geocreationism.com

I recently saw an ad on my blog for The Seven Deadly Deceptions of Modern Christianity.  I figured out what site’s URL was so that I wouldn’t violate my Google AdSense agreement of clicking on my own ads, and then spent a little time reviewing the site.  It concerns me that saved Christians may find this site and begin to doubt their salvation.  For those who do not, they may believe what they want of these “deceptions”, but for those who will doubt their own faith, I desire to reassure them:

Deception 1: The Carnal Christian will be Saved

Here, the author attempts to do something very important: establish scripture as an authority over us.  However, he (I’m assuming the author is a he, though I could be wrong) ends up using the scripture incorrectly, to establish the wrong aspect of scripture as the Christian’s authority: The Law.  He quotes as such:

     “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…”
                         2 Timothy 4:3 NAS
The Psalmist defines “the truth”:
     “…and THY LAW is THE TRUTH.”
                                       Psalms 119:142 KJV 
 

Well, the first thing to do when reviewing the usage of scripture for the purpose of establishing sound doctrine is to consider the scripture’s context.  When Paul wrote a letter, it was generally a train of thought.  Every word flowed from the words before.  So we always consider the context of a Pauline verse in terms of those verses and thoughts that come before.  In this case, case 2 Tim 2:14, “ 14Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.” He reiterates this a few verses later when he writes, “ 14b Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.”  It is for this reason I write cautiously here.  I hope not to be quarreling, but to be putting minds at ease.  This is in line with the final verses of 2 Tim 2: “25Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

Paul then turns in chapter 3 to the subject of Godlessness:

 1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

 6They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

To equip his readers, Paul ends chapter 3 with this:

16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

And then we come to the verse quoted above, which prophecies that men will turn aside from truth.  Well, first of all, it is not verse 3, but verse 4.  In addition, it was not even Paul’s entire statement.  The author stopped in the middle of the verse.  The entire verse 4 reads like this: “4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

The accuses Christians such as myself of turning my ears away from the truth, but doesn’t accuse us of turning aside to myths.  Why does only the first part of the verse apply to me?  He may not mean to, but for his perspective to be true, it would appear that he must cherry pick his verses.  Everyone does it to some extent, and so I assign no evil intent to him.  Quite the contrary.  I suspect there is something real to be concerned about, and that he either does not quite understand it, or does not know how to refute it.

Okay, now we have a context in which to judge the author’s next step, which is to equate the word “truth” in 2 Tim 4:4 with the Jewish Law in the Old Testament, by quoting Psalm 119:142, “…and the Law is Thy truth.”  Well, it is, but it is not the entire truth, for as we saw in 2 Tim 3:16, ALL scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.  The Law is only part of the Old Testament.  Furthermore, the Law was not given to Christians as a Law, but as something “God-breathed” and “useful for teaching, rebuking,” etc.

We therefore see that right out of the gate, the author has severely limited the scope of what “truth” is, and appears to bind Christians to the Jewish Law, when only Jews were ever really bound to it.  Christians are not bound to the Law, but to the Gospel.

Shortly afterward, the author states further:

  He gave us no options; we must surrender this lifetime to Him, no
matter what it may cost! The first act of our surrender is to obey
God’s law, just as Jesus said:
     “…but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”
                         Matthew 19:17 KJV  

Yet, Jesus also said the most important of the commandments are to love God and love your neighbor.  Also, notice His sequence of events in this verse: IF you WILL enter into life, THEN keep the commandements.  Jesus is teaching people are entering into life that they should keep the commandments; in other words, keeping the commandments is not a condition of entering into life, but an outcome.  I believe this undermines the author’s point.  But suppose Jesus had said something more like, “If you want to enter into life, then keep the commandments.” Well, regardless, it turns out that Jesus was talking to Jews, the people who had been given the commandments.  Well, Paul was writing to Timothy, a Jew who was spreading the gospel to gentiles.  That is a very important distinction, which the author subtly ignores:

  Sadly, many who have turned to Jesus for salvation have been led
away from obedience to the Ten Commandments by false teachers
who tell them that they may remain a “carnal” Christian (one who
disobeys God’s commandments) and yet still receive eternal life.
       All who accept that lie will be lost! 
 

