Self Love vs Savior Love [podcast]
coming soon
Psychology is the world’s band aid for man’s problems. Such a cheap substitute for the real divine solution has invaded the minds of so many who claim to be saved. This has transpired on the wings of the prophesied end time wolves. God’s Word and Holy Ghost are the only solution for those truly following Christ. Regrettably, many have not become rooted in the Word and are therefore deceived, swept away in the prophesied great falling away (2 Thessalonians 2; 2 Timothy 3:1-7). | Sin: Man’s Core Problem
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments (self-serving thinking) of the world, and not after Christ … And ye are complete in him (Jesus Christ)…” Colossians 2:8-9
This will be one of the most important Bible truths you will ever learn and will help you discern the poison in the false me-centered messages in most “Christian” books today and coming from most pulpits.
Not only are most leaders not teaching the cross – self-denial – they are teaching the opposite – self-exaltation! ANY leader not preaching the cross is mis-leading! Run!
Is this self-love invasion not a clear fulfillment of 2 Timothy 3:1-13? Self-love is a curse! The cross crucifies self so that Jesus reigns, not sinful self. Hell awaits all who aren’t serving Christ – on HIS stated terms – the cross. Lay down your life now!
Colossians 2 gives us a severe warning about false philosophies of sinful mere men. The LORD never dealt with man’s problem – sin – by way of most of what goes on today in the name of Christianity which has departed from the Word of God and is therefore largely apostate. It is wise to clear the slate and take a fresh and very close and prayerful look at how we see Christ and His apostle approaching man’s sin problem. Mark 5 and the maniac at Gadara would be a good starting point. God gave us 3 things to walk in the total victory that He alone can give us, 1) The written Word, 2) the Holy Spirit, and 3) the true body of Christ.
Unless I am missing something, it seems that Jesus gave just 2 commands in Matthew 22:37-39 and not 3. Did you catch that in the passage above? The “mind of Christ” is actually loving God and others above ourselves which requires crucifying self (Philippians 2:3-5). And, Christ’s apostle Paul plainly insinuates that we already love ourselves – it comes naturally, from the adamic, the fallen nature – “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh.” (Ephesians 5:29) Jesus introduced to us the only solution – the daily cross (Luke 9:23-24). Loving our self is the root of our problems, our sin, and not something we should learn to do.
Flash Point: Jesus and His holy apostles taught men to deny and crucify self, and not to love self. Repent. Get a Gospel clue. Run from the wolves who mix cheap psychobabble with the Gospel!
ANYONE TEACHING PEOPLE TO LOVE THEMSELVES IS AN AGENT OF SATAN, THE SELF-LOVE KING OF PRIDE WHO IS “king over all the children of pride.” (Job 41:34)
THE SIN OF PRIDE SEPARATES US FROM GOD AND DESTROYS US: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) This is why Jesus commands and we must have the essential cross, crucified life – because pride is a major iniquity of the fallen man (Luke 9:23-24).
The Bible says we already love ourselves. It’s innate – part of the fallen nature. That’s our whole problem and not something we need to do as vile wolves teach (Ephesians 5:29). God’s Word never says to love ourselves but it does say to deny self, to crucify self (Luke 9:23-24; Romans 6; Galatians 2:20, etc.). Think about it: If the Bible says “love yourself” then it contradicts itself. When we are living the crucified life, we are 1. loving GOD first, and 2. His love is pouring through us to others as we love our neighbor – anyone and everyone other than ourselves! (Matthew 22:37-40)
“God resisteth (sets Himself against) the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:6-7
Satan tempts us with the exact sin that got him permanently ejected from Heaven, God’s presence (Luke 10:18).
“Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up (pride) because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” Ezekiel 28:13-19
We never read where God instructs us to love ourselves because He says we already love ourselves too much innately and that’s our whole problem – “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:” (Ephesians 5:29)
Here’s Who Jesus Commanded Us to Love
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these TWO commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
On what “TWO commandments hang all the law and the prophets?” Can you re-read the above text and count the number of commands our LORD gave upon which the whole message of the Law and Prophets (whole Word of God) hang?
Jesus told us specifically that He gave “TWO commandments” here – not three.
1) “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God” (v37)
2) “Thou shalt love thy neighbour” (v39)
Does Jesus tell us to love ourselves here? If so, please show us where. Does God’s Word anywhere teach that men should learn to love themselves more?
Did you notice here in the words of Christ that there is the complete absence of any command for believers to love themselves? Since there is not even one hint of self-love taught in God’s Word, where do so many modern church leaders get the idea and authority that men are to learn to love themselves?
“For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it…” Ephesians 5:29
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved NOT their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12:11
This week alone, I have heard 2 deluded leaders teaching people to love themselves. Sounds noble doesn’t it? But is it biblical? Did Jesus and His apostles teach men that they needed to learn to love themselves? With all the messages on loving self today, we must ask ourselves; Did our LORD teach self-love or self-denial?
“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross (implement of death) daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save (love) his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” Luke 9:23-24
Here the Son of God told us clearly that “any man” who would be His must “deny himself” not elevate or learn to love himself. To “deny” one’s self is to refuse to think upon or do anything that violates the holiness of God as defined by His Word. Self-love is certainly one of those things the LORD identifies as sin and condemns.
If the Almighty wanted us to believe that we are to love ourselves, why didn’t He just come out and tell us? If Jesus Christ, the apostles and prophets didn’t teach it, by what authority do we dare teach such?
Here is the single verse this love thyself (self-love) teaching is based upon:
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 22:39
To get to the point, there is NOT ONE supporting verse or text to this self-love message and this one above (Matthew 22:39) they clearly twist/pervert (2 Cor. 2:17). I think it should be more than obvious that Matthew 22:39 carries the same import as Matthew 7:12 (Golden Rule), when the Master instructed:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12
The Pride of Lucifer
“The LORD will destroy the house of the proud.” Proverbs 15:25
From where does any self-serving message originate? Who is the author of the self-love teaching and behind all false prophets who are teaching this message? The 5 “I”’s of Lucifer in Isaiah 14 should reveal the answer to this important question. Can you find the 5 “I’’’s?
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Isaiah 14:12-15
The motto and pride anthem of Satan is I, I, I, I, I – and this is true for anyone who is not in the love of God. The self-love message is clearly Luciferian. As with Lucifer who became Satan and the devil in his state of eternal condemnation, hell will be the result of all who teach and buy into the self-love message that is being taught in “Christian” books, pulpits and media.
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments (self-serving thinking) of the world, and not after Christ…And ye are complete in him (Jesus Christ)…” Colossians 2:8-9
The age-old and classic message of the pied piper solicits saints to forsake the Savior for temporary, self-serving comforts and earthly gain. Concerning this prevalent love of self message, Oswald Chambers said:
- “Self-realization is anti-Christian. All this is vigorous paganism, it is not Christianity. Jesus Christ’s attitude is always that of anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of man at all; His purpose is to make man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is not self-realization but self-expenditure.”
Self-love is sinful pride. Since the Garden of Eden, self-love has caused every sin ever committed against the one and true holy God in 6,000 years of history. This doctrine of devils is now being taught on an epidemic level within the church world by men who are deceived and even claim that this diabolical message is a Bible doctrine. Astounding!
“Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.” Proverbs 19:27
Conformed to His Holy Image
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:29
This is an important verse to memorize. We are informed here of the very reason for which He as predestined us – “to be conformed to the image of His Son” who came to give His life – to be a giver and not a taker. Those who are born again are no longer their own. They are Christ’s – bought by His precious blood and called to serve Him not self.
