of us sinners, only to despair.  Trust arises only when we attend to God’s way of salvation.  And that way is found in Jesus.  Jesus did not invite the confidence of men by a minimizing presentation of what was necessary in order that sinners might stand faultless before the awful throne of God.  On the contrary, he invited confidence by the presentation of His own wondrous Person.  Great was the guilt of sin, but Jesus was greater still.  God, according to Jesus was a loving Father; but He was a loving Father, not of the sinful world, but of those whom He himself had brought into His Kingdom through His Son” (emphasis mine).

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[Taken from: J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009), 72-73.]

THE GOSPEL AND SUBSTITUTIONARY…RIGHTEOUSNESS.

As we speak the gospel to others we often tend to focus, sometimes solely, on the death of Christ, in the place of those who believe, to pay the penalty for the breaking of God’s holy Law (Rom. 5:18-21).  It is a wonderfully glorious truth that Christ died, as a substitutionary atoning sacrifice, absolving our guilt of sin and absorbing the just wrath of God (Isa. 53:4-6, 10; Col. 2:13-15)!  However, we often fail to rest in the fact that Christ lived a life of perfect obedience to the Law of God (Matt. 5:17; Gal. 4:4-7) that he may be our substitutionary righteousness as well.

Zach Ursinus, a 16^th century theologian, professor, and key author of the Heidelberg Catechism, noted the following about the relationship between the Law, the gospel, and our righteousness in Christ in his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism:

“The law promises life to those who are righteous in themselves, or on the condition of righteousness, and perfect obedience. “He that doeth them, shall live in them.” “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Lev. 18:5; Matt. 19:17) The gospel, on the other hand, promises life to those who are justified by faith in Christ, or on the condition of the righteousness of Christ, applied unto us by faith. The law and gospel are, however, not opposed to each other in these respects: for although the law requires us to keep the commandments if we would enter into life, yet it does not exclude us from life if another perform these things for us” (pp. 104-105, emphasis mine).

The righteousness that we have in Christ with God is not based on our performance for him, but rather on Christ’s radical performance and perfect fulfillment of the Law for us.  The gospel frees us from the weight of trying to gain favor or keep favor with God through our obedience by pointing us to Christ who has done for us all that God the Father requires.  Therefore, God no longer condemns us because of our sin, but by his Spirit he graciously convicts us, freely and fully forgives in Christ, and continues the good work of sanctification that he began in us when he saved us (Phil. 1:6). Thus, we are freed to joyfully and vigorously pursue holiness in the environment of the gospel (Gal. 5:1).

As you live before God today, thank him for sending his Son, and rest in all of Christ’s work for you.  Not simply limited to Christ’s life and death, the amazing grace of the gospel is that Christ came, lived, died, rose, ascended, intercedes, and will return to save to the uttermost those who, by faith, receive his work on their behalf.

**Tullian Tchividjian has written an important post on recovering an emphasis that focuses upon the totality of Christ’s work in our place.  Read it here.