SUMMARY:
That only comes by faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins (Ephesians 2:8-10).
But, for those of us who claim Him, there is no other way to exercise that faith and prove our discipleship.
Loving God is not having a hand-raising, hip-hopping, wave-making, emotional experience in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals before a rock band in some downtown arena full of shrieking Seekers, Creekers, Promise Keepers and Passionate Purposeites.
The only true act of love, worship and service to God is obedience to His Word.
Everything else is distortion, distraction, deception, delusion and destruction
By PAUL PROCTOR
EVERY now and then I get a terse email from someone who has taken exception to my candid comments on Rick Warren, asking questions like: “Have you ever spoken with him personally about your objections and concerns and tried to work through your differences privately as scripture teaches, rather than attack him publicly as you do?”
The scripture they usually cite is, of course, Matthew 18:15-17:
“Moreover if your brother shall sin against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall refuse to hear them, tell it to the church: but if he refuses to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax collector.”
This is probably one of the more misunderstood and misapplied scriptures quoted today, especially among those who ingest Church Growth Carcinogens and Purpose Driven Lies. Because we have been inappropriately taught that unity and relationships are the most important things for Christians to pursue and protect in the church, these verses are often touted as the principal directive we should follow when addressing false teachers, which frankly, couldn’t be any further from the truth and only ends up protecting, sustaining and empowering them, which is probably why they teach it.
There is absolutely no biblical record of Jesus or any of His disciples ever taking a heretic off to the side for coffee and donuts after they led someone astray distorting the Word of God.They didn’t shake hands, exchange hugs, kisses and phone numbers or set up appointments to have a dialogue on their doctrinal differences over lunch in the quiet corner of a favourite restaurant at a more convenient time.
No, Jesus dealt with heretics harshly, publicly and immediately, as did Paul and the other disciples. And, keep in mind; we’re talking New Testament here friends. In the OldTestament, false prophets were simply taken out and stoned to death for their lies. That’s how serious God is about His Word being rightly divided and properly proclaimed.
So, what was Jesus referring to in Matthew 18? Look again carefully at how he begins:
“…If your brother shall sin against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone…”
You see, the Lord is referring here to a personal offence, grievance and/or misunderstanding between two people
— something that has broken their fellowship and has little or nothing to do with anyone else. Personal and private matters of wrongdoing should always be dealt with personally and privately first, so as not to unduly disrupt the unity of the body. That is indeed, biblical.
Now, as for wolves in sheep’s clothing that stand in pulpits and on stages before vast audiences with microphones and television cameras proclaiming demonic doctrines as the Word of God, the scriptural directive is altogether different:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8).
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove {rebuke} them
(Ephesians 5:11).
A man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition reject
(Titus 3:10).
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Of course, when someone reprimands today’s religious leaders for their unbiblical teachings, they are silenced, shamed, slandered, marginalised, isolated and/or asked to leave. But, isn’t that exactly what the religious leaders did to Jesus and His disciples?
The Pharisees were a lot of things but |
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If anyone come to you, and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that bids him God speed is a partaker of his evil deeds (2nd John 1:10).
Jesus didn’t request a closed-door session with the Scribes and Pharisees in order to find common ground, build relationships and promote unity in Jerusalem. He condemned their blasphemy before one and all and repeatedly warned His disciples about their leaven. And when His number-one disciple challenged Him about His own up and coming crucifixion, Jesus didn’t put His hand gently on Peter’s shoulder and effeminately whisper: “My friend, you just don’t understand.” No, He lashed back at him with power and authority in front of ALL the disciples saying: “…Get behind me Satan: you are an offence to me: for your thoughts are not of the things of God, but those of men” (Matthew 16:23).
Why? Because, Peter was publicly contradicting God’s Word and Divine plan, which is the equivalent of declaring Jesus to be a lunatic or a liar.
