Introduction

In the previous article, we summarized the arguments of David Powlison and Tim Keller, since their teaching has likely had the greatest influence in popularizing the concept of idols of the heart in Reformed churches. In order to make the biblical concern for idolatry relevant to modern people, they removed the transcendent realities from idolatry and instead wrote about idolatry only or predominately as something figurative. In their view, idols are sinful desires (e.g., lust, greed) and worldly objects of desire (e.g., sexual immorality, wealth).

Further, we saw the most important difference between the modern idea of idols of the heart and similar language that has been used throughout church history: contrary to past theologians, Powlison and Keller argue that idolatry is the source of every other sin, seemingly in the place of the sinful flesh. This means that even regenerate Christians, in whom there are remnants of sin’s corruption, are idolaters. In my view, this is Powlison and Keller’s greatest error, and it is inherent to their use of “idols of the heart” in preaching and counseling. In our next article we will challenge Powlison’s exegesis and demonstrate that God’s Word does not support the modern idea of idols of the heart. But first, we must address the error of calling regenerate Christians idolaters by arguing that, in Scripture, both literal and figurative idolatry are forms of apostasy. If idolatry is apostasy, however, claiming that regenerate Christians are idolaters endangers the Reformed doctrines of the perseverance of the saints and assurance of salvation.

Literal Idolatry as Apostasy

One cannot deny that idolatry is apostasy in the Old Testament, where Israel is regularly indicted and punished for her worship of foreign gods and images of gold and silver. One may see this even in the reason annexed to the second commandment, which is God’s jealousy and wrath (Exod 20:5). Further, in the Song of Moses (Deut 32), a prophetic preview of Israel’s entire history, the Lord proclaims: “They have made me jealous with what is no god (lo-el); they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people (lo-am); I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation” (32:21). In Hosea’s later prophetic reworking of this, he concludes that by committing idolatry Israel was saying to the Lord, “You are not my God.” To this, God responded with the ultimate covenant-curse sanction, the reversal of the covenant promises of Genesis 17:8 and Exodus 6:7: “You are not my people (lo ammi)” (Hos 1:9).

This is the nature of idolatry in the Old Testament and throughout Scripture: by worshiping another god or by using an image in worship, an Israelite was abandoning the true God, breaking the covenant, and was in turn abandoned by God. Israel committed many sins that broke her covenant with the Lord, but when the Old Testament explains why Israel went into exile it points first and foremost to her idolatry: “And they rejected his statutes and his covenant, which he cut with their fathers, and his testimonies with which he warned them, and they went after nothing [i.e., idols; hahevel], and they became nothing (vayyehbalu)” (2 Kgs 17:15; cf. 17:7–23; translation mine).¹ Therefore, in the Old Testament, idolatry is not simply one sin among many; rather, it is the ultimate sin that a covenant member may commit, a turning away from God to worship false gods and images. Likewise, the consequence of idolatry is the ultimate covenant curse: becoming nothing, losing the special covenantal relationship to God, becoming “lo-ammi.”

Figurative Idolatry as Apostasy

This is not exclusive to literal idolatry, however. There are two verses in Scripture that most clearly speak of figurative idolatry, which are often presented as irrefutable proof of the concept of idols of the heart. In Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:5, Paul presents very similar thoughts: “Greed is idolatry” (Col 3:5), and “The greedy person is an idolater” (Eph 5:5). These phrases are often taken out of their context to support the concept of idols of the heart. The passages containing each of these verses, however, shed light on what Paul means:

“Therefore, put to death the parts (of you) which are worldly—sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustful passion, evil desires, and greed (pleonexian), which is idolatry—because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. In them you also once walked, when you lived in them” (Col 3:5–7; translation mine).

“For know this: everyone who is sexually immoral or unclean or greedy (pleonektēs), who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words: for because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be sharers with them. For once you were darkness, but now light in the Lord—walk as children of the light” (Eph 5:5–8; translation mine).

A few things should be noted. First, while Powlison implies that these verses speak of epithumia, which can refer to sinful desire, lust, or covetousness in general, Paul actually uses the word pleonexia, which refers to a desire for more than one is due, particularly for material possessions (i.e., greed, avarice).² Although epithumia and pleonexia do have some overlap in meaning, they are not identical: greed (pleonexia) is a specific sinful desire or form of covetousness. Second, the figurative idolatry of greed clearly characterizes the unbelieving lifestyle and the way these Christians lived before their conversion (Col 3:7; Eph 5:8), but Paul explicitly denies that it characterizes the Christian life. Brian Rosner helpfully expands on this last point. He first shows that rabbis contemporary with Paul viewed idolatry as the archetypal sin, to which they compared other sins hyperbolically to communicate their heinousness. Therefore, one might paraphrase Paul’s statement as, “Greed is tantamount to idolatry.”³ Rosner further argues that one point of similarity between greed and idolatry that allowed for this comparison is that both “are distinguishing marks of the gentiles.”⁴ The reason Paul connects idolatry to greed then becomes obvious: Every Christian would agree that literal idolatry is antithetical to Christian belief and praxis. By comparing greed to idolatry, Paul shows that greed, too, is antithetical to the Christian life. In other words, as Rosner writes, “To say that ‘greed is idolatry’ is equivalent to saying that greed is a heathen behavior.”⁵

