Heresy-Bg

                  Heresy In The Church

   For there will be a time when they will not put up with sound doctrine, but according to their own lusts, they will heap up for themselves teachers, tickling their ears. 
[2 Timothy 4:3]

 

 

 

"Any of it [teaching] that is good is in the Word of God, and any that is not in the Word of God is not good. I am a Bible Christian and if an archangel with a wingspread as broad as a constellation shining like the sun were to come and offer me some new truth, I'd ask him for a reference. If he could not show me where it is found in the Bible, I would bow him out and say, 'I'm awfully sorry, you don't bring any references with you'" (Counterfeit Revival, p. 67). A.W. Tozer.

JUDGE NOT: Did You Know....The Bible gives very specific instruction about our behaviour towards heretics and teachers of false doctrine.

HERESY Compromising the doctrines that are essential to faith can confuse the gospel sufficiently to make it powerless and is a serious assault upon the character of God, of Christ and salvation itself. So how did these doctrines creep into the church?

CAN YOU BE DECEIVED? The words deceit, deceitful, deceitfully, deceitfulness, deceive, and deceivability are used again and again in the Bible. It is one of the major themes. The underlying Greek words for deceit cover everything from self-deceit to the practice of deceit by unprincipled religious teachers and con artists. So we are warned repeatedly and must be ready

HOW TO DISCERN, JUDGE AND TEST RIGHTLY: What methods are being used for "discernment" today that don't have biblical support .. how does the Bible does tell us to test teaching, prophecy and actions.

HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING SPIRITUALLY WEIRD You've got to know doctrine. Sorry, there's no other way. That's the only way to be protected. And remember what I said yesterday if you want to build your faith? Build your knowledge, because knowledge under girds faith. This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. You can't know what's theologically weird and avoid it unless you know what's theologically normal.

Also See Section The Christian And Knowledge


UNBIBLICAL CHURCH PROGRAMS: It seems like every time one turns around there is a ‘new’ program or course being pushed by the church... From The Purpose Driven Church, the Alpha Course,Cleansing Stream, and A Course In Miracles to Contemplative or Centering Prayer and Walking TheLabryinth.. (What happened to simply reading Scripture and Bible study?) Many of these courses use Christian terminology but are they Scripturally sound? This section deals with these courses and others.

HOW TO CHRISTIANITY: The authority of Scriptures in the life of the believer cannot be superseded by anything else. Not by words of prophecy, not by signs and wonders, not by experience, and certainly not by pragmatic Christian "How To" manuals.

TBN: Under the guise of Christianity, TBN is probably the largest promoter of heresy today.

LIFESTYLES OF THE TELE-EVANGELISTS: Capitalizing on Christianity has proved to be far more lucrative than starting a new religion.

THE ANOINTING   It would be difficult to find a charismatic/evangelical service/program/tract/book that is not liberally sprinkled with the word 'Anointed, which has become arguably the most overused, overworked, misunderstood, misinterpreted term in the Pentecostal and Charismatic arenas. There is a international anthem among an elite class of Charismatic celebrities today. It’s a stern warning repeatedly directed at their critics with a residual effect upon their devotees. It’s the frequent and methodical strategy that they recite against anyone who opposes their unscriptural doctrine and practice. It’s a charge of “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” and “touch not the Lord’s anointed.” What does the Bible mean when it says not to touch God’s anointed? 

COUNTERFEIT REVIVALS Is it a move of God or a demonic deception? Examining the origins, progress and underlying erroneous doctrines of the phenomenon. From Toronto and Brownsville to Lakeland this deception makes black appear white, obscures reality, enshrines absurdities and causes people to look for God in all the wrong places. What too many people do not seem to realize is that uncontrollable laughter and animal noises may be new to the church world, but the occult has known such phenomena for a long time. Moreover it is extremely disturbing to make a comparison between the experiences of Toronto / Brownsville and Kundalini (energy), an occult practice. 

SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT: Holy Canon is void of any accounts, testimonies, experiences or doctrines like ‘Slain In The Spirit’

SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT II: It is interesting to note that in the Biblical accounts when people have fallen, it is the sinners who fall backwards. 

FALSE PROPHETS The Bible tells us that if a prophet presumes to speak a word in God’s name, which God has not commanded him to speak, that prophet shall die... That false prophets are ferocious wolves in sheep’s clothing. (Matthew 7:15) Yet false prophets abound and thrive in the Christian world.

DOMINION THEOLOGY Latter Rain/ Joel’s Army/ Manifest Sons of God/ Kingdom Now/ Restoration/ Reconstruction are all related belief systems, largely based upon a post-millennial view of the End Times, in which Christ will return to earth after the thousand year reign of God's kingdom. Christians alone are Biblically mandated to ‘rule’ the earth subduing every enemy of Christ before He can return as King. However Christians outside of the Dominionist system are considered to be in spiritual bondage and not bona fide members of the Kingdom of God. Therefore a “civil war” will have to be fought to remove the cancer (Their words, not mine). They, as the true Church will inherit the earth, and rule the nations... all before Christ comes back. Where the rapture, tribulation, end time apostasy and literal Antichrist fit in (if at all) is anyone’s guess.

