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by Dr. Robert B. Thompson

The following is an excerpt from a book titled THE PERVERSION OF GRACE by Dr. Robert B. Thompson. This clearly identifies what “grace” in many evangelical circles is defined as.

“Grace” As Currently Defined by Many Believers

The term grace is used in our day to represent a waiving of God’s requirements concerning man’s behavior, an alternative to them. Christ is seen as coming to earth primarily to forgive the moral shortcomings of the believers so they may go to Heaven when they die.

The concept is that through the centuries man has not been able to meet God’s expectations. Therefore God in His love and mercy has made it possible for unimproved man to inherit life in the spirit Paradise in Heaven. The blood of Jesus is a “ticket” which sinful, rebellious man may use to obtain entrance to peace and joy in the spirit realm.

It is stated that it is not necessary for man to change his behavior; rather, it is his profession of “faith” in Christ that brings him into fellowship with God. In actual practice the profession of faith often proves to be a mental assent to certain theological facts rather than true faith in the living Jesus.

Grace is currently understood to be a changing of God’s standard of righteous and holy behavior, a changing of God Himself, so that man through Christ may be able to receive the inheritance of a son of God even though he remains sinful, self-centered, and disobedient to God.

An unchanged Adam is permitted back into Paradise. He is given to eat of the tree of life. Untransformed believers serve as kings and priests of God. God accepts man as he is, through Christ.

The father comes to his prodigal son in the pigsty, runs to him and falls on his neck, kisses him, puts the best robe on him, a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet, kills the fattened calf, and restores the family inheritance to him. The son then arises from among the pigs and returns to his riotous living, knowing his father will never disown him.

How unscriptural, misleading, and destructive is the doctrine of “once saved always saved” (meaning if we once make a profession of faith in Christ we never again need to worry about the judgment of God)! How many teachers of the Christian faith will stand before God with their followers and discover that God judges every man according to his works!

The story of the prodigal son teaches not only forgiveness but also true repentance as the means of gaining that forgiveness. How would the story have ended if the prodigal had never returned to his father?

Modern Christian theology stresses the father’s forgiveness but not the son’s repentance, apart from which there could have been no forgiveness or restoration.

The early apostles stressed repentance.

When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. (Acts 11:18)

It is repentance toward God, and faith toward our LORD Jesus Christ” that brings us to eternal life (Acts 20:21).

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30)

Repentance is more than belief or feeling sorry for our sins. To repent is to turn away from the world, from sin, and from self-will. To repent is to turn to God, to righteous and holy works and obedience to the Lord. Any conversion experience that does not include the works of repentance does not bring salvation to the believer. It is not enough to believe or be remorseful—or even to confess our sinful state. There must be the works of repentance.

The implication of current teaching is that the citizens of Heaven and Hell are not distinguished by the kind of people they are but by whether or not they profess faith in the fact that Jesus died for their sins and was raised from the dead.

We know that if Jesus comes to an individual and he refuses God’s Christ, the judgment of God abides on him. We are not implying we can refuse to bow the knee to the Lord and then please God by our works. We cannot save ourselves by our own righteousness now that God has given His Son to die for our sins on the cross.

However, in our haste to show that man cannot save himself and that God has a grand plan of redemption for us, we have thrown out the proper scriptural balance. We are discounting the value God places on godly behavior. We are forgetting that only those who practice righteousness are accepted of God:

But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (Acts 10:35)

The Scripture declares plainly that the person who practices unrighteousness will be judged of God whether or not he or she professes faith in Christ.

. . . I will give unto every one of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:23)

It is taught that the judgment of the believer’s sins was accomplished on the cross and all that God will judge henceforth is the believer’s works of service (meaning he will receive a marvelous reward if he serves God and a lesser reward if he does not). The contemporary doctrine is that the professor of faith in Christ has nothing to fear in the Day of the Lord even though he has neglected to serve Christ during his life on the earth.

The hastiest review of the New Testament writings will make plain that the concept of the lukewarm Christian having nothing to fear is a dreadful corruption of Paul’s doctrine of the grace of God in Christ.

And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:30)

We have made the Word of God of none effect by our traditions.

What a perversion of the Gospel of the Kingdom modern Christian teaching is!

