YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → No Longer Reformed... But Still Reforming | Theocast

No Longer Reformed... But Still Reforming | Theocast — Transcript

by Theocast with Jon Moffitt · 8,505 words · 1,374 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:01I have a confession to make.
0:03I'm going to get it out of the way right
0:05in front of the beginning.
0:07I no longer want to be reformed.
0:09And I'm going to explain what I mean by
0:10that. It's probably not what you think.
0:13But this is a very important
0:15conversation about the culture of the
0:17reformed world
0:19and uh how it's got to change.
0:22Stay tuned.
0:24Ever read the Bible and walk away
0:26feeling like you're failing? No matter
0:27how hard you try, you're never measuring
0:30up. That's not a motivation problem.
0:32That's a reading problem. Most people
0:34have never been taught how to read the
0:35Bible the way Jesus taught it. So
0:37[music] when they hear things like be
0:39perfect, deny yourself, take up your
0:42cross, they assume it's all about trying
0:44harder. But what if that's not what
0:46Jesus was doing at all? What if the law
0:48isn't meant to fix you, but to reveal
0:51your need for a savior? And what if the
0:52gospel isn't advice, but an announcement
0:55of what Christ has already done for you?
0:58That's the difference between law and
1:00gospel. And once you see it, everything
1:02changes. Clarity, [music] rest, and
1:04confidence. In The Bible According to
1:06Jesus, I show you how to read scripture
1:08the way Jesus intended, so you stop
1:11feeling crushed and confused, and start
1:14living with confidence and rest in
1:15[music] Christ. You can get your copy of
1:17the book at theocast.org.
1:24>> [music]
1:33[music]
1:35>> Thanks for joining us for another
1:36episode of Theocast. I'm Jon Moffitt.
1:38I'm a pastor in Spring Hill, Tennessee
1:40at Grace Reformed Church. I've been
1:42there for 7 years. Started this podcast
1:45about 9 years ago, coming almost on my
1:4710th year, so that's crazy to think
1:49about. If this is your first time here,
1:51we'd love for you to go check out um all
1:53the books we have available. We have two
1:54new books, Enough in Christ, you'll
1:56learn a little bit about that in a
1:57minute and this one, The Bible According
1:59to Jesus.
2:01I'm pretty excited about how well people
2:03are being helped by this. I know that
2:05it's now on college campuses. We've
2:08given lots away for free. If you can
2:10afford any of our resources, we want you
2:12to have them and the reason we can make
2:13them available for free is because of
2:16our supporters and our donors. We don't
2:17do commercials or anything like that.
2:19It's for those of you that help support
2:21our ministry month in and month out.
2:24That's why we give away all of this and
2:26we've given away thousands of books so
2:27far. Enough in Christ, I'll have to go
2:30look at the numbers, but it's been quite
2:31a bit. So,
2:32so thankful that you're here.
2:34If you want to contact me, you can do
2:36so. Just go to our website. I'd love to
2:37hear from you. Spend time in my in our
2:40community where I answer questions and
2:42it's fun just to watch the dialogue in
2:44there as people are processing this
2:46theology. All right, did I
2:50Let's get into the topic.
2:51Did I do a little bit of a bait and
2:53switch?
2:55Maybe.
2:56I'm not quite exactly sure what I'm
2:58going to title this episode, but I think
2:59the the working theory is I'm no longer
3:02reformed. And I know many clicked on
3:04this and they're like, I knew it. I knew
3:05this guy was going to be and then
3:07whatever you think I'm going Roman
3:08Catholicism, Lutheran, dispensational,
3:12walking away from the faith. No, none of
3:15that.
3:16I, according to my Presbyterian
3:18brothers, I never was reformed and
3:21according to my Lutheran brothers, they
3:22don't care what I am.
3:24>> [laughter]
3:25>> They just want me to preach Christ.
3:27According to my Baptist friends, they
3:29think I'm crazy. So, the I'm the misfit
3:31that's been thrown out. I want to have a
3:34a conversation
3:35around the attitude of the reformed
3:39world, the conservative evangelical
3:41Calvinistic post, you know, this Y2K
3:45or you I'm sorry, not Y2K, but young I
3:47grew up in Y2K.
3:48The post young restless and reformed the
3:50YRR crowd where it was edgy and punchy
3:55and now we are seeing a lot of people
3:58leave reformed theology or even leave
4:00evangelicalism and and are going
4:03uh not towards atheism, but they're
4:06going towards Roman Catholicism and
4:09there's a lot of apologetics that are
4:11happening online. I'm extremely thankful
4:13for the apologetic ministries that are
4:15out there. I've benefited from them.
4:18But one of the things that I have
4:19struggled with ever since entering into
4:21the reformed world, I entered in over 20
4:23years ago.
4:25I have been in the reformed space
4:27creating content for
4:29probably 14 years, but doing a podcast
4:32for almost 10 years. So, producing
4:35articles, doing conferences, producing
4:37books,
4:38uh engaging with people online and then
4:40watching people engage with me. The
4:42amount of articles and videos and
4:44comments that I've seen about myself and
4:46my other co-hosts that we've had
4:47throughout the years is
4:50hard at times to read. Um and it's not
4:53necessarily Well, it's most of it is not
4:55coming from non-reformed people. Most of
4:58it is coming from people who would
4:59consider themselves to be dispensational
5:01Calvinistic,
5:03the [snorts]
5:04MacArthur-Piper world,
5:06or the other
5:08other criticisms would be coming from
5:10you know, reformed people
5:12or Lutherans.
5:14Well, what I have discovered and
5:16specifically this is a criticism to my
5:17own denominational faith, um my own
5:21movement of reformed Baptist, but I want
5:23to make the criticism to the reformed
5:24faith in general.
5:26It is a it is a modern attitude that we
5:29have that when people think about the
5:31word reformed,
5:34our theology doesn't seem to be
5:35practicing matching our practice.
5:38What we say we are about, the people
5:40that we are about,
5:43ordinary means of grace, a people of
5:44grace,
5:45where we want to
5:47be about the five solas, right? It's
5:49about the sufficiency of Christ through
5:52the sufficiency of scripture,
5:54so that God would be glorified in all
5:56that we do. And
5:58I just have a hard time thinking that
6:00God is being glorified right now in a
6:01lot of the attitude and actions
6:05of what I see.
