Before I lose some readers, I’m not talking about how church is done but I am talking about the basic beliefs of Christianity, the message of the Church. Use all the new and wonderfully creative vehicles you want, but don’t change the clear message Jesus commissioned to New Testament Christianity. If we change that then we aren’t Christians anymore, no matter what we call ourselves.
Jude 1:3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.”
I Timothy 4:1-6 “Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from (fall away from) the faith giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons…(6)In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.
II Timothy 3:5, 16 “…having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away…All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
II John 9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.”
These verses are only a fraction of the passages that warn about false teaching that creeps into the Church because people are not aware of the essentials of the Christian faith. Counterfeits try to pass themselves off in numerous areas of life. The FBI teaches bank tellers to recognize a counterfeit bill by knowing what the essentials are of an authentic bill. There is a big difference between a real $20 bill and a monopoly $20. One can be used as true currency wherever you go in exchange for goods; the other is only meant for playing a game. If I try to buy something at my local grocery store with monopoly money, well you know, they’re going to show me the exit. That could and will happen at the pearly gates if we think we can get in there by a counterfeit gospel. So here’s the five essentials of the Christian faith, then I’ll talk to you about the five most popular counterfeits “emerging” out there.
Circle of Essentials for Salvation - (See Athanasian Confession from the early Church)
1. The Bible is the inspired word of God and the only basis for our doctrine. II Tim 3:16
- The Bible tells us what Christianity is and New Testament Christianity is based on a relationship with God established through Grace and Faith(Eph 2:4-9)
- God’s Grace in Christ Jesus provides salvation; that gift of Salvation is received by Faith (even faith is a gift from God)
- Faith comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17;8-15)
- The Bible is a Closed Canon – The Bible we have today was limited to the present books through the work of the Holy Spirit and the witness of the early Church. (Jude 3 “once delivered”) From the first to the third centuries, only what agreed with that “once delivered” faith was inspired of the Holy Spirit and witnessed to by the Church which closed the canon.
2. Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit distinct and One at the same time. At Jesus’ Water Baptism (Matt 3:16-17)
- Father God speaks from heaven
- Jesus the Son, incarnate God baptized in the water
- The Holy Spirit of God descends upon Him
- Example an egg: shell, white and yolk, each existing distinct from the other, but the shell is egg, the white is egg, the yolk is egg; But the egg is only an egg when there are all three.
- One what – three who’s (Don’t think too hard on this – it’s what makes God the infinite Being that He is and us the finite ones.)
3. Evil and Sin are condemned to eternal punishment
- Satan is a real entity and the source of Evil and Sin in the creation
- Hell exists as a real place where unrepentant sinners are condemned to for eternity, where Satan and his angels and demons will be cast for eternity. Jesus told the account of the rich man and Lazarus not as a parable but as a revelation of the unseen eternal world.
- Sin separates man from God and if not reconciled, man is condemned to eternal separation and punishment.
4. Man’s Fallen Condition requires reconciliation for eternal relationship with God The Gospel of God’s Kingdom:
- Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God
- Romans 6:23 For the wages (justice due) of sin is death (separation from God) but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Romans 10:9-10 That if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
5. Jesus is the Only Way to be reconcile with God
- Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.” Madman or Son of God, He must be believed to be one or the other.
- Jesus said He came to seek and save the lost. That was His mission.
- Jesus commissioned the Church “Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matt. 28:19-20
Five False Teachings of the Neo-Christian movement
A little history here: In the mid to late 1900’s, the great “falling away” or departing from the faith began when denominational churches rejecting the new outpouring of the Holy Spirit denied His power was for today and claimed that all of His gifts had passed away in the early church. Soon after making the above declaration in their formal tenets, most of these denominations also began to depart from the authority of the scriptures. There is no denying the Bible’s teaching that the Holy Spirit’s baptism is for all generations (Acts 2:39) so short of producing a new Bible with only the first four books in it, departing from scriptural authority was the only recourse. When these denominations rejected the Holy Spirit’s power and the Holy Scriptures’ authority, their message changed to a liberal socio-political gospel, presenting good works as the means to God’s grace. We are now hearing from the liberal church’s next generation, now young adults, who have been raised under this socio-political gospel and have now taken to independent platforms to proclaim it under a different guise as a new progressive Christianity. Satan often uses a little truth mixed with a lie to deceive. If he can’t use sin and shame to steal your faith then he will use good works and pride to steal it.
