Five Marks of a False Convert

Being a Christian is by far the greatest blessing one could receive. Who can reject the glory of God, and the awesome love and forgiveness that Jesus has to offer? Yet, sadly, there are many out there who have convinced themselves that they are Christians, when, unfortunately, they are not. I have put together a short list of signs that you can use to examine yourself, or someone else, to test whether or not you are truly in the faith. This is by far not an exhaustive list, nor is it meant to discourage true believers. Every Christian struggles with certain things, and some moreso than others. If you are a relatively new convert, expect to struggle more than the seasoned Christian who has been saved and serving God for 40 years. The fact is, you should be improving constantly in all of these areas. There may be ups and downs, but if you take a look at the last year of your life, and you see no improvement in any of these signs, I would suggest you start praying, and ask God to open your eyes, and reveal himself to you. I pray that this list be glorifying to God first and foremost, but also that it be edifying to those who take the time to read it.

Sign #1, Avoiding Persecution - There are many who claim to be believers and claim to know Christ as their Savior, and will even put on a good show of morality most of the time, but when proclaiming the name of Christ gets tough, they back down. This is not to say that a Christian will never have moments of weakness. We know from the Bible that even the great Apostle Peter denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:34). But if you repeatedly find yourself retreating when when you are being persecuted, or purposely deny or hide your Christianity in order to avoid persecution altogether, you probably have no reason to believe you are saved.

³ ...A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.

- Matthew 13:3-9

In the above passage, the Parable of the sower, Jesus speaks of those seeds that did not fall on good ground—they have no roots, or foundation. Since they don't have this good soil where they have been able to establish healthy roots, the intense heat of the sun just drys them up, and they wither away. This is what happens to professing Christians when they have no foundation to stand on. When they aren't grounded in true saving faith, they tend to wither away when they face opposition. They won't stand up for what they believe in, because they don't really believe it. Matthew 10:32-33 says "32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." If you don't see yourself facing persecution, and standing your ground, or at least trying to stand your ground, you very well may be a false convert. If you find yourself resorting to acting like a carnal man when around other non-Christians in order to "fit in," you may want to examine your heart to see if you are truly saved.

Sign #2, Constant Worry - This one seems to be one of the biggest problems among professing Christians. There are some who have a preoccupation with worry, especially about worldly things like food, clothing and money.

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

- Matthew 6:24-34

God promises us he will provide us with everything we need. If you find yourself constantly worrying about making ends meet, or you are incontent with what you have been provided with, this is evidence that you are not putting your trust in God's promises. Faith is the key requirement for salvation, for without faith, one cannot be saved (Eph 2:8-9). Luke 8:13 says the false convert will receive the Word with joy, but the joy will be short lived. You will eventually fall back to your state of worry and unfaithfulness. If you are perpetually worried about these things, then you are relying on your self, rather than God, and you might be a false convert.


Sign #3, Unfruitful Relationships - Another sign that you or someone else may be a false convert is having little or no desire to develop friendships with other believers. When you are truly converted, and your desires are aligned with the will of God, you will long for friends that will lift you up in your walk with Christ, as well as hold you accountable (Ecc 4:9-12, Proverbs 27:9). Moreover, James 4:4 says "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." A true Christian wants to develop relationships that honor God. This does not necessarily mean that we can't know and befriend any non-Christians at all, in fact we are required to do so for the sake of sharing the Gospel. But that's the key, our priority with non-Christian friends should be sharing the Gospel with them. The Bible also says "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14) Taking any friendship with non-Christians to the level of partnership, or fellowship, is forbidden in Scripture. Yes, it's understood that you have obligations with family members, and you are required to be close to them, but again, your priority with them as a Christian should be showing them the love of Christ. So if you find yourself putting off invitations to hang out with people in your Sunday School class because they make you feel uncomfortable, or if you find yourself more content with hanging out with non-Christian buddies from work, yet no desire to develop deep relationships with Christians, you might be a false convert.

Sign #4, Self Indulgence - Many Christians struggle with sin after they are saved. Bad habits are hard to break, even for the most faithful of believers. Some people may have smoking addictions, some people might curse. Some people may have a certain affinity towards self gratification, indulging in things like unhealthy amounts of television, sports, entertainment, etc. Whatever the sin is, the true Christian will struggle with this. This is one of the tougher areas for the Christian to attack, because it takes an ongoing, conscious effort to break habits. However, one sign that you are at true convert is if you are actually struggling with this activity. If you are a true Christian, your desire is to be obedient to Christ, and to become more Christ-like (1 John 2:6). As a Christian, you now represent Christ, and it is no longer you who lives, but Christ who lives in you (Galatians 2:20). You now live by faith, fending off your sins and worldly desires. This is not to say that you won't sin, or fall, but if you find yourself never struggling with your sin, never feeling any Godly sorrow for your sin, perhaps you need to rethink your standing in Christ. Christ gives you a new heart when you are saved, and removes your heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). If you're always too busy to spend time in the Word of God, you might not be saved. If you're putting off your relationship with Christ, skipping church, not reading your Bible, and not ministering to your family, yet you are watching football, you curse at work around your buddies, you find yourself angry and unforgiving often, and you feel no Godly remorse, you very well may be a false convert.

Sign #5, Pride - Probably the biggest tell-tale sign of a false convert is pride. Pride is the root of all of the other signs of a false convert. Proverbs 16:5 says "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished." Arrogance is Satan's number one tool to stop you from believing the Gospel, it stands in direct opposition to any form of repentance, and anyone who is proud cannot be saved.