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price…” 1 Corinthians 6:19
There is no freedom or blessing in learning to love ourselves more. Such is blatant disobedience to the whole Word of God. We are finite, sinful, “desperately wicked”, and in utter need of God and His divine mercy, not more knowledge of ourselves (Jer. 17:9). The Almighty is infinite. The finite must seek the infinite not the finite (itself). The fallen creation must seek His perfect Creator who bled to give him reconciliation and restoration and set the example of serving others not self.
“Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.” Psalms 39:5
“Vain is the help of man.” Psalms 60:11
“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man (including self), and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” Jeremiah 17:5
According to the words of our God in Jeremiah 17:5, all those who “trusteth in man (self)…depart from the LORD.” This is what exactly what Lucifer did to become rejected of the Almighty and called Satan, and the Devil. “Depart” means leave – to go away from, to fall away. Men who trust in themselves or look within themselves for virtue and betterment will absolutely “depart from the LORD”, they will fall into a state of condemnation. Dismal Depravity, sinfulness and misery is all man can find within himself, apart from the living and true God. This is why Jesus came into the world – to save men from sin and self. In light of this truth, are we not astounded by the hoards of “Christian” false teachers who have risen up in our midst who teach this diabolical doctrine? Perhaps this truth will also bring a clearer focus upon 1 Timothy 3:6 where Paul is speaking about a young believer being put into a place of leadership before he has learned some things:
“Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” 1 Timothy 3:6
The Holy Ghost warns us here that the “novice”, or believer who is not comprehensively seasoned in the Word, will be prone to “being lifted up with pride” like “the devil” was, and “fall into the” same condemnation as Satan – separated from a holy God through sin.
The mark of the many wolves in our midst is that they feed self-love instead of teaching men to deny or crucify the self life.
Christ taught those who would follow Him to “DENY…SELF, and take up his cross (implement of death) daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23-24) Following Jesus means doing what He did – denial of self, complete trust in the Father, and serving others not self.
The false gospel of self-love, peddled by so many leaders today, is the antithesis of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who called us to laid down our lives.
The Gospel of our LORD is to learn to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment”and to “esteem others BETTER than ourselves. Look NOT every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…(who) made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant…he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:3-8)
Friend, what reconciliation does this text (above) have with the satanic, self-love message we hear peddled today in “Christian” circles? Obviously, the two messages are completely opposite and originate from two opposing entities. One of the ways we know and discern who is truly behind a leader is by whose message that leader is peddling/promoting – God’s or Satan’s. Let’s contrast: Doesn’t the satanic bible say “Do what thou wilt”? The Bible says “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Remember, Love Gives, Lust Gets. God says to “deny thyself.”Satan says “indulge, or, love thyself.” Which of these two messages have you placed yourself under and internalized? Are you being called, through the messages you are hearing, to deny yourself or to indulge yourself?
Karen from West Virginia writes:
- “Yes, in describing the evil of the last days, that is what the Scripture says in 2 Timothy 3:2 and 4. It says in verse 2, “for men will be “lovers of self”… verse 4 “RATHER THAN “lovers of God.” The Bible doesn’t ever imply or say that loving self is a good thing! The bottom line is that when Jesus said “love others as yourself”, He meant to replace your stinking self-love with loving others. He meant when we love others RATHER than ourselves, we are being lovers of God rather than lovers of self. The Bible teaches us to love God first and love others second rather than ourselves! Now we have the full counsel of God when we put 2 Timothy 3:2-4 with Matthew 22:39 and the other Scriptures about loving others. Being lovers of self is just not a good thing! The world will tell you to love yourself and if you are having trouble, they will tell you to go get some Prozac, have a face lift, take a vacation, have a Starbucks, do something good for yourself rather than always for others! Dr. Phil and Oprah and others will tell you and encourage you to love yourself, but they aren’t speaking from the heart of God or teaching what the Holy Spirit would teach.”
Jesus came to be crucified. According to Holy Writ, the Christ-centered life is all about laying down our lives like Christ did for us, and living to bring His blessing to others, not ourselves. Let us consider what the Holy Spirit seeks to communicate to our hearts in these following words of Scripture, and may He grant us ears to hear what He is saying to us – that we might obey Him, be fully pleasing to the Savior, be kept from deception and evil, and be ready for the soon return of Christ.
“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” 1 Peter 4:1-2
“And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” 2 Corinthians 5:15
“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” 1 John 2:6
God’s Love Gives
“God so loved the world that he GAVE….” so that all men could have eternal life now and in Heaven and life more abundantly, right? (Jn. 3:16, 10:10).
Contrasting Jesus Christ’s and Satan’s peddlers, the apostle Paul says:
“Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For MANY walk, of whom I have told you often (warned), and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly (self appetites), and whose glory is in their shame (they proudly teach what they should be ashamed of), who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Philippians 3:17-21
Self-love is the cry of the deceivers who prey upon the unpurged lusts of men. The exploding “seeker-sensitive” movement which is a false form of Christianity and the path to building a “mega-church, is the epitome of this. The self-gratification messages of these smiling wolves cause their audiences to feed the flesh instead of crucifying it and therefore to live in sin against the holiness of Jesus, and self-focused and not God and others focused. Could this be the reason that there is so little evangelism and discipleship transpiring among those who call themselves Christians? The modern-day prophets of Balaam (false) are teaching people to seek self-gain in this fleeting life. These “many false prophets” in our midst arrogantly twist God’s Word, teaching those who listen to use His Word for selfish gain and the betterment of the depraved self. In fulfillment of last days prophetic warnings, this evil is working well on the multitudes who would rather indulge in temporal ease and earthly gratification than what is right in the sight of the One who made them and died to rescue them (1 Tim. 4:1-6; 2 Tim. 3:1-5). This is the ongoing test of life – whether we will serve God or self (Rom. 6:16). The fact we can observe is that these deceivers who are plentiful in the modern church abound only because the loyalty and money given by those who support them allows them to build their kingdoms larger and larger, reaching more and more people who financially embellish them to lead multitudes astray.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine (full-counsel Bible truth); but after their own (unpurged) lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. 2 Timothy 4:3
The Holy Spirit is saying through Paul here that many do not want to die to self but instead feed/serve self, so they place themselves under those who will tell them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. God help us. Hell awaits all who die worshipping at the altar of self and not the LORD God Almighty – “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exod. 20:3)
Esau forfeited his eternal reward due to self-idolatry. He consequently lost his birthright (Gen. 25; 27:36). The Holy Ghost warns us under the new covenant using Esau’s fatal decision to love himself more than the LORD His Maker:
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” Hebrews 12:14-17
ME, ME, ME!!! This is the sin of pride-ridden selfishness that has caused mankind to violate the holiness of God from the beginning and is now being boldly taught from so-called “Christian” leaders. With brilliant detail, our Savior reveals in 2 Timothy the activities within the church-world that He foretold would be evidence of Christ’s soon return. He details the teachings and pride-driven characteristics of those leaders and their adherents who act as “Christians” and have a “form(ula) of godliness”, yet deny the lordship and reign of Christ in their personal lives:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves (self-love), covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power (rule; authority) thereof: from such turn away…evil men (false teachers who teach self-love) and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived…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. 2 Timothy 3-4
While posing as God’s servants, these men serve themselves and teach others to do the same.
In light of this prophetic utterance of the Holy Ghost and the apostle Paul, should we be surprised at the onslaught of self-love being taught by so many leaders in the “Christian” world?