Did the religious leaders stone Stephen to death because of all the cute and cuddly things he had to say about them? I don’t think so. Stephen spoke the cold hard truth that day and they hated him for it because God’s Truth is always “evil” and intolerable in the ears of the unrepentant. He told them: “You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…who have received the law by the direction of angels, and have not kept it” (Acts 7:51-52).
You see, defenders of today’s religious leaders almost always resort to calling their critics, among other things, “legalists,” for incessantly using scripture to rebuke unbiblical teachings and practices; comparing them to the Pharisees of Stephen’s day, when, in reality, Stephen might just as easily say to Rick Warren and others like him: “You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…who have received the Gospel, but have not proclaimed it.”
Of course, when someone reprimands today’s religious leaders for their unbiblical teachings, they are silenced, shamed, slandered, marginalised, isolated and/or asked to leave.
But, isn’t that exactly what the religious leaders did to Jesus and His disciples?
The Pharisees were a lot of things but they were not “legalists.”They’ve merely been labelled as such by the religious liberals of OUR day in order to try and discount the importance of studying and obeying scripture.
In fact the word “legalist’ does not even appear in any version of the Bible I searched. It is just another contemporary twisting of the truth to forward a corrupt agenda and steer people away from God’s Word to something more fiexible, entertaining and endearing.
“Legalism” is defined in my dictionary as the “strict adherence to a literal interpretation of a law, rule, or religious moral code.” Under this definition, is not Jesus Himself a legalist? Y
ou see, without the law, there is no need for a cross; which probably explains why both are being expelled from the church and society today as outdated and offensive relics from the past.
So, according to Stephen’s own testimony, if the religious leaders indeed “received the law but have not kept it,” they don’t even QUALIFY as true “legalists” but only as lawbreakers; or, as Jesus repeatedly called them; “hypocrites,” which is another word for “actor,” meaning, they only pretended to keep the law.
And THAT, my friends, is what today’s Purpose Driven Pastor is — an actor — a hypocrite and a pretender, because he CLAIMS theWord of God but does not actually believe it nor proclaim it. If he did, he would preach the Bible and nothing else; verse by verse, for the rest of his ministry; notThe Purpose Driven Life, chapter by chapter for 40 days.
He would quote The Almighty with power and conviction before a trembling and uneasy congregation, instead of quoting Rick Warren with purpose and ambition before a casual and comfortable constituency.
When church attendance and revenues are down, closet liberals, be they Purpose Driven or otherwise, often minimise, in varying degrees, the importance of the Bible in a Christian’s life, calling it “legalism” whenever one encourages the brethren to obey God’s Word or dares to chastise those who refuse. Well, THEY might call keeping God’s commandments “legalism,” but Jesus Christ calls it “love.” Don’t believe me? Read it for yourself:
If you love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15).
He who has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him
(John 14:21).
Jesus answered and said to him, If a man loves me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. He that does not love me does not keep my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me (John 14:23-24).
If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love (John 15:10).
He who says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him
(1 John 2:4).
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).
Keeping God’s commandments will not gain you entry into the Kingdom of Heaven any more than attending church will make you a member of Christ’s body.
That only comes by faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins
(Ephesians 2:8-10).
But, for those of us who claim Him, there is no other way to exercise that faith and prove our discipleship.
Loving God is not having a hand-raising, hip-hopping, wave-making, emotional experience in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals before a rock band in some downtown arena full of shrieking Seekers, Creekers, Promise Keepers and Passionate Purposeites.
The only true act of love, worship and service to God is obedience to His Word.
Everything else is distortion, distraction, deception, delusion and destruction.
And, when you set your Bible aside for some other book or teacher or preacher, you are neither loving, nor following, nor obeying the One you claim as your Lord and Saviour.
Oh, you might be Purpose Driven and Seeker Sensitive; but more than anything else, you’re a hypocrite.
Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out demons? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I confess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work lawlessness.”
–
Matthew 7:21-23
Footnotes:
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Appeared in Issue CETF NR 33 2005
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3
© Copyright 2006 Christian Witness Ministries, except where noted. All rights reserved
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-Last revised-
Monday, October 09, 2006
