Apostasy

The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines

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The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines

A Critique of Dallas Willard and The Spirit of the Disciplines

by Bob DeWaayPractices called “spiritual disciplines” that are deemed necessary for “spiritual formation” have entered evangelicalism. Recent encounters with this teaching narrated to me by friends caused me to investigate these practices. The first experience involved my friend and co-worker Ryan Habbena who went back to seminary to finish his masters degree. Here is his experience in his own words:

I recently took a seminary course on the book of Luke. It was a summer intensive and was one of only two classes being offered at the time. About midway through the week, while the class was steeped in trying to discern the intent and significance of the book of Luke, we began to hear the echoes of mystic chanting coming through the walls. As it turned out, the other class being offered was parked right next to ours. The paper thin walls were carrying the choruses of a class exploring the life and teachings of Catholic mystic Henry Nouwen. We proceeded, trying to concentrate on studying the Scriptures while tuning out the chants that were carrying on next door. Perhaps what was more unsettling though is the class studying Nouwen was chock full, while there were plenty of empty seats next door for anyone wanting to learn about the inspired book of Luke.¹

How can this be? A Baptist seminary was favorably studying the teachings of this Catholic mystic whose own biographers describe as having had emotional problems and homosexual inclinations.² Soon after talking to Ryan, I met a lady who attends a Christian college. As part of her study program she was required to take a course on spiritual formation at her college. Spiritual formation in her class also concerned the study of Roman Catholic mystics and the search for techniques to help those who implement them feel closer to God. This study also explored “spiritual disciplines” which promised to make those who practiced them more Christ-like. After she finished the class she shared her textbooks with me. This article will focus on the claims of one of these text books, The Spirit of the Disciplines, by Dallas Willard.³ In our study we shall see that those promoting spiritual disciplines in courses of study called “spiritual formation” make claims that are unbiblical and dangerous.

Jesus’ “Yoke” as “Spiritual Disciplines”

Dallas Willard bases his entire spiritual disciplines book on his understanding of Matthew 11:29, 30, which says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Willard cites this passage at the beginning of a chapter entitled “The Secret of the Easy Yoke,”⁴ Willard says, “And in this truth lies the secret of the easy yoke: the secret involves living as he lived in the entirety of his life—adopting his overall life-style.”⁵ He also says, “We have to discover how to enter into his disciplines from where we stand today—and no doubt, how to extend and amplify them to suit our needy cases.”⁶ He claims that the “yoke” is to try to emulate Jesus’ lifestyle in every possible way.⁷ Willard interprets Jesus’ “yoke” as the practice of spiritual disciplines like solitude, silence, and simple living. He later adds voluntary banishment and others that we will discuss later.

Willard is very critical of traditional Protestant doctrine and practice, declaring it a massive failure.⁸ His remedy for this failure is to see the body and certain ascetic practices using the body as the means of change: “Looking back over our discussion to this point, we have connected the reality of the easy yoke with the practice of the spiritual disciplines. These in turn have led us to the body’s role in redemption.”⁹ He claims that we have been misguided by being concerned with the forgiveness of sins and “theories of the atonement.” He says, “Salvation as conceived today is far removed from what it was in the beginnings of Christianity and only by correcting it can God’s grace in salvation be returned to the concrete, embodied existence of our human personalities walking with Jesus in his easy yoke.”¹⁰ According to this thinking, the yoke of Jesus involves using the body in certain ways to accomplish changed lives:

Although we call the disciplines “spiritual”—and although they must never be undertaken apart from a constant, inward interaction with God and his gracious Kingdom—they never fail to require specific acts and dispositions of our body as we engage in them. We are finite and limited to our bodies. So the disciplines cannot be carried out except as our body and its parts are surrendered in precise ways and definite actions to God.¹¹

So evidently, rather than concerning ourselves with the blood atonement, averting God’s wrath against sin, salvation by faith through grace, we should be practicing spiritual disciplines with our bodies so that we could then be more like Jesus.

The concept of Jesus’ “yoke” being interpreted as an invitation to practice His life-style is reiterated throughout Willard’s book; see pages 91, 121, and 235. This idea is the framework and logical foundation of Willard’s entire thesis. But the question is, “Is this what Jesus meant in Matthew 11:29, 30?” Let us examine the passage in context to see if teaches the spiritual disciplines.

The True Meaning of Jesus’ “Yoke”

If we want to understand Matthew 11:29, 30 it is essential that we understand the context, particularly the meaning of verse 28. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). We must understand Jesus’ offer of rest in the context of His debates with the religious leaders. Their “yoke” demanded the strict observance of Sabbath rules and their oral tradition. Immediately after Jesus’ offer of “rest” in Him, there ensued a Sabbath debate with the religious leaders accusing Jesus and His disciples of being Sabbath breakers (see Matthew 12). They plucked grain on the Sabbath and Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Jesus was offering true Sabbath rest and the Jewish leaders were offering the yoke of the Law. Jesus’ yoke was different. Jesus perfectly kept the law so that all who would come to him would enter into the true Sabbath rest that could never be achieved by keeping the rules laid down by the religious leaders.

Taking this understanding of the term “yoke” we can see what Jesus meant in Matthew 11. His words came in the middle of a dispute with Jewish leadership. He had pronounced woe upon cities that did not repent (Matthew 11:20-24). He uttered this prayer:

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. ²⁶Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. ²⁷All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” (Matthew 11:25-27)

The wise and intelligent were the Jewish Scribes and Pharisees who accused Jesus of being a Sabbath breaker and who refused to repent when they witnessed His miracles. They rejected both Jesus and John the Baptist in a most fickle manner (Matthew 11:16-19). They refused to come to God on His terms, but demanded that God the Son obey them on their terms! So Jesus pronounced the judgment of hardening on them and chose instead to reveal Himself to babes.

When Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), He was offering them what the Jewish leadership rejected—Messianic salvation. True Sabbath rest is only found in Christ (see Hebrews 4:1-9). Ironically, the people who accused Jesus of being a Sabbath breaker were the ultimate Sabbath breakers because they rejected the only one who could give true rest. They put the yoke of law keeping on the people but kept them from the one true Law keeper, Christ who died for their sins. Therefore, no matter how scrupulous and religious a person is, if he or she does not come to Christ by faith, that person is under the yoke of bondage rather than the Sabbath rest for the people of God.

There are other places in the New Testament where the term “yoke” is used in the sense of the requirement of law keeping. Two of them are very pertinent to interpreting Matthew 11:28-30. In Acts 15 the apostles gathered in Jerusalem to determine whether the new Gentile converts would be required to keep the Law. The three most prominent laws that marked off the Jews as unique were the food laws, Sabbath, and circumcision. Peter’s speech convinced the apostles that the Gentiles were not obliged to follow such Jewish laws:

“And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. ⁸And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; ⁹and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. ¹⁰Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” (Acts 15:7-11)

The “yoke” was being under the Law.

Now consider how Paul used the same term: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). The Judaizers wanted to put Christians under obligation to be circumcised and Paul called this “a yoke of slavery.”

So Jesus’ yoke is in stark contrast to the “yoke” that the religious leaders put on the people. He is offering salvation to all who come to Him by faith. Craig Blomberg summarizes this section in Matthew 11:

The sequence of thought of vv. 25-30 thus progresses as follows. The increasing polarization of response to Jesus in fact reflects God’s sovereign choices (vv. 25-26). Jesus is God’s unique agent in the outworking of those choices (v. 27). This gives him God’s authority to call people to himself (vv. 28-30). The invitation to come to Christ remains for all today, but now as then it requires the recognition that persons cannot come by exalting themselves (recall v. 23) but only by completely depending on and trusting Christ.¹²

Jesus’ Yoke is to Practice Spiritual Disciplines?

