We all know them. Those that were at one time part of the Church, believing in Christ, and for one reason or another, have now left. Dr. Rod Rosenbladt addresses this in his message, The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church.
Dr. Rosenbladt puts these people into two categories. Those who leave sad, and those who leave mad. Most of these people come to believe the gospel, but then something happens after that. Rod submits in his message that one of the largest reasons for this, is the confusion of Law and Gospel.
According to Dr. Rosenbladt when the third use of the law, (the guide to how the Christian life is to be lived) is not done carefully there is a confusion of the gospel. Many come to Christ, but then become frustrated that they can’t live up to the demands of the Christian life. There is a shift once they become Christians to their experience and living the ‘victorious’ Christian life, and little reminder of the gospel.
Is sola fide (faith alone) sufficient? That is the message that Dr. Rosenbadt believes has been lost in so many churches, that have become Christless, and gospelless. The preaching is full of how to live the Christian life with countless recipes on how to conquer sin. And a reminder of the gospel, that we are saved by Grace Alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone is a message that seems to have been lost.
He believes that many who have left the Church, are not angry with Jesus, but rather angry at the Church, and justifiably so.
Considering the current state of the American Evangelical Church, a wrong understanding of the gospel by so many church goers, and the Internet Monk’s prediction of the coming Evangelical Collapse, this is something we should all be thinking about.
