Finney’s Falsehoods
BEWARE: CHARLES FINNEY’S HERESIES LIVE ON TODAY VIA A MOB OF FALSE TEACHERS.
QUOTES FROM CHARLES FINNEY
“Neither is the atonement nor anything in the mediatorial work of Christ, the foundation of our justification, in the sense of the source, moving or procuring cause.” Charles Finney, Lecture 8, “Obedience to the Moral Law” p. 375-76
“It is not founded in Christ’s literally suffering the exact penalty of the law for them, and in this sense literally purchasing their justification and eternal salvation.” Charles Finney, Lecture 8, “Obedience to the Moral Law” p. 373
“There can be no justification in a legal or forensic sense, but upon the ground of universal, perfect, and uninterrupted obedience to law. This is of course denied by those who hold that gospel justification, or the justification of penitent sinners, is of the nature of a forensic or judicial justification. They hold to the legal maxim, that what a man does by another he does by himself, and therefore the law regards Christ’s obedience as ours, on the ground that He obeyed for us.” [Systematic Theology, 362]. Charles Finney
“These and similar passages are relied upon, as teaching the doctrine of an imputed righteousness; and such as these: “The Lord our righteousness” (Phil. 3:9). . . . “Christ our righteousness” is Christ the author or procurer of our justification. But this does not imply that He procures our justification by imputing His obedience to us. . .” [Charles Finney, Systematic Theology (Minneapolis: Bethany), 372-73].
“All who deny this, call it original sin or by any other title, are but heathens still in the fundamental point which differentiates heathenism from Christianity. . . . Or, to come back to the text, is ‘every imagination of the thoughts of his heart evil continually’? Allow this, and you are so far a Christian. Deny it, and you are but a heathen still.”— John Wesley, Works, Vol. V, p. 195.
“Moral depravity cannot consist in any attribute of nature or constitution, nor in any lapsed or fallen state of nature. . . . Moral depravity, as I use the term, does not consist in, nor imply a sinful nature, in the sense that the human soul is sinful in itself. It is not a constitutional sinfulness” [Systematic Theology, 245].
There are many arrogant novices who’ve bought this man’s lies and are peddling them with impunity today. We have them on our friends list. Beware. Salvation is of the LORD, not man. This one statement, no matter the context, clearly reveals that Charles Finney was nothing less than an “accursed” agent of Satan himself, peddling “another gospel.” (Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Corinthians 11:2-5). Finney taught the heresy that man saves himself and that fallen men have no sinful inclinations. Most astoundingly, Finney and many of his cult pawns today, to not teach the original Gospel essential of the daily cross, the necessity of being crucified with Christ (Luke 9:23-24; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12; Galatians 2:20; 5:24, etc.).
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” 2 Peter 2:1
THERE’S A REASON WE HAVE THE BIBLE … SO WE WON’T BE MISLED BY THE TEACHINGS OF MERE MEN (Proverbs 30:5; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16, etc.). WHY DO SOME INSIST UPON READING THE DOCTRINES OF MERE MEN WHO WERE NEVER AUTHENTICATED BY GOD TO WRITE DOCTRINE? ISN’T THIS A WASTE OF TIME? YES IT IS. I’M SPEAKING ABOUT MEN LIKE CALVIN AND FINNEY (AND THERE ARE MANY OTHERS) WHO WROTE EXCESSIVE DOCTRINAL VOLUMES. ISN’T THE BIBLE WHERE WE GET GOD’S DOCTRINE? (2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17) MINISTRY IS SERVING – SERVING UP HEAVEN’S BREAD FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION. NEHEMIAH 8:8 GIVES THE PATTERN FOR BIBLICAL MINISTRY THAT GLORIFIES GOD – READ FROM HIS WORD DIRECTLY AND GIVE THE SENSE OF HIS WORD.
THE MINISTRY IS BEING REGULARLY CONTACTED BY THOSE WHO ARE OFF ON THIS “NO-SINFUL-NATURE” KICK THAT THEY LEARNED FROM THE FALSE TEACHINGS OF CHARLES FINNEY OR ONE OF HIS MODERN FOLLOWERS. THEY ARE READING OUR MATERIALS ON THIS SITE AND BECOMING HIGHLY INFURIATED DUE TO STEALING THEIR THUNDER. PERHAPS SOME WANT THE CREDIT FOR THEIR OWN SANCTIFICATION. IN THIS POST WE WILL CONSIDER HOW CHARLES FINNEY TAUGHT SALVATION BY FAITH AND THEN SANCTIFICATION BY OUR OWN PERSONAL WORKS (GALATIANS 3:3). THIS IS “ANOTHER GOSPEL.” (GAL. 1:6-9) FINNEY WAS A FALSE TEACHER. BEWARE OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN READING HIM OR LISTENING TO OTHER DUPES WHO READ HIS GARBAGE INSTEAD OF GOD’S WORD.
SPEAKING OF THOSE WHO ARE TEACHING THESE POISONS IN OUR DAY, ONE DISCIPLE OF JESUS NOTES:
“THE FALSE TEACHERS WHO ARE SPREADING FINNEY’S LIES AND THIS INCLUDES THE PELAGIAN AND OPEN THEISTIC HERESIES ARE JESSE MORRELL, JED SMOCK AND OTHER LUNATIC STREET PREACHERS. KERRIGAN SKELLY AND MIKE DESARIO AND RUBEN ISRAEL ARE ALSO PERPETRATING THESE FALSE DOCTRINES.”
Is Jesus Both Savior and Sanctifier?
Those who read and study Finney and/or those duped by his false teachings are becoming widespread. Beware. This extra-biblical system of theology is producing some harsh, self-righteous followers due to basing it all on us (sanctification). But Romans 8:13; Philippians 1:6; 2:12-13 says differently. Oh and Psalms 138:8.
“The LORD will perfect (sanctify; mature) that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” Psalms 138:8
There are those who have invested much time in studying Finney’s works and so take great offense to this examination of his teachings. But that’s their own sin – that they would waste their time reading the volumes of doctrinal writings of any mere man, past, present, or future. That’s where they went astray in the first place. Had they simply studied God’s precious precepts, their belief about the LORD and His righteousness would be perfectly intact.
