What does that fancy phrase mean and why should I care?
It isn’t a common term. Many people within my church body, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and most people outside of the LC—MS have never heard it. But it expresses a teaching that is contrary to the orthodox Christian faith.
The “Christian Cyclopedia” defines gospel reductionism this way. Gospel Reductionism uses “the Gospel as the norm of theol(ogy)in such a way as to suggest that … freedom should be allowed within the church in matters that are not an explicit part of the Gospel.”
In short this means that the gospel (the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the sins of the world) defines what is really important in the Bible. Non-gospel events, miracles, creation, even the Law, because they are not gospel can be freely denied because they are not strictly gospel.
Those who hold to the gospel reductionist position see the Bible as containing the Gospel and a lot of peripheral piffle. Things that are non-essential, dare I say, are unimportant.
Of course, the Bible-believing Christian understands that gospel reductionism undermines the Law of God. The Law is not Gospel. Since it is not Gospel according to gospel reductionists, it may be ignored. Do what you want, fornicate, slander, curse like a sailor, steal, etc. Those things are not important anymore. Just believe the gospel. That’s scandalous, but practiced today in many churches.
The fruit of Gospel Reductionism is present in many denominations. God’s commandment, “You shall not murder” (Ex 20), since it is not Gospel can be ignored. Killing unborn babies and the elderly is permissible.
Despite God’s condemnation in Romans 1 that homosexuality is sinful, (“For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men”), and since the commandment “You shall not commit adultery” is not Gospel, it’s “Katie bar the door” and anything goes.
Is there an answer to this heresy? Yes, there is. It’s simple, it’s straightforward and we need to remember and use it when confronted with gospel reductionism.
Here is the answer. Since Jesus predicted His resurrection from the dead and fulfilled it (I Cor. 15), He is God. Since He is God what He says is authoritative. And because Jesus believed and taught His disciples that the Bible is God’s word and regarded it as authoritative when it spoke, so should we.
- For example, in John 10 Jesus said, “Scripture (that’s the Old Testament He is referring to) cannot be broken.”
- In Matthew 13 Jesus, references the ten commandments and rebukes the Pharisees by saying, “why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
Reducing the Bible, God’s Word, to only the Gospel, rather than the entire Bible being the Word of God, isn’t something Jesus did. He took the entire Bible to be the Word of God. The whole Old Testament was authoritative for Jesus. And to not put too fine of a point on it, so should it be for us also.
“Beloved… it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).
Rev. Micheal Strong (strong@eosinc.com) is pastor of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Farmersville, Il
Christian News 