6:07I'm going to be the first to admit I'm
6:09guilty.
6:11I have contributed to the mess.
6:15I remember when I first became a
6:16Calvinist, there's a reason why there's
6:19this thing called a cage stage.
6:21It means that the moment you discover
6:24the sovereignty of God in election,
6:27you should be put in a cage because
6:29you're such a violent and wild person.
6:32You are not safe to be in public space.
6:36And it's it's hard. I mean, the the the
6:38doctrines of grace, which is the most
6:41beautiful title for it. It is about the
6:44the God's grace for us, also known as
6:46Calvinism.
6:49Man, it just creates angry people.
6:52And it's And sometimes the debates that
6:54are happening, it's not people are
6:56arguing about
6:58the doctrine itself.
7:00You start reading the comments, and
7:02people start responding to the attitude
7:05in which they're engaging this conver-
7:08this conversation.
7:10I've seen it. It gets very personal,
7:13and it starts going into personal
7:14attacks. Or what ends up happening is we
7:16start questioning the person's
7:18knowledge.
7:19We belittle them. We talk down to them.
7:21We use demeaning language.
7:24And it's really sad. And I'm guilty of
7:26it. I am totally guilty of this. So,
7:30this is not a high horse
7:32come down and beat everybody. Y'all need
7:34to be like me.
7:35>> [laughter]
7:36>> The only thing you should be like me is
7:38repentance. Like just be like me in
7:40repenting. That's it. Like if you want
7:43to if I'm calling you to be like me,
7:45repent, right? Like we we and on
7:47ongoing, all the time.
7:49It wasn't that I discovered that I was
7:51this way and now I repented. I feel this
7:54in me all the time. I'm so ashamed of
7:55the
7:56comments I've deleted before I posted
7:59them because I just knew how shameful it
8:01was. Like that is not a representation
8:03of Christ or a follower of Christ. You
8:06know,
8:07when Peter talked about being ready to
8:08give an answer of the hope that lies
8:09within you, the person reading my
8:11comment would go, "I don't know if any
8:13hope is in this guy."
8:15Like how does he have hope in him if he
8:16talks like that?
8:19The rebuke from Jesus, right? Out of the
8:22heart the mouth speaks.
8:24Man, the amount of things that come out
8:25of my fingers
8:27and they come out of my mouth reveal
8:29where my heart and affection are.
8:32And I've been thinking about this for a
8:34long time. I've gone through
8:35controversies for years. Just went
8:37through one, been in many before.
8:40>> [snorts]
8:40>> Um so this is not my first time engaging
8:43with people online
8:45covering uh
8:46topics from Calvinism to covenant
8:48theology to the sufficiency of scripture
8:50to what does it mean for Israel and the
8:53church, eschatology, and now most
8:55recently the spiritual nature of our
8:57faith, supernatural means of things. So
8:59I've engaged in a broad perspective.
9:02Some things matter, some don't, some are
9:04interesting and fascinating, some are
9:05life-altering. Like if you don't get
9:07this right,
9:08you don't end up being a part of God's
9:10kingdom. That's a
9:12it's a big deal.
9:13You got to get this
9:14right, which is why the majority of what
9:16we talk about here at Theocast is the
9:17clarity of who Christ is in all of
9:19scripture.
9:20I have a new book I'm working on and I
9:21am super excited about it where I take
9:23these practical tips and apply them and
9:25I start working through. Specifically,
9:26we're going to look at Genesis as an
9:28example. Like how is Christ presented to
9:29us in Genesis? Man, so excited to be
9:32preaching through Genesis. Just know I'm
9:34in chapter 11 right now.
9:36And uh church and I have just been
9:38really blessed by what Christ is for us
9:40in these wonderful stories. Um going
9:43through the Tower of Babel right now.
9:44Just did Nimrod and
9:47it's been uh it's
9:48been encouraging.
9:50All right, going back to my point.
9:52What I don't want to be associated with
9:54anymore
9:56is the reformed attitude.
9:59That's what I'm no longer. I don't
10:01It is evident and it is real that the
10:04predominant view on the internet, on
10:06YouTube, and on social media is that
10:08reformed people are not nice. I don't
10:11know how else to say it. We're just not.
10:13Um we're cold and we can be right and
10:17often we are. It's
10:20The answer is correct.
10:23And I can how I don't have a hard time
10:24answering or criticizing the answer
10:28being that like, well, that is the
10:29correct answer.
10:31>> [gasps]
10:32>> I was watching an interview recently and
10:34I uh I agreed with the guy, right? Um
10:38many of you have even seen like the way
10:40in which I have criticized people in the
10:41past. I'll say this now, I've been
10:43critical of Doug Wilson.
10:45And I would stand not only behind what I
10:48said, but how I said it. He is a image
10:50bearer of the of our God and king.
10:52And I pray that he would repent and and
10:55teach
10:56truth.
10:58Uh
10:59and the Lord knows maybe he's my
11:00brother. I don't know. That's up to God
11:02and but what I go off of what he's
11:04saying right now, you know, and I
11:05haven't really engaged in it in years. I
11:07put that out several years ago. But I
11:09wanted to demonstrate that you can
11:10disagree with somebody. You don't have
11:11to be
11:12uh nasty and mean about it.
11:14We have to be really careful.
11:16Uh
11:18I think there is a place for anger. I
11:20think there is a place
11:23of showing stern warning.
11:26A lot that's going to happen in the
11:27church. I think the stern warning ends
11:30up happening inside the local church
11:32because you're dealing with people who
11:34are hurting a local congregation and
11:37they've been warned once, they've been
11:38warned twice, and so Paul Paul kind of
11:40comes down on them pretty hard, and so
11:42does Peter, especially when it relates
11:44to the gospel. But we actually we should
11:45be careful about how we conduct
11:46ourselves outside of the local church.
11:48And I'm not creating rules, I'm just
11:49saying we we shouldn't we didn't look at
11:51things in context. Just because it
11:53happens a few times,
11:55the majority of time Paul is not angry.
