Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Yes. That verse says those words. But what you are doing with them is vile, reprehensible, and not merely an offense against Christians, but an offense against a holy God.

You have your bias, and your heart is hard-set against Christians. You claim to be one of them. You claim moral superiority. You do not claim to represent Christ, to uphold His Word, or to care to rightly interpret and apply it. You know its power, its influence, its authority. So you claim to be what you are not. You take the holy Word of God upon your lips, and you blaspheme Him.

Wicked man. Oh wicked man.

You have no fear now. But when holy fear strikes hard against you, you shall either fall face down in repentance, or you shall know terror for eternity. You will fear Him. You will face Him. You cannot escape Him.

Laugh now. Mock now. Find pleasure as far as your sinful and wicked heart will take you. Sear your conscience. But it will not satisfy the craving within you for more. It is never enough. And you will die in your sin to face the holy God and enter into your rightful judgment, where you will face the holy, righteous wrath of God for eternity.

Yes. Eternity. Yes. Conscious torment. Why? Because He is holy.

Your sins are not minor offenses against mere men. You sin against holiness. You blaspheme holiness. You take His Words upon your lips and with a wicked heart claim to be in Christ, speaking His Word while perverting it and twisting it for your sinful purposes.

Yes. You will give an account. You will have nowhere to hide. You will lash out with your wicked tongue against holiness even as wrath is poured out upon you for eternity.

Your heart is wicked. You are not good. You are not more loving or more moral than God.

Oh wicked man. You now hold yourself in opposition to the very God who created you, the very God who has spoken authoritatively, and you dare to take His Words upon your lips and pervert them. Boldly and willingly you sin against Him.

You are not a hero. You take up causes in the world that appeal to your wicked heart, and you take His Word and use it for your wicked purposes.

Yes. You are guilty. Yes. He is just in His punishment. Yes. You deserve His holy wrath.

God is not emotional. He does not lash out in uncontrolled rage. He is righteous. His wrath is holy, perfect, good, and just. Unlike you and me, who sin in our anger, God’s wrath burns against the wicked and is good.

We deserve it. You. And me.

Yet He is gracious. And you spurn His grace.

You dare call yourself a Christian. You dare identify yourself with perfect righteousness and perfect holiness.

Oh wicked man. You do not merely live in sin and have your fill, sinning against the God who created you. No. You go further. You dare identify yourself with Christ and take His Word upon your lips while scheming in your wicked heart how you may claim the righteous position, present yourself as morally superior, and call it love.

You think you do not deserve His wrath? Deceived you are.

Wicked.

You crave and lust after wickedness and have not its fill. You love it. You enjoy it. And when terror strikes your heart, and it will, you have only this now to hear: repent of your sin and flee to Christ for the salvation of your soul.

The One against whom you have so wickedly sinned has come into the world to save sinners. Just like you. Just like me.

That is grace. Not what you promote in your wicked heart. Not what your depraved mind calls love.

He, whom you and all men as image-bearers blaspheme all day long, came into the world to save, to redeem, to live the righteous life we could not live, to die the death we deserve, taking upon Himself the holy, righteous wrath of God for sinners. He rose from the grave. He is seated at the right hand of the Father.

And hear this: He is coming as Lord and King.

He will receive unto Himself all who are truly His. And He will judge in perfect, righteous judgment all who are not.

Repent.

Flee to Christ for the salvation of your soul.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

When we teach that someone needs to rededicate their life to the Lord, we diminish the power of the Gospel, deny the finality of Christ’s finished work, and obscure the ongoing work of grace in those who are truly born again.

If someone makes a profession of faith, walks an aisle, prays a prayer, cries at kids camp, feels something euphoric at a revival, or says they gave their heart to Jesus, only to walk out the door and shortly thereafter return to the same unrepentant life of sin, that person was never truly born again.

They do not need to rededicate their life to Christ. They are still dead in sin. They need the Gospel.

They do not need moral reform. They do not need to turn over a new leaf, get their act together, work on themselves, or become a better version of themselves. They do not need to try Jesus or simply ask Him into their heart. They do not need a makeover. They need to hear the weight of their sin before a holy God.

They are not on the right track and merely lost their way. They are on the broad road to destruction. They are enemies of God. There is nothing to rededicate.

They must hear the call of the Gospel to repent and believe. They must hear who God is, who they are, who Christ is, and that every man everywhere is commanded to repent and believe.

