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

Be sure to Like my Facebook Page.

Read more

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.

Click for Larger Image

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.

Read more

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

Read more

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.

Read more

The Devil's Old Manifesto: Enter the New Age

"I don't think I'm evil," she says, irritated that she is being pressed on her beliefs. "The heart of man is not wicked, and being taught that will definitely keep you from seeking it." She goes on to say that God has given us an "inner compass," and that we are not encouraged to follow it, because of religious beliefs. This was a conversation I had with my beloved mother not too long ago. She has come to the conclusion that human beings are not inherently evil, and therefore, do not need a savior. What Christians would view as evil is generally rationalized as illusory, or ignorance, and not the fault of humankind.According to her belief system, all we have to do is get in touch with our inner "God," and we can move on to the next level of consciousness—Christ-consciousness. God is in us, God is us. We can become one with God, a God who is an unconscious, impersonal, creative force, in which manifests itself in nature and material, and various gods throughout history. 

This is the typical thought process of those who have been seduced and indoctrinated by the New Age. But is this really a "new" concept? Satan has been using this line of deception since the beginning of creation. When God created Adam and Eve, and placed them in the Garden of Eden, he told them that they could eat from any tree, except for one. God told them that their disobedience to him, the fulfillment of their selfish desires, would cause them to die. But the serpent beguiled them into trying to find satisfaction apart from God, and they disobeyed and ate. Satan told them that God wasn't being truthful with them, and that by eating the fruit, they would become like God himself, that eating of the fruit wasn't evil, but good, and that God was trying to hide this "truth" from them. This lie in the Garden forms the basis of all false religious systems today, including the New Age.

This seduction into this esoteric (hidden) knowledge is central to most cults, Eastern mystic religions, and the New Age.  This idea that man is becoming God, is God, or God is in man is taught in Hinduism, Taoism, and even Roman Catholicism, a false religious system masquerading as Christianity. Even Buddhism and Atheist religions to a certain extent teach a type of humanistic self-worship. This concept is known as pantheism. As part of this teaching, evil is usually said not to exist or is rationalized as ignorance, caused by evil spirits rather than man, and should be warded off using mystical means. It's also taught to be part of a dualistic oneness composed of good and evil, a Yin and Yang, so that in reality there is no good or evil, just opposing equal forces. But the Bible teaches that evil is sin, a rebellion against God the creator, a pursuit of satisfaction apart from him (Matthew 5:19, Proverbs 8:13, John 3:19-20, John 8:44, 1 John 3:8).

Sadly, even prominent Evangelicals are dabbling in this divination. Rick Warren is probably one of the most well known Evangelical pastors of today, yet his ministry tends to lead people into the practice of forbidden things. He encourages the use of Breath Prayers in his book, The Purpose Driven Life (pp. 89, 299) and on his web site, Pastors.com, contemplatives Richard Foster, Philip Yancey, Charles Stanley and many more are recommended. He has had well known New Age sympathizer Leonard Sweet train pastors at his church, and another in Atlanta in 2008. Other prominent Evangelicals that practice divination, and claim to channel direct revelations from God are Matt Chandler, Beth Moore, Mark Driscoll and Steven Furtick (2 Peter 2:1). Yoga is now regularly practiced in many Evangelical churches and accepted as normal (2 Timothy 3:5).

The creative force, or principle, the God of the New Age who has deceived so many is generally believed to be unrelational, that is, it doesn't deal directly with it's creation, or "manifestation," and that the various gods, or ascended masters are responsible for the relations with creation. God is not a conscious being, and cannot be known. As part of this philosophy, man can achieve his own "god-hood" by following the paths of these god-manifestations and by simply becoming aware of your inner-god. When one becomes aware of his own inner-self, he becomes one with God. This is also a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church:

460 The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature":78 "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God."79 "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God."80 "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods."81

Image of the False 'New Age Jesus'

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ became man so that man can become God. This brings us back to the original lie of the serpent, that we can be God. This is the same concept that the New Age religion teaches. It teaches that Jesus Christ, among others like Buddah, Krishna, Muhammed, etc., were all teachers who had achieved their god-hood by becoming aware of their inner-self, and becoming one with the divine, impersonal creative force.