11:57He's actually calling us to be cautious
11:59with anger and with our words and with
12:01our mouths.
12:03And that's what I I don't see. Um we
12:05have platforms, praise God for I'm using
12:08them. I have been thoroughly blessed by
12:10YouTube and the internet. Um
12:13and you know, I I know there's a lot of
12:15people who just kind of go off on it all
12:17the time, but I I have been helped by
12:19it. Has it always been official? Well,
12:20no.
12:22That's to say that every book that was
12:23ever printed was beneficial, but I have
12:25been thoroughly helped by the printing
12:27press.
12:29You know, I'm really thankful for it. Um
12:30does that mean the postal service always
12:32delivers everything that is healthy? No,
12:33but I've been thoroughly helped by the
12:35postal service.
12:36So, I'm not here to say, you know,
12:39reformed people need to get off the off
12:40the internet, but what I want to say is
12:43I I want to be the first to stand up and
12:44I know there are many others out here
12:46who are doing this, and so I applaud
12:47them and I want to join them, but I want
12:49to say let's change the culture.
12:53I don't and I don't mean be soft, be
12:56quiet.
12:57I'm not even saying we should all get
12:59along and agree. I actually don't think
13:01we should all get along and agree. I am
13:03thoroughly
13:05against it.
13:06Because of many times people want me to
13:08agree with their false understanding of
13:09the gospel or their confusion of the
13:11law. I don't want to agree with you on
13:12that. I think it's damaging.
13:15In many ways, I think it's damnable.
13:18So, I I I don't want to just figure out
13:21a way so we can all agree.
13:23I'm I'm actually
13:24viscerally opposed to that. There's this
13:27message where it's like, "Can't we all
13:28just get along?"
13:30That's not what I'm saying. I'm not over
13:32here saying, "Can't we all get along?"
13:34I am more
13:36appalled and frustrated and ashamed of
13:39the attitude in which one takes
13:43in representing our king.
13:46There are times where I think to myself,
13:48"I don't want to be associated with
13:50you."
13:52I don't want to be associated with your
13:54your tone, your actions.
13:56I was watching
13:58someone criticize Doug Wilson and how he
14:00was doing it was shameful.
14:02I almost wanted to comment and apologize
14:04and say, "This is not how reformed
14:06people should act."
14:08This is this is shameful. And he was
14:10saying right things. I actually agree
14:11with what he was saying.
14:14But how you say something matters.
14:17Uh so many passages in scripture that
14:19talk about we should consider others
14:21more significant than ourselves, that we
14:23should speak the truth in such a way
14:25that it's
14:26in love. Meaning that the goal of it is
14:28to lead this person to the wonder and
14:30the hope of Jesus Christ.
14:33So the tone and attitude in which we
14:35speak really does matter. We can be firm
14:38and speak in love.
14:39We can be direct and at times even
14:41graphic. Meaning that Paul does say
14:43things things to wake us up like, "Hey,
14:45that's witchcraft."
14:46Like this is so bad I think you should
14:48hack parts of your body off.
14:50Do you understand how serious I am
14:52being?"
14:53>> [snorts]
14:53>> He is trying to show the seriousness of
14:55it.
14:56Yet when the man wrote, he wrote from
14:58from a broken heart and you can hear the
15:00tone of the pastoral tone of his heart.
15:04And Peter, who was pretty brash,
15:06you can hear even in his letters and
15:08he's he's offering correction, there's
15:10still there's a tone of meekness and
15:12gentleness that is there.
15:14When James talks about this in a and I
15:16think a really pointed letter, James
15:18defines wisdom. He says, "If anyone
15:20lacks wisdom, let him ask of God and he
15:22will give it to him liberally without
15:24without pretension. He will give it to
15:26them
15:27beyond our comprehension over and over
15:29and over again." And then he defines
15:31wisdom later on in chapter five as he
15:32said it's meekness, gentleness, open to
15:34reason. Like that is the definition of a
15:37wise person. It's someone who is
15:41aware of what they know
15:43and then understands that it controls
15:45their heart and their mind.
15:47So, I have had sometimes to think about
15:50how I came
15:51to this arrogant
15:54defensive
15:55>> [snorts]
15:56>> very self-righteous, argumentative
15:58attitude.
16:00And it's knowledge.
16:03We are straight told that knowledge
16:05puffs up. This is 1 Corinthians 8:1.
16:11Well, so then we should we just not
16:13should we just not
16:15care about doctrine?
16:17You know, I'm not going to go back to
16:18the fundamentalist uh Baptist phrase
16:21where I grew up underneath, you know,
16:22doctrine divides but Christ unites. I'm
16:24not saying that at all. I love doctrine.
16:26Doctrine is the most important thing to
16:28me because the proper view of doctrine
16:30leads to a humble and meek, patient
16:32person because they are being trained
16:34and discipled in the way in which Christ
16:37wants us to know who he is. But you
16:39separate Christ
16:41and the wonder of Christ
16:42and the glory of the gospel and you
16:45emphasize right doctrine.
16:48I'm sorry, but this is what I think is
16:50going to end up happening.
16:52We have so emphasized being right and
16:54not being whatever. We are not liberals.
16:57We are not this. We are not that. And
16:59that I love our confession. I am
17:01confessional. I am credal. I I really am
17:05thankful for them. But we be we come so
17:08excited over the fact that we are right
17:10and we can prove that we are right that
17:12we forget why it's important to be
17:14right. Like what what does it matter?
17:15It's not to win an argument.
17:19I
17:20I've said this in the past, young man,
17:22young lady, you listen to me. If you're
17:24studying theology, if you're on the AI,
17:26if you're reading articles, and you're
17:28watching a YouTube video so that you can
17:31win an argument because you're in a
17:33debate right now and you want to win an
17:35argument,
17:38that is not what the king has sent us
17:39here for.
17:42And there's nothing wrong with being in
17:44a debate and trying to iron sharpen iron
17:46and trying to figure out and stand for
17:47the truth. But some of the keyboard
17:49warriors that are out there, the the way
17:51in which that you handle this is a shame
17:53to our king.
