False teachings are running rampant today within the American church, with its overgrowing influence on the churches in Africa, as well as the world at large, which have
created a “whiteout” condition for millions of believers. Here’s how to
detect—and overcome—these destructive doctrines before it’s too late.
How Has This Happened?
Unhealthy and destructive teaching can enter the church in
various ways. Sometimes a biblical truth is taught to the exclusion of
other biblical truths, producing a dangerous imbalance. At other times a
biblical truth is taught in an exaggerated way, often going beyond what
Scripture actually says, and in the end this does more harm than good.
Many times clear, biblical warnings are ignored or reinterpreted so
radically that they lose all impact or effect, leaving people vulnerable
and exposed.
Paul warned that the “time will come when [believers] will
not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because
they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and
they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to
fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4). Today’s church in America, as a whole, is
dangerously close to turning aside to such fables. Millions have already
succumbed to these false teachings. Before we lose any more souls, it’s
crucial that we identify what I believe are the seven greatest lies
that have infiltrated the church and have led to a whiteout of error.
1) Overemphasis of Prosperity
Undoubtedly, some adherents of the carnal prosperity
message are motivated by greed. For them, preaching Jesus is a means of
financial gain, something Paul rebuked in the strongest possible terms,
speaking of men “of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who
suppose that godliness is a means of gain” (1 Tim. 6:5).
Yet many sincere believers embrace this message too—and
back their case with Scripture. They point to the covenant blessings the
Lord promised to Israel for their obedience, including financial
prosperity (Deut. 28:1-13). They highlight verses in Proverbs and Psalms
that link financial prosperity to generosity, hard work, godly living
and faith (e.g., Ps. 112). They remind us of wonderful promises, such as
those found in Proverbs 3:9-10—and how Jesus reiterated these in the
New Testament with teachings such as, “Give, and it will be given to
you” (Luke 6:38). And they quote Paul, who wrote about the financial
principles of sowing and reaping (1 Cor. 9; 2 Cor. 8-9; Phil. 4:11-19).
Are you with me? I am not against you having money. But I
am adamantly against money having you. The problem is, there’s more to
the story that the carnal prosperity preachers fail to mention:
- Jesus warned against storing up treasures on earth (Matt. 6:19-24) and covetousness (Luke 12:15).
- Jesus emphasized caring for the poor (Matt. 25:31-46).
- Paul and John both taught that we should not live according to this present age (1 Cor. 7:29-31; 1 John 2:15-17).
- Jesus did not die to make us financially wealthy but to save us from our sins (Matt. 1:21).
- God chose the poor to be rich in faith and kingdom heirs (James 2:5).
More importantly, the carnal prosperity preachers have
ignored other biblical warnings, like Paul’s powerful words to Timothy:
“Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into
many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and
perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for
which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these
things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
gentleness” (1 Tim. 6:9-11).
Carnal prosperity preachers encourage God’s people to seek
after riches—or to seek after God for the purpose of riches—often even
judging your spirituality by the kind of car you drive. What does that
have to do with the gospel of Jesus?
2) Exaggerated View of Grace
This hyper-grace teaching has become an epidemic (see
“What’s Wrong With Grace?” on p. 28). It has slipped in almost unnoticed
and taken root like an unwanted weed—easy to get in but hard to get out
of the Christian. I have personally dealt with many young people who
were once on fire but fell under this “kicked-back” view of God. Now,
instead of pursuing Him, they are partying. This “unmerited freedom,” if
not tackled and taken out, will spread to future generations, leaving
us with millions of lukewarm Christians who have traded their passion
for poison.
Sadly, some hyper-grace preachers live in sin and ease
their consciences by preaching about a God who is all love and who never
condemns, a God who doesn’t judge us by our conduct. Like the false
teachers Jude confronted, they “turn the grace of our God into lewdness”
(Jude 4). The New International Version describes such lewdness as “a
license for immorality.”
But not every hyper-grace preacher is looking for a way to
justify sin. Some truly love Jesus but are simply preaching truth mixed
with error. They’ve taken an undeniable, glorious truth about God and
presented it in such an exaggerated form that they nullify all divine
warnings and even claim that the words of Jesus don’t apply to New
Covenant believers. If this seems judgmental, then it’s time to honestly
line everyone’s teachings—including mine—alongside the Word. Don’t just
go through the Word; let the Word go through you. Why are we so afraid
in this godless generation to confront fallacies?
These hyper-grace teachers rightly emphasize that we are
saved by grace and not by works (Eph. 2:8-9), that while we were yet
sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:6-8), that we are no longer sinners
but saints in God’s sight (1 Cor. 1:2), that God’s love for us is not
based on our performance (Rom. 5:9-10), that having begun in the Spirit
we can’t become perfect by human effort (Gal. 3:3), that we are now sons
and daughters of God, joint heirs with Jesus (Rom. 8:15-17), and more!
But they ignore mountains of other scriptural truths and
draw wrong theological conclusions. For example, they rightly teach that
Jesus died for all our sins—past, present and future—but wrongly
conclude that as believers we no longer have to deal with sin (meaning
we never have to confess sin or repent of sin, and the Holy Spirit no
longer convicts us of sin). Aren’t you tired of hearing of another
backslidden brother? Trace his steps and you’ll often find he was given
permission to slip away from the wonderful freedom of holiness into the
bondage of humanism.
3) Antinomianism
Antinomianism—long word, simple meaning. The word
literally means “against law.” It’s a short jump from an overemphasis on
the grace message to complete antinomianism. In practice, it means that
“anything goes,” since Jesus has set us free. The problem is, Jesus
didn’t set us free to sin; He set us free from sin.