However, the practical methods of achieving this self-awareness is subjective, and is accomplished in a multitude of ways. Among the easiest of these ways is through the use of hallucinogenic drugs. This is typically an introductory way of achieving an altered state of consciousness that leaves the user curious, and longing for more. Some of the more advanced techniques, however, require much practice and self control, and involve the use of meditative techniques, such as Yoga. When entering into these altered states of consciousness, the person will usually have an euphoric spiritual experience, which leads them to believe that they have uncovered some kind of spiritual truth. But this "truth" is a deception. What New Agers fail to realize is that even the human desire for hidden knowledge is a result of our fallen state.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." This isn't because God is trying to hide good things from us, he is simply protecting us. He knows that the spiritual realm is filled with demons who want our souls. This is why he tells us to stay away from practicing divination or other spiritual paths that he has allowed (Deuteronomy 18:9-12, Leviticus 19:31, 2 Kings 21:6). It is our natural desire as sinful human beings to try to find fulfillment outside of God, and guess who's there to exploit our sin? Satan.

Satan knows that our fallen hearts are deceitful, and wicked, and he will never miss an opportunity to pounce on that. Satan desires the worship of humans and will do anything to get that. The Bible says that Satan masquerades around as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). Satan has created an entire world full of religious systems that are devoted to worshiping him. One of the common beliefs between all of the world's religious systems, including Buddhism and the New Age is that there will come another "Christ," known as the Maitreya, who will lead the world into the Age of Aquarius. The general consensus among the followers of this religion is that we are on the verge of this right now, and this Maitreya is actually already living in the world right now, waiting to be called out by his people. He is allegedly making private appearances to people, and performing miracles. But the Bible teaches that this Maitreya is the Antichrist. The bible says about the antichrist:

He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. - Revelation 13:13-14

After the rapture, those left on the earth will be conditioned to believe in the lying signs and wonders he performs. He will perform a fake resurrection, which will bring awe to the world, and since the world has rejected the true Savior, Jesus Christ, they will readily accept Satan's substitute, the Antichrist, and the world will worship him.

5And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,a that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.b And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. - Revelation 13:5-8

So many people have been deceived into believing the lie, and unfortunately many will take this lie to their grave. This is exactly where the Devil wants you; he wants you to believe that you are a good person, and that you don't need a savior. He wants you to believe that Christianity is a dark force that tries to keep you from following your "good" heart. He wants you to trust in your self, rather than in Christ Jesus, because he knows that Christ Jesus is the only true path to eternal life.

7Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 or the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Be sure to download the Psalm 12 Outreach App for Android. It has many new features, including live Twitter feeds, Articles, Facebook feeds, and now includes Voice in the Wilderness Radio, and updates from Entreating Favor, Pulpit and Pen and #the15.



Also please be sure to like my Facebook Page.

Read more

T.D. Jakes: God's Grace is Like ''Supply and Demand''

Word of Faith preacher, Bishop T.D. Jakes, of the Potter's House in Dallas, TX, proclaims that God is at the mercy of our appetite, and our hearts, to do his will. In opposition to Romans 9:15-16 where it says

for he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

He goes on to say "you can't teach someone who ain't looking, you can't draw an illustration for somebody who won't watch, and "that we are at the mercy of the appetite of the people....and so is God."  He goes on to proclaim that "as strong and as powerful as God is, he is at the mercy of our hunger.

Read more

Don't Ask That in Church!

Do you ever feel sidelined at your church? Everyone going about their business, actively participating in programs, teaching Sunday School classes, men's groups, women's groups, kid's activities, you name it. You want to be involved, but you have that feeling in you, that you can't share what you want to talk about, or bring up your thoughts or ideas, because nobody else gets it. Do you feel like you can't bring up certain subjects to your pastor, or your Sunday School teacher, because they just brush it aside? It's because they either don't understand it, don't think it's important, or are just flat out uncomfortable getting into it.

