Something that has been on my mind.

For the past few months, I have been going through my sophomore year at Liberty University. I came back to the school year excited for the opportunities that would arise, for the chance to hang with some good friends again, and also to grow more and more. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail with all of the things that have happened recently, but there has been something bothering me recently, and I've figured out what it is.

For some strange reason, the people at Liberty that think they understand a lot of theology seem to think that teaching the theology they believe is just as important as teaching the gospel. Now, I'm not saying it is a bad thing to know about theology outside of the gospel, or even to teach it to people. Where my issue lies is the fact that these people are putting issues such as calvinism, millenialism, and a bunch of other theological beliefs up on the same level as the gospel when it comes to preaching about things. 

Once again, I am not saying these are bad things to know about or teach, but when you are talking about a ministry to non-believers, the last thing they want to talk to you about is men have free will or God's predestination is the underlying cause of everything. It seems as if people have tried to warp the way that the gospel should be preached. I have always been taught that Jesus + nothing = everything. With the way people have been talking, it almost has been seeming like people want to add calvinism, or millenialism. I'm so tired of people saying it is super important to teach these things. Yes, it is important, but I feel that if teaching those principles becomes something more than what it is, ministry will be hurt.

Preach the gospel. We were created for a relationship with God, but since the fall of man in Genesis 3 when Eve took a bite of the apple, then gave it to Adam, who also took a bite. Because the only two people in creation were both full of sin, we are now separated from God, with no way of getting ourselves back to God. So God, in His infinite love and sovereignty sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to earth, lived a perfect life, at the end of His life, suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried. After all of that, He did not stay dead, but He was resurrected by God, and because of this we now have the ability to have a relationship with God. He has restored the ability for us to have that with Him forever. All we have to do is say yes.

Calvinists will cringe at that last sentence. I do tend to loosely call myself a calvinist, so here's what I believe on "saying yes"

When we "say yes" to God, we are not doing it solely because we want to say yes. I believe that God can change the hearts of those who are not yet following, and therefore works in the hearts of non-believers until they reach a point where they have no other option but to say yes. Think about it, if all we do is plant the seeds, but God makes them grow, then why wouldn't it be that God changes the heart to make the person want to say yes? Psalms even says "Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart... No this does not mean God will give me free tuition(Though I would not complain if such things happened). When we delight ourselves in the Lord, He changes our hearts to want the things He wants, and therefore, our heart is changed, and our wants are different. It only makes sense.

 Arminians get their choice things, and calvinism still gets God in control. Now let's throw the pointless debate aside and just preach the gospel, please. The nutshell is written in blue. 

Also, think about the Apostle's or the Nicene Creed. I've said both of these numerous time in church. I don't recall either one having anything to do with other theology. They both essentially say we believe in God the father, Son, and Spirit, and that the son was born, suffered, died, was buried, rose from the dead. There is more stuff, and it's all good stuff, but this is all that matters. 

When we ge to heaven, I do not think that whether you believed in Free Will or Predestination, millenialism or amillenialism, heck, as stupid as the view is, even preterism, or any other type of theology other than the gospel will matter. You are saved by confession Jesus Christ being Lord, and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. It's as simple as that...

So seriously, stop putting theology before the gospel, and stop trying to say that other theological issues are just as or more important than the gospel. Yes, they are important, but we preach the GOSPEL. We do NOT preach predestination, or free will. We do NOT preach millenialism or amillenialism. Preach the Gospel.

Okay, my rant is over now. It was just something that was on my mind, and has been frustrating me to no end. Mostly because a lot of the talk about this has come from people I see every day.

Have a good night