However, there are many proud who profess to be Christians. They run around naming the name of Christ, might have Christian bumper stickers on their cars, and they may even try to share the Gospel with others, but if you try to rebuke this person, or call this person out regarding their sin, they will reject you. They absolutely cannot stand to be told that they are wrong about something. They will mock you, and argue with you, and never accept responsibility for their wrongdoings. Proverbs 9:8 says "Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you." The scoffer, or mocker, will not be corrected, but one of the marks of being saved is someone who is humble and open to reproof. James 4:6 says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Those who are humble in spirit are repentant, and receive God's grace. If you always have an argumentative heart towards correction and reproof, and you are unable to hear when someone is confronting you about sin in your life, you very well may be a false convert. I'll end with the following two passages addressing pride:

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

- Luke 18:10-14

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

- Luke 14:8-11

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Matt Chandler Endorsing Lent, Acknowledges Mysticism

Evangelical hipster, and the go-to boy when it comes to building the bridge between pop-culture and mainstream evangelicalism, Matt Chandler, is at it once again. While he is well known for dabbling in questionable theology, and promoting mysticism within the church without pushing the envelope far enough to make the good-ole-boys too uncomfortable, he's not stopping short of once again encouraging his followers to slip into a state of mindless buff. In a recent Village Church podcast he discussed with the host, Josh Patterson, the applicability of the season of Lent in his congregation. While he says his church is not officially observing Lent, he does speak very positively of it, while putting out an official church publication guiding his congregation in the observance of the Catholic tradition. This is the typical double speak we've come to expect from Chandler, practicing and promoting questionable things while standing on his "safe place" of "not officially endorsing."

While promoting on the podcast that Lent is a good way to think about laying some things aside, and focusing on the sacrifice and salvation of our Lord, Jesus, he fails to understand the true history of Lent, and larger ramifications of observing an unbiblical tradition in unison with a religion that is the enemy of the Gospel. He acknowledges the arguments against the practice, and states that the arguments just aren't convincing enough for him to condemn the practice. According to Catholicism, Lent is observed in respect to the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting, however, there is no observance of Lent for several centuries after the crucifixion. Usually the observance of Lent is connected with giving up some kind of food, a television show, or some other bad habit for the 40 days before the Easter holiday. It is alleged that Lent is a form of self-denial, and a way to connect with the experience of self-denial that Jesus went through.

But there is absolutely no mention of a season of Lent in Scripture, and never were Christians or Jews commissioned to observe such a tradition. The true history of Lent can actually be traced back to the worship of the Babylonian goddess Ashtoreth, or Ishtar. Alexander Hislop, in his classic work, The Two Babylons, in the section entitled, Easter, explains the origin of the Lenten fast:

The forty days' abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of forty days, "in the spring of the year," is still observed by the Yezidis or Pagan Devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who have inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Such a Lent of forty days was held in spring by the Pagan Mexicans, for thus we read in Humboldt, where he gives account of Mexican observances: "Three days after the vernal equinox...began a solemn fast of forty days in honour of the sun." Such a Lent of forty days was observed in Egypt, as may be seen on consulting Wilkinson's Egyptians. This Egyptian Lent of forty days, we are informed by Landseer, in his Sabean Researches, was held expressly in commemoration of Adonis or Osiris, the great mediatorial god.

Hislop also states:

Among the Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensible preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz, which was celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing, and which, in many countries, was considerably later than the Christian festival, being observed in Palestine and Assyria in June, therefore called the 'month of Tammuz;' in Egypt, about the middle of May, and in Britain, some time in April. To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity -- now far sunk in idolatry -- in this as in so many other things, to shake hands. 

It is no doubt that Rome is a melting pot for world religions, and still is today. It is well known for mixing Pagan idolatry, observed through the veneration of the saints and Mary, with a Christian theme. However, there is no saving Gospel within the doctrines of Romanism. Rome, since ancient times has been nothing more than a religio-political system with the aim of world domination through whatever means necessary, be it politics, violence, or total control of your soul through religion. It is no different now, and Rome's agents are working hard to blur the lines of mainstream Evangelicalism with Catholicism.

While listening to Chandler's podcast, and his reasoning on the subject, on the surface it seems that his motives for doing so are benign. He takes the stance that the observance of Lent can be good if done so with Scriptural motives, and prayer and fasting are almost always considered worthy undertakings in Scripture. However, Scripture never calls for a public or corporate form of fasting, and those who fast are supposed to look and act as though they are not (Matthew 16:16-18). However, this observance of fasting during the season of Lent has become a commercialized mockery of biblical fasting, with people plastering advertisements all over social media of what they are "giving up for Lent," and "how hard it is" to do so.

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Traditionally, the celebration of Lent is more than just fasting and prayer. In Catholicism, there are a number of mystical aspects that also are at play. During this Catholic season, a mystical custom known as The Stations of the Cross are practiced. It's a method of going through a series of artistic representations of the steps Jesus took while carrying his cross to his crucifixion. The idea behind the practice is that through these artistic representations, often un-biblical, one's emotions are supposed to be evoked to the point of sorrow, and identification with Christ. However, this practice is condemned in Scripture. Sadly, many Evangelical churches, including Rick Warren's Saddleback, are adopting a form of this practice today, further muddying the waters between Catholicism and Christianity.

I also find it rather interesting that Chandler's Lent guide put out by his church is filled with Puritan prayers from the Valley of Vision. Considering it was the Puritans stance to abstain from man-made traditions such as Lent, I find it highly suspect that Chandler would use these as a means to observe. It's not that the substance of the guide itself is merely unscriptural, in many ways it is perfectly fine, and would otherwise be a great devotional, but the bigger issue here is the attempt to connect Catholicism with Biblical Christianity through this tradition. The Protestant reformation was based on the view that the Roman Catholic church was apostate, and that Biblical Christianity should stand apart from, and distinct from the Pagan traditions of Rome. However, Chandler, (and he's not the only one) seem to have lost their grasp on this highly important historical concept, and without second thought, are helping to reverse the Reformation.

For more information on why Protestants shouldn't observe Lent, see Entreating Favor's article: Five Reasons Not To Observe Lent


**UPDATE**
For those of you who are having a hard time grasping the point of this posting, many of you are emailing, tweeting, commenting, etc asking my what my problem is with how the nature of how Chandler or Protestants in general are observing Lent. Please do not email me with this question, as I have already addressed, it isn't necessarily the substance of Chandler's guide, or the nature of how someone who is Biblically focused "might" observe the Lenten season as much as it is the ecumenical nature of promoting the event. The problem herein lies that by publicly condoning a traditionally Catholic event, especially one that has no Biblical basis for observing, puts out the perception that Evangelicals and Catholics are growing closer, coming together, and joining together in the same types of worship. But this is far from the truth. As subtle as it may be, it's just another example of Evangelicals capitulating to Rome. Soon, it will be okay for Protestants to have statues of Mary around their campuses, "so long as they don't bow down or worship it." Protestants and Evangelicals are slowly moving away from, and beginning to defy "Sola Scriptura," and this is a serious problem. People will come up with any excuse that they can to defend something that pleases them, rather than stand on the Word of God as their absolute authority. I don't have a problem with the substance of Chandler's guide, I have a problem with what it represents.

