A Biblically based commentary on current issues that impact you
Richard Foster—Celebration of Deception
by Bob DeWaay
Christianity Today ran a glowing cover story about Evangelicalism’s recent embrace of medieval Roman Catholic mysticism entitled The Future lies in the Past.1 The article traced the beginning of the movement as follows: “The movement seems to have exploded in a 24-month period in 1977-1978, which saw the publication of Richard Foster’s bestselling Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth and Robert Webber’s Common Roots: A Call to Evangelical Maturity.”2
The article views Foster as one who continues to guide the movement: “From Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and living practicing monks and nuns, they [those going back to Roman Catholic mysticism] must learn both the strengths and the limits of the historical ascetic disciplines.”3 So Foster was instrumental in starting a movement that is still growing 30-plus years later.
The irony about this particular CIC regarding Foster’s 1978 book is that in 1978 I myself was living in a Christian community committed to practicing much of what he promotes in Celebration of Discipline (even though we had not learned it from him directly). So I am not criticizing a practice about which I know nothing (or one in which I have no experience). I am criticizing a practice I foolishly allowed to deceive me for a significant portion of my early Christian life. When it comes to being deceived by mysticism, I have had abundant involvement. The only way I escaped it was through discovering and adopting the Reformation principle of sola scriptura.
In this article I will show that Foster’s “journey inward” is unbiblical and dangerous. I will show that most of the spiritual disciplines that he calls “means of grace” are no means of grace at all—but a means of putting oneself under spiritual deception.
The Journey Inward
The Bible nowhere describes an inward journey to explore the realm of the spirit. God chose to reveal the truth about spiritual reality through His ordained, Spirit-inspired, biblical writers. What is spiritual and not revealed by God is of the occult and, therefore, forbidden. We have discussed this in many articles and have produced DVD seminars on the topic. But the concept of sola scriptura is totally lost on mystics such as Richard Foster. They, like the enthusiasts that Calvin and Luther warned against, believe they can gain valid and useful knowledge of spiritual things through direct, personal inspiration.
Foster describes the idea of the disciplines that are the topic of his book: “The classical Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths. They invite us to explore the inner caverns of the spiritual realm.”4 So Foster has conceptually repudiated sola scriptura on page one to replace it with a journey inward to explore the realm of spirits. Something must have been seriously amiss in evangelicalism already in 1978 to render this book a bestseller! It ought to have been repudiated on the spot. In a footnote to that statement Foster writes, “In one form or another all of the devotional masters have affirmed the necessity of the Disciplines” (Foster: 1). The devotional “masters,” by the way, are mostly Roman Catholics who never were committed to the principle of sola scriptura. It is not surprising that they looked for spirituality through experimentation. But as an “inner light” Quaker, Foster never was committed to sola scriptura either.
Forgetting that the Bible forbids divination, Foster explains what he is after:
[W]e must be willing to go down into the recreating silences, into the inner world of contemplation. In their writings, all of the masters of meditation strive to awaken us to the fact that the universe is much larger than we know, that there are vast unexplored inner regions that are just as real as the physical world we know so well. . . . They call us to the adventure, to be pioneers in this frontier of the Spirit. (Foster: 13)
Realizing that his readers would likely take this as an endorsement of Eastern religions, he makes a disclaimer that it is not Transcendental Meditation (TM) or something of that ilk: “Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt to empty the mind in order to fill it” (Foster: 15). But what Foster wishes us to fill our minds with are personal revelations from the spirit realm that we naively are to think are the voice of God. This sort of meditation is not meditating on what God has said, but uses a technique to explore the spirit world. In other words, it is divination.
What we learn about the spirit realm either is revealed by God (once for all in Scripture) or gleaned by man-made techniques. That distinction is the difference between Christianity and paganism. Only Bible believers know what God has said about Himself and what He wishes to reveal about the unseen spirit world. Foster’s material continues to be popular because we live in an age where being spiritual pioneers on a journey into the unseen realm of the spirits is the essence of popular piety. It is the spirituality of secular talk shows.
