Thoughts from the Christian perspective: discernment issues as they relate to the current state of the church and society.
Monday, October 27, 2014
False Gospels
Paul cursed those who taught that one must believe the gospel and keep the law in order to be saved (Gal. 1:6-12). Such a slight addition destroyed the gospel. No one believing that message could be saved! Nor is anyone a Christian who believes one of today's popular diluted gospels.
Oswald Chambers warned lest, in our zeal to get people to accept the gospel, we manufacture a gospel acceptable to people and produce "converts" who are not saved. Today's most popular perversion is the "positive" gospel which is designed to offend no one with the truth. Robert Schuller, for example, has said that it is demeaning to call anyone a sinner and that Christ died to restore human dignity and self-esteem. He "wins many to Christ" with that seductive message -- but such a gospel does not save sinners.
Dave Hunt, "God's Nonnegotiable Gospel - Part 1," The Berean Call, April 1993
2 comments:
PLEASE DO NOT ENTER YOUR COMMENT MORE THAN ONCE - it will not show until moderated. Comments with links - either with the commenter's name or in the text of the comment - which link to sites with heretical, aberrational, obscene or otherwise improper teaching, will not be published with said links. Comments which are mostly, or only, ad hominem attacks will not be published.
Our family began attending a charismatic/Pentecostal church system whose pastor was a product of the Toronto Blessing. The women of this church latched on to me believing "they were more spiritual than myself", thus the very first organization that I was told (they call it "encouraged") to listen to was "Focus on the Family" with James Dobson. What I heard often was the concept of "self esteem" from his psychological viewpoint with very little Scriptural references to reinforce his concepts. Actually, the church whole embrace "Focus on the Family" and was used as a "bragging point" during testimony time by those who visited his organization.
ReplyDeleteCould there be a correlation between the "positive confession" movement and the "self esteem/psychology" methods promoted by these so called experts? I believe so, for this church system recently conducted a Joyce Meyer study (will not call it a Bible study for it does not honor the Jesus of our Scriptures} entitled the "Power of Your Words." This is word of faith jibberish, plain and simple.
What I have discovered within these church systems that have embraced psychology and the "positive confession" blasphemy it this, Glen....
"The insidious double standards and wicked methods used by the leadership over the lower laity are legion."
Anotherwords, the "words and actions" from the leadership to abuse the lower laity is acceptable, but if those labeled as "less spiritual", dare to call out the corruption and double standardized sin within the ranks of the pastor/leadership, the result will be soft persecution. The hateful lies, slander, whispering, tale bearing, and gossip is acceptable amongst the leadership, the very ones who preach and teach that "words have meaning," and yet they themselves cannot even live by the very precepts they preach.
The leadership police force is alive and well within our churched system, the trouble is the hypocrisy amongst themselves bears witness to just than "the self" rather than our LORD Jesus Christ, who called these religious leaders of His day "a brood of vipers."
Guess the times haven't changed much.
May God protect His people from the teeth of these wolves.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYou've actually hit the nail on the head. The whole positive confession thing is nothing more than the religious version of self-esteem psychology. Both are anti-God.
Dobson has always been problematic to me, because he preaches secular psychological methods, methods developed by atheists and are as unscientific as they are unbiblical. That's why I did a series about the psych industry a few years ago.