![]() ![]() He made the point that the OT bore no authority on the ethics of the church sexual or otherwise, but what about Paul’s instruction to Timothy? Paul wrote, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 CSB). The testimony of the Bible is what discredits Stanley’s argument. Sacred Scripture testifies concerning itself. It does harm to the people of God and misrepresents the kingdom of God. I write these words with a heavy heart and with the conviction that this teaching is not in accordance with sound doctrine. It is a betrayal of Jesus’ view of the OT and exposes a serious level of cultural illiteracy in regard to the critical role the OT has played in the history of marginalized people and black people in particular. For the purpose of this post, I contend that his line of reasoning goes against the testimony of Scripture itself and diminishes the significance of the OT in the proclamation of the gospel. ![]() There is not enough space for me to deal with every point of his message. He went on to say, “Church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish Scriptures.” Concerning the Ten Commandments, Stanley remarked, “You are not accountable to the Ten Commandments, we’re done with that. He said, “The old covenant was not the go-to source regarding sexual behavior for the church…The Old Testament was not the go-to source for any behavior for the church.” Pastor Stanley made the point that the apostle Paul did not tie sexual immorality to the OT. The main idea was that the Old Testament Scriptures are basically obsolete and have no bearing on the lives of Christians in the new covenant. He spoke from Acts chapter 15 which details how the leaders in Jerusalem responded to the gospel spreading to non-Jewish people. I found Stanely’s message to be deeply troubling. Unfortunately, as I listened, I felt everything but encouraged. As a pastor myself, I preach and teach to God’s people from God’s Word on a weekly basis, so I was very interested to hear this pastor encourage his people and maybe even be encouraged myself. It was the third installment in a series entitled “Aftermath.” Pastor Stanley told the congregation that he wanted to speak to those who were lost or had lost faith due to something in the Bible, specifically the Old Testament. I recently had the opportunity to listen to a message by Andy Stanley, the senior pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. ![]()
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