Where did Moral Government Theology (MGT) come from?
Moral Government Theology traces its roots back to a 16th-century Dutch jurist named Hugo Grotius. (A “jurist” is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law).
Moral government theology cannot truthfully be called a Christian doctrine as it is based on the unbiblical and erroneous idea that both God and man have a form of freedom known as the “power of contrary choice.” For man, this power enables all men to act and make choices free from the tyranny of our sin nature. According to the Word of God mankind are slaves to sin and their sinful nature, yet MGT says that mankind can make choices overriding that sinful nature. Moral government theology claims that man is born morally neutral and is always capable of choosing whether or not to sin, and his moral character is determined by the choices he makes.
One of the most disturbing doctrines of MGT is that it teaches that the atonement of mankind does not need the work of the cross. In other words according to MGT our Lord Jesus Christ died needlessly and in vain. They would say that the perfect life of Christ was enough for us to be redeemed and that God would never us wrath to get rid of or punish sin. But Paul says in Galatians that this is not true.
Galatians 2:21 ESV I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
MGT would say that the love of God and the willingness of God to forgive are greater than His desire to punish sin and therefore God would not demand a blood sacrifice. Therefore MGT would say that Jesus did not need to die on the cross.
MGT would say that for someone to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay our ransom is believing in a deception from the devil.
MGT does not believe that our Lord Jesus Christ paid our sin debt. They say that for the believer to accept the ransom teaching and believe that God allowed Christ to be killed on a cross makes God vindictive and bloodthirsty.
And these doctrines are being held and taught by some of the famous mainline mega-church Pastors in our day.