You faithfully go to church every Sunday, go to your class, and it seems like every day, it's the same mundane, cursory lessons. Constantly going over the basics—the milk. You've tried changing classes, more than once, but you just can't seem to get into a group that's interested in the meat. Lessons seem to be selectively simple, picking out passages that repeat the same basic, entry-level Christian concepts. Subjects like sharing the Gospel with others, loving one another, sin and repentance, living our daily lives as a witness, etc. Not that these aren't important topics, don't get me wrong, the Gospel is by far the most important topic. But as a general rule, if you're a born again Christian, you should already know the Gospel.

So why is it when you bring up for example, eschatology, the topic usually gets dismissed with a nice smile and a "that's a lesson for another day" type response, but then it never happens? Why can't we bring up and discuss topics such as the Antichrist, end times prophecy, false teachers, the New World Order and the harlot Church, that's being built right before our eyes? Everyone just wants to act like there's nothing going on, and just get on with their daily lives. But it's eating away inside some of us, who really need to be able to talk about these things with other Christians—other Christians who share the same interests on an intellectual level, and really want to dive deep into it. We want to know who the Nephilim are, and do they still exist today. We want to talk about how the Papacy relates to the New World Order, and how false teachers in our churches and denominations are helping to build this world system. We want to discuss topics like "who was Melchizedik," was he actually pre-incarnate Jesus, or just a type of Christ? What about freemasonry in the church? Don't you know that freemasonry is a Luciferian cult, and it's running rampant within both the Evangelical as well as Catholic church? What about the Jesuits, and their influence on the Evangelical church. Why is this never talked about? What about the Serpent Seed theory? This is a heresy that seems to be gaining vast popularity, but try asking your Sunday School teacher about that one. Chances are, he's probably never heard of it. Why don't we talk about how the New Age cults have managed to creep their old pagan ideas into the Church, and transform the church into a speeding vehicle for apostasy? Most of our church members have no idea what type of eastern mystic Satanic pillars are behind practices like Yoga or Contemplative Prayer, yet these are things that just aren't talked about. In many cases, these things are subtly promoted through false teachers like Beth Moore, Ann Voskamp and Tim Keller, within even the best of Bible-believing churches, simply because people aren't discerning, or just don't take the time to do any of the research. Why? Because most people are comfortable where they are.

When my (at the time, Catholic) wife and I first (re)started coming to our church a few years ago, my wife asked our Sunday School teacher (and deacon), in a Southern Baptist Church mind you, why Baptists don't baptize babies, and why they only baptize adults. His response, paraphrased: "I think it's because the the Bible requires it for church membership, and it's because Jesus commanded us to." Well, you can imagine how my wife took that response "seriously." It was at that time I knew we needed to find another class right away, in which we did, and eventually her questions were answered, and she was saved after hearing the Gospel preached by a faithful teacher. Nonetheless, even the most faithful of these teachers have their limits, and still won't seem to touch these outer edges. It's a sad state when Christians have to turn to internet forums and groups to get their spiritual meat.

We recently did a course in my church on Wayne Grudem's book, "Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know." Well, basic was definitely the right word. It was so basic, so boring that I couldn't hardly hold my eyes open during the class. And this was the advanced "Pastor's class." I don't want to make it sound like the pastors at my church are intellectually inferior in any way, trust me, they aren't. But it seems like the general consensus is that the members in the church need this basic milk, which is probably true, but there just isn't enough interest to set aside classes or groups for members who need more. But I know I can't be the only one longing for that, there must be others. But I just can't seem to find them. Everywhere I go, people are just so satisfied with where they are spiritually, and aren't longing for that meat.

The fact is, in most churches, intellectual Christians get shunned, they don't fit in, and many ultimately end up leaving the church altogether. If a Christian doesn't feel like they are being spiritually fed, and can't find a place to be spiritually fed, this is a problem. I'm not talking about unbelievers who deny the Gospel, and deny Christ. I'm talking about true, born again Christians, who have serious questions, and want to be spiritually fed on a deep level. They long for understanding, acceptance, and validation, but just can't seem to get that in church. But God gave us an entire Bible full of commands to seek out and study a vast array of topics, including what most would consider fringe topics. God created us in his image, with an intellect and a need to share in relationship with others. He gave us his Word, the Bible, with the basic essential doctrinal topics clearly laid out for us, but he also gave us the other, not-so-clear topics so that we could exercise our intellects, and get to know Him better. It keeps us focused on him, interested in him, and close to him. I believe that's why he reveals himself that way. It keeps us longing for more of him, and for some of us, much much more.