17:55And I'm going to call it out because I'm
17:57just ashamed of it.
18:00Sometimes I am ashamed to tell people I
18:03am reformed. In my town, I have gathered
18:06with
18:07pastors who are not reformed. Most of
18:09the guys that I fellowship with in my
18:10city cuz there are hardly any reformed
18:12churches here. I am like one of like two
18:16in my town.
18:18They do not have a great thought about
18:20when I say I'm reformed. They actually
18:22scratch their heads like, I know John,
18:23but I don't understand why John
18:24considers himself to be reformed cuz he
18:26doesn't act like the reformed world.
18:29And their experiences are unfortunately
18:31their own.
18:32And it's it's normal. I have had my own
18:34experiences.
18:36Now, is this true of every single person
18:38ever? No, that's ridiculous. That's like
18:40to say that all Americans are, you know,
18:426'5. That's ridiculous. Are there 6'5
18:44Americans? Sure. Is every American 6'5?
18:47No. Is every reformed person angry and
18:49mad and this way? Well, that's
18:51ridiculous.
18:53But there's enough of us,
18:55and probably majority of us, that are,
18:58and that's the attitude that we have.
18:59So, I don't I don't want to be a part of
19:01the culture
19:02of
19:04this beat down anybody that disagrees
19:07with us and isolate and separate over
19:10anybody that I disagree with.
19:13>> [panting]
19:14[clears throat]
19:14>> And at times, I will tell you I am
19:16ashamed to watch someone criticize
19:20someone they're like
19:22the reformed people.
19:23They criticize the people they disagree
19:25with and I look at the criticism and I'm
19:27like, that's not even what they believe.
19:29Like I'm all for criticizing people, but
19:32when someone when you critique somebody,
19:34I know I'm rambling here. This is me
19:36kind of venting, so this is one of the
19:38episodes where I want to
19:40I want to talk to my my friends and
19:41family and and any young men out there
19:43that want to go into ministry, you need
19:44to listen to this to the end because I
19:46want to save you from heartache as a
19:47pastor cuz I made all of these mistakes,
19:50all of them.
19:53But when you're when you're criticizing
19:55somebody, they should accept the
19:58critique.
20:00I love it when I talk with somebody and
20:02they define [snorts] exactly what I
20:03believe accurately.
20:06I had this conversation with a
20:07Presbyterian friend of mine the other
20:08day. I was like, "Dude, you can't even
20:10define the Reformed Baptist view of
20:12baptism. Like you've never You criticize
20:14it all the time and you have no idea
20:16what it is."
20:17Cuz when you criticize it, I don't
20:18recognize it.
20:20You criticize definitely the Reformed or
20:22the I would say the the general
20:24Baptist Southern Baptist view, but there
20:26are a lot of Reformed who are close to
20:28you. They are the closest to you.
20:31Reformed Baptist people are
20:32confessional, Calvinistic, covenantal.
20:34They are there ordinary means of grace
20:36guys and they've written well on this
20:38topic and they've tried to engage in the
20:41Presbyterian or I would even just say
20:43the the Paedobaptist infant Baptist
20:45world at times. We just we just speak
20:47past each other. And it's not like I
20:49need to win the debate. It's just more
20:50of if you're going to criticize me and
20:52criticize people in my church, please do
20:54so knowing exactly what it is that we
20:56teach. It's not that we haven't put
20:58anything out about it. We have.
21:00You just you're not willing to engage in
21:02it. And I'm not saying you can't teach
21:04your view. Teach your view all you want.
21:06But when you go to criticize somebody,
21:08do your work do your work.
21:10So that they when they hear you and your
21:12criticisms, you can they can say yes, I
21:14would agree with that. I don't agree
21:16with I I agree with your definition and
21:18I agree with how you're describing me. I
21:19don't agree with your critique. That's
21:21fine.
21:22I've had people define me a lot of
21:24different ways and I'm like yes, this is
21:25true. I do emphasize that, but I don't
21:27agree with your conclusions. That's
21:28fine.
21:30But we are so quick to fire and then
21:34verify later.
21:35Like it's an actual threat.
21:38Which is
21:39really dangerous.
21:41Do you ever wake up already feeling
21:43spiritually behind? Like [music] no
21:45matter how much you pray, how much you
21:48read, or how much you serve, it's just
21:50never quite enough. Well, friend, you're
21:53not lazy and you're not faithless.
21:56You're tired.
21:57And you're not alone. So many of us are
21:59living in a quiet prison. The one that
22:01whispers, "Grace saved you, but now it's
22:04up to you to keep it up." The one that
22:06turns rest into guilt. The one that
22:09makes you wonder if God is a little
22:11disappointed in you today.
22:13I wrote a [music] new book just for you.
22:15It's called Enough in Christ, freedom
22:17from a performance-driven life.
22:19It's a book that takes you back to what
22:21Christ actually said from the cross, "It
22:24is finished." And shows you how to stop
22:27living like there's still work for you
22:29to do. You can download the whole book
22:31free at theocast.org. Christ really is
22:34enough and in him, so are you.
22:38And the the quarrels amongst each other
22:40in the reformed world is quite
22:41fascinating, too.
22:43I think they're healthy. I I think that
22:45we should have these debates.
22:47Um I've engaged in them. I'm not Again,
22:51>> [laughter]
22:51>> I am not here saying we shouldn't
22:54disagree we all should get along.
22:56It's how we disagree. And honestly, it's
22:59the disposition.
23:01It's the disposition. it's the attitude
23:03in which
23:05one speaks.
23:08By God's grace and mercy, I think I
23:10learned this from my father, who was an
23:12amazing pastor,
23:14and probably from my mom. If you've ever
23:16met her, she's one of the most godly and
23:18gracious and kind women you'll ever
23:19meet. You know, seriously.
23:22Um but I've never I never wanted anybody
23:24to be offended by what I said.
23:27I'm sorry, but by how I said something.
23:29I they are offended by what I said, I
23:30can't control that. Jesus says that if
23:33you follow me and they hated me, they're
23:34going to hate you.