Therefore our conclusion is that in Matthew 11 Jesus was offering salvation to all who come to Him. Now let us examine Willard’s claim that Jesus was telling people to try to emulate His life-style. Willard claims that we are failing to practice the disciplines that would make us able to live better lives and that most Christians are failing to live lives pleasing to God. He further states that the solution is that we practice spiritual disciplines that are based on Jesus’ lifestyle and supplemented by practices of the Medieval Catholic Church. So he sees Jesus’ “yoke” as an offer to take up a life-style that will make us better people, rather than an offer of true Sabbath rest through Christ’s finished work on the cross. This is tantamount to substituting works for grace, and making Jesus an ethical teacher whose example can be followed rather than the unique Son of God who alone always does the things that please the Father. Willard offers no exegetical analysis of the passage in Matthew to defend his interpretation. In my opinion, his position is not defensible.

Does the Bible Prescribe the Spiritual Disciplines?

The spiritual disciplines are not taught in Matthew 11:29, 30 (Willard’s primary proof test), and even Willard admits they cannot be found elsewhere in scripture (we shall show this momentarily). But he is nevertheless enthusiastic about the recent rediscovery of the disciplines.

Dallas Willard is excited to tell us that finally, through the lead of people like Richard Foster, we are having a revival of the use of spiritual disciplines. Writes Willard: “Today, for the first time in our history as a nation, we are being presented with a characteristic range of human behaviors such as fasting, meditation, simple living, and submission to a spiritual overseer, in an attractive light.”¹³ He claims that ordinary means such as Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and evangelism are inadequate and having failed, have left most Christians as failures. He writes, “All pleasing and doctrinally sound schemes of Christian education, church growth, and spiritual renewal came around at last to this disappointing result. But whose fault was this failure?”¹⁴ The “failure,” according to Willard is that, “. . . the gospel preached and the instruction and example given these faithful ones simply do not do justice to the nature of human personality, as embodied, incarnate.”¹⁵ So what does this mean? It means that we have failed because our gospel had too little to do with our bodies.

The spiritual disciplines are supposed to remedy this deficiency. Willard says, “By contrast, the secret of the standard, historically proven spiritual disciplines is precisely that they do respect and count on the bodily nature of human personality.”¹⁶ Willard claims that Paul understood the need for such practices but that they were lost: “Paul’s teaching, especially when added to his practices, strongly suggest that he understood and practiced something vital about the Christian life that we have lost—and that we must do our best to recover.”¹⁷ Of course, had Paul bothered to write about these “lost” disciplines in his epistles, they would not have been lost.

So why did Paul fail to write about these secret, lost disciplines? Willard’s answer is that Paul had in mind, “. . . a precise course of action he understood in definite terms, carefully followed himself, and called others to share . . . So obviously so, for him and the readers of his own day, that he would feel no need to write a book on the disciplines for the spiritual life that explained systematically what he had in mind.”¹⁸ Translated that means that Paul did not write about the spiritual disciplines because everyone was practicing them. Willard goes on to say, “It is almost impossible in the thought climate of today’s Western world to appreciate just how utterly unnecessary it was for Paul to say explicitly, in the world in which he lived, that Christians should fast, be alone, study, give, and so forth as regular disciplines for the spiritual life.”¹⁹ There is a serious problem here that Willard overlooks: Paul did write about approaches like these—he wrote against them!

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, ²¹(touch not; taste not; handle not; ²²which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? ²³which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23)

They had ascetics in Paul’s day and he rebuked them. Willard never discusses this passage which teaches explicitly that “severe treatment of the body” cannot help us find freedom from sinfulness.

Where do we find this “wisdom” that Paul failed to write about? Says Willard, “This is not something St. Paul had to prove or even explicitly state to his readers—but it also was not something he overlooked, leaving it to be thought up by crazed monks in the Dark Ages. It is, rather, a wisdom gleaned from millennia of collective human experience.”²⁰ So the disciplines we need to be more like Christ cannot be found in the Bible, but they can be gleaned from religious history. Willard tells us, “But thoughtful and religiously devout people of the classical and Hellenistic world, from the Ganges to the Tiber, knew that the mind and body of the human being had to be rigorously disciplined to achieve a decent individual and social existence.”²¹

The obvious problem with this is that if this type of logic is valid, we could claim that we need Ouija Boards as part of our spiritual practice and that Paul and other early Christians must have been using them so regularly there was no need to write about them. Ironically, Willard admits that the Bible does not command us to practice the spiritual disciplines he prescribes.

To hear evangelicals like Dallas Willard and Richard Foster tell us that we need practices that were never spelled out in the Bible to become more like Christ or to get closer to God is astonishing. What is more astonishing is that evangelical colleges and seminaries are requiring their students to study practices that are relics of Medieval Rome, not found in the Bible, and closely akin to the practices of many pagan societies.

The False Gospel of Human Ability

As with most unbiblical approaches, the spiritual disciplines are based on the idea of innate human powers that can be harnessed for good. Holding a false concept of sin as a “disruption of that higher [spiritual] life,”²² Willard looks for a solution through finding our true potential, individually and corporately, through spiritual disciplines that will enable us to reconstruct the rule of God now. Willard says, “The evil that we do in our present condition is a reflection of a weakness caused by spiritual starvation.”²³ Rather than wicked rebels abiding under God’s wrath, humans are bundles of huge potential who have lost their way through “disruption of the higher powers.” We supposedly have great potential: “It is the amazing extent of our ability to utilize power outside ourselves that we must consider when we ask what the human being is. The limits of our power to transcend ourselves utilizing powers not located in us—including of course, the spiritual—are yet to be fully known.”²⁴ Willard gives this interpretation of 1John 3:2: “Because of his personal experience with spiritual powers brought to him in Christ, John sensed unimaginable greatness in our destiny.”²⁵

So how do we tap into this great human potential? He says we must tap into the spiritual dimension using spiritual disciplines. Willard shares his definition of “spirit”: “If the missing element in the present human order is that of the spirit, what then is spirit? Very simply, spirit is unembodied personal power.”²⁶ His idea is that “spirit” is the missing nutrient that we need to realize our full potential. The ideas of total depravity, the wrath of God against sin, the blood atonement, and the cross are either absent or distorted in Willard’s theology. What replaces these truths is the hope that we will realize our potential through tapping into the spiritual kingdom of God. This is to be done by the use of spiritual disciplines to obtain the necessary power to transform the world. The terminology that Willard uses is strange and unbiblical. For example, he writes,

“When the human organism is brought into willing, personal relationship with the spiritual Kingdom of God, ‘sucking in orderliness’ from that particular part of the human environment, it becomes pervasively transformed, as a corn stalk in drought is transformed by the onset of drenching rain—the contact with the water transforms the plant inwardly and then extends it outwardly. In the same way, people are transformed by contact with God.”²⁷

These ideas are more akin to Eastern Religion than Biblical Christianity. Our problem is not the need to suck in more “unembodied personal power” by techniques to contact God. We are dead sinners facing God’s wrath unless we repent and believe the gospel. Willard’s concepts are foreign to the Bible. He says, “A ‘spiritual life’ consists in that range of activities in which people cooperatively interact with God—and with the spiritual order deriving from God’s personality and action.”²⁸ This means practicing asceticism through the spiritual disciplines. He says, “The disciplines are activities of the mind and body purposely undertaken, to bring our personality and total being into effective cooperation with the divine order.”²⁹ This depends on us: “Yet even as we reach for more grace to this end, we also learn by experience that the harmonization of our total self with God will not be done for us. We must act.”³⁰

What results are in store for the church when we take action to tap into this spiritual dimension to realize our full potential? The church will be the incarnation of Christ and the kingdom of God will come through us, now, before Christ’s bodily return. Rejecting the pre-millennial doctrine, Willard says, “Often, we are told that the rule of God upon the earth will be fulfilled in a great act of violence, in which multitudes of people are slain by God, followed by a totalitarian government of literally infinite proportions, headquartered in Jerusalem.”³¹ He fails to mention that this “totalitarian” rule is the rule of Christ Himself as promised in the Bible. What is Willard’s alternative? – “I believe, to the contrary, that the coming rule of God is to be a government by grace and truth mediated through personalities mature in Christ.”³² It is amazing that he would consider Christ Himself reigning as “totalitarian” and us reigning as “grace and truth.”

