The "Lion of Judah" company has excellent broadcasts, both for its clarity (it "tells it like it is"), and for its Scriptural proof. I normally would do "Cliff's Notes," but they state the points perfectly enough that I didn't like to deviate from their statements. Enjoy.
We are warned in the Holy Bible time
and time again to not fall for false teaching, the "doctrines of
demons." But because people don't read Scripture enough today, they
will be seduced now more than ever. I Timothy 4:1:
...the Spirit expressly says that in
latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving
spirits and doctrines of demons
Notice also II Peter 2:1: But
there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
teachers among you, who will secretly bring in damnable heresies, even denying
the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction
There are many of these heresies
being preached in our day. Here are four:
1.
Jesus is the Son of God, but he is not God
This is taught by the "New
Agers" movement. They see Jesus as the greatest creature of
God. They regard him as a great teacher—but not God. But this is
not what the Bible clearly tells us. In John 10:30, Jesus says:
"I and My Father are one.”
For further proof, let's tie three
Scripture verses together: In John 1:1 it says: In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
If you then ask, "What is the
Word?" The answer is in two verses: John 1:14:
The Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us.
and Hebrews 1:1-3:
God, who at various times
and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the
prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us
by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He
made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness
of His glory and the express image of His person...
The Word is defined as an
understandable expression of what God is. In the Incarnation, mankind was
able to see God in Jesus, to see what God was like. The meaning of the phrase
"express image" in Greek locks that concept in. It also says that
Jesus was involved at creation. There can be no doubt, Scripture claims
Jesus was God. I might add, we have misinterpreted the Greek word
translated "begotten" over the years, which many of you might still
have the wrong usage in an older Bible translation. In King James’ time,
scholars were not sure what the Greek word meant. The meaning of the Greek word
was recently, by archaeological digs, just figured out. It has more of a
meaning of "unique." Because the Holy Spirit, also God, was the
father. God did not "beget" Jesus as we would, starting a new
life. As we see above, Jesus was with God in the beginning--i.e., Jesus
was eternal. He became human,
This is not a minor doctrine
here. What you believe about Jesus is literally a heaven-or-hell
issue. You can be wrong about eschatology (the order of events of the
future), or baptism. But you cannot be wrong about Jesus Christ. (A
note: this is an excellent starting point for evangelists--"what do
you think about Jesus Christ?") The Bible warns us of the danger of
believing in "another Jesus Christ," thinking He was just a martyr,
or prophet, or teacher. You're expressing "tolerance,"
right? But you're in danger of hell. The Bible is narrow.
(See my blog, "The Narrow Gate."). You have to do business with
Jesus; you must deal with Him. He forgave sins, an authority only God has
(PS: not your priest). In Mark 2, Jesus forgives a man's sin. The
Jews immediately picked up on that, calling it blasphemy--of course, they
assumed Jesus was not God. Mark 2:7:
“Why does this Man speak
blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Only His righteousness will get you
into heaven. Truth is if you think He is not God; THAT is
blasphemy. Rejecting Christ's saving us on the Cross, which no sinful man
can do, forces you to depend on our own righteousness when the day of Judgment
comes. But that will send us to hell; our “righteousness” by works is
woefully inadequate. Remember Romans 3:23:
for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God
(PS: God doesn't Judge by
weighing our good vs. bad; that is a fantasy. He demands perfection--only
Jesus did that).
False
teaching 2. We are gods
This was also popularized by the New
Agers. But literally, it is as old as dirt. We read of Satan's
temptation of Eve in Genesis 3:4:
Then the serpent said to the woman,
“You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day
you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God
The false teachers reasoned that
because we (the saved) are children of God, we share in His divine
nature. That’s true; but that thought led hem down the wrong path; they
include the idea that since we have that "power," in the freedom of
will that we are gods, that means, we are in charge, we can plan, we can
direct, we can control. There is enough truth to that that we easily believe
the rest, that we are in ultimate control of everything. Unfortunately, we have
warped this to include control in gaining material possessions. This
stresses materialism--it makes us focus on getting money, fame, etc. This
is "worldliness," the lustful ways of the world, which Jesus counsels
to stay away from. See Titus 2:12:
...denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age
The lesson of the Scripture, driven
home again and again, is, that our "control" is not true. God is in
charge. What he sends us to do, or even to suffer, is always designed to
benefit us. The false teachers say Jesus died so we can become divine and have
all we want on earth. Truth is, Jesus died to save you from the flames of
hell, which you deserve because of your sin and rebellion to God. Not
very divine. On that final day, we will see millions of people who
rejected who Christ really is, cast into a lake of fire. If you are
careful to worship Christ as Lord and Master, and live humbly, you will
definitely appreciate what He did on the Cross--you will see how material
wealth is meaningless and burned up--how it doesn't compare with heaven.
This false theology attempts to equate us with God, a double blasphemy because
it lifts us up, to pride, and it is disparaging to Him as the only sovereign King.