To fully understand the degree of Foster’s deception, he even calls these techniques to the inner journey “means of grace”: “They [the Disciplines] are God’s means of grace” (Foster: 6). As with all who teach spiritual disciplines, there are no boundaries to these false “means.” For example, consider this recommended practice: “After you have gained some proficiency in centering down, add a five- to ten-minute meditation on some aspect of the creation. Choose something in the created order: tree, plant, bird, leaf, cloud, and each day ponder it carefully and prayerfully” (Foster 25). This after he had just taught breathing exercises (a means of “centering down”). Then he makes a startling claim: “We should not bypass this means of God’s grace” (Foster: 25). And there we have it: meditating of a leaf can be a means of grace!
Foster’s journey inward is to discover a spirit world that is available for any who search for it: “How then do we come to believe in a world of the spirit? Is it by blind faith? Not at all. The inner reality of the spiritual world is available to all who are willing to search for it” (Foster: 18). He claims that this spiritual search is analogous to scientific experimentation. Never mind that every pagan culture that has existed has believed in the “spiritual world.”
Spirituality of the Imagination
The Bible does not have anything good so say about the imagination. For example: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord'” (Jeremiah 23:16). A search of the KJV for “imagination” yields 14 verses, and in each case it is a bad thing. According to the Bible, the imagination is where people go when they do not want to listen to God.
However, for Foster the imagination is central: “The inner world of meditation is most easily entered through the door of the imagination. We fail today to appreciate its tremendous power. The imagination is stronger than conceptual thought and stronger than the will” (Foster: 22). Some of the authorities he cites on this point are C. G. Jung, Ignatius of Loyola, and Morton Kelsey. Jung is famous for his concept of the collective unconscious, and Kelsey was an Episcopal priest committed to Jungian principles. Kelsey wrote many books promoting mysticism. The advice Foster gleans from these teachers is that we must learn to think in images and take our dreams to be a possible doorway into the spirit world. Foster claims that dreams are something we already have and can help us develop the use of the imagination. He says, “Keeping a journal of our dreams is a way of taking them seriously” (Foster: 23).
There is, Foster warns, a danger to this process: “At the same time [that we ask for dreams to be God speaking to us], it is wise to pray a prayer of protection, since to open ourselves to spiritual influence can be dangerous as well as profitable” (Foster: 23). I would say that is asking God to protect us as we use various techniques to go where He does not want us to go (into the world of the spirits to gain information). The danger he warns of is far greater than Foster imagines. Those who take the journey inward will be deceived—every time! We are not equipped to gain spiritual information from that realm. That is why God speaks to us through His ordained mediators (the inspired Biblical writers); otherwise we would be fishing in the dark in a medium we are not suited for.
Foster teaches his readers to use their imaginations to experience Biblical stories with the five physical senses. Here is what he claims will happen:
As you enter the story, not as a passive observer but as an active participant, remember that since Jesus lives in the Eternal Now and is not bound by time, this event in the past is a living present-tense experience for Him. Hence, you can actually encounter the living Christ in the event, be addressed by His voice and be touched by His healing power. It can be more than an exercise of the imagination; it can be a genuine confrontation. Jesus Christ will actually come to you. (Foster: 26)
Showing that Foster’s ideas are still influential in our day, Greg Boyd cites some of Foster’s words here to support what he calls “cataphatic prayer” which uses the imagination and images as a means to contact God and gain spiritual information.5 Those who endorse this practice assume they are not being deceived by spirits, but I cannot see on what grounds.
