From Reform to Resurrection: Choosing the Mind of the Spirit
- ghilton919508
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
As we move through this season of Lent, I want us to confront a truth we often try to avoid: there are two ways to live. One leads to life, and the other leads to death. In my study of Romans 8, Deuteronomy 30, and Proverbs 14, I have been struck by the profound choice we face between a faith centered on human effort and one sustained by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit.
The Shift Toward Human Experience
About a century ago, a significant shift began in our nation’s seminaries. Fearing that Christianity would become irrelevant in an advancing scientific and industrial age, many leaders felt the faith needed to "adapt". Instead of starting with the question, "What has God revealed in Scripture?", they began to ask, "What kind of God will modern society find acceptable?".
This movement, influenced by theologians like Friedrich Schleiermacher and Walter Rauschenbusch, moved the starting point of faith from divine revelation to human experience. It birthed the "Social Gospel," which argued that the Kingdom of God isn't a future reality brought by Christ’s return, but a utopia we build ourselves by reforming economic and political systems.
The Error of "Progressive Christianity"
Now, Scripture clearly commands us to care for the poor and pursue justice. However, we make a crucial error when we mistake social improvement for the gospel itself. In this "progressive" framework, traditional doctrines like sin, repentance, and the necessity of the cross are often softened or treated as mere symbols.
I must be honest with you: I was taught these theologies in seminary, and I have preached sermons influenced by them in the past. For the first ten years of my ministry, I can’t recall ever preaching on repentance. But as Paul warns us, this mindset "hollows out" religion, replacing redemption with reform and salvation with social transformation.
The Limit of Human Renovation
To understand the limit of human effort, imagine a patient in a hospital who has gone into cardiac arrest. If the doctors gather only to discuss redecorating the room with better lighting or nicer beds, they may improve the environment, but they cannot restart the patient's heart.
The patient does not need renovation; the patient needs resurrection. Paul teaches us in Romans 8 that our fundamental problem is not merely unjust structures, but the "mind of the flesh"—a heart bent away from God that no human system can heal.
The Lessons of History
History confirms that setting the mind on the flesh leads to death. The Roman Empire attempted to build a Pax Romana (Roman Peace) through human will and law, but it eventually died because it was built apart from God. Likewise, the 20th-century vision of communism sought to engineer a perfect society through human progress, but it resulted in unfathomable famine and oppression. Human systems alone cannot heal the brokenness of the human heart.
The Call of Lent
During Lent, we must ask ourselves: Are we "silencing Jesus"?. We do this when we:
Treat the Bible as a flexible document to be adjusted rather than a truth to be obeyed.
Soften difficult teachings on sexual ethics or judgment to remain "acceptable" to the culture.
Replace the call to repentance with a message that is easier to digest.
Our Ultimate Hope
Our hope is not built on the gradual improvement of human systems. We work for justice and peace, but we do not place our ultimate hope in society's solutions.
Our hope rests in the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, who is already at work creating a new humanity. This is the same Spirit that now dwells within you. My message to you is the same as it has been since the beginning: Repent of your sins, lay them at the foot of the cross, and rise anew. Let us choose the mind of the Spirit, for it is life and peace
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