FALSE PROPHET BOB JONES
Bob Jones
Bob Jones – a Tail of a Prophet
(from http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain52.htm
Bob Jones first became known by being part of the Kansas city prophets back in the 1980’s. During this time period there was a group called Grace Ministries’ ministerial team which consisted of Paul Cain, Bob Jones, John Paul Jackson, David Parker, Jim Goll, Francis Frangipane and Mike Bickle that were of the former the Kansas City Fellowship (that became the Metro Vineyard of Kansas City).
Nearly everyone one of these men are separately or collectively involved in the “Latter Rain” false revivals that have taken place. Paul Cain, Mike Bickle (and others) are friends to his ministry and were involved in the prophetic movement that entered the Vineyard church under John Wimber and are now part of the new apostolic reformation of Peter Wagner who was friends with Wimber.
Many that run in prophetic circles have respect for Jones, others Have a DIFFERENT OPINION and consider Jones a blatant false teacher/prophet that needs to be avoided. Jones has not changed his perspective in over 20 years, he continues to influence many. He has been a major influence behind the new revival through Todd Bentley, a Toronto style copy.
Bob Jones’ spiritual experiences are extraordinary to say the least. They consist of “Voices,” “angels,” and “translations to heaven” which give him revelations that are not only contrary to Scripture but are easily categorized as of the New Age variety of spirituality. Jones is whom Todd Bentley looks to as a senior prophet and mentor.
Mike Bickle a close friend of Jones relates the degree of supernatural visitation Bob Jones received nightly: “You know, I’m going to tell you something about Bob. Ever since that time in ’74 when he was filled with the Holy Spirit he began to see the technicolor visions and the Lord began to visit him. Since that time he has seen many, many times, five, ten visions and dreams a night. And when I first met him, I couldn’t hardly comprehend that. I said, “Five or ten a night!” He said, “Oh, yes, all the time. Sometimes more, sometimes three or four” (Mike Bickle, Visions and Revelations, 1988)
Mike Bickle explains the level of spiritual warfare Jones often experiences (Vineyard in Anaheim, CA in 1989): “Bob Jones has come to me several times after ministry. . . you may not believe this, but it’s true, where. . . he’s… went to bed at night and woke up the next morning with a big red streak across his face or a big cut, gash on his arm. He’d say, ‘They got me last night’. He was at warfare in the realm of trances and visions and there was marks left on his body.” (Discernment newsletter vol.1. 4 1990)
If you have marks on your body from sleeping and entering demonic warfare during that time you have some very serious spiritual problems.
Bob Jones claims that when he was nine years old living in Arkansas, an angel carrying a “great trumpet” came riding down from the sky on a white horse and stopped before him in the middle of a dirt road. Four years later, at age thirteen, he claims he was escorted to the throne room of God in heaven (like Cerullo and others). Mike Bickle asked him in a dialogue “You say that you saw the throne room?” “. . . what did it look like?” Jones- “It looked like gold and it looked like light and it was a light not like the light you see here which is artificial,” he responded, adding that the light, the glory of the Lord, frightened him. There was a “guide,” that he identified as “the angel of the Lord” who protected him from danger by standing between him and the throne by filtering the rays from God as if the angel was “like red sunglasses.” He said that he later understood that this was God’s way of calling and commissioning him for their new important earth-changing work that could go out from America’s Midwest. It is this story that we will focus on at the outset of this article.
Jones relates his concern about the rise of abortion and homosexuality, and a conversation he had with a devil: “He told me the next time that I prophesied and told anybody about it, he would kill me. He said, ‘If you knock that off we’ll move back into all the signs and wonders you want to. You can heal people and you can prophesy day and night if you want to, if you leave these two subjects alone” (Mike Bickle, Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, 1988, found in Vengeance is Ours by Al Dager).
What? The devils will move Jones back into signs and wonders if he will avoid these subject matters! If this is accurate, (and there is not reason for him to say this unless it is), then the signs and wonders manifested by Jones and other prophets may not be from God at all. It is devils according to his own experience? I don’t think I’m changing his words by stating an observation- since he is still living and so many signs and wonders occur at the meetings, we are left to assume he took the deal that allowed the devils to move quite freely.
This experience he had in August of 1975 Jones claims he had a near-death experience that was caused by a severe, painful nosebleed and found himself in heaven. Jones said: “… all of a sudden, the pain was gone. And I was in a dark place and I looked around and I could see that I was in a cave and I looked down there and then my thoughts were, “Oh, Lord, did I get my robe clean? Did I have enough time?” And there was a man that walked beside me and he said, “You can look now, Bob, and see” and I looked down and my robe was like crystal light” (Mike Bickle with Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, transcript, series of five tapes from the fall of 1988.)
Jones said, “He then saw Jesus in the form of a light who would grab and kiss” men and women of different ages and then make them disappear by absorbing them into his body! “It was like two big ole doors right here in his heart and it’d be just that, and they was gone.” “… He then saw people that Jesus didn’t want who were on “an elevator and an escalator” to hell which was like “a cold storage place.” Jesus then commissioned him to touch the leaders in a new last days church so that he could absorb “a billion souls unto myself in the last day,” Jones said. (Mike Bickle with Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, transcript, series of five tapes from the fall of 1988.)
Bickle later related that during his trip to heaven Jesus commissioned him to be one of God’s new generals to lead his end time army. Surely if Jones is one of the churches new general’s we will be led to defeat.
What kind of Jesus is this that Jones presents to the church? Who kisses men and absorbs people
More recently on this video
(approx. 4:00 into the video) we find Jones telling us the the same story – abortion would increase, homosexuality would increase and aids would be incurable and there would be an epidemic of drugs (not anything that someone who watches the culture could not predict). He then speaks of the day Aug. 8, 1975- the same story quoted above, but it is told a bit differently, minus some important details he shared in 1988. “A demon appeared to me and said if you ever share that prophesy again I’ll kill you.” And so I told him I don’t belong to you anymore, I belong to the lord and I’m not afraid of you, you have no, uh, no uh, place to touch me, well he did that day and I went to the Lord in death and I stood in a line and as I looked to my left there were a lot of people on like a roller and like in a supermarket where they were rolling past and there were a huge number of people on that line. And I was on a line where there weren’t very many and we were walking and… when I went beyond this life I went into a cave and I looked out the cave and saw a man down there at the cave entrance and he was white light, but there was a whiter light than that white light holding hands out to me and my first thought was did I die clean, was my robe spotted cause I come out of such deep skin and I was concerned to see if I was clean and there was a man that stood alongside of me I never been able to see his face, he’s the paracletos, the Holy Spirit.. he spoke to me and said look now you can see-I looked and my robe was white.” The Holy Spirit is walking with Jones but not anyone else? Jones become confident of his standing before the lord – that he did all he was supposed to do, as this line approached Him he looked to left and saw men wrapped in dollar bills, men on the inside of a whiskey bottle. Men that looked like drugs because that was the god they served on earth “In hell you will serve the god that you served on earth.”