Foster prescribes a practice using one’s imagination that mimics astral projection to the degree that he actually includes a footnote disclaimer stating that it is not astral projection (Foster 28). It begins by telling his readers to imagine themselves going out into nature into a beautiful place (Boyd describes how he practices this, as well as its results6). After enjoying the sights and smells (in your imagination) these are the next steps:
In your imagination allow your spiritual body, shining with light, to rise out of your physical body. Look back so that you can see yourself lying in the grass and reassure your body that you will return momentarily. Imagine your spiritual self, alive and vibrant, rising up through the clouds and into the stratosphere. . . Go deeper and deeper into outer space until there is nothing except the warm presence of the eternal Creator. Rest in His presence. Listen quietly, anticipating the unanticipated. Note carefully any instruction given. With time and experience you will be able to distinguish readily between mere human thought that may bubble up to the conscious mind and the True Spirit which inwardly moves upon the heart. (Foster: 27, 28)
I must ask how one knows whether “True Spirit” is not a deceiving one? Mysticism’s fatal flaw is that it naively assumes that Christians having subjective religious experiences must therefore be having Christian experiences that are truly from God—even if the experiences were provoked through unbiblical practices similar to those used by pagans.
Mental Alchemy
Foster’s approach to prayer is laced with mysticism as well. He claims that prayer needs to be learned from people who have the right experiences and are “masters” who know what they are doing. Foster does not teach ordinary prayer, whereby we bring our needs and requests to the Lord and know that He hears us (because He promised that He does). Here is why he thinks such prayer fails:
Often people will pray and pray with all the faith in the world, but nothing happens. Naturally, they were not contacting the channel. We begin praying for others by first centering down and listening to the quiet thunder of the Lord of hosts. Attuning ourselves to divine breathings is spiritual work, but without it our praying is vain repetition (Mt. 6:7). Listening to the Lord is the first thing, the second thing, and the third thing necessary for successful intercession. (Foster: 34)
Of course this means we have to become mystics if we want to pray.
He teaches that we first must hear personal revelations from God, using meditation techniques such as he teaches, before we pray. He says: “The beginning point, then, in learning to pray for others is to listen for guidance . . . This inner “yes” is the divine authorization for you to pray for the person or situation” (Foster: 35). No! Foster is wrong! The only authorization we need to pray is the Biblical command to pray—not personal revelations.
For Foster, meditation (mystical style) is necessary but not sufficient. He also brings the imagination into the process: “As with meditation, the imagination is a powerful tool in the work of prayer” (Foster: 36). He credits Agnes Sanford7 for helping him see the value of using the imagination in praying. Foster writes, “Imagination opens the door to faith. If we can ‘see’ in our mind’s eye a shattered marriage whole or a sick person well, it is only a short step to believing it will be so” (Foster: 36). Sanford got her ideas from Theosophy, New Thought, Jung, and Emmet Fox. These ideas, echoed by Foster, come from the unbiblical “mind over matter” thinking of that era. That kind of thinking uses creative visualization to change reality or channel spiritual power. Foster suggests, “Imagine the light of Christ flowing through your hands and healing every emotional trauma and hurt feeling your child experienced that day” (Foster: 39).
In his 1985 book, The Seduction of Christianity, Dave Hunt labeled creative visualization such as what Foster promotes, “mental alchemy.”8 Hunt warned the church that Foster promoted such mental alchemy in Celebration of Discipline, and as we have shown, he, in fact, does. So how is it that 24 years after Hunt’s warning Foster is more popular than ever with Evangelicals? The answer is end times deception. Now, a huge movement that claims to be a reformation promoting Foster, Willard and their versions of mysticism does exist (i.e., The Emergent Church). Things have gotten so very much worse.
