The Jesus You Can't Ignore – an answer to sloppy agape.

While John MacArthur has been preaching and writing for four decades, I’ve not listened or read much from him.  The few books from Mac that I have read have been good – as is this one, with a caveat that I will make clear.

The author’s aim for this book is to, from the Bible, answer the soft, fuzzy perspective of Christ Jesus that is put forth by emergent churches, groups, and individuals – those who reduce God to a single characteristic: God is love.  This view denies God’s judgment on sin, discipline of His people, anything that does not align with the human view of “good”.  Mac reviews the Gospel accounts to see what God has revealed about His Son – the Lord Jesus.  Mac rightly argues from Scripture for a Jesus that hates sin and loves His Father more than He loves the creatures.  The Bible – and the Gospel – is mostly repugnant to the flesh.  Hence, those who are in the flesh create a god who does not offend them.

Chapter 1 is “When It’s Wrong to be Nice” and examines what the Scripture tells us of the Lord’s interaction with the Jewish religious leaders of His day.  MacArthur observes, “As a rule, then, Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and leading priests were marked by acrimony, not tenderness.” (page 7).  This lines up with the Reformed view of evangelism – Grace to the humble, Law to the proud.  Considering the tendency of people to believe what they want and defend it tenaciously, the author tells us, on page 13, “it should come as no surprise to us that enemies of the gospel have always been (and still are) most formidable then they are religious.”  The chapter comes to satisfying end with a review of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans – “Only after he has made the bad news inescapable does Paul introduce the gospel’s good news.”  The seeker and emergent groups want God to be reduced to a single characteristic, an unbiblical view of love; denying the biblical account of a holy God Who punishes sin and allows sinners to work their way to hell.

Chapter 2 is a review of two Passovers – one on each end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, demonstrating His authority over the temple and deliberate anger and wrath for dishonest religious leaders.  The next couple of chapters examine the Lord’s encounter with Nicodemus and Jewish leaders who refused to see Him as the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.  On page 54, the MacArthur’s dispensational theology emerges – “The establishment of our Lord’s throne in Israel only awaits His second coming.” – a view that did not exist in Christianity before the early 1800s.  Page 82 holds a good overview: “Here’s a pattern you will notice in almost every confrontation between Jesus and Pharisees: in one way or another, His deity is always at the heart of the conflict.”  So is it with ALL false religions and false teachers – including those within the “emergent conversation”.

At the end of each chapter, MacArthur has a page devoted to a quote related to that topic.  At the end of chapter 3 is a short quote from C.H. Spurgeon that is most relevant today – “God chooses not milksops destitute of backbone, to wear his glory upon their faces.  We have plenty of men made of sugar, nowadays, that melt into the stream of popular opinion; but these shall never ascend into the hill of the Lord, nor stand in his holy place, nor wear the tokens of his glory.” (Emphasis is mine.)

Chapter 5 examines Christ as Lord of the Sabbath, and the conflict with the Jewish leaders.  Summed up (page 126) thusly: “the difference between Jesus and the Pharisees was not that they had differing customs regarding how to observe the Sabbath; it was that they held contradictory views on the way of salvation.  That truth was too important to bury under the blanket of an artificial civility.”  Amen to that! 

MacArthur has written at least one book on the hard teaching of Jesus, and this is the subject of chapter 6 – one the better ones in this book.  The author points out how the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount are characteristics of God’s people – not tips on how to earn God’s favor.  He calls the false teaching that Christ rebukes in this sermon “hermeneutical tomfoolery” – a lovely term that easily applies to the emergent conversion.  After honestly revealing the teachings and methods of Christ that rub sinners the wrong way, MacArthur (page 162) critiques the cultural approach: “The contemporary craving for shallow sermons that please and entertain is at least partly rooted in the popular myth that Jesus Himself was always likable, agreeable, winsome, and at the cutting edge of His culture’s fashions.”   Those heard Him speak were changed – some were hardened against the Truth, others were humbled and convicted and born again.  “But no one who listened to Him preach for very long could possible be unchanged or apathetic.”

In chapter 7, MacArthur tackles worthwhile subjects, including one of the most misunderstood topics in the Bible – the Unpardonable Sin.  He encourages his reader to consider the context of the passage in which this appears and rightly observes that this sin requires knowing the truth about the miracles of Jesus (that they are of God) and ascribing them to Satan.  But he also reveals why some harshly accuse him of endorsing works-based salvation (calling it “Lordship salvation”).  On page 177, MacArthur says that the Pharisees were guilty of “closing one’s heart permanently against Christ even after the Holy Spirit has brought full conviction of the truth.”  The man who rejects the Gospel is not saved, implying that the one who embraces the Gospel is, by that embrace, saved.  The Bible declares (Romans 3 & 5) that no body seeks after God and that we are His enemies until He saves us.  It’s impossible for anyone to embrace the Gospel before being called or regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  It’s not helpful to paint the Pharisee as the one who rejected Christ and is therefore doomed.  John 3:18 reminds us that all who disbelieve are “condemned already” – not as a result of their action of rejecting the Gospel.

The final chapter examines the “woes” pronounced by Christ on the Jewish leaders – valuable teaching for the church.  Yet, again, he exposes his tendency to put the creature in the driver’s seat of salvation.  On page 187 we find: “he (Christ) was calling people who were willing to bow to Him unconditionally as their Lord.”  And on page 189, “Any Pharisee who never fully repented of his “good works” would perish in his sins, even if he did believe that Jesus was the true Messiah.”  Both of these statements – if true – would leave everyone hell bound.  Before being born again (which John 1:12 & 13 tell us “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”), nobody is willing to bow to Christ.  And none fully knows his own sins of self-righteousness – making it impossible for anyone to “fully repent”.  More to the point, repentance is a fruit of salvation, not a precondition thereof.  These three statements, in these final two chapters, are a serious concern – leaving one to humbly recognizing that all men are sinful and none, including John MacArthur, are worthy to be followed without testing everything they speak or write.

MacArthur finishes well, pointing out (page 192), “The root problem was their belief system, not just their behavior.” And, “On the other hand, they (the Pharisees) were not wrong in everything they taught.”  So it is in our day – the problem with the emergent conversation is about their belief system – not their behavior (which is questionable in many ways); and not everything the emergents teach is wrong (though one may have to look long and hard to find truth in any given emergent leader).  In Christ alone is truth, honor, glory, and salvation.  The Reformation rang in history with the call of the five solas:

Sola Scriptura: The Scripture Alone is the Standard

Soli Deo Gloria! For the Glory of God Alone

Solo Christo! By Christ's Work Alone are We Saved

Sola Gratia: Salvation by Grace Alone

Sola Fide: Justification by Faith Alone

The Truth of God’s monergistic work in saving sinners for His glory is still essential for us to keep in focus if we hope to interpret the Bible and Bible teachers rightly.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”