Rededication language implies that they were once doing well, lost their way, and now need to try harder. That is a works based gospel, and it cannot save.

It is the work of God to regenerate the heart.

When a person is truly born again, their life will demonstrate the power of the Gospel at work in them. They will still sin and may even fall into grievous sin, but they will not be able to enjoy it. They will be miserable in it. They will be repentant. This is evidence of the Spirit’s work in them. They will not need to rededicate their life to the Lord. They will repent and find grace sufficient. They will continue and finish as they began, by the grace of God.

We must be careful with the language we use when calling men to life in Christ. No man has ever truly rededicated his life to Christ. He cannot. Salvation was never his work. It is all of grace.

It is a cruel lie to tell a man that he simply needs to come and commit to do better. That is works, not grace. We lead men to believe that if they just rededicate themselves to Jesus, they can finally please God. It is a lie, and it is devastating.

No man will ever be able to do enough to please God, and he knows it. That is why he gives up. That is why he throws his hands up and says he may as well throw himself fully into sin because he cannot get himself right with God no matter how hard he tries. In many ways, he understands the law better than those trying to help him. What he needs is not another call to recommit. He needs the Gospel.

Yet many remain convinced that if he prayed a prayer, walked an aisle, cried at a revival, or gave his heart to Jesus at some point, then he must be saved and only needs to rededicate his life to the Lord. That is not love. It is devastating. How many have heard that lie, tried it, seen its bankruptcy, and concluded that they tried Jesus and were too far gone to be helped. As wrong as that conclusion is, it exposes a truth. He could never save himself.

We must stop perpetuating the lie that men simply need to rededicate their lives to the Lord. They were either never born again and need the Gospel, or they are regenerate, living in sin, and need repentance and discipline. Scripture knows nothing of a category where men revive themselves by renewed commitment.

It is not what they do. It is who He is and what He has done.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

There’s something about romanticizing and spiritualizing one’s testimony. It almost becomes this thing that sets you apart as more spiritual because you’ve been through more “stuff” than others so now where you are is because of what you’ve been through and you have been granted something greater for which you paid the price.

Many today super-spiritualize a testimony and leave the hearer feeling as though without a powerful testimony they cannot attain to a higher level, a greater anointing. Women seem most susceptible to this next level, testimony driven work that one must endure to get the greater and better that is said to be on the other side. So then, what does this teach women?

The message is if you want to get to a perceived next level then you are going to have to go through some stuff because without a testimony you have nothing to say. You need to have gone through some testing to prove your value, your worth, so you can get or “release” a greater anointing. The testing is meant to release what is said to be in you but unable to break through until you have gone through some hard things that will breakthrough and release the anointing within. You will only then be able to go to the next level.

Messages then are formed around this greater blessing, the need for a testimony, the need for your breakthrough, what one must do to get what they desire, and anyone who stands in the way of that is said to be used of the devil, attacking them, or some other slanderous claim. Now these women are not only looking for an attack, for anything that will give them their testimony, but even the very people that love them and they love may just be the obstacle in their path.

Said no Bible verse!

Worse, this leads them away from the Gospel, the sufficiency of God’s Word, true fellowship with the saints, sound doctrine and after those who affirm what they want to hear concerning their next level, their testimony, their breakthrough, what God has planned for them and how they are going to do big things for God. But first, they must overcome and they must pray harder, worship more fervently, serve more, give more, do more. It has to cost them or they won’t get what they desire. When they’ve done all they have been told to do and they feel they have nothing left to give they are told that they are close to their breakthrough, and they cannot give up now, they must endure because it will be worth it and they don’t want to miss it.

It’s not about you. The message is not your “testimony.”

Many women idolize their testimony. They believe it proves their worth. It proves their value. It gives them greater access to God. They have paid the price to get where they are. They have earned that next level. And if you want it you better be willing to pay for it.

They have forsaken Christ. They have forsaken the Gospel. They have forsaken grace.

What they wanted was whatever they saw at that next level. Their heart was fully devoted to it. They wanted to pay the price because if suffering or hardship meant something greater, whatever that meant to them, then the cost was worth it.

They love messages and stories that tell them to keep enduring, not to give up, because their breakthrough is coming. It is not merely that they love shallow messages. These messages speak exactly to their hearts true desire. What appears (and is) shallow and unbiblical to those with sound doctrine, is for them the messages validating their sinful desires in pursuit of something they believe is greater. They don’t mind when it is exposed as shallow because they interpret that as an attack and that just means they are paying the price and it will add to their testimony, what they must pay, to get what they desire.

