The Messenger, March 25, 2010
Charles Finney Part 1: Theology

By JOHN K. JONES
Special to The Messenger
Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) ministered at the end of the Second Great Awakening, a revival that swept America. Finney came out of a Presbyterian background. As recounted in several of his sermons, Finney one day experienced a “baptism of the Holy Ghost… (that) seemed to come in waves of liquid love.” He preached evangelistic sermons to many people in many different tent revivals.
No preacher from his time has had more impact on the modern evangelical church and its methods for evangelism. From mass evangelistic crusades to the church growth movement, Finney’s sweeping influence lives on.
Every preacher’s work flows from his view of theology, but Finney’s theology would not be recognized by most of the modern preachers who have followed his lead.
Finney denied that Christ died for our sins. He said, “The doctrine of imputed righteousness, or that Christ’s obedience to the law was accounted as our obedience, is founded on a most false and nonsensical assumption.” Christ’s life and death “could do no more than justify Himself. [It] can never be imputed (or credited) to us ... it was naturally impossible, then, for Him to obey in our behalf.” Finney said that any theology which saw Christ as living and dying for us was “a sad occasion of stumbling to many.” Following the “moral government theory of the atonement,” Finney held that Christ’s death was essentially just an example. (pp.320-322)
As a consequence of this line of thinking, Finney held that a true Christian could lose his salvation. “The Christian, therefore, is justified no longer than he obeys, and must be condemned when he disobeys” (p. 46). Elsewhere, “can man be justified while sin remains in him? Surely he cannot, either upon legal or gospel principles, unless the law be repealed ... But can he be pardoned and accepted, and justified, in the gospel sense, while sin, any degree of sin, remains in him? Certainly not.” (p. 57)
If this doctrine is true, then all Christians are in trouble. We know full well what the Bible teaches about morality. Even a cursory reading of Matthew, chapters five through seven, can terrify any conscientious Christian. We follow the Christ who said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). All of us are supposed to be perfect, but none of us are, Christian or not.
Is there hope for those of us who are imperfect? Yes.
How comforting it is for our often troubled souls that we can rest all of our hopes on Jesus Christ because God “hath … made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21).
All people who place their faith in Him can know that “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). And that Christ “was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Christ died for our sins. He was not merely an example we should follow.
The theology of Charles G. Finney meets its match in the pages of Scripture. Next week we will look at Finney’s methods.
Source: All quotes are from “Charles G. Finney, Finney’s Systematic Theology” (Bethany, 1976) as downloaded from http://www.mtio.com/articles/aissar81.htm.
Editor’s note: John K. Jones is a sinner saved by grace who attends Grace Community Church (www.graceunioncity.com) with his family.