According to “The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy” by J. Barton Payne, there 1,817 prophecies in the Bible contained in 8,352 of the Bible’s verses. There are 31,124 verses in the Bible, making prophecy approximately 27 percent of the Bible. Now, how often do we study prophecy in the Church? Hardly any, especially prophecies that haven't been fulfilled yet. Without study, and clear teaching and understanding of these prophecies from solid Bible teachers, pastors and elders in our churches, this opens the door for false teachings to take over. That's the problem, there are more false teachers teaching prophecy than solid Bible teachers, and this is where people are getting their spiritual meat. The solid teachers are just telling people to stay away from the subject, and not to worry about it. But the Bible says otherwise. The very fist passage, verse 3 of the Book of Revelation says "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near." So why aren't our pastors reading and teaching it out loud? Why aren't we studying this in Sunday School classes? Why aren't students being taught these subjects in seminaries? Why don't more Christians care? Unfortunately, I think part of the problem people don't take it seriously is because they don't truly believe it, but also for many more, they just don't get it. Sadly, our teachers are robbing God's people of the blessed hope by ignoring it.

And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, - 2 Peter 1:19

Read more

Unity in the Church

I often hear church people say that we need to have more unity in the church. Unity, what does that mean? Well, it depends on who you ask. There is no question that the Bible teaches us that Christians are to be united, without divisions among us (1 Cor. 1:10), and that we are to be as one, as Chris is with the Father (John 17:21), and to be willing to maintain that unity peacefully (Eph. 4:30. But how are we suppose to apply this as Christians. There is certainly a great deal of bickering in the visible church. We have historically the Protestants arguing with Catholics, the charismatics arguing with the cessationists, the conservatives with the liberals, etc. Is this edifying to the church, or is it a distraction that draws attention away from the Gospel. Well, the short answer is both. Here's why.

First I'll start with what "unity" is not, as defined by the Word of God. Biblical unity among believers is not compromising the Word of God for the sake of apparent peace. In the High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus prays to the Father, asking him to grant unity among believers so that the world will see that unity, and know that believers are one with each other as he is with his father. But the key phrase here is "among believers" (John 17:20). He is not asking that we set our significant difference in beliefs aside, and join hands together in ecumenical prayer. No, he's asking that we all be united in the truth, being in full accord and of one mind (Phillipians 2:1-3), believing the same doctrinal truths, and taking these truths to the world.

There tends to be a great amount of backlash towards believers who are quick to rebuke other Christians who are in sin, or even false believers who are masquerading as Christians. The argument is that it distracts from the love of Jesus, but love is not the only quality of Jesus. Jesus came to bring truth, a sword (Matthew 10:34). Jesus did not come to tell everyone that they could believe what they wanted to believe, worship whatever idols they want to worship, and seek whatever God they wanted to seek, and as long as we stand in unity, everything would be fine. Jesus commanded us to expose false teachers within the church (Eph. 5:11), that they aren't really Christians, but ravenous wolves dressed in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). But sadly, there are many of these wolves running rampant in Evangelicalism, with very few willing to stand up and call them out. Yet, when they are called out, the talking heads of mainstream evangelicalism tend to bark back at the discerning Christians trying to obey God.

The Bible tells us not to have fellowship with unbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14). This means, we don't join hands with the false church of Rome, giving the appearance that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, in order to advance and protect the sanctity of marriage, or to protest against abortion. While these may be good things to stand up for, we must not compromise the Gospel in doing so. We must stand up against the atrocities of abortion, or protect the sanctity of marriage by taking the Word of God to the lost, condemning all sin, and proclaiming the good news of the cross to everyone. Being united in error is not what Christ wants for his church, and being united on false premises is not being united at all.