Suffering for them was never about the faithfulness of God in that their faith, saving faith, may not fail. When they think of the faithfulness of God it is about perceived blessings, breakthroughs, a next level. They do not mind suffering because it’s what they are taught they must endure in order to get to the next level. They don’t mind when their beliefs are exposed as false because they interpret that as an attack. They are taught not to say anything and to only speak positive and encouraging words. This gets them even closer to their breakthrough.

It’s not about Christ. It’s not about the sufficiency of scripture. It’s not about the sufficiency of the Gospel.

They will affirm all those things as being good and true. And yet they are not satisfied in Him. He is not enough.

They want more!

He is merely the means to their desire for their own next level.

They love testimonies. They love stories that are dreadful and painfully self-absorbed and that make no sense biblically. To them, it does. Every story, every testimony is spiritualized and their hearts are set against sound doctrine. Their ears are being tickled. This is what they love to hear. They are inspired to hear how those women claim to have made it and where they are now, how they claim God is using them mightily and blessing them. They want that.

They boast in what they say God is doing. They worship with intensity. They pray with more fervor than many. They are fierce in their devotion. It’s not for nothing. It’s not for Him. It’s for what they have been promised on the other side of whatever perceived obstacle is in their way of their next level.

They will do whatever it takes to get it. They even appear more faithful and more devoted to God, but such beautiful means of grace have been corrupted for their own desire for more, for something else, something on the other side and these are the means to get it.

They will go hoarse in prayer. They will sacrifice what is truly good for that which they believe is better. They will serve faithfully and especially under those who have what they desire, believing that by serving them they will have greater access to God, to their breakthrough, to their next level. They want to be near those with that special “anointing.” They will sacrifice their dignity to get it. They will do whatever it takes. It is what they desire. He is the means to their desires.

They sound spiritual. They appear faithful. They speak only positive and encouraging words. They are taught that they cannot speak what is considered negative (often what accords with sound doctrine) because their words have power and they will speak against their own blessing. It’s not God-honoring. It’s selfish. It’s prideful. Their hearts betray them. They are fiercely devoted but not to Him. They use Him to get what they truly love and they do it in His name. They worship Him, pray with His name on their lips but their words are not with Him as their object.

He is not enough for them. He is not the object of their love. He is not the object of their faith. He is the means to their desires. Their faith is in their own words. And if it cost them everything they will have it. And they convince themselves He wants them to have it.

When they overcome whatever their real or perceived obstacle was, and even better, if they had some euphoric experience or real experience that they spiritualize and claim was from God, they now have their testimony and perhaps, an encounter that really sets them apart.

They paid the price for it. They surrendered all for it. They now are on the other side with their testimony and their experience that has granted them privileges, power, authority, secret knowledge, an anointing so that they may attain to the next level where only few make it. They have made it.

They will go on to share their stories, their testimonies, their experiences, and they will draw many to themselves. They are now at another level. They are now more anointed, have greater access to God, and their words must be heard because they speak with greater authority because of what they went through to get there.

Christ was never enough. The Gospel was never enough. His Word was never enough. His means of grace was never enough.

They needed to earn it. They needed their own testimony. They needed to draw many to themselves. They made it. And the cost was more than they realize.

Because He is enough. His Word is enough. The Gospel is enough. His means of grace is enough.

It is a gospel of suffering, a gospel of self. It is about what it cost them to get what they desire. It was never the Gospel of Christ, the grace of God that saved them, resulting in genuine faith and repentance, whereby suffering proved the tested genuineness of their faith: saving faith. It was about a faith that grants them greater, more, something better. And it was never Him.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

There you sit.
Your Bible is with you. Smiling faces greet you. The lights are dim enough to let you disappear just a little, granting you the privacy you hoped for. You are not sure what to expect. It has been a long time since you walked through the doors of a church.

The parking lot team was helpful. The door greeters noticed you were new, even though you hoped to slip in unnoticed. You briefly consider turning back to the parking lot, but it is too late. Eye contact has been made. Smiles exchanged. Conversation initiated. They walk with you toward the sanctuary.

The dim lights feel welcoming. The back row is empty, waiting. People are friendly, and you are relieved, but you still hope they will let you come and go quietly, on your own terms.

The “seeker” has just experienced church for them, and it is not over yet.