For Willard, Christ is not coming for the church but in the church: “The real presence of Christ as a world-governing force will come solely as his called out people occupy their stations in the holiness and power characteristic of him, as they demonstrate to the world the way to live that is best in every respect.”³³ We gain the ability to reign over the world for Christ through spiritual disciplines.

Since these disciplines were the order of the day for Rome at a period where her goal was to rule over the world, I wonder why the result was the Dark Ages? What kind of glib optimism would make us think that if we try them again, this time we will have a better outcome? Whenever theology turns to human potential and human ability aided by some type of spiritual infusion, the result is utopian dreaming. Supposedly we do not need to have Christ return in judgment and set up His Kingdom; we just need to tap into great human potential that has never been fully implemented. Willard says that Christ’s way has not yet been tried.³⁴

According to Willard’s theology, just like Christ coming at the fullness of time during the first advent, the church will be the answer (not Christ’s bodily return) for the coming kingdom. We, not Jesus, will be the new incarnation: “[T]here is likewise a fullness of time for his people to stand forth with the concrete style of existence for which the world has hungered in its thoughtful moments and praised through its poets and prophets. As a response to this world’s problems, the gospel of the Kingdom will never make sense except as it is incarnated—we say ‘fleshed out’—in ordinary human beings in all ordinary conditions of human life.”³⁵

By downplaying the doctrine of total depravity and the sin nature, Willard makes it seem plausible that we can be infused by divine power and establish the kingdom now. The Bible, however, predicts apostasy and the revealing of the man of lawlessness just before Christ returns in judgment (2 Thessalonians 2:3-8). Willard’s assertions lack sound exegetical work from the scriptures for their support. He needs to offer a clearer definition of the kingdom of God and provide Biblical support for the idea that we can establish it before Christ returns. Lacking Biblical support, his arguments are unconvincing.

Which Spiritual Disciplines?

The spiritual disciplines that are supposedly necessary for spiritual formation are not defined in the Bible. If they were, there would be a clear description of them and concrete list. But since spiritual disciplines vary, and have been invented by spiritual pioneers in church history, no one can be sure which ones are valid. Willard says, [W]e need not try to come up with a complete list of disciplines. Nor should we assume that our particular list will be right for others.”³⁶ The practices are gleaned from various sources and the individual has to decide which ones work the best. Willard lists the following: voluntary exile, night vigil of rejecting sleep, journaling, OT Sabbath keeping, physical labor, solitude, fasting, study, and prayer.³⁷ Willard then lists “disciplines of abstinence” (solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy, sacrifice) and “disciplines of engagement” (study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession, submission).³⁸

Willard offers a discussion of each of these, citing people like Thomas Merton, Thomas a Kempis, Henri Nouwen, and other mystics. We are told that practices like solitude and silence are going to change us, even though the Bible does not prescribe them. Willard writes, “This factual priority of solitude is, I believe, a sound element in monastic asceticism. Locked into interaction with the human beings that make up our fallen world, it is all but impossible to grow in grace as one should.”³⁹ So if we cannot grow in grace without solitude, how come the Bible never commands us to practice solitude? The same goes for many other items on Willard’s list.

Willard tells us that the list of disciplines he provides is not exhaustive. Others can be pragmatically determined. He says, “As we have indicated, there are many other activities that could, for the right person and upon the right occasion, be counted as spiritual disciplines in the strict sense stated of our previous chapter. The walk with Christ certainly is one that leaves room for and even calls for individual creativity and an experimental attitude in such matters.”⁴⁰ However, there is a serious problem with Willard’s logic here. Earlier he rejected such practices as self-flagellation, exposing the body to severities including being eaten by beetles, being suspended by iron shackles, and other means of severely treating the body in order to become more holy.⁴¹ Willard rejects these on the following grounds: “Here it is matter of taking pains about taking pains. It is in fact a variety of self-obsession—narcissism—a thing farthest removed from the worship and service of God.”⁴²

Willard had admitted that there is no clear list of the disciplines and that each person might choose different practices through pragmatic means. This does not give sufficient ground for rejecting such practices as self-flagellation. So Willard resorts to arguing that those who do such things have bad motives. But he cannot really know their motives, perhaps they determined that these practices “worked” using the same means Willard offered. If pragmatic tests are the means of determining which practices are valid, and if these people feel closer to God and more like Christ through their practices, then Willard has no valid way of rejecting their practices. Having no valid argument, he resorts to an invalid ad hominem argument.

He cannot have it both ways. Either God’s Word determines both how we come to God and how we grow in grace, or humans determine these things by pragmatic means. Willard has chosen the latter. But then he steps in and tells us that some practices are wrong, even though they fit his own criteria for validity. If a person feels that sleeping in a tiny stone crevice with all the heat being sucked out of his body makes him more spiritually disciplined, then who is to say that is wrong? Had he been willing to submit to the authority of Scripture, Willard could have refuted these practices based on Colossians 2:21-23.

Even though decrying some of the excesses of monasticism, Willard is fond of the monastics and thinks that the Reformation left us with no practical means of spiritual growth. He says, “It [Protestantism] precluded ‘works’ and Catholicism’s ecclesiastical sacraments as essential for salvation, but it continued to lack any adequate account for what human beings do to become, by the grace of God, the kind of people Jesus obviously calls them to be.”⁴³ This is simply false. Luther believed in means of grace that God has provided all true believers that they might grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.⁴⁴ The difference is that means of grace are what God has provided for all Christians for all ages and they are determined by God, not man. These are revealed in the Bible. Spiritual disciplines are man-made, amorphous, and not revealed in the Bible; they assume that one is saved by grace and perfected by works.

Paul wrote, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3). Paul rejected the idea that we are saved by grace and perfected by works. We are saved by grace and we grow by grace. Willard seems to miss this point. Here is how he views it: “The activities mentioned—when we engage in them conscientiously and creatively and adapt them to our individual needs, time and place—will be more than adequate to help us receive the full Christ-life and become the kind of person that should emerge in the following of him.”⁴⁵ Elsewhere he suggests that growth comes through human will power: “The entire question of discipline, therefore, is how to apply acts of the will at our disposal in such a way that the proper course of action, which cannot always be realized by direct and untrained effort, will nevertheless be carried out when needed.”⁴⁶ It is hard to see how this is anything other than [being] “made perfect by the flesh” which Paul said was impossible.

The Reformation understanding of means of grace was that they were God’s gracious means of working in a person of faith’s life. What ever is not of faith is sin. Even the Word and sacraments as Luther understood them were of no avail unless they were received in faith. No works righteousness could be tolerated. Willard’s approach is works oriented and man-centered; it was created by spiritual innovators who mostly did not find their practices in the Bible.

The Spiritual Disciplines as Presumption

The spiritual disciplines, as we have seen, are bodily activities that we engage in hoping to become more Christ-like. So we decide what discipline we need, perhaps with the help of a “spiritual director.” Since we have established (and Willard admits) that most of these disciplines are not prescribed in the Bible, we have to decide which ones will work for us. The problem is that this is the very opposite of what the Bible says about discipline: “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: ⁶for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Hebrews 12:5, 6). God, not man, determines what each of us needs because only God knows exactly what each of us needs.

