Why this conversation matters

Progressive Christianity is not merely a different style or emphasis. It is a different story about God, Scripture, salvation, and the Christian life. It often borrows Christian words while assigning them new meanings. Shepherds and saints alike must be clear, courageous, and compassionate.

Scripture calls us to contend for the faith with gentleness and reverence, guarding the gospel and guiding souls. The aim is not to win arguments but to win people to Christ, to keep the church healthy, and to pass on sound doctrine to the next generation (Jude 3; 1 Timothy 6:20–21; Titus 2:1–8).

What is meant by “Progressive Christianity”?

Under the “progressive” banner lie varied beliefs. Yet recognizable patterns appear. The movement tends to recast the faith to align with late‑modern moral intuitions and therapeutic categories rather than the clear teaching of Scripture.

Common tendencies include:

- Lowering the authority of Scripture to a human witness to divine encounters rather than the very Word of God

- Reframing sin primarily as oppression or harm, not rebellion against a holy God

- Reimagining the atonement as moral example or solidarity, sidelining substitution and wrath satisfied at the cross

- Treating Jesus as a liberating teacher more than the crucified and risen Lord who saves sinners

- Normalizing sexual immorality that Scripture forbids, and redefining marriage

- Replacing the urgency of repentance and mission with activism detached from the gospel

- Blurring or denying final judgment and the reality of hell

The authority and sufficiency of God’s Word

Everything turns on Scripture. Either God has spoken finally, clearly, and sufficiently, or we are left to the shifting winds of opinion. Scripture’s testimony about itself is decisive: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). “For no prophecy was ever brought about through human initiative, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).

Because God’s Word is truth, it sanctifies us: “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The Lord Jesus anchors His church to words that cannot pass away: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). We gladly submit to Scripture’s literal, historical claims and moral demands, trusting the God who cannot lie.

- Read Scripture in context: book, covenant, and canon.

- Let the clear interpret the unclear, and the whole counsel of God shape convictions.

- Receive the Old Testament as Christian Scripture fulfilled in Christ without being abolished (Matthew 5:17–18).

- Test every spirit and claim by the written Word (1 John 4:1; Acts 17:11).

The gospel according to Scripture

The gospel is not self-actualization or a summons to vague love. It is the announcement of God’s saving work in Christ for sinners. Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day, all according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). There is salvation in no one else: “Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The Lord Himself declares the exclusivity of His saving work: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6).

At the cross, God’s justice and love meet. The Son bears our guilt and God’s wrath that we might be forgiven and counted righteous (Romans 3:21–26; 2 Corinthians 5:21). This gospel creates a holy people, not a permissive club. Grace trains us to renounce ungodliness and live upright lives as we await Christ’s appearing (Titus 2:11–14).

Truth, love, and holiness together

Progressive Christianity often pits love against truth and kindness against conviction. Scripture refuses that separation. Love rejoices with the truth, not against it (1 Corinthians 13:6). Holiness is the fruit of grace, not its enemy (Hebrews 12:14).

Practically, this looks like:

- Speaking truth in love, with tears if needed (Ephesians 4:15; Acts 20:31)

- Welcoming all persons while not affirming all practices

- Calling sin what God calls sin, and offering the mercy God freely gives in Christ

- Pursuing repentance as a gift of grace and a lifelong pattern (2 Timothy 2:25; Romans 8:13)

Common claims and biblical responses

- Claim: The Bible contains God’s word but is not God’s Word.

Response: Scripture is God-breathed, not partly inspired (2 Timothy 3:16–17). The Lord and His apostles treat Scripture as the very speech of God (Matthew 22:31; Acts 1:16).

- Claim: God is love, therefore affirm what feels loving.

Response: God defines love by His holy character and commands (1 John 5:3). “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).

- Claim: Jesus did not address sexual ethics, so the church should be open.

