2 Timothy 4: 2-3
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
And how they already do not tolerate it even now!
The Word is best to use, because He IS the Word. Let the argument be between them and God as it should be. His Spirit is the one that convicts and convinces men.
All are given the free will choice to accept or reject, and all are responsible for that choice, and all reap the consequences of that choice whether good or bad.
Why should I use my words as though I can do anything for anyone else when His are already available and are the best that can be delivered? 🦊 ❤️
It is fast becoming the case, that most have already made the choice, and have closed their ears to the truth, and desire the world all the more.
Shall I fret over something I could never change to begin with? I'll let Him fight the battle instead, and get my grimy hands off of the reigns.
When you deliver the Gospel to others, represent God accurately and truthfully, in gentleness, but once delivered, let them choose on their own, and give them the breathing room and time to consider it and choose.
If they reject, then stop, for you only enrage the person further, and farther away from both you and God. Consider that you may not be the avenue that God uses in their future.
It is not you and God in a tag team match to force a choice they speak just to get you off of their back, and it certainly doesn't represent God or bring Him glory.
And for them in that situation, you have presented a Gospel they want no part of, and who would?
Because it now reeks of you and your imposition instead of the sweet fragrance of Christ. And in that sense you have failed, by presenting a Gospel that is false also, not in detail or fact, but by the context of your overreach and imposition in your delivery.
With that said, I will segue to the topic at hand. 🦊 ❤️
A friend asked me recently about a pastor and church that embraced Universalism. I replied with my thoughts and scripture references in denouncing it as a false gospel. But I thought I might go one step further (or in this case 3 steps further in addition to Universalism).
What follows is a brief analysis of 4 common false gospels in play in these end time days.
There are certainly more out there, like 2 Gospels, one of the original disciples and one of Paul to the Gentiles. I wrote about this in an earlier blog entry two years ago in August of 2023 in [The Error of Two Gospels]. But most of the ones you encounter fall under these 4 in some way or likeness.
So let us take a look at what we find when we look at these examples of "Another Gospel" that are false.
To look at, and recognize the false Gospels, we must first look at the glorious news of the True Gospel.
All Gospels True and False have a perspective by the believer. And only the true Gospel has the correct one. That being God's perspective and His declaration of "one and only one way to the Father through Christ Jesus His Son, God in the flesh".
The True Gospel, declares:
• ALL men are sinners, and fall short of God's Glory. And by that corruption of sin, small or great, are under a penalty of Death.
• That God being Righteous and Just, must judge people according to their sin.
• That, out of love for Man (His creation in His image), God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for sin, in FULL, no conditions.
• ALL men are under condemnation without the saving Grace and Gift of Christ for their salvation.
This is why it is described as a gift, but it must be received. God will not force Himself upon anyone.
This gift, once received is permanent, irrevocable, and eternal. It is based on a covenant He alone meets the obligations for, and maintains, with nothing on our part being brought to the table to earn it or maintain it.
But not only this, that because He overcame death and rose again immortal, we too at some point will rise with Him immortal also.
And this is that great promise to the believer when we receive the Holy Spirit at our spiritual baptism. It is our promissory and seal unto the full Redemption to come.
Our requirement, if you can call it such, is to make the choice given all to accept Christ, or to reject Christ.
This is called Free-will, which then gives no excuse for anyone. We all face the consequences of this choice whether good or bad.
Acceptance is to believe and have that trusting faith in the Son (Jesus Christ) who was sent by the Father.
Will we immediately stop sinning? No.
(HIS Works) of Sanctification will continue all our lives until our death or rapture.
So what then has changed? Our perspective. Away from ourselves and forward to Him.
We now focus on Him, rather then ourselves. We no longer labor in futility to meet His standards (like the Law), because He already has met them for us. He is victorious when we could not ever be. He is our goal, and He is able to make us reach it.
The Law is not discarded, rather He enables us to keep it, and when we do stumble and fall, He is ready and able to cleanse us and stand us back up on our feet.
We are no longer under bondage of the Law by condemnation, for He has paid for all of our debts, past, present, and future. We overcome by Faith in Him, because He overcame all things.
So now onto the most common False Gospels:
#1. The Prosperity Gospel
Transactional - Genie Lamp / What the Devil Offered Christ / Live your best life now
Perspective: Self-centered, self-willed, self-serving
How this gospel looks and sounds:
1.) If you choose to follow God, He will bless you.
2.) If you have enough faith He will give you the things you need.
3.) The reason you are struggling is because you are not putting God first.
We don't follow God for Blessings, or it makes our relationship a transactional formula.
"If I do _THIS_ then God will give me _THAT_."
• Prayer becomes "deal making" with God.
• Faith becomes a "tool for success".
• The goal of the Christian Life here then, is not Christ, but comfort and possessions.
1 Timothy 6:9-10
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared
by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some
have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
#2. The Legalistic Gospel
Transactional - That believers must gain and maintain their salvation by following rules.
