ORTHODOX DEFLECTION TACTICS :

 

The actual gospel by which we are saved described in 1 Cor 15:1-4 and Luke 24:44-48 does not expressly mention the ideas of things like "The Christus Victor model of atonement." or  "Anselm’s satisfaction model", or "The Penal substitution model," The Orthodox love to jump in and out of these models of salvation instead of discussing the simplicity of the "Jesus Saves Gospel" to distract you from seeing how their own "process of salvation" is defeated in the comparison. As this is an effective tactic I feel quite sure their deceiving clergy will carry on with it unto the bitter end. I am far more concerned with the more innocent minded souls that get tricked by them than the issue of the damnation of these deliberately false teachers, quote "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" Ephesians 4:14. Do not say God did not warn you of such crafty false teachers, both in that scripture, Matthew 23 and the Parable of the Sower. 

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Metaphors:

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The basic point here is that a metaphor about the gospel is not the gospel itself. The Orthodox love to try to trick you that metaphors about the gospel such as "a ransom for many" are not the core center actual quote "gospel by which we are saved" defined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. 

In the metaphor "

“All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.”

Khalil Gibran

Crumbs are not actually the same as thoughts manifest as words, a crumb of bread is very different, it is as it were "speaking in pictures" Jesus in his parables was continually speaking in pictures or metaphors. To analyse or understand the human mind we do not put breadcrumbs under the microscope. It's a red herring (to use a metaphor). But I hope you are intelligent enough to see metaphors about the Gospel are not the gospel itself. The "Jesus Saves" gospel outshines the Orthodox "process of salvation" so brilliantly, like the sun outshines a smoking match, the Orthodox just about never compare the two, that would be honest and might lead to them getting saved, or you, so their continual objective is to confuse you by analysing metaphors instead. They simply will not present the Protestant, Evangelical or Bible Gospel as it really is, and then compare it to their hodgepodge synergy, or stew of salvation. 

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"Jesus Saves" versus "Jesus sets us free".

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In essence Orthodoxy says Jesus gave us a leg up in salvation: Jesus "set us free" to earn our own salvation, and the priests top us up on salvation power from God, by transmitting "the very energies of God" (their warped interpretation of "grace") to us, and making a repeat sacrifice of Christ. In Orthodoxy we were not saved by Christ but "set us free" by 

1) In the moment of the hypostatic union

2) The incarnation

3) His life and works

4) The cross and resurrection.

Rather "Jesus Saves" is the good news, it is not good news that we are supposedly set free to earn salvation by works, and become slaves to egotistical and power mad priests wanting to hear your every sin from a toddler, and so they can do their hocus pocus man made rituals to "help save us". They will often say "We need help" to be saved, not "we need saving". Kallistos Ware uses that false expression and analogy.

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Man has never been saved by works.

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Mankind has never at any point been saved by works. "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God." James 2:23. Not even under the Mosaic covenant were they saved by works "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified" Romans 3:20 neither were they partly saved by works either. Even Jesus was not saved by works as he never needed saving in the first place.

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Even many Protestants and Evangelicals do not understand this topic fully. In the old covenants man received grace, but in the new and better covenant man receives "grace upon grace" John 1:16. Under the old law the outward visible sign of Faith in action, was to obey a draconian law, which is described by Peter in Acts 15:10 "Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?". The new covenant law is not tied in with the religious bondage of repetitive keeping of feats and visitations to Jerusalem yearly, etc. That we are freed from this is one of the extra "grace upon grace" from Christ. We are freed from that by Jesus, but, ironically the Orthodox seek to reanimate a new form of these old shackles and chains in the form of their own traditions and counterfeit religious practices by calendarization and rote. Also neither Abraham nor Moses received as a gift from God of the spiritual rebirth of being born again. 