Response: Jesus affirms creation’s design for marriage and sexuality (Genesis 1–2; Matthew 19:4–6) and upholds the moral law in its true intent (Matthew 5).

- Claim: Penal substitution is divine child abuse.

Response: The Son offers Himself willingly in love to satisfy justice (John 10:17–18; Romans 3:25–26; Galatians 2:20).

- Claim: Doctrine divides; unity requires doctrinal minimalism.

Response: The unity Scripture commends is unity in the truth of the gospel (Ephesians 4:1–6; Galatians 1:6–9).

Practices for disciples and churches

Healthy doctrine grows in healthy practices. Robust, ordinary means of grace keep us anchored and fruitful.

- Preach and teach the whole counsel of God, book by book

- Catechize children, students, and new believers

- Prioritize membership, discipline, and mutual accountability

- Pray corporately and personally with Scripture

- Sing truth-rich psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs

- Form small discipling groups around Bible reading and obedience

- Train evangelists and apologists to answer with clarity and compassion (1 Peter 3:15)

How to engage loved ones winsomely

Many who adopt progressive ideas are reacting to hurt, hypocrisy, or thin teaching. Our posture matters. We move toward people, not away, with convictional kindness and patient instruction.

- Listen carefully and clarify terms before correcting

- Open the Bible and reason together; do not trade slogans

- Keep the person and the gospel central; avoid getting trapped in side skirmishes

- Invite to your table and into the life of the church family

- Model joyful obedience so that holiness looks like freedom, not bondage

Guarding hearts, minds, and mission

Formation requires vigilance. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). We tear down arguments, but we do so under Christ: “We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Stay alert to ideas that smuggle in unbelief under the banner of compassion. Test teaching by its fruit in doctrine, devotion, and discipleship (Matthew 7:15–20; 1 Thessalonians 5:21–22). Hold fast to Christ’s commands as the path of life and joy (John 15:9–11).

Our unshakeable hope

Our courage comes not from cultural strength but from Christ’s promise. “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The Lord we serve does not change: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

As we serve Christ, share the gospel, disciple others, and live faithfully, we rest in His Word and rely on His Spirit. The truth will stand, the gospel will advance, and Christ will keep His people to the end (2 Thessalonians 3:3; John 10:27–29).

Progressive approaches often privilege a “Jesus lens” that sets Jesus against the rest of Scripture, or red letters against black. The apostles refuse that divide. Jesus fulfills the Law and the Prophets without abolishing them (Matthew 5:17–18), and the apostolic witness carries Christ’s authority (John 16:12–15; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). Peter even classifies Paul’s letters with “the other Scriptures,” warning against distortion (2 Peter 3:15–16).

Sound interpretation requires humility and the communion of saints. We read with the church, not against it. We let Scripture interpret Scripture and receive the pattern of sound words handed down (2 Timothy 1:13–14). Confessions and creeds do not replace Scripture; they help the church say clearly what Scripture says truly.

- Resist interpretive moves that deny historical events or ethical clarity

- Distinguish literary forms without evacuating truth claims

- Read the Bible covenantally, seeing Christ as the telos of all God’s promises (Luke 24:27, 44–47)

The Law, the gospel, and the Christian life

Some flatten the Testaments into one undifferentiated ethic; others sever them. Christ brings fulfillment, not abolition. Ceremonial and civil aspects tied to Israel’s theocracy give way to their fulfillment in Christ and His church, while the moral law reflects God’s unchanging character and remains binding for Christian obedience (Romans 3:31; 7:12; 13:8–10).

The gospel justifies by grace through faith apart from works, and that same grace trains us in godliness (Ephesians 2:8–10; Titus 2:11–14). This keeps us from both antinomian license and legalistic burdens. Faith works through love, formed by God’s commands and empowered by the Spirit (Galatians 5:6, 16–25).

Human identity, the body, and sexual ethics

Progressive thought adopts expressive individualism, where inner feelings define identity. Scripture grounds identity in creation and redemption. We are creatures, not self-creators, and our bodies matter. Christ calls us to deny self, not enthrone self (Mark 8:34).