23:36And Peter even said, you're going to
23:38suffer for the sake of the gospel, so
23:40don't suffer for being a sinner
23:42or being
23:44sour,
23:45sarcastic,
23:47being sloppy,
23:48you know, just kind of being careless
23:50with your words.
23:52Thankfully, the comments that I get
23:54down below is the comments of content.
23:57I'm not saying I'm perfect. I'm sure I
23:59know for a fact that I've
24:01get it
24:02animated at times.
24:03But at the end of the day, I want
24:04someone to feel that I'm trying to draw
24:06them towards Christ. That even in
24:08repentance and rebuking them or whatever
24:10wrong view that they have, I want them
24:13to know that I love them and I want them
24:15to trust in the sufficiency of Christ
24:17for them.
24:19This culture that we have created,
24:22I'll say it this way, we have some of
24:24the most beautiful, in my opinion,
24:26I could be wrong, but I think we have
24:28some of the most beautiful doctrines
24:31in all of church history.
24:33Like who we are in Christ, which is why
24:35I wrote the book Enough in Christ. It's
24:37just a reformed dumbed-down version, a
24:39simplified version of the Like if you're
24:42not used to understanding what union in
24:44Christ looks like, that's what that book
24:45is for.
24:46It's I I love covenant theology.
24:50I think it's beautiful.
24:53Um I preach it all the time. And I'm
24:56going through Genesis right now and
24:58we're about to go to Genesis 12, but
25:00I've been preparing our church through
25:01the covenant of works as it starts in
25:03Genesis 3. And I think it's beautiful.
25:06Our our our understanding of the
25:09sufficiency of Christ and the doctrine
25:10of election and our our understanding
25:13that he is the one who perseveres us to
25:15the end. The symbolism of the Lord's
25:17table and baptism is just beautiful
25:19beautiful stuff that's, you know, we
25:21emphasize in a certain way the ordinary
25:22means of grace covenant theology. That's
25:25um biblical theology understanding
25:27Christ in all of scripture. That's you
25:28know, it tends to be a very reformed
25:29traditional thing.
25:31And if you read some of the reformers in
25:33the past, man, they are just broken men
25:35who you can you can see the tears on
25:38their page as they write it, right? You
25:39can just hear their heart bleeding for
25:41people.
25:42And um that's the attitude I think we
25:45need back, you know, a Richard Sibbes, a
25:46Bruce Reed. You know, that's the kind of
25:49attitude, you know, we want to leave
25:50behind some of the Jonathan Edwards
25:52"sinner's in the hands of an angry God"
25:54attitude. The Puritan the Puritanical uh
25:57uh uh
25:57focusing on pietism and we want to
25:59regain some of the attitude where we are
26:03tender and precious and kind towards
26:04people.
26:05I love how Jesus defines himself. I
26:08mean, there are some scary moments in
26:09the in the book of Revelation when Jesus
26:11is talking about those who have
26:13unwilling to repent, they will not come
26:15to Christ, they're going to be opposing
26:16him to the end. And he comes back on a
26:19on a horse full of judgment and it's
26:21it's a terrifying scene.
26:24But to us
26:26who are the sinners and he's drawing to
26:28himself to the to those of us who
26:29believe in him,
26:33he says, "Come to me, all you who are
26:35weary." That's me. I am definitely weary
26:38and are heavy and I'm weighed down by my
26:39sin.
26:40I can't keep the law.
26:42And he says, "I will give you rest for
26:44for my yoke is easy for What does he
26:46say? For I am gentle in heart. I'm
26:48gentle and I am meek."
26:50Look at when Jesus defines himself
26:54gentle and meek. Now, did he turn over
26:56tables in the temple? Yeah, one time.
26:59Maybe two, depending on your historical
27:02understanding of it. Okay, two times.
27:04But, when he defines himself and when
27:06he's not dealing with self-righteous
27:08people who are abusing the temple
27:10and he's just dealing with normal people
27:12who are trying to figure it out, like
27:13what's going on? Like, I don't know
27:15what how many out here.
27:16He defines himself, he goes, "Hey, come
27:18over here.
27:20I'm gentle and lowly.
27:21I'm gentle and I'll be meek with you.
27:23I'll be patient with you."
27:25That's the disposition. When when Paul
27:27says, "Have this mind among you, which
27:30is also in Christ Jesus, that he humbled
27:33himself." [laughter]
27:35Right? Considered himself to be of the
27:37lowly of the low.
27:40That is that that's the mind that we
27:41have. When I look at my savior, I don't
27:44see a combative, angry keyboard warrior
27:47who's out there to slaughter the
27:51false theologians. I It's Well, listen,
27:54there's some bad stuff out there.
27:56I'm all for it. I'm involved in it.
27:59Again, I'm not saying let's all get
28:01along. Let's not criticize each other.
28:03It's just the reputation that the
28:05reformed people have received is that we
28:06shoot our own, we shoot anybody that's
28:08not in our clan. If you don't cross your
28:10t's and dot your i's like I do, then I'm
28:13going to come at you and we create echo
28:15chambers where we get online and it's
28:17just we don't even listen to our
28:18opponents. We're not even thinking about
28:22They're not the enemy.
28:25Like, let me let me be let me be
28:26abundantly clear here.
28:30The early church died at the hands of
28:32humans because they understood that
28:34humans weren't the enemy.
28:37Paul's like, "You're not wrestling
28:38humans." Ephesians 6, we wrestle not
28:41against flesh and blood. That's not
28:44It's like
28:46I think because we don't believe in
28:47spiritual warfare, I'll just say it,
28:50we fight each other. And Paul's like,
28:52"That's not your enemy."
28:56Peter writing to the churches that are
28:57on the outskirts of Rome, who are
29:01so
29:02they're suffering.
29:04They don't have a home, they had that
29:06but they had to leave Rome. They're
29:07being called atheists because they won't
29:09believe in the gods and they don't
29:11accept Yahweh. They had don't have jobs,
29:14so they have no homes, they don't have
29:15no jobs, and they're being persecuted
29:16for the faith because they're like, "The
29:18problems in our city is you because
29:19you're not sacrificing or worshipping
29:21our gods." I mean, this is true, genuine
29:23persecution.
29:26This is who Peter is is writing to.