For example, consider Paul’s thorn in the flesh described in 2 Corinthians 12: “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (2Corinthians 12:7). Paul did not determine he needed this, God did. When Paul asked for it to be removed, this was the result: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God allowed the thorn in the flesh for Paul’s spiritual good. God’s discipline is what He does sovereignly and providentially to bring each of us ultimately into the image of Christ. Willard is right that every person is different and has different needs. He is wrong that therefore we must experiment with spiritual disciplines to see what works for us. We don’t even know our own needs fully, only God does. If we need poverty to help us learn to trust God, He can arrange that. There is no need to take an oath of poverty and join a monastery.

God disciplines us in ways we could never imagine or never arrange. The Bible tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Obviously everything in the universe is at His disposal. Do we think He is unable to discipline us according to His infinite wisdom? Do we suppose that we know better what we need than God does? For one person God’s discipline could be the sorrow of loosing a job and the need to trust Him to find a different one. For another it may be that God thrusts him into a situation of great responsibility that stretches him to the utmost. If we need solitude, God can grant that. He might make it so the only job we can find is being a midnight shift watchman.

What is presumptuous about the spiritual disciplines approach is that the practitioner presumes to know what he or she needs when only God knows such things. The monk who takes a vow of chastity presumes to know that he is going to be more Christ like single than married. The person who leaves civilization on a voluntary exile into solitude presumes to know that he will be more Christ like exiled than interacting with others. This is the case no matter what activity we presume will make us more spiritual. The only exceptions are those things God has ordained for ALL Christians. We are never presumptuous to, in faith, avail ourselves of those practices that God has ordained. But this brings us back to means of grace, not spiritual disciplines.⁴⁷

Therefore, those things that are unique to the individual in regard to discipline God is in charge of. He disciplines every Christian for his or her own good according to His own infinite wisdom. Those matters that are necessary and common to all Christians are clearly described in the Bible; they are means of grace.

Conclusion

We began this discussion with a description of strange teachings and practices entering evangelical Bible Colleges and seminaries. They have been borrowed from Medieval Rome and dressed up for evangelical consumption. We have examined the teachings of one of the visible leaders of this movement. Starting with a serious misinterpretation of Matthew 11:29, 30, Dallas Willard built his entire system on the idea that Jesus’ “yoke” consists of various spiritual disciplines. The issue in Matthew 11 was Messianic salvation—finding true Sabbath rest in Christ rather than following meticulous religious rules decreed by the Scribes and Pharisees. The idea of practicing spiritual disciplines was imported to the text, not found there.

We live in an age of mysticism. People lust for spiritual reality and spiritual experiences. The danger is that unbiblical practices will give people a real spiritual experience, but not from God. Deception is the likely outcome. God puts a boundary around the means by which we come to Him and grow in Him for our own protection. If we ignore the boundary set by Biblical guidelines, there is no telling were we will end up. If however, we come to God on His terms, knowing that we have a High Priest who is at the right hand of God, and that we have access through His blood into the holiest place, we can be assured we cannot be any closer to God this side of heaven.

“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 4:16)

End Notes

This happened during the summer of 2005 at Bethel Theological Seminary in Arden Hills, MN.
Michael Ford, Wounded Prophet (Image: New York, 1999); for a review: http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/bookreview/item_1589.html
Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, Understanding How God Changes Lives, (HarperCollins: New York, 1991)
Ibid. 1.
Ibid. 5.
Ibid. 9.
Ibid. 10.
Ibid. 11-18.
Ibid. 40.
Ibid. 33.
Ibid. 40.
Craig L. Blomberg, “Matthew” in The New American Commentary (Broadman: Nashville, 1992) 195.
Willard, 17.
Ibid. 18.
Ibid. emphasis his.
Ibid. 19.
Ibid.
Ibid. 95.
Ibid. 99.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid. 63.
Ibid.
Ibid. 62.
Ibid. Willard errors in failing to tell us that this “destiny” is not one that is actualized now, but is linked to Christ’s return: 1John 3:2b –“but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Ibid. 64.
Ibid. 65.
Ibid. 67.
Ibid. 68.
Ibid. emphasis his.
Ibid. 238.
Ibid.
Ibid. 239.
Ibid. 243.
Ibid.
Ibid. 157.
Ibid.
Ibid. 158.
Ibid. 161, 162.
Ibid. 190.
Ibid. 142-144.
Ibid. 144.
Ibid. 145.
See Bob DeWaay, “Means of Grace” in Critical Issues Commentary, Issue 84, Sept./Oct. 2004. HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE84.HTM
Willard, 191.
Ibid. 151, 152 emphasis his.
The Bible does tell us to “discipline ourselves”; but in this context: “But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. ⁸For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1Timothy 4:7, 8). Notice however that Paul is teaching the practice of godliness not “bodily discipline” to create godliness. Willard’s promotion of bodily activities as “discipline” is not supported by this text.

Spiritual Formation and Contemplative Prayer Exposed

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Jesus Calling Devotional Exposed: 10 Things You Might Not Know

BEWARE of the Jesus Calling devotional book which is written by a full blown heretic, Sarah Young. This book continually assures things to lost souls (catholics, etc.) reserved only for the true Christian. It promises salvation, assurance, grace, mercy, the glory of God, etc to lost hell bound idolatrous sinners. Like antichrist Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life book, Jesus Calling never calls sinners to repent which is a Gospel essential and without which God will never save any soul from sin and hell (Luke 13:3, 5). You will never hear Jesus’ born again commanded or command to repent in this heretical devotional book […]

SHOCKING List of Spiritual Formation Ministries

More Catholic Witchcraft Infiltrating the Apostate Seminaries, Ministries, and Churches “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” 1 Timothy 4:1-2 WHAT is spiritual formation / contemplative prayer or centering prayer? Spiritual formation/contemplative prayer/spirituality is just another self-centered, Christ-denying, self-righteous, works-based, occultic, pagan lie from hell! Seminaries teach it and now many churches today are practicing new age witchcraft called contemplative prayer, or centering Prayer which is part of spiritual formation. […]

The Book of Romans Narrated [podcast]

“And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:” Romans 1:4 Chapter 1-16 Chapter 1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 2 (which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) 3 concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 5 by whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience […]

Apostasy

Spiritual Formation—A Dangerous Substitute for the Life of Christ [podcast]

Sometimes we think of spiritual formation as formation by the Holy Spirit. Once again. That’s essential. . . . But now I have to say something that may be challenging for you to think about: Spiritual formation is not all by the Holy Spirit. . . . We have to recognize that spiritual formation in us is something that is also done to us by those around us, by ourselves, and by activities which we voluntarily undertake . . .There has to be method.¹—Dallas Willard

Aside from the fact that Spiritual Formation incorporates mystical practices into its infrastructure (remove the contemplative aspect and you don’t have “Spiritual Formation” anymore), Spiritual Formation is a works-based substitute for biblical Christianity. Let us explain.

When one becomes born again (“that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9-10), having given his or her life and heart over to Christ as Savior, Jesus Christ says He will come in and live in that surrendered heart:

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. (Revelation 3:20)

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: (Colossians 1:27)

If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11; emphasis added)

When God, through Jesus Christ, is living in us, He begins to do a transforming work in our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:18). Not only does He change us, He also communes with us. In other words, we have fellowship with Him, and He promises never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

This life of God in the believer’s heart is not something we need to conjure up through meditative practices. But if a person does not have this relationship with the Lord, he may seek out ways to feel close to God. This is where Spiritual Formation comes into play. Rather than a surrendered life to Christ (through repentance and faith), the seeking person begins practicing the spiritual disciplines (e.g., prayer, fasting, good works, etc.) with the promise that if he practices these disciplines, he will become more Christ-like.

But merely doing these acts fails to make one feel close to God—something is still missing. And thus, he begins practicing the discipline of silence (or solitude), and now in these altered states of silence, he finally feels connected to God. He now feels complete. What he does not understand is that he has substituted the indwelling of Christ in his heart for a works-based methodology that endangers his spiritual life. Dangerous because these mystical experiences he now engages in appear to be good because they make him feel close to God, but in reality he is being drawn into demonic realms no different than what happens to someone who is practicing transcendental meditation or eastern meditation. Even mystics themselves acknowledge that the contemplative realm is no different than the realm reached by occultists. To understand this more fully, please read Ray Yungen’s book A Time of Departing.