Now, I agree with something very important here.  A person who calls themself a Christian, yet believes “that they may remain a ‘carnal’ Christian” is mistaken.  On the contrary, a born again Christian is a new creation before God.  The Gospel is not a free pass to sin; it is a sacrifice that will cover the sin of the repentent.  Small difference to the observer, but a big difference to the heart, and to God. However, the author appears to conflate the amount of sin still present in ones life with the belief that sinning is allowed.  But even if he were not, he is still basing his argument on a false premise: that the church is legally bound to the 10 commandments.  Only the Jews are.

I must qualify here that God has written the law on our hearts.  That was prophesied by Jeremiah and observed to be true by Paul.  C.S. Lewis wrote on it, and a self-aware Christian knows it experientially.  Therefore, someone who does NOT live by the 10 commandments is in fact ignoring the law that God his written on their heart, and I dare say that such people will have an easier time going through the eye of a needle than entering the kingdom of God! (to paraphrase our savior) On the other hand, King David, who wrote most of the Psalms, sinned as much as anyone, and yet his salvation is not to be doubted!  Apparently, a heart can be right with God, such that he can remain saved despite past and even future sins.  What were David’s actions, if not carnal?  And David was bound by the law!  Yet remained a man after God’s own heart.  Now, it is no guarantee that a person who says the sinner’s prayer will have such faith, but those who with such faith are saved, yet their sins may be called carnal.

But what of rebuking such Christians with the Law?  We saw that such is allowed and encouraged.  Well, we all deserve rebuke at times, but then there are those who use Christ’s sacrifice as a license to sin… this is more than just continuing to sin, as we all do, but actually thinking that it is no big deal may be tantamount to heresy (depending on the person’s heart).  “Hey, we’re forgiven right?”  Yikes.  Such a lackadaisical attitude toward salvation is surely missing the mark on something.  But someone who sins, feels the conviction of the Holy Spirit, repents, prays to God, takes actions to avoid that sin in the future, and looks to the Holy Spirit for His undeserving cover, well the actions may look the same, but I’d say that such a heart is completely different than the simple carnal sinner who goes to church.

  Many professing Christians have been persuaded to believe they have
received eternal life despite their ongoing bondage to sin.  They are
told they are born again children of God and saved forever the
moment they say:  “I believe in Jesus and receive Him as my
Savior.”  Their teachers offer this verse as proof of the sinner’s
instant salvation:
     “He who believes in the Son has eternal life;”
However, the rest of that verse is seldom quoted:
     “…but he who does not OBEY the Son shall not see life,
         but the WRATH OF GOD abides on him.”
                         John 3:36 NAS

Now, here I have say that the author makes an excellent point.  Remember what we’ve been studying about righteousness this last month?  It starts with belief.  Believe God, and He will credit it to you as righteousness.  The other part is obedience.  Your obedience is your righteousness.  The author is making the keen observation that many people start with belief, but do not move to obedience.  Now, while I surely disagree with the apparent point of the author that the Church is called to obey the Ten Commandments as a matter of Law, I do agree that our abidance by the Ten Commandments is a sure sign of our commitment to belief in Christ.  It’s a subtle difference between our views, but an important one.

A person who legalistically follows the 10 Commandments will doubt his salvation when he fails on one of the points (as someone who fails on one, fails on all!), such as keeping the sabbath day holy.  However, a person who truly believes will feel the conviction of keeping the sabbath day holy, especially when he realizes that he can use that as a way to love God, and opportunity to love his neighbor.  Now I know that most Christians do not keep the sabbath, but it is generally because they do not have a proper perspective on what that really means to their walk with God.  Their heart on the other hand may be completely faithful to Him.  Such people may not have hearts of disobedience.  Look at their life and see what the are doing out of love for God, and you will see their heart.  Look for the fruit in their lives, and you will know where they are at with God.  You see, life is complicated, and we are all called for a different purpose in Christ.  That is part of why Paul does not describe the Old Testament as a rule book, but as good for teaching, rebuke, etc.  And where we continue to miss the mark, we can be assured that our sins are washed away by Christ’s blood.