 

So where Jesus did indeed set us free from the boondage of the old draconian law, the Orthodox in another of their famous oxymorons, adopt the phrase "set us free" and dump the phrases "Jesus Saves" and "by which we are saved" only to turn straight around and try to involve you immediately with a plethora of their own religious shackles by rites, rituals, calendarizations and clockwork religion, and take away the very freedom Jesus earned for us at such great cost.

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Deflection topics :

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52) Deflection against the Gospel = They deny Christ died as a substitute sacrifice .& They deny Jesus was a ransom sacrifice .

When the Evangelical Gospel of salvation through faith in Christ alone, crucified, buried and resurrected, is properly and reasonably compared with the complex false gospel of Orthodoxy, that consists among other things of relegating Jesus to a Semi-Saviour by the inclusion of works and priestcraft into the message of salvation, the Orthodox theologians are on a big loser.

And so.... their preachers often use a cold blooded deflection tactic, or diversion tactic, in an entirely cynical and deliberate attempt to confuse people. The tactic is - the Orthodox preachers present the Protestant and Evangelical Gospel as if it is the peripheral comparison subjects of "a substitute sacrifice" or "A ransom sacrifice" when this is never mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4 or in Luke 24:44-48 and is not the Gospel that saves! Furthermore the most extreme forms of these symbolic representations are used, never for instance that Jesus was the substitute sacrifice for the old testament offering "of the blood of bulls and of goats" (Hebrews 10:4) or that Jesus is a substitute sacrifice that is worthy, compared to one such as Isaac that would always be considered unworthy etc. Rather the "Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" variation of the symbolic representation is used concerning Aslan etc. You may feel a little confused already, and that is entirely the point! They are using a cloud of fog and confusion and misdirection to hide how their convoluted "process of salvation" pales into insignificance in the light of the true "Jesus Saves Gospel" where works are simply the fruit, not the root, of salvation.

 

old explanation (edit)

They deny Christ died as a substitute sacrifice .

       The Evangelical and Protestant gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and Luke 24:44-48, and is belief in Christ crucified, buried and resurrected for salvation, repentance always being present to distinguish the belief as genuine. not some "mouthed prayer" or vain acceptance of the gift of salvation in Christ.  it at no time includes the concept of "a substitute sacrifice". As the issue is therefore neutral to salvation (that is a person can choose to have no doctrine on it and be in a condition of salvation) is not an Orthodox heresy or error therefore to chose not to accept it, but what is an error and a heresy is their outright statement that salvation is not a gift earned solely by Jesus, and their technique of always presenting that theme of the Protestant gospel as inexorably connected to the theme of a substitute sacrifice (which it is not).  ( salvation )

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Hebrews tells us that "the blood of bulls and of goats cannot take away sin". Thus all the temple sacrifices of the old testament in the temple, and the yearly sacrifice for sins, could not take sin away in themselves other than by the mercy of Christ. The sacrifice of Christ himself however can take away sins, and REPLACES (or SUBSTITUTES) the clearly symbolic sacrifices of the old covenant that centre in the forgiving power of the blood of Jesus.

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They deny Jesus was a ransom sacrifice . 

       Once again the Orthodox say the concept of "a ransom sacrifice" is inextricably linked with the Protestant / Evangelical "Jesus Saves Gospel", when as we have seen "the simplicity of the gospel of Christ" in I Cor 15:1-4, Luke 24:44-48, makes not mention of it, thus a doctrine on it is not necessary for salvation. This is tactic is adopted by Orthodoxy in order to cause confusion over the two diametric beliefs about this, that is

1) The ransom was paid to God.

2) The ransom was paid to Satan (as symbolically represented in the book "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe"?) 

And whether it is ever wise to add it to the gospel message at all.  ( salvation )

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note: The Orthodox falsely add both the "The substitute sacrifice" and "The ransom sacrifice" themes to the Protestant Gospel in order to cloud the central issue, that in Orthodoxy Jesus did not secure salvation for the believer in his death and resurrection, but it was only part of a synergy or "process of salvation". whereas in Protestantism he did secure our actual salvation, presented as "the gift of God" to the believer on belief.  

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