We all know that apart from the Holy Spirit we can do nothing. And we all know that God’s commandments do not have the power, in the abstract, to “produce what they demand.” (In fact, even announcements of God’s saving power in Christ have no effect apart from the Spirit’s application.) But, it should be noted, the faithful preaching of God’s commands in the context of a faithful gospel ministry can produce real change in a sinner’s life because God has ordained his commandments to work, “at least in some degree, that which is commanded.”

My offer to publicly debate PCA Pastor, Tullian Tchividjian, still stands. If a recent “tweet” by Tchividjian is anything to go by (“Some critics are best answered with silence. Fruit quietly and confidently testifies of its root.”), I doubt very much this will happen. Of course, that did not stop him from writing a rather strong response to a “housewife theologian,” but I suppose he is free to pick his battles with those whom he (rather selectively) chooses.

There are a number of problems and ironies that have resulted from Tchividjian’s writings. The first concerns his rhetoric. He persistently speaks of people and ministers – even Reformed ministers – grossly confusing law-gospel categories, even going so far as to suggest that many assume that the law has the power to produce what it demands. This claim is nearly impossible for anyone to really prove. Even so, his critique requires names and specifics for it to be taken seriously; otherwise, it is insulting and may cast unnecessary aspersions upon faithful shepherds of Christ’s flock, especially if some of Tchividjian’s more zealous disciples start questioning their own pastor’s orthodoxy.

With that in mind, if I shared similar theological convictions to those of Tchividjian, then I might be tempted to echo similar sentiments. But what if Tchividjian is the one who is grossly confused? In his writings he seems so confident he is correct, which makes me wonder why he doesn’t take up the offer to debate this issue. In any event – or lack thereof, sadly – here’s the irony: he may be guilty of the very error he critiques.

Tchividjian’s penchant for throwing quotes around on his blog should not be mistaken for historical theology. Even a cursory glance at Reformed and Lutheran theologians from the time of the Reformation proves that the law-gospel distinction has a messy history once we move from the matter of justification to other thorny questions (e.g. does the gospel include repentance?). Before chastising other (anonymous) Reformed (and non-Reformed) preachers for confusing categories, perhaps Tchividjian could explain the similarities and differences between Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, Zwingli, Bullinger, Calvin, Musculus, Zanchi, Ursinus, Owen, and Rutherford?

Perhaps he could comment on the intra-Lutheran debates between the Philippists and the Gnesio-Lutherans? Philip Melanchthon, Erasmus Sarcerius, and Johann Spangenberg all include poenitentia in the Gospel and read Luke 24:47 as a reference to the Gospel. Johann Wigand and Jacob Heerbrand excluded poenitentia from the Gospel. Reformed theologians, Jerome Zanchi and Zacharias Ursinus, both took issue with certain Lutheran understandings of the law-gospel distinction. Moreover, there appears to be slight differences even among Reformed confessions on the nature of the gospel. With whom does Tchividjian agree and disagree? Simply asserting the importance of the distinction does not mean one has understood the distinction. As the saying goes: “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Tchividjian’s law (“do”) – gospel (“done”) distinction does not have quite the Reformed pedigree that he assumes. Indeed, what are we to say about the fact that the Canons of Dort expressly say that the gospel “threatens” (5.14)? John Owen spends copious time on the nature of gospel threatenings (and gospel commands), as well. Has Owen made a basic “category mistake”? If, as Tchividjian suggests, “redeeming unconditional love alone (not fear, not guilt, not shame) carries the power to compel heart-felt loyalty to the One who bought us,” then I’m afraid he has abandoned the Reformed tradition to which he claims to belong. The reasons we obey are many and varied. If Herman Witsius is correct, we may even obey God with a regard to our own advantage. Now that’s liberating!

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