The music begins, and it feels more like a concert than worship. You are invited into personal experiences, personal encounters, your own interpretation of what you need from God. It does not feel threatening. Maybe it is not so bad. So far, it is nothing like what you expected.

The pastor takes the stage. He opens with jokes. He shares personal stories. You relax. He seems normal. Approachable. Nothing like the pastors you have been warned about.

Then he opens his Bible, and you tense up.

Here it is.
This is where it goes south.
This is where he points you out as the wicked sinner you know you are. This is where eyes across the room land on you and expose you as the wretch who does not belong among such perfect people.

But instead, he says, “I just want you to know that if you’re new here, you belong here. It may be your first time, but you’re already family.”

Wait.
Is that it?

You just walk in, and now you belong? This is not what you expected. Isn’t he supposed to warn you about judgment? About hell? About sin? What kind of preacher is this? What kind of church is this? It is not hellfire and brimstone like you feared, but it also feels unlike any church you have ever heard of.

Could it really be this easy?

He begins to speak about what he feels God spoke to him, for you. Well, not just you. For the whole congregation. But you are part of them now, aren’t you? So maybe it is for you. Did God really speak to him? Does he hear directly from God? He gets sermons straight from God? How close must this man be to God?

He reads a passage of Scripture, then quickly launches into more stories—stories about what God is doing in this church, about amazing encounters, about how you can have them too. God wants to do amazing things through you. He has an amazing plan for your life.

This is almost too good to be true.

You walked in expecting condemnation. Part of you even thought you deserved it. Another part of you hoped they would confirm everything you were told about Christians being judgmental and hypocritical so you could justify continuing in your sin.

But now?
Now you are confused.

Maybe this God isn’t so bad after all. Maybe He is actually pretty easy going. The music stirred something in you. You felt something. Was that God? The people were kind. And if God has already welcomed you, maybe you want in. Maybe He can fix your life. Because your life is a wreck. Maybe He can help you become a better person. Maybe He can repair the things you have broken.

You walked in hopeless. Your life is nothing to be envied. And this man keeps speaking about hope—hope tied directly to your circumstances. “If you need hope, you’re in the right place”, he says. The words land softly, almost warmly.

Could this be real?

Have you really been wrong about Christians all along? Were they never as harsh or judgmental as you were told? Could it really be this easy? Does God simply want you to be happy? To have a better life? Have you been missing out on this all along?

Maybe this is what you needed. Not conviction. Not confrontation. Just hope. A fresh start. A God who meets you where you are and wants to improve what’s broken.

For the first time in a long while, you feel something lift, just enough to believe that relief might finally be possible.

Tears well up. The dim lights hide your pain.

The pastor closes with an invitation.
“If you have never asked Jesus into your heart, what are you waiting for? Today is your day for a fresh start. If you feel Jesus tugging on your heart, don’t leave the same way you came in. Place your faith in Jesus today. He loves you.”

That is it.

You are undone, but in a new way. You go forward. You weep. You sob. Your heart feels wide open. You want this Jesus. You cannot imagine going anywhere else. You are all in. This is the church for you.

Heartbreaking, isn’t it?

You who read and understand.
You who see how many are being led after a different Jesus and a different gospel.

Many today have a wrong idea of Christ, the church, and the Gospel because of those who have so badly misrepresented Him. But many within the church have responded to abusive teaching by swinging the pendulum just as far in the opposite direction with teaching that is equally dangerous and just as false.

We all need the Gospel.
We have all sinned against God.
We are all image-bearers of God.

But we are not all children of God.

All are welcome to hear the Gospel.
Not all belong to the body of Christ.

The language used is often meant to sound loving and welcoming, but it is deeply misleading and eternally damning to many. It offers belonging without repentance, family without regeneration, salvation without the cross.

Friend, it is not loving to lead men down the broad road to hell in the name of being seeker-friendly, welcoming, relevant, or effective.

We need the Gospel.
We need God’s Word opened and faithfully exposited.
We do not need the imaginations of men’s hearts.

The lights need to be on. We need to see one another. This is corporate worship offered to God. It is God-centered, not man-centered. Scripture must hold its rightful place of authority in the teaching, life, and practice of the church.

Anything less is not love.

Christ is building His church.
He is the one who adds.
He loves her.

He draws men to Himself. His means are not attractive to the world, but they are glorious to the one who is dead in sin and whom God awakens by His grace. God calls the dead to life and brings them to Himself.