So what creates disunity in the church then if it's not the bickering and quarreling and the argument? Error. Error is what creates disunity in the church, and error must be corrected to regain that unity. Paul says in Romans 16:17, "I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them." Notice, he doesn't say to avoid the ones correcting the false doctrine, he's saying avoid those bringing false doctrine because they cause disunity. He doesn't say turn a blind eye and join up with them at prayer rallies to promote a political agenda. No, he says stay away from them, expose them for what they are—tools of Satan that cause disunity.

Lack of knowledge also creates divisions. According to the prophet Hosea, people are destroyed because of their lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). If we stand around, and allow people to believe whatever they want to believe, never correcting them, and never confronting their sin, the end is ultimate destruction. Although this may temporarily give the appearance of unity, it's a deception. In order to be united the way Christ wants us to be united, we must be constantly reproving error, and constantly drawing people closer to the truth according to the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16). We must correct those who mishandle Scripture, just like Jesus corrected Satan when he mishandled Scritpure (Matt 4:5-7).

Jesus says that those who teach and hold to false doctrines are worshiping him falsely (Matt 15:9). If we're standing in prayer with those caught up in false churches, false gospels, or a false Jesus, we may as well be holding to these false beliefs ourselves. The signers of the ecumenical document, Evangelicals and Catholics Together, obviously don't understand this concept. The signing of this false unification document has resulted in a watered down Gospel, and has led many unbelievers to believe that they are in right standing with God, regardless of their belief in another gospel (2 Cor 11:4).

We must unite around the truth alone. The truth of Scripture, the Word of God is the means of our unity, and Jesus Christ alone is the object of our unity. We can't know Jesus outside of his revealed word to us. The Church should be a pillar and a buttress of the truth (1 Tim 3:15). In this we must remain united. We must remain united in protecting that truth, and standing up for that truth. We must remain united in exposing the false teachers, and false doctrines. And we must remain united in our condemnation of sin, for without condemnation of sin, there is no salvation (Romans 6:23; Revelation 21:8). Finally, we must remain united in taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and passing the torch.

How good and pleasant it is
    when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
    running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
    down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
    were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
    even life forevermore. - Psalm 133

Read more

Russell Moore ''Doesn't Want to See Any Fewer Rosary Beads'' at the March For Life.

In 1973, in the wake of Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that invalidated abortion laws in 50 states, there was a small pro-life uprising. It began as a small demonstration and quickly became the largest pro-life event in the US, known as the March for Life. It's an annual event, that was just held two days ago, on Thursday, Jan 22. Now, the ecumenical sham organization Focus on the Family, and Evangelical Archbishop Russell Moore have teamed up to "initiate a massive movement of evangelicals present at the March for Life," in 2016.

Apparently, among the multitudes of religious organizations represented at the now ecumenical, unChristian, and unBiblical event yoking believers and unbelievers together for a political cause, there just aren't enough evangelicals setting aside the Gospel for his cause. Moore states:

Evangelicals are deeply involved in a variety of pro-life efforts in the United States, but they have been significantly underrepresented at the March for Life. That needs to change.

Now, don't get me wrong, being pro-life is a great cause, and working for a pro-life cause is definitely Biblical in and of itself, but as usual, Russell Moore takes it beyond doing the work of God, and uses it to press on for his ecumenical, "Social Gospel"-oriented agenda. Russell Moore never says that he wants to see more evangelicals at the event to call unbelievers to repentance--and unbelief is the real reason behind abortion. Russell Moore says he wants to continue to see plenty of Rosary beads and "Ave Maria" at the event, and please, don't let the Gospel stand in your way. In fact, his exact words were:

I don't want to see any fewer rosary beads at the March for Life, but I want to see more evangelicals here also at the March for Life, Our absence is a shame. And so we don't need any less 'Ave Maria,' but we need some more 'Amazing Grace' in the mix as well.

In other words, what he's essentially saying is, Catholics,  your belief system is no different than ours, and it's just as valid. Moore has already stated, when he went to the Vatican last year and compromised the Gospel in the name of Ecumenism, that he doesn't know the difference between the Pope's Gospel, and his own, yet this is the man that's in charge of one of the most well known offices of the largest Protestant denomination in the world, the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission. I don't argue that Evangelicals should be involved in the fight against abortion, but there is no rhyme or reason that we should be following Russell Moore in his fight against the Protestant Reformation and the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to do so. We do not have compromise God's Word to fulfill his Great Commission, and that is what we are called to do first.