True Christians have their final authority in the Holy Scriptures, period. They do not follow mere sinful men. The earliest believers, just after the church was born at Pentecost, are our example and they “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine,” not the doctrines of other mere men (Acts 2:42). Hence, the concern for those who bother reading volumes of “theology” from mere men. We don’t even know God’s Word that well! Think about the idolatry of this. We refuse to read the words of the God we claim has saved us and yet have ample time to study the works of mere men? If we are going to follow the words of mere men, let’s listen to the words that the LORD inspired Paul, Peter, John, and the other New Testament writers to pen.
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy (the written Word); whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:19-21
You would think one defied Jesus Christ Himself by the way some attack over the questioning and examination of Finney’s teachings. People who have unwittingly made an idol in their hearts of this mere man, Charles Finney, get highly upset at the suggestion that he taught falsely. Well, I certainly am far from being the first one who has pointed Finney’s falsehoods out. Why such a commotion over comparing a mere man’s teachings to Scripture and believing they are contradictory? If there were not the lifting up of a mere man and his teachings, it perhaps would not be a problem.
Please spread this article far and wide as there are many who teach Finney’s lies today. In fact, their whole theology is undergirded by Finney’s false teachings though they may not openly divulge such a fact.
In the face of many Bible passages which reveal fallen mankind’s “desperately wicked” disposition, Charles Finney refused to believe that man has an inherent sinful nature after the fall (Jeremiah 17:9). It is my observation that those who adapt teachings like Finney’s, have an inner propensity to want to feel as though THEY, out of THEIR own goodness and their own good works are earning themselves their salvation. In other words they are in open denial of Christ (antichrist). This is damnable unbelief and rebellion – a refusal to acknowledge their own sinful state and therefore desperate need for Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 3-4). Reading Romans 3:21-26 daily for a week can jerk the deceit from that type evil disposition and establish in our heart “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.”
“But now the righteousness of God (as opposed to man’s) without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. ” Romans 3:21-26
Have we denied Christ without realizing it? There seems to be something in unsanctified human beings that makes them want to identify with someone no differently than people adopt a certain football, basketball, or baseball team of city, state, or liking. The same seems true among those claiming salvation in Christ and perhaps especially many who actually preach. They hear a quote from an evangelist of old such as Charles Finney and then begin to read more of his stuff and adopt him (a mere sinner) as their hero, all the while rejecting the LORDship of Christ, the only “Head” of His true body (Colossians 2:18-19). Essentially, this is idolatry (Ezekiel 14:3; 1 John 5:20-21; Revelation 21:8). A lot of these preacher guys are strong personalities and so they like men like Finney who made many bold statements, yet there’s a hook beneath the surface of the bait and many have bought his whole package (lure) and are now hooked or have created an idolatrous soul tie (heart idol) with this man of old. There is an evil spirit that comes with the sin of spiritual adultery (idolatry) and that devil has blinded their eyes and causes them to get irate when someone tampers with their mere human, sinful idol – in this case Charles Finney.
Exposing the idol in the hearts of those who have invested (wasted) their time reading Finney, will often strike a chord. Evil spirits that have free access to those who live in the sin of idolatry, will violently manifest at this exposé of the idol of their hearts (Ezekiel 14:3). In this case, that’s Charles Finney. Carol Burke puts it this way:
“When people begin to defend idols, there will be accusations against you (the mere messenger) because of your stand in the truth.”
At that, let’s check into a bit of the teachings of Charles Finney.
Of Finney, one writer notes:
“Finney told sinners to present THEIR righteousness to God. But in the gospel God does some presenting too. He has presented Christ as a propitiation, Romans 3: 25. Finney insisted, that Christ “could not … obey as our substitute”, yet he repeatedly said that Christ’s death was vicarious.” Charles Finney, Lecture 8, “Obedience to the Moral Law” p. 364
The only obedience God requires, in Finney’s view, is the obedience of the one to be justified. Such a person cannot get it from anyone else, including the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a very different view from that of the Reformation, which sees the model as God the judge acquitting and eternally accepting the sinner. This justification is based both on the gift of righteousness from Christ, as well as the full removal of the sinner’s guilt because it was atoned for on the cross. The condition laid upon the sinner is faith, which is a non-meritorious resting upon the work of Another and the receiving of the gospel promise. These are two extremely different views of salvation, the Reformation holding to Christ Alone (Solus Christus), and Finney’s doctrine, a view of “sinner alone”.
For now, we shall treat only the four required of sinners. But let it be clear that Finney explicitly argues against faith as the only condition of salvation. In his sole paragraph in this lecture on faith, never once does he argue for a trust in the work of Christ. Should a good lecture on justification devote only one paragraph to faith as Finney has done, and then spend half of that arguing against “faith alone”? Finney reminds us that true faith is a faith that works (quoting Galatians 5: 6 in the KJV), but there is no teaching on a faith that rests, as in Hebrews 4: 9-11.
The repentance he has in mind is total outward reformation, a “change of moral character.” Repentance “cannot consist in conviction of sin,” “nor sorrow for it” or merely a sense of our need of a Savior.
In order to be justified the sinner must believe and arrive at “present sanctification, in the sense of present full consecration to God”, (condition #4). (By this Finney means “present” vs. “former”.) This perfection in holiness must then be followed by the fifth and last of Finney’s conditions, a perseverance in obedience, which is also “an unalterable condition of justification.” In other words the sinner’s works are as much a condition of justification as faith.
I have found no reference in Finney to a faith that does not work as in the case of Abraham, “to him who does not work but believes…” Romans 4:5. He lists the verse twice, once with no treatment of it, as is his usual custom. In the case where he does, he claims, “Here justification is represented only as consisting in forgiveness of sin…” p. 373. Amazingly, to Finney the words “his faith is credited as righteousness,” teach only forgiveness and do not teach imputed righteousness. That faith works is agreed to. But when faith receives, it does not work. Once justification has been decreed and thus the Spirit given, the fruit of the Spirit comes into play. Thus faith without works moves on to be a faith that does work. The standard Roman confusion of this point is found throughout Finney.
In another chapter Finney says, “…if it be true that Christians are justified without present full obedience. That surely must be a doctrine of devils.” p. 125. He is seeking to avoid antinomianism, and he is arguing for the necessity of repentance — that purpose I do not dispute, but he sees only full obedience in the Christian as a condition of justification, and that is the matter now being disputed in this paper. We do argue for full obedience as the very ground of justification, but it is the obedience of Christ.