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Luke Chapter 1, Verse 14-23, Bible Study

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

The Angel of the Lord, who we know has been sent to represent the pre-incarnate Jesus, is continuing to proclaim the Word of God. He is announcing the forerunner, the very one who will usher in the incarnate savior. It's interesting to note here that the Angel is telling him that John would go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah. In Malachi 4:6 we have this prophecy; "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse." John would fulfill this prophecy in his baptism ministry of warning and repentance to the people of Israel.

Zechariah, the one receiving the prophecy, has already been introduced as a righteous man, in high favor with God. This symbolises that God's plans for redemption are through righteousness and obedience to him, similarly to that of Noah and his family. The promise that their son, John, will also be righteous and filled with the Holy Spirit from the beginning must have been encouraging. As opposed to the Old Testament prophets who received the Spirit at some point later in life, God has chosen John to be filled since birth. The people of Israel who are hearing this prophecy are aware that this means something big is happening. John was spoken of by the great prophet Isaiah, as the one who cries out in the wilderness, who prepares the way for the Lord (Isaiah, 40:3). Wine and grape products were thought of to be a blessing in Old Testament days, a gift in moderation from the Lord that gladdens a man's heart (Psalm 104:15, Proverbs 3:10). John's denial of these blessings showed a special anointing, he was to be consecrated to God as a Nazirite for His purposes, to prepare the people for the greatest blessing of all time.

18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

Though Zechariah was a faithful and righteous man in the eyes of God, he was still human and shows it in verse 18. Expressing doubt, he questions the angel sincerity, expressing that he and his wife are aging. This is reminiscent of Abraham, laughing and doubting the sincerity of God when He appeared to him promising his wife, Sarah, would bear him a son (Genesis 17:17). Hastily, the angel responds to his unbelief by announcing his name and position; for his message was to be accepted as authoritative, direct from the throne of God. As a discipline for his unbelief, or moment of unfaithfulness, Gabriel proclaims to him that he will temporarily be unable to speak, or function in society until these things have come to pass. God uses these disciplines in our lives sometimes to allow us to reflect on our hearts, and to correct our behavior or unfaithfulness. When he came out of the temple, he was unable to express to the people what he had seen, for he was speechless.  He attempted to gesture out a message to them of what he had seen, but it is unclear how much of this message the people understood. However, the people knew that he had received a vision from Heaven and that it would be brought to pass. Zechariah then heads back to his home, still under the discipline of the Lord administered by the angel, and has time to consider what he had learned before his blessings will be brought to pass.

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Luke Chapter 1, Verse 1-13, Bible Study

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1

1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

The author of this book, Luke, a native of the Hellenistic city of Antioch, Syria, addresses this piece, as he does in his other work, The Acts of the Apostles, to the honorary Theophilus. The word, Theophilus, literally means "friend of God." So he is basically addressing the Church, the body of believers in Christ Jesus. Luke is claiming here in verses 1 through 4 a divine inspiration, and an authority to address the believers, laying out certain doctrines and beliefs necessary as a basis for Christianity. Through this claim of perfect understanding since the beginning, as well as being an eyewitness, and minister of the word, this work stands as authoritative, in perfect unison with other Scriptures, as canonical in our Bibles. With this foundation, he can now claim that those who believe what he writes can know with certainty the things he presents throughout the rest of his Scripture.

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

Herod, known as Herod the Great, was the Roman king of the southern mountainous region of ancient Israel, known as Judea. During his reign, about 74 B.C. to 4 B.C., there was a priest and prophet (Luke 1:67-79) by the name of Zechariah, and his wife Elizabeth, who were in good favor with God. They had no children since Elisabeth was unable to have children, and yet, they were continuing to age. As someone who was committed to the Lord and loved the Lord, he must have wondered why he had never been blessed with a child at all, much less a son. Yet, Zechariah remained faithful to God.

As a priest, he had the opportunity to burn incense which represented God's intercession when he went into the temple of the Lord, and while he did this, multitudes of people were praying. Then at that time, while he was in the temple, an angel of the Lord, bringing a Word of God (pre-incarnate Jesus) appeared to him. Sensing the presence the Lord Jesus Christ must have been a harrowing incident for a lowly priest. It was unusual for a father to receive a message announcing the birth of a child. For someone who was righteous, and blameless before the Lord, Zechariah was surely someone who knew Christ through his Word. So seeing this angel, later revealed as Gabriel, standing before him, he knew exactly who he represented, the Holy and Righteous God. The fear he must have felt would have been immense.  It would have made him feel so worthless, for he knew he was a sinner and deserving of God's wrath. But God, with all his power, and might, and wrath, is also merciful, and graceful, and in his infinite wisdom, he pours out his mercy and grace on Zechariah and his wife, and answers their prayers. The angel tells him that his wife shall bear him a son, and his name shall be John. The mighty God has chosen Zechariah to be the father of John the Baptist.

Remaining faithful to God, even when there is doubt or no understanding, has more than benefits. Our trust should be placed fully in God and his purpose. We at times, as did Zechariah, probably have our doubts, but trusting in the Lord to provide, and aligning our will with His is key to a relationship with Christ. For without that trust, that He will provide what he has decided, in his perfect wisdom, what we need, then we cannot have that relationship with him.

Next >> Luke 1:14-23

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The Progressive Christian Fallacy - Sin Rationalizing

So I entered into conversation today with someone who refers to himself as a "gay Christian." I asked him to explain what he thought Christianity was, and I got the typical response, "That's very simple. Following the teachings of Christ, not other Christians." Further into the conversation, he references himself as a "Progressive Christian," and refers me to a meme from the Christian Left website (which is basically a cut and paste from Wikipedia) that states:

Progressive Christianity is a form of Christianity which is characterized by a willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity, a strong emphasis on social justice and care for the poor and the oppressed, and environmental stewardship of the Earth. Progressive Christians have a deep belief in the centrality of the instruction to "love one another" (John 15:17) within the teaching of Jesus Christ. This leads to a focus on promoting values such as compassion, justice, mercy, tolerance, and working towards solving the societal problems of poverty, discrimination, and environmental issues.