The Gospel is enough.
It does not need help.
It does not need to be made appealing.

Christ will build His church.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

It is almost certain that any man who sets the Spirit against doctrine does not understand the true work of the Spirit. He harbors doctrinal error and seeks to conceal it by diverting attention away from biblical teaching and toward unbiblical experience. Such a man does not draw people by the means the Spirit actually uses, but by other means altogether. The Spirit works through the faithful preaching of the Word.

Men who cannot endure doctrinal testing minimize doctrine, oppose the Spirit to doctrine, and redefine discernment from biblical examination to subjective feeling and experience. Trust no man who draws hearts while quietly turning them away from Scripture. He will not do this openly. When examined, he will make orthodox claims. Yet in the next breath he will divide the church by insisting that others merely have doctrine while he and those like him possess “the power of the Spirit.”

He shows himself ignorant every time he handles a text of Scripture. His opposition to the true work of the Spirit is revealed precisely when he attempts to handle the Word. He uses Scripture, but he does not exposit it, for careful exposition would expose that what he teaches is not what the Spirit has actually said. He preaches what is in his own heart rather than what is written. He reads a text, but he does not preach it. Scripture becomes a pretext for saying what he already intended to say. In doing so, he demonstrates that he is unqualified for the task of preaching.

A man who is called to preach must be able to teach and must be able to rebuke those in error. He can do neither, because to do so honestly would require him to rebuke himself.

Many within the church are drawn to what is claimed to be the work of the Spirit but is, in reality, a counterfeit. They boast of operating in the Spirit’s power, yet it is not His true work. They do not know or experience the power of God because they do not hear God speak, though they are convinced He is constantly giving them new revelation. They are not spiritually discerning; they are deceived.

To anyone who understands the One who authored Scripture and the true work of the Spirit, such claims are utter foolishness. The Spirit works by means of the Word He Himself inspired. He does not contradict Himself. Only a man who fears sound doctrine, because it would expose his error, sets the Spirit against doctrine.

Where the Word of God is not faithfully preached and rightly exposited, there is a church that has set itself against the true power and true work of the Spirit. This is not an either-or matter. It is both and. The Spirit works through the Word. To reject faithful exposition is to reject the very means by which the Spirit brings light, conviction, repentance, and faith.

Let no man rob you of sound doctrine, no matter how much he promises in God’s name. Some of these men are deceived; others know exactly what they are doing. But the result is the same. The Spirit will never set hearts against the Word. He will never set hearts against sound doctrine.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

In recent years, I have come to a deeper understanding of passages of Scripture that are often misunderstood and abused, texts that, when rightly exposited, expose two very different responses. On the one hand, there are faithful teachers who, upon submitting themselves to the Word, recognize their error, receive correction from the text, and publicly teach what Scripture plainly reveals. On the other hand, there are men who, having built systems upon abuse of the text, continue willfully and woefully to exploit both Scripture and the hearer, even after correction has been made clear.

One such passage is that of the poor widow of whom Jesus said that she had given all she had to live on.

This text has long been abused. Yet many careful teachers, submitting themselves to the authority of Scripture, have acknowledged their misunderstanding, corrected it, and taught what the passage actually says rather than what tradition or pragmatism once assumed it meant.

Others, however, those who stand in line with the very men Jesus warns of as devourers of widows’ houses, ignore such correction until they are forced into giving what appears to be public repentance. But time reveals the truth. Their repentance proves hollow as they return to the same practices, continuing to devour widows’ houses under religious language and spiritual manipulation.

This passage does not teach that we ought to be like the poor widow. It does not present her as a model for giving. In fact, it teaches the opposite.

The widow is shown to be a victim of a corrupt religious system that robbed widows of their livelihood. What we see here bears a striking resemblance to what is known today as the prosperity gospel and its evil doctrines. This is not a story exalting sacrificial giving. It is an indictment of a system that exploits the vulnerable under the guise of devotion.

Scripture does command and encourage giving. But it never commands giving under compulsion.

The poor widow stands as an example, not of faith to imitate, but of a greedy system that exploits, robs, and bankrupts the helpless.

Yet it is not uncommon to hear health and wealth preachers point to this widow and urge their hearers to give their last, promising that such a gift will sow into “good ground” and guarantee a miracle, healing, breakthrough, or blessing. They assure their listeners that if they give like the widow, God will be obligated to respond.

Scripture does not teach this. Wicked men do.

