A Moralistic Gospel-A. Close

This video is titled “Stop Listening to the Accusing Voices.” The pastor begins by discussing his opinions on accusing voices and how to respond. He says we should not listen to this voice and “If we are going to live in victory, we have to learn to put our foot down and not dwell on that junk anymore…. I know I have made mistakes, but I know I’m forgiven.” He goes on to say that God is pleased with anyone who has the desire to do right.  The pastor talks about how if we do listen to the condemning voices, we will just get negative on ourselves and not receive God’s mercy. The next large part of the sermon is spent talking about basically how we are forgiven and shouldn’t feel bad about making mistakes, but keep pushing on because God is not displeased with us. The pastor later says that we should be bold in asking God for forgiveness and accepting His grace, and then we should go about expecting God’s blessing. The conclusion of his sermon is spent around the fact that we may not be where we want to be in life, but we should not sit around in self pity because we cannot do this and receive God’s best at the same time.

I do not know where to begin with this presentation of the Gospel. I am going to classify it in the moralistic gospel even though I think it could be several things. Trevin Wax defines the moralistic gospel as changing Christ’s work into good advice. After sitting through this sermon, I think it’s safe to say what I heard was good advice, in no way involving what Christ did for me and the rest of the people on earth through His death. Under the “Proclaiming Good Advice Instead of Good News” section, Trevin Wax makes the statement that we should be focused on what Christ has done for us, and yet many times we focus on what we can do to become good Christians. The preacher makes this statement during his video that God will be satisfied if we have the desire to do right. I know plenty of people that have a desire to do right, yet fail miserably. In fact, we all fail through sin, but some have the desire to do right but do not even fight. I compare this to someone saying that they have the will to win, yet not doing anything to prepare themselves to win. The next part that is contradictory between the book and sermon deals with expecting God’s blessing. The pastor frequently hints that because we repent, we should expect God’s blessing. This also infers that we deserve anything from God. The fact of the matter is, we don’t, and we are so incredibly fortunate that God was willing to send the ultimate gift in His son Jesus, allowing us to be reconciled with Him. Wax also mentions in his book that the gospel advice can be on improving self-esteem. This is what the preacher seems to be trying to do to his congregation, telling them not to listen to the guilty voices that make them feel bad.