29:30So, you have to understand it's like
29:32they're they're being attacked by
29:33humans.
29:36And Peter says, "Be sober-minded, be
29:38vigilant,
29:39for your adversary the devil is seeking
29:41whom he may devour."
29:43He's like, "Don't let your mind
29:46turn on each other so that you start
29:49hating each other, hating the world.
29:51They are our mission field.
29:55All authority, Jesus says, has been
29:56given to me on heaven and on earth. And
29:58he's casting a wide net telling us that
30:01we are to go out into all the world and
30:03to all the nations and we are to
30:05proclaim the gospel. Well, guess who
30:06those people are?
30:11Pagans.
30:14If they don't know Christ, they're of
30:15the kingdom of darkness. This is why
30:18Peter's Paul says in Ephesians chapter
30:202, that they are following the course
30:22and the path of the principality of the
30:24air, the Satan, the god of this world.
30:28He has set a course and they follow it,
30:30and you're stepping into that course.
30:32You're putting a sign saying, "Freedom
30:34follow the gentle and lowly savior who
30:36will will save you from your sins." And
30:38Colossians 2 says that he delivers us
30:41out of the domain of darkness into the
30:43domain of his beloved son. Yeah, you're
30:46going to get some off of this opposition
30:47doing that.
30:49But what are we doing? We're over here
30:51actually
30:52hurting the mission.
30:55Like I want to be in the fight. I want
30:57to fight for the lives of those who are
31:00still in the kingdom of darkness. And
31:01then I also want to fight for those who
31:03are Ephesians 4 are being tossed about
31:06by every wind of doctrine being carried
31:07about by human cunningness and deceitful
31:09schemes. Paul talks about this as well.
31:11So I produce a podcast teaching people
31:14how to rest in Christ, write books
31:15teaching you how to read the Bible, how
31:17to study the Bible. You pastors this is
31:20is a great training tool to teach men
31:21how to preach. If you don't know how to
31:23preach Jesus from all of scripture, like
31:24you just don't know how that works,
31:26that's the book. Learn how to preach
31:27Jesus from all of scripture.
31:29Uh this is why I do this because I want
31:32to rescue people out of the domain and
31:33then I want to disciple them and help
31:35them so that they aren't going to be
31:36trapped and tossed about. I think
31:39there's a lot of Christians on the world
31:40and especially on the internet right
31:41now. But and they are getting eaten up
31:44by all kinds of bad doctrine.
31:46Law gospel confusion. They can't figure
31:49out if they're saved or they are trapped
31:51in some nasty sin because they have been
31:53taught by the church a fair false church
31:56that they can live in that sin and be a
31:58Christian. It's like no, you can't. You
32:00can't live in that sin and be a
32:02Christian. That's not how that works,
32:04right? Um but I think there are some
32:06people who have been misled. And if
32:08we're over here bashing them and yelling
32:10at them and their veins are popping out,
32:12that's really hard for people to watch.
32:15But if someone's being kind and gracious
32:17and logical
32:18and and interacting with them in a in a
32:20kind way,
32:23you know, listen, there are some false
32:24teachers out there and they should be
32:25called out and they should be called out
32:26severely. And I'm all for it and have
32:28done it.
32:29No problems.
32:31But
32:33this this attitude and I think it's
32:35going to take a generation. I hope that
32:37my children, who are 22 and down to 10,
32:41I hope the generation that they grow up
32:42in
32:43that when people think of reform,
32:44they're like, "Yeah, those are kind
32:45people. I don't agree with them, but
32:46man, they're they're very gracious.
32:49And they're sacrificial.
32:50They're some of the most giving and
32:52loving and kind people."
32:55Like people should be drawn to the
32:57reformed faith
32:58because
33:00uh Jesus
33:02when he says
33:03"The world will know that you're my
33:04disciples by the love that you have for
33:06one another."
33:07Like I believe that.
33:10Like I want people to be reformed
33:11because
33:13it's a loving place.
33:16And they love to know about Jesus and
33:18all the scripture.
33:20You see, doctrine is it's dividing. I
33:23think doctrine is dividing because we
33:25picked the wrong things to divide over.
33:27I come from fundamentalism. I've seen
33:29it.
33:30Divide over Bible translations, whether
33:32women should wear pants, music, hip like
33:35how long your hair can be.
33:38Like who you allow to preach in your
33:40church, what you're allowed to read,
33:41what you're allowed to watch. I'm all
33:43for holiness, guys.
33:45But everything I just listed there has
33:46nothing to do with holiness.
33:50I I came from that and I'm seeing it
33:52again.
33:53What I'm seeing is a re-collapsing back
33:56into fundamentalism, not the good
33:58fundamentalism where we're trying to get
33:59away from liberalism where there is no
34:01power in the gospel. I'm all for the
34:03fundamentals of the faith that Christ is
34:06sufficient to save and that he really
34:07did walk on water, he did really raise
34:09from the grave, he was born of a virgin,
34:11he is seated right now at the at the
34:12right hand of the Father, he is not in
34:13any grave, he lives in me, his presence
34:16is real in the preaching of the church,
34:17when we take the Lord's table, his
34:19presence is there, and God does hear our
34:21prayer.
34:23That kind of fundamentalism I'm in for.
34:25The fundamentalism I don't want to be in
34:26is that we have got to the place where
34:28if we don't perfectly
34:30believe in everything exactly the same
34:32way that it's time to fight. How about
34:35it's time to encourage?
34:37How How about it's time to find out
34:39where we do agree?
34:41Shout out to thankfully my Lutheran
34:43Pres- Presbyterian Episcopal friends who
34:45do partner with me where we find out
34:48like hey, where do we agree? Christ is
34:49sufficient. Jesus is in all of
34:51scripture. The law and the gospel.
34:54And let's have meaningful conversations
34:56which I have had.
34:58I've been on the White Horseman's
35:00podcast and they have been on mine to
35:02talk about baptism. This is one of our
35:04Solas Media.
35:07This is good. I'd love to have more
35:09conversations where I disagree with my
35:10brothers.
35:13But how we do it's got to change.
35:17So,
35:18I am begging and pleading and
35:20demonstrating for this in my own church.
