In the current coronavirus pandemic, we are warned about the danger of fake news, misinformation and false beliefs.
Similarly, false doctrines are equally dangerous, if not more. Why is that so?
In this viral pandemic we are often warned about the danger of embracing false beliefs. Believing
that God promises believers absolute protection from the virus (based on Psalm
91) without us taking any precautions is being foolhardy. Some have died in
this pandemic because they are too gung ho in their “faith”, having failed to
practise simple measures like social distancing, frequent hand washing and
wearing masks.
Now
who says what we believe isn’t important? It has dual consequences—physical and
spiritual, temporal and eternal, now and in the hereafter.
Let
us now examine four major false doctrines which may prove dangerous to our
eternal destiny.
First, the widely-held false belief that once we are saved our eternal destiny is secure—we will definitely go heaven. ‘Once Saved, Always Saved’ (OSAS) is the biggest lie ever foisted on the minds of believers. It is true that salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). None should dispute that. But if we think faith does not require any personal commitment on our part (obedience, good works, fruit-bearing, endurance), we have erred. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). Faith not proven by works is dead (James 2: 17, 24, 26). Furthermore, if believers willfully live in sin or choose to deny God, there is no way they will be accepted into God’s kingdom (Hebrews 6:4-6, Hebrews10: 26-31, 2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 21:8). If they take the Mark of the Beast, under pressure from the Antichrist in the Great Tribulation, they will surely come under condemnation (Rev.14: 9-11).
“If a teacher merely tells you that God will keep you since He has chosen you out of His sovereign plan, and that you do not have to overcome sin, deception and persecution, whether you obey or not is immaterial because OSAS, that teacher is pulling the wool over your eyes. While it is true that faith rests in God's promises (the passive part), faith is also ACTIVE. And this ACTIVE part is what that teacher fails to tell you. Faith requires us to overcome, endure, persevere and be accountable. Why did Paul say, Fight the good fight of faith?"
― Porridge for the Soul
Second,
undue emphasis on God’s grace to such an extent that His justice is downplayed
or ignored is a most dangerous false doctrine. This is the ear-tickling (2 Tim.
4:3), sugar-coated dangerous error of hyper-grace. Basically, it tells us that
once we believe in Christ we are justified, henceforth God will continually see
us as righteous; we merely need to rest in Christ’s imputed righteousness. It
claims that there is no need to confess our sins as all our sins, including
future sins, have been forgiven. It also asserts that believers saved by grace
are free from the demands of the law, that the Holy Spirit will not convict
believers of sin, and that obedience on the believers’ part would nullify God’s
grace. This teaching somewhat implies we have the licence to continue
living in sin. But, clearly, we must not continue living in sin that
grace may abound (Romans 6:1-2). For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly
passions (Titus 2: 11-12). Finally, this
genre of “feel good” teaching attracts a huge following for it emphasises blessings―what
we can get from God as opposed to self-denial and surrender to God―and
downplays trials, suffering, costly discipleship and persecution. Who would not want such a watered-down version of Christianity? Joseph Prince, New Creation Church, Singapore, is
considered by many to be the main progenitor of hyper-grace (‘pseudo grace’/ ‘cheap
grace’/ ‘hyped-up grace’). For more: http://bit.ly/1ibPiTU
Third,
another big lie is that God promises us perfect health and material prosperity
on earth. Believers who fall for this ‘prosperity gospel’ may be in for a nasty
surprise when, despite their spiritual fervour, they are stricken with serious
illnesses or experience financial shake-up like foreclosure and bankruptcy. To
rub salt to the wound, such a lie often puts believers on a guilt trip: “All
these bad things happen to you because you lack faith.” This false belief may
also lead believers to become disillusioned with God when they or their loved
ones suffer from a terminal illness, like cancer, in spite of fervent prayers. Believers
who hold this false concept of God have only themselves to blame, not God. In the first place, God never promises to
heal always; He never guarantees perfect health.
Related
to the foregoing is the ‘name it, claim it’ heresy propagated by the ‘Word of
Faith’ movement—that we can call into existence things that are not there. This
is clearly a misreading of Romans 4:17, where it is God (not believers) who has
the power to call things that are not there into existence. Believers cannot simply
command, decree or declare for things to materialise. Furthermore, we cannot
“bypass” the will of God (1 John 5: 14) and call into existence material
things, like a luxury car, using “faith” as a tool to fulfil our selfish
desires (James 4:3). Surely we cannot arm-twist and manipulate God for our own
agenda.