---

Please Share this Article, and Also Please "Like" Us on Facebook.

Read more

Rejecting God?

Imagine you and your family on vacation in Aruba. The warm ocean breeze blowing gently in your hair, while the glittering pristine waters sparkle as far as the eye can see. You're all relaxing under a shady tree when you son decides he wants to cool off. He grabs his inflatable raft, kicks off his sandals, and darts towards the waters. "Ahhhhhh," that's refreshing. Stretched out on the raft, dead to the world, lost in only his blissful state of personal paradise, he begins drifting outward. Worriedly, you jump up to yell for him to come back to shore, but he's lost in his own world, and isn't listening. Though he can faintly hear your pleading for him to listen, he's overwhelmed with the sounds of the waves and the wind in his ears, and just doesn't want to bother with your hysteria. Then the inevitable, you see sharks. You begin frantically shouting at the top of your lungs for him to come back, but he's too far for you to swim. You grab a life raft with a rope, and toss it too him, but he's hopelessly lost, cast away in his own being.

Why won't he respond? Because he's so caught up loving what he's doing, loving himself, that he's blinded himself to the reality around him. Sadly, this is the state of many who reject the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the reality is, people that reject Jesus, reject him because they love sin. They love their lusts and immorality so much so, that they've rejected all notion of consequences for their choices, and continue in their ways to their destruction, and the last thing they want is a holy and righteous God impeding on what they believe is a "good time." But what they fail to realize is that they are already under God's judgement, and just because they have rejected him, doesn't mean they won't have to face him on judgement day. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 says "⁹The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved."Natural man does not seek God, or seek salvation from God. Psalm 53:2-3 says:

¹The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
²God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.

and Paul affirms this in his letter to the Romans;  "no one understands; no one seeks for God" (Romans 3:11). Man seeks to indulge himself in his own desires, and refuses to acknowledge that the desires of their heart are not only deceitful, but disastrous (Jeremiah 17:9). And any call to them to turn from their lustful and worldly desires are met with deaf ears, as this is total foolishness to them who are perishing (1 Cor. 1:18).
People are turned off to the saving grace of the cross for a number of reasons. Another reason may be simply that they don't understand the true Gospel. In man's natural, unregenerate state, one cannot understand the things of the Lord (1 Cor. 2:14). It takes an act of the Holy Spirit to open one's heart and mind to the spiritual knowledge of God. Perhaps someone has heard a false gospel at some point, for example, the "prosperity gospel." This false gospel teaches that by accepting Jesus, you now have Jesus at your disposal to meet the material needs, and shower material blessings upon you at your discretion. Your faith in him is reciprocated with "prosperity." Yet, when these things fail to happen, the unconverted person becomes discouraged, and loses interest. However, he continues to believe that this is what Christianity is, and has no interest in entertaining any concept of God, since his experience was typified. But when drilling this back down, it all boils down to the same root cause—the love of sin. These people were only looking to get something for themselves out of Jesus.
Another common reason people reject the word of God is pride. Their pride can be intellectual pride, or moral pride, but both are the transpired transgressions of a wicked and deceitful heart, and God hates it (Proverbs 8:13). The morally proud man stands in contrast to God's word, and refuses to believe that he is wicked (Romans 5:12, 2 Cor. 4:4). This is a typical standpoint from the New Age movement. The new age worldview teaches that there is no such thing as sin, evil or Satan, and stands on the pantheistic belief that God can be found in everyone and everything—all is one, all is God. This morally relative worldview is really not new at all, and stems from old Pagan and Eastern mystic religions, and is really no different from any other false Gospel. It's a belief that teaches than man is inherently good, and does not need a savior, but unfortunately for the lost, not believing in the law, or the transgression thereof, does not exempt you from accountability to that law. If a convicted murderer tells the judge that he doesn't believe that killing is wrong, nor does he believe that jail exists, he's going to have a huge surprise for waiting for him. Believing that we are not sinful is a lie of Satan (John 1:8). The truth is, because of Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden, man is now inherently evil, and nobody can stand blameless in front of God in his own right (Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:12, Ephesians 2:1, etc.)
Perhaps a more common form of pride is intellect. There is a major war being waged against Christianity, and has been since it's inception. The Word of God is attacked on every front, yet never defeated. But this doesn't stop the prideful intellect from believing that is has. The cohorts of the Vatican, Jesuitical influences and collegiate level criticism of the Bible have led many to believe that the text is corrupt, and is not the Word of God, but a false amalgamation of man-made stories. Many attempts have also been made to discredit the truth of the Bible, such as the false theory of evolution and the Big Bang theory. The proud intellect is too arrogant to believe that he may be wrong, and pretentiously buys into the attacks on God. These individuals are what Paul describes as "always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 3:7) They read and study constantly, making an idol out of knowledge, yet without the Holy Spirit, you can never know the truth.