Sexual holiness is not peripheral. Jesus affirms Genesis: male and female, one-flesh covenant, permanence, and exclusivity (Genesis 1:27; 2:24; Matthew 19:4–6). The apostles apply this moral clarity to the church, calling believers out of immorality and into sanctified lives (1 Corinthians 6:9–20; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8). Repentance and redemption are real. “And that is what some of you were” is a banner over every congregation (1 Corinthians 6:11).

- Embrace embodied discipleship: stewardship of the body, not self-sovereignty

- Teach marriage and singleness as distinct, honorable callings

- Offer gospel pathways of repentance, accountability, and hope for strugglers

Justice, mercy, and the mission of the church

Scripture binds together evangelism and righteousness. We proclaim Christ crucified and risen, and we learn to do good, seek justice, and love mercy (Isaiah 1:17; Micah 6:8). The church’s distinct mission is to make disciples of all nations; out of that mission flows a people zealous for good works in every sphere (Matthew 28:18–20; Titus 2:14).

We reject false dichotomies. Private piety without public righteousness is hypocrisy. Social zeal without the gospel is powerless to save. True justice is rooted in God’s character and law, not in ideologies that redefine sin and salvation on secular terms (Colossians 2:8).

- Ground mercy ministries in the local church’s Word-and-table life

- Measure justice by God’s standards, not cultural trends

- Keep the cross central so love does not lose its shape

Hell, judgment, and the goodness of God

Denials of judgment and hell are predictable in progressive frameworks. Scripture, however, is sober and clear. God has fixed a day to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed, proven by the resurrection (Acts 17:31). Eternal destinies are real, and divine justice is good (Revelation 20:11–15; 2 Thessalonians 1:5–10).

God’s wrath is not a blemish on His character but the holy opposition of His love to all evil. The cross displays both justice and mercy perfectly (Romans 3:25–26). The call is urgent: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).

Creation, miracles, and history

Progressive approaches often demythologize Scripture’s supernatural claims. Yet Christianity stands or falls on God’s acts in history. If Christ is not raised, faith is empty, and preaching is vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). The God who spoke the universe into being sustains and governs it and can act within it as He wills (Genesis 1; Hebrews 1:3).

Creation order is not an embarrassment but a gift. Humanity, marriage, work, and Sabbath are created realities that Christ redeems and renews, not discards. Receiving Genesis as real history anchors the moral order and the gospel’s storyline of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation (Romans 5:12–21; Revelation 21–22).

Deconstruction and reconstruction

Deconstruction is celebrated as liberation, but it often functions as unbelief with a halo. Scripture commends testing everything by the Word while holding fast to what is good. “But test all things. Hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Healthy reconstruction looks like repenting of man-made traditions and returning to the apostolic faith. It means recovering the ordinary means of grace, gospel clarity, and doctrinal depth in covenant community rather than adopting skepticism as a lifestyle.

- Name specific doubts and take them to specific texts

- Submit hard questions to Scripture and the saints, not social media catechisms

- Measure “progress” by conformity to Christ, not to cultural applause

Catechesis, liturgy, and the long obedience

Counter-formation requires patient, patterned practices. Thin worship and shallow teaching leave churches vulnerable to the latest winds of doctrine (Ephesians 4:11–16). Thick discipleship—grounded in Scripture, prayer, sacraments, and fellowship—forms resilient saints.

Build rhythms that shape minds and loves. Recite creeds, pray the Scriptures, share the Lord’s Table reverently, memorize verses, and train households in daily worship. Over time, these means create durable joy and immovable conviction.

- Structure Lord’s Day worship around God’s Word and response

- Teach the storyline of Scripture and the basics of doctrine to all ages

- Train leaders who can teach, refute error, and shepherd souls with grace and truth (Titus 1:9; 2:1)