Bruxy Cavey and Inclusivism: Utter Gospel Confusion

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is, by nature, exclusive. By this I mean that, according to the Scriptures, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only means by which anyone can have peace with God. Jesus taught that nobody comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). John tells us that those who believe in Christ have life, but those who do not believe bear the wrath of God (John 3:36). Paul tells us that by faith in Christ we have peace with God because we are united to Christ, justified, and reconciled to God through his death (Romans 5:1-10), and that those who are not believers indwelt by the Holy Spirit do not belong to God and cannot please him (Romans 8:1-11).

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In My Place, Condemned He Stood – Bruxy Cavey’s Denial of Penal Substitution Refuted

Today I am sharing a sermon I heard recently.

“In My Place, Condemned He Stood” is preached by Pastor Carl Muller of Trinity Baptist Church in Burlington, Ontario. In this sermon, Pastor Muller responds to those who would deny the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement, such as Bruxy Cavey of The Meeting House. In fact, Bruxy’s erroneous statements that Penal Substitutionary Atonement is a novel doctrine that “goes beyond Scripture” are directly quoted as “perhaps the most disturbing example” of those rejecting the doctrine. For more direct quotes from Bruxy on Penal Substitution click here.

Bruxy Cavey and Paul Hill: Detaching Christ from Scripture

Bruxy Cavey loves to make a distinction between following Jesus and following the Bible. This is a distinction without a difference. Bruxy uses this tactic to justify dismissing those things in the Bible which he deems inconsistent with his own view of Christ (more about this later in this article). I have addressed this false distinction here.

When we imbue the Bible with the place and power that only Jesus should hold, Christ-followers can become idolatrous Bible-followers rather than Christ-followers – and that is a recipe for disaster.” – The Authority of the Word of God in Print and in Person – The Meeting House

To drive this point home, Bruxy uses the example of a Pastor named Paul Hill (see this sermon and The Authority of the Word of God in Print and in Person). Reverend Paul Hill professed Christ and, in Bruxy’s words, was “A very dedicated and passionate evangelical pastor, Paul Hill was committed to the authority of Scripture. He was passionate for God, and followed the Bible as his authority for faith and practice.” Reverend Hill shot and killed an abortion doctor and his bodyguard with a shotgun and found his justification for doing so in the Scriptures, according to Bruxy.

Bruxy’s Fabricated Distinction: Following Jesus and Not the Bible

God is the supreme and ultimate authority in all things. He is our creator, king, judge, and saviour. He has revealed Himself to all people in a certain way in nature and innately in our consciences and reasoning capabilities (Rom 1:18-23, 2:15), and more fully in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (2 Tim 3:16,17, 2 Pet 1:21) , and in Jesus Christ – the second person of the Trinity who became one of us (John 14:9, Heb 1:2). So, can God – possessor of all authority who is omnipotent, cannot lie, and cannot deny Himself – be separated in any degree from what He has said? For two millennia Christians have recognized that this is impossible. Unfortunately there are many who have tried to argue otherwise. Bruxy Cavey is one.

Bruxy vs Peter: The Authority of Scripture

Recently Bruxy Cavey delivered a sermon on the Anabaptist view of Scripture in which he explained that Anabaptists emphasize following Jesus over following the Bible. In this post I want to tackle one of Bruxy’s Scriptural supports for his view.

Bruxy Cavey on Atonement: Shedding Blood Not Necessary for God

A few weeks ago Bruxy Cavey spoke at Greg Boyd’s church and gave this classic Bruxy sermon in which he once again denied and preached against inerrancy, the ultimate authority of Scripture, and Penal Substitutionary Atonement. He was there to promote Greg Boyd’s newest book which attempts to make sense of the Old Testament revelation of God in a way consistent with Pacifist presuppositions.

Bruxy Rips and Twists

Bruxy Cavey is a Pastor and teacher at The Meeting House, a multi-site operation with locations across Ontario, Canada. In the past few months I have listened to many hours of his sermons, other podcasts, university lectures, and You Tube videos. I had originally seen some videos of him denying inerrancy, the ultimate authority of Scripture and Penal Substitution on You Tube, and I wanted to get a good grasp on his teaching simply because he is in my area and is very popular.

I listened to his series “Inspired – How God Speaks Through Scripture” closely, knowing already that he denied the inerrancy and ultimate authority of the Scriptures. What I heard was very troubling – especially this portion of Part 3 of the series titled “The Shadow & The Substance” where Bruxy teaches on Colossians 2:16-17. What troubled me was not only his denial of the ultimate authority of the text, but the way he was willing to handle the Scriptures to affirm his position. I will address that particular part of his teaching here.