In a nutshell, his version of "Christianity" is a focus on rationalizing sin, and being intolerant of those who he perceives to be intolerant of his sinful lifestyle. You see, the progressive Christian wants people to accept them for who they are, make them feel better about themselves. They hate it when people point out their sin to them, because they need to be propped up by others in the world, to feel loved, and since they don't get that love and support from God or Christ himself, they depend on it from the world, and become very defensive or angry when someone breaks through that shield they have around them.

This false acceptance from the world, however, is a lie of the devil. Although some of the things that the progressives stand for appear to be good on the surface, underneath, they are just cleverly hidden deceptions, put out by lying spirits to lead you away from the truth. Satan knows that if he can seduce you away from the truth by appealing to your man-centered desires like loving and tolerating one another, living in harmony, and solving societal issues, then he can also lead you into believing bigger lies. Lies, for example, that you can continue to live your sinful lifestyle, since Jesus paid the price, and still go to heaven.

The argument tends to revolve around a misunderstanding of the Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22:36-40,

Jesus replied: “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

They take this commandment, and misapply to their own lives by leading themselves to believe that tolerance of sin, and loving God and each other, makes them safe in the eyes of God. They believe that "loving people" means not showing people their sin, or not making them "feel bad" about their lifestyle. And they believe that by doing this, they are following the teachings of Christ. But the fallacy is this; this is not the teaching of Christ. Christ never came to teach tolerance of sin, he came to preach repentance (Luke 3:13-5). He didn't come to tell people that as long as they live in harmony, and accept one another for who they are, then everything will be fine. No, he came to bring a sword, not peace (Matthew 10:34). Progressives view Christians who stand on the Word of God as their authority as bigots, and as unloving people. But the truly unloving person is the one who doesn't call for repentance. For without repentance, a turning from sin, moving from a state of loving and rationalizing sin to hating your sin, there is no forgiveness of sins, salvation (Luke 24:47). And if you don't know you are a sinner, or you have rationalized your lifestyle to the extent of believing that it's not sinful, you are deceiving yourself right into Hell. Without condemnation, there is no salvation (Luke 5:32). In other words, you must realize that you are a sinner, and if someone is trying to lead you to that realization, that understanding, you should thank them for being so loving and kind to you, enough to care about your eternity. But if you still just don't get it, if you don't hate your sin, then I'm sorry to tell you this, but you are not a Christian, you are not born again, and you are not in good standing with God.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! - 2 Corinthians 7:10-11

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The Art of Social Media Escape: Jefferson Bethke Endorses God-Hating Macklemore

The following was originally posted by Landon Chapman at Entreating Favor, and has been reposted here with permission. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Landon

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Founder of EntreatingFavor.com, writer, and host of the Fire Away! podcast. He is a Reformed Baptist that professes the Bible to be the infallible, inerrant, and thoroughly sufficient Word of God.

Titus 2:11–14 [ESV] For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Leaders and celebrity Christians in American Evangelicalism have found themselves in quite a quandary. While they realize the need to actively participate in the social media world to reach their followers, in doing so they open themselves up to widespread commentary from those that may not agree with them. So what is an overseer to do?

Enter the “block” button (aka the “banhammer“).

Yesterday, a faithful sister in Christ responded to the following tweet posted by celebrity Christian Jefferson Bethke:

Ran into @macklemore & his fiancé last night at Maui airport. Got to tell him he's inspired me artistically for awhile. Super nice folks.
— Jefferson Bethke (@JeffersonBethke) February 23, 2015

by asking a simple question:

@JeffersonBethke He mocks Christians. Did you share the Gospel?
— Jessica Lam (@jessicamarie419) March 1, 2015

She went on later that afternoon to respond to another Tweet from Mr. Bethke that mentioned he and his wife’s upcoming podcast:

@JeffersonBethke @alyssajoybethke Yes, did you share the Gospel with Macklemore who mocks Christ?
— Jessica Lam (@jessicamarie419) March 1, 2015

If you were thinking Mrs. Lam would receive an answer to this very simple question for a Christian leader, you would be wrong. Instead, she experienced first-hand how many celebrity pastors and Christians respond to sincere, Bible-based questions regarding things they have posted on social media:

Blocked by Jefferson Bethke ✔ No longer can you ask someone a question without being blocked. pic.twitter.com/tdWhoKqMUH
— Jessica Lam (@jessicamarie419) March 2, 2015

That’s right, Mrs. Lam was immediately blocked by Jefferson Bethke upon her asking him if he shared the Gospel with someone who openly mocks Christians and is hostile to the Word of God. So much for being above reproach.

Some of you might be saying, “But Landon, it’s not like Mr. Bethke is a pastor or something. The qualifications for an overseer (1 Timothy 3) don’t apply to him!” My dear friends, if this is what you’re thinking, you are dead wrong. Ever since rising to Christian fame through his spoken word YouTube video, Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus, and subsequent book, Jesus > Religion, Mr. Bethke has been an influential teacher in modern-day Christianity; specifically influential amongst Millennials. The simple truth is that Mr. Bethke has positioned himself as a teacher of Christianity, someone who has authority and ability to teach the Word of God. As someone in that position, one would do well to be conscious of the Biblical requirements thereby added to their account.

Further, as Paul made clear to Titus (Titus 2:11-12), the Grace of God has appeared, in part, to train “us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions”. As someone who on his “About” page claims he is “…quite the avid grace lover,” should he not then make it a point to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions? And with that truth firmly established, should not Mr. Bethke then make it a point to renounce and warn about Macklemore and his promotion of ungodliness, worldly passions, and hostility toward the Word of God?

The obvious answer to those questions are yes, Jefferson Bethke should not only end his endorsement of Macklemore, he should make it a point to publicly renounce those previous endorsements and warn Christians to stay away from his music.

If you are unfamiliar with Macklemore, I will briefly explain why this man is not someone with whom Christians should associate. Macklemore is an American rapper whose real name is Ben Haggerty. Without diving into his complete discography, suffice to say that Mr. Haggerty has been a popular and influential musician in America since roughly the year 2012.

