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The Old Traps and Snares Repackaged and Modernized by Today’s Reformed Pastors/Theologians

By Chris McCann
February 11, 2018

Unfortunately some people are falling into the old trap and snare of following the teaching of reformers repackaged and modernized by today's reformed pastors and church leaders.

I know full well what reformed churches and their pastors and theologians teach. I attended a reformed seminary for three years and studied Loraine Boetner's Systematic theology book, along with many other of the reformed writings. As seminarians we studied the writings of reformed theologians more than we studied the Bible. In fact, we were never really called upon to study the Bible, only to read it, make summary statements and memorize some Scriptures.

For a time I attended 10th Presbyterian church in Philadelphia. The pastor was Dr. James Boice. Each year a reformed conference would be held there. R.C. Sproul, J.I. Packer, and many others would either attend or be discussed. There was constant discussion of reformed theology.

Later, I worked for Family Radio by finding teachings that were doctrinally in line with what Family Radio was learning from the Bible. I had to find and package and provide to Family Radio each week (for several years) various faithful Bible teachings for their announcers to read on the air. In order to find these teachings I literally had to read practically everything that church reformers and theologians had written over the course of the last few hundred years. From time to time I would even use excerpts from the early church fathers of the first few centuries.

Since I was doing this research from the vantage point of living at the end of the world, and at the time the Lord was opening the Scriptures to reveal much truth, I found I had a very unique opportunity to see and consider the best and most faithful teachings of the church over the course of the entire Church Age, and to compare that with what we were learning as God opened the Scriptures to reveal much truth and increase our knowledge of His Word.

What I observed was that the corporate church never had a right and proper understanding of faith or of exactly how God saved the sinner. I realized that the Lord was indeed showing us today a glorious truth when He opened up our eyes to see that we're saved by the faith of Christ and not our own faith. No one in the past had a grasp upon this truth.

Likewise, the Lord opened up to us a purified form of understanding of many doctrines, such as marriage and divorce, and the Sunday Sabbath. And many other things, especially things related to the end of the world.

For someone today, who has heard and supposedly learned the glorious truths that God has opened up to us at this end time, to turn from these wonderful doctrines and turn back again to the doctrinal things that the church formulated during a time in which God's Spirit constrained them by withholding much truth back from them, is a tremendous shame. What they are doing is flat out rejecting the counsel and teaching of God (the Holy Spirit) and willfully choosing the counsel and teaching of man over and above it. A shameful, shameful thing.

Anyone who listens to E Bible Fellowship will not find me quoting reformers and their opinions and positions on what this verse says or that verse. The reason why I do not quote reformers is not because I do not know or understand their position. I'm very familiar with what Calvin and Luther and Knox and Zwingli, etc, etc taught. The reason I don't quote them is because God the Holy Spirit is the only Teacher in this time of the end.

Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

And God the Holy Spirit teaches, not when we compare Sproul's statement with Packer's statement, but only when we compare spiritual things with spiritual. That is, Scripture with Scripture, in a right comparison results in the Holy Spirit Himself doing the teaching. That's E Bible Fellowship's complete focus.

1 Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

For a long time God winked at the idols carved out of the minds by men with doctorates after their name, and He put up with the presence of these same doctrinal idols in confessions and creeds for many centuries. But no more,

Acts 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;

Returning to former doctrines at this time, after God has graciously opened up to our understanding the hidden things of His Word, is no better than the Israelites desire to return to Egypt or Lot's wife's fatal look back behind him (Christ).