About a month ago I discerned through the 8 points of Progressive Christianity on my Instagram.  These 8 points are up on the Progressive Christianity website found here.

My heart in doing this to help Bible believing Christians understand where Progressive Christians are coming from and what the implications are for following their teachings.  I also want to show that Progressive Christianity is not following the true God of the Bible. 

Before you read, please understand that not all Progressive Christians believe all of these 8 points.  The major belief they all have in common though is that the Bible is not their authority.  Experience and feeling tend to be the authority of a Progressive Christian. 

1. “Believe that following the path of the teacher Jesus can lead to healing and wholeness, a mystical connection to “God,” as well as an awareness and experience of not only the Sacred, but the Oneness and Unity of all life;"

This is the first point from progressive christianity.org. Within the first line we can see that Progressive Christians deny that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. They reduce Christ to a human teacher. Such that if they follow what this good teacher taught, they will find healing wholeness in their souls, and they will have a connection with god.

This is very subtle and speaks straight to our flesh. We naturally want to show how "good" we are by ascribing to a list of things to prove to ourselves and others that we aren't bad people. That we are better than others, since we do all these great things. In the PC mind set, by following teacher jesus, they are given a set of rules to show themselves and others they are good Christians. Thus, this will give them healing and wholeness, or in other words, life fulfillment. Then through their goodness, they will achieve a connection with what they call god. 

Next, once this connection is achieved they will understand the secrets of the Universe… this is new age rhetoric. And very unbiblical. 

The only way to know God is through Jesus Christ. If we believe that all we have to do is follow a good teacher to be fulfilled and then know the secrets of the universe, then we believe in a system of works designed to put us in bondage, build our pride, and feed our sin nature; ultimately sending us to Hell. 

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 3:36 ESV

2. "Affirm that the teachings of Jesus provide but one of many ways to experience “God,” the Sacredness, Oneness and Unity of life, and that we can draw from diverse sources of wisdom, including Earth, in our spiritual journey;"

This is the second point of the 8 points of Progressive Christianity found on their website. If you reduce Jesus Christ down to a good moral teacher, it makes so much sense that his teachings are one of many ways to god. Since most Progressive Christians believe in universalism, that Christ died for all regardless of what people believe about Him, there is no need to be exclusive. Because everyone means all religions too.

I would argue that most if not all Progressive Christians want some sort of relationship with God but since they keep denying their sin it's not possible. And since the jesus they follow is all about following a set of rules to be a good, moral, and spiritual person, they look to other religions or the new age to find their experience of god. 

Looking at all the world religions and the new age we can see that all of them, except Biblical Christianity, are set up for people to follow a set of rules to achieve something or to get into heaven or to get god. Or in other words to show they are good people.   

This statement by PC is also a way of saying we "respect" your experience of god. Since your religion, experience, and philosophy has the same outcome as ours, to be a good person, all religions and ideas must be the same. 

Jesus Christ was very clear when He said in John 14:6. "... 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" There is no way around that my friend. My professors at the PC seminary I went to couldn't even refute that claim. 

Keep your eyes open to words like interfaith, unity, and ecumenicalism. These are buzz words in PC. When you hear these words, start asking questions. Most likely, it's to promote the second point of Progressive Christianity.

3. "Seek and create community that is inclusive of ALL people, including but not limited to:

Conventional Christians and questioning skeptics,

Believers and agnostics,

Those of all races, cultures, and nationalities

Those of all sexual orientations and all gender identities,

Those of all classes and abilities,

Those historically marginalized,

All creatures and plant life;"

First, what is Biblical love? Biblical love is about laying our lives down for those around us, putting their best interest over our own best interest. Jesus showed us this love by dying for us, by taking our place and paying the price for our sin.  He came to die for our best interest so we could be free from sin and live with God forever. Biblical love points people to Christ and the Gospel so that they can be saved from the wrath of God. 

In the third point of Progressive Christianity, their definition of inclusion reveals what they truly believe love is. Love is acceptance of every person, including acceptance of all of their sin. 

If everyone is striving to follow this teacher jesus and everyone else in other religions around the world are doing the same thing, they must be accepting of sin. Because everyone is trying to make themselves a better person. By accepting everyone and their sin, they have loved like they think their jesus did. 

We all know this standard is impossible to live by. How many families are falling apart? We can't even accept our own families let alone everyone we meet. But if you fail at this type of love, they say just keep trying. 

This is what makes PC so binding. It either puts you in bondage or builds your pride. But most importantly, it keeps you a slave to your sin. 

This type of all inclusive love is a lie from hell and evil. By not pointing people to Christ and the Gospel, there is no hope for them and leaving them to God's eternal judgment is one of the most unloving things we can do. 

4. “Know that the way we behave towards one another and Earth is the fullest expression of what we believe, therefore we vow to walk as Jesus might have walked in this world with radical compassion, inclusion, and bravery to confront and positively change the injustices we experience as well as those we see others experiencing;"

One of the things we need to remember is that Progressive Christians do not submit themselves to the authority of the Bible. Because they don't believe it was divinely-inspired they don't use a Biblical understanding of the words "compassion" and "justice" as examples. They look to the world or their own experience to interpret those terms and apply them in a non-Biblical way. 