On his October 2012 album, The Heist, Macklemore voiced his support of LGBT rights and same-sex marriage in the song “Same Love”, which also condemns homophobia in mainstream hip-hop, society, and mass media.¹ On January 26, 2014, Macklemore performed Same Love at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, where Queen Latifah read marriage vows for 33 couples (both gay and straight) who lined the aisles. “This is a love song, not for some of us but for all of us,” she said, followed by an appearance from Madonna singing “Open Your Heart”.² Further, Macklemore was criticized for a performance he gave at Seattle’s Experience Music Project in May 2014 where he was dressed as a stereotypical Jew.³

Despite claims to the contrary, even from the man himself, Macklemore is a religious person and, as illustrated in the previous paragraph, does seek to convey his version of religion through his music. Have a look at some of his lyrics:

Playing God, aw nah here we go:
America the brave still fears what we don’t know.
And “God loves all his children” is somehow forgotten,
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago.

Further, in this track released in 2009, Macklemore trades verses with fellow rapper Geological about the church and its lack of spiritual connection:

The word of our God is manipulated and twisted by the same system
That has infiltrated and falsely interpreted Jesus.
One life, one love, one God, it’s us, treated your neighbor how you would want to be treated.
The universal laws of God, don’t look too far, it’s right here, us human beings.
The spirit’s right here and I don’t have to see it.
Now every time I want to connect with God I put my headphones on. . . .
All right see, I be going to Sunday school every week
In the back trying to read, but see that something was off.
Maybe it was cause I was trying to huddle in the yard.
Preacher didn’t connect when he would mumble the Psalms.

Tyler Day of ChristianCentury.org summed this up well when he asked how we could categorize Macklemore’s theology. Ethical humanism with a tinge of anthropomorphic universalism?

Maybe it’s best we don’t. At one point he calls rap “an accurate representation of who people are as individuals and the environment that they grew up in.” The same may be true of Macklemore’s theology: it’s an accurate representation of a culture of seekers, the spiritual but not religious, the label repellent. They use traditional language to speak of new forms and subjective reality. They prefer a bar to a church. Because as Macklemore says in “Neon Cathedral,” “Round here they sing broken hymns. /Their prayers flow better when they’re soaked in gin.”⁴ In other words, this man is a postmodern to the core.

Should any Christian be endorsing this guy? Absolutely not! Why, then, is Jefferson Bethke not only endorsing Macklemore and his assault on the Christ Mr. Bethke claims to profess, but subsequently blocking anyone who dare ask that very question? The problem lies within the theology of what made Mr. Bethke a Christian celebrity in the first place and what Andy Stanley has recently decided to adopt; this idea that church is bad and Jesus is good. It’s the theology that the church is preventing people from “making decisions for Jesus” and thus inherently denies the sovereignty of God.

In a Twitter post back in February of 2013, Mr. Bethke was asked what he thought of Macklemore:

@dartise @macklemore love him. Look up to him a ton as an artist & someone who's honed his craft. Also helps we both from/live in Seattle!
— Jefferson Bethke (@JeffersonBethke) February 5, 2013

He looks up to a man who hates God and mocks Christians all in the name of “tolerance”? Really? When then confronted about how Macklemore’s music in any way glorifies God he responded:

@jason_huntrods how did the pagan quotes that the apostle paul quoted in Acts 17 answer all those questions u just asked?
— Jefferson Bethke (@JeffersonBethke) February 5, 2013

As Mr. Huntrods correctly went on to point out, Paul is addressing non-believers, not Christians. He’s also presenting the Gospel, not making general statements – context is important. Why should Christians buy the next Macklemore album to hear about their hypocrisy and failure when God gave us His inerrant, infallible, and thoroughly sufficient Word?

Please understand I am in no way making a judgment regarding Mr. Bethke’s eternal salvation and whether or not he is a brother in Christ, that is not my place. But as a high-profile professing believer, it distresses me greatly that he would not answer a simple Biblical question and instead opt to run away from the concern.

Unfortunately, this is the new norm when it comes to high-profile Christian leaders; they publicly post and/or present something anti-Biblical, ecumenical, or theologically incorrect and when their public teaching is challenged publicly, they either run away (block the person) or turn and launch an aggressive reputation-smearing campaign and incorrectly label the challenger a hypocrite and a Pharisee. Sure doesn’t seem very “loving”, does it?

Thus, it is reasonable to ask why, as a Christian leader, Mr. Bethke continues to endorse an unregenerate man and his anti-biblical, God-hating music to Christians.

With the evidence presented, Christians would do well to personally ask Jefferson Bethke why he gets his inspiration from someone who hates God and beg of him to repent and turn from such filth.

Just don’t be surprised when you you are ignored and bear the brunt of the banhammer.

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Addressing Critics of the Discerning - Part 1

Once in a while, I'll have a conversation with a pastor, usually a Southern Baptist pastor, who has read some of my articles, and find it puzzling that I would be calling out such leaders as Russell Moore or Ronnie Floyd. What I often notice however, is that while most of the time this pastor will be a very Gospel-focused pastor, and has no interest in leading their flock astray, is that many times they either have no idea what our leaders are involved in, or they have a weak or soft view on troubling issues such as ecumenism or heresies in the church, or an improper understanding of the purpose of the Protestant Reformation. I would like to address some of these misconceptions here that I am often faced with by critics of my point of view. In this article, I will be addressing some of the misconceptions as it applies to our leaders cozy-ing up with the papacy. I may address some other misconceptions in other articles, concerning other errors, such as mysticism, charismania, and word-faith heresies entering the SBC unchecked. This is in no way meant to be an offense against such pastors who are truly dedicated to God's work, it is only meant to address criticisms that I regularly receive from those who may not have a full understanding of what's at stake.

Misconception # 1: Russell Moore, Rick Warren, etc, going to the Vatican could be a good thing because they "may" be taking the Gospel to those who need it, and agreement on moral issues is a plus for the work of Christ. Agreement on moral issues doesn't necessarily constitute endorsement.

Response # 1: The problem isn't with our agreement on a moral truth, it's with the fellowship aspect of our actions. Ephesians 5:11 says "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." The word translated as "fellowship" here in this context is the Greek word "sugkoinoneo." According to Thayer, it primarly means "to become a partaker together with others," and according to Strongs, "to share in company," or "to co-participate."