Spiritual Directors
Once mysticism and the supposed need to gain personal revelations from God are embraced, there arises a need for new “masters” who are better at navigating the spirit world. Pagan societies have always had such persons. They are called “shamans.” Eastern religion calls them “gurus.” Deceived Christians call them “spiritual directors.” Foster explains, “In the Middle Ages not even the greatest saints attempted the depths of the inward journey without the help of a spiritual director” (Foster: 159). The problem, according to Foster, is that the churches (in 1978) lacked “living masters”:
No doubt part of the surge of interest in Eastern meditation is because the churches have abrogated the field. How depressing for a university student, seeking to know the Christian teaching on meditation, to discover that there are so few living masters of contemplative prayer and that nearly all of the serious writings on the subject are seven or more centuries old. No wonder he or she turns to Zen, Yoga, or TM. (Foster: 14)
Foster’s dream has come true. Today people can even practice Yoga in a Christian church. We have Christian TM; it is called contemplative prayer. Yes, Eastern religion has come right into the church, and Foster has helped usher it in.
But what about “living masters” or spiritual directors? In 1972 Morton Kelsey lamented their lack: “Indeed I would suggest that everyone who is serious about relating to the spiritual realm find himself a spiritual director, if there were more men trained and experienced in this way.”9 That “problem” has been solved in a huge way. Evangelical theology schools are now offering masters degrees in “spiritual formation” in order to equip people to be “spiritual directors.” Here is what Biola University says about its program: “This degree is designed to equip men and women for the ministry of spiritual direction, discipleship, formation and soul care in the local church and for further academic training in spiritual formation.”10 Spiritual Directors International will help you find a spiritual director regardless of your religion.11 Richard Foster’s own Renovare, which purports to “encourage renewal in the Christian church,” has a list of spiritual direction programs.12
Foster explains the purpose of the spiritual director: “He is the means of God to open the path to the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit” (Foster: 160). Apparently, in a full-blown rejection of sola scriptura where the Holy Spirit’s teaching is mediated to the church through the Biblical writers only, we need mediators for personal revelations beyond scripture.
Foster explains how spiritual directors lead: “He leads only by the force of his own personal holiness” (Foster: 160). In Roman Catholicism the Pope is called “his holiness” and in Tibetan Buddhism the Dalai Lama is called “his holiness” but now evangelicals are developing a class of people who evidently deserve the title. How exactly are we to judge when someone has gained “personal holiness” sufficient to be a spiritual director and mediate spirituality to others? Foster says, “Though the director has obviously advanced further into the inner depths, the two [master and disciple] are together learning and growing in the realm of the Spirit” (Foster: 160). Foster cites Roman Catholic mystic Thomas Merton about how this works: “The spiritual director was something of a ‘spiritual father who begot the perfect life in the soul of his disciple by his instructions first of all, but also by his prayer, his sanctity and his example. He was . . . a kind of ‘sacrament’ of the Lord’s presence in the ecclesiastical community” (Foster: 161).
End Times Delusion
When it comes to end times deception, Foster is on the cutting edge of embracing it. Consider what he wrote: “In our day heaven and earth are on tiptoe waiting for the emerging of a Spirit-led, Spirit-intoxicated, Spirit-empowered people. . . . Individuals can be found here and there whose hearts burn with divine fire” (Foster: 150). Such inclinations have led to massive deception. They smack of the Latter Rain deception, now embodied in such false teachers as Rick Joyner and Mike Bickle. They are elitist. They are in line with the beliefs of the Emergent Church as well. He also says: “Our century has yet to see the breaking forth of the apostolic church of the Spirit” (Foster: 150). Now we have the New Apostolic Reformation claiming to be just that. Foster’s ideas now embody the massive apostasy and end times deception that characterize our age.
Foster’s teachings have taken the church as far away from the Reformation principle of sola scriptura as the Roman Catholic Church ever was. The only thing left is for them to bring us all the way back to Rome. Christianity Today praises Foster for pointing us in that direction.
In early 2008 I wrote a CIC article about how abandoning the principle of sola scriptura would lead evangelicals back to Rome.13 It was partly a response to the CT article praising mysticism. The response I received was rather unexpected. I was contacted by former evangelicals who had rejected sola scriptura and had gone back to Rome! They wanted to debate me about sola scriptura. Sadly, my point was proven. As a response to their misguided challenge our church hosted a seminar on sola scriptura, called Faith at Risk 4.14 In the seminar Gary Gilley and I defended the scriptures as the sole authority for the church.