He then explains how there was a large black woman in line with a 100 angels surrounding her and he asked the faceless man, calling him Lord what it was about, he explains how she did great things for her people with the help of the angels. “as she drew close to him he looked out and said did you learn to love and she said yes lord she threw her arms and he just put her arms around her and kissed her right on the lips and just pulled her in”… and the rest of this is even more out of context from the Bible that I refuse to write about such nonsense. This man is not right! Jones is claiming to have actually died and was at the judgment, his judgment. But he is back on earth!
Well, you are free to believe what you want, but I refuse to believe this mans fantasy tales that are unbiblical to the MAX. Is this Jesus the same one in the Bible?
Occult type Influences seem to common with Jones. There are many reports of phenomena similar to the kind Jones describe found in occultism: heat in one’s hands when the spirit of healing comes over them; touching someone to feel the same pain in order to diagnose sickness; predicting future events concerning famous personalities. None of these are recorded in Scripture but they do manifest themselves among those in the New Age/ Occult.
Jones explains to us that his healing power came when he was struck by lightning:
“It was about 76. A bolt of lightning. I was inside I didn’t have my wires grounded in the basement down there, and I grabbed ahold of the refrigerator, and lightning hit the wires outside, and a great blue flame came in. And a ball of fire danced all over that basement, and didn’t hurt me. But from that time forth my hands worked funny. And a lot of people have had a lot of good laughs about it. But a lot of people have got healed by it, too. And miracles and everything else, and got anointed by it. Anytime God is going to start a fire, he starts it with lightning. And you can take a little of that fire and impart it wherever it is needed. And it will start a God’s fire” ( Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, 1988.)
The color blue can also mean one is not getting enough oxygen. Certainly Jones has not received enough correct Bible teaching to recognize there are other influences going on his life. Maybe Jones can point to the examples in Scripture where God used lightning for a fire. It sounds more like the Greek myths to me. The only fire I see started like this is what Jesus described – when Satan fell as lightning.
Supernatural experiences are an every day and night occurrence to Mr. Jones, and there is no end to how flamboyant the stories can be. Jones believes a spirit named Dominus, is Jesus. Bickle and Jones relate the story of an angel revealing that God would appear to Bickle and his brother in law and associate pastor Bob Scott in the form of another person named “Don” through a vision or dream to confirm Jones’ ministry.
Bickle said the vision eventually took place, Jones states “You guys are never going to learn the language of the Spirit, are you?… When they asked Jones why Don appeared and not Jesus, Jones answered, “Jesus appears in thousands of different faces to portray something.” Bickle: “He was trying to say, ‘I’m your friend, I am your familiar friend and I’m going to show you all things so you can move in the power of the Spirit’” (Mike Bickle with Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, transcript, series of five tapes from the fall of 1988)
These type of descriptions and non- conformity to the Bibles Jesus certainly raises the suspicion of a another Jesus, or spirit at work. If he is not the same then how can we know we are encountering the authentic one? This is like people having visions of Jesus and everyone describes something different, not to worry, they are all Him.
We find out who Bob Jones’ White Talking Horse is and whom the angel of the Lord is. According to
Bob Jones when he was 13- “The first time I ever seen the white horse was when an angel called Gabriel was riding. I saw him a couple of times in the ’70’s, I didn’t understand what it meant, I would just see the white horse…(Mike Bickle interjects) “The white horse always speaks in Bob’s visions…In his vision it speaks of the corporate purpose that God is bringing to pass…” (ibid. Visions and Revelations.)
I say naaaay to this story, we have yet to see a talking horse in Scripture but we have see a donkey speak rebuke to its rider, Balaam who was the prophet for hire. Whatever is communicating to Jones has some hair raising tails to tell. And the Lord spoke and said, “Bob, the white horse is coming and that will be the Christian group that I’m going to use. Incorruptible flesh will they have, and the lightning in their hands will be the hiding place of their power” (Bob Jones, tape, Visions and Revelations, 1988).
Jones statements are not only unbiblical but cryptic except to the initiated. Jones has been found to need a translator for his speaking even though it is in English because of his incoherence in communication (one translator for Jones is Paul Keith Davis of White Dove ministry). I watched one interview on TV where the “translator” was trying to salvage what appeared to be the ramblings of a man that was not coherent in his speech and had to reinterpret nearly everything said.
Many who are into the visions of Jones also have seen the white horse who represents a sovereign move of the Spirit of truth and power. This is hardly the case as they use Revelation 19:10-11 as a proof text. This white horse is to bring to pass the former moves of God that took place overtime. There visions can mean anything they want as they use allegorical interpretations for their visions, as comets and floods all have an accompanying spiritual meaning that makes sense only to the initiate.
The MIRACLES of Joel’s Army
Bob Jones, speaks about the Army that Paul Cain taught, “Joel’s Army”:
“I went and I seen the Lord, and it was like He was looking at little yellow things—little round, yellow things like a spirit of God itself. [!] And there were billions of them. And it was like Him and. all the angels were looking through these and every once in awhile they’d say, “Hey, here’s an end-time one; get it down here on the end. Here’s another good one.”
I said, “What are you doing?”
He said, “Oh, we’re collecting those who are foreknown and predestinated for the end-times, for you see, they’ll be the best of all the seed that’s ever been. And we’re looking through the seeds and this’ll be your grandkids. This will be the end generation that is foreknown and predestinated to inherit all things. And these will be like grandchildren to you—even those that you minister to won’t be this generation; their children will be.
“You are to write into their minds, as they write into the children’s minds. You’re to bring them to a place to allow My Spirit to rule in their life where they can begin to set the Church on the proper foundations, as they will. They’ll birth the Church, but their children will attain levels of the Holy Spirit that they will not.
Although their parents will reign over them and be the leaders of the last-day church, their children will possess the Spirit without measure. For they are the best of all the generations that have ever been upon the face of the earth. And the best of all generations are those elected seeds that will glorify Christ in the last days.
“That’s the purpose so that Jesus in the last days has the seeds that will glorify Him above any generation that has ever been upon the face of the earth. They will move into things of the supernatural that no one has ever moved in before. Every miracle, sign and wonder that has ever been in the Bible, they’ll move in it consistently. They’ll move in the power that Christ did. Every sign and wonder that’s ever been will be many times in the last days.They themselves; will be that generation that’s raised up to put death itself underneath their feet and to glorify Christ in every way.
“And the Church that is raising up in the government will be the head and the covering for them. So that that glorious Church might be revealed in the last days because the Lord Jesus is worthy to be lifted up by a Church that has reached the full maturity of the God-man!” (Bob Jones, tape, Visions and Revelations, 1988.)
