Your Friendly Neighborhood Calvinist Blog

In the past, I’ve written about how I dislike the phrase, “Let go and let God”. I’ve written about the danger of believing we were “made righteous” at Justification. But it wasn’t until recently that I learned that both of those (and other beliefs) are products of a movement called the Keswick Movement or the “Higher Life Movement”. This is a movement that has it’s roots deep in American Evangelicalism. My old church was into it. It’s main characteristics are a relaxed view of sanctification, a more infused view of Justification, a second outpouring or rededication philosophy, and sometimes perfectionism. This creates a view of Justification that is more Catholic than orthodox; a view of sanctification that is relaxed and uninterested in dealing with sins; and a faulty view of salvation. To a Keswickian, there are two types of Christians, carnal and normal. This is where the idea of carnal Christianity comes in. This is a dangerous theology that is in our churches, Campus Crusade events, and many other things. In fact, I was confronted with Keswick teaching today. My band director recommended I watch some videos he liked. Watch the first one and listen carefully to the quiz part. Try to remember that they believe that we are made righteous, not declared.