What the atonement does not mean. This odd way to begin is customary Finney. His answer for the ground of justification begins: “It is not founded in Christ’s literally suffering the exact penalty of the law for them, and in this sense literally purchasing their justification and eternal salvation.” The Reformation saw the biblical truth that Christ satisfied divine justice by receiving divine wrath in His vicarious death. Finney retains the word “justice” when he says the atonement is to “satisfy public justice,” but it is not “retributive justice.” Retributive justice means that the guilt of sin is actually punished. Finney held that sins may be pardoned, but for those saved, they are not punished; they are merely forgiven. Furthermore, he held that sin cannot be imputed to another person. This is Finney in all his consistency. First, the sinner’s needed obedience comes only from the sinner himself, and now that we look at Finney’s atonement, we learn that sin can fall only on the one committing it, or if forgiven on no one at all. The result is a double denial of the Savior’s work.
He elaborates that the atonement is not “a proper full payment of the debt of the justified.” That to Finney is impossible in the very idea of one dying for another. What Christ suffered is “indefinitely less in amount than was deserved by the transgressors.”Finney’s penchant to quantify both the obedience of Christ, and now His sufferings, shows that he has rejected the representative principle of the Mediator standing in for others. One should not measure the amount of blood, total His pain, nor clock the time hanging on the cross. The New Testament has no embarrassment to report that His death came sooner than the ones beside Him, because a quantification of the physical side is irrelevant to the atonement.
One must remember Finney’s distinction re the atonement as condition and not ground of justification. That leads to what might be his most sweeping statement to detach the cross from justification: “Neither is the atonement nor anything in the mediatorial work of Christ, the foundation of our justification, in the sense of the source, moving or procuring cause.” (I would nominate that as the most wicked thing I have read in Charles Finney.) It means that to find the real procuring cause of justification one must not look to the cross. He will say the ground of justification lies only in the heart of infinite love. If so, justification’s basis does not lie in the divine act of intervention in history in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Finney, the gospel has moved away from the redemptive action where “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day.” (1 Cor. 15:3,4) But divine love did act in Christ when God’s reconciliation took the path and principle of not imputing men’s sins to them, because those sins were imputed to the One made sin for them and executed accordingly. But in Finney’s atonement, that labor of love on the cross, procured nothing at all in regard to forgiveness. He has detached love and the cross when the apostle John did the opposite in fusing them, “… he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)”
Finney’s supporters will say this is a distortion since God’s love is the cause, and God did provide the atonement as a condition — a true statement of Finney’s position. But that the ground of justification is not in any sense the mediatorial ministry of the Savior, is straight Finney. The love of God is affirmed in Finney, but, for him, love causes what the atonement did not and could not. No, the gracious love of God sent the Son to reconcile in a redemptive activity that is effective. 1 Peter 3:18: “Christ died for sins [Finney differed saying it is not retributive] the righteous for the unrighteous [Finney denies Christ represented anyone], to bring you to God.” [Finney disagrees again since the mediatorial work of Christ never procured anything for us.] This is a small example of the pervasiveness of his denials. If one were to correct his (Finney’s) systematic theology point for point, it would be the writing of an encyclopedia. Finney could not sing, “On the cross He sealed my pardon, paid the debt and made me free,” because those words, three times, affirm that the mediator procured our forgiveness.
There is certainly no propitiation of God in Finney’s systematic theology. The cross has become for Finney, God’s media event so He will not be misunderstood and we will not misunderstand. And that is all the death of the Son of God accomplished, no washing away of sin, just a washing away of our possible misunderstandings. Finney’s god is quite insecure! He has to worry about our view of Him and prepare for our scrutiny, and so resort to the crucifixion of the Son of God to satisfy public justice. I would think that such a crime would do the opposite. If that crucifixion was not a penalty for sin, it is intrinsically unjust. Finney preserves justice by mutilating it. So when he speaks of the “vicarious nature” of the atonement, one should not think he speaks with the same meaning as evangelicals have ordinarily had for those words. His vocabulary is Christian; his content is the leaven of the Pharisees.
Where is Christ in all these conditions Finney would have us meet? Where is His obedience, which is the very heart of the gospel and the foundation of justification? In the gospel, a righteousness that comes from God and not ourselves, has been made known, Romans 1:17. When Finney rejected “justification by imputed righteousness” he was rejecting the righteousness produced in the sinless life of Christ. He says, “It was naturally impossible for Him, then, to obey in our behalf.” Charles Finney, Lecture 8, “Obedience to the Moral Law” p. 363
In effect, Finney also abandoned sola scriptura (the authority and sufficiency of Scripture), as shown by his constant appeal to rationalism in support of his new theology.
Specifically, what were Finney’s most serious errors? At the top of the list stands his rejection of the doctrine of justification by faith. Finney denied that the righteousness of Christ is the sole ground of our justification, teaching instead that sinners must reform their own hearts in order to be acceptable to God. (His emphasis on self-reformation apart from divine enablement is again a strong echo of Pelagianism.)
He derided the concept of imputation as unjust: “I could not but regard and treat this whole question of imputation as a theological fiction, somewhat related to our legal fiction of John Doe and Richard Roe” [Memoirs, 60].
Having decided that the doctrine of imputation was a “theological fiction,” he was forced to deny not only the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to believers, but also the imputation of the sinner’s guilt to Christ on the cross. Under Finney’s system, Christ could not have actually borne anyone else’s sin or suffered sin’s full penalty in their place and in their stead (contra Isaiah 53:6; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2). Finney therefore rejected the doctrine of substitutionary atonement.
There can be no justification in a legal or forensic sense, but upon the ground of universal, perfect, and uninterrupted obedience to law. …” [Systematic Theology, 362].”
Yet another author notes the following of Charles Finney:
“In his Memoirs, his Lectures on Revival, and his Systematic Theology, what comes through, frankly, is not a man with a high regard for Scripture, but a man with an inflated view of himself. Where Scripture does not suit him, Finney resorts to sophistry to explain it away. Whole sections of his Systematic Theology contain paragraph after paragraph of philosophizing and moralizing—sometimes without a single reference to Scripture for many pages.”
