I want to way the this post is not about "self worth" as some teach be it Dr. Phil or the John MacArthurist two steppin' around "psychobabble" and not seeing that any system that is not for Jesus is against Him and is of the antichrist... of it is of this world and not of the truth.
To quote from one of the defenders of John MacArthur (against the bi polar opposite Darwin Fish and Rick Miesel. Darwin Fish would be the polar opposite of John MacArthur yet both seem to be into a extreme separatist theology so in that way have more in common than they realize)
"Therefore, we will make three general observations about psychology prior to beginning our defense of MacArthur's teachings.
Observation One: Psychology is not a false religion. Although it is becoming increasingly popular among biblically minded Christians to call psychology a false religion, it really cannot be classified as a false religion. Psychology has never pretended to be a religious system and has never attempted to create a religious system. In fact, most of the psychological schools of thought were started by atheists who specifically rejected religion, particularly Christianity."
Again, it is a religion that believes man can solve his own issues with his own knowledge... that is the "core" of all false religions...
"Observation two: Psychology is not another gospel. Believing that psychology is another gospel can lead to as much deception as believing that it is a false religion. As stated previously, psychology is nothing more than the world's attempt to study and understand the human mind and to observe and understand human behavior. In contrast, the gospel is the good news "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3-4). In other words, the gospel is about Christ's bearing our sins and our receiving the merit of His righteousness."
I find it funny that they claim it is not another "gospel". The Caesar's proclaimed a "gospel of Caesar worship"... yet to use the logic here, since that was a "government" and not a religion, then it cannot be another "gospel". To those who are caught in the system of psychology they are caught in the false idea the their salvation is from drugs, doctors or some sort of pseudo spirituality such as Jungian visualization. I am not saying that some people cannot be helped by medication, nor that a psychologist can't offer good advice, but if a person trusts in anything outside of Jesus for their salvation, they will be lost... plain and simple.
Observation Three: Christian psychology does not exist. Although there are Christians that have become psychologists, there is no such thing as Christian Psychology. In fact, it is impossible to have a psychological school of thought that could be accurately classified as Christian. This is because Christianity and the gospel are virtually synonymous. Therefore, integrating psychology into Christianity is equivalent to integrating psychology into the gospel. Some may dispute this fact but a close examination of the gospel as stated above will prove that the gospel is not merely a part of Christianity but in fact is Christianity. Consequently, any attempt to create a specialized field of psychology that integrates Christianity and psychology will eventually lead to a corruption of the gospel.
Again, to a degree I may agree, yet there are gifted (by God) to counsel and console those who need guidance. If one is guided by the Holy Spirit and has some education then to me that is not "Christian psychology".
Again this all is an example of the double talk and lack of historical understanding that runs though much of John's teachings.
Jesus did not come to show us our self worth but that He was worthy. Though it seems on one hand John states comments like:
"A true sense of self-worth comes from understanding our position in Christ. We have been chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world. Knowing this gives us a sense of our significance and value to God."
It is interesting to me that self-worth is not even a Biblical thought... "Worthy is the Lamb" have worth only because we are "in Christ" and in that Christ Jesus is worthy. There is no worth in ourselves nor do we gain worth by our "position" as a believer... as John asserts. His view is that we have been raised to a "position as opposed to being "placed in Christ Jesus". There is a big difference. One still focuses on the "self" in self worth... while the other realizes one is dead in their sins and needs a Saviour... and that Saviour is the worthy One.
TO do the MacArthur sidestep is to deny self but put focus back on self in that we do works to prove our salvation. Again, these are not our works, but Christ Jesus doing these works in and through us. So we only prove Christ Jesus' worthiness as we do them.
Does God value us? Yes! Does God love us? Yes! But in know way does God see us worthy before or after salvation. Again, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain." It is by the Blood we are saved despite being unworthy. TO teach worthiness before or after salvation negates the Blood of Christ and the Power and reason of the Cross and Resurrection.
Blessings,
iggy
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