Fourth,
another dangerous lie is that our belief in God needs to be validated by
sensational experiences and spectacular signs and wonders … and, if necessary,
believers may need to go beyond the bounds of scriptures in order to truly
“know” God. This movement exalts experience and “miracles” but denigrates
scriptures. It also elevates man to become self-styled apostles and prophets
who can receive instruction directly from God. Some even claim that their
teaching carry the same weight and authority as scriptures. They love to
highlight things like gold dust, angel feathers, glory cloud, “grave sucking”. Even
New Age and other outlandish beliefs have been incorporated into its theology
and practice. Jesus warned: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a
sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 16:4).
In the past, we usually associate revival with repentance, changed lives and
fear of God. But the new revivalism is one marked by sensational experiences
and signs and wonders with hardly any mention/emphasis on repentance from sin. The
leader of this deviant movement is Bill Johnson of Bethel church, Redding,
California. The wider movement commonly associated with this kind of teaching
is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). For more: https://bit.ly/2XTHwXp
Grave sucking to extract the "anointing" from tombs of departed saints
What do all these false teachings have in common? They tend to make believers complacent and give them a “feel good” feeling and a false sense of security. This reminds me of a frog which derives great pleasure resting in a basin of warm water. Finally, when the water temperature reaches boiling point, it is too late to jump out of the water. The frog has been lulled into a false sense of security by the warm bath water; ultimately, it gets cooked to death. That is the tragic result when believers are deceived and get sucked into the whirlpool of deadly, destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1).
Today, the greatest danger to the church is not outside but lies within it. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny Christ (Jude 4). These are the false prophets who come to believers in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15). Like the great deceiver, the serpent, these false teachers worm their way into the church, causing it to implode.
Salvation
is not just an event that happened at a point in time in the past. True, we
made a decision for Christ in the past. But we will not inherit this salvation
till we fulfill all the conditions that come with it. Far more than just an
event, salvation is a process (1 Peter 1:3-5). Unrepentant sin has to be dealt
with (Luke 13:5). Past faithfulness cannot absolve us from blame if, at
present, we decide to turn our backs on God (Hebrew 3:14, Hebrews 10: 39, Matthew
24:13). Being an apostle or prophet does not necessarily mean we are in God’s
good books and come under His favour. For
profession is not the same as possession:
- “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23).
That
is why the apostle Paul shared that he had to run the spiritual race with self-discipline
if he did not want to be disqualified. https://bit.ly/2wKUGuO
In conclusion, this viral pandemic is highly instructional. It shows us why it is important to embrace correct beliefs to avoid physical death. Similarly, believers need to hold fast to sound doctrine in order that we might be saved. If we fall prey to false doctrine, fail to overcome deception, we may miss out on heaven.
CONTENDING FOR THE TRUTH
In conclusion, this viral pandemic is highly instructional. It shows us why it is important to embrace correct beliefs to avoid physical death. Similarly, believers need to hold fast to sound doctrine in order that we might be saved. If we fall prey to false doctrine, fail to overcome deception, we may miss out on heaven.
CONTENDING FOR THE TRUTH
We
need to guard the truth (2 Tim. 1:14), continue in what we have learned and
have firmly believed (2 Tim. 3: 14), preach sound doctrine, rebuke false
doctrine (2 Tim. 4: 2), and contend earnestly for the faith which was once for
all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). We must not shrink from declaring the
whole counsel of God found in scriptures (Acts 20:27).
It
is implied that, if we don’t build ourselves up on sound doctrine, we might not
inherit salvation:
- “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16).
- “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).
SALVATION: A FUTURE HOPE AND INHERITANCE
One day, believers will be presented holy and blameless before God; but the condition is that we must remain steadfast in the faith:
- And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.(Colossians 1:21-23)
RELATED POSTS
IS SALVATION AN EVENT OR
PROCESS?
Is
salvation merely an event that happens when we make a decision to invite Christ
into our life or utter the sinner’s prayer?
SAVED AND SECURE?
Is
there eternal security for believers if they deny God or continue living in
sin?
EIGHT
KEY TENETS OF HYPER-GRACE DOCTRINE REFUTED
We need to raise red
flags whenever there are dangerous false teachings so that impressionable
believers will not be entrapped.
HYPER-GRACE: HOLY SPIRIT DOES NOT CONVICT BELIEVERS OF SIN
Joseph Prince made a bold statement in his book: “The bottom line
is that the Holy Spirit never convicts you of your sins. He NEVER comes to
point out your faults. I challenge you to find a scripture in the Bible that
tells you that the Holy Spirit has come to convict you of your sins. You won’t
find any.”
IS THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL
VALID?
The
belief that Jesus was rich lends support to the prosperity gospel. But was
Jesus truly rich when He walked upon the earth?
TOUGH QUESTIONS FOR
BETHEL FANS
Here
are some searching questions for fans of Bill Johnson and Bethel church.
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