This is right out of the Latter Rain/manifest sons of God manual. Now we have a church out of a church with new leadership to finally have us on the right foundation. So the church has not been built on it and those who rule in it will have defeated death and become God-men. Wow that something the Bible teaches us, except I can’t seem to find the verse, but it must be there because of Jones revelation from God.
Let me highlight the main problems- “They will move into things of the supernatural that no one has ever moved in before. Every miracle, sign and wonder that has ever been in the Bible – they’ll move in it consistently. Every sign and wonder that’s ever been will be many times in the last days. They themselves will … put death itself underneath their feet… a Church that has reached the full maturity of the god-man!
GODMEN, plural! There is only one God man, the God who became man. This is no small error, it should be considered a heresy that changes the nature of God and man.
This where the influence on the new revival is seen with Bentley and others- it is a Latter Rain delusion that targets the youth, if we allow it. This full maturity is what is called the Manifested Sons of God doctrine that came from the Latter Rain Heresy. That certain overcomers become immortal on the earth before Christ even returns. The Bible teaches it the resurrection that makes us immortal. This is all Latter Rain flattery to pump up the churches self esteem which is better identified as dominionism. There is only one seed we need to be concerned about- it is the word of God which we are actually reborn with (1 Pt.1:23) not a physical seed of man. The church was birthed by the Holy Spirit , yet Jones is speaking of a new birth to a new breed of youth that will have power only despots covet for.
Jones even states … There is a ministry after the five-fold called the ministry of perfection – the Melchisedek Priesthood . . . your children will be moving into the ministries of Perfection . . . coming into that Divine Nature of Jesus Christ” [Bob Jones, transcribed from 1988 tape Interview Bob Jones with Mike Bickle).
Immortalization for a Melchizedek Priesthood? The church is never going to be a Melchizedek Priesthood because this is not God’s intention for the church- Jesus ALONE is the God man, this why the Bible teaches he is the “only begotten Son of God.” The Melchisedek Priesthood has only one priest- that is Jesus Christ and Him alone, for it is an eternal priesthood with Him as its priest forever. The 5 fold ministry is found in Eph.4:11 and there is no priesthood mentioned, it is about equipping the church. It is apparent that what Jones’ teaches is inserting his own ideas into passages to promote his own agenda- Latter Rain.
The Way the NEW Prophets prophesy
It is Jones who tells us that the prophetic movement was started by an angel named Emma who is androgynous and appeared as female. This angel is supposedly at work with freshfires revival meetings. For the first time in history we have a woman angel working inside the church bringing signs to the
A prophecy of Jones that the Broncos won the Super Bowl was a sign, because their quarterback was named Elway, “For my purpose is to get you to listen that I might show you El’s Way … for you see in every thunderstorm in every lightening strike, in every earthquake, in every volcano, I [God] have my way, for I AM ELWAY” (March 8, 1998 Crossroads Hamilton, Ontario).
Like reading words in alphabet soup this prophet can make a spiritual rhyme on a dime. But he just can’t seem to get the accuracy level past first grade prognostics.
“Bob Jones was told that the general level of prophetic revelation in the church was about 65% accurate at this time. Some are only about 10% accurate, a very few of the most mature prophets are approaching 85% to 95% accuracy. Prophecy is increasing in purity, but there is a still a long way to go for those who walk in this ministry. This is actually grace for the church now, because 100% accuracy in this ministry would bring a level of accountability to the church which she is too immature to bear at this time. It would result in too many Annaniases and Sapphiras” (The Prophetic Ministry” Rick Joyner. Morningstar Prophetic Newsletter. Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 2).
So we are too immature to have prophets be right all the time? Does this make sense or is it more correct that these prophets are not 100% right because they are not speaking for God who is ALWAYS 100% right. God was always right with his prophets in the Old Testament and New Testament, but in their ministry, they are not always right, they are not even half right; they are not as accurate as a skilled psychic.
Mike Bickle is not anymore reassuring: “Now, obviously, probably about 80% of what’s in the Body of Christ that’s called prophecy is fleshiness. And so we’re in a day when we’re in such an immature stage of this. So much of what is called prophecy is not truly prophecy. So we realize that; so what’s our reaction to that? We don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. We say, “Lord, we don’t throw out prophecy. We ask You to mature it.” We don’t take it as serious in the early days as we will in the days to come” (Media Spotlight- THE RESTORATION OF APOSTLES AND PROPHETS AND THE KANSAS CITY‑- VINEYARD CONNECTION by Albert James Dager)
So according to their end time prophetic army they have a base 10-20% accuracy level. Not to be concerned, the more practice they have inside the church the better they will get at it.
Isa 9:15: “The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.”
Thus, the tales these prophets speak of from their own imagination are called tails by God.The Church has accepted the teaching of prophets that are not speaking the truth. They are listening to tails.
Jesus said to those who exercise power as a group of prophets in the last days are in grave jeopardy “Many will say to me in that day; Lord; Lord HAVE WE NOT PROPHESIED IN THY NAME? And in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me” (Matthew 7:22.23)
Many will say this… not a few. When you hear of a prophets school and prophet meetings, or teaching others how to prophesy or giving personal prophecy that is not accurate all the time, think of this Scripture and what it has to say about this.
Bob Jones and Mike Bickle are two peas in a pod when it comes to non- biblical prophetic experiences and revelation. Jones supposedly could tell Bickle what dreams he was going to have, as well as come to him in his dreams. Because Jones was hit by lightening he developed “Golden Senses,” an ability to feel in his hands and arms sensations that would signal various spiritual realities. Jones claims a gift from God that demonstrates when the people’s prayers are being heard by the Father especially in the area of healing:
“I was over there with Jim awhile ago. My hands turned blue, and then they turned purple. And when that happens that means you’ve got some incense that’s gone up. You’ve got some intercession that’s gone up that Papa’s saying yes to. There’s some prayers that’s gone on here that the answer is yes…. When you’ve got this kind of anointing some of you are already entering that secret place of the Most High. You’re already bowing down to that altar of incense. Your tears are falling on those coals and they’re coming up before Papa. Papa’s saying, “Come with more. Believe for more.” Because when my hands turn purple it means you’re getting through to the Royalty; you’re getting through to the top. It’s yea and amen, and that’s what He’s calling you into: that holy place of divine health. The Holy of Holies which your children are called to enter in can crash that threshold. It’s called the place of divine health…. That’s what the children are entering into: they’ll have the Spirit without measure, they’ll walk through walls; they’ll be translated—everything that was ever in the Scripture” ( Bob Jones, Visions and Revelations, 1989, audio tape)
Contrary to Jones’ spiritual elitism all Christians can come boldly before the throne and their prayers are ALWAYS heard and answered if they are ask according to God’s will. Christians do not bow before anything but God
What make this a concern is that Alice Bailey, a spokesperson for the New Age Movement, described violet (or purple) light as a catalyst for bringing about healing:
[There are] four groups of angels that are bands of servers who are pledged to the service of the Christ [the New Age Christ, not Jesus], and their work is to contact man and to teach them along certain lines…. They will give instruction in the effect of colour in the healing of disease and particularly the efficiency of violet light in lessening human ills and in curing those physical plane sicknesses which originate in the etheric body.