Closing Thoughts
Yes, a person can fall from saving grace after being saved but we are NOT saved except/but by the mercy and grace of God provided through the perfect redemption of Jesus Christ. – “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
Are you “poor in spirit” or prideful in spirit? Jesus says:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit (desperate for Christ): for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
Are you righteous by faith in Christ or self-righteously trusting in yourself and YOUR own supposed “natural ability” or perfect obedience? Finney taught that men had the “natural ability” to overcome all sin, which is an open denial of Christ and the need for Him to have come to redeem fallen mankind. This heresy is also a denial that when mankind fell that he incurred in himself spiritual death (Romans 5:12, 18-19).
So, the person who is trusting in self’s “natural ability” has denied the need for Christ and is an antichrist who is under the Law. And, we know that if that person morally fails in just one thing, they are guilty of breaking the whole Law and doomed to eternal damnation.
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10
—- BEWARE OF THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS DEVILS IN OUR MIDST: At the return of Christ, what are you looking for? Are you looking for God to tell you just how wonderful and obedient YOU are? OR, are you that “poor in spirit” pauper who is wisely and fully trusting in the merit of Christ alone? …obeying the LORD in taking up the daily cross, being full of His Holy Spirit, and crying, “Be merciful to me Lord, a sinner”?! (Luke 18:10-14; Matthew 5:3)
JESUS CHRIST is the One who originated the story of the two men who went up to pray and clearly said that the man who depended on divine mercy is justified and the self-righteous religionist was condemned of God.
“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 18;10-14
“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 21
Every true, honest-hearted Bible student knows that one who was genuinely saved then can fall from saving grace, and yet no one is saved outside of the grace provided exclusively through the perfect work of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-16). In the end, even after we have followed Him fully, we must acknowledge that we are “unprofitable servants” and have nothing good in us except Jesus Christ and His perfect righteousness (Luke 17:10; Romans 7:18).
In his corrupted efforts to expose Calvinism’s obvious heresies, Charles Finney established yet an equally deadly falsehood when he denied imputed righteousness taught in Romans 4. Finney sought to correct Calvinism’s false teaching of “total depravity” where they taught that man has no personal will, no ability to respond to God’s requirement and call to repentance and faith. In attempting to correct this error, Finney erred by denying the biblical doctrine of imputation or transference of Christ’s righteousness – accessed, received by faith, not works (Romans 5:1). The word impute simply means to reckon or to account Christ’s righteousness to the account of all who repent and place their faith in Christ, the one Redeemer.
The Bible uses the word “imputed” and so to say otherwise is to contradict Holy Scripture (Romans 4). If justification is not imputed, accounted from God to man via the perfect sacrifice of Christ alone, then it must be earned or merited by sinful man, which is impossible. I suppose you are a finney-ite. Charles Finney was a fraud, a false teacher.
Now these same street preachers are telling people that justification is NOT by the imputed righteousness of Christ which is rank heresy (Romans 4; 2 Corinthians 5:21, etc.). In other words, Jesus came in vain and man can merit his own righteousness by his own “natural ability.” Beware. This is as antichrist as it gets. These guys are novices who are regurgitating the error of men like Finney from the past. They are not getting these evil, Christ-denying falsehoods from God’s Word.
In Finney’s Christ-denying, demonic theology, the individual’s own personal morality earns his own merit from God. Christ’s atoning sacrifice is brazenly denied.
In light of this, if you have read and espoused or taught others these errors, I want to encourage you to confess them in repentance before the LORD.
You, me, and Finney are all mere men. God’s written Word alone is “a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path” or else we are off His narrow path (Psalms 119:105; Matthew 7:13-29).
Charles Finney’s False Gospel | The Idolatrous Underpinnings of the Stopping all Sinning Focus
No Inherent Sin Nature? | Stop Sinning? Really? | Sin: Man’s Core Problem | The Idiocy of Calvinism
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One writer expresses the following concerning Finney:
“Yet Satan’s plot against the organized church actually took shape under the ministry of a preacher called Charles Finney.
Finney was quite a wicked looking man, as you can see the devil all up in his face. The man lived a long time when you consider that in his lifetime, the average life span was from the late forties to about 65. Finney lived to be 83, from 1792-1875. A fiery New York preacher, Finney’s impact on church traditions and practices has been so profound, that his influence is still spreading globally almost two centuries later. Finney’s notoriety is that he is the one who brought the entire church the “make a decision for Christ” through repeating the sinner’s prayer and the altar call. A practicing Freemason for 8 years, Finney eventually disavowed it. Yet Freemasonry is witchcraft. And you just don’t walk away from witchcraft without a struggle.
Anyway, in a nutshell, Finney believed that human beings were capable of choosing whether they would be corrupt by nature or redeemed, referring to original sin as an “anti-scriptural and nonsensical dogma.” In clear terms, Finney denied the notion that human beings possess a sinful nature. Therefore, if Adam leads us into sin, he does so not by our inheriting his guilt and corruption, but by our following his poor example. This position leads logically to the view of Christ as not having died for sins but for some lofty, moralistic reason.
Well, this was the man who started the altar call, invitation to Christian discipleship, “I accept Jesus,” practice that has led to the greatest falling away—the one that Paul himself predicted would transpire. ….”
FEEDBACK:
“I found most big name preachers were put on pedestals by THE HARLOT APOSTATE CHURCH SYSTEM. SO, I DO NOT TRUST OR FOLLOW ANY OF THEM.”
MESSAGE RECEIVED:
“When taken out of context these passages are shocking … But he is making a point in each case that you yourself and many teachers and preachers argue for today. The way he has written it does seem extreme and even as you point out as “heretical” but he isn’t actually saying those things literally. If you believe and I am sure you do in sanctification of the believer. Then this is the point he is making albeit in a very extreme manner. But as I said he was countering an aggressive and extreme Calvinist doctrine.”
REPLY:
The following is from Phillip R. Johnson:
“Charles Grandison Finney was a heretic. That language is not too strong. Though he excelled at cloaking his opinions in ambiguous language and biblical-sounding expressions, his views were almost pure Pelagianism. The arguments he employed to sustain those views were nearly always rationalistic and philosophical, not biblical. To canonize this man as an evangelical hero is to ignore the facts of what he stood for.