We do not have divinity, either in birth or acquired in this life; only God has
that. We get to heaven only by His righteousness.
Toxic teaching #3 is:
3.
All Roads Lead to Heaven
They say, in this day of worshipping
"tolerance," that it is narrow-minded to say that Jesus is the only
way to the Father. But John 14:6 does assert that:
Jesus said to him, “I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.
False teachers "explain"
that that narrow doctrine was only for the disciples; the requirement was not
for generalization to everybody. Well, how convenient. Nowhere is
such a division of saints (all those truly saved) even hinted at. If you
get into that wishy-washy hermeneutics, you can cherry-pick Scriptures that you
like, "that's for me," and Scriptures you don't like: "that
doesn't apply to me." Sort of a Thomas Jefferson approach.
No, the Christian faith is
dogmatic. It is uncompromising. It is non-negotiable.
"No correct Jesus, no heaven." Jesus is unique--after all, He
alone, among those who were on earth, is God. Buddha is dead; Muhammad is
dead; Krishna is dead (if he was ever alive). Only Christ claimed to be
God and had a resurrection to prove it. Any church or pastor (or even
Oprah) who preaches this doctrine is a wolf in sheep's clothing. This
doctrine has its roots in universalism. That belief is that ultimately,
everybody will get saved. So we don't have to go through Jesus, they say.
Some may go through purgatory (not in Scripture), some may go through enough
reincarnations, but they all get "cleaned up" eventually. Wrong.
We've only got one chance to make a decision and live it out; once we die, your
final choice is locked in. No changes, no mulligans. We only get
cleaned up by the blood of Jesus. Gory and old-fashioned, but God didn't
make salvation easy on the mind to accept.
4.
Prosperity Gospels
This theology says, once you're
saved, God wants you to ask for what you want, and He'll deliver. It's
based on Matthew 7:7:
“Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
I don't know how many false beliefs
and hurtful theologies are based on one lone Scripture, where people don't
bother to compare with other relevant Scripture on the same subject. Let's look
at Scripture in context. Consider the wording of I Timothy 6:8-9:
And having food and clothing, with
these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to
be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and
harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition
It's obvious from these verses that
we should avoid worldliness, which is the opposite of the prosperity gospel,
which encourages it. As the saying goes, we "can't take it with
us" anyhow. Our desires for things of the world are inversely related to
our faith in God as our Provider. John 15:1-6 teaches us that we must have an
abiding, ongoing relationship with God to get to heaven. This is radical
theology, seldom taught. But relationship with Christ wanes when we
concentrate on the "rat race' and lusts of the flesh. The more that
we dream of the prosperity gospel, we could be dreaming our way out of heaven
and into hell if we immerse ourselves in the world.
Teachers of the prosperity gospel
are more concerned about filling their churches than filling heaven. That
gospel treats God as a genie in a bottle. But He is not your
servant. Your relationship with God cannot be based on what God can do
for you. The prosperity gospel makes people focus on treasures for this
world, and not the next. But what does Matthew 6:19-21 say?
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus does not say so at the time,
but the whole point of the Sermon on the Mount is outlining what leads to
heaven, and what leads to hell. People think how sweet these platitudes
are. But they have a hard edge. The best parable with a hidden hard
edge is the Sower. Here's some of the relevant passage in Matthew 13:
4. And as he sowed, some seed
fell...7....among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked
them.
Jesus, in explaining the Sower, says
it is about the kingdom of heaven--versus the kingdom of hell. This is
not Just An "Allegory," as some people complacently assume. This is
more on how to end up in heaven or hell. That makes it vitally important. So please pay
attention to vv.22ff:
Now he who received
seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this
world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But
he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and
understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a
hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”.
Here is a very important
point: Of the four landing grounds of the seed (representing the Gospel
being distributed to 4 hearts), only One bears permanent fruit.
The "thorns," seeking riches, failed.
Speaking of the word “unfruitful,” bearing
fruit is necessary to reach heaven. This takes us back to John 15:1-6.
I'd like to focus on vv5-6:
“I am the vine,
you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears
much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If
anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is
withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire
What do you suppose the
"fire" is, in this "allegory?" Hell. It's because
you have not abided in Christ and borne fruit. Not bearing fruit means
you are dead, spiritually. Reaching to the other "allegory,"
does the prosperity gospel lead you to thorns, which leads you to
unfruitfulness? You better believe it. Where is your
treasure? (I have other blogs on this). We are to love God with all
our heart, in the very first of the 10 Commandments. Too many people
think these are 10 suggestions. They have God wrong; God will pay
according to our deeds. Being initially saved, we must pursue godliness.
That means godly works and thoughts. Some deeds, in the hands of an
already-saved person, are fruitful for God; some are not. I feel it is
necessary to remind you that our deeds are an outgrowth of our real faith.
I trust that this blog will help you
identify these fleshly theologies and stay away from them, under the pain of
hell. Read His Word to help you avoid deceptive philosophy. That's
especially important in these latter days.
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