“For men shall be lovers of their own selves (self-love)…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God”
It’s real simple: False prophets are fulfilling these prophecies by teaching and feeding self-love, while leaders true to the LORD Jesus Christ declare what Christ did – that it is a necessity to deny one’s self, and to humble themselves, that God may exalt them when and how He wishes (Matt. 23:12; Lk. 9:23-24, etc.). Jesus calls His own to deny themselves, while the enemy of all souls is using his emissaries in our midst to lead people to worship at the altar of self.
Saint of God, be careful of the self-love message which comes in so many flavors to feed the carnal/sinful nature in us. At the root of this message is always “What’s in it for ME?” and the betterment of self – apart from God and His clear Biblical revelation to us. Scripture is even twisted, taken out of context, and used to teach this. Self-love undergirds all psychology whether it claims to be “Christian” or not. Self-love is the root of the message of the false prophets of this late hour. Self-love is the core of the “favor of God” message taught by so many of the TV preachers who call God’s people to worship at the altar of self. Modern-day deceivers speak from pulpits and books and TV of “the favor of the Lord” and the “anointing” as that which can obtain things for self, instead of the Biblical message of the LORD’s blessed favor, power, and anointing in our lives to accomplish His will in glorifying Him who alone is worthy (Acts 1:8; 6:27; 10:38, etc.). In His life on earth, Jesus didn’t use His Father’s power to make Himself famous for His own aggrandizement. He didn’t come to spend His life on earth for selfish gain, but instead to give it in crucifixion so that others could have life. The Son of God expended His life teaching His disciples to lay down their lives and ultimately laid down His own life to serve all of mankind who was and is guilty of sin before the One, true Holy God (Jn. 13:1-8).
Called to Serve not Be Served
Jesus told His 12 and all of us, that He came to serve and not be served. This is fundamental to the Christian faith. When some of His disciples attempted to elevate themselves, Jesus corrected them and told them they were to serve others and not themselves. Do our leaders not read their Bibles? Why don’t they know this elementary truth and command?
“But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28
The Bible says that love “seeketh not her own.” (1 Cor. 13:5) True godly leaders teach the Bible – which instructs believers to mortify and crucify and put to death the deeds of the body (Ezekiel 44:23; Rom. 6). In contrast, false teachers incite the lusts of the flesh through messages of covetousness (2 Peter 2-3). God calls His own to serve Him and not self. “No man can serve two masters.” (Matt. 6:24)
“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
“And they that are Christ’s have (settled issue) crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Galatians 5:24
God is calling those who will be His to the Christ of the Bible and Biblical Christianity and to forsake all deceivers who lead us from His holy truth that preserves us to the end. Any writer or leader in any medium who does not teach the original Gospel given us – including self-crucifixion – is a false teacher, “accursed”, and to be rejected and marked (Gal. 1:6-9; Rom. 16:17-18). Because of the end-time deceptions which were to come, Paul cries with tears for 3 years and warns God’s people:
“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” Acts 20:32
When Paul was warned by many in the church that when he went to Jerusalem (which is where he was headed), that “bonds and afflictions” awaited him. Did he change his course? No. What was his response to this great harm that lay ahead of him? Here is what he declared:
“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24
If we are to “finish” the “course” of final salvation and fruitfulness in His kingdom, we must like Paul, count or consider not our lives dear unto ourselves.
The Holy Spirit simply never led any writer of the Scriptures to instruct men to love themselves. He had 66 books to do so and simply didn’t. Did the Almighty forget to tell us something we needed to know? Did He lie to us by telling us that everything and all things that pertain to life and godliness are in His Word (2 Pet. 2:3-4)? Not only did the Apostle Paul nor any other writer of the Bible teach Christians to love themselves, but he, in his own life said “neither count I my life dear unto myself.”
“For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Romans 6:7
Andrew Murray stated:
- “The great secret of abiding in Christ is the deep conviction that we are nothing, and He is everything.” Abide In Christ, p. 160
If we still hold out a vestige of hope for preserving ourselves (self-love) in this life, we are not truly dead to self and released to the LORD.
If we still hold out a vestige of hope for preserving ourselves (self-love) in this life, we are not truly dead to self and released to the LORD.
“The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” John 12:24-26
Could the words of our LORD be any clearer? The self-life must be lost in order for that person to be found in Christ. This happens when we begin to love our Savior more than ourselves and freely and volitionally ask Him to increase as we decrease (Jn. 3:30). There can be no hold out. There can be no self-preservation. Without a clear and outright death to self and commending our spirit into the hands of the Almighty who loves us, there can be no resurrection to the life of Jesus.
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-12
Those who argue to justify loving self, have not yet honestly and diligently studied God’s Word and do not yet understand the life and mission of Jesus Christ. He came to die that we might have life and instructed all who would truly be His to do crucify the self-life that He might reign in us and that others might have the blessing of eternal life.
“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps…Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” 1 Peter 2:21; 4:1-2
The following excerpt is taken from the PyschoHeresy Awareness Letter (PAL) which is highly recommended:
“…men shall be lovers of their own selves…”
So . . . what do you think Jesus would say to pop singer Madonna? While former reporter and atheist, now assistant pastor at Willow Creek Community Church Lee Strobel admits he’s “not pretending to have divine revelation from God on what Jesus would say,” his book title, What Jesus Would Say, gives the impression he has a pretty good idea about what Jesus would say. But, we have to wonder what Jesus he’s talking about, because his Jesus sounds more like a pop-psych-pastor than God the Son. Strobel’s Jesus identifies Madonna’s problem as a self-esteem issue. Self-esteem? That’s because it’s easier to get someone to come to church if you identify one’s problem as low self-esteem instead of sin. And, contrary to what so many pastors-turned-pop-psychologist like Strobel would have you believe, the Bible says: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves. . .” (2 Timothy 3:1,2).
Promise Keepers also promote self-esteem and self-love. The following is from Promise Keepers Newsletter, Winter, 1993:
- Many Christian single men have fought the battle to build their own self-worth, self-esteem, and self-love. They have learned that it is impossible to have a healthy relationship with others while having an unhealthy relationship with one’s self. Jesus recognized this when He challenged us to love our neighbor as we would love ourself (Mark 12:31).
In their eagerness to embrace psychological teachings of the world, Promise Keepers shift the thrust of the verse and make it sound as if we are commanded to love ourselves. But Jesus gave two commandments: to love God and to love neighbor. Loving self was not a commandment, but rather the manner in which to follow the second commandment. In other words, loving self is the natural human propensity. The very statement of Jesus is built on the fact that people already love themselves (see also Ephesians 5:28,29).
Christianity is about a loving relationship with the Lord and about loving one another. Christ did not teach his disciples to love themselves, but rather assumed that they already did when he said: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Luke 10:27). Just as we naturally care for ourselves and want what is good for ourselves, we are to care for others and want what is good for them.
An individual wrote to us and asked how Proverbs 19:8; Proverbs 8:35,36; and Proverbs 15:32 might relate to the idea that “we already love ourselves” and “don’t hate ourselves.”
Here is what we understand these verses to mean and how they do or do not relate to self-love and self-hatred. “He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good” (Proverbs 19:8). While everyone already loves himself, not all people are wise. While they may love to indulge themselves in foolishness, they do not care for their soul, their spiritual life; therefore the encouragement is to get wisdom and keep understanding. An analogy might be that we must eat to live, but those who eat unwisely do not properly care for their bodies. This verse does not refute “we already love ourselves.” Proverbs 8:35 continues that same theme regarding wisdom: “For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.” These Proverbs offer two options:(1) finding God’s wisdom and thereby living a good or godly life, or (2) refusing God’s wisdom and losing the possibility for living a good life.
