For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? (Hebrews 10:1-2)
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…the same can be said about someone who teaches the Substitute view of the atonement. Does he believe that the blood of Christ destroyed the consciousness of sin? Most Evangelicals insist that Christians should maintain a constant consciousness of sin. This is supposed to exhibit humility and repentance. But according to the letter to the Hebrews, this would make the blood of Christ no better than the blood of bulls and goats. Thus most Christians believe that Jesus is no better than a cow, or they do not believe he is their substitute. In addition, the same biblical texts that refer to Christ’s bearing of our sins are used interchangeably by Scripture itself to refer to Christ’s bearing of our sicknesses, and even the mere anticipation of this substitution produced tangible and miraculous effects in this life, as we see in Matthew 8. Does the person who teaches the Substitute view also acknowledge that we can be free from demons and diseases in this life by faith? Does he teach this, so that as he speaks demons cry out and flee, and those who listen are healed in their bodies? Are people saved from crippling depression and suicidal thoughts by what he teaches? Does he teach that Christ has endured the consequences of sin, so that we are saved from tragedies, accidents, plagues and wars, and all the things listed in texts like Deuteronomy 28 and Psalm 91? If not, then he does not believe in Christ the Substitute. It is also another instance of false piety and religious posturing. His doctrine is weaker than those who lived under Deuteronomy 28 and Psalm 91, those who merely anticipated the atonement.
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Much of evangelical preaching gives voice to Satan the accuser. It claims to emphasize repentance, contrary to a false gospel that merely affirms the unbelievers in their sin. However, if you preach repentance according to the gospel, you would also preach the results that follow from this repentance. This is not a repentance that leads to more condemnation, more self-abasement, and more groveling. One who truly repents and turns to Christ receives forgiveness, cleansing, righteousness, and the confidence to march straight to the throne of grace to obtain grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). The Bible says that if the blood of animals had been effective, then the worshipers would have had no more consciousness of sin (Hebrews 10:2). However, much of evangelical preaching represents the Christian message as one that demands and continues the consciousness of sin. It follows that it is a false gospel that portrays the blood of Christ as no better than the blood of animals. It has no right to complain about a lenient and affirming gospel, when it only caters to another kind of itching ears — the itching ears of religious masochism. It claims to restore the gospel, but it attempts to silence the gospel.
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The gospel requires us to not merely affirm the gifts of the Spirit in our doctrine, but to aggressively teach and exercise them. Even after this, very much unbelief could remain beyond the category of spiritual gifts. For example, even after a person has been convinced about the gift of healing, and even after he has witnessed it or even performed healing by such a gift, he might still remain unconvinced that healing has been secured for the present time by the atonement, and that it is promised to faith, and it is to be received apart from any gift. This truth is even more basic to the gospel than the spiritual gifts, but it is denied even more than the spiritual gifts, and even by those who operate in the spiritual gifts. Then, it is evident that Christians have not attained to the point where they can pray with confidence, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And they outright reject the teaching of Jesus, that if we would seek first the kingdom of God, then “all these things” the pagans seek will be added to us.
Remember that these were teachings that were given even before Jesus ascended to the cross and then to heaven, and before he poured out the Holy Spirit to empower his people. This is how far the church has fallen. Christians still do not believe what Jesus expected his pre-crucifixion followers to believe. And yet many of these people are obsessed with technical points of Christian theology and philosophy, deeming themselves faithful and strong in apologetics and such things. As for the teachings about those who are “in Christ,” what about the doctrine that we are the righteousness of God in him? Sin consciousness pervades their doctrine and their religion, but the writer of Hebrews says that those who have been cleansed should no longer have a consciousness of sin. To keep preaching and even insisting on a consciousness of sin is not humility, but it is to relegate the blood of Christ to the level of the blood of bulls and goats. It is easy to find among them tomes of hundreds of pages about repentance, depression, and melancholy, but we cannot find one that talks much about our standing as the righteousness of God, that as Paul said, we shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. If this is not a denial of the gospel, what does it take? And they are the ones who condemn people.