Bottom line, it is not possible to be truly Christ-like without having Christ inside of us because it is His righteousness that is able to change our hearts—we cannot do it without Him. It is His righteousness we need:

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. (Romans 3:22)

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Philippians 3:9)

It is interesting to note that virtually every contemplative teacher has a common theme—they feel dry and empty and want to go “deeper” with God or “become more intimate” with God. But if we have Christ living in us, how can we go any deeper than that? How can we become more intimate than that? And if going deeper and becoming intimate were so important, why is it that none of the disciples or Jesus Himself ever told us to do this? As Larry DeBruyn states:

Why are Christians seeking a divine presence that Jesus promised would abundantly flow in them? . . . Why do they need another voice, another visitation, or another vision? Why are some people unthankfully desirous of “something more” than what God has already given to us? Why is it that some Christians, in the depth of their souls, are not seemingly at rest?²

Is There a “Good” Spiritual Formation?

One of the most common arguments we hear defending Spiritual Formation is that there is a “good” Spiritual Formation done without contemplative prayer. To that we say, we have never yet seen a Spiritual Formation program in a school or a church that doesn’t in some way point people to the contemplative mystics. It might be indirectly, but in every case, if you follow the trail, it will lead you right into the arms of Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and other contemplative teachers.

Think about this common scenario: A Christian college decides to begin a Spiritual Formation course. The instructor has heard some negative things about Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen, and Brennan Manning, and he figures he will teach the class “good Spiritual Formation” and leave those teachers completely out. But he’s going to need a textbook. He turns to a respected institution, Dallas Theological Seminary, and finds a book written by Paul Pettit, Professor in Pastoral and Education Ministries. The book is titled Foundations of Spiritual Formation. The instructor who has found this book to use in his own class may never mention Richard Foster or Dallas Willard, but the textbook he is using does. Within the pages of Pettit’s book is Richard Foster, Philip Yancey, N.T. Wright, Dallas Willard, Thomas Aquinas, Lectio Divina, Ayn Rand, Parker Palmer, Eugene Peterson, J.P. Moreland, Klaus Issler, Bruce Demarerst, Jim Burns, Kenneth Boa and Brother Lawrence’s “practicing God’s presence.” You may not have heard of all these names, but they are all associated with the mystical contemplative prayer movement and the emerging church.

Another example of this is Donald Whitney’s book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Whitney is former Associate Professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While his book does not promote contemplative mysticism, he says that Richard Foster has “done much good”³ in the area of Christian spirituality (which we believe is blatantly untrue).

Our point is that even if there is a sincere attempt to teach Spiritual Formation and stay away from the mystical side, we contend that it cannot be successfully accomplished because it will always lead back to the ones who have brought it to the church in the first place.

Spiritual formation is sweeping throughout Christianity today. It’s no wonder when the majority of Christian leaders have either endorsed the movement or given it a silent pass. For instance, in Chuck Swindoll’s book So You Want to Be Like Christ: 8 Essential Disciplines to Get You There, Swindoll favorably quotes Richard Foster and Dallas Willard. Swindoll calls Celebration of Discipline a “meaningful work”⁴ and Willard’s book The Spirit of the Disciplines “excellent work.”⁵ In chapter three, ”Silence and Solitude,” Swindoll talks about “digging for secrets . . . that will deepen our intimacy with God.”⁶ Quoting the contemplative poster-verse Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God,” Swindoll says the verse is a call to the “discipline of silence.”⁷ As other contemplative proponents have done, he has taken this verse very much out of context.

Roger Oakland sums it up:

The Spiritual Formation movement . . . teaches people that this is how they can become more intimate with God and truly hear His voice. Even Christian leaders with longstanding reputations of teaching God’s word seem to be succumbing. . . .

We are reconciled to God only through his “death” (the atonement for sin), and we are presented “holy and unblameable and unreproveable” when we belong to Him through rebirth. It has nothing to do with works, rituals, or mystical experiences. It is Christ’s life in the converted believer that transforms him.⁸

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:10

What Christians need is not a method or program or ritual or practice that will supposedly connect them to God. What we need is to be “in Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:30) and Christ in us. And He has promised His Spirit “will guide [us] into all truth” (John 16:13).

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” 1 Corinthians 1:30

In Colossians 1:9, the apostle Paul tells the saints that he was praying for them that they “might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” He was praying that they would have discernment (“spiritual understanding”). He said that God, the Father, has made us “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (vs 12) and had “delivered us from the power of darkness [i.e., power of deception]” (vs. 13). But what was the key to having this wisdom and spiritual understanding and being delivered from the power of darkness? Paul tells us in that same chapter. He calls it “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints” (vs. 26). What is that mystery? Verse 27 says: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (emphasis added).

For those wanting to get involved with the Spiritual Formation movement (i.e., contemplative, spiritual direction), consider the “direction” you will actually be going.

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. (Colossians 1:21-23)

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2: 8-10)

This article is an extract from the Lighthouse Trails booklet, Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation? (Important Reasons Why They Shouldn’t). To order this booklet, click here.

Endnotes:
1. Dallas Willard, “Spiritual Formation: What it is, and How it is Done” (https://dwillard.org/resources/articles/spiritual-formation-what-it-is-and-how-it-is-done).

2. Larry DeBruyn, “God’s Present of His Presence” (https://www.guardinghisflock.org/gods-present-of-his-presence/ ).

3. Donald Whitney, “Doctrine and Devotion: A Reunion Devoutly to be Desired” (http://web.archive.org/web/20080828052145/http://biblicalspirituality.org/devotion.html).

4. Chuck Swindoll, So You Want to Be Like Christ: 8 Essential Disciplines to Get You There (Nashville, TN:W Publishing Group, a div. of Thomas Nelson, 2005), p. 15.

5. Ibid., p. 13.

6. Ibid., p. 55.

7. Ibid.

8. Roger Oakland, Faith Undone (Eureka, MT: Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2007), pp. 91-92.

This has been an extract from our booklet Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation? (Important Reasons Why It Shouldn’t). To order this booklet, click here.

Spiritual Formation Exposed |

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The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines

The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines A Critique of Dallas Willard and The Spirit of the Disciplines by Bob DeWaayPractices called “spiritual disciplines” that are deemed necessary for “spiritual formation” have entered evangelicalism. Recent encounters with this teaching narrated to me by friends caused me to investigate these practices. The first experience involved my friend and co-worker Ryan Habbena who went back to seminary to finish his masters degree. Here is his experience in his own words: I recently took a seminary course on the book of Luke. It was a summer intensive and was one of only […]

SHOCKING List of Spiritual Formation Ministries

Articles

Chosen for Holiness [podcast]

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” Ephesians 1:4

Holiness comes by the Savior in self denial (death and burial – the cross), not by self will or effort. Surrender is the cross – “NOT my will but thine be done” (Lk. 22:42) and “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). We surrender to Christ by saying “Not my will but thine be done” dear Lord, by Your grace and the deliberate act of my own will I submit to the cross, the crucified life – where You alone reign supreme in this vessel (Luke 22:42; Galatians 2:20, etc.). I love You LORD Jesus! You must increase but I must decrease! (John 3:30)

Holiness, not happiness, is the divine command, the chief purpose and end of Christ’s salvation.

Of holiness, one disciple writes:

“Holiness speaks more to nature than it does conduct. Good conduct is the spontaneous byproduct of the new nature of the new creation man thru the cross and death to the old nature. We are new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17-18). To preach holiness as conduct without the new nature thru the cross understanding is legalism. Holiness is actually derived from ‘wholeness’ meaning the thorough transformation of the whole tripartite man (1 Thess 5:23). So many of these ‘holiness’ preachers are preaching nothing but conduct under law. Law arouses sinful passions and causes sin to increase and was given in order to provoke transgressions (Rom 7:5; 5:20; Gal 3:21). They are enemies of the cross!”