On the other hand, Powlison and Keller’s exegesis of these verses claims that Paul presents a kind of figurative idolatry that regenerate Christians can and do commit. The unintended consequence of this is the endangering of the Reformed doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, that the elect cannot “totally nor finally fall away” (Westminster Confession of Faith [WCF] 17.1). This is because idolatry, both in general and as presented in these two verses by Paul, is rightly defined as apostasy. In these passages, Paul is contrasting two groups of people, believers and unbelievers. One group walks in idolatry and the other does not. Paul explicitly states that idolatry characterized the way that the Ephesian and Colossian Christians lived before coming to Christ, but not after. He further identifies those who walk in idolatry as “sons of disobedience,” against whom God’s wrath is coming (Col 3:6; Eph 5:6). Therefore, according to these passages a genuine Christian cannot be labeled an idolater any more than he could commit apostasy or be identified as a “son of disobedience” and an object of God’s wrath.

Paul figuratively compares greed to idolatry in these passages to show that greed characterizes the gentile life, contradicts the Christian life, and that those who walk in such sins will not inherit the kingdom of God. Because Powlison and Keller claim that regenerate Christians can commit the kind of idolatry Paul writes about, the other unintended consequence of the idea of idolatry of the heart is the endangering of a believer’s assurance of salvation (cf. WCF 18.2). If we apply the idea of idols of the heart consistently to the very verses from which it is derived, we have to conclude that regenerate Christians will not inherit the kingdom of God any more than pagan gentiles, since both would be guilty of Paul’s figurative idolatry. Christians who have internalized the idea of idols of the heart may read Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 (cf. 1 Cor 6:9–10; Gal 5:20–21) and logically conclude, “If idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God, and I am an idolater in my heart, then I will not inherit the kingdom of God.” These two unintended consequences are inseparable from Powlison and Keller’s exegesis: whatever idolatry means in Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5, if one claims that genuine Christians can commit it, then one is also claiming that God’s wrath is coming against genuine Christians and that they will not inherent God’s kingdom.⁶

Paul writes of the vice of greed as being like idolatry, and not the occasional greedy thought. This is more explicit in Ephesians 5:5, where Paul writes of the greedy person as an idolater. This is the difference between an Ebenezer Scrooge and a person who sinfully desires money or possessions on occasion but repents. In other words, Paul writes in terms of habitual and unrepentant sin, and not simply in terms of behavior and desire. The idea of idols of the heart fails to see that Paul is addressing something more than just desire, namely persistent hard-hearted, high-handed sin. This confusion leads to the unintended consequences mentioned above.

Professing Christians may fall into various sins that constitute acting like an unbeliever, including literal or figurative idolatry. If they contumaciously continue in such sins, the church ought to treat them like an unbeliever in the process of church discipline (Matt 18:17), which would put a question mark on the genuineness of their faith from the human perspective. Apostate professing Christians may, and regenerate (elect) Christians certainly will, be restored to faith and repentance through that process. But Christians who profess faith and repent from sins like greed cannot be called an idolater in any sense, just as they cannot be called apostate. My main critique of Powlison and Keller is that the exegesis upon which they build their idea of idols of the heart, if applied consistently, would lead us to question the genuineness of all professing Christians’ faith by calling all Christians idolaters.

We can make the same conclusions about Philippians 3:19, where Paul uses similar language: “Their god is their belly.” At first, this seems to support the idea of idols of the heart, since perhaps greed or gluttony is called a god.⁷ But as with Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5, more important than the definition of idol or god here is the identity of the person Paul is describing. In the surrounding context, he is speaking of the sons of disobedience against whom God’s wrath is coming. In Philippians 3:19, we can find the referent of the personal pronoun in verse 18: Those who “walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.” It is not unbelievers outside the church then, but apostate false teachers (likely of the Judaizing sect [Phil 3:2]) whom Paul accuses of greed or gluttony that is tantamount to idolatry. Again, figurative idolatry is presented as apostasy, a sin that characterizes “enemies of the cross of Christ,” but certainly not those whose “citizenship is in heaven” (3:20). Therefore, this passage does not support Powlison and Keller’s figurative definition of idolatry. Instead, it explicitly contradicts the idea that genuine Christians can be figurative idolaters.