The next two verses speak warnings to those who choose option 2. “But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:36). Those of whom the verse speaks love themselves more than they love God, but in the long run they will destroy themselves. It is not that they actively “love death” or that they hate themselves.
It is that the arrogant self-indulgence of hating God and going one’s own way is spiritual death. The same is true for Proverbs 15:32, “He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.” It is not active self-hatred here but rather a warning that one’s soul is in jeopardy if one refuses the Lord’s instruction. The contrast is that those who “heareth reproof getteth understanding.”
The following is from our book Prophets of PsychoHeresy II regarding self-hatred:
- Now we are not saying that there are no individuals who genuinely think that they hate themselves. However, what they generally hate is something about themselves or their circumstances. They exhibit actual love for themselves in that they continue to spend most of their time concerned about themselves, even if it is with unhappy thoughts. They generally get to the point where they are unhappy about themselves because a discrepancy exists between their aspirations or desires and their performance or condition. This intensive hate is evidence of high self-interest.
The problem is always the self-focus with people who think they hate themselves or think they need to love themselves more.
In his book Life in the Spirit, Martyn Lloyd-Jones says:
- The real cause of failure,ultimately, in marriage is always self and the various manifestations of self. Of course that is the cause of trouble everywhere and in every realm. Self and selfishness are the greatest disrupting forces in the world. All the major problems confronting the world, whether you look at the matter from the standpoint of nations and statesmen, or from the standpoint of industry and social conditions, or from any other standpoint—all these troubles ultimately come back to self, to ‘my rights,’ to ‘what I want,’ and to ‘who is he?’ or ‘who is she?’ Self, with its horrid manifestations, always leads to trouble, because if two ‘selfs’ come into opposition there is bound to be a clash. Self always wants everything for it-self. That is true of my self, but it is equally true of your self. You at once have two autonomous powers, each deriving from self, and a clash is inevitable. Such clashes occur at every level, from two people right up to great communities and empires and nations.
Self-esteem teachings distort the Bible, reflect the world, and appeal to the natural man. The Bible teaches believers to esteem others better than self, to love one another as we already love ourselves, and to deny self daily. (From PAL V3N2)
OVERCOMERS
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12:11
Speaking prophetically of overcomers, the Bible says that they “LOVED NOT” their own lives even unto there own death in this fleeting world system. If this isn’t a nail in the coffin of the self-love message, then what is it? Those who overcome will be those who “love not their lives unto the death.” This is the Bible. This is the opposite of learning to love self – “they loved NOT their lives unto the death.” This is God’s Word. Self-love is the antithesis of the message of the Gospel of our LORD. Self-love is antichrist. Only the overcomers are promised eternal life in Heaven and only those who love not their own lives even unto death are overcomers and will be in Heaven (Rev. 2-3).
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2
Our thinking must be “transformed” to that which we witness in the Word that we might be fully pleasing to the One we claim to be serving. He tells us here to present our bodies a “living sacrifice.” Nothing can be left alive – all must be laid down (sacrificed) and died. The LORD desires that His “great power” and resurrection life would abide in His children (Jn. 11:25; Acts 4:33; Rom. 8:11).
Knowing God personally, living in the Spirit instead of the flesh, and devouring and obeying His Precepts, is the only safeguard against the deception and sinful desires of self-idolatry being taught by so many in leadership today in these apostate, Laodicean last days (Jn. 17:3; Rom. 8:29; Rev. 3:14-21). Jesus told us that the road was narrow and only a “few” will enter into the “narrow gate” that leads to eternal life – Heaven. As foretold by the Son of God, so very “many” are being swept away in this tidal wave of self-indulgence and deception, designed to lead men to eternal perdition (Matt. 7:13-15).
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matthew 7:13-15
Ever notice in the above passage how that Christ warned that only a “few” would ultimately be in Heaven and warned that we are to “beware of false prophets” who come to us dressed like sheep and yet they are “ravening wolves.” The term Jesus used here, “ravening wolves”, means that these leaders have spiritual rabies and have come to inject the sheep of the LORD and destroy them.
Any person who, after reading numerous Scripture and finding not one verse in the Bible that teaches men to love themselves, and yet still argues to justify self-love, has been well trained under the tutelage of Satan’s emissaries.
It is when we cry out to the LORD that He cleanses us and that we then have His love and joy in our hearts and have the sense of well-being as He desires.
Look here at the first 13 verses of Psalms 51 and note the progression. It seems that when the believer calls upon the LORD in repentance (because of his sins) for His mercy and the heart is cleansed, the joy of the LORD is restored and evangelism is one of the results. This is the fulness the LORD intends for us and not the deceitful sham and propping up of sinful, depraved self by some kind of self-love that He never intended:
Psalms 51
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways (evangelize others); and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
The Savior will make us to “hear joy and gladness” and “restore” to us “the joy of” His “salvation” when we cease leaning to our own understanding and acknowledge Him in all our ways, doing things the way His Word clearly prescribes (Prov. 3:5-6).
“Charity out of a pure heart” is the chief design of the Word of God (1 Tim. 1:5). He wants to first purge our hearts of self-love, as we fully trust Him (justifying faith) so that His love may fill us and be “spread abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” (Rom. 5:1,5)
The “More Blessed” Life
God promises to bless us with all needs met as we seek Him first and place Him as our Supreme Master as we go forth exalting His name and Gospel and building up His holy saints. (Matt. 6:33; Phil. 4:19, etc.) Christ can only reign in the hearts of those who deny themselves. He can never reign in the heart that is full of the pride of self-love.
“I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is MORE blessed to GIVE than to receive.” Acts 20:35
The “MORE blessed” life is found in giving, not in taking honor unto ourselves. It is a futile endeavor to feed the self life. Most importantly, it is utter disobedience to the LORD we claim to be serving. He is holy and commands us “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Pet. 1:16)
Ready OR Not – Jesus Is Coming,
PRAYER of Repentance: Dear heavenly Father, I come to You by the blood of Jesus Christ and the divine grace which I do not deserve. Here and now, I repent of the sin of self-love, self-idolatry, and spiritual adultery and denounce such sin. Please forgive the disobedience which I have exercised myself in by ever espousing such. LORD, please forgive me for buying into this pride-based message. Deliver me now Jesus! I love You supremely as my first love and ask You to grant me a heart of purity, as revealed in Your Holy Word – to serve You and others, elevating them above myself. This moment I am crucified with Christ – to live unto Jesus and not my selfish desires. May this life be a testimony of your saving mercy dear LORD as I go forth to love and to serve You my LORD and Your saints and those lost souls who need to be born again. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
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Psycho-Heresy | Sin: Man’s Core Problem
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FEEDBACK:
“I just finished reading an article on your website about psychology, and it’s so true! I tried to kill myself (guilt over sins) about 4 years ago, and was put in the pavilion. Afterwards, I loved the attention I got from everyone. I was ordered to go to counseling twice a week, and I looked forward to those meetings. Why? I got to talk about myself. I also used that as an excuse as to why I did stupid things in those few months. After being born again, I realized that I needed to take responsibility for my actions and not blame anyone or some “mental illness.” The doctor still tries to put me on antidepressants. I won’t take them. I don’t need them. I have Jesus.” Misty N.
Abiding
The Lying Vanity of “Eternal Security” [podcast]
WHY was Satan expelled from God’s presence, from Heaven? What happened the last time sin was found in Heaven? Did God coddle it or kick it out? Jesus told us:
“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10:18
Oh and will we lose the ability to choose in Heaven? One man recently stated: “Even if you are in Heaven you do not have eternal security.” Interesting and apparently true…. because as I am sure you were alluding to, lucifer and a third of the angels still had choice in Heaven, they chose sin and were expelled (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:13-19; Luke 10:18).