Holiness comes by way of the cross, not by way of the flesh. Just as sin was conquered by the cross of Christ, so sin in the life of the saint is conquered by the daily cross – the crucified life (Luke 9:23-24; Romans 6; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3, etc.). It’s time to stop trying harder and to simply die deeper.

NOTICE: When a believer or group of believers backslides, they no longer separate from the transgressors who are unrepentant:

Fornication Defiles

“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 (Gr. possessed and wouldn’t repent) his father’s wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:1-2

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The Glorious Church Jesus is Returning for [video]

WHAT church/people is Jesus returning for? “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27 “a glorious church” “not having spot (no sin)“ No “wrinkle” “or any such thing” “but that it should be holy and without blemish” WHAT’s the use of talking about end times […]

Can a True Believer Overcome All Sin? [podcast]

Yes. In the church world, there’s an abundance of talk about sin and it comes with the notion, the inflection, the false assumption that somehow, born again believers are relegated to sinning, as if there’s no other choice. Is that true? Is this the biblical perspective? What I want us to do is make sure we are looking at the whole of Scripture and be blessed to gain a godly confidence that our Savior provided a perfect salvation that includes more than just the initial washing away of our sins. This “great grace” that He provided in His “so […]

The Truth about Holiness [podcast]

“Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exodus 15:11 As we just read, divine “holiness” is “glorious.” Holiness is not what most of us think it is. Holiness in the divine economy is something of great “beauty” and utterly refreshing (Psalms 96:9). It seems that holiness is not merely a divine attribute but rather the divine nature of the Almighty. Are we ready to allow our LORD, who alone is “Holy, holy, holy,” to define what holiness truly is and how He brings it […]

Apostasy

SATAN’S SEMINARIANS [podcast]

Seminaries are the Invention of Satan

WHEN Jesus declared “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16), …. was Jesus speaking here of men who “earned” and paid big money for a degree, a piece of paper from a “higher learning” institution of mere men? No. Read John 15:1-16 and you will see that Jesus alone can choose, call, prepare, and ordain a man to be fruitful in His work. The LORD’s work is to choose, to call, prepare, ordain, purge, and to send for the divine purpose of “fruit …. more fruit… and much fruit” to be born in the lives of those men He is using.

Biblical Case against Seminary: Save Your Money and time – Go to the Savior, Not Seminary!

It should be noted that in God’s Word, where the specific qualifications for elders are given, not one of those descriptions includes having a degree from a higher learning institution. See 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

Seminaries originated with the catholic church—which is where the protestants got it. Sad but true. The curse of seminaries continues today. Beware saints. Seminaries are wolf factories. Think about it, the business model, it’s the denominations who have the seminaries. This is to train their prey to uniformly spread heresies and to build church businesses to collect money whereby those denominations are paid fees and a percentage of every dollar collected. Dallas Theological Seminaries forces enrollees from the beginning to sign a contract that avows them to not teach the biblical doctrine of enduring to the end. The eternal security heresy they peddle ensures much busine$$ success.

“Seminaries originated in the 16th century, primarily as a Roman Catholic response to the Reformation to better train priests, with the first established by St. Charles Borromeo in 1563. The term derives from the Latin seminarium (“seed plot” or “plant nursery”), symbolizing the cultivation of spiritual growth and faith.”

Any man who submits his life to a seminary has openly declared that he wants mere sinful men to train him to do God’s work instead of submitting his life to the LORD Himself—as did all the patriarchs, prophets and apostles—not one of them who was seminary trained (as we know such today). Yes the apostle Paul was formally trained BEFORE he was saved and then denounced all of it—all of his formal training after being saved and in preparation to serve the LORD. Read Philippians 3.

Let me get this straight…. You saved me LORD BUT I’m going to trust sinful men to train me at the seminary (Jeremiah 17:5).

God doesn’t send anyone to seminary. He never once sent any of the patriarchs, prophets, or apostles to seminary. “I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).

Many are led to believe the following lie: “I need to go to seminary if I want to be a preacher, pastor, or in the ministry.” Yes if you want to be just another false prophet, go to seminary. They are wolf factories.

The moment the LORD saves us, we are in His school of the Holy Spirit and Word.

Satan’s centralization of learning, indoctrination: when the source is poisoned, all that flows from that cursed source is poisoned—from the seminaries to the local churches.

YOU HAVE GOD’S WORD, A BIBLE, READ IT FOR YOURSELF.

The question of whether or not we should trust professional clergymen, seminarians and their supposed superior knowledge and understanding.

In Matthew 11:25 , God says that He reveals His truth, truths to even the babes in Christ.

Notice how that “from a child” Timothy knew the “holy scriptures” and the wisdom they give us. Timothy studied and knew and could understand God’s Word as a little “child.” No degreed seminarian needed.

“And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17

“Seminaries and Bible colleges absolutely do make men boastful and proud over a fake degree. Jesus calls His people to be servants and nothing more. I also think of Paul when he separated the true disciples from the synagogue because the Jews were in contradiction of the gospel. So he separated them and taught them in the Apostles doctrine (Acts 2:42). He trained them in the whole of the scriptures. And this resulted in the widespread dispersing of the gospel (Acts 19:9-10).” Karen Cochran

Upon saving you, Jesus put His Holy Spirit in you and inducted you into His school of the Holy Ghost and Word (Psalms 119:105). No one needs “Bible college” or “seminary” to read and obey God’s Word (King James Bible). Jesus told no man to “go to Bible college/seminary.” Seminarian and Bible college graduates pridefully boast of their degrees and positions, lording it over others….as if they are superior. Isn’t this where the clergy/laity rankings were furthered? Does this not go diametrically against the teaching of our LORD? Yes it does. See Matthew 20:24-28 and 23:8-12.

Think about it: Seminary trains men to lord it over others, while the preparation for ministry the LORD enacts teaches His elders to go forth as He did —to serve and not to be served (Matthew 20:24-28 and 23:8-12). The whole premise of seminaries is based on a lie—the lie of usurping authority that God never ordained you to have. This further underscores that the author of seminaries is Satan himself. See Isaiah 14:12-15.

“Excellent teaching. Thank you. I think of 2 Timothy 2:21 which tells us how we are made vessels fit for the Master’s use. In that passage nor any other, we don’t see the word seminary. Vessels of honor are purged in the fire of affliction. And sanctified internally by the blood of Christ to bring forth fruit for His glory. This is how we are prepared by the Spirit of God to be used by the Master! No seminary school can do that. It is entirely the work of the Spirit through our ‘obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ’ (1 Peter: 1:2).” Karen Cochran

Seminaries, seminarians are Satan’s way of controlling the people via their clergy. No group is more famous for this than the Roman religion.

“While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19

Of the seminarian devils who litter the landscape of the American pulpits, Karen Cochran writes:

“And these apostate churches will only hire these wolves in sheep’s clothing Jesus warned us to beware of (Matthew 7:15). Therefore they don’t get men like the Apostles who gave their whole lives to preaching, warning, and teaching Jesus Christ! See Colossians 1:28. Then they died for the sake of Christ. The seminarian wolves of our day only preach about self, the self-life! They could care less about giving all for the sake of Christ!”

Only the cross, the crucified life, can keep us from sin (Romans 6:7; 1 Corinthians 9:27; 10:12). No amount of knowledge, even the truth, can keep us from sin. The truth of the cross Jesus commanded must be applied, obeyed—or you will not walk nor be with Him (Luke 9:23-24; John 8:31-32). The crucified life is something one will rarely if ever hear in seminaries or out of the mouth of seminarians.