Indeed, God does forgive the repentant heart. But God does not say, “I love you anyway even though you will not serve me.”

Rather, God commands, “Go and sin no more.”

God is not mocked. He understands well the difference between the truly repentant individual and the person who is presuming on God’s compassion so he may continue in his sins and rebellion.

We cannot outwit God by using the Gospel of Christ as a legal technique such that we can preserve our way of life and still receive the inheritance. God captures the crafty in their own craftiness. God deals shrewdly with the crooked (Psalms 18:26).

If we think carefully concerning what is being conveyed today, the grace of God in Christ is seen to be an admission of defeat on God’s part. Man, being hopelessly sinful and rebellious, will not serve God. God, therefore, has created a device known as “grace” whereby man can walk in unrighteousness, moral filth, and disobedience to God and still have fellowship with God through Christ.

How many ministers of the Gospel are living in sin today because of this concept of grace? They are trusting (and teaching) that God waives His standard and brings people into fellowship with Himself while they continue in their sins and rebellion against God.

“No one is perfect” they cry and proceed to practice sin and foolishness.

The logical conclusion of the present concept is that Paradise and the new Jerusalem are filled with sinful, self-centered, rebellious individuals who are “saved by grace” (meaning God does not see what they are or what they do because they are “covered” by the righteousness of Jesus). What the inhabitants are in nature and behavior has not been changed. Rather, they have been brought into a better environment (in Heaven) and partake of the righteousness of Christ by identification, not by transformed behavior..

Believers in Christ who do not, through His grace, overcome the world, their lusts, and their self-seeking, are still sinful, disobedient personalities after they die; unless being shed of our body of itself results in a change in our nature. But there is no passage of Scripture that teaches or implies that physical death results in a change in our personality or that the Lord Jesus will change our personality (other than our body) at His appearing.

Physical death is an enemy, according to the Scripture (I Corinthians 15:26), not the means of our transformation into the image of God. Also, we must consider the fact that Satan and other bodiless creatures rebelled against God while in the realm of spirits. If being in the spirit realm causes us to serve God, how, then, was it possible for the angels to transgress?

What passage of Scripture teaches us we become righteous, holy, and obedient to God on the basis of our entrance into the spirit realm, or that the Lord Jesus will transform lukewarm believers into mighty kings at His appearing? Is it not true rather that what we have become during our life on earth will be revealed at the Lord’s coming?”

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Abiding

THE DEVIL IS A LIAR [podcast]


Eternal Security is not taught in God’s Word – Other than by Satan and his false prophets.

After being saved, one cannot live in sin and remain in relationship with Christ.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Romans 6:1-2

Reading Romans 6 each morning this week prayerfully will greatly benefit the disciple of Christ.

God said (Genesis 2:17): 

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof THOU SHALT SURELY DIE.”

Satan said (Genesis 3:4): 

“And the serpent said unto the woman, YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE.”

Eternal Security Proof Text Plundered

1 John 2:19-29

Warning Concerning Antichrists

18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

20  But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

21  I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

23  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

24  Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

25  And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

26  These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Children of God

28  And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

29  If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

John makes it clear that the antichrists in their midst which departed, did so because they were departing from the faith (1 timothy 4:1-2). Verse 19 does NOT say they were never of us but rather “they were not of us.”

Teddy Caldwell writes:

“OSAS insists that those are professing believers, but 1 John 2:18 says such people are antichrists. 1 John 2:22 says an antichrist is one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Anyone who does that isn’t a believer and isn’t even trying to look like one.”

Concerning 1 John 2:19, Donald Stamps, in the Life in the Spirit Study Bible, writes:

“‘THEY WENT OUT FROM US.’ When the antichrists departed from their fellowship with true believers, they were not in a saving relationship with Christ. This allows for two possibilities: (1) They were never true believers to begin with, or (2) they had once been in a saving relationship with Christ but afterward abandoned their faith in Christ.”

Right here in verse 24 of this passage we see the doctrine of personal responsibility to “remain” in faithful obedience to the LORD or lose one’s place with God (1 Corinthians 15:2; Galatians 6:9; Colossians 1:23). This is a teaching found throughout Holy Writ – the divine requirement to stay saved or lose all in eternity, “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 7).