A violet flame is able to extinguish illnesses according to New age teaching. “The more you understand the reality and the presence, the more you can accept the presence of these healing violet flame angels, the closer, they will come and the greater their strength and power of that sacred fire wrapped around you” (I Am healing decrees, Saint Germaine press 1976 p.6)
Of course both angels and fire have an important part in the “revivalism” taking place in the church today. Before God’s Spirit is actually poured out in Israel and then to the world there is another spirit that will increase to bring in the false Christ, that will be empower people to do great signs and wonders by neglecting doctrine.
“You’re going to see revelations of our Papa like you’ve never seen before. For men like me the Spirit of Elijah has fallen upon. And the Spirit of Elijah falls upon prophets. That’s all that it means there. {Mal 4:5,6} And one of our prayers is to bring the Spirit of Elijah so we can reveal to you your Papa. And you the children of God will come into that Papa/ son relationship. Now 2000 years ago the Savior was revealed. 100 years ago the Holy Spirit was revealed. {1895} We are getting ready for the last revelation. You find out Who your Daddy is, you find out who you are. You find out what your blood is and what you can do.” Bob Jones 2/95 Vancouver, Canada Vineyard
We already know what this means by Jones’ teachings- that the church will produce little God/men, who are all Melchizedik priests, sounds like the Latter Rain plan. In fact Jones has seen the next 50 years unfold, and Jesus did not come back, instead we get to establish the kingdom on earth.
At the Lakeland service with Todd Bentley, Bob Jones explains the churches future: “What is the Lord doing? I brought a 100 year prophesy for a long time, let’s look at it. The 1950’s reveal the power of God. William Branham, Oral Roberts, AA Allen. The 1960’s reveal the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit invaded the denominations. The 1970’s reveal the great teachers of God and they began to raise up. The 1980’s reveal the prophets of God. The 1990’s reveal the government of God. The 2000 would reveal the glory of God. You haven’t seen anything. Wait till you see the next two years! The 2010 would reveal the faith of God. It’s not have the faith “in” God, it is to have the faith “of” God. And it’s going to be those that have that earring in and hear what God is saying. And what you’ll do, you’ll proclaim it. And you’ll bring it into being.” “The 2020’s reveal the rest of God. To where you can rest from your labors and God will work His work through you in your rest and in your peace. The 2030’s will reveal the family of God. 2040’s will reveal the kingdom of God. 2050’s will reveal the sons and daughters of God. I only saw til 2060 and the church was still here and it wasn’t defeated by any means. It had really grown and looked a lot like Christ. So if you’ve got short range plans, make long range plans” (Bob Jones with Todd Bentley at the Lakeland Florida revival, 5/13/08 evening service, on God TV. Transcribed by Sandy Warner, www.thequickenedword.com)
Looks like we have our future all mapped out and Jesus has told Jones he is not coming for the church in the next 50 years. Consider what some of the statements mean in relation to the Latter Rain teaching of Jones and associates and to the Bible.
“The Remnant Seed”, a prophecy by Bob Jones at Hamilton, Ontario, March 1998:
“ .And now my government is in place, and in a time of great stress I shall bring forth my next step, for Toronto was a step, Brownsville was another step; My next step will be my glory, and signs like you have never seen before…”.
The trail of the Latter Rain continues to unfold, even though it was rejected in the late 40’s, its acceptance today is by those who are unfamiliar with its past. Yesterday it was Toronto, today we have the freshfire revival in Lakeland, tomorrow it will be somewhere else. How can any of this be attributed to God when Jones is so far removed from understanding the word of God, preaching the word of God and replaces it with new words from his mystical experiences that are not even related to Biblical concepts. I would say that if this is the direction of the church, listening to men like him we
*I want to thank Al Dager whose book I read 18 years ago. It gave me understanding of what has been unfolding over the years. Dager was a pioneer on this subject as he gave a warning of the false prophets that would change the church; the very things we are seeing today. Anyone interested in this subject matter should read “Vengeance is Ours”
Quotes from this article are also referenced from Bob Hunter and Discernment ministries.
from http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain52.htm
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Bob Jones is nothing more than a story teller who attaches Christ’s name to what he is doing. This man uses little or no Scripture so we know He has “no light” in him (Isa. 8:20). Little or no Scripture is ever mentioned. This false prophet can only gain access into the lives of those who are already deluded by their rejection of the LORD and His holy truth (2 Thess. 2:10-12).
LINKS
Prophet Bob Jones Removing Blockages (watch this witchcraft and the generalizations – with no Scripture at all)
Bob Jones: 3 ft Angel
Bob Jones died- God sent him back from heaven’s door- 1
Abiding
Risen with Christ [podcast]
Resurrection Grace (below)
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.” Colossians 3:1-7
Those who teach that unholy people will be in glory are false teachers:
“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 21:27
Charles Pray writes: “Father, please help us Lord to turn from our wicked ways and let You come into our hearts so we may have eternal life with You in Your kingdom. Time is running out for the hour is late when soon no one will be able to be saved or able to call upon the name of the Lord. Burden our hearts Lord for all those who still do not know you as Lord and Savior in their lives. Let us become the light we are called to be in this darkened world so others will come to know and receive your Son Jesus as Savior in their life. Amen!”
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Apostasy
Richard Foster Exposed
Wait, WHAT, WHO are Christ’s disciples to celebrate?
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14
A Biblically based commentary on current issues that impact you
Richard Foster—Celebration of Deception
by Bob DeWaay
Christianity Today ran a glowing cover story about Evangelicalism’s recent embrace of medieval Roman Catholic mysticism entitled The Future lies in the Past.1 The article traced the beginning of the movement as follows: “The movement seems to have exploded in a 24-month period in 1977-1978, which saw the publication of Richard Foster’s bestselling Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth and Robert Webber’s Common Roots: A Call to Evangelical Maturity.”2
The article views Foster as one who continues to guide the movement: “From Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and living practicing monks and nuns, they [those going back to Roman Catholic mysticism] must learn both the strengths and the limits of the historical ascetic disciplines.”3 So Foster was instrumental in starting a movement that is still growing 30-plus years later.