Pride is a subtle, but serious sin—perhaps the most serious. Pride is inherently the cause of all wickedness, and causes us to rebel against God, and disobey him. Pride defiles man (Mark 7:20-23), but the world rewards it (1 John 2:16). Pride prevents people from receiving the truth (Psalm 10:4), and from receiving God's grace (James 4:6). But pride ultimately brings shame and destruction to people (Proverbs 11:2, 16:18-19, 29:23). Yet people cannot accept God, because they are deluded, and caught up in their desires of their heart. Jesus Christ is light, and he shines his light and exposes the wicked heart of man, which proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. Man will flee from this light for fear of having their deeds exposed (John 3:19-21). People want to continue in their sinful ways, and will attempt to rationalize their sin through their pride and arrogance.

¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” - John 3:19-21

The Greek word for translated as judgement here is "krisis," prounounced "kree'-sis," according to Thayer primarily means a trial, or tribunal, the act or process of judging rather than the sentence or punishment itself. As we can see, with Jesus being the light that shines on man's wickedness and exposes it, Jesus didn't come to bring judgement, but it is his very nature that is judging of our sin. His very nature is pure and holy, and when man's deeds are measured against his infinite righteousness, his deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). In order to be declared righteous by God, we must put on the righteousness of Jesus Christ himself, because only he is without sin (2 Cor. 5:21, Philippians 3:9). It is only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, by the only sinless man who ever walked the earth (1 Peter 2:22), who is fully God himself (John 1:14, Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 2:9), who took the punishment for our transgressions (1 Peter 2:24, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 53:5), so that whoever believes in him, shall be rescued from his deluded world, saved from his sin (Romans 6:6, 2 Cor. 5:17) and saved from eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46). We must turn from our idols of pride, intellect and delusion, and turn to Jesus Christ alone for our salvation.

¹⁷ Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. ¹⁹ They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self,[f] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. - Ephesians 4:17-24

Click here for a presentation of the Gospel.

Read more

The "Carnal Christian" and Reality

I often hear "Christians" say "God just wants us to enjoy life," or "Christians don't have to be so up tight all the time."  Not incidentally, this often comes from those who regularly indulge themselves in worldly things.  But sometimes, even the most well meaning, well behaving Christians will express this.  But is this really what God wants? Some Christians, or people who claim to be Christians, may regularly attend church, study God's word, and even participate in outreach programs or mission activities.  They may be able to quote Bible verses, and often pray with other Christians, or ask for prayer.  However, they only display these traits around other Christians.


Enter, the two faces of "Carnal Christianity."

