“ . . . everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27
We live in a time when people are surrounding themselves with teachers who tickle their ears with what they want to hear. These teachers take the truth and distort it, thus deceiving their hearers. Their hearers allow themselves to be deceived, because they are not nearly as honorable as the Thessalonians who questioned everything that Paul said against the Scriptures to see if what he was saying was true!
There are three destructive heresies that are commonly taught in our churches. There are many more, to be sure, but the poison within these three is extremely potent and must be exposed. Their destructive power is of such magnitude that whole congregations are swept up into their deceit and their destruction. The multitudes that yearn for God are being confused by these treacherous teachings. The presence of these heresies within our congregations is largely responsible for the massive apostasy the churches are unwilling to identify. Their answer to waining attendance is to become even more like the world, drawing in the sinners and telling them that they are fine in their sin, just acknowledge Jesus and all will be swell.
We, as believers, are considered friends of Jesus if we obey His commands. This plainly means that we are to obey exactly what He, as King of kings, has commanded us to do. What we find is that the vile nature of man tries to appease his guilty conscience towards God by attempting to be religious. He does not necessarily want to give up the desires that rule him, but finds himself in conflict with the Lord’s commands. Man’s remedy is to take God’s words and twist them into teachings and beliefs that allow him comfort and the continuance of his desires.
What are the three heresies that have allowed usurpers to deceive the body of Christ?
LIE # 1: All people are basically good.
The invasion of this humanist teaching into Christianity constitutes perhaps the most destructive of the three, then again the same could be said for the other two. The idea here is that there is basically more goodness than evil in the average person. Naturally, few of us want to admit we are more evil than good, and of course if we admit that mankind is basically evil then we would have to count ourselves amongst them. Our pride cannot tolerate such truth, hence it is easier to swallow such a phenomenal lie by telling each other that we are all basically good and deserving of heaven.
Here is what God says about humanity:
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:10-18
LIE #2: Once you receive salvation you can never loose it. (A.K.A. Eternal Security)
This humdinger is probably more responsible for the “religious” falling away from their faith while maintaining their religiosity than any other. There is an essence of truth here, but it has been curiously twisted into something of entirely different meaning. Salvation once gained cannot, in fact be lost. The key here is ascertaining when salvation is gained, and here is where so many fall to the false teachers. Salvation is not gained when you repent and submit to Jesus Christ as your King and Lord. Under that act of mercy and grace you have just started the race, having only achieved a place in the starting line. What are we saved from? From God’s wrath. When does God’s wrath come? At the end of this age. When Christ comes and His wrath is poured out on earth, the faithful will receive their promised salvation which is found in the resurrection. For those who would argue that we have received a deposit of guarantee, let me remind you that should we break our end of the New Covenant with God through unfaithfulness and unrepentance, then we lose the deposit! Due to this extreme error in teaching many feel justified to live less than righteous lives due to the smug attitude that we have somehow already attained that which hasn’t yet come. These types are the white washed tombs Jesus spoke of; beautiful on the outside, but full of dead men’s bones.
Question: If we cannot loose salvation we have supposedly already gained , then why does Peter teach the following:
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 2 Peter 3:17
Jesus said, “He who stands firmly to the end will be saved”!
LIE #3: There will be a pre-tribulation rapture.
(Note: The tribulation is not the term used for the end-times in the Bible. Both Jesus and Daniel refer to it as the desolation.)
This is among the most convoluted of lies. Its purpose is only to ease the fears of those who couldn’t think of enduring such a test as the tribulation in order to enter the kingdom. Somehow the proponents of such heresy feel that God would never let the church go through such trials, that we are somehow above such judgment. It boggles the mind that people who say they have seriously studied God’s word could come up with, teach and believe such lies! I have one word for such a brood of vipers; context!
My web ministry has much about this subject and I will not elaborate here, but I will make it simple and clear by quoting Jesus in His own words, IN CONTEXT:
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. John 6:35-59
Four times within a few paragraphs Jesus tells us He will raise us up on the LAST DAY. Think He’s trying to tell us something? The context that directly follows this has all of the many disciples (hundreds and perhaps thousands) abandoning Jesus, except for the twelve. They left because the teaching was too hard for them. Perhaps we overlook this black and white statement because we are so much like them, we abandon Jesus when the teaching challenges us beyond our comfort.
It should be obvious that this is not an exhaustive study, for that I leave you with your Bible, and I pray a healthy desire to zealously seek your God.
To the many false teachers and deceivers out there, intentional or otherwise, I have this message for you and your devoted followers:
But to the wicked, God says:
“What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers. You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face. Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue.” Psalm 50:16-22
I wonder who these covenant quoting wicked people might be, shouldn’t you?!