The irony about this particular CIC regarding Foster’s 1978 book is that in 1978 I myself was living in a Christian community committed to practicing much of what he promotes in Celebration of Discipline (even though we had not learned it from him directly). So I am not criticizing a practice about which I know nothing (or one in which I have no experience). I am criticizing a practice I foolishly allowed to deceive me for a significant portion of my early Christian life. When it comes to being deceived by mysticism, I have had abundant involvement. The only way I escaped it was through discovering and adopting the Reformation principle of sola scriptura.
In this article I will show that Foster’s “journey inward” is unbiblical and dangerous. I will show that most of the spiritual disciplines that he calls “means of grace” are no means of grace at all—but a means of putting oneself under spiritual deception.
The Journey Inward
The Bible nowhere describes an inward journey to explore the realm of the spirit. God chose to reveal the truth about spiritual reality through His ordained, Spirit-inspired, biblical writers. What is spiritual and not revealed by God is of the occult and, therefore, forbidden. We have discussed this in many articles and have produced DVD seminars on the topic. But the concept of sola scriptura is totally lost on mystics such as Richard Foster. They, like the enthusiasts that Calvin and Luther warned against, believe they can gain valid and useful knowledge of spiritual things through direct, personal inspiration.
Foster describes the idea of the disciplines that are the topic of his book: “The classical Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths. They invite us to explore the inner caverns of the spiritual realm.”4 So Foster has conceptually repudiated sola scriptura on page one to replace it with a journey inward to explore the realm of spirits. Something must have been seriously amiss in evangelicalism already in 1978 to render this book a bestseller! It ought to have been repudiated on the spot. In a footnote to that statement Foster writes, “In one form or another all of the devotional masters have affirmed the necessity of the Disciplines” (Foster: 1). The devotional “masters,” by the way, are mostly Roman Catholics who never were committed to the principle of sola scriptura. It is not surprising that they looked for spirituality through experimentation. But as an “inner light” Quaker, Foster never was committed to sola scriptura either.
Forgetting that the Bible forbids divination, Foster explains what he is after:
[W]e must be willing to go down into the recreating silences, into the inner world of contemplation. In their writings, all of the masters of meditation strive to awaken us to the fact that the universe is much larger than we know, that there are vast unexplored inner regions that are just as real as the physical world we know so well. . . . They call us to the adventure, to be pioneers in this frontier of the Spirit. (Foster: 13)
Realizing that his readers would likely take this as an endorsement of Eastern religions, he makes a disclaimer that it is not Transcendental Meditation (TM) or something of that ilk: “Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt to empty the mind in order to fill it” (Foster: 15). But what Foster wishes us to fill our minds with are personal revelations from the spirit realm that we naively are to think are the voice of God. This sort of meditation is not meditating on what God has said, but uses a technique to explore the spirit world. In other words, it is divination.
What we learn about the spirit realm either is revealed by God (once for all in Scripture) or gleaned by man-made techniques. That distinction is the difference between Christianity and paganism. Only Bible believers know what God has said about Himself and what He wishes to reveal about the unseen spirit world. Foster’s material continues to be popular because we live in an age where being spiritual pioneers on a journey into the unseen realm of the spirits is the essence of popular piety. It is the spirituality of secular talk shows.
To fully understand the degree of Foster’s deception, he even calls these techniques to the inner journey “means of grace”: “They [the Disciplines] are God’s means of grace” (Foster: 6). As with all who teach spiritual disciplines, there are no boundaries to these false “means.” For example, consider this recommended practice: “After you have gained some proficiency in centering down, add a five- to ten-minute meditation on some aspect of the creation. Choose something in the created order: tree, plant, bird, leaf, cloud, and each day ponder it carefully and prayerfully” (Foster 25). This after he had just taught breathing exercises (a means of “centering down”). Then he makes a startling claim: “We should not bypass this means of God’s grace” (Foster: 25). And there we have it: meditating of a leaf can be a means of grace!
Foster’s journey inward is to discover a spirit world that is available for any who search for it: “How then do we come to believe in a world of the spirit? Is it by blind faith? Not at all. The inner reality of the spiritual world is available to all who are willing to search for it” (Foster: 18). He claims that this spiritual search is analogous to scientific experimentation. Never mind that every pagan culture that has existed has believed in the “spiritual world.”
Spirituality of the Imagination
The Bible does not have anything good so say about the imagination. For example: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord'” (Jeremiah 23:16). A search of the KJV for “imagination” yields 14 verses, and in each case it is a bad thing. According to the Bible, the imagination is where people go when they do not want to listen to God.
However, for Foster the imagination is central: “The inner world of meditation is most easily entered through the door of the imagination. We fail today to appreciate its tremendous power. The imagination is stronger than conceptual thought and stronger than the will” (Foster: 22). Some of the authorities he cites on this point are C. G. Jung, Ignatius of Loyola, and Morton Kelsey. Jung is famous for his concept of the collective unconscious, and Kelsey was an Episcopal priest committed to Jungian principles. Kelsey wrote many books promoting mysticism. The advice Foster gleans from these teachers is that we must learn to think in images and take our dreams to be a possible doorway into the spirit world. Foster claims that dreams are something we already have and can help us develop the use of the imagination. He says, “Keeping a journal of our dreams is a way of taking them seriously” (Foster: 23).
There is, Foster warns, a danger to this process: “At the same time [that we ask for dreams to be God speaking to us], it is wise to pray a prayer of protection, since to open ourselves to spiritual influence can be dangerous as well as profitable” (Foster: 23). I would say that is asking God to protect us as we use various techniques to go where He does not want us to go (into the world of the spirits to gain information). The danger he warns of is far greater than Foster imagines. Those who take the journey inward will be deceived—every time! We are not equipped to gain spiritual information from that realm. That is why God speaks to us through His ordained mediators (the inspired Biblical writers); otherwise we would be fishing in the dark in a medium we are not suited for.
Foster teaches his readers to use their imaginations to experience Biblical stories with the five physical senses. Here is what he claims will happen:
As you enter the story, not as a passive observer but as an active participant, remember that since Jesus lives in the Eternal Now and is not bound by time, this event in the past is a living present-tense experience for Him. Hence, you can actually encounter the living Christ in the event, be addressed by His voice and be touched by His healing power. It can be more than an exercise of the imagination; it can be a genuine confrontation. Jesus Christ will actually come to you. (Foster: 26)
Showing that Foster’s ideas are still influential in our day, Greg Boyd cites some of Foster’s words here to support what he calls “cataphatic prayer” which uses the imagination and images as a means to contact God and gain spiritual information.5 Those who endorse this practice assume they are not being deceived by spirits, but I cannot see on what grounds.