     “…the CARNAL MIND is enmity [hostile] against God:
          for it IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE LAW OF GOD,”
                         Romans 8:7 KJV
  Is it possible that a person will inherit eternal life even if that
person is hostile toward God and will not obey His law?  All major
denominations now say: “YES!”, the carnal person will still be saved
if he “believes.”  The apostle Paul says “NO!”:
     “For to be carnally minded is death;”
                         Romans 8:6 KJV 
 

Must a person be sinfully minded to sin?  The answer is no.  The author appears to misunderstand two things.  First, he appears to think that if Christ’s sacrifice washes away or our sin, then it washes away our sinful nature at the moment of commitment, such that subsequent sin of any kind indicates a carnal heart that is not really saved.  He also appears to think that to believe otherwise is to justify any sin that remains.  In my opinion, his understanding of scripture is wrong, and his understanding of the church’s application of it is also wrong.  First of all, Christ died for future and even intentional sins.  I know this because He came to fulfill the law, and the law included accommodations for intentional sins.  As for future sins, if Christ did not die for future sins, He died for me only once.  If He didn’t die for my future sins, then I’m toast, because I accepted Him as a child and have surely sinned as an adult, but I guess it’s too late for me because I’ve already invoked the Cross once.  So in that case I am at a loss for who the author is writing to, as sounding the alarm bells won’t save me, only those who never seriously repented in the first place.

But he goes on…

  This devastating doctrine of “The saved (but still carnal) Christian”
has been firmly established in our churches because the meaning of
the word believe is not always clear. The only true definition of what it
 means to “believe” is the scriptural one found in John 3:36 (see above).
     Examine it carefully and you will see that
       ONLY THOSE WHO OBEY TRULY BELIEVE.
THE PROOF!  (John 3:36)
     IF:       One who believes in the Son has eternal life,
     AND:      One who does not obey shall not see life,
     THEN:     The one who does not obey, does not believe. 
 

There are several problems with this.

First of all, the author wrote, “Sadly, many who have turned to Jesus for salvation have been led away from obedience to the Ten Commandments…” He then writes that the only definition of believe is John 3:36, which talks of obedience to the Son.  Well, the Son didn’t give us the 10 Commandments.  He said to love God and love your neighbor.  On the other hand, Jesus didn’t come to remove the law, but to fulfill it.  But, because the author is employing a logical proof to make his point, I am pointing out the illogic within it.

Second, the author conflates the concepts of obedience to the law and sin.  They are related, but they are not different words for the same thing.  To an individual, Jesus would say, “Go and sin no more.”  To the masses, Jesus would say, “Love.”  He said to tithe.  He said to turn the other cheek.  He also said that sin happens not in the flesh, but in the heart, and look at how Jesus Himself carried that out: He didn’t say to honor your parents, but He did say, “Who is my mother? Who is my brother?”  Jesus said not say to rest on the sabbath, even while observing the sabbath Himself; yet He also healed on the sabbath, which appeared as a sin to the “legalists” of His time.

Third, as we have seen over the last month, righteousness is the presence of belief, followed by obedience.  Abraham believed God, but then acted in disobedience; later on, he did obey when he gave up Isaac on the altar.  It looks to me like transformation in the flesh is not immediate.  Was Abraham not saved when he conceived Ishmael?  That’s absurd, because God had credited him with righteousness for his belief!  Why credit an unsaved man with righteousness?  Why make promises to a man who wasn’t saved?  It would seem then that God overlooked Abraham’s disobedience, and saw only his obedience… and so it would seem that Jesus sees us the same way, overlooking our disobedience while blessing our obedience.  If not, then when did God change?

Fourth, the author appears to believe that to be someone who does not obey God is to be someone who never obeys God.  If you obey Him sometimes and not other times, then what you are is an obedient follower who also disobeys.  Or are you a disobedient sinner who sometimes obeys?  Well, if obedience is righteousness, and disobedience is death, will a man be given both?  Will a righteous man be sent to Hell, despite his obedience?  Or a sinner to Heaven despite his disobedience? The answer is that it is a question of how God sees you.  If you accept Christ, God sees your obedience.  If you do not, then He sees your disobedience.  If you believe in Christ, then He gives you chances to obey while cleansing you of your unrighteousness; if you do not believe, then He leaves you alone in your sin.  See that? But a black and white view of Christ’s statements would never let you have such understanding.  Sure, every action is either a sin or not, but salvation is by grace.

