A New religion in Town

I feel a little like Jude must have felt. I have wanted to write for a long time, but not about this. I feel compelled to write for believers to contend for the truth. Certain persons or ideas have crept in and Jesus Christ is being denied. Some do not even know it is happening.

There is a new religion in town, in our country and in our churches. The gospel message varies a little in this new religion. Sometimes it is all whites are racist and only a lifetime of conscious effort and repenting of that privilege will heal you. The problem is you actually can’t do it. It is a “do this and live” principle that you can never do. Sometimes the message is our country is full of systemic racism. So everything needs to go-statues, the confederate flag, even the American flag, the cops, history- we need to start over. The gospel is humanity and it improved instead of Christ and Him crucified.

This new religion comes with new rituals. Feet washing, kneeling, constant repentance for sins you did not do or perceived sins. Virtue signaling is good, so is giving money, but is it all just empty signs that actually don’t mean anything. The catechesis is strong and you must get it exactly right and will be quizzed often and judged harshly.

The end time’s hope is a country with no racism, a perfectionist ideology that keeps the Promised Land just out of reach.

The Bible is not the authority of course rather the experience of a few, the oppressed or the perceived oppressed. All others are held accountable to their perception of their experience.
           
This religion has its elite already. The woke are the new Pharisees. They call others guilty thinking themselves righteous because of the mighty virtue signal. False confessions are forced and they allow for no actual forgiveness. There is no atonement, no redemption and no real reconciliation, just religious pride. It is a totalitarian regime.
           
One’s identity is to be a perpetual victim. Past sins are never gone; rather bitterness, presumption, self-righteousness and enmity are promoted. Justice is replaced with vengeance. There is no unity.
           
Mankind is created black and white not all in one race (Acts 17:26), all in the image of God (Gen 1:27). Sins aren’t specific, just vague systemic ideas.
           
Imputation still exists but only in a negative sense. The sins of past ancestors, of past things done in this country are imputed to me and the righteous standard is left out of reach.
           
This religion meets anytime and anywhere for church. Maybe even in your church. The gods of anger, hatred and self-pleasure are satisfied only temporarily.
           
This is an anti-Christ religion. The work of Christ is insufficient. Our identity is not in Christ. The Bible is not the authority, there is no grace and it offers no hope. In short this new religion offers no good news.
           
Let me tell you about something far better, the real gospel. There is some bad news first. We have all failed to live up to God’s standard of justice. It is impossible for us to atone for our own sins or the sins of others. We need a God Man. Jesus Christ came and perfectly upheld the righteous standard God demands. He went to the cross satisfying the wrath of God, defeating sin and death and Satan, rising from the grave the third day! The call is to believe on Christ. That is all, simple belief in Christ. The work is done. The gospel is powerful, always has been, always will be. When we believe on the Lord Christ we are forgiven and we have the perfection of Christ credited to our account. God sees us as righteous even though we still fail. Our identity is in Christ.
           
God has a law. One of them is that if you hate a fellow image bearer, regardless of their skin color, or because of it, it is murder in God’s eyes. One day Justice will be served before a holy God, an all-powerful, all seeing God. No sin will be hidden from Him, but all secrets will be revealed. Those who do evil and those who approve it and those who think they are self-righteous will all be condemned before the Great Tribunal (Rom 1-3).
           
This new religion, call it critical theory, call it wokeianity, call it cultural Marxism, call it black lives matter (this saying supports a political agenda contrary to Christ), is not really new. We have seen similar things before. Christians have been called bad names before. We keep offering the good news. There can be real reconciliation between men and God. The enmity can be healed (Eph 2). There can be reconciliation between man and man. There is no social solution to a spiritual problem. 
           
​The church cannot do ministry with false gospels. We can’t tolerate false Christ’s or false gospels in our churches. This religion is in our seminaries, Christian publishing and in our churches. May we take every thought captive and not be led astray by worldly philosophy. May we remember we have a message to proclaim to the nations, including our own nation and our own town. May we be faithful in proclaiming it and offer some real hope to a hurting world. May the church stay on mission and not be distracted. We await a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
 
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)

Check out our Podcast with Jon Harris on this subject! 

Jay Wipf is a former student of Coalt Robinson and attended Grace University where he earned his degree in Christian Education. Jay is currently studying at Reformed Baptist Seminary in the comfort of his home in Huron, SD.  By grace and at Grace he met his beautiful wife Rachel, and they now have three young children. Jay and his family live in Huron where he works in facilities at a local credit union and serves within the local church.