35:23I've had people literally say to me, "I
35:25didn't want to come here because I've
35:26been to reformed churches before,
35:28specifically reformed Baptist churches,
35:30but I went online and I listened to your
35:32some of your sermons and I watched your
35:34guys service and it seemed different."
35:37Broke my heart to think that someone
35:39wouldn't come because of the name
35:40reformed is in my church name.
35:44Man,
35:47it's heartbreaking.
35:50So, if you're reformed,
35:52thinking about being reformed, but you
35:54don't want to be reformed because you're
35:55like, "I don't want to be a part of this
35:56angry mob,
35:59then let's be a part of the people who
36:00change it.
36:02Right? Let's not respond in those ways.
36:05Let's not get puffed up. I mean, James
36:07James said some pretty stark things,
36:09too.
36:10Uh we tend to ignore these, but you
36:11know, James talks about being hearers of
36:13the word only. Like we
36:16breed people who know so much theology
36:20and they have no
36:21application of it.
36:24It's like sure, you understand your
36:25eschatology, you understand your
36:27ecclesiology, you get uh the
36:30resurrection of Christ right, you get
36:32Calvinism right, you get covenant
36:33theology right.
36:35But
36:36But
36:38what about when it says that we are to
36:39consider how to build one another up
36:41into love?
36:42Or that what comes out of our mouth
36:44needs to be that of grace and kindness
36:46and mercy.
36:48Or that we consider other people more
36:50significant than ourselves. That we look
36:51at Christ and his humility and it
36:52reflects our humility.
36:55That is just as important
36:57of getting the Trinity right.
37:06If I am of Christ, then I need to be of
37:08Christ.
37:10And we need to be the first to repent
37:11and ask for grace and mercy when we're
37:13not.
37:14I am not calling anybody to perfection.
37:16There are I I put out a letter last year
37:18just saying, "Hey look, I could have
37:20been more clear.
37:21I think I got a little spicy with some
37:22people. Here's Here's all I want to be
37:24clear and apol- you know, I apologize
37:26for my lack of clarity and apologize for
37:27being spicy. I don't I don't want to do
37:29that."
37:29>> [gasps]
37:32>> I I think that the reform we can.
37:36Because our it's in our theology, we're
37:38just ignoring it.
37:40Like it's in our confessions, in our
37:41creeds.
37:44We are people of the means of grace
37:46where we literally come and receive
37:47through the preaching of the word, the
37:48sacrament, the table,
37:50uh baptism, fellowship, singing. Like
37:53it's all about God's grace because we're
37:56wicked sinners. Like it's all a part of
37:57our entire culture. But it's like we've
38:00we've abandoned the culture to be right.
38:04So I'm going to end with this.
38:08I'm convinced that that spiritual
38:09warfare is real more than ever.
38:13I don't think Satan's really changed his
38:15tactics in 2,000 years.
38:19They have different labels, you know,
38:21like when you reprint a book and you
38:23just put a new dust cover on it and
38:25upgrade it. He uses the same exact
38:28tactics. Not that this book is from
38:29Satan.
38:31He uses the same tactics all the time.
38:33It just changes it a little bit. What is
38:34the tactic?
38:36>> [gasps]
38:36>> Well, if you think about it, the church
38:38is supposed to be the place where and
38:39Christians are supposed to be the place
38:41where they proclaim the gospel, right?
38:42We we are the ones that set people free.
38:45God doesn't use angels. He uses us. How
38:48will they How will they hear unless we
38:49preach? Right? Go into all the world and
38:51preach the gospel and then make them
38:53disciples.
38:54We are supposed to train them into the
38:56wonder of God's grace, man. They have
38:58been trained in law, in selfishness, and
39:00in wickedness.
39:02And we get to train them in the wonder
39:04of God's patience and kindness and
39:06prayer and confessing sins to one
39:09another and being vulnerable and being
39:10real. The hard thing about the world is
39:11nobody's real.
39:13Nobody's open.
39:14Nobody's honest.
39:17I I look at social media and I laugh
39:18because I'm like I got couples in my
39:19office one day and then they're posting
39:21like their marriage is great the next
39:22day and then I'm like, yeah, I know
39:23you're on the road to divorce.
39:25And everybody's shocked when they're
39:26getting divorced. I'm like, I'm not cuz
39:27I don't believe anything that people
39:28post anymore.
39:30It's hard. It's hard to be real because
39:34we want to maintain an image.
39:37So, the church is not safe to be real.
39:40And uh so say what does Satan do?
39:42He comes in.
39:45And uh he first messes with the gospel.
39:47If we mess with the gospel, then we have
39:49no
39:50hope of comfort and conviction. Right?
39:54We just keep going to the law. The The
39:56gospel is that comfort over and over and
39:58over again that we are never sufficient
40:00and Christ is sufficient.
40:02And it causes us to repent. Like that's
40:04why
40:04Paul tells the Romans that God's
40:06kindness was meant to lead to
40:07repentance, but they they're not
40:09repenting.
40:11They They They missed it. But the gospel
40:13is the constant kindness of our God and
40:15king. So, I've seen it for years, for 10
40:18years now. I've tried to pull it pointed
40:20out in a lot of the reformed churches.
40:21We don't preach Christ and him crucified
40:23as a sufficient for sanctification,
40:25justification, and and bringing people
40:27into change. We don't preach Christ in
40:30all the scripture.
40:31It's pietistic legalism, therapeutic
40:33moralism, all right?
40:36So, what does Satan do? He messes with
40:37the gospel, that messes with our hearts,
40:38that then messes with our attitudes, and
40:40he's like, get all the theology you want
40:42as long as you're not emphasizing
40:43Christ. Get all the theology that you
40:46want.
40:47And so, I'm convinced that Satan's
40:50tactic in the early church, because if
40:52you read every new New Testament
40:53epistle, the one of the concerns that
40:55they have is
40:57an emphasis on Christ and grace, and
40:58then number two, the way in which we
41:00treat each other, our mouths,
41:02slander, gossip, unity.
41:05I mean, that's why Paul says in
41:06Ephesians chapter 4, "Be eager to
41:09maintain the bond of peace in Christ."