Saints, we must follow Jesus. That’s why we have a Bible that He provided (Luke 4:4). We must cease with our idolatrous fascination with certain schools and men who seem to have a deep understanding of things. The idolatry of mere men will not keep us from living in sin.

Are you personally crucified with Christ?

If not, you ARE living in sin.

“He that is dead (crucified with Christ) is freed from sin.” Romans 6:7

Read Romans 6 each morning and obey God. | The Cross Life

One can have the whole Bible memorized and understand it all, and still die and go to hell. You must walk with Christ—live a crucified life of prayer—or you will perish irrevocably in the flames of eternal damnation. Judas walked with Jesus, he saw the miracles and heard His teachings first hand and died and busted hell wide open. The Truth about Judas

Professionalism is poison. There were no professional pastors in the early church. The seminary system is the factory that creates such business men, frauds (2 Peter 2:1-3).

The modern church world is driven by Satan’s seminarians: WHAT has it produced?

Are you a living, breathing epistle, a disciple of Jesus, or just another modern pharisee, a seminarian-deceived fraud who hides in a building while collecting a salary and misleading people to hell?

NO such thing as an “official” seminarian credentialed pastor or preacher in the early church! Beware. Satan’s seminary system exposed.

Notice how the unchanging LORD worked in Paul after He saved him:

“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: 17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia (the desert), and returned again unto Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.” Galatians 1:15-18

Jesus is the Savior and Sanctifier—the only One who can prepare and ordain a man to ministry (John 15:16). Only three years later did Paul consult with men—AFTER God had spoken directly to him. The apostles were saved and taught of God, not mere sinful men.

“Despite God’s word commanding men not to boast in their wisdom, and despite being told that ‘not many wise according to the flesh’ are called, today’s evangelical landscape is replete with scribes and pharisees whose default question is, ‘By what authority do you do these things?’ They put their stock in how many credit hours they have obtained at such and such a seminary. Seminary credentials never qualified a man for God’s service, nor does a lack of “formal training” nullify what God approves. Indeed, God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). When God calls anyone to a particular task, it matters not if others approve.” Servus Christi

YOU going trust a sinful seminarian or the only Savior? Hell awaits.

Many today, upon sensing a calling, go to men to be prepared, to seminary. Consequently, they are deceived and then go forth to deceive others (2 Timothy 3:7).

The early church – Acts: On fire, full of the Holy Spirit had no trained seminarians.
Today’s apostate, lukewarm church world: Run into the ground by vatican corrupted, hireling seminarians.

The fruit of the modern churches are Clear proof that Satan is at the root of the seminarians who’ve driven them into apostasy!

“Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.” Jeremiah 48:10

Joel Nelson writes:

“It’s time to get rid of the corrupted clutter of the money-changing seminarian clergy wolves and get back to true, undiluted, uncorrupted, pure worship and fellowship (Acts 2:42-47). Ask yourself: WHAT has the seminary-driven church building based system ever produced to glorify Christ? Do those who attend look like the on-fire-for-Jesus, Holy Ghost filled believers you read about in the books of Acts? Hardly.”

Protestant evangelical seminarians are a fraternal order of vatican-trained soul thieves. They control what is and what is not said to the people. They purposely withhold the truth.

Most modern pastors are in darkness and that’s witnessed by the simple fact that they use and promote Satan’s false “bibles.”

Seminarian “pastors” do not follow Christ but rather they follow what men and devils taught them in seminary.

God is Calling all Seminarian and Bible College Students, Graduates to Repent

Attention seminarian or Bible College student, graduate: Not only does seminary not prepare you to be used of God, it gives you many things to unlearn and costs you much more than just a lot of wasted money. The ONE who saved you (if you are in fact saved) is the only ONE who can sanctify and prepare you to serve HIM. Seminary is at its root, apostasy, a departing from God to mere sinful men. If you claim to be born again and yet run to men to prepare you, there should be great concern (Galatians 1:16-17). PLAIN PROOF: Today’s apostate modern so-called “churches” become as they are – ichabod – by way of the jesuit-trained seminarian hirelings who drove them headlong into that apostasy. Seminiarian Apostasy Busted and Exposed!

Seminarian led churches are designed to create counterfeits. This was Satan’s objective and it’s worked! Run for your life!

Going to seminary is a deliberate work of the flesh—to trust mere sinful men instead of the One you claim saved you. Going to seminary means you are saying “LORD, you saved me but I need mere man to prepare me to serve You because LORD You are not able to do such!” Repentance needed!

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:5-10

“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” Isaiah 2:22

Seminarians are taught half-truths, man’s philosophies, pagan/occultic practices (example: contemplative prayer, spiritual formation, etc.), marketing, the curse of calvinism, etc.). They are taught to conduct a church busine$$ and in order to do such you must entertain and intentionally dodge the hard truths Jesus and His apostles taught. | Richard Foster Exposed

“DON’T you dare share the truth about the cross! If you do, God’s people will wreak havoc on my kingdom! I’ve put my preachers in place for decades now so that this explosive message could be hidden! Now don’t you dare spoil my plan!” ~SATAN

SIMPLE QUESTION: Did Jesus ever once call anyone to a “higher learning institution”? No. So, to go the way of the flesh is to depart from God’s way and thereby give oneself over to the deception of Satan himself. Jeremiah 17:4-7 … anyone with an ounce of discernment can see that the visible modern church is apostate and it can only be due to the seminarian icebergs in those pulpits that there is lukewarmness at best in the pew. Such was never the divine intention for the truth church Jesus died to save and sanctify.

JESUS never once taught His disciples how to PREACH yet He did teach them to PRAY. Today, seminaries teach their students to PREACH but not to PRAY. Should we wonder why modern building-based churches are apostate?

Paul denounced his higher learning in order to know and serve Christ truly …. and his education makes today’s lame seminary training look like a kindergarten picnic…. Philippians 3.

“Jesus sent Paul into the seminary in the desert.” Stan Podlacha

ANY local church that requires a seminary degree to be a pastor there, is apostate. Ichabod! LOOK for yourself at the fruit of modern building-based “Christianity” commandeered by seminarians…. apostate, heretical, lukewarm, hell bound! … the fruit of seminaries! You can’t pay money to be prepared by God—you must “pay” by truly repenting, laying down your life, and following Christ in a daily cross walk! you have a Bible! Study it! Memorize Scripture! Obey God!

Genuinely born again truth-seeking disciples will repent today and denounce the sham of “higher learning”—trading it in for a real walk with Christ, full of His Word and Holy Ghost. That’s His only way of using men (John 15).

Professional clergy is a diabolical scheme. seminarians were Satan’s plan from the beginning to replace, to destroy God-ordained organic Bible study by Christians (Acts 2:42; Colossians 3:16, etc.). The LORD is calling us to repent and return to Acts 2:42 and Colossians 3:16 New Testament living!

SEMINARY is a shortcut and a time waster. Jesus sends men to the cross and to Pentecost—otherwise they are not prepared or sent by Christ, the only Ordainer (John 15:16). They are self-sent.

ANY local church assembly or organization that requires a certificate or degree is carnal, worldly minded and absolutely apostate. The Word says to “know them which labour among you” (1 Thessalonians 5:12), and when you know a man, you know if he is capable to teach God’s pure Word!

NEVER allow some corruptED seminary dupe override the WORD itself and common sense God gave you!

Satan’s Seminaries are a Sham! YOU show me a church “pastored” by one of Satan’s seminarians and I will show you a cold, dead, apostate sham!