See, for example, Lecture 16, “Moral Depravity.” Finney rambles on about “physical” vs. “moral” depravity for several pages (nearly 5 in the Bethany edition) before he ever cites a single verse of Scripture. All his polemic about “physical depravity” is wasted anyway, because not one of Finney’s theological opponents ever argued that human depravity is a physical issue. Again, in the whole of Lecture 10 (“What Constitutes Disobedience to Moral Law?”) Finney cites snippets of only two verses of Scripture—a total of eleven words quoted from the Bible in the entire lecture. Many—perhaps most—pages contain no Scripture references at all. By contrast, the typical evangelical systematic theology textbook contains dozens of references per page. The whole point of “systematic theology” is to start with Scripture and systematize a point-by-point comprehensive theology. A sound systematic theology is therefore biblical to begin with. By contrast, Finney constructed a philosophical system based on legal and logical arguments and relying more on his own instinct and speculation than he did on the Bible. Notice that Finney confused the very terms he was ostensibly keeping distinct, essentially admitting that he regarded the believer’s obedience as a ground of justification.”
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GOD’S GRACE “IN THIS PRESENT WORLD” TITUS 2:12 [podcast]
Excerpt from the book Lie of the Ages
LOTS OF FRAUDS WHO CLAIM TO BE SAVED BY GRACE YET DEFEND INSTEAD OF ADMITTING, REPENTING, CALLING OUT AND CONFESSING SIN. “Grace” that isn’t leading you to live godly in this present world, denying ungodliness instead of living in it, is NOT saving grace. You are lost if this is the phony “grace” you have.
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” Titus 2:11-12
YES God’s grace in Christ is certainly amazing and yet, the evangelical, calvinistic worlds have grossly emphasized and perpetrate a perverted view of God’s grace…. Fulfilling the prophecy of Jude 3-4. God says these are “ungodly men” who we are to “earnestly contend” against! (Jude 3-4)
It’s only the sin-justifying, grace-perverting frauds who hate personal accountability and obedience as the manifestation, the fruit of true worship and love for God (Titus 2:11-12; Jude 4).
IF you love God, truly, you will obey Him. Those who do not obey Christ, don’t love Him (John 14:15; 1 John 2:3-6, etc.).
Hell is full of people who got saved, then made excuses for their Christ-denying cross-less life on earth (Matthew 7:21; Titus 1:16).
This is how true grace manifests IF someone is saved by it….. otherwise they have either never been saved or have since fallen away from saving grace (Luke 8:13; Galatians 5:4; 2 Peter 2:20-22, etc.).
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.” 2 Peter 2:20-21
Dear OSAS fairytale believer: Grace is given to overcome sin and not to justify it.
This “so great salvation” (Heb. 2:3) that “hath appeared to all men” was wrought for us by the grace and life blood of the Son of God (Lev. 17:11; Rom. 3:23-26). We were down and out “having no hope” and “when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Rom. 5:6; Eph. 2:12) We were “without strength!” – In other words we had no ability in and of ourselves to get back to the one true God we were separated from due to our own sin (Isa. 59:1-2; Rom. 5:12). Yet, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) He saved us to be made progressively more free and to please and serve Him with joy in the Holy Ghost. He is our Salvation and enabler in all things. We truly CAN do “all things through Christ which strengtheneth” us! (Phil. 4:13)
Whenever God commands something, He also provides the grace for it to manifest in your life – as you are submitted and therefore obedient to Him (James 4:6-10; 1 Peter 4:10-11). His grace, divine enablement, operational power, is always sufficient to bring His perfect will to pass in our lives and to bring us through any and all difficulties, grueling seasons we may find ourselves in! (2 Corinthians 9:8; 12:9-10; 1 Peter 5:10)
No gift could possibly be so “great.” See Hebrews 2:3. It is to Jesus Christ the LORD of all lords that we as vile and depraved sinners, owe all thanksgiving and have the immeasurable, grand and blessed privilege to worship. There is no fathoming the magnitude of the blessing, of the grace and mercy of our God poured out to us through “the blood of his cross.” (Rom. 11:33; 1 Cor. 2:9; Col. 1:20; Tit. 3:5-6) His grace truly is amazing and yet He is holy and righteous and will not permit sin into His presence.
“By him (Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Hebrews 13:15
Seems to me that in “grace” circles grace itself is deified instead of the One who alone granted that grace?
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:17
My identity, my salvation is first and foremost in CHRIST JESUS Himself and not in the grace He brought and provided via His death on the cross! First things first! Keeping the main thing the main thing! (1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 2:20; 6:14; Hebrews 2:9)
The apostle Paul, the divinely inspired grace teacher, stated here in our theme verse (please re-read Titus 2:11-12 above) that when God’s grace is genuinely at work in a person, that person is being taught and learning certain things. Let’s go to the divine source, God’s Word, to discover what these things are:
According to Titus 2:11-12, just what does God’s grace teach one who possesses it?
- To “deny ungodliness…in this present world”
- To “deny…worldly lusts…in this present world”
- To “live soberly…in this present world”
- To “live…righteously…in this present world”
- To live “godly, in this present world”
If a person claims to be saved (secure for Heaven) and yet is not “denying ungodliness” and “worldly lusts…living soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world,” he is simply deluded. See also Matthew 7:21; Titus 1:16; James 1:22; 4:4 and 1 John 2:3-6.
If you don’t mind, I am nominating Titus 2:11-12 as that place in Scripture believers think of when they think of the grace of God. Do you think that saints and/or those who claim to be saints might take on a whole new level of responsibility if such were the case?
The person who currently possesses and is living in the grace of God can be assured of eternal life (Heb. 12:14). One can know or verify whether or not he truly possesses the grace of God by reading closely this enlightening theme passage of Titus 2:11-12. The authentically saved person is presently abiding in Christ’s grace – “Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts” and living “soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world (life).”
If these things are not manifesting in our lives, be sure that we are not presently living in the grace of God and should immediately repent before the LORD (James 4:6). In verse 11 of Titus 2, the Word states that it is “the grace of God that bringeth salvation.” And then Holy Writ reveals how those who truly and currently possess this essential grace live their lives – “in this present world.”