41:11These are all the things that you have
41:12in Christ. Now, be eager to maintain
41:14that.
41:16Like, make it your ambition and aim.
41:21And James says,
41:23he starts the list all that the mouth is
41:26like a flaming fire, and we just can
41:28torch each other, and the things that we
41:30say to each other.
41:33He says, "Resist the devil, and he will
41:34flee from you." Well, resist what? The
41:36fleshly desire to thrash someone with
41:40our mouth.
41:41We turn [snorts] away from that, and we
41:43turn towards wisdom, which is meekness
41:44and all this and grace. And how do we
41:46get that? Right in that same passage
41:48where he talks about resist the devil,
41:49and he will flee from you, but he says,
41:51"But he gives more grace."
41:53Grace to what? Grace for those of us who
41:55have sinned.
41:57Satan cannot stay where grace remains,
42:00and grace comes through our lips when we
42:02are
42:03confessing our sins to one another,
42:04which James says, "Confess chapter 5,
42:06confess your sins to one another so that
42:07you might be healed." When we offend
42:09each other, we ask for forgiveness.
42:10Lord, forgive us our debts as we forgive
42:12one another. Well, I have I've hurt you.
42:14We are seeking unity.
42:16I think
42:18I don't think James just means in
42:19general. I somehow and some way the
42:22demonic forces of Satan enter into our
42:24churches because we are careless with
42:27our words. We become arrogant in pride
42:29and we care more about being right than
42:30we are thinking about the effects that
42:32we're having. Being right is important.
42:35I have doctrinal standards. I am
42:36confessional. I want our church to
42:38understand that. But how I go about it
42:41is just as important of what I'm going
42:43for.
42:44I think that Satan is ruling and
42:46reigning in a lot of churches and a lot
42:47of homes right now because we are so
42:49divisive and angry. And then you go
42:51online
42:53He's like, "I got I got them more
42:54fighting with each other so they're not
42:55fighting me."
42:57Well, that's a win.
43:00I'll hand it to him. He they Satan's
43:02winning. Maybe that should be the title
43:04of the episode. Satan's winning. He's
43:06got us fighting with each other so we're
43:07not fighting him and fighting him which
43:09is proclaiming the Christ to the lost,
43:13right? Clarifying Christ for you.
43:17Sometimes I I wonder if people would
43:20spend as much time and energy they do in
43:21the comments or even making videos
43:24arguing with each other, if they would
43:26spend that same amount of energy just
43:27loving their neighbor. And I'm not
43:28saying you got to pick one or the other.
43:30But there there's a lot of energy being
43:32spent over information at times that I'm
43:35like, man, I'm just I'm curious.
43:38So, the two things that I'm committing
43:40to is
43:41I don't want to be a part of that
43:42culture. I'm not leaving the theology.
43:45I'm more excited about it than I ever
43:46have been. Preaching Christ from all of
43:48scripture. I love coming to theology. I
43:50love confessions and creeds.
43:51>> [gasps]
43:52>> But I'm also not going to be shy away
43:53from the fact that um
43:55this is a supernatural war.
43:58And once you see that, you don't want to
44:00engage in what Satan is doing.
44:03I'm not going to wrestle with my
44:04brothers and sisters or human beings and
44:06try and convince them
44:08and fight and I there's a war to be won.
44:10There's there are people who we need to
44:12we need to bring them into Christ.
44:15So if that's something you're interested
44:17in then man, help me do this. Like I
44:19like this is exciting to think that
44:21there are pastors out there who can
44:22think this way.
44:24We need to we need to get together and
44:26encourage one another.
44:28This is a good fight to be in.
44:30I'm not saying get off the internet.
44:32Let's just change
44:33let's change let's take the knowledge of
44:35Christ for us
44:37and let us become compassionate vigorous
44:39people who want to disciple in love.
44:42And we're not going to get into the
44:43fray. We're not going to get angry with
44:45one another. We're not going to yell and
44:46be visceral. And if we have
44:47disagreements, we learn how to disagree
44:49in love.
44:52Some people care more about being right
44:54than they do loving. Start with being
44:57loving.
44:59Care about being loving.
45:01And I guarantee you people will want to
45:03know why you're right.
45:05I'll end with this. My dad just said
45:06this all the time. Son, people don't
45:08care how much you know
45:10until they know how much you care.
45:13And so
45:14let people know that you care about
45:16them. I care about you. Hopefully you
45:17felt this in this video.
45:19This is what our Theocast community is
45:20built on.
45:22We have people who are seeking knowledge
45:23and it is it is not acceptable to be
45:25angry in there. You can disagree with me
45:27in every way you want but just don't be
45:30angry about it. And we do give you some
45:32gracious warnings before we take action.
45:35But anyways, um
45:38hopefully this is helpful for you. If
45:39your Bible study is causing you to be
45:40angry, you're studying it wrong. You
45:42first of all need to know who you are in
45:43Christ. Secondly, you should learn how
45:46God breaks us down with the law. He
45:48crushes us and then we go screaming
45:51wonderfully to the gospel
45:53yelling hallelujah the whole way. That's
45:55how we should read the Bible. If you
45:57don't if you're reading the Bible as an
45:59apologetic where it's making you angry,
46:01then come get this book. If you can't
46:02afford it, I'll send you a copy.
46:04Just let me Just let me know where to
46:05send it. Thanks for listening and uh
46:10let's reform the reformed.
46:12Just the attitude that is.
46:15Come join me. Hey guys, real quick. Some
46:17of you are listening to this and it's
46:19encouraging to you, but you have
46:20questions. So, where do you go? How do
46:22you interact with other people who have
46:24the same questions and share resources?
46:27We have started something called the
46:28Theocast community. So, we're excited
46:30because not only is it a place for you
46:31to connect with other like-minded
46:33believers, all of our resources there,
46:35past podcast, education materials,
46:37articles, all of it's there and you can
46:39share it and ask questions. You can go
46:41check it out. The link is in the
46:42description below.
46:46>> [music]

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of No Longer Reformed... But Still Reforming | Theocast by Theocast with Jon Moffitt, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 8,505 words across 1,374 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.