Scott
Puritan Board Graduate
Anthony: Many of the types of criticisms you make could be made against the passage from Moses I cited. You wrote: "The God it presents sits on the sidelines and gives us a list of good deeds. And at the end of the race, he gives you rewards for doing the good deeds."
After Moses told the Israelites to obey the entire law, he says, "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach." Deut. 30:11. Your statement I quoted above could characterize Moses' directive as much as Warren's pledge. Indeed, the "rewards" promised by Moses are more extensive than those promised by the Warren pledge.
In any event, I think we all agree on a lot:
> perfectionism is wrong
> the Holy Spirit, and not the remnants of the natural man, is the source of any obedience we have
> Man is not justified by his works
But there is no duty to expressly refer to these every time one talks of obedience. Moses did not. Christ did not. We don't need to either (although if we want to, it is fine).
After Moses told the Israelites to obey the entire law, he says, "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach." Deut. 30:11. Your statement I quoted above could characterize Moses' directive as much as Warren's pledge. Indeed, the "rewards" promised by Moses are more extensive than those promised by the Warren pledge.
In any event, I think we all agree on a lot:
> perfectionism is wrong
> the Holy Spirit, and not the remnants of the natural man, is the source of any obedience we have
> Man is not justified by his works
But there is no duty to expressly refer to these every time one talks of obedience. Moses did not. Christ did not. We don't need to either (although if we want to, it is fine).