Scripture teaches that we are to give, give generously, give wisely, and even teaches us how not to give. We are explicitly told not to give out of compulsion.

This poor widow is not a model for “sacrificial giving,” nor is she an example of how to manipulate God into giving us what we want. The text does not teach that by giving out of our poverty we can obligate God to act on our behalf.

Context matters.

This account follows a warning. Jesus says, “Beware of the scribes.” He describes them as men who walk around in long robes, who desire respectful greetings in marketplaces, the best seats in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. Then He further exposes their true character. They devour widows’ houses. Let that sink in. This is not uncommon today. Furthermore, for appearance’s sake they offer long prayers. And He concludes with this sobering statement. These will receive greater condemnation.

Does that sound like a system we are meant to emulate?

Immediately after this warning, Jesus sits down opposite the treasury and observes the crowd putting money into it. The wealthy give out of their surplus. Then the poor widow gives out of her poverty, everything she had to live on.

False teachers take this warning and twist it into a model. Greedy men in pulpits turn this scene into a fundraising strategy, promising gullible souls miracles and blessings if they will just give more, if they will just give like the widow. They claim their ministry is “good ground” to “sow into” so you can get a guarantee on your investment.

But the problem is not only the false teachers.

It is also the desire of those who believe that if they give enough, God must respond. That if they give more than others, not from abundance but from desperation, God will be obligated to grant what they want.

This is not faith.

This is not giving that glorifies God.

It is a false and wicked system, sold by men who profit from it and embraced by those who want God to function as a vending machine for their desires.

Friend, Scripture can be manipulated by wicked men in the pulpit to say whatever sinful men in the pew want to hear. While the teacher bears greater condemnation for the willful abuse of God’s Word, the problem does not stop at the pulpit.

It extends into the pew.

There are many who cannot endure sound doctrine and instead gather teachers who promise blessings, miracles, and breakthroughs in God’s name. Many churches today have become marketplaces, men selling lies to souls eager to invest in whatever promises them what they desire.

But Scripture does not bend to our desires.

And God is not honored by systems that exploit the vulnerable, manipulate His Word, and turn giving into a transaction rather than an act of worship.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

There are many reasons within the sinful heart to destroy what God has made beautiful. We do not appreciate beauty. We are dissatisfied with it, and through our distorted lens and corrupt hearts, we despise what is good. We long for, burn for, and pine after what is not ours, what is corrupt, and what we believe ought to belong to us.

The heart is sick and desperately wicked.

To read such words stirs the heart to burn against the accusation. How dare I be charged with such things? Perhaps you, but not me. Speak of yourself and do not count me among your wicked desires.

When Scripture declares that all have sinned, that none seek God, that none are good, the heart rises in protest. Not me. No. Not me. Yet the words, “no, not one,” leave a man burning and raging against the charge. They permit no exceptions, no refuge for self-defense, no corner in which to hide a cherished image of self.

Sinful men follow after the sinful desires of their hearts. Though they may resist certain lusts that other men eagerly pursue, counting the cost worth it to destroy what they have for what they desire, their resistance does not prove them wise or good. It only proves that they boast in a righteousness they have imagined for themselves, an inherent goodness they believe sets them above other weak and sinful men. Such comparisons give them cause for boasting. They measure themselves against foolish men and congratulate themselves on their own perceived virtue.

One man lusts for what he cannot have. Another lusts just as fiercely to protect the image of himself he believes to be beautiful, pleasing, and worthy of admiration, especially when compared to men he considers beneath him.

The heart is sick and desperately wicked.

Such men do not see themselves rightly, for they do not measure themselves against perfect righteousness. They do not cry out against their own hearts.

Beauty remains obscured, for if we were to behold beauty in its perfection, it would expose the wickedness within us. It is the grace of God that shows a man what he truly is, gives him a new heart, and reveals the beauty and glory of God in Christ. Nothing so utterly shatters a man’s view of himself and the world as seeing himself rightly before God and beholding the beauty and glory of God in Christ Jesus.

Only a heart made new in Christ can behold, cherish, and praise God for His beauty and glory in all things. God gives a new heart, a heart that can see. A heart that recognizes the futility and depravity of what it once cherished, now finding those former loves repulsive, even as the flesh must still be daily put to death. His loves, desires, and affections have been changed. His heart, mind, will, and emotions have been changed and are being changed.