Foster prescribes a practice using one’s imagination that mimics astral projection to the degree that he actually includes a footnote disclaimer stating that it is not astral projection (Foster 28). It begins by telling his readers to imagine themselves going out into nature into a beautiful place (Boyd describes how he practices this, as well as its results6). After enjoying the sights and smells (in your imagination) these are the next steps:
In your imagination allow your spiritual body, shining with light, to rise out of your physical body. Look back so that you can see yourself lying in the grass and reassure your body that you will return momentarily. Imagine your spiritual self, alive and vibrant, rising up through the clouds and into the stratosphere. . . Go deeper and deeper into outer space until there is nothing except the warm presence of the eternal Creator. Rest in His presence. Listen quietly, anticipating the unanticipated. Note carefully any instruction given. With time and experience you will be able to distinguish readily between mere human thought that may bubble up to the conscious mind and the True Spirit which inwardly moves upon the heart. (Foster: 27, 28)
I must ask how one knows whether “True Spirit” is not a deceiving one? Mysticism’s fatal flaw is that it naively assumes that Christians having subjective religious experiences must therefore be having Christian experiences that are truly from God—even if the experiences were provoked through unbiblical practices similar to those used by pagans.
Mental Alchemy
Foster’s approach to prayer is laced with mysticism as well. He claims that prayer needs to be learned from people who have the right experiences and are “masters” who know what they are doing. Foster does not teach ordinary prayer, whereby we bring our needs and requests to the Lord and know that He hears us (because He promised that He does). Here is why he thinks such prayer fails:
Often people will pray and pray with all the faith in the world, but nothing happens. Naturally, they were not contacting the channel. We begin praying for others by first centering down and listening to the quiet thunder of the Lord of hosts. Attuning ourselves to divine breathings is spiritual work, but without it our praying is vain repetition (Mt. 6:7). Listening to the Lord is the first thing, the second thing, and the third thing necessary for successful intercession. (Foster: 34)
Of course this means we have to become mystics if we want to pray.
He teaches that we first must hear personal revelations from God, using meditation techniques such as he teaches, before we pray. He says: “The beginning point, then, in learning to pray for others is to listen for guidance . . . This inner “yes” is the divine authorization for you to pray for the person or situation” (Foster: 35). No! Foster is wrong! The only authorization we need to pray is the Biblical command to pray—not personal revelations.
For Foster, meditation (mystical style) is necessary but not sufficient. He also brings the imagination into the process: “As with meditation, the imagination is a powerful tool in the work of prayer” (Foster: 36). He credits Agnes Sanford7 for helping him see the value of using the imagination in praying. Foster writes, “Imagination opens the door to faith. If we can ‘see’ in our mind’s eye a shattered marriage whole or a sick person well, it is only a short step to believing it will be so” (Foster: 36). Sanford got her ideas from Theosophy, New Thought, Jung, and Emmet Fox. These ideas, echoed by Foster, come from the unbiblical “mind over matter” thinking of that era. That kind of thinking uses creative visualization to change reality or channel spiritual power. Foster suggests, “Imagine the light of Christ flowing through your hands and healing every emotional trauma and hurt feeling your child experienced that day” (Foster: 39).
In his 1985 book, The Seduction of Christianity, Dave Hunt labeled creative visualization such as what Foster promotes, “mental alchemy.”8 Hunt warned the church that Foster promoted such mental alchemy in Celebration of Discipline, and as we have shown, he, in fact, does. So how is it that 24 years after Hunt’s warning Foster is more popular than ever with Evangelicals? The answer is end times deception. Now, a huge movement that claims to be a reformation promoting Foster, Willard and their versions of mysticism does exist (i.e., The Emergent Church). Things have gotten so very much worse.
Spiritual Directors
Once mysticism and the supposed need to gain personal revelations from God are embraced, there arises a need for new “masters” who are better at navigating the spirit world. Pagan societies have always had such persons. They are called “shamans.” Eastern religion calls them “gurus.” Deceived Christians call them “spiritual directors.” Foster explains, “In the Middle Ages not even the greatest saints attempted the depths of the inward journey without the help of a spiritual director” (Foster: 159). The problem, according to Foster, is that the churches (in 1978) lacked “living masters”:
No doubt part of the surge of interest in Eastern meditation is because the churches have abrogated the field. How depressing for a university student, seeking to know the Christian teaching on meditation, to discover that there are so few living masters of contemplative prayer and that nearly all of the serious writings on the subject are seven or more centuries old. No wonder he or she turns to Zen, Yoga, or TM. (Foster: 14)
Foster’s dream has come true. Today people can even practice Yoga in a Christian church. We have Christian TM; it is called contemplative prayer. Yes, Eastern religion has come right into the church, and Foster has helped usher it in.
But what about “living masters” or spiritual directors? In 1972 Morton Kelsey lamented their lack: “Indeed I would suggest that everyone who is serious about relating to the spiritual realm find himself a spiritual director, if there were more men trained and experienced in this way.”9 That “problem” has been solved in a huge way. Evangelical theology schools are now offering masters degrees in “spiritual formation” in order to equip people to be “spiritual directors.” Here is what Biola University says about its program: “This degree is designed to equip men and women for the ministry of spiritual direction, discipleship, formation and soul care in the local church and for further academic training in spiritual formation.”10 Spiritual Directors International will help you find a spiritual director regardless of your religion.11 Richard Foster’s own Renovare, which purports to “encourage renewal in the Christian church,” has a list of spiritual direction programs.12
Foster explains the purpose of the spiritual director: “He is the means of God to open the path to the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit” (Foster: 160). Apparently, in a full-blown rejection of sola scriptura where the Holy Spirit’s teaching is mediated to the church through the Biblical writers only, we need mediators for personal revelations beyond scripture.
Foster explains how spiritual directors lead: “He leads only by the force of his own personal holiness” (Foster: 160). In Roman Catholicism the Pope is called “his holiness” and in Tibetan Buddhism the Dalai Lama is called “his holiness” but now evangelicals are developing a class of people who evidently deserve the title. How exactly are we to judge when someone has gained “personal holiness” sufficient to be a spiritual director and mediate spirituality to others? Foster says, “Though the director has obviously advanced further into the inner depths, the two [master and disciple] are together learning and growing in the realm of the Spirit” (Foster: 160). Foster cites Roman Catholic mystic Thomas Merton about how this works: “The spiritual director was something of a ‘spiritual father who begot the perfect life in the soul of his disciple by his instructions first of all, but also by his prayer, his sanctity and his example. He was . . . a kind of ‘sacrament’ of the Lord’s presence in the ecclesiastical community” (Foster: 161).
End Times Delusion
When it comes to end times deception, Foster is on the cutting edge of embracing it. Consider what he wrote: “In our day heaven and earth are on tiptoe waiting for the emerging of a Spirit-led, Spirit-intoxicated, Spirit-empowered people. . . . Individuals can be found here and there whose hearts burn with divine fire” (Foster: 150). Such inclinations have led to massive deception. They smack of the Latter Rain deception, now embodied in such false teachers as Rick Joyner and Mike Bickle. They are elitist. They are in line with the beliefs of the Emergent Church as well. He also says: “Our century has yet to see the breaking forth of the apostolic church of the Spirit” (Foster: 150). Now we have the New Apostolic Reformation claiming to be just that. Foster’s ideas now embody the massive apostasy and end times deception that characterize our age.