This is exactly what our leaders are doing. They are "co-participating" with a false church on spiritual endeavors. They are becoming "partakers" with the RC on moral issues, and the reason we are commanded NOT to do so is because it's damaging to the Gospel. While we can stand on one side of the aisle, and say "I agree with the pope on the sanctity of marriage, I cannot stand with you on spiritual endeavors because we do not agree on the essentials." We cannot be willing to compromise the Gospel by publicly taking a stance in which it seems we are in full communion with an apostate church. Being "salt and light" entails standing apart from the darkness, and exposing the darkness, not joining in, co-mingling with, having fellowship with, and praying darkness.

We should be evangelizing all Roman Catholics, and calling them to repentance, and to leave the RC church, yet instead, we have leaders of the SBC doing the following:

• Al Mohler declaring "there are millions of Christians in the Catholic church." - source
• Russell Moore blogging: "I disagree with the primacy of the papacy, however, I agree with the pope on the Gospel, and other issues..." (paraphrased) - source
• Russell Moore - "I'm unsure of the differences between my and the pope's gospel focus." - more info
• Russell Moore tweets: "@pontifex is a very good choice for @Time person of the year." - view tweet here
• Then we have Rick Warren tweeting:

This is not being salt and light, and standing apart from darkness, preserving the truth and exposing the error. This is ecumenism at it's best. Ecumenism is today what the inquisition used to be. It's an effort to unify the world's religions under the authority of the pope, and unfortunately the SBC's leadership is slowly taking us in that direction.

Misconception # 2: While I disagree with many of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, I also disagree that the whole church is Apostate, and that there are many who are saved in the Catholic church.

Response # 2: The official doctrines of Rome are designed, by nature, to FORBID you from believing the true Gospel. Take for example the following quotes from the official doctrines of the Catholic Church:

"If anyone says the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, let him be anathema." -Canon 9, Sixth Session, Council of Trent

The Catholic Church, "condemns with anathema those who say that indulgences are useless or that the Church does not have the power to grant them." - Sacred Liturgy, Chapter IV, paragraph 8, Vatican Council II

By believing these doctrines, one cannot be saved, as they are diametrically opposed to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Other damnable heresies of the Catholic church include, but are not limited to:
• The Catholic church is the one true church - CCC 2105
• Infallibility of the Catholic Church - CCC 2035
• Only the Roman Catholic Church has authority to interpret Scripture - CCC 100
• The Pope is the head of the church and has the authority of Christ - CCC 2034
• The Roman Catholic Church is necessary for salvation - CCC 846
• Sacred Tradition equal to scripture - CCC 82
• Forgiveness of sins, salvation, is by faith and works - CCC 2036
• "Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods." - CCC 2027
• Penance is necessary for salvation - CCC 980
• Purgatory a necessity for cleansing our sins - CCC 1031, CCC 1475
• The Communion elements become the actual body and blood of Christ - CCC 1374, CCC 1376

If someone is Roman Catholic, and they do end up coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, they will ultimately have no choice but to leave the Roman Catholic church, once they realize that what their church is teaching is contrary to the truth.

Misconception # 3: Luther and the reformers really didn't believe that the Roman Catholic Church was a "false church." They only sought to correct some of the errors that they saw in the church. They did not believe the RCC was apostate, and neither should we.

Response # 3: It is true, that Luther, who is widely held (yet debatable for another time) to be the originator of the "Protestant" Reformation originally only sought to bring to light what he viewed as error in his church. However, Luther is not the be-all-end-all of the reformation. He may not have used the exact term "false church," but the sentiments were certainly there. Consider the following quotes from Luther and the reformers:

"We here are of the conviction that the papacy is the seat of the true and real Antichrist...personally I declare that I owe the Pope no other obedience than that to Antichrist." - Martin Luther

"The oracles of God foretold the rising of an Antichrist in the Christian Church: and in the Pope of Rome, all the characteristics of that Antichrist are so marvelously answered that if any who read the Scriptures do not see it, there is a marvelous blindness upon them." - Cotton Mather

"that tyranny which the pope himself has for so many ages exercised over the church" and that the pope should be recognized as "the very antichrist, and son of perdition, of whom Paul speaks." (Taken from The Zurich Letters, pg. 199 by John Knox.)

John Wesley said of the papacy,

"He[the pope] is in an emphatical sense, the Man of Sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly styled the Son of Perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers... He it is...that exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped...claiming the highest power, and highest honour...claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone." -Antichrist and His Ten Kingdoms by John Wesley, pg. 110.

and consider the Westminster confession of faith:

CHAPTER XXV PARAGRAPH VI. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.

One thing we have to remember is that the reformers were undoing thousands of years of false doctrine. Most had been raised and trained in the Catholic church, and it was a major deal for them to stand up against the pope, and the doctrines of Rome. Although most of the reformers were still flawed in much of their doctrine, the fact that they took a bold stance to seek the truth, and expose the error says much of them, and their character. They did not have several hundred years of expositional preaching, and biblical commentary, and established doctrine to help shape their understanding of biblical truths. They, for the most part, started from scratch, and even started with the process of translation. We owe it to these brave men, and to Jesus Christ who is in control of all things, not to work against the reformation, and concede to Rome, but to continue to stand against it, and expose their error. We should not tolerate our leaders today holding hands with the mother of apostates, we should be holding them accountable for doing so.

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God's Purpose Still Served With False Teachers?

Have you ever sat and watched a sermon by a pastor like Steven Furtick, or Andy Stanley? Have you ever really just sat and listened to them preach. It's easy to be drawn in to the charismatic mood changing, emotionally driven style of speech or worship. They quote from Scripture, and speak with such compassion that you wonder, how could someone so passionate about what they're saying be so off? Someone that seems so dedicated to their teachings, so caring and so loving towards their congregations, how can they be so far removed from the truth? Does God actually allow teachers who are truly dedicated to him and his word to be raised up, undisciplined, and allowed to shepherd a flock of such magnitude, but without any accountability to his truth? Can a false teacher be saved, and just be wrong, or are these truly wolves in sheep's clothing who are on their way to Hell?

Ever since the fall of God's creation through Adam, man has been a slave to sin (Romans 5:12). Sin affects every aspect of our lives. It affects the way we think, the way we feel, and the way we perceive things, understand things, and communicate. It affects our desires and our motives and our purposes. Apart from Christ, we are inseparable from sin. Yet God has chosen to allow sin to flourish, without an immediate end to it. Instead of instantaneously stopping sin, he has chosen to redeem us through Christ, yet allowing sin to continue, while we suffer the temporal consequences of it. As a result of our sin, 1 Corinthians 2:14 says "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." Apart from God, man in his own state of sin will not, can not, accept the truth. 