Those who deal with the eternal securists know that it’s observable that these self-serving idolaters, counterfeits, want the assurance of salvation via lies instead of obedience. They campaign, promote, and defend their “eternal security” idol doctrine. If they spent the same time and energy seeking and obeying the LORD they claim to serve, there would be great fruit born.
No one is going to walk in peace and assurance just because they speak of it, claim it, or because they desire to have peace and assurance. No, it’s only when we obey the Word of God that His peace and assurance flood our being. There’s no short cut to obedience (1 John 3:16-18).
The assurance of salvation, of eternal glory with Christ, abides only in those who obey God. The OSAS wolves speak nothing of obeying the LORD. No, instead they spend all their time indoctrinating people with the heresy that they are eternally secure no matter what they do after being saved. Those who give more than cliche’s and lip service to God, enjoy the assurance of His salvation.
“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19 And hereby (by obedience) we know that we are of the truth, and shall ASSURE our hearts before him. 20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” 1 John 3:18-21
Assurance of salvation in our hearts comes from abiding in and with Christ, from obeying Him – not sitting around convincing ourselves and others that we are “eternally secure” (John 14-15). Such is the occupation of moral coward counterfeits who are lost hell-bound souls.
Convincing people who aren’t abiding in Christ that they are eternally secure is criminal, sinful, and perpetrated by the grace-perverting “ungodly men” Jude warned us about (Jude 3-4). Instead of teaching them that God requires that they love and obey Him, they sidestep this unpopular truth and evilly, insidiously tickle the ears of their prey (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
Of 1 John 3:19, Adam Clarke writes:
“Hereby we know that we are of the truth – That we have the true religion of the Lord Jesus, and shall assure our hearts – be persuaded in our consciences, that we have the truth as it is in Jesus; as no man can impose upon himself by imagining he loves when he does not: he may make empty professions to others, but if he loves either God or man, he knows it because he feels it; and love unfelt is not love, it is word or tongue. This the apostle lays down as a test of a man’s Christianity, and it is the strongest and most infallible test that can be given. He that loves feels that he does love; and he who feels that he loves God and man has true religion; and he who is careful to show the fruits of this love, in obedience to God and humane acts to man, gives others the fullest proof that he has the loving mind that was in Jesus.”
The crux concerning the eternal security counterfeits is that they simply refuse to die – to deny self, take up the cross daily, and follow the Savior they claim is their Savior.
Believing that God requires man to participate in an abiding relationship with Him is not works salvation, it’s Bible 101. The only people who call an abiding walk with Christ “works salvation” are those who are vainly thinking they’re going to use Jesus to get them to Heaven, out of hell, without engaging in a relationship with the Great Bridegroom. These are antichrists. They teach contrary to Christ. Read John 15:1-6. Doesn’t their reasoning, their doctrine sound like the foolish virgins who were shut out of Christ’s kingdom? Yep. Read Matthew 25:1-13.
Instead of using that energy to lay down their lives, to be truly crucified with Christ, the OSAS defenders have endless energy to argue to justify sinning. Why? They simply do not love the LORD. They love self and they love their life in this world and will perish with it (1 Corinthians 2:9b; 1 John 2:15-17).
Eternal securists preach “grace, grace, grace” and yet they have more faith in sin, in sinning, than they do in God’s grace to keep them…. free from sin. They are “(…the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things)” (Philippians 3:18-19).
“For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Romans 6:7
Let me get this straight …… Jesus’ grace was enough to save you but is not strong enough to keep you from the sin He died and rose again to deliver you from?
MESSAGE RECEIVED:
“Romans 14:1-3. This post (exposing the heresy of OSAS) continues division among God’s people. God has chosen not to reveal all of Himself to any person. We are all in a broken state of incomplete revelation.”
REPLY:
Not true. You are quoting Romans 14 which is speaking of NON-essentials, not essential doctrine of the original Gospel given to us by Christ and His holy apostles. Those who do not continue in sound doctrine, in the teaching of Christ and His apostles, “hath NOT God” and are to be exposed (2 John 7-11).
The only one causing division is you – a false teacher who is perpetrating the same lie of Satan himself from the Garden of Eden, the original doctrine of devils (1 Timothy 4:1).
Believers are specifically mandated to “earnestly contend” against “ungodly men” who are “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness” such as Satan’s first lie, his first teaching – OSAS/eternal security.
Jude 1:3-5
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.”
Divisions are needed – the divining between the truth-loving remnant of Christ and the counterfeits who espouse falsehoods (Romans 16:17-18). See also Matthew 10:34.
God has clearly, plainly revealed to us the OSAS/eternal security is a lie from His arch enemy and actually led to the fall of mankind in the Garden (Proverbs 22:17-21; Genesis 2:17; 3:4). The warnings against this heresy exist throughout His Word. You may wish to cease using the cop-out position.
Brother Raphael King writes:
“If once saved always saved is correct, then why does Satan tempt saved Christians? What is the aim of the tempter if not to entice the saved ones to sin?
If once saved always saved is correct, why did Jesus tell the man he healed of his infirmity to go and SIN NO MORE? John 5:14
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
I need your views on these if you think once saved always saved is correct, or you have believed a lie all long!”
According to man’s school of thought, eternal security (also known as “once saved, always saved”) is the belief that from the moment anyone becomes a Christian they will be saved from hell and will not lose their salvation.
But according to the Bible, someone that was once saved can still fall into sin, die in their sins and go to hell!
2 Peter 2:20-22: “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. 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. 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.”
Let’s analyze some examples:
Judas was once saved! One cannot fall away from a place he has never been. So, accepting this falling away as truth, the conclusion is that one can be saved and then “fall away” or lose his salvation. How can a fallen man fall again if he was never saved at first?
Acts 1:25: “That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”
Judas Iscariot was standing in the Lord, and a follower of Christ before he fell into transgression.
Demas was once saved…
Colossians 4:14: “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.”
Philemon 1:24: “Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers…” These are saved laborers that Paul referred to.
But Demas later backslid to love the world….
2 Timothy 4:10: “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.”
1 Corinthians 5 was written to believers who had fallen into fornication. “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.” Paul would not be preaching like this to those that are not yet saved.
The seven churches in Revelation were saved believers before they fell. The Bible recorded their good works. The remedy for them was repentance. Mind you these happened after Pentecost. The church at Ephesus backslid and left its first love. God out of His infinite mercy, sent a message of warning to them. Can you then say that these Churches are not truly saved at first? Then read Revelation 2:1-5 and see their stand before they fell.
Revelation 2:5: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”
David once fell into sin, Saul once fell into sin, Solomon once fell into sin, Ananias and Sapphira once fell into sin, Lucifer once fell into sin! The lists are endless. These people were saved but somewhere along the line they fell into sin. Some had the grace to repent and utilized it while others wasted it, some didn’t have the grace to repent.
Those that said these people were not truly saved at first should bring evidence from the Bible and not self-assumption. You don’t assume the Bible, you believe it!
If once saved forever saved is true, why did the apostles write to believers that they should not commit sin and warned them to flee from fornication? The Bible talks about repentance in various chapters.
Eternal salvation is for those who always obey God. Once you disobey God, you will lose it just like King Saul in the Bible. The only way to reclaim it is through repentance.
Hebrews 5:9: “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;”
Saved by Grace to Obey God
The OSAS counterfeits want to say that any obedience or good works for Jesus mean you are seeking to earn your own salvation. But the Bible tells us that we are saved by grace through faith which will always produce the fruit of good works. In fact we are created in Christ to do them!