The aforementioned CT article discusses a new monasticism, former evangelical leaders converting to Roman Catholicism, and mystical practices like lectio divina—and they call all of it a good and hopeful thing. Chris Armstrong, the author of the article, concluded, “That they [evangelicals] are receiving good guidance on this road from wise teachers [Foster and Willard] is reason to believe that Christ is guiding the process. And that they are meeting and learning from fellow Christians in the other two great confessions, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox, is reason to rejoice in the power of love.”15
Who is left to defend the principles of the Reformation? One would think Reformed theologians are, but they aren’t doing their job. In the last CIC article we mentioned Reformed theologian Donald Whitney who wrote: “Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline has been the most popular book on the subject of the Spiritual Disciplines in the last half of the twentieth century. The great contribution of this work is the reminder that the Spiritual Disciplines, which many see as restrictive and binding, are actually means to spiritual freedom.”16 That from a teacher in a Reformed seminary?
If a book that teaches Christian TM, Christian astral projection and mental alchemy by means of the imagination is a “great contribution,” then something is seriously wrong here. The delusion is so widespread that I see no other explanation for it than the end time deception predicted by Paul: “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” (1Timothy 4:1). Another passage warns: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2Timothy 4:3, 4).
That time now is here. We are accountable to God for what we believe and practice. Those who wish to persevere in the faith in this age of delusion must base their beliefs and practices only on the truths found in Scripture. Foster’s journey into the world of the spirits will deceive all who enter it.
Issue 112 – May / June 2009
End Notes
-
- Chris Armstrong, “The Future lies in the Past” in Christianity Today, February 2008.
- Ibid. 24.
- Ibid. 29.
- Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (New York: Harper & Row, 1978) 1. All subsequent citations from this book will be bracketed within the text in this fashion: (Foster: 1).
- Greg Boyd, Seeing is Believing, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004). Boyd cites Foster to prove that the Lord will actually come to us through our use of “imaginative meditation.” I deal with this issue more fully in CIC issue 83 July/August, 2003: HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE83.HTM
- Ibid. 111-125.
- I write about Sanford’s inner healing theories in CIC Issue 96: HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE96.HTM
- Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon, The Seduction of Christianity (Eugene: Harvest House, 1985) 138.
- Morton Kelsey, Encounter With God, (Bethany Fellowship: Minneapolis, 1972) 179.
- http://www.biola.edu/spiritualformation/programs/ SEE PDF
- HTTP://WWW.SDIWORLD.ORG
- HTTP://WWW.RENOVARE.ORG/JOURNEY_TRAINING_DIRECTION.HTM
- CIC Issue 105; March/April 2008: HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE105.HTM
- Watch this seminar HERE
- Armstrong, Future
- DONALD S. WHITNEY, SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE (COLORADO SPRINGS: NAVPRESS, 1991) 23.
Biblical Deliverance Prescription-Wholeness in Christ [podcast]
Abiding
Jesus’ Counsel to the Lukewarm [podcast]
Laodicea: How Jesus Instructs the Backslidden to be Restored
Jesus’ Letter to the Church at Laodicea
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
The cross, the crucified life is the cure to the curse of sin—sin dominating our lives.
Romans 6
Inflation is part of the judgment of God upon a wicked people, nation. We see such in Sodom and in Laodicea (Ezekiel 16:49-59; Romans 1; Revelaton 3:14-22).
“It appears that in this scarcity each might be able to obtain a bare subsistence by his daily labor; but a man could not, in such cases, provide for a family.” Adam Clarke
Your money doesn’t go far….. inflation
“Revelation 6 describes the opening of the first six seals, which represent God’s judgment, often called the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The third seal, broken by a “black horse,” is interpreted to show hyper-inflation and famine, where a day’s wage (a denarius) buys only a quart of wheat. The judgment includes a command to preserve the oil and wine, which some interpret as luxury goods, while essential food becomes scarce and expensive.”