The fourth point of Progressive Christianity really breaks down what it means to follow their moral teacher jesus. Here we have a tangible list of rules so they know they are following him the correct way and thus they know they are "good" Christians. The language used leaves it up to the reader on how to interpret and implement each rule. 

This, I believe, is the point where well meaning Biblical Christians can get deceived by PC.  Christ tells us to have compassion, and empathy for the downtrodden and oppressed. The Bible is very clear on how to do these things. The issue within PC is that what Jesus says is filtered through a misinterpretation of love, that I mentioned yesterday, and the misunderstanding of Who Jesus Christ truly is. And that all comes from the lack of authority they ascribe to Scripture.  

As Christians, we can not trust everything or anyone who claims to be Christian.  We must check everything with scripture. Just because it sounds good or sounds Christian doesn't mean it is. This is why it is so important to renew our minds daily with the Word of God. That way we can spot the Truth from lies and know what is good and evil. 

5. "Find grace in the search for understanding and believe there is more value in questioning with an open mind and open heart, than in absolutes or dogma;"

Progressive Christians believe it is more humble to question everything and claim that it is not possible to know God's will; better for everyone to have questions and doubts but never really seek to find the true answers. 

I see this point being born out of a legalistic approach to Biblical Christianity. Many Progressive Christians have been hurt by the church and the hypocrisy they may have seen in other people's lives. If they were taught that to be a Christian requires following all of the rules in the Bible perfectly, but everyone, including themselves, are failing at it, of course they will reject what they were taught. 

What fills that gap?  They will tend to look at true Christians as very arrogant people. However, by not seeking out answers to their questions, they will become deeply proud of how "humble" they are. All while still being slaves to sin and closing themselves off to hearing the True Gospel.

And those who want to have the Christian label without submitting to Christ will gladly take this point to heart. If questioning without finding true answers makes them humble people, then it's a check mark off the list of virtues that prove them righteous and a 'good' person.  Which all goes back to the first point of following the good moral teacher jesus. 

Things to look out for with this point are  phrases like "Is that what God really meant?" Or "It is impossible to know God's will." These phrases and others like them are used by the enemy to plant doubt in our hearts when it comes to the Word of God. 

6. "Work toward peace and justice among all people and all life on Earth;"

In Progressive Christianity most believe in a type of universalism; that Christ died to save everyone regardless of what they believe about Him. And if this is true, it makes sense that they would work towards these things to make the world a better place. 

This is another tangible way Progressive Christians follow the moral teacher jesus. They are usually very active in societal issues and charity work. The work is done in a worldly way, taking no consideration of what Biblical peace and justice look like.  They are helping people but doing it in vain. They neglect to share the true Gospel of Jesus Christ with those they are helping and just make them comfortable with their sin. 

Peace and justice are Biblical principles that must be seen through the eyes of the Gospel in order to be done in a godly way that glorifies God. We must look to Scripture and study it diligently to understand and apply it's truths.  

This is another point where Biblical Christians can be deceived by PC. Jesus does call us to do this type of work; we should all be serving. But again, PC does not believe that Scripture is authoritative so they are looking to worldly ideas and structures to fix a spiritual problem. Many Christians don't know that and get deceived by what PC claims. By exploring their honest and compassionate desire to help, the enemy leads them into his trap.

7. "Protect and restore the integrity of our Earth and all of Creation;"

I listened to a story once about a group of PC seminarians who wrote down their sins to a plant. They confessed to it and vowed to do better in protecting the environment. This was at a prominent seminary in the U.S. that has sadly turned from Jesus Christ.

Point seven is another way Progressive Christians attempt to follow moral teacher jesus. And it usually turns into an idol; worshipping creation. This is another way those who follow PC can make themselves feel like a good person.  

This can be extreme, where like in the story above, they become overly apologetic to the environment, seeking to make reparations for their environmental sins; an ideology known as Eco-justice. Or it can be small things like buying reusable straws or bags. But all of this boils down to checking another virtue off the list defining a righteous person. 

As Christians we are called to be good stewards of creation. God has given us the earth to treat well for His glory. But we also must understand that creation is under a curse because of our sin. This earth will never be perfect. It will be when Jesus Christ returns and those who are His join Him for eternity on the new earth where there will be no more sin.

8. "Commit to a path of life-long learning, compassion, and selfless love on this journey toward a personally authentic and meaningful faith."

We have come to our last point of Progressive Christianity. We can see that they want to continually educate themselves to be better people according to the standards of this world. They believe following Christ means following a moral teacher jesus; who is only one of many ways to god. The more they can learn, the more they can prove to themselves they are good enough for Heaven. The more they can check off their list of virtues. 

Biblically, we know even our good and righteous deeds are sinful and as filthy rags to our Holy God. We have all fallen short of God's glory. It will never be possible to be compassionate enough, or love others enough to earn God's favor. 

At the root of all of this is pride. Progressive Christians and others like them refuse to acknowledge their sin of self righteousness, or in other words,  pride.  They reject the True Gospel of Jesus Christ, instead believing they are morally superior and can earn utopia by their works. If we can never admit we are sick, we can never be healed. 

And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 5:31-32