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10
He saved us by His grace to be “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Any questions?
Jesus requires that we overcome in order to reign with Him.
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:” Revelation 2:26
Those who keep His works to the end are those who trust and worship Christ and not self – He is their “first love.” (Revelation 2:4-5) Their works do not save them and yet they clearly prove they are His.
“Unto the end” is a requirement for eternal glory, otherwise you will be vanquished into the bowels of eternal damnation irrevocably. Faith is required by God to receive Christ’s salvation, and true saving faith always produces good works (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Isn’t our obedience to Jesus our LORD an expression of our love for Him?
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
What did Jesus say concerning our lights shining and “good works”?
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
“Be careful to maintain good works”
“This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” Titus 3:8
O the endless stream of cowards who seek to evade personal accountability ….. In dealing with yet another heretic, I recently wrote concerning a man who believes he has no personal responsibility to worship, walk with, obey, and engage in an intimate abiding relationship with the Savior He claims saved him (John 15:1-6). He assumes no accountability because he seeks to use Jesus to get him to Heaven but has no interest in the cross Jesus says one must take up daily to truly follow Him-otherwise such a counterfeit is not following Him (Luke 9:23-24). Repent now sinner.
Moral cowards migrate to the “eternal security” heresy because they simply do not want to genuinely repent, to change. They want the crown but not the cross. They vainly believe they are going to use the Savior to get them out of hell yet want nothing to do with a worship-filled, engaged, abiding, fruit-bearing, obedient relationship with the Son of God while on earth. These are the rebels who will hear the LORD declare to them “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” (Matthew 25:4. Read John 15.)
In the biblical model of salvation, you’re not free to sin, you’ve been saved from sin, blessed to live free from sin.
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14
You are now the servant of God, not sin.
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Romans 6:22
Those who go back to sin after being saved, are in danger of hell fire – unless they repent and return to the LORD:
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is STILL death (Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23). God’s grace never changed His definition of sin. God will judge, will damn the souls of every person who dies in sin – whether they were saved in the past or not (Ezekiel 33:12-13; Revelation 22:11, etc.).
Lawless Workers of Iniquity
This warning below from Christ clearly tells us that “MANY” today who call Jesus “Lord”, who claim they are saved, are not.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (lawlessness).” Matthew 7:21-23
Joe Mann writes:
“When a person does what CHRIST JESUS HIMSELF tells them to not do or do…. it’s not their own work’s…..is it???
Besides a person is not in the PROCESS of being SAVED BY & until BELIEF in WHO & WHAT?
Luke 6:46-49
46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”
Simply put, those who teach OSAS/eternal security/Calvinism, are sin-justifying, grace-perverting heretics.
The 5 points of Calvinism are utterly false, each and every one of them. Personally, I wear the scorn of the wicked eternal security and calvinist hereticks, as a badge of honor. According to the Holy Spirit’s warning through Jude, these have perverted the faith of the original Gospel of Christ and call it “the doctrines of grace” while they specifically pervert the grace of God. These are “ungodly men” who are “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness” (license for sin) (Jude 4). We are to “earnestly contend” against them (Jude 3).
You could openly curse the Son of God and they’d say little or nothing. Yet, soon as you expose the lying falsehoods they hide behind and use to justify their sins, those devils behind those “doctrines of devils” manifest (1 Timothy 4:1-2).
Calvinist/osas heretics insist that one is devaluing the perfect payment of Christ on the cross for our sins…. are they?
Jesus’ work was perfect and this same JESUS gave conditions for man to appropriate His salvation. To say otherwise would be to say that everyone is going to Heaven, not matter what which is the heresy we call universalism. Yet some wish to ignore those conditions, those things God requires of anyone who will know and walk with Him. Many have bought lies, half-truths and aren’t being honest with the whole counsel of God’s Word. Jesus told His own 12 they had to “endure to the end” to be “saved” (Matthew 10:22; 24:13).
“Saved by grace through faith. Lets break this down for those who don’t understand… Its by Gods grace we’re offered the gift of salvation; yet that gift of salvation is activated through faith!! Without faith no man can please God. And if people think for one second they’re forced to abide or remain in the faith, they better get back in the word. Jesus even said that he is the true vine, and if we don’t remain in him, we are cut off… OSAS teaching is a lie! We must work out our salvation in fear and trembling before the Lord daily!! Endure unto the end!” Cristina
Specifically speaking to HIS own, Jesus says they must “abide” in Him or they will be cast into the fire (John 15:6).
“If a man abide not in me (does not remain with me), he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:6
Response to a proponent of OSAS:
Please explain to all of us why EVERY person in the world isn’t automatically saved…. after all, Jesus paid the full price for their sin…. And, show us all in God’s Word how men don’t have free will. “Doctrines of grace” to you are actually the corruption of God’s saving grace and Jude warned us about vile wolves, “ungodly men” like you who turn the saving grace of God in Christ into a license for sin.
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (license to sin), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 4
Here’s a Scripture text on true saving grace that you are allergic to and that your phony “grace teachers” never mentioned….
“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;” Titus 2:11-12
Every false teacher is going to hell (2 Peter 2:1-3).
Calvinists speak of “doctrines of grace” while intentionally ignoring and evading Bible passages on grace such as Titus 2:11-12. Calvinists are con men. They are fulfilling the Holy Spirit’s prophecy through Jude as they over emphasize grace while deliberately evading certain grace Scriptures and mountains of truth (Jude 4). What about holiness – God’s holiness, and the truth that He said “Be ye holy for I am holy”? See 1 Peter 1:15-16. You purposely ignore it because you simply don’t want to die, to lay down your life in this fleeting world, to be crucified with Christ. Counterfeit. | Grace vs Holiness
Much more explosive truth on the topic of the mythical “eternal security” |
Support | STORE | Podcasts | Jail/Prison Ministry | Mexico Mission here | All Ministry Updates | Eternal Security/OSAS | Calvinism Exposed | Accounted Worthy to Escape [podcast] |Sealed? | The Return of Christ | Support | Lie of the Ages [podcast] | 10 Questions about Eternal Security | Is Salvation Eternal? | The Damning Myth of Unconditional Eternal Security [podcast] | The Essential of Fearing God | The KING is Coming [podcast] | Lie of the Ages (Blockbuster book exposing OSAS and calvinism) | Lukewarm is Hell Bound!
Abiding
WHAT’S On Jesus’ Prayer List? [podcast]
What Did Jesus Pray for His People?
John 17 – knowing Him. Being one with Him and the Father and one another.
Jesus prayed the highest priorities of the Father for His people as is recorded in John 17.
Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer – John 17
“Jesus’ prayer in John 17, often called the “High Priestly Prayer,” is a profound discourse to God before His crucifixion, focusing on His own glorification, the protection and unity of His disciples, and the future unity of all believers, emphasizing eternal life through knowing God and Christ, and asking for believers to be set apart in truth and one, just as He and the Father are one.
Having offered His precious, sinless blood to the Father for the redemption of the fallen race, Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for all of His saints.”
“But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;” Hebrews 7:24-26
Due to His perfect sacrifice and redemption of fallen mankind, we who are His, are invited to “come boldly…”
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16
As we “come boldly unto the throne of grace” the LORD is going to fill us with His grace and love.
Those most powerfully used by God to help others, are those who are set apart to Him, crying out to the LORD to be filled with His gracious Holy Spirit and to be made more and more one with Him.
Debbie Lord writes:
“GOD is our sustaining force via prayer:
The Holy Spirit praying for us from within,
Jesus, our risen Savior and High Priest praying for us at the right hand of God, Brothers and Sisters in Christ praying for us on this earth, and us praying for believers everywhere,
even those we’ve never met. Ephesians 6:18
Each member of Christ’s body should be assured of the constant prayer of other believers as well as lifting up in prayer other believers themselves.”