Some might misunderstand the argument of this series as downplaying the reality of sin in believers. The opposite is true. Arguing that genuine Christians cannot commit idolatry does not remove sin from believers, but rather affirms its presence. Powlison and Keller collapse all sins into idolatry, but the sin of idolatry must be distinguished from others: idolatry is the unique and climactic sin of rejecting the Lord as one’s God, or one’s only God, to which God responds by rejecting idolaters as his people. Those who truly trust in Christ are God’s people, who have been redeemed from sin, even sins like idolatry. They may still “fall into grievous sins” (WCF 17.3), they are simul iustus et peccator (simultaneously justified and sinner), but they cannot be simultaneously God’s people and not God’s people. When the biblical definition of idolatry is imported into the idea of idols of the heart, this conclusion is contradicted. To call all Christians idolaters, even figurative idolaters of the heart, is to call God’s people “not my people” (lo ammi).⁸

Conclusion

The biblical evidence leaves little question about the nature of idolatry: it is apostasy, a rejection of the Lord as one’s God or one’s only God. Even figurative idolatry is apostasy, according to Ephesians 5:5, Colossians 3:5, and Philippians 3:19. These passages do not allow for a broad definition of idolatry that includes every sin or sinful desire, nor do they identify idolatry as the source of every other sin. That is because Paul only compares specific sins with idolatry, and only does so with one or two sins (i.e., greed and perhaps gluttony). The limited amount of biblical evidence should indicate that the concept of figurative idolatry is not the key to Christian ethics and pastoral care that Powlison and Keller presented it to be. Most importantly, these passages explicitly reject the idea that genuine Christians are unavoidably guilty of idolatry, since they treat figurative idolatry as apostasy and identify figurative idolaters as “sons of disobedience” (Eph 5:6; Col 3:6) and “enemies of the cross of Christ” (Phil 3:18).

Those who commit figurative idolatry in Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5 are those against whom God’s wrath is coming, and who will not inherit God’s kingdom. And in Philippians 3:19, figurative idolaters are those whose end is destruction. Any exegesis of these passages that claims that genuine Christians can commit this kind of figurative idolatry must be rejected, because it strips Christians of certainty concerning their present or future standing before God. Although Powlison and Keller never intended such a conclusion, their concept of idols of the heart is founded upon such exegesis. On the other hand, Reformed theology provides the comforting biblical doctrines of the perseverance of the saints and assurance of salvation, which Powlison and Keller taught and confessed. Genuine Christians can be assured not only that they will inherit the kingdom of God because of their faith in his Son, but even more that they will persevere in faith and good works to the end of their lives. This means that genuine Christians will not commit total or final apostasy, of which idolatry is the main biblical example. This undermines the core assertions of the modern idea of idolatry of the heart: that every sin may be put on the same level as idolatry, that the source of all sin is idolatry, and that regenerate Christians can be accurately labeled as idolaters. In our next article, we will examine the rest of the biblical evidence to demonstrate that these core assertions are nowhere supported in Scripture.

Notes

1. See also 1 Chr 5:25–26; 2 Chr 36:14–17; Jer 2:5ff.
2. BDAG, s.v., πλεονεξία; L&N, s.v., πλεονεξία (25.22); ἐπιθυμέω, ἐπιθυμία (25.20). Cf. David Powlison, “Idols of the Heart and Vanity Fair,” The Journal of Biblical Counseling 13.2 (1995): 36. This affects the way Powlison connected these verses to the tenth commandment, since the latter has epithumia in the LXX, rather than pleonexia.
3. Brian S. Rosner, Greed as Idolatry: The Origin and Meaning of a Pauline Metaphor (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), 13–14.
4. Rosner, Greed as Idolatry, 151.
5. Rosner, 156.
6. Contra 1 Peter 1:4: We have been born again “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
7. The meaning of the word koilia (“belly”) here is ambiguous. Relevant, but also ambiguous, is Romans 16:18. Most commentators have seen it as a form of licentiousness, like gluttony (which I would argue is a sub-vice of greed). Others have connected this to the Judaizers, the group Paul likely has in mind, to describe their ascetic obsession with food purity laws. Others in recent years have interpreted koilia more broadly to have overlapping meaning with Paul’s use of sarx (“flesh”). The latter would support part of Powlison’s argument, however BDAG sees its broad meaning to overlap with kardia (“heart”) rather than sarx. The commonality between these options is a devotion to one’s own selfish desires or goals. Hence, self-serving greed may be a likely candidate, something of which the New Testament elsewhere indicts the Judaizers (Titus 1:10–11) and other false teachers (2 Tim 6:5; 2 Pet 2:3). For more on Phil 3:19, see Peter T. O’Brien, Commentary on Philippians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991), 455–56; Moises Silva, Philippians, 2nd ed., BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 179–83; BDAG, s.v., κοιλία.
8. This argument is sensitive to the mixed nature of the visible church. There are hypocrites—“weeds” (Matt 13:25)—in the church. They may commit idolatry and apostatize. But the “wheat”—the elect saints who have saving faith—cannot and will not commit total or final apostasy or idolatry, for “faithful is he who calls you” (1 Thess 5:24).

©Christian Bland. All Rights Reserved.

You can find the whole series here.

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Post authored by:

• Christian Bland

  

  Rev. Christian Bland (M.Div. Westminster Seminary California) is a Teaching Elder in the PCA, serving as the Assistant Pastor of Spring Meadows Presbyterian Church in Las Vegas, NV. Christian is married to Michaela, and they have one child.

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