Should it take us so long in our faith walk to get to the point we are making every decision based in God’s Word? I realize it does … that it’s common. But I don’t think God intended it to be that way. Scripture mentions the renewing of our mind. I think we prolong that and sometimes avoid it in some areas.
Take for instance, the following and sharing of certain Bible teachers and their words. It’s running rampant among Christians to glean learning, and then share it, from those who’s Salvation theology is clearly not Biblical.
“Any theology which ignores Jesus Christ as the supreme Authority ceases to be Christian theology.” ~ Oswald Chambers
Let’s check everyone we follow and read and share. We can’t be lukewarm.
I’ve had this on my heart so VERY heavily lately. I’ve been sharing about it. I have received messages from Believers saying they see Truth in it and that my heart is to follow after Scripture all the way. Some very nice messages. Some “thank yous.” That is confirmation. God blesses me through you.
But I’ve also received bad treatment from other Believers. Even people who’ve unfriended and blocked me on Facebook. I just can’t help but think they don’t really want to hear the truth.
Avoidance.
And that concerns my soul for them.
Oh this is heavy.
I had one person ask me if I had a helpful list of these preacher/teachers to steer clear from. I think that’s a good idea – without cutting them down of course. That is not the way God would want it.
I also only want to do that on God’s leading, because I don’t know the true state of some of these preacher/teacher’s salvation in their heart.
Some are clearly teaching and believing false doctrine. If they are preaching false doctrine and they’re not saved that’s one thing … a sad thing… a prayer is needed. If they say outright that Jesus is NOT the only way in some form or another… are they really saved? They are not.
But…
Maybe they’re Believers but just backsliding or lukewarm. But I’m not sure how God feels about all that ultimately. If they are preaching a false doctrine because they been deceived and they truly have given their life to Christ that’s another thing.
Jesus is crystal clear in The Word when He says He is the only Way. The ONLY WAY.
Christians sound like hypocrites to the world when they share a false teaching. If it matters to God it should matter to us. We must be on guard. He gives us armor for a reason.
I DO NOT believe Christ Followers should go out on a hunt for those who are not speaking Truth in Christ. I do not do this. However it is rampant these days all over the internet.
It is extraordinarily important to listen to the Holy Spirit when He warns us. If we are constantly checking ourselves, and all that we take in, to the Scriptures, then we will be aware when we need to be. It is important that we should check into those we follow through reading and Biblical teaching. Should they turn out to be teaching a false salvation theology, then they are not people we should be learning from. If they have error mixed in with Truth, then Truth still prevails, but we are held accountable for what we share and base our complete theology on.
We can not ignore the Holy Spirit. The Church is being eroded from the underside with those who call themselves Christians, but then turn around and say that Jesus is not the only way to God and eternal life. Christ Followers, watch and proceed with God’s caution.
It is not usually difficult to find quotes from each teacher or voice speaking, about eternal life and spiritual things, in order to find their true beliefs. Don’t be lukewarm.
Here is a good question to ask ourselves:
How much does this person I am following quote from God’s Word?
If they rarely or never do, if they twist it, then check to see if what they teach is their agenda instead.
That’s why I’m so leery to share quotes and recommend anything from these teachers, because I just don’t know ultimately where someone might end up if they followed them based on my recommendation. I do not want to lead or be lead astray.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ~ James 3:1
Ann Lamott (and many like her) are examples of this. She has said in interviews and writes in her very own words that while she claims to have found God through Jesus that she believes Jesus is NOT the only way to God and eternal life.
She is not the only writer/speaker out there who believes this. This should be obviously identified as a false salvation theology, and my heart is shattered over all the sharings and “amens” of these falsehoods by Christians. Why, oh why, are we not checking into a person’s full beliefs before sharing on social media, with our friends, and on our sites?
God warns in His Word. ONLY God knows the heart and salvation of someone, and just as I can’t determine that state of their soul, neither can these who say they “know” that all people go to be with God in Heaven at their death – as these people claim in their Unitarian and New Age Universalist views.
Troubling.
I’ve been very troubled since I’ve seen a storm of quotes by Christians on FB and the web in the last year by people such as Henri Nouwen, Marianne Williamson, Rob Bell, Ann Lamott and other Universalists/New Agers.
Universalism is Unitarian. It is not Scriptural. One may not believe in Christ as the only way to eternal life, but a Christian can not say it can be either through Christ or another way. That questions their salvation in and of itself. I do not claim to know a person’s salvation nor the salvation of these which I listed, but by their theological “fruit” I can discern with caution how to proceed.
— From Sabbatical Journey, Henri Nouwen’s book (page 51, 1998)
“Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God.”
That clearly shows what Nouwen believes.
On another note some quotes sound so good! I hear this:
“I use them just because they are good and I hope people reading what I share understand.”
But aren’t WE responsible for what we teach? God says “yes”.
A quote from someone that is Truth in and about Christ is always Truth. It’s just troubling to think how many Christians might be deceived into following the whole of a person’s theology instead of a Truthful quote just because a person has lots of good quotes. And to those seeking God reading them, might it be a bad direction to send them in with no context? It very well might be. That’s why I’m so very careful who I quote. Should I find out later that which should be retracted… I’d do so and explain why.
For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
~ 2 Corinthians 11:4
I’m
Heart
Shattered
These past few years, I’ve been taken aback and the Holy Spirit has maintained my heart conviction that Christians are following *seemingly* Godly people. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across people liking FB pages, sharing teachings, and writing about what they’ve learned from people who claim Christianity BUT say that Christ is NOT the only way to Heaven and eternal salvation.
What they say sometimes might be truth in context to Jesus because Truth is always Truth, but PLEASE check their salvation beliefs. If what they claim ultimately about salvation is opposite of what Jesus says then run. Do not walk. Do not let yourselves be deceived even a little. If even the elect should be deceived.
They are many. And it’s much easier to be fooled by the enemy when the person we are listening to looks and sounds like us *most* of the time.
My daughter, Emerson, wrote a beautiful piece on her site that included this:
“And the fact that so many Christians are accepting that which should be obviously opposite of biblical truth is incredibly appalling and leaves me questioning who can even be trusted anymore. How can one claim to follow Christ, but ignore and negate His very teachings? If one verse of the Bible is false, is the entire Book not compromised in its integrity? If we believe it is divinely inspired by God Himself, but we do not take every word of it as true or correct, then how can we claim the rest of it to be true? If God were to allow errors in His truths and principles, how could we trust any of what He says? Would the only other option not be that He lied to us? If we read the Word in this way, we undermine its very authority and we lay a shaky foundation for our beliefs. We also inadvertently deny God’s holiness, righteousness, sovereignty, and trustworthiness, and we claim to know better than He does.”
Please share this everywhere you can if you agree in checking those we learn from and share. Please share if you know we must be more careful… especially in the times in which we find ourselves living. We need to get this word out there.
If you are in the “crowd”, you might consider that they have it wrong. Jesus didn’t follow the crowd… He led it.
It’s never easy to speak out for what is right in the eyes of God.
It’s always easy to follow a crowd. But is the crowd checking with Him?
Live Blessed and #ALLIN,
If you’d like to read the soul-deep stuff I share… I’m eternally grateful to walk this journey with you… You can get me in your email inbox… Well, not really me. ;)