So why do so many false teachers seem to be so caring, passionate, and sincere?

Steven Furtick: Taking a defensive stance against Bible-belivers

One thing you will notice with false teachers, is that they always want to downplay the importance Scripture places on warning against false teachers. You may hear defenses like "The Bible doesn't say a whole lot about false teachers, so we really shouldn't be too concerned with it," or "Christians need to stop bickering and judging each other, and just be more loving and Christ-like." Some false teachers, like Beth Moore, will refer to their critics as "scoffers," who are "stopping unity." Christine Caine twists Scripture to make a point about an unbiblical form of unity. Steven Furtick (left) refers to them as "haters," and says that they are afraid of change, or afraid of anything that is "new" and "different." But they always make it sound like anyone that is against them, or their unbiblical teachings, are somehow working against God and his people. However, this common unifying trait among false teachers is necessary to be able to survive, and to even thrive within the visible church. They have to devalue the importance of biblical discernment while making it look like they are being more discerning by doing so. It's trickery.

They must also maintain control and dominion over their congregations. If you remember the story of Jezebel, one of her characteristics was to maintain spiritual control over people. When she became queen, she eradicated all of God's prophets, and replaced God's altars with those of Baal (1 Kings 18:4, 13). But she didn't just take control of people by force. She was cunningly deceptive. Her doctrine (1 Kings 21:1-29), cleverly penned The Jezebel Doctrine, is strikingly similar to what we know today as the Prosperity Gospel. This false  prophetess seduced her husband Ahab by only "prophesying" good things, and endorsing covetousness. Teachers and pastors who are seduced by these spirits maintain that they are 100% right, and can not be corrected.

These people can stand in front of crowds, and draw real emotional responses—tears. They appeal to the worldly senses of people, and carnal desires of their nature. Their impassioned speeches are often intertwined with a seemingly supernatural sense of urgency, co-opted with breathlessness, sweating, and even cracking voices that to the average person, seems surreal in nature. This person "must" be passionate about God, one thinks. But the Bible says that even Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). False teachers are very good at deception (Matthew 24:23–27), and have many tactics that they use to carry out their sinful desires (2 Peter 3:3), and more often than not, they don't even realize they are false teachers, as they have been deceived themselves (2 Tim 3:13). The fact of the matter is, they are passionate about what they are saying, and they do, for the most part, believe it. They are in fact so passionate about it, that they will use whatever method they deem necessary to get you to believe it as well, and this most often involves evoking your emotions through deceitful tactics.

Can false teachers be saved?

First, I want to be clear, I'm not referring to the average preacher, or bible teacher, who sincerely has a desire to see people be saved, but has some minor doctrinal errors that don't affect one's salvation. I'm referring to those who deliberately and unrepentantly teach a message contrary to the Gospel of salvation by grace. Those teachers who, for example, would lead people into believing that they are saved, apart from Christ's teachings. Like Beth Moore who leads Catholic's into believing they are part of Christ's church, or Steven Furtick, who leads people to believe they are saved when they pray a prayer or are spontaneously baptized. The Bible teaches that those teaching these doctrines are the enemy of the Gospel. 2 Peter 2:1 says:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

Scripture also teaches that those who are truly saved do not depart from the faith (1 Cor. 15:1-2). It seems to me that teaching a false teachings would be a departure from the faith. The Bible refers to saved people as "believers" (Acts 5:14; 1 Tim. 4:12). But if you are teaching and/or believing something contrary to the truth, how can you be a believer? This isn't to say that a false teacher can't ultimately repent and be saved, but you can't be teaching a false Gospel while believing the true one. One of the attributes of a saved person is the act of God's discipline on his children.

Hebrews 12:7-8 says:

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

God disciplines his children, his believers, just like we discipline our own children. We don't generally go around disciplining other people's children. As with God, he doesn't go around disciplining those who are not adopted into his family through Christ. I'm not saying he doesn't punish, but punishment and discipline are two different things. Discipline is to correct inappropriate behavior. False teachers generally do not correct our behavior, they generally breed more deception.

Punishment, on the other hand, is God's wrath. God hates those who are contrary to his nature (Psalm 5:4-6; 11:5, Proverbs 6:16-19), and desires to take his wrath out on them. The Book of 1 Kings, Chapter 11, Solomon's heart was turned against God, and God raised up an adversary against him. This was for the purpose of tearing Solomon's kingdom away from him. So we know that God does raise up enemies, but this enemy was raised up for the purpose of God's wrath. Do false teachers serve the purpose of God's wrath? Does God raise up false teachers to serve his purpose of turning over the unrighteous to their sinful lusts and desires? I'll leave it with this Scripture, Romans 1:18-31:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

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A Response to Chris Lyons' Response

A very spiritually discerning friend, and fellow blogger, Landon Chapman, posted an article on the Pulpit and Pen website entitled Christians Attack Their Own In the Name of Love: The Plight of Practicing Biblical Discernment. The purpose of the article was to basically outline the path he has taken from first having his eyes of discernment opened, and being overzealous, to where he is now, a more mature, humble follower of Christ. After posting a link to this article on on his Facebook page, one commenter, by the name of Chris Lyons (of CRN.info) had the following to say, and I will address it point by point.

Landon, this is one of those things where I really have to wonder if you have all that much self-awareness or an understanding of irony. Probably the best way to sum it up would be "Physician, heal thyself." However, I know you are speaking from a place of pain (some real, some imagined), so self-reflection is hard, if not impossible. 

First of all, Lyons is making an assumption here that Landon is speaking from a position of pain. Why is he assuming this? Is there something he knows about Landon's past that could prove to be painful? Just what could this "place of pain" be? Could it be the deception, or the watered down Gospel he heard at his former Church in which Lyons is still a member of? Could this place of pain be Landon's earnest, tireless desperation to get the true Gospel out to those who need to hear it, and expose the enemy of the Word of God. To expose those teachings that lead people to an even more painful place, a place of rejection and eternal separation from God?