Memory Truth:
“For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” James 1:20
We grow in Christ’s grace to realize that our own misguided, unwarranted, self-righteous attitudes and actions of wrath on sinners, is not of God.
Pray to “grow in grace” (2 Peter 3:18). When we are growing in His grace in that abiding oneness, His ministry of grace will flow through us. It has been wisely stated that “We can never lead someone else to a place we aren’t ourselves walking in.”
“For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace…” Hebrews 13:9
WHEN we see something in God’s Word, such as the verse above, let us pray it – pray He will bring it fully into our lives.
WHO has God Used to Truly Minister to Us?
Did God use vessels of self-righteous wrath?
Or, has the LORD used crucified vessels who were full of His love?
Can we not reflect back on how God used others to minister to us? Who did He use? It wasn’t the harsh self-righteous ones He used but rather the vessels of His love – who when they spoke His truth, did it out of His concern and desire for us to truly come to Him… right?
There is so much evil in this fallen world. We are bombarded with words, attitudes, and images daily with the iniquity of fallen mankind. That will not change till Jesus returns. For now, we must abide in Christ, to seek Him to make us one with Him and the Father who are one in agreement, unison, etc. It’s only in being made one with the Father and Jesus that God’s love will fill and flow from us. May God settle us at His feet, truly.
YOUR PRAYER: Holy Father in Heaven, I come to You in the name of my LORD Jesus Christ. Please teach me Your ways and make me, and Your body, one with You. In Jesus’ holy Name, amen.
Pouring prayerfully over the prayer of our LORD Jesus recorded in John 17 would greatly benefit us saints.
John 17: Jesus’ Prayer, the Real “LORD’s Prayer”
The High Priestly Prayer of Our Savior: Beholding the Highest Divine Priorities in the Prayer of Jesus
“1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
The Gospel key to walking in God’s love is the cross. The Bible teaches us that “God is love” and it’s only the crucified vessel that will be full of God’s love and used effectively by the LORD.
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:16-18
Ministry from Heaven can only come out of a crucified vessel.
“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:10-12
Love is at the top of the divine list of priorities and can only come out of the oneness our Father desires us to have with Him (1 Corinthians 13). Are we asking Him to be made one with Him? (See John 17.)
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8
Sister Debbie Lord offers us the opportunity to pray this Scriptural prayer: “Lord, I pray for your saints world over, that You would draw us closer and closer (increasingly) to Yourself as time grows short. Please help us give up and let go so that You can live in us fully and minister to us, in us and THROUGH us. I ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
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Articles
Rejecting the Swine: Swine Among Us! [podcast]
Jesus’ Protocol, and Parameters are for Our Protection
What does the Bible say concerning allowing a departed person to come back into your life or into a group of believers?
God only forgives those who repent and when they repent, they will acknowledge their sin and make restitution to those they’ve harmed. They will “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for (consistent with) repentance” (Matthew 3:7-10). True repentance is proven by good fruit demonstrated to prove it, or not. If there’s no honest, open admission and restitution, there’s no true sorrow or repentance.
“Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and IF he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.” Luke 17:3-4
If a brother sins against you, you are commanded to rebuke him. And forgive him and yet, only if he chooses to repent.
Forgive him yes, yet only “if he repent(s).”
v4 notice that the sinning person is required to repent each and every time he sins.
This appears to be a protective protocol or parameter to follow in order to ascertain or prove someone has or has not truly repented. Personally, I’ve see many times where people who’ve done wrong to a member of Christ’s body try to just come lolly gagging back into that person’s life or fellowship only to have the opportunity to wreak havoc once again because they weren’t made to prove they truly repented. Let us couple this with what Jesus teaches concerning dogs and swine. As we are going to see in a moment, Jesus commands His people not to closely associate with anyone who would be in close range of you and be able to rend or rip, tear, stab you (Matthew 7:6). So, if someone who has committed offense returns without coming with true repentance, they are to be considered a swine, a dog to whom the believer is not to give place lest this person “turn AGAIN and rend you” (Matthew 7:6).
GOD IS BEGGING NO ONE TO COME TO HIM AND HE ALSO INSTRUCTED YOU NOT TO BEG ANYONE ALSO. GOD NEEDS NO ONE. ALL MEN NEED GOD. THE LORD HONORS EVERY MAN’S RIGHT TO GO TO HELL (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15; 1 Kings 18:21; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 21:8, etc.).
The LORD told you to send em packing if they don’t want to change to conform to His truth….. Did you know that? Read and memorize Matthew 7:6 and Titus 3:10 now.
“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” Matthew 7:6
Force Feed? NO! THE UNREPENTANT are willingly blind and these are the very “dogs” and “swine” Jesus commanded us to abandon! Matthew 7:6 is a command saints!
PERHAPS we should today consider that God is attempting to protect His children. Following His wisdom, His Word, will do just that (Proverbs 30:5). Those who allow a swine, a heretic, to remain in close range, will again be stabbed in the back by that swine (Matthew 7:6; Titus 3:10). Swine—unrepentant evil doers—are to be rejected (Titus 3:10). In this life, there are people you will have to forgive and also, to get out of your life, to keep them at a distance. Beware of the Swine
Have you ever had anyone stalk your posts on social media? Seems like this is nearly always what happens when you allow unrepentant heretics stay around. They become a liability.
NO soul shall be argued into Christ’s glorious kingdom. This is one reason Jesus tells us not to give the precious jewels of His Word to “swine.” In part, “swine” are those who’ve heard and still refuse to believe. Some were saved and yet are no longer saved due to having “an EVIL heart of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:12-14). Jesus warns that “swine” will simply turn the truth against you and stab, rip you! Pour over Matthew 7:6.
Jesus told you to NEVER waste your time on swine-who will only use everything they learn about you against you (Matthew 7:6). Are you obeying Jesus?
They continue saying things that contradict Scripture. The LORD mandates that His people “reject” heretics…. after they’ve been confronted the first and second time and still remain in the lie, refusing to be corrected by God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16). This is the whole issue: They are biblically illiterate and refuse to only believe and operate according to the Word and are not repenting:
“A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; 11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.” Titus 3:10-11
Note what Paul instructs Titus to do concerning heretics—those who reject the truth when shown it. Notice in v. 11 how the Holy Spirit gives us insight into the hearts and minds of heretics—“such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.”
Of Titus 3:10-11, Stacy Strother writes:
“Their own conduct condemns them, as verse 11 will explain. Titus is told in no uncertain terms not to have any association with someone who tries to cause divisions within the church.”
When Paul faced false teachers he said this:
“And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 5 To whom WE GAVE PLACE BY SUBJECTION, NO NOT FOR AN HOUR; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” Galatians 2:4-5
False teachers are to be allowed “the first and second admonition” and then rejected if they do not repent and conform to the doctrine of God’s Word.
Rejecting the Swine: Swine Among Us!
“Neither give place to the devil” nor his servants (Ephesians 4:27; Matthew 7:6; 10:14; Titus 3:10).
Having dealt with thousands of naysayers, caught in the grip of sin and Satan, I do not continue throwing pearls to swine as is Christ’s command (Matthew 7:6). If they refuse to humble themselves, seek the LORD and His truth, and believe, they are to be rejected, namely if they are openly casting doubt upon and spurning God’s Word (John 8:47; Titus 3:10). Swine
WHEN we deal with someone in error, the key to remember is whether or not the person in error is teachable or prideful. “God resisteth (sets Himself against) the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). Watch what David prayed in Psalms 141:5:
“Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.” Psalms 141:5
RED FLAG DISCERNMENT: You know you are dealing with a devil when he/she dwells among believers and yet demonstrates no love, no edification, and no mercy toward you and yet then when they see an opportunity, they lower the boom to condemn you. Swine (Matthew 7:6).