Jesus died for us and broke sin’s power on our lives so
that now, by the Spirit, we can live out the righteous requirements of
the law (Rom. 8:1-4). Yet purveyors of this poisonous teaching fail to
realize that Jesus calls us beyond the requirements of the law in His
teaching, stating, for example, that adultery refers to adultery of the
heart and not just the physical act (Matt. 5:27-28).
God’s perfect, holy, glorious law is not the problem.
Sinful flesh is the problem. Sin will take you farther than you ever
wanted to go. Sin will cost you more than you ever wanted to pay. And
sin will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay. Sin will
promise you everything but leave you with nothing. Sin will love you for
a season and curse you for eternity.
For all the antinomians out there who believe “anything goes,” the question is, where do you end up?
4) Deification of Man
Many false teachings today start with man rather than with
God. In contrast, when Paul laid out the gospel message in Romans, he
started with God and then went to man: God is holy and we are not; He is
righteous and we are not; we are under His judgment and in need of
mercy, and that mercy comes through the cross.
Today’s gospel, especially in America, has a very
different ring to it; rather than being all about God, it’s all about
me. Just as the American way is to make everything bigger and better,
the American gospel says that Jesus came to make you into a bigger and
better you. That is not the gospel!
Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 16:24-25).
We are in grave danger worldwide as millions upon millions
gaze upon man rather than God. Just take a look at our political
system. Words like messiah, lord, savior and anointed one
are tossed around like candy. I cringe at heaven’s response. This is a
setup for the Antichrist; as we become so accustomed to worshipping man,
it will be a simple maneuver for the Antichrist to move into position.
5) Challenging the Authority of the Word
The challenging of God’s authority goes back to the Garden
of Eden, starting with the serpent’s challenge to Eve: “Has God indeed
said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). This
satanic challenge was twofold: First, did God really say that? And
second, God didn’t really mean what He said. After all, you won’t die if
you eat from the tree (vv. 1-5).
That twofold challenge continues to assault us today.
Best-selling authors tell us the biblical text isn’t reliable, that the
biblical manuscripts we have in our possession are hopelessly
contradictory, and that we can know little or nothing about the real,
historical Jesus. Other authors tell us that the Bible is no more than a
collection of religious traditions and that God Himself is nothing more
than a religious myth.
For the most part, though, the challenge to the authority
of the Scriptures is subtler, and some of it flows out of the
deification of man, which says, “The Bible must live up to my standards.
I will judge the God of the Bible based on my morality rather than the
God of the Bible judging me based on His morality.” In short, when the
Scriptures contradict our feelings and preferences rather than crucify
our feelings and preferences and bow down before God and His Word, we
question God’s Word.
6) Rejecting Hell
Nowhere is this questioning of God’s Word seen any more
clearly than when it comes to the subject of hell and future punishment.
And because we preach an imbalanced gospel—emphasizing God’s love and
ignoring His wrath, emphasizing His mercy and ignoring His justice—we no
longer have room for hell and future punishment in our theology.
Why did Jesus use such strong language in talking about
the fire of hell and about people weeping and wailing and gnashing their
teeth (see Matt. 8:12)? And why did He teach that “it is more
profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole
body to be cast into hell” (Matt. 5:29)? And why do other New Testament
writers warn us repeatedly about the wrath to come (see Eph. 5:1-6)?
It’s one thing to debate the exact nature of the future
punishment that awaits those who reject the gospel. It’s another thing
to downplay or eliminate it. Whatever legitimate debate we may have on
the precise nature of the coming judgment, this much is clear from the
Word: it will be irreversible, dreadful and of eternal consequence.
Revelation 20:11-15 clearly warns about the coming Great
White Throne Judgment. Yet modern-day heresy teachers have taken it upon
themselves to erase the judgment. The result, if believed and followed,
will be too devastating to mention.
7) Universal Reconciliation
Universal reconciliation promotes a get-out-of-jail-free
mentality—that in the end, everyone will make it into heaven because of
Jesus’ death on the cross. (In contrast, universalism teaches that all
paths lead to God.) There may be future suffering, but it will be
purging rather than punishment, and ultimately everyone will be saved.
Proponents of universal reconciliation point to verses
that teach that God reconciled “all things to Himself, by Him, whether
things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood
of His cross” (Col. 1:20). And they point out that just as in Adam all
die, in Jesus all will live (Rom. 5:12-21).
What would you say if someone attempted to persuade you
that Adolf Hitler was in heaven? “Abomination!” you would scream.
“You’re deranged!” Yet that’s a sample of the fundamental false teaching
of this layer of “avalanche snow.” Added to other layers mentioned
previously, we will find the believer’s foundation deteriorated, and
when the storms come, the house will come crumbling to the ground.
During this season when we celebrate the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus, let’s determine to glorify Him by staying pure. A
gentle breeze of false teaching has become a strong wind of serious
error, some of it downright heretical, and a storm of doctrinal
deviation has become a massive deadly whiteout. Amid this whiteout, stay
committed to His teachings. Don’t permit any false teaching to subtly
weave its way into your life, bringing down an avalanche that could
destroy everything you hold so dearly. I won’t let it happen. Not in my
lifetime and not in yours.
I urge you to open your heart and read Spiritual Avalanche.
Revelation will be imparted from its pages. This 30-minute, full-color
vision shook me to the core. I wept as I saw it and wept as I wrote the
book. I love the church and will do everything possible to prepare her
to meet the Groom. She isn’t ready, but she will be!
Yes, Jesus said in the last days even the elect could be deceived. But not you! You’re too smart for that!