“‘For whom ye yield yourselves, servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey.’ (Rom. 6:16) If we are compelled, therefore, to yield ourselves servants to sin, and be subject to Satan’s power, insomuch that we cannot help but obey him, and really have no choice in the matter, then our free agency, our volition, is destroyed; and to make matters worse, the devil has more power than God. Satan can make us disobey God, but alas, God cannot make us disobey Satan. The devil compels us to be sinners, but God cannot compel us to be righteous. What kind of doctrine is this?” –Howard W. Sweeten
In America, the vast majority of those who are called evangelicals do not even realize that this Titus 2 text exists. The masses have never had this text pointed out to them and expounded upon by their leaders. What is it these leaders are afraid their audiences will discover if they unveil this text? Some leaders just simply do not teach the Word (2 Tim. 4:2-4). This alone makes them false. For the Calvinistic leader I must ask: What are they hiding? What are they afraid people might find out? Why are other Bible passages on grace spotlighted and not Titus 2? Why is this Bible passage purposely neglected and avoided? What are our leaders afraid will be revealed to the people they communicate to? Do these leaders fear that the divine truth revealed in Titus 2 will contradict what they are teaching? Do they fear offending people by communicating what the evidences (fruit) of true grace and salvation are?
Unrepentant rebels who claim to be saved lack the discernment and ability to rightly divide the word of God because they refuse to turn their hearts over to the LORD – 2 Corinthians 3:14-16; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12. OSAS dupes reject the mountains of Scripture that teach a conditional eternal security because they simply do not want to repent and lay down their lives in this sinful world.
Speaking of “A Foreign Grace,” David Servant, in his book The Great Gospel Deception, says:
“It is not only the fruit of people’s deeds that mark them as false teachers, but also the fruit of their words. If they teach what is contrary to essential New Testament doctrine, they are false teachers.
Of course, no teacher in the church is going to stand up and declare that he is teaching what is contrary to the New Testament. Rather, he will neglect certain important scriptures and twist others to persuade his constituency that he is teaching the truth. This is being done today by many very popular and influential teachers who teach about a grace that is foreign to the Bible. The grace they proclaim is not the true grace that leads to holiness…
How is it possible that people who denied the only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ, could have ‘crept in unnoticed’? The answer is that they were not standing in front of congregations declaring, ‘I deny Jesus Christ.’ Rather, they were denying Jesus Christ through their false teaching about grace, turning it into licentiousness.
Their message could be summarized as follows: ‘Isn’t God’s grace wonderful? Because our salvation stems from His grace and not from our meritorious works, holiness is not essential for salvation. Because of God’s wonderful grace, all who believe in Jesus are saved, even if they continue practicing sin.’” p. 230, 231
As David Servant points out, the false teacher is not going to stand up and announce that he is a wolf. It is the individual believer’s responsibility to discern leaders by the fruit of their teaching. What is not taught (left out of the message) can be more deadly than what is taught. What we don’t know can kill us. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hos. 4:6) To be able to discern one must study the Word diligently and be exercised therein (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16; Heb. 5:11-14). This gross lack of knowledge among some who claim to know the LORD is also an indication that many have not diligently studied the Word of God for themselves, but rather have relied upon their leaders to tell them what God has said. Consequently, so very many have been deluded with a false gospel.
Saints of the LORD, let us allow Jesus Christ to become important enough to our hearts to learn for ourselves what He has stated to us in His Word. Is the LORD truly your first love? Are you actively and fervently memorizing Scripture – His very words? Let me encourage you to do so from the Authorized Version (KJV). See Proverbs 4:4 and Psalms 119. Index cards are a great way to do such.
“In This Present World” – Holiness Now Or Then?
If we do not possess His grace “in this present world,” evidenced by our denial of ungodliness and holy living here and now, then how can we deceive ourselves into thinking we are truly His? If not now, the then (eternity) is surely eternal damnation. According to God’s Word, without holiness, no person will be with Jesus Christ in eternity (Matt. 5:8; Heb. 12:14; Rev. 21:8, 27). Think with me for a moment of how many people who are at this very instant, residents of the domain of the damned – hell. What is their unalterable and horrible future? These eternal souls will shortly be cast into the lake or ocean of fire (Rev. 20:11-15). Why? These people were given the choice and willfully and deliberately chose in their brief earthly life to make something else more important than the LORD and doing His will (Exod. 20:3; Matt. 7:21; Eph. 5:3-6; 1 Jn. 5:21). Pretty simple, yet the consequence is forever fixed – They have reached the point of no return. Hell’s eternal occupants who have gone before us to damnation will, after a million years of excruciating and conscious torment, have not one less second to spend there.
Is it worth it? Is living apart from life-giving fellowship with Jesus in this short life worth eternity in torment? Is justifying instead of crucifying the sins of the body worth spending eternity in the prison of fire? Jesus told us we must abruptly cut off the hand and pluck out the eye that causes us to offend the one true and holy God with our sin, that we might be in Heaven (Mk. 9:42-50). Ready or not – Jesus is Coming!
The Fruit of True Grace: Grace that is not taught with responsibility and the fear of the LORD is not Biblical grace at all. Be not deceived! (Tit. 2:11-14) According to Titus 2:11-12, true grace produces a specific fruit. God’s grace is active. When it truly abides in a person, it has specific earmarks of its possession while “grace” without this fruit is shown to be no saving grace at all. This is a sham that so many today have been taught. It is the bill of goods that is being sold from pulpits across America every week.
Comprehensive grace includes the fear of God which alters the lifestyle and causes the recipient to live a holy life. The adherent is led into intimate fellowship with Christ and from living in habitual sin that would disqualify him from the prize of eternal life. The good news is that there is the precious blood of the Savior available at the “throne of grace” to grant us all a fresh start! This believer, who is less than the least of all saints, has had enormous reason to rejoice in that he has fallen short so many times, only to be drawn back in by the LORD to receive mercy and grace afresh! This priceless grace, purchased with the blood of Christ, is available at all times to those who are born again. We therefore have no excuse to have any sin remaining on our account (Heb. 4:14-16; 1 Jn. 1:7, 9). We are blessed to have EVERY sin washed away in His holy blood as we simply go before His precious throne of grace and cry out in repentance and receive His priceless mercy which we do not deserve yet was merited by Christ’s blood. This truth makes me want to shout for joy!
What a rich blessing it is that God’s grace empowers the believer to fulfill what its Author demands. Through the apostle Paul the Holy Ghost tells us that “sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14)
PRAYER: LORD Jesus thank You for Your saving grace which enables me to experience relationship with You and live completely pleasing in Your holy sight in all things. Right this moment I denounce all dissimulation and self-deception, lies, and excuses. LORD I beg You to make my heart pure LORD Jesus! Thank You that sin shall not have dominion over my life as I obey You in the daily crucified life, as I remain in fellowship with You, forsaking all thoughts and deeds that offend You. Your grace is sufficient to bring about Your perfect will which is holiness. In the name of Jesus, amen.