Foster’s teachings have taken the church as far away from the Reformation principle of sola scriptura as the Roman Catholic Church ever was. The only thing left is for them to bring us all the way back to Rome. Christianity Today praises Foster for pointing us in that direction.
In early 2008 I wrote a CIC article about how abandoning the principle of sola scriptura would lead evangelicals back to Rome.13 It was partly a response to the CT article praising mysticism. The response I received was rather unexpected. I was contacted by former evangelicals who had rejected sola scriptura and had gone back to Rome! They wanted to debate me about sola scriptura. Sadly, my point was proven. As a response to their misguided challenge our church hosted a seminar on sola scriptura, called Faith at Risk 4.14 In the seminar Gary Gilley and I defended the scriptures as the sole authority for the church.
The aforementioned CT article discusses a new monasticism, former evangelical leaders converting to Roman Catholicism, and mystical practices like lectio divina—and they call all of it a good and hopeful thing. Chris Armstrong, the author of the article, concluded, “That they [evangelicals] are receiving good guidance on this road from wise teachers [Foster and Willard] is reason to believe that Christ is guiding the process. And that they are meeting and learning from fellow Christians in the other two great confessions, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox, is reason to rejoice in the power of love.”15
Who is left to defend the principles of the Reformation? One would think Reformed theologians are, but they aren’t doing their job. In the last CIC article we mentioned Reformed theologian Donald Whitney who wrote: “Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline has been the most popular book on the subject of the Spiritual Disciplines in the last half of the twentieth century. The great contribution of this work is the reminder that the Spiritual Disciplines, which many see as restrictive and binding, are actually means to spiritual freedom.”16 That from a teacher in a Reformed seminary?
If a book that teaches Christian TM, Christian astral projection and mental alchemy by means of the imagination is a “great contribution,” then something is seriously wrong here. The delusion is so widespread that I see no other explanation for it than the end time deception predicted by Paul: “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” (1Timothy 4:1). Another passage warns: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2Timothy 4:3, 4).
That time now is here. We are accountable to God for what we believe and practice. Those who wish to persevere in the faith in this age of delusion must base their beliefs and practices only on the truths found in Scripture. Foster’s journey into the world of the spirits will deceive all who enter it.
Issue 112 – May / June 2009
End Notes
-
- Chris Armstrong, “The Future lies in the Past” in Christianity Today, February 2008.
- Ibid. 24.
- Ibid. 29.
- Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (New York: Harper & Row, 1978) 1. All subsequent citations from this book will be bracketed within the text in this fashion: (Foster: 1).
- Greg Boyd, Seeing is Believing, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004). Boyd cites Foster to prove that the Lord will actually come to us through our use of “imaginative meditation.” I deal with this issue more fully in CIC issue 83 July/August, 2003: HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE83.HTM
- Ibid. 111-125.
- I write about Sanford’s inner healing theories in CIC Issue 96: HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE96.HTM
- Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon, The Seduction of Christianity (Eugene: Harvest House, 1985) 138.
- Morton Kelsey, Encounter With God, (Bethany Fellowship: Minneapolis, 1972) 179.
- http://www.biola.edu/spiritualformation/programs/ SEE PDF
- HTTP://WWW.SDIWORLD.ORG
- HTTP://WWW.RENOVARE.ORG/JOURNEY_TRAINING_DIRECTION.HTM
- CIC Issue 105; March/April 2008: HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE105.HTM
- Watch this seminar HERE
- Armstrong, Future
- DONALD S. WHITNEY, SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE (COLORADO SPRINGS: NAVPRESS, 1991) 23.
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Articles
Sinlessly Perfect? I Doubt it [podcast]
Yes the LORD commands His people to “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16) Yet we should ask whether or not His desire is for His people to tout to others that they are “sinlessly perfect” or does His Word rather reveal that His people are to be dependent upon Him through the humility of Christ and crucified life He ordained us to walk in? Did the apostles walk around telling people they were sinlessly perfect? No. Didn’t Paul confess his own utter poverty of spirit outside of the saving, present grace of Christ? Yes. (Romans 7:18, 24, etc.) Are there biblical warnings about claiming that one is sinlessly perfect? Yes. (Job 9:20; Proverbs 20:9)
“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16
Saints, would it be accurate to observe that we cannot possibly begin to appreciate this “so great salvation” that is Christ until we understand how lost, helpless, and alienated we were in our sin? (Ephesians 2:1-10; Hebrews 2:3) We must pray and study to understand the biblical doctrine of inherent sin, fallen mankind, and the holiness of God …. in order to begin to be able to appreciate the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.
“If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.” Job 9:20
Solomon said:
“Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” Proverbs 20:9
Speaking of king David’s imperfections, even nearing the end of his life on earth, one commentator writes:
“Surely there can be little ground for the doctrine of perfectionism, otherwise David, whose religion was so earnest and so deep, would have been nearer it now than this chapter shows that he was.” Expositor’s Bible
“For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Ecclesiastes 7:20
I am not a good person, neither are you – “There is none righteous, no, not one“ (Romans 3:10). Admit it. The sooner we become HONEST with that which is more than obvious, announcing freely and transparently – that there is “NOOOO good thing” in us except CHRIST, the sooner God will begin a new, deeper work in us! (Romans 7:18, 24) The Cross!
God is able to establish our hearts in His grace and to multiply His grace to us (Hebrews 13:9; 2 Peter 3:18)
ALL of our deeds are not perfect (1 John 1:8-10). “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life” (Proverbs 6:23). The truly righteous remain humble, teachable, and repentant. Note verse 21 saints:
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:19-21
Saved by Divine Grace and Yet Now Made Perfect by Your Flesh?
“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Galatians 3:3
The Galatian believers had begun their walk with Christ by responding to the conviction of the Spirit, repenting, putting their faith in Christ, and being regenerated. Yet, now they were allowing false teachers to seduce them back under the law, law-keeping for righteousness – to attempt to please God by their own self-will and performance.
Jesus’ disciples must live a set apart life. Living sinless? Well, it can be done: Here’s the key – “In him (Jesus) is no sin. He that abideth in him sinneth not” (1 John 3:5-6). We whom Jesus has saved must “cleanse ourselves from ALL filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). Yet, the only way to be sinless is in presently abiding in Him and that begins with the essential of announcing our own poverty in self which is being poor/desperately dependent on Him in spirit (Matthew 5:3, 6). Yet some insist that they are perfect by their own will, ability, and doing. This is the exact error of the Galatians which caused them to fall from saving grace (Galatians 5:4). They left Christ for something else – law keeping. Leaving Christ, departing from faith, and casting off trusting fully in HIS saving grace, is deadly. Realizing there is “NO good thing” in us except Christ, is essential to abiding saved in Him (Romans 7:18, 24; John 15:1-6). Galatians 3:3 says it all – “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). The great apostle of Jesus was desperate for the LORD, ever seeking His holy face and dreadfully not wanting “to be found having mine own righteousness which is of the law” (Philippians 3:9-10).
