As in Paul’s day, many today flock to listen to false grace teachers who will tell them what they want to hear, just as Paul predicted:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
Clearly, the time which Paul said will come has arrived. People naturally love to hear the message of God’s wonderful love and grace, how their sin has been dealt with by Jesus, how salvation is a free gift, and how it is received by faith and not earned by works, all of which are true. But this is where God’s grace begins to be modified.
Today we are told that repentance is only a change of mind that may result in no change of actions. People can believe in Jesus and continue practicing sin. They can be born again and never give any outward indication of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. Christians can be adulterers and fornicators, and we certainly don’t want to judge them because we don’t know their hearts. Those who maintain that heaven is only for the holy are legalists. Faith without works can save. Those who don’t do God’s will are still heaven-bound as long as they’ve made a verbal profession of faith in Christ. If a person has faith for one minute of his life, he is eternally secure, regardless of whether he abandons his faith, becomes an atheist, and returns to a life of immorality. Many true Christians are indistinguishable from non-Christians, placed in a special category of believers called “carnal Christians.”
These and many lies like them are being propagated to millions of unsuspecting people. Consider the following quotations from some of the most popular teachers in the church today, people whose names are household words in modern Christian circles:
Shortly after that campaign was held, the evangelist that led him to Christ defected from the faith. His family was broken apart. He wandered across the United States like an animal, finally died a drunkard in the gutter of South Chicago….If you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are still a child of God. You may deny Him, but He will never deny you.
Is this true? Jesus said, “But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:33). Additionally, Paul wrote that no drunkard will inherit God’s kingdom (see 1 Cor. 6:9-10).
We are saved because at a moment in time we expressed faith in our enduring Lord….Even if a believer for all practical purposes becomes an unbeliever, his salvation is not in jeopardy.
Are we eternally secure in our salvation if we believe for just “a moment in time”? Is that what Jesus meant for us to believe when He said, “He who has believed…shall be saved” (Mark 16:16)? If so, then we must also conclude that if we disbelieve for a moment in time, then our damnation is eternally sealed, because Jesus went on to say, “He who has disbelieved shall be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
This same popular grace teacher, desperate to mold Scripture to accommodate his theology, has actually turned hell into heaven:
Where is this place represented by the “outer darkness” in Jesus’ parables? To be in the “outer darkness” is to be in the kingdom of God but outside the circle of men and women whose faithfulness on this earth earned them a special rank or position of authority.
The “outer darkness” represents not so much an actual place as it does a sphere of influence and privilege. It is not a geographical area in the kingdom where certain men and women are consigned to stay. It is simply a figure of speech describing their low rank or status in God’s kingdom (emphasis his).
Amazingly, this teacher also wants us to believe that “gnashing of teeth”….“does not symbolize pain as many have thought.” Rather, it is symbolic for the frustration unfaithful believers will feel in heaven when they realize the rewards they could have earned by earthly obedience:
Just as those who are found faithful will rejoice, so those who suffer loss will weep. As some are celebrated for their faithfulness, others will gnash their teeth in frustration over their own short-sightedness and greed.
We do not know how long this time of rejoicing and sorrow will last. Those whose works are burned will not weep and gnash their teeth for eternity.
Is this all true? When Jesus spoke of the “outer darkness,” was He speaking of a place in heaven where unfaithful and greedy Christians will temporarily weep and gnash their teeth out of regret for the rewards they could have earned for themselves? For the obvious answer, see Matt. 8:10-12; 13:24-30, 36-43; 24:42-51; 25:14-30; Luke 13:22-28. And will there be any greedy people in heaven? See 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Eph. 5:3-6.
It is amazing how far some teachers will go to make allowance for Christians to practice grievous sins and still make it into heaven. In reference to Paul’s warning that those who practice the works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God, one popular radio preacher says:
Inheriting the kingdom has to deal with the bonuses that you get in the kingdom. It’s not the same as entering the kingdom. So unless you distinguish between inheriting and entering, you’ll think you’re not gonna get in the kingdom because of these problems [notice he doesn’t even call them sins]. But you can lose benefits from the kingdom because of them.
Is this true? Compare 1 Cor. 6:9-10 with 1 Cor. 15:50-54 and Jesus’ words in Matt. 25:34-41.
While Jesus and Paul both stated that adulterers and fornicators will not gain heaven, one very influential television minister says:
But Christians may still lose rewards in heaven. Indeed, we can only wonder what some Christians will feel like and experience on that day when they lose those heavenly rewards because of the spiritually numbing and other consequences of fornication or adultery while on earth. It will certainly be an infinitely poor exchange—losing eternal rewards in heaven for a few fleeting moments of sexual pleasure on earth (emphasis added).
Another long-standing radio minister is asked by a listener:
Q. I thought that I was born again when I was fifteen years old. I felt happy and secure in Christ. But over time, sin surely crept in, and I went the downward path. Three marriages, adultery, drinking. Was I born again?
A. The very fact that you were disturbed indicates to me that when you say you were born again at fifteen, you are accurate.
Is the test of authentic salvation a person’s guilt? See Romans 2:14-15 for the answer. Are adulterers and drunkards saved? I think you know the answer to that by now.
By Steve Servant
Radical Disciples - A Remnant Revolution 