WORD OF FAITH: If the New Age movement is the greatest threat to evangelical Christianity from without, the word-faith/positive confession movement is its greatest threat from within. This is not entirely true. The Word of Faith movement IS the New Age movement... with a few Christian terms and concepts sprinkled in for to keep it believable. Nor is the extent of the controversy an honest doctrinal difference among orthodox believers, but a confrontation between the gospel preached by the Lord Jesus Christ and another gospel, rendered all the more alarming when one consider the common origins of Christian Science, New Thought, Unity School of Christianity and the Word-Faith movement. 

THE PROSPERITY DOCTRINE: Prosperity teachers equate wealth with godliness and faith. The Bible says otherwise.  John the Baptist was called the “Greatest of Men” by Jesus, yet Jesus asked the multitudes concerning him: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? ... A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts."  Sadly many faithful followers give their hard earned money to these spoiled brats in hopes of pleasing God and doing their part in the ‘ministry’. In any case why do these "ministers" have to ask for money at all? Could not they apply their own principles and reap the money themselves? 

HEALING: Section Includes Is Physical Healing Included In The Atonement, Does God Still Heal? Does God Always Heal?,  Inner Healing...the work of the Holy Spirit or unbiblical, devilish and dangerous and Healer? Heal Thyself! 

ETERNAL SECURITY (Once Saved - Always Saved) Asking whether a person can lose their salvation is not the right question. We should be asking whether a believer is saved now... The answer to which is YES, AND NO!

INCLUSIVISM: Is the belief in the all-inclusive final triumph of God where the majority of mankind, regardless of religious belief, who lead moral lives but have no knowledge of the saving grace of Christ are saved and find a place in paradise.

UNIVERSALISM: Declares that all men are now saved, though all do not realize it. Therefore the job of the preacher and the missionary is to tell people they are already saved. 

MAN AS GOD How New Age Teaching have crept into the church. Is the belief that men were created to be "gods", either in this life or in some future exaltation, a Christian teaching? Is it in any sense Christian to speak of the "deification" of man -- to say that God created or redeemed man in order to become deity? What do various religious groups who use such language today mean? Are they all saying the same thing? Are all who use such terminology heretics? If not, how do we tell the difference? All of these questions will be addressed in this article.

SELF ESTEEM The apostle Paul warned us that one of the characteristics of the last days would be that "men shall be lovers of their own selves" (2 Tim. 3:2). 

A ONE WORLD RELIGION   Major steps have already been taken to establish a unified world religion. 

HEAVEN CAN’T WAIT Visionaries throughout the centuries have claimed to have been caught up to the other side, however visions of heaven throughout the centuries have been significantly conditioned by whichever view of the afterlife prevailed at the time. Besides which contradictory versions about trips to heaven shoot wide of Scripture in significant areas.

JESUS DESCENDED INTO HELL   According to this doctrine Jesus was ushered into hell where He was tortured for three days and nights by Satan and his demons, then was reborn or “born again” in hell.

Remember

* Signs and wonders could be a work of God, but they could also be the work of false prophets (see Deuteronomy 13:1; Revelation 13:11-14; 16:14; 19:20).

* Miracles, prophecy, and the casting out of demons are indeed the works of true ministers, but these ministries can also be done by workers of iniquity (see Matthew 7:21-23).

* A church can be very evangelistic, but so were the Pharisees (see Matthew 23:15 and consider the evangelistic nature of cults).

* Miraculous signs were done by Christ and His apostles, but they were also done by, "...the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan…" (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

* The preaching of the gospel of salvation is one of the greatest stewardships a minister has today. But there are those who call their message "the gospel," yet they preach what God's word calls "another gospel" (see 2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6-8).

* Every true minister of Jesus Christ should be "filled with the Holy Spirit." But the Scriptures tell us that there are more "spirits" than the Holy Spirit that can fill people (see Luke 4:33; Acts 16:16; Romans 8:15 and 11:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 11:4; 1 Timothy 5:21; 2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:3, 6).

* The ministries of giving for the work of the gospel, prayer, and fasting are all mighty tools in the furtherance of God's kingdom. But these things can be done by hypocrites as well (see Matthew 6:2, 5, 16).

* Prayer is a mighty weapon for the cause of Christ, but not every prayer offered up to God is going to be regarded by Him (see Psalms 66:18; Isaiah 1:15 and 59:2, 3; Micah 3:4; Matthew 6:5, 7 and 23:14; 1 Peter 3:7).

and

Christian bookstores are replete with publications on cult belief systems and activities. But the same bookstores sell materials containing false doctrines under the guise of "deep truths" and "new revelations."

Also See Sections

Living The Faith... The Biblical Christian 


Should Christians Fear God?, True Holiness, Faith and Works, Legalism Vs. Grace, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, Saving Faith, The Will of God, The Unforgivable Sin, God’s Tests, The Breakdown Of Religious Knowledge, Devotions, When You Want to Give up...  And More

The Contemporary Church 


Losing The Fight For Our Churches as We Dilute the Gospel, Embrace Worldly Methods 
and Become People Pleasers.

Safeguarding Your Soul 


James 2:19 is an incredible statement. “You believe that God is one? You do well. The devils also believe and shudder”. The demons are way ahead of too many Christians who ‘believe’ and think they are saved. DONT BE DECEIVED... According To Scripture spiritual tragedies are possible

And Tozer’s Whats Wrong With The Gospel

 

Off Site Resources

The Book, Counterfeit Revival by Hank Hanegraaf goes behind the scenes and uncovers the contradictions, false experiences, spiritual deception, and seductive allure of esoteric experiences masquerading under the banner of truth.
 

 

Courtesy: http://www.inplainsite.org

 

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