Perspective: Self-centered, self-righteous making the Law their God, Judgmental,
works oriented, live in fear and in guilt
How this gospel looks and sounds:
1.) Telling yourself that God loves you less because you just messed up. (Fear)
2.) I must give _THIS_, and _THAT_ to meet some imposed expectation. (Obligation)
3.) God is distant now because you didn't go to church or missed your Bible reading. (Guilt)
4.) You are a horrible Christian, so be better. (Self Righteous Judgment)
This (FOGS) Fear, Obligation, Guilt, and Self Righteous Judgment, are the four corners of Narcissism by the way, and why so often a Narcissist uses the word for manipulation tactics.
These Believers use God's Law incorrectly, and when they break God's Law they beat themselves up over it, or, when they keep up God's Law for a time, they pride themselves in their self-righteousness.
"If I do _THIS_, then God will love me more."
• Devotion becomes Obligation.
• Freedom becomes Bondage.
• And every stumble is met with shame, rather than Grace.
• The goal of the Christian Life here is, the obligation of rules and shame of failure.
The True Gospel, sees the Law as a guide to lead us back to Christ.
Again on perspective, it is the "cart before the horse", as with the issue of Works.
"Lord, Lord... I did this in your name..."
But... He never knew you (with a personal saving relationship)
And, they are not our works anyway, but God's works through us, when we allow Him to. Our works, from our will, are meaningless and a waste of opportunity to glorify God.
Good Works do not produce True Faith, rather True Faith will produce Good Works.
Galatians 3:2-3
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit
by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?
Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit,
are you now finishing in the flesh?
#3. The Spiritualist Gospel (Emotional/Therapeutic)
Passive - Using God as a therapist to dull our pain and feel better about ourselves.
Following God is about improving your self-esteem, happiness, and emotional well-being.
Life is about Self-Fulfilment. Emotion and feelings of the heart take the place of faith.
New-Age comes into play here a lot, as well as other self-deceptions. God is peripheral and
unnecessary. There's no real sin to them, at least not ones that matter to anyone, even to God.
Perspective: Self-centered, self-righteous by making their emotions their God.
How this gospel looks and sounds:
1.) Jesus just wants me to be happy.
2.) God accepts me just as I am.
3.) I know God is moving here, because I really feel His presence.
4.) Just follow your heart.
5.) Be true to yourself.
These phrases are not necessarily an indicator of a false gospel as they can be heard by a believer in legitimate contexts. It is in the frequency of their use and the tilted context that calls out it's falseness.
There is a big difference between "Come as you are" (in humility for salvation) and "He accepts me as I am" (in irreverence and pride) making God an afterthought and an authorized stamp of approval by your own metrics.
It is akin to saying to God, "take it or leave it", for He will surely "Leave it". Or, Speaking on some issue and saying, "See even God agrees with me". It is the context of their perspective about themselves, and not about Jesus as our victory.
"If I feel good about _THIS_, then God must be happy about _THAT_."
• Prayer becomes those positive and emotional highs, and is falsely linked to being of God.
• Faith becomes a pursuit of happiness rather than that of Christ, and all that comes with that.
• The goal of the Christian Life here is then, the addiction to the false comfort of feelings.
It is self-deception in not being accountable and ignoring consequences, which are constantly being kicked down the road like a tin can until finally, payment is due, and your wallet is empty.
Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me,
he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”
#4. The Universalist Gospel
Passive - Because God is loving, all people will be saved, whether they have faith in Jesus or not.
New Age is found here as well very often.
Perspective: Self-centered, self-righteous by their own standards.
How this gospel looks and sounds:
1.) All religions say the same thing.
2.) We are all God's Children.
3.) Who am I to question someone else's beliefs.
4.) As long as you're sincere, God will accept you.
5.) Jesus is one way to God, but not the only way.
It confuses God's role as Creator, with that of His role as Savior, Lord, or Judge, and twists God's love into something more generic like Tolerance or fairness.
"If God is really loving, then everyone will be saved in the end."
If you are a sincere, authentic, and basically good person, then it doesn't matter if you believe in Christ specifically or not.
• They will often make the road to heaven incredibly wide.
• They will say things like, "All people will find their own way to heaven".
• They will hardly mention Hell, if at all.
• They may sound compassionate, nice, and inclusive, and tend to accept all beliefs,
even those in direct contradiction to the True Gospel.
It blurs the lines of salvation, and many are lost because of it, never having had True Faith in Jesus.
It removes the need for Jesus to have even come and suffered and died and rise again.
It is a deception of reliance on self worth, and it essentially says that you don't need Jesus.
Acts 4:12
Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved.
I pray that you find meat in some or all of this to apply to your own walk. There is certainly much more that could be said about these, but the bottom line always seems to come down to the perspective of the 'so-called" believer. Are they looking towards themselves or are they looking toward Christ.
Christ is the only way, and the narrow gate to the Father, and it is only in our faith in Him that we overcome the world, and gain entrance to all the Father has promised us through His Son. We die to ourselves when we accept Christ, so that we may yet live through Him.
Grace and Peace to you all, in our Lord Jesus Christ!
Wear and keep ready your spiritual armor, and having done all to stand, Stand Firm Then...
Don't be a grape. 🚫 🍇
🦊 Jack [ The Foxman on the Wall ]