Secondly, Landon clearly laid out in his article that he is examining himself, and his motives. Lyon's appears to be taking the same liberal stance of "judge not," while leaving the entire context of the totality of Scripture out of the argument. He cunningly does this by appealing to this assumed "place of pain," while pleading to take on the role of caretaker here, and imagining himself to be the one thinking clearly and providing logic and reason to an otherwise out of control situation.

The biggest issue is that you assume your "discernment" is biblical, and your analysis reasonable. In your case, specifically, you've not really left the "cage stage" and you've eisegeted your own justification.

I don't think Landon "assumes" anything. I think Landon is a cautious student of God's Word, who only seeks to Glorify God. Yet Lyons is hypocritical in his assumption, since he provides no biblical reason of why Landon's discernment is unbiblical. However, Lyons must be unfamiliar with passages such as Romans 16:17-18, Ephesians 5:11, Galatians 1:6-9, Colossians 2:8, Matthew 7:15, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, 1 John 4:1, Jude 1:4, etc. etc. etc... or perhaps Lyons takes an allegorical hermeneutic approach to Scripture, and these passages don't really apply to us today, or don't really mean what they say. I'm just assuming.

In general, 99% or more of online "discernment" "ministries" (including, especially, P&P) are neither "discerning", nor "ministries" (in the sense that they are doing anything of substance to further the kingdom of God). They have become tools to divide and attack the Body of Christ over non-primary issues.

I'm glad he is able to come up with these statistics on the fly like that. Wow, 99%, huh. Well Lyons, what exactly do you consider to be a primary issue? Lyons has a misunderstanding of what causes divisions in the Kingdom. It isn't discerning individuals who stand up for the truth, it's false teachers (Romans 16:17) According to Lyons website, his mission appears to be unity among professing Christians, and attacking people who he refers to as "discerners." While the very premise of his argument is that "discerners," like Landon, create divisions among believers by "attacking those whom are already saved," he takes the hypocritical stance of reciprocating the attacks. Except, while Landon's concern is people being led astray, fed a false Gospel that leads someone to Hell, Lyons is more concerned with people standing around holding hands and singing Kumbaya in their descent to Hell.

They mistake "state boundaries" (denominational differences) for "National boundaries" (differences between Christianity and non-Christianity). They mistake "lost sheep" for "goats" and pastors of other flocks as "wolves". They, themselves, are cancers in the Body of Christ, much like the Judiazers in the Acts church (except now, secondary dogmas have replaced circumcision as the argument of choice). 

But the concept that Lyons just can't quite seem to grasp here is that simply because someone claims the name of Christ, doesn't make them Christians. The Biblically exegeted definition of a Christian is someone who is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Lyons doesn't seem to be concerned that other sects, like Catholicism, or the Unification Church,  teach a gospel that is contrary to the Word of God, and lo and behold, if someone biblically-minded, like Landon warns people against these errors, then they are just "cancers in the church." Lyons wants the "discerners" to ignore Ephesians 5:11, and instead, have fellowship with unbelievers, and ignore their grave errors.

They mistake simple homiletic devices for heresy (like with the recent unsubstantiated attacks on Andy Stanley's current sermon series) and have absolutely no understanding of "charitable reading" (a la 1 Cor 13) when hearing something other than a rigid, Reformed exposition. They also mistake the differences, as do you, between people, personalities, and ideas, and seek to "warn" against and "condemn" people, rather than simply ideas. 

"Homiletic devices" like teaching people to come to church and follow Christ's teachings, even without knowing him as your Savior or as the Son of God, so you can have a better life? Why? Just so you can die and go to Hell afterwards? Perhaps Lyons doesn't know that Christ's teachings included him being the Son of God, and the Savior, and apart from him there is no life, but only weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).

As I said to you, submission isn't submission if you only do it when you agree. And becoming a freelance "discerner" when you don't have the agreement of your own leaders to be a "discerner" for others in your own church, smacks of arrogance, not any sort of "biblical discernment" - even if you are right!

First off, how does Lyons know what the leaders of Landon's local church approve of or not? Has he forgotten that Landon left the heretical, man-pleasing, ear-tickling mega-church, Connection Pointe, to become a part of a bible-based, Gospel-centered church? A church that seeks to please God, rather than man? And, if any church, or local congregation is a true church, then Jesus Christ will be the supreme leader of that church, and the church's authority will be the Word of God, in which Landon's submission to is first and foremost.

Part of the problem, though, is within much of Western Christianity, where we have made the Gospel little more than a viral campaign for fire insurance to no earthly purpose. We decry pragmatism within the church, but we've taken the most pragmatic approach to the Kingdom of God by making it about "saving souls for heaven/from hell someday", when the primary import is stated plainly at the beginning of the Lord's Prayer: Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.

This twisting of theology here just proves Lyon's concern isn't about the eternal salvation of souls, but with making the world a better place to live. Jesus says in Matthew 10:34, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." The Great Commission of the Church is to go out and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20), by preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial atoning death on the Cross. These are the essentials, not unity among false converts and false teachers. Lyons is right that Lord's prayer states the primary import of the Church, but Lyons clearly does not understand the passage he quoted. Does Lyons think that somehow there will be unbelievers in Heaven? God's purpose does not include any unrighteousness in his kingdom, and the only way to be declared righteous is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, by faith in his sacrificial death, and believing that he rose again to conquer death. You must believe the Gospel... the true Gospel, not a false Gospel, otherwise, you are building a false kingdom, on false premises, that lead to a false savior.

I realize you're probably past the point of accepting any advice at this point I your life, but I believe, as do a lot of folks, that you have an incredible amount of potential and an enviable zeal that could be used for the good of the Kingdom, if you would only train your eyes on your own self for now, and leave the "wolf-detection" to the selected shepherds in your own local community, wherever that may be. 

If only you could see that Landon's eyes, by the grace of God, have been opened to the truth, he has now chosen a path of total submission to Christ and his Word. While God disciplines his believers reguarly, those who are not truly saved will ultimately be turned over to their own sinful desires. I would pray for you Chris Lyons, for you to examine your heart, in light of clear teaching of Scripture, through the entirety of Scripture, that you would see Jesus Christ for who he is. He is our holy and righteous judge, yet merciful enough to give his life for us on the cross, and if you don't have the urgency to take this message of truth to all the ends of the world, then what are you in it for? This life is temporary. Eternal life is forever.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. - 1 Corinthians 1:18

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