No honest Bible student reads the whole of Scripture and comes out with the idea that he’s OSAS. No, such a doctrine is taught by men who lure in their un-repentant prey with ear-tickling promises. “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.” (2 Peter 2:18) Instead of preaching the original Gospel message by calling their audiences to repentance and live a holy, cross-bearing life, they assure them in their sins, just like the false prophets Jeremiah cited (Jeremiah 23:17). This is exactly why those wolves who teach this lie of the ages have such lucrative “church” businesses. They’ve gotten rich peddling Satan’s first lie and are fulfilling prophecy as they lead many to damnation (Genesis 2:17; 3:4).
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:2-4
The OSAS believer is vested in his own flesh which he serves instead of Christ and so he doesn’t care how many Scriptures contradict the lie he loves – because he refuses to truly repent and bring forth fruit consistent with that authentic repentance. Instead of overcoming all sin he wallows in it, justifying that which God condemns because he’s self-deceived with this antinomian (lawless) lie.
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Abiding
The Book of 2 Peter Narrated [podcast]
Chapter 1
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11 for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; 14 knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. 15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. 16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost
Chapter 2
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7 and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9 the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 10 but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. 12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13 and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 14 having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 15 which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Chapter 3
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
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Apostasy
The Sensual Seduction and Solicitation of the Modern Church!
Spiritual Seduction is a Reality!
“How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly LUSTS. 19 These be they who separate themselves, SENSUAL, having not the Spirit.” Jude 18-19
Of this passage, one disciple notes:
“The dictionary defines sensuality this way: sen•su•al (sen shu – al) adj.
1. Relating to or affecting any of the senses or a sense organ; sensory.
2. a. Of, relating to, given to, or providing gratification of the physical and especially the sexual appetites.
b. Suggesting sexuality; voluptuous.
c. Physical rather than spiritual or intellectual.
d. Lacking in moral or spiritual interests; worldly.
“The Holy Spirit here warns us concerning the Last Times when people would be Sensual not having the Spirit. These are people who would enter the churches not simply people outside the churches; else we would not need to be warned against them. It is commonly felt that “Sensual” always is synonymous with sexuality; however the context here is with regards to the physical ‘senses’—’Feelings’ and ‘sensations’. We have five senses; Sight, Sound, Touch, Taste and Scent. We are told that we ‘walk by faith’, as opposed to walking ‘by sight’. -2 Corinthians 5:7 ‘For we walk by faith, not by sight’. This is simply a reminder that our lives must not be governed by our feelings, our senses. Back in the sixties one of the philosophies of the world was always, ‘If it feels good, it IS good’. Another question that is often asked is, ‘Is this so wrong if it feels so right?'”
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12
Most of the social media messages tell us, continually remind us that God loves us but nearly none of them inform us that the God who loves us, sent His Son to die on a cross for us, and requires and commands us to be “crucified with Christ.” (Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:29; Colossians 3:3) Beware of the half-truth false gospel of today! We must walk in the original Gospel – all of it – if we are to escape and not be “Led away with the error of the wicked.” (2 Peter 3:17)
False prophets will speak about seeking the supposed presence of God yet never preach on the cross, personal holiness, or obedience. Beware.
The only way we can prevent being deceived is by astute study and belief of God’s Word whereby we are able to rightly divide His Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
One saint writes: “Throughout the whole world error and truth travel the same highways, work in the same fields and factories, attend the same churches, fly in the same planes and shop in the same stores. So skilled is error at imitating truth that the two are constantly being mistaken for each other. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which is Abel!”
Those who do not submit to God in their daily personal life, calling upon the LORD to circumcise and purify their hearts, will be caught up in and snared by sensuality. They will live by the senses, the flesh, and not the Spirit and be sent by God Himself a “strong delusion” so that they “believe a lie” and are ultimately “damned.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)
Some seek the rush of a sensual feeling instead of the reality of the risen Savior – through the cross life!
“I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” Revelation 3:1
HAVE you noticed how these new lightweight “churches” brag about their “Top 10 Core Values”? What a joke! In other words they pick out 10 socially acceptable things most people will like and that’s their top 10. And they do this instead of simply announcing that they endeavor to adhere to the whole of the Bible. KJB. Lame.
The primary way God leads His NEW Testament church is by the Holy Scriptures and not self-appointed false prophets and false apostles (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalms 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19-21, etc.).
Those who pretend to be today’s prophets aren’t grounded in the written Word! RUN!
Scripture often warns us of those who would seduce us away from Christ – just as an adulterous woman seeks to seduce a husband away from his wife!
“For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” Mark 13:22
“These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.” 1 John 2:26
“Not Withstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” Revelation 2:20
“And this I say (here’s the reason I write you!), lest any man should beguile you with enticing words … As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:4, 8-10
“Church” attendance was never ordained by God to displace, to replace the personal study of His Word. Church membership endears the people, the prey, to the organization and it’s leaders and members and not to the LORD Himself. This has displaced the individual priesthood and fellowship God ordained for each and every individual believer. Lots of people replace personally diligently seeking the LORD with going to “church.” They either merely dabble with or don’t even personally study God’s Word for themselves and yet are members in good standing at these local entertainment centers many call “church.” The pastors have sold them on this lifestyle by promoting and emphasizing church membership and not discipleship.
Seminaries are wolf factories. The protestant seminaries were infiltrated by the vatican jesuits decades ago and are now marketing schools producing greedy wolves who set up church busine$$ to market the gospel – which is the meaning of taking the name of the LORD in vain! (Exodus 20:7). Satan’s Seminaries Exposed!
“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7
To take the name of the LORD in vain is to use His name for any other purpose except true, honest worship of Him! Those who use the name of Jesus to make dishonest gain by exploiting people for their own self-serving purposes, are not guiltless before a holy God!
Many Seek the Presence and not the Person, the Face of Jesus Christ!
If you name the name of Christ, this writer, this disciple would encourage you to honestly search out this whole “seeking the presence” cult. Contemplative prayer and spiritual formation are a cheap counterfeit for a real walk with God. They substitute a real walk with Jesus wherein He commands us to seek and obey HIM, not merely His presence. When we do seek HIM and obey Him, He promises to manifest Himself to those who obey His Word (John 14:21-23).
Perhaps those who seek the presence of God and not the face of God, are simply looking for some kind of feeling. They have not truly repented and are self-willed and living out of a self-serving agenda.