2 John 9 warns of teachers who “go too far” and do not abide in sound doctrine. The Foursquare Church, long ago, adopted a statement of moderation in their doctrine prohibiting leading people into extremes of fanaticism; stopping people from “going too far” and missing God. “Going too far”/”falling away” means departing from the tenets of the faith.
- Paul met the same problem daily in his ministry with those who insisted Gentile believers had to keep the Law to keep their salvation. Paul rail against this departure from the faith. Even so today we have some in the Messianic movement still insisting on this false teaching.
- “Going to far” comes in many forms. We knew a couple brought up in the Faith movement who believed that they already had eternal life and would not physically die. If you died, you had lost your faith. That’s really going too far.
- Many of us have known people “going too far” with the prosperity message and falling for every get rich quick scheme as Godly while embracing greed, deceit and lies.
- Prophesying often goes too far without guidance, as our home church experienced years ago with a group of “Prophets” prophesying in name of Jeremiah. That’s not prescribed in the Book! Or a group we encountered in one of our church plants who wanted their prophesied words to be as valid as written scripture and to be followed as God’s Word to His people. That’s the beginning of a cult.
Having given these obvious “going too far” examples, here are the current five “gone too far” teachings of the neo-Christian movement:
1. The Bible is not the only or the main source of God’s Word to humanity. The Scriptures hold good wisdom etc. but are not the infallible word of God nor the exclusive foundation for Christianity and aren’t to be taken literally. Looked upon as a story book, this belief also says other people’s stories have just as much importance so Christians should broaden their book shelf and consult all other writers of spiritual experience and accept their words as from God also.
2. Jesus is one way but every religion has a legitimate right to believe they are also a way to get to God. The result of the tolerance movement. This rhetoric denies Jesus is the only way, the only Lord and Master as Jude warned us. This movement raises the tolerance to acceptance stating other religions should be respected and accepted as just as valid a means to God as Christianity. What is contradictory is that Jesus is still held as the chief personality of neo-Christianity but who is He if He is not the only way.
3. Must have an experience with a spiritual being during prayer. This has opened the door for inter acting with spirit guides, yoga, prayer mantras , other new age activities that open people to the demonic. Check your local denomination’s advertisement to see how prevalent this is.
4. Good Works are more important than Evangelism- Going too far with the idea that God desires justice for the poor over and above salvation for them. To this neo movement, redemption of the poor and saving the earth from man is primary, rejecting as important the promise of eternal life, going to heaven, and even going so far as to question whether there is a heaven and rejecting the idea of hell. This comes from several sources. 1) the liberal church’s gospel, which rejected scriptural authority, establishing a more socio-political message which has now progressed to “mother earth’s” salvation and justice for the trodden down, 2) the Kingdom Now gospel which believes if people can establish the Kingdom of God on earth thru politics and social reform, then and only then will Jesus return to rule and reign and finally 3) neo-Christians who are attempting to reconstruct the purpose of the Church to make social justice its primary mission and all inclusion its gospel.
[Salvation to eternal life is the message Jesus commissioned His disciples to proclaim. Jesus said the poor would always be with us and obliged Christians to minister to them, feeding, clothing and visiting them in jails as they would Jesus Himself, but not to the exclusion of the message of salvation through His blood. What amazes me here is the incalculable dollars of food and supplies and hundreds of thousands of lives sacrificed by Christians over several centuries feeding, clothing, rescuing the poor, the sick, the enslaved, the incarcerated, etc. is either unknown to this group, ignored or covered up on purpose. The real Church carried on social justice works when it wasn't the popular thing to do for centuries. As for the Save the Earth message, Christians have a responsibility to take care of this planet but in the end God Himself will destroy it. It is not deity.]
5. God is a good God and can only do good and loving thingsso He would never create a place like hell or condemn anyone to eternal punishment. In fact, Christian Universal Reconciliation “goes too far” in saying Jesus’ death reconciled all beings from eternity to eternity back to God, including Satan, his fallen angels and demons, hell and all people who there. There is a complete denial that God is even capable of punishing sin because He is LOVE and a denial that a real hell or heaven exist, for there is no need for either. Wrong doing is punished by its own consequences. We are ultimately judging God if we think He would punish sin which is man’s prime wrong and of which we all need to repent and accept this extreme goodness of God. This is one of the broadest reaching heresies and most devastating to churches across our country, as it seems to afflict the pastors more often than the members, splitting them apart, and scattering the sheep. If you hear this kind of “too far” message in your church, you need to immediately “emerge” through its front doors and make your way to a solid Bible believing place of worship.