“The great secret of abiding in Christ is the deep conviction that we are nothing, and He is everything.” Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ
Heart purity and a sinless life emanate only from intimate union and abiding with a holy God. This occurs as we consent to the cross and not by human effort alone. Jesus raises up those who are truly bowed down – crucified with Christ (Psalms 145:14; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3, etc.). One cannot possibly “stop sinning” until they come to Jesus and He saves them, making them new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Only then can the regenerated disciple “put off the old man” and “put on the new man” (Colossians 3:9-10). There MUST be something to “put off” …. that inherent sinful nature, otherwise no such language would be in Scripture (Colossians 3).
Beware of the sinless perfectionists who speak of overcoming sin outside of the daily cross and the saving, enabling grace of God. It’s only possible by God’s enabling grace in and through a true abiding relationship.
If we claim we are sufficient in and of ourselves and because of our own “natural ability” to do right, and can be perfect (which God requires) without Christ and our total trust IN HIM, we are apostate. Memorize Romans 4:4-5.
We cannot be “made perfect BY the flesh” or by means of our own self-will and effort alone. If that were possible WHY then did Jesus come? We are only perfect in the sense of Christ’s perfection AS we abide in Him (John 15:1-6). As we do, we will “walk in the light, as he is in the light … and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Here’s the whole verse:
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
Yes, we are “new creatures” in Christ and must humble ourselves before Him, put off the old man, put on the new man, and walk in the Spirit with Him. Yet, the victory Christ has wrought and ordained for us to walk in daily all begins with acknowledging instead of denying that there is something to deny and die to and “put off” (Colossians3:5; 2 Corinthians5:17-18). Denying that we have inclination toward sin is not the answer. Crucifying the deeds of the body by the power of the Holy Spirit is the answer (Romans 8:12-14). Many are getting hoodwinked by this self-righteous “I can do it with my own ‘natural ability’” spirit. This is a Christ-denying devil-exalting heresy, doctrine of devils (1 Timothy 4:1-3). Many who are not grounded in the grace and Word of Christ are adopting this error of Pelagianism which fosters self righteousness. They are aggressively teaching this sinless perfectionism (in the flesh) error to others. These people seem to have one common denominator – they have studied the teachings of Charles Finney or Mike Desario. Beware!
Many of those who preach sin without saving, rescuing, enabling, overcoming divine grace are perhaps still trapped in their own sins. They have no answer for others and therefore we should wonder if they have the LORD’s answer for and in their own lives. If they did, would they not be full of His great joy and sharing with others how to be delivered? Why are they content with condemning others in sin? Is God willing that ANY should perish? See 2 Peter 3:9.
Never forget to make a decision to be deepened in the essential truth that it’s “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.”
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:5-7
WHEN we realize that God is “Holy, holy, holy,” we will no longer wrongly condemn others if they sin, just because the flavor of their sin differs from that sin which we’ve committed, knowing that the sin we committed was no less evil in the eyes of He alone who is “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8).
G.R.A.C.E. = God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense
It’s only by God’s grace that we are found and saved by Him and kept and enabled to please Him which includes participating in holiness, separated unto the LORD, as He is holy (Hebrews 12:14-15; 1 Peter 1:15-16; Revelation 4:8, etc.).
Titus 2 tells us that we are only saved by divine grace and only kept to the end by His enabling grace.
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” Titus 2:11-15
Deliverance from sin/sinning is only possible through faith, loving, worshiping, and obeying our LORD, that is, moment-by-moment abiding in Christ, the crucified life, being raised up by His Spirit (Romans 6; 8:13-14, etc.).
“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” 1 John 3:3-6
Perfection is the perfect forgiveness and justification of the LORD which God brings about by His Spirit and our faith which always brings our adherence to the daily cross (Philippians 2:12-13). It’s divine perfection worked out in the abiding disciple as he walks in the Spirit abiding in Christ (Galatians 5:16, 25, etc.).
True OR Feigned Holiness? | Saving, Enabling Grace | Have We Ourselves Become Pharisees? | The Spirit of Holiness |
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Risen with Christ [podcast]
Richard Foster Exposed
Sinlessly Perfect? I Doubt it [podcast]
Living the Edification Lifestyle [video]
The True Temple of God [podcast]
GOD’S GRACE “IN THIS PRESENT WORLD” TITUS 2:12 [podcast]
Message from an Antichrist Refuted! Is Jesus Christ Divine? [podcast]
FAKE THEOLOGIAN DESTROYED: Is Learning Hebrew and Greek Necessary to Understand God’s Word?
The Book of 2 Peter Narrated [podcast]
“Be thou in the Fear of the LORD all the Day Long” [podcast]
The Sensual Seduction and Solicitation of the Modern Church!
WHY were 24,000 of God’s People Killed at Peor? [podcast]
The Result of Real Repentance [podcast]
God’s Universal Way of Fighting with Todd Tomasella and Travis Bryan III [podcast]
Man Shall not Live by Bread Alone [podcast]
7 Sayings of Jesus on the Cross [podcast]
Counting the Cost – Following Jesus to the End of Your Life [podcast]
The Sensual Seduction and Solicitation of the Modern Church!
GOD’S GRACE “IN THIS PRESENT WORLD” TITUS 2:12 [podcast]
Richard Foster Exposed
White and Clean: Garments of the KING’s Bride [podcast]
WHY were 24,000 of God’s People Killed at Peor? [podcast]
BEWARE of the Wolf Defenders [podcast]
Biblical Deliverance Prescription-Wholeness in Christ [podcast]
The Gospel: What is It? [podcast]
Living with an Eternal Perspective [podcast]
What Did Paul Mean by “I Keep Under My Body”? [podcast]
Risen with Christ [podcast]
The True Temple of God [podcast]
Sinlessly Perfect? I Doubt it [podcast]
Risen with Christ [podcast]
Richard Foster Exposed
Sinlessly Perfect? I Doubt it [podcast]
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America11 months agoThe Drugging of America: The Pharmakeia Sorcery Deception [podcast]
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Children being Rescued in Tunnels: Happening Now – UPDATE!
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Articles8 years ago
Self-Examination in Preparation for the Lord’s Return
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Apostasy2 years ago
SHOCKING List of False Prophets Most Believe are True
Providing Christ-centered Scripture-rich resources to feed, edify, and equip the body of Christ (John 21:15-17; Ephesians 4:11-15).
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