God plainly told us that he will only give His presence to those who know, seek, and obey Him – and not those who merely seek His presence (John 14:21- 23).
Those who seek His HAND instead of His FACE are completely self-serving, cross-less idolaters!
“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his FACE continually.” 1 Chronicles 16:11
WE seek the PERSON of Christ and not merely the PRESENCE of Him. Beware of this deception saints. When we seek the FACE of the LORD, He will fill us with His Spirit and make His abode in and with us. Our part is to worship and obey Him and not to merely seek His presence. Many who are not seeking to know the LORD seek a feeling instead of seeking the face of the LORD! Beware of this idolatrous spiritual adultery. These same people are not studying and grounded in the Word or the cross of Christ.
Let’s look at who Jesus says truly loves Him:
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. … 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” John 14:21, 23
In this passage above, Jesus teaches us that His presence, He and His Father, abide in the lives of those who are His (born again) and presently obeying Him.
Those who love Jesus seek His Word and obey Him. These true disciples, God manifests Himself to. These are those He chooses to make His abode with and not those who simply seek to exploit the LORD for a feeling they call His presence. Beware!
Many today seek a feeling, a sensation and not the Savior! They’ve allowed the false leaders of today to mislead them.
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away … Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:5,7
Those not submitted to the authority, the power of God which is Christ, have only a mere “form of godliness.” As was specifically foretold, today we see the fulfillment of Paul’s warning where we have so many with a mere “form of godliness.” In their daily lives they deny, reject “the power” or the authority of Jesus to reign. When Jesus reigns in a life, His cross is central to that person’s life. They are grounded in the cross – the crucified life – without exception.
Yet today we see some who never grow after being saved because false ministries have intercepted them from the LORD. Those false prophet ministries emphasize any and everything except Jesus Christ!
The vast majority of today’s pastors are sensually soliciting their prey to worship at the altar of self and not soundly grounding their audience in the cross and sound doctrine which is God’s written Word!
So many run to pack themselves in with the herd, to get turned on in what is supposed to be praise and worship. Some of it is a hollow sound and mere lip service.
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” Matthew 15:8
The hoards consist of the same souls who do not daily, diligently seek the LORD in His Word and a set apart life of prayer (Matthew 6:6; 2 Timothy 2:15). They do not live a crucified life! (Luke 9:23-24; Galatians 2:20, 24, etc.) They are “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” because they are not being grounded in the Word of God.
The powder puff pansies use fake news “bibles” instead of the KING JAMES BIBLE.
Any leader not getting you into God’s Word for yourself, is absolutely a wolf! Run!
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
The Witchcraft of the Modern Church!
There is no instance in the 27 books of the New Testament canon where God’s people gathered to be entertained and enamored in what the modern church falsely claims to be praise and worship.
Those false ministries who stage these events are appealing to your natural senses, your emotions. They are on a marketing journey – to sell their prey into a community and not to root them in Christ!
Proof? Name 5 people you know who attend such false churches who can quote just 5 Bible verses they’ve memorized. Case closed!
Seeking and Knowing the LORD Himself!
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” Philippians 3:10
Jesus told us that the chief purpose that He came is that we might know Him and the Father. Such a cardinal, central Gospel truth is never heard in modern apostate churches today!
“And this is life eternal (the whole divine reason for it), that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3
The cross reveals your sin, and God’s love, not how wonderful you are! Repent!
Beware of this “knowing the Tangible Presence” idea. Spiritual formation and contemplative prayer is heresy! These heretical systems are rooted in the occult and perpetrated by “many false prophets” which Jesus specifically warns us “shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:11). Christ’s true disciples today live BY FAITH not feelings (2 Corinthians 5:7). True followers of Jesus live by the Word of God and not by their senses, their feelings (Psalms 119:105; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Yet, many today are being led to conjure up a feeling, not realizing they are summoning up evil spirits that pose as the Holy Spirit of God – another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit (2 Corinthians 11:2-4, 11-15). Those who seek an experience instead of seeking the face of the LORD, will be misled by evil spirits and false prophets (1 Chronicles 16:11). Many today are sensual and not truly spiritual in the biblical sense. There is no cross at the center of their lives (Colossians 3:3). Their daily life is not rooted in Christ – the cross! They have been led by the self-serving wolves of today’s modern church to get addicted to a feeling instead of growing in grace and obeying the LORD and Savior Himself. Self-idolatry. They love to go do what some falsely call “praise and worship” to get that feeling. Praise and worship are biblical and yet, not what many have made it out to be. There are many houses of worship if you will, which do not have Christ, the cross, at the center and therefore are not worshiping the LORD by teaching the pure, sound doctrine of the Word of God – the King James Bible. These ravenous wolves know how the church busine$$ works and so they front with a good band, good music, using young, gifted people as their pawns as they stage their deceptive exploitation, hiding behind that good music! Beware saints.
Wolves entertain goats and market their church busine$$ to grow, to gain nickels, noses, and numbers. True under-shepherds ground God’s people in the daily cross, in the fear of God, and in the sound doctrine which is the written Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17; 4:2-4; 2 Peter 1:19-21, etc.).
This is a big part of the end time deception we were often warned of….
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;” 1 Timothy 4:1-2
Have you ever been part of this type “church”? I sure have. Think about it. If you’re like myself, you enjoyed the praise and worship (to some degree) and yet, were left empty due to the lame “word” and lack of biblical teaching. Can anyone relate?
In any given town in America, one can search high and low, near and far, and never find even one pastor who is true to God. Is this not a fulfillment of prophecy?
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:” Amos 8:11
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:2-4
If you still believe that most pastors today are true, stay deeply in God’s Word daily and your discernment will change. You will begin to realize that over 90% of today’s pastors are “accursed” wolves and we know this because they do not preach the original Gospel that Christ and His holy apostles preached and gave us (Jude 3).
Modern church false gospel …. No repentance, no sin, No judgment, no holiness, no cross, No warnings to beware of false prophets and heresies, no return of Christ for a spotless – sinless – bride, no Christology (study of Christ!) …
Those who preach any other gospel other than the original and complete Gospel of Jesus Christ, are “accursed.”
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:6-9
Then Paul reveals why false leaders do not preach the original, the real and whole Gospel of Christ – because they love self and therefore fear and cater to mere men and not Jesus Christ!
“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10
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