These "Christians," though very knowledgeable, and very good actors, really haven't submitted their lives to Christ. When they aren't around other Christians who may be holding them accountable, they become a completely different person. (Or, should I say, return to being themselves?) Take for example, the Christian that loves NFL football.  Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with enjoying sports, or other interests for that matter, but when it causes a believer to not act like a believer, are you really a believer?  Are you sidelining your beliefs, putting them on hold, so you can fit in with the crowd you are watching the game with? Are you regularly skipping church service on Sunday mornings, because the football game is just too important?  I know a Christian who does this; He has no problem getting drunk, cussing, partying with a bunch of unbelievers, while never once extending the love or witness of Jesus Christ while, for example, watching the Superbowl. You would never know this person was a Christian if he didn't tell you, as there are no fruits.  I've heard from this person on many occasions that I'm just too up tight, boring, and that I "need to get a life," because I "spend too much time" studying God's word, and things that pertain to Christ.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?"  In other words, Christians aren't supposed to integrate with the world, we're supposed to stand apart from the world. Am I saying that we should not associate with non-Christians, or not have friends who aren't believers?  No, but I am saying that we aren't supposed to act like them.  We are supposed to be salt and light in a dark world of unrighteousness.  There are only two types of people in the world, consistently described throughout Scripture: people who belong to God, who have eternal life, and people who belong to the world and their god, Satan, who will have eternal death (Acts 26:18). The Greek word translated as fellowship throughout the Bible is Koinonia, and it primarily means "association, communion, joint participation." The Bible tells us repeatedly that we are supposed to have this fellowship only with like-minded believers, and that having it with unbelievers corrupts the mind and the soul of the believer. (Proverbs 12:26, Proverbs 13:20, Proverbs 14:7, Proverbs 24:21, 1 Cor. 15:33)

So, are you really a Christian, if you are only a Christian around other Christians? Charles Spurgeon once said, "Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite." If we aren't witnessing for Christ in our relationships with unbelievers, then we are being disobedient to God. Take a moment to think about your actions, and what they portray when you are around unbelievers. You cannot be devoted to both God, and things of the world (Mt 4:10, Mt. 6:24). As Christians, our delight is not in the world, but in God. (1st John 2:15-17)

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Our modern daily lives require us to be in constant contact with unbelievers.  We have coworkers, family members, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, who are totally lost, and on their way to Hell.  Jesus never tells us not to associate with these people, on the contrary, we are to love them, so much so, that we want them to know Christ as their savior too (Mark 16:15).  God does not want us to sit idly by, relax and have a good time, act like unbelievers and never take the Gospel to those who need it.  Sharing the Gospel is more than just talking it--it's living it!  When your boss sends you on that business trip to Las Vegas, and you're the only Christian in the group going, how does it serve the Kingdom to drink and gamble, and indulge in the sinful activities with others who don't believe? What motivation does an unbeliever have to know Christ if he sees no difference, no fruits from the supposed believer?  Doesn't this give the unbeliever a sense that joy in Christ isn't enough, that we still need to "let go and let loose" sometimes in order to be fulfilled?  It seems to me that this would tell the unbeliever that being a Christian is too much work, and requires breaks to be satisfied, but in reality, the true believer desires the things of God, and is repentant of their sins.  The true believer is fulfilled in Christ (John 4:14), and desires to do the will of God (Luke 6:45).  It is the natural desire of man to work evil, to do things that are displeasing to God (Matthew 15:19). But God has sent the Holy Spirit to live in those who are saved, and we no longer have the heart of man, but have a regenerated heart of Christ (John 7:38-39).

Now, we are still human, and all human beings will stumble, but if you find yourself regularly indulging in worldly activities, and you feel no guilt, no remorse, no need for repentance, or you don't believe there is anything wrong with it, my plea for you is to examine your heart.  Examine your faith to see if you are really in it. Desire to know the truth, and truth can be found in His word. If you can't look back over the time since you were "saved," and see a noticeable difference in your worldview, life and desires, and a definite growth in your relationship with Christ, you might not be saved.

The world is full of false teachers, preachers, and wolves in sheep's clothing who claim that God isn't concerned with our obedience to his laws, or otherwise try to rationalize a sinful lifestyle.  But these people are liars and deceivers.  They have even crept into the Church unnoticed, and are slowly taking over (Colossians 2:23; Jude 4). Be not deceived by this, as Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Jesus says to these people, who act like Christians, but still serve the world, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." (Mt. 7:23)  If you're not sure if you're desires are in God, please see my post on how to be saved, The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'll end this post with the following clip of a sermon by Pastor Clint Pressley, of Hickory Grove Baptist Church.

Read more