History reveals that seminaries and seminarians are a curse. Those churches which require a seminary degree from their pastors are Ichabod, backslidden, lukewarm, and kindling for the fires of hell. Example: It is a historical fact that the methodist church, which was previously on fire via John Wesley only backslid when it began requiring a seminary degree for their pastors. The seminary agenda is not God’s. The enemy has hi-jacked those institutions long ago. Among other errant things, seminarians learn:

“Den of thieves” Marketing—making merchandise of the people (Matthew 21:15-17; 2 Peter 2:1-3)
False doctrines such as “eternal security” and Calvinism (Jude 3-4, etc.).
Traditions of mere sinful men (Matthew 7:13; Colossians 2:8)
Entertainment: How to be “relevant”—Seminarian pastors have traded in the cross to be cool and by doing so are sending themselves and those they mislead to eternal damnation.
Ecumenism which is the amalgamating of true Christians with the antichrist cult of Rome/Catholic church.

Seminaries today manufacture and train cross-less counterfeits to “make merchandise of” that which calls itself the house of God. They are taught and sent out to make their franchise churches into a a “den of thieves.” (Matthew 21:12-17; 2 Peter 2:1-3)

Your education, gifting, seminary degree, title, and church building mean nothing in Christ’s kingdom until laid down and in true repentance you admit your own utter poverty and great, desperate need for the presence mercy, grace, and anointing of God. Repent and denounce it all as Paul did. Read Philippians 3 and obey the LORD by following the apostle Paul’s example. To prepare men, the un-changing Savior sent men to the cross and to Pentecost (baptism with the Holy Spirit). To obtain a seminary degree, a man must sell Christ out for the trinkets of this fleeting world and in doing so, such a counterfeit fraud has sold his eternal soul to the devil and will be used of Satan to mislead and damn the souls of many. Men only get degrees to get a church job and make money. Authentic disciples of Christ allow the Savior who found and saved them to sanctify, teach, and equip them by His Word and Holy Spirit (Acts 4:13, etc.). There is no such thing or example in the New Testament Scriptures of a man of God going to a higher learning institution to learn to serve God. Jesus never sent anyone to a seminary – but rather to the cross and Pentecost (baptism with the Holy Ghost). Seminary is clearly seen in Jeremiah 17:5-7. Grace and Truth Bible School Online

Salvador Cruz writes: “I don’t call anyone my pastor except Jesus Christ….. He’s my one and only Pastor, humans are my brothers and sisters.”

What Salvador Cruz states is Bible: That is exactly what Jesus taught beloved!

“But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:8-12

One disciples writes:

“I have found over the past number of years, as I have ‘answered a call’ from a church to be a pastor or teacher or whatever, I have mostly found that they are looking for the ‘whatever.’ Most of the churches that require a man-given degree are not looking for shepherds to feed the flock of God, but administrators to run the church after their likeness and their own carnal image. Their image by the way is usually the thing they care about most—numbers, programs, and ‘Do we look good?’ etc. No cross. Apostate. Ichabod. I have stayed at none of these churches because, other than running through the list in Timothy or Titus, most churches require no spiritual qualifications such as: Are you born again by the Spirit of God? Have you been baptized in obedience to God’s Word.? Have you made full proof of your ministry? Are you an ambassador for Christ? Do you see the need to equip the saints for ministry? If a church is not satisfied with the words of Jesus, Paul, John the Baptist, Amos, David, Isaiah and Nehemiah, they won’t want the likes of me.”

Read closely the words of Jesus recorded in John 15:16. HE ALONE can ordain you and so we do despite to the Son of God when we seek sinful man’s sham of an “ordination.”

A follower of Jesus writes:

“If God has called you to The Ministry, then God will provide the open door for that ministry. Ministry as it was first given to the Levites in the Old Testament was First a ministry UNTO THE LORD. Our modern age has forgotten that. Not all ministry toward man is pulpit in a church style. All believers have been called to ministry but most are not willing to obey that calling, instead desiring more, they seek the positional style of ministry.”

In the stated qualifications for an elder in the body of Christ, there is no mention of obtaining a degree from the world that claims to be of Christ via a “Christian” seminary (1 Timothy 3). I didn’t even hint that knowing the Word of God isn’t important YET WHO EVER SAID YOU NEED SEMINARY FOR SUCH? Only a lazy fraud feels the need to pay a seminary tens of thousands of dollars to be indoctrinated by devils. BIBLICAL CASE AGAINST SEMINARY: SAVE YOUR MONEY AND TIME—GO TO THE SAVIOR, NOT SEMINARY! Jesus learned the Word without the human and demonic pollution of seminary (John 7:14-16).

SO, you claim JESUS saved you but then denied the Son of God the place of sanctifying you? So, you signed up to pay big money to get mere sinful men in a seminary to teach, prepare, and equip you? Time to repent and return to Christ before it’s too late.

Seminarian sissies use sissy Bibles. The last thing they use is the real Bible —The King James Bible. Counterfeits use catholic corrupted and controlled counterfeit “bibles.”

Scott Boyd writes:

“It was the history surrounding the evil antichrist Catholic Church and how the majority of all the other churches follow many of their antichrist teachings (those of paganism and sun worship customs) instead of following what is clearly taught in the Bible, that sent me down the road of searching for truth. While doing so I completed hundreds of different Bible studies from every denomination I could find and with that said, I found that nearly all of them taught only bits and pieces of watered down Scripture and doctrine, and instead, there were many of the antichrist examples of the Catholic Church in their teachings. Very few actually taught the truth about Scripture. Unless someone does deep research, they will never know the truth because the teachers of false doctrine and deception mix the lies with truth, so it sounds pretty good at first, but they leave out the main substance of the Truth of God’s Word. I have seen this over and over through many studies. It Definitely takes a thorough study of the Bible in order to be able to detect all the false doctrine and deception that is involved in nearly all of the churches.”

Nancy Cote writes:

“Spoken like a true Shepherd being taught to love God’s Word and fear God and NOT man! God, my prayer is that you would bring TRUE repentance and salvation to these cemetery motivational speakers. God is shaking and exposing what is not of His Spirit. WOF, NAR, Seeker Sensitive/Emergent, Southern Baptist etc. I pray that we can get just one true repented heart out of each bunch to call out sin in the camp for what it is.”

MESSAGE RECEIVED:

“Some seminaries who indoctrinate with their presupotionalist theology are really bad, but some folks just go to learn about everything that has been taught. Education rather then indoctrination. You don’t need seminary to be anointed but if your gonna teach dogmatic about what Scripture means you should learn a bit about how to get context and such.”

REPLY:

Hi Kevin. God bless you. Inevitably there is definitely going to be indoctrination. There’s actually no reason to waste so much time and money on going to seminary when all the books (NT/OT surveys, etc) can be bought anywhere Christian books are sold. Commentaries are readily available. Simply diligently studying the King James Bible daily is all one needs along with studying with brothers and sister in small groups. This is the stated, divined-revealed design for Christ’s New Testament church and so everything else is counterfeit (Acts 2:42; Colossians 3:16).

MESSAGE RECEIVED:

“It is important to have a degree in theology from a university or Bible college which is recognized that shows you are a man of study… so many fall away and don’t finish their studies including pastors and their wives… It’s the same as saying we hire apprentices only on a construction site until the building crashes.”

REPLY:

No, that is not according to the New Testament but rather mere human reasoning. Among believers we are to “know them which labour among you” (1 Thessalonians 5:12). We have no hint much less instruction to go to a higher learning institute of men. In fact God hates centralizing learning which is what we saw at the tower of Babel in Genesis, right? God scattered. Satan loves centralization because then he can control what is taught such as we see in the demonic public school system. Also, you assume a man can’t study Scripture individually and with the body of Christ in his immediate location. THAT’S exactly what New Testament believers are instructed to do and that the earliest believers did (Acts 2:42; Colossians 3:17).

MESSAGE RECEIVED:

“Seminaries exist because of what Jesus Christ and his disciples did! They are for the training of leadership for the church!”

RESPONSE:

Seminaries today are not teaching the original Gospel and are in fact bringing in occult teachings such as contemplative prayer which is part of spiritual formation…. which is transcendental meditation … lighthousetrailsresearch.com … We have a Bible and the Holy Ghost….. no need for the training of mere sinful men to do God’s Word.

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