“Let that therefore abide (remain) in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. IF (denotes condition) that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” 1 John 2:24-25

Verse 24 alone tells us that we cannot think that verse 19 means that someone who is at some point in right standing with God can never depart from Him and lose out. Also, verse 25 tells us that “eternal life” (not just rewards) is at stake and the promise contingent upon the believer abiding or remaining in that “which ye have heard from the beginning” which is the Gospel. “Eternal life” is assured as long as one is remaining rooted in Jesus Christ. This is the overwhelmingly consistent message of God’s Word.

In verse 26 John says “These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.” Verse 19 is written about the deceivers who sought to “seduce” these disciples John was addressing, and not of true believers.

With all of Scripture in consideration, we can conclude that 1 John 2:19 is a specific example and not a rule of doctrine.

If you truly wish to search out this matter, let me encourage you to closely examine, break down and study this entire text (1 John 2:18-29). In order to ascertain truth, one must compare the verse in question with all other related Scriptures, beginning with the context in which the verse is set (Isaiah 28:9-10; 1 Corinthians 2:13).

Adam Clarke note on 1 John 2:19

“1 John 2:19
They went out from us – These heretics had belonged to our Christian assemblies, they professed Christianity, and do so still; but we apostles did not commission them to preach to you, for they have disgraced the Divine doctrine with the most pernicious opinions; they have given up or explained away its most essential principles; they have mingled the rest with heathenish rites and Jewish glosses. While, therefore, we acknowledge that they once belonged to us, we assert that they are not of us. They are not Christians; we abhor their conduct and their creed. We never sent them to teach.

They were not of us – For a considerable time before they left our assemblies they gave proofs that they had departed from the faith; for if they had been of us – if they had been apostles, and continued in the firm belief of the Christian doctrines, they would not have departed from us to form a sect of themselves.

That they were not all of us – They were not expelled from the Christian Church; they were not sent out by us; but they separated from it and us. None of them had been inspired as we apostles were, though they pretended to a very high teaching; but their separating from us manifested that they were not taught, as we were, by the Spirit of God. These false teachers probably drew many sincere souls away with them.”

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Articles

The First Commandment with Promise [podcast]


“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12

Any person who mistreats their father or mother has brought a curse on themselves. Unbelievable.

“Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.” Proverbs 20:20

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and m

other; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:1-4

To honor simply means to highly esteem.

Does the Bible say “Honor your parents but only if they’re perfect and only if you agree with them”? No! And thank God because none of us are perfect parents, right?

God has a plan and it’s the only perfect plan! If you follow it, your life will be blessed.

Does it seem like it’s easier for some children to honor their parents? Does their relationship with their parents seem more fluent? At least in some cases, could it be due to the graciousness that the parents fostered in their children? Genuine love governing and fostering a sincere relationship.

David Taylor writes writes this exhortation on honoring our parents:

“Hope you are enjoying mom today brother with blessings. Please do so. Mine is gone. I took her for granted during her life. Not honoring her, not loving her as I should have. What’s that old saying ‘You never know what you have till it’s gone.”

The greatest heritage we give our children is God’s Word.

“Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.” Psalms 119:111

Sharing how God is working in her life concerning her relationship with her beloved mother, Karen Cochran writes:

“I had to die to being right. Pride! How could I love her (my mother) with the love of Jesus? How would she see Jesus in me? She would not see Him in me in all my pride and arrogance! By being full of pride, all I did was stir up strife. Proverbs 10:12 ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.’ Because she would retaliate and would be angry. I had to learn to keep my mouth shut. And it has completely changed our relationship. But first the Lord had to change me and cleanse me from my ‘know it all’ attitude and my pride. I went to the Lord and said ‘why is she (my mother) so mean to me?’ The Lord straightened me out quick. It was me not her! I couldn’t control her! All I could do was allow God to root out what was sin in me.”

Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.” Proverbs 13:10

PRAYER: Father, bless this life to be crucified with Christ, to be truly humbled before You – that You might raise me up to glorify You. Thank You for my beloved parents that You chose to bring me into this life through. Help me walk in Your wisdom which is Your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Parenting | Children

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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 Jesusto 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

To “come forth as gold” refers to the finished product, where gold has been purified of all its impurities.

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” 1 Peter 1:7 

“The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.” Proverbs 17:3 

Idolatry is Sin

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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