“6:5, 6 In obedience to the third living creature, a rider holding a set of scales came forth on a black horse. This represents famine, which often follows war. A voice in the middle of the four living creatures announced that wheat and barley were being sold at prohibitive prices. The scales were used to weigh the rationed grain and were thus a symbol of famine. The expression do not harm the oil and the wine is difficult. Some say that these were the food of the poor. If they were staple items, then they must be protected in order to preserve life. It seems more likely, however, that the luxury items of the rich are contemplated here: historically, even in famine the rich can get some luxuries.” Believer’s Bible Commentary
The only thing needed to go to hell is to not be on fire for Jesus—to be “lukewarm” (Revelation 3:15-16).
Jesus instructed the Laodicean church… to obtain, to “buy of me….
“3:18 The people were counseled to buy from the Lord gold refined in the fire. This may mean divine righteousness, which is bought without money or price (Isa_55:1) but received as a gift through faith in the Lord Jesus. Or it may mean genuine faith, which when tested in the fire, results in praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1Pe_1:7).
Also the people were counseled to buy white garments, that is, practical righteousness in everyday life. And they should anoint their eyes with eye salve, that is, gain true spiritual vision through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. This counsel was especially appropriate, since Laodicea was known as a center for banking, textiles, and medicines—especially eye salve.” Believer’s Bible Commentary
“Revelation 3:18
I counsel thee – O fallen and deceived soul, hear Jesus! Thy case is not hopeless. Buy of me.
Gold tried in the fire – Come and receive from me, without money and without price, faith that shall stand in every trial: so gold tried in the fire is here understood. But it may mean pure and undefiled religion, or that grace or Divine influence which produces it, which is more valuable to the soul than the purest gold to the body. They had before imaginary riches; this alone can make them truly rich.
White raiment – Holiness of heart and life.
Anoint thine eyes – Pray for, that ye may receive, the enlightening influences of my Spirit, that ye may be convinced of your true state, and see where your help lies.” Adam Clarke
Warning
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” Revelation 16:15
Coming forth as Purified Gold
“But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10
Putting, having anything or anyone before Christ in our lives is the soul damning sin of idolatry. Such a person has rejected Christ for something, anything else.
One such idol, one such cause today is patriotism for one’s earthly country. See Hebrews 11:14-16.
SO, you are fighting to save America (impossible) and not see souls saved for and by Jesus? Yet you claim to be following Christ who said “I MUST be about my Father’s business”? See Luke 2:49. You are deceived and in need of repentance before it’s too late. You left your “first love” and are in sin, in darkness (Revelation 2:4-5).
“And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.” Daniel 11:32-35
“Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:10
PRAYER: Father in Jesus’ name, please grant to my heart Your gift of repentance and the deep desire to have Your righteousness, to not be deceived by sin, Satan, or counterfeits and false teachers. Please forgive all my sins afresh, here and now by Your precious blood LORD Jesus. Unite my heart to fear Your name. Fill me with Your Holy Ghost and use me LORD. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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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!
Apostasy
The Goal of the Ungodly Eternal Security Teachers [podcast]
“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 (license to sin), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 3-4
“This is AWESOME! You got all over it. It really flowed. Excellent! In the delivery, your excitement and passion for this subject are unmistakable. How can ANYONE listen to this and not want to check out the Word of God for themselves?” Debbie L.
“Thy prophets (false leaders) have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered (exposed) thine iniquity (have not uncovered your sin), to turn away thy captivity (to get you set free from it); but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment (ultimate termination into hell).” Lamentations 2:14
COUNTERFEITS who hide behind their OSAS fairy tale HATE this biblical reality and are willing to call the LORD a liar in order to retain this heresy – “And he that overcometh, and KEEPETH my works UNTO THE END, to him will I give power over the nations:” (Revelation 2:26)
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