The author has essentially come to the wrong conclusion.  The THEN should be: “The one who does not believe, does not obey.”

Scripture does not allow any one who will
not obey to be counted a “believer.”  Thus any church that considers
a willfully disobedient person to have eternal life is teaching a fatal
error.  One may be willfully disobedient or a believer, but not both. 

Peter did not obey… but he did eventually.  Abraham did not obey… but he did eventually.  David obeyed… then he disobeyed… then he obeyed again.  Did these men fall alternately in and out of salvation?  That’s absurd, for Jesus died only once.

Also, notice a new word the author introduces: “willfully”.  Okay then.  You can be disobedient, as long as it is not willful disobedience.  But again, Peter lied about knowing Jesus.  Abraham had Ishmael.  David sent Beth Sheba’s husband to his death, because he had lust in his heart.  Why then are these men going to Heaven?  Or is scripture mistaken?  Or is the author missing something?

  Satan’s lie (”the carnal Christian”) is carefully designed to soothe
the conscience of those who seek the easy way.  You may be sure
that all who profess it to be an option are deceived to some degree.
Paul did not teach that we had a third choice; quite to the contrary he
said:
  1.“For if you live according to the flesh YOU WILL DIE,  but
  2. if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body
      YOU WILL LIVE.”
                                               Romans 8:13 RSV 
 

Now with this I completely agree.  I have seen people who completely discard the law that God has written on their heart, in order to feed their fleshly desires, figuring they always have their salvation to fall back on.  They get back into drugs, sex, anger, selfishness… I mean to the extreme where it rules their lives, and Christ is but a convenient after thought.  For them, living according to the flesh may actually get them to Hell.  Only God knows for sure; some people are simply weak don’t know what else to do, because they have not been taught.  Others are just too jaded by the world to do anything else.  Yet others don’t care either way.  They really know that Christ’s gift is there for them, and they just spit in His face.  If this author is only speaking of them, then I would prefer that he make this clear.

One other thing… there is another lie of Satan that must be wary of: and that is the lie of absolute perfection.  It is a lie that we must live perfect lives after gaining salvation.  It is a lie that Satan has perpetuated in the church, so that Christians who continue to sin will feel too dirty to come for prayer, love, and encouragement.  “After all,” they think, “I’m just a dirty sinner.  God didn’t die for my sins.  There are just too many.”  And I am afraid that many will see that lie in between this author’s words, whether the author means this or not… it is why I am going to this trouble writing this… because Satan uses well-meaning Christian to perpetuate it, and it works.

     “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus
         have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
                         Galatians 5:24 NAS
  Please stop and take note of the past tense that Paul used.  The
apostle did not say they will crucify the flesh, he did not say that
they had a choice or that it would be done for them.  He said they
had already crucified the flesh.
  Those who truly belong to Christ Jesus - those who are “His” - have
already crucified their own sinful nature.  Therefore, by that verse
those who are seeking God have an infallible measuring stick within
themselves.  They have only to look at their own lifestyle to see
where they stand with God.  If they have not yet totally committed
themselves to put to death the deeds of the body through obedience
to God’s law, they do not yet “belong” to Jesus.  No one can deceive
you, nor can you deceive yourself if you measure by the Ten
Commandments. 
 

Okay.  I think I’m following, but I’m not sure.  I THINK he means that if we haven’t crucified our sinful nature we can tell.  But then I don’t see how this is true.  Frankly, we do things before coming to Christ that we just don’t know are sinful, or just don’t think about anymore because of how deeply buried it is.  By the very fact that we aren’t saved, our measuring stick cannot be infallible.  I mean it started out infallible… but then got damaged by sin.  Frankly, we usually don’t see things for what they are until our decision to give our lives to Christ… but now we have a chicken-and-egg problem above, because it would mean that we cannot tell where we stand until we’ve stepped into the light.  That makes no sense.  Whether he means that our sense of sin is infallible when we’re in sin, or that we cannot be discern sin until we cruciy it, his logic does not compute… yet his stated goal is to save you from deception.

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