Their condemnation with no edification of the body of Christ is completely unlike how Jesus addresses the churches of Asia in Revelation 2 and 3. For example, Jesus edified and commended the believers at Ephesus and only then did He correct them. Go take a look for yourself in Revelation 2:1-7.
QUESTION:
“You deal with a lot of people. Do you ever get tired with people’s problems lol?”
REPLY:
Yes and there is simply no time to waste on people who have a Bible and all the opportunity in the world to seek God and don’t and then want to blame God and you …. never themselves.
“The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against (blames) the LORD.” Proverbs 19:3
Did you catch that? Men pervert their own way and instead of admitting their own sin, seeking the LORD and repenting, some of them want to tear away at, attack His children as if to get to Him, the LORD whom they are blaming.
The wicked sin against God and then turn around and blame the Almighty who is holy, for their own sin.
There are those like these we are to help and those who do not truly want help and will steal God’s resources (time, energy, etc) while you could be giving those resources to a cause more fruitful … including people who truly want help and are willing to deal honestly, receiving the LORD’s Word. May God grant us His wisdom in each situation as He promised He would if we simply ask Him.
Here are some passages to guide us in divine wisdom:
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5
“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26
“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” Matthew 7:6
Remember how Jesus departed from cities where the people didn’t receive Him? Here’s an example and a nugget of truth to live by.
“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.” Matthew 10:14
Jesus instructed us to “shake off the dust” from our feet when His Word is not received, right?
We must learn to cease to waste the LORD’s time that He gave us, on people who do not truly want Him.
Saints, let us be reminded that God needs no one—no man—but all men need the LORD. Having this revelation, you will hear me tell folks “God is God and He doesn’t need you. You need Him.”
If someone is not going to repent of a heresy after being shown Scripture that exposes it for the lie it is, “reject (block)” them. That’s what Jesus commanded (Matthew 7:6; Titus 3:10-11).
“Reject” the “Heretick”
“Keep your pearls for whom the Lord directs. Being a ‘sweet’ Christian who ends up shredded by the pigs taught me a great lesson. More discernment Lord, please and thank You. He did and He will. It’s a new day and we need it now.” Julie Thompson
When you allow a deceiver to hang around, you are facilitating their misleading of others.
WHO, other than Satan and his human agents, came to put people in bondage “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”? See John 10:10. Wisdom: If you think someone can lie to people and go so far as to lead them into bondage God never intended…. and that person still be a good brother in Christ, you have something coming to you. It will always end up bad. You are keeping a devil around…. allowing them to lurk and when the chance arises, out of the blue, they will turn and rend / rip you. “They lie in wait (lurk) to deceive.”
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Ephesians 4:14
“These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;” Jude 1:12
Think about these words in light of letting devils hang around.
“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:” 2 Peter 2:13-14
When you are communicating divine truth in love and the person you are dialoguing with is not buying it (Proverbs 23:23), it’s time to begin considering to cut them off – to “reject” them. Listen to the divine wisdom given to us in this matter and notice closely also how he inserts the element of “foolish questions.”
“But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. 10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; 11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.” Titus 3:9-11
Greek for Heretick
G141
αἱρετικός
aihretikos
hahee-ret-ee-kos’
From the same as G140; a schismatic (choice). (“heretic” is the Greek word itself.): – heretic [the Greek word itself].
Total KJV occurrences: 1
By definition, the Bible word “heretick” involves a choice—a decision made by the individual to choose error, falsehood over truth.
In Titus 3:11 here the word “subverted” refers to those who dare to undermine the power and authority of God who has spoken to us in His Word (Psalms 33:11; 119; Isaiah 40:8; Mark 13:31; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21, etc.). Those who pervert or corrupt the Scriptures out of a deceived, depraved heart by an undermining of morals, allegiance, or faith. See 2 Corinthians 2:17.
Those who make the choice to disregard, to refuse to be honest with God’s Word and not walk in sound doctrine, are not continuing in the original Gospel, “the doctrine of Christ”, and will be damned (2 John 9; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Peter 2:1-3).
“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. 9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth (remains) in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” 2 John 7-11
Believers are to scope out, identify, and “mark” (scope out and identify) those who cause divisions by their adherence to falsehoods.
“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly (carnal appetites and self-serving agenda); and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” Romans 16:17-18
No sinner ever has or ever will be begged into Christ’s kingdom. That is a false posture. Holy Scripture will define and strengthen our perspective toward the lost.
In most cases, the swine we deal with are professing Christians who are in error and unrepentant. Concerning this reality, Charles Pray writes:
“It is so sad to be hated by the world and all those who do not know JESUS as Lord and Savior in their life as we do. But it is even much more sad to be hated by all those who profess to be Christians also, right? Jesus promised: Matthew 5:43 Matthew 5:44 Matthew 6:24 Matthew 10:22 Matthew 24:9 Matthew 24:10 Mark 13:13 Amen!”
Support | STORE | Podcasts | Jail/Prison Ministry | Mexico Mission here | All Ministry Updates | Evangelism | Jesus, Light of the Word | Compassion in Light of Christ’s Soon Return | Striving Together for the Faith of the Gospel [podcast] | Prepared to be Used of God | The Return of Christ | Christ’s Compassion Audio | Our Approach to the Lost | Kindness is a Soul Winning Weapon | Stop Sinning? Really? How? | Angry Street Preacher Warning
The Lying Vanity of “Eternal Security” [podcast]
WHAT’S On Jesus’ Prayer List? [podcast]
Rejecting the Swine: Swine Among Us! [podcast]
Mexico Ministry Update Part 30 [podcast]
5 Loaves, 2 Fishes, and 12 Baskets Left Over [podcast]
The Psychology of Eternal Security [book]
10 Truths to Behold in Isaiah 41:10 [podcast]
The Goal of the Ungodly Eternal Security Teachers [podcast]
Parenting and the Eternal Destiny of Your Child [podcast]
“The Cross”
How is God’s Money to be Spent by His Church? [podcast]
Sending the Divine Light into “The Prison House” [podcast]
“Flee Fornication” [podcast]
The Victory of the Cross [podcast]
Supplying Saints and Sinners with Heavenly Sustenance
Rejecting the Swine: Swine Among Us! [podcast]
Delighting in the LORD [podcast]
Sending the Divine Light into “The Prison House” [podcast]
The Lying Vanity of “Eternal Security” [podcast]
“Evolution is a Fairy Tale for Grownups” … “The Greatest Hoax Ever
WHAT’S On Jesus’ Prayer List? [podcast]
Parenting and the Eternal Destiny of Your Child [podcast]
LIE OF THE AGES: From the Garden to Glory [podcast]
The Goal of the Ungodly Eternal Security Teachers [podcast]
“THAT REPENTANCE AND REMISSION OF SINS SHOULD BE PREACHED” [podcast]
“The Cross”
Supplying Saints and Sinners with Heavenly Sustenance
Weeping Men Win Men [podcast]
“Lord, I Believe; Help Thou Mine Unbelief” [podcast]
“The Certainty of the Words of Truth” [podcast]
The Lying Vanity of “Eternal Security” [podcast]
WHAT’S On Jesus’ Prayer List? [podcast]
Rejecting the Swine: Swine Among Us! [podcast]
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America9 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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