He now beholds a beauty his heart longs for. A beauty he sees only in part, yet one day will behold in fullness beyond imagination. He has come to know the love of God, His grace and mercy displayed toward one so undeserving. His eyes are open. He has tasted and seen the beauty and glory of God in Christ Jesus.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

You see the flyers, the social media posts, the invitations to conferences, revivals, studies, and more. You need not respond favorably to every invitation. Every invitation must be tested against Scripture.

What are they appealing to?
How are they defining biblical terms?
What promise are you being drawn to?
What is the message?

Is it clearly and distinctly biblical, or are biblical words being used while their meaning is quietly redefined? Is the draw Christ Himself, or is it something wounded in you that is being targeted with the promise of an experience, an encounter, that will finally give you the spiritual boost you need?

Those two words alone, experience and encounter, are revealing.

I could ask whether you see how you are being drawn by manipulative means. But the truth is, many do not see. They feel the draw.

These teachers are fluent in biblical language, but not biblical meaning. They can quote Scripture, but they are not grounded in sound doctrine. They promise what appeals to the most basic desires common to all mankind, the desire to feel strong, capable, affirmed, empowered. And so they present a Jesus who is attractive to sinful man, a Jesus who helps, boosts, and enhances what is already believed to exist within.

This is not the Christ who calls sinners to die.
It is a Christ who helps them succeed.

I grieve and despise what many women are being drawn to today. It is not Christ. It is not His grace. It appeals to shared struggles, familiar wounds, and real pain, but it offers the wrong remedy. It promises empowerment. It promises addition. It promises to give something to what is assumed to already exist within the woman herself, needing only activation.

She is told she will slay demons, conquer threats to her peace, protect what she cherishes, if only she receives the boost she lacks.

Do you not see what this implies?

She does not need Jesus.
She does not need faith that truly trusts God in suffering.
She does not need grace that is sufficient.
She does not need the Word of God rightly exposited.

That was never the attraction.

She comes for an experience. An encounter. Something that will unlock her potential and empower her to become all she is said to already be. Jesus is not the treasure. He is the means. The Gospel is not the message. It is the tool.

They say they love Jesus, but they do not know Him.

The Christ of Scripture does not come to add to what is already within us. He comes to expose that there is nothing within us that can save, strengthen, or empower us apart from Him. Biblical grace does not awaken hidden potential. It puts self to death.

Grace does not make us strong so that we can conquer. It reveals our weakness so that Christ alone is our strength.

The Gospel does not offer empowerment through experience. It offers reconciliation through the cross. We are not called to activation, but to repentance. Not to self-discovery, but to self-denial. Not to encounters that elevate us, but to union with Christ that crucifies us and raises us to new life in Him.

Recently, I had a conversation with a young man who is much in God’s Word. I listened as he spoke with excitement, joy, and love, grounded in Scripture. Here was a young man with much still to learn, and yet it was evident that the Holy Spirit was at work in him. He spoke of Jesus with deep love for his Savior, and as he spoke of himself and God’s people, it was clear that he understood the true work of God in man. He boasted much in Christ, in what He has done and in the continuing work of the Spirit in the believer.

As I listened, I found myself pondering how many who profess Christ do not know such love, such satisfaction in Christ, such joy and such peace. These are not found merely in knowing what Christ has done at the cross, but in knowing what He continues to do in the believer by means of His Word, rightly understood and rightly applied through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit.

I think of those who burden new believers with talk of their potential, their greatness, how they are made for more and will do amazing things for God. Faith is turned into a formula for success. Suffering is framed as an attack of the enemy against their potential. They are given more works to do, more steps to take, more things to unlock so that they might finally do great things.

They do not know grace.
They do not know peace.
They do not know joy.

These are wrought in man by the Holy Spirit as we hear God’s Word rightly exposited. But they do not hear it. Scripture becomes metaphors, allegories, and pretexts for their own greatness. They sit under teaching that promises peace while robbing them of peace, that promises power while robbing them of the true power of the Holy Spirit, who works in the believer to conform him to the image of Christ.

They do not know. Even their experiential knowledge is counterfeit. It is exhausting. It is boastful. It destroys true peace, true joy, true faith, true hope, and true love.

They have a love, a peace, a joy, and a hope, but it is much like that of false religion. It is not real.

This is why the message is rejected. It leaves no room for boasting, no room for self-trust, and no room for a Jesus who merely helps.

As Voddie Baucham once said, “The modern church is producing passionate people filled with empty heads who love the Jesus they don’t know very well.”

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria