Bible Baptist Publications

MYTHS, LIES, AND VAIN TRADITIONS

Booklet, 46 pages, $1.00

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Rev. 12:9)

If there's one thing that the word of God makes abundantly clear about the devil, it is the fact that he is a deceiver. Our text deals with the Great Tribulation when Satan is cast out into the earth to become the Antichrist, which happens in the next chapter. When it does, the deception continues:

"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." (Rev. 13:14)

Speaking of Satan in John 8:44, Jesus said,
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

Satan is a liar, and the world at large is deceived by believing his lies, which is why we read many warnings in the scriptures about not allowing ourselves to be deceived:

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Col. 2:8)

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." (II Tim. 3:13)

"Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." (I Cor. 15:33)

"Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous." (I John 3:7)

"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." (Eph. 5:6)

"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you." (Mat. 24:4)

"For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (Rom. 16:18)

Satan is so subtle in his deceptive work that Paul even says in I Corinthians 3:18, "Let no man deceive himself . . ."

Clearly, the record of scripture is that Satan is a LIAR who has the entire world system living lies and believing lies. As seventeenth century French philosopher Blaise Pascal said, "Earth is not the home of truth. Unrecognized, she wanders lost among men."

But the day is coming when God will put an end to all lying. In fact, the last two chapters of the Bible remind us of this, by saying, "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Rev. 21:27), and then Revelation 22:15 says, "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Lies will have no place in our new eternal home.

But for now, the lies and myths just increase with time as Satan keeps setting his stage for the Great Tribulation and the Son of Perdition. That being the case, I've decided that I would like to do a series on some of the lies, myths and vain traditions that are peddled by Satan and believed by millions. In a few months, we'll probably make this information available in booklet form as well, Lord willing. After all, since there are no lies in heaven, God's people are going to have to get straightened out on their bad beliefs at some point, so why not now? Why not just go ahead and deal with the fallacies head-on, one at a time, so that we can be walking in truth when our journey ends?

These are fallacies that Satan spreads about God and God's word, things that either hinder or destroy one's walk with the Lord. These are falsehoods that help to hinder God's kingdom while helping, in one way or another, to advance Satan's kingdom.

I'm just going to start with some of the more common fallacies and then progress to some of the others in the weeks ahead. Our Handbook of Heresies deals with heresies and heretics, but this effort will deal with the lesser things, little fragmented fallacies that get sown at the devil’s will throughout the body of Christ.  This will be the subject matter of most of my Sunday morning preaching for a while, except when we might occasionally take a time-out to do something different. There’s really not going to be any particular order to these entries, just random fallacies that need to be cleared up with the word of God. So, let's get started . . .

We’re All God’s Children

The old belief in the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man is very ancient, but very wrong. The first man Adam was called "the son of God" in Luke 3:38, so there was at that time (Genesis 1-2) a Father and son relationship, but then Adam sinned and lost his position as a son of God. Not until Jesus paid for sin on the cross and rose again the third day was it possible for anyone to be a son of God. That's why John 1:12 says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." A "son of God" is something that one BECOMES, according to the verse, not something that one is from birth. The way one becomes a son of God is to BELIEVE on THE Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I John 3:10 is even more blunt about the matter by saying that there are two kinds of people in this world: "children of God" and "children of the devil." Jesus even said to the Pharisees in John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil . . ."

No one is a child of God naturally from birth. Galatians 3:26 says, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Faith in THE Son of God makes a man A son of God. The new birth turns a sinner into a saint and a son, thus placing him into God's family. Only then can the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man be a reality.  It would make no sense for Jesus to say, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7), if we are already God’s children.  It is the new birth that MAKES us God’s children by removing our sins and imputing to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Rom. 4:5-8; II Cor. 5:21).  We are not all God’s children.  In fact, of the eight billion people who populate the earth, probably a very small percentage are truly born again and members of God’s eternal family. That’s why Jesus said, “. . . strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”  (Mat. 7:14)

We’re All Created in God’s Image

This ties in with the previous point, but it does need to be addressed separately since the cross references on God's image differ from those dealing with his sons.

Notice Genesis 5:3: "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth." Adam was the only man in the Old Testament to have the original image of God, and he had it only for a short time. It isn't until Jesus Christ comes and pays for the sin of the world that we read again about a man having God's image. Colossians 3:10 says, "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." Notice Hebrews 1:3: "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Jesus Christ is the image of God, and no one can be born in God's image until they are BORN AGAIN (John 3:3). Then and only then can a person have God's image. Also remember II Corinthians 4:4 where Jesus is said to be ". . Christ, who is the image of God . . ." It would be foolish to speak about the need for man to receive the image of God through Christ, if he had already had God's image all along. No man had God's image between Adam and Jesus, which is why Jesus is called the "last Adam" in I Corinthians 15:45. No man had lived with God's image since the sinless first Adam in Genesis. Through his death, burial and resurrection, Jesus restored that image to all who believe. So, the only people who are created in God's image are those who have received Jesus Christ, THE image of God.

God Loves Everyone

            This lie is almost universally believed, because it is assumed to be sinful to NOT love everyone. We've had it ingrained into our souls from childhood that we should love and not hate, and rightly so; therefore, it is assumed that it would be wrong for God to hate anyone and to not love everyone. That's a huge mistake. Like it or not, God is not one of us. He is in a class all his own, and his holiness will not allow him to love everyone unconditionally. By virtue of his holiness, God must love certain people, and as harsh as it may sound, he must hate others.

This is where one must move his emotions aside and allow the infallible scriptures to enlighten his mind and direct his thinking.  Our feelings and traditions can have no say in the matter. What others tell us to believe is irrelevant. Knowing and respecting what God’s word says and understanding the doctrinal logic in what it says is absolutely essential.  Most fall short of this requirement, so most spend their lives believing one of Satan’s biggest lies without ever realizing the damage being done.

Someone says, “But John 3:16 says that God loves the WHOLE WORLD.” No it doesn’t. John 3:16 says that God so LOVED the world (past tense) that He gave His only begotten Son. When the New Testament speaks of God’s love, it either speaks of His love for sinners in the PAST TENSE at Calvary or His love for Christians in the PRESENT TENSE. The New Testament does not say that God loves Christ-rejecting sinners today. According to Hebrews 12:6, God loves his SONS, not everyone: "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Proverbs 3:12 tells us, "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." God's love is for his SONS in particular, not everyone in general.

The number one reason for lost people not receiving Christ is the fact that all urgency has been removed by Satan's lies, especially the lie that God loves everyone. If a sinner believes that God LOVES him as he is in his sins, then he reasons that God ACCEPTS him as he is, so he sees no need to repent and receive Christ.  But that thought never enters the mind of the average Christian today who has been taught to take God’s love for granted and to throw it around like cheap candy.  God’s love for the lost world was manifest on an old rugged cross when his Son suffered, bled and died at the hands of evil sinners, and no one can be a recipient of that love without meeting Jesus Christ at Calvary and having all sins washed away.  That is, God’s love is something that God OFFERS to everyone through Jesus Christ, not something that God bestows on everyone unconditionally.

Notice carefully where the Bible places God’s love:  “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Rom. 8:38-39)  The love of God is not carelessly floating around for anyone and everyone to enjoy.  To the contrary, the love of God is found only IN JESUS CHRIST.  If a man has Jesus Christ, then he has the love of God.  If a man rejects Jesus Christ, then that man rejects the love of God and receives the WRATH of God instead. 

Everyone likes John 3:16, but not much is ever said about another verse in the same chapter, the last verse in fact.  John 3:36 says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”  The love of God does not abide on the unbeliever, and it’s unscriptural to tell him that it does.  Instead of telling a lost man, “Just remember, Jesus loves you,” we should be telling him, “Just remember, God’s wrath abides on you until you repent and receive Christ.”  But you can’t make friends that way and “grow your church,” so the love gospel is preached instead.

Some like to say that “God loves the sinner, but he hates the sin.”  There’s no scripture that says this, so we should not say it.  We should preach the gospel truth regarding sin and salvation and allow God’s abiding wrath to do its work.

A Loving God Wouldn’t Send Anyone to Hell

That’s not exactly what happens when a sinner goes to hell, which we will explain in the next section, but it is true that a loving God ALLOWS sinners to go to hell, so we’ll explain why.

The statement that “God is love,” from I John 4:8, is a true statement, but it is also true that the rest of the Bible is true.  God has many attributes, not just love, and He never intended for us to define Him as love only.  God is just as much a God of justice as He is a God of love.  In fact, the Bible’s greatest love verse, John 3:16, wouldn’t even be in the Bible if God were not a God of justice.  Deuteronomy 32:4 says, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”  It was God’s attribute of justice that required a sin payment to be made at Calvary.  God is love, yes, but God is not only love.

 A good parent is a loving parent, but a good parent is not only a loving parent.  No good parent enjoys punishing a child, but punishment must be rendered at times, else the love proves to be only a cheap and shallow love.  God’s love is directed to those who meet His conditions; His wrath goes to those who do not. There isn’t space enough in this study to deal at length with the conditions of God’s love, but we will offer three very definite ways we can know that God will allow sinners to go to hell, even though He is a God of love.

 One reason, and the most important reason, is the fact that His word declares it.  God isn’t what men think He is; God is what He says He is, and He will do what He says He will do.  Over and over again the Scriptures state that God will damn the wicked to Hell, if they refuse to repent.  The same apostle who wrote “God is love” also wrote “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:15)  David, “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (II Sam. 23:1), also wrote “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.”  (Psa. 11:5-6)  Moses knew the God of love “face to face” (Deu. 34:10), yet that didn’t stop him from writing Deuteronomy 32:22: “For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.”  Peter walked side by side with Jesus for over three years, but that didn’t keep him from sounding the warning of II Peter 3:7:  “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”  There are other examples that could be presented, but one more will suffice.  Jesus Himself, the One who gave us that great love verse, John 3:16, later said, “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”  (Mark 9:43-48)  Yes, God is love.  He loved the world so much that He paid the ultimate price by sending His Son to pay the sin debt of all men.  But that love is only accessible to those who receive it.  Those who refuse it will receive God’s wrath.  We know this because the Bible declares it.

 We also know this because justice demands it.  Psalm 89:14 says, “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.”  Notice in the verse how God’s mercy is coupled and balanced with his justice.  Just as any good human judge knows he must show mercy at times, God too knows this, but His mercy doesn’t come at the expense of His justice.  He maintains a perfect balance at all times.  Job 8:3 says, “Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?”  The implied answer is obviously “No.”  In Revelation 16:1-21, the seven last plagues are poured out upon a wicked and rebellious earth, yet before God does this, the saints of heaven sing the words “. . . Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”  Knowing that the terrible plagues of God’s judgment are coming, the saints still justify God’s actions.  Wise people today do likewise.  Rather than accuse God of being unfair or unloving for sending the wicked to hell, they will confess that God is holy, His ways are just, and that His justice cannot allow the wicked to escape the fires of hell. 

 The third reason is that nature displays it.  Nature clearly displays the fact that God allows suffering.  In fact, the Scriptures make this point very well in Romans 8:18-22:  “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

 Friend, suffering is continuing all around us daily, and anyone can observe this, if only they’ll open their eyes.  If you had meat for dinner over the past few days, it is only because an animal suffered and died first.  If you wear leather shoes or have a leather wallet or purse, it is only because an innocent animal suffered and died.  The animal did nothing to deserve such treatment, yet God allowed it to be killed. 

 Of course, suffering is also very real among men.  Some people are born with various diseases, while others are often born blind, crippled, or with some other handicap.  Others suffer in great natural disasters, in war, in accidents, and in other unfortunate events.  God allowed 6,000,000 of His own covenant people to suffer in Hitler’s death camps, and only God knows how many true Christians were murdered by the Roman Catholic Church throughout Europe during the Dark Ages.  Haralan Popov was a devoted preacher whom God allowed to suffer terrible persecution in communist Bulgaria, and Richard Wurmbrand suffered similarly in Romania.  The “God of love” allowed all of this, and He allows suffering to this very day.  The whole creation groans in pain, the Bible says, and God allows it all.  To think that He will not allow people to suffer in hell is really to not think at all.  Nature testifies that He does and will allow suffering.

God’s JUSTICE is manifest in the reality of hell; God’s LOVE is manifest in offering you an escape. 

Lost People Will be Condemned in the Day of Judgment

The notion that a sinner must wait until judgment day to learn whether or not he is condemned is false.  Satan spreads this lie so that people will remain in their sins in hopes that God might extend to them a bit of mercy in the end.  Yet, God’s word says that this is not the case.  Those who do not receive Christ as Saviour are CONDEMNED ALREADY, according to John 3:18:

"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is CONDEMNED ALREADY, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Romans 5:18 says, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”  Because of Adam’s sin, all men are born sinners and have ALREADY been judged as condemned.  The final white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15) is only for the official sentencing, much like criminals today are often sentenced sometime after a guilty verdict has been reached by a trial.

No sinner has to wait till the day of judgment to learn where he will spend eternity. He is ALREADY on his way to hell and will arrive there unless he grabs the lifeline that God has thrown to him, that being Jesus Christ himself. A man doesn't go to hell merely because he's a sinner; he goes to hell because he's a dying sinner who REFUSES TO TAKE THE CURE that God has provided him.

If a sick man suffers and dies because no one cared and no one tried to help him, then that is very sad, very unjust, and many are to blame. But if he suffers and dies after refusing medical help, then it's his own fault and no one else is to blame. That's where sinners are today. They've been diagnosed with eternal sickness and death, and they've been told that only Jesus Christ can save them. If they refuse his help, then they CHOOSE to remain condemned sinners and suffer the consequences. They are like a convicted murderer on death row who REFUSES the governor's pardon. Being a sinner, the lost man is condemned already. It's just a matter of time until the sentence is executed, unless he accepts the pardon that God is offering him through Jesus Christ.

No One Can Know for Sure that They Are Saved

This ties in with the last point, the notion that one must wait till the White Throne Judgment to learn of his eternal destiny.  This just isn’t true, and God has given us plenty of scripture to assure us of it.  Far too many people rely on their own logic and understanding rather than on the word of God itself, Christians included. God gave us his words, not so we could have a place to keep recipes and receipts, but so that we can have answers for the questions of life.  The question of one being sure of his salvation is well established by the word of God. Block capitalization used for emphasis:

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)

Eternal life is not something that we receive at some point in the future. It is a PRESENT POSSESSION for the believer in Christ. Please note:

“And this is the record, that God HATH given to us eternal life, and this life IS in his Son. He that hath the Son HATH life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (I John 5:11-12)

Look at verse 19: "And we KNOW that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." That's a very careless thing to say, if it's not possible to know. 

Here’s I John 3:14:  "We KNOW that we HAVE PASSED from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." Why would God's word use such language, if it's not possible for us to KNOW that we're saved?

Look at I John 4:13: "Hereby KNOW we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." People who claim that no one can KNOW they are saved are only confessing that they are likely lost, having not God's Spirit and having not received the new birth of John 3:1-8.

Peter said we can KNOW in I Peter 1:18-19: “Forasmuch as ye KNOW that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 

Paul said we can KNOW in II Timothy 1:12: “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I KNOW whom I have believed, and am PERSUADED that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

Thanks be to God, salvation is not something that we THINK we have; it is something that we KNOW we have.  Even old Job said, “For I KNOW that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.”  (Job 19:25)

Eternal life is not something that we receive at some point in the future.  It is a PRESENT POSSESSION for the believer in Christ.  Please note Jesus’ choice wording from John 5:24:  “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life, and shall NOT come into condemnation; but IS PASSED from death unto life.” 

Notice how Jesus spoke of eternal life as something that has already been given and is now a present possession among believers: “And I GIVE unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which GAVE them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.” (John 10:28-29)

Here's another one from Jesus' prayer with the Father in John 17:3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." He did not say that we might THINK or FEEL LIKE or HOPE we are saved. He said that we can KNOW God and have eternal life!

"Do ye not KNOW that the saints SHALL judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by YOU, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" (I Cor. 6:2) Paul told the Corinthians believers that they should KNOW that the saints would judge the world and that THEY were the saints. Look at the next verse: "KNOW ye not that WE SHALL judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" (vs. 3) Why use such language, if it's not possible to know for sure?

Look at II Corinthians 5:1: "For we KNOW that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we HAVE a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Sounds pretty certain, does it not?

The sad truth is that many people reject the fact that one can know that he’s saved simply because they’re lost and have never experienced the supernatural indwelling of God.  They’re trying to save themselves, so they feel that they can’t know if they’ve done enough until they meet God.  What they fail to realize is that truly saved people have ALREADY met God and are BORN of God.  With this new birth, comes the indwelling of God’s Spirit in all believers which gives assurance of salvation:  “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we ARE the children of God.”  (Rom. 8:16)  So, a person who says, “No one can know for sure that they are saved” is likely a person who has never been saved and does not understand the supernatural nature of salvation.

The Holy Spirit will Lead You

This one is a bit tricky because it is conditional. While Jesus did say that the Spirit of truth would guide the disciples into all truth (John 16:13) and John did say that believers could be taught by their spiritual anointing (I John 2:27), it remains true that a believer can also "grieve" and even "quench" the Holy Spirit's influence in his life (Eph. 4:30; I Ths. 5:19). That's why God gave us the scriptures, which were inspired by the Holy Ghost (II Pet. 1:21). The notion that the Christian can ignore the word of God and rely on some special leading of the Spirit instead is just not true. Most Christians who believe this way are being led by nothing more than their own emotions, not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit never leads against his words.  Isaiah 8:20 says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”  If there’s no light in them, then the Spirit’s leading is absent.

To say that the Holy Spirit will lead someone is like telling a driver that his GPS will guide him.  Not if he doesn’t have a GPS, not if he has one but he doesn’t know how to use it, and not if his GPS is defective!  Nothing is automatic, and nothing is easy.

Every believer should remember three very important words: fact, faith, and feeling. The facts are the words of God, and those facts take priority over everything else. Then faith comes by hearing the words of God (Rom. 10:17). Once we have exercised faith in God's facts, we can then enjoy a good feeling, also called joy and assurance (I Ths. 1:5-6), but the word of God comes first and regulates the faith and the feeling. Facts, faith, then feeling. Beware of anyone who refuses to respect and follow this scriptural order.

You Should Follow Your Heart or Conscience

While it is true that God often impresses upon ones heart a certain leading, it must be remembered that the heart can be very deceitful and one’s conscience can be seared and defiled.  Please note the following:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”  (Jer. 17:9)

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”  (Mark 7:21-23)

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  (Gen. 6:5)

“Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.”  (I Tim. 4:2)

“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”  (Tit. 1:15)

The heart of man can only be a dependable guide when it’s a GOOD heart that is kept good by the word of God, prayer, and the wise counsel and fellowship of godly people.  A man or woman who simply “feels” that they should do such and such when the word of God and wise people say otherwise is usually a person who is seeking their own will instead of God’s will.  Isaiah 8:20 says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”  If there’s no light, then there’s no leading.  Then Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellers there is safety.”  There is no safer place on this earth than in the regular fellowship of a sound, Bible-believing church where the word of God is faithfully preached, taught, respected and followed.  It is there that one receives both the word of God and wise counsel from godly, experienced saints.  The believer ultimately must make his own decisions, but the godly influences found in a good church can help to keep his heart and conscience in tune so that he will not be deceived.  “Rambo” believers who see themselves as too good for church usually have complicated and sinful lives as a result of largely ignoring God’s word and leaning to their own understanding (Pro. 3:5).  When they “follow their hearts,” they seldom end up closer to God.

Do Good and You’ll Go to Heaven

The belief that good people go to heaven is correct, but the means by which one BECOMES good is almost universally flawed. In eternity, good people are saved and with the Lord and bad people are lost and in the lake of fire. That's common sense and scriptural, but people will argue forever about it, because they confuse BEING good with DOING good. I am going to heaven because I am good, but I am good only because Jesus Christ MADE me good by imputing to me his righteousness.

The number of Christians who fail to understand this is quite disturbing. Many honestly believe that salvation through Christ means that God allows sinners into heaven because of what Jesus did at Calvary. That's 100% false. God allows no sinner into heaven. Through faith in Christ, a sinner becomes a saint, a new creature in Christ (II Cor. 5:17) through the divine act of imputation. This is where God IMPUTES to the repentant sinner the righteousness of Jesus Christ in exchange for the sinner RECEIVING Christ through faith. Romans 4:5 is very clear about the matter:

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

This means the man is no longer a sinner in the eyes of God. He is now righteous, and he is now good. His FLESH is not good (Rom. 7:18), but the new believer himself is as good as Jesus Christ, because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to him. When he dies, he goes to heaven because he has been perfected in Christ (Heb. 10:14), not because God is nice enough to let sinners into heaven. Saints go to heaven, but sinners do not. Sinners go to hell because they rejected the opportunity to be made righteous saints through Jesus Christ. So, although you can't DO enough good to be saved, you can certainly BECOME good by faith in Christ. In that context, good people go to heaven. Out of that context, all are condemned sinners.

No One Knows When Jesus Is Coming

This lie is commonly uttered by critics when a Christian says something about the Lord’s return being near.  It is supposedly useless to speculate about Bible prophecy since “the Bible says that no one knows when Jesus is coming.”

The Bible never says once that we can’t know when Jesus is coming. People read that into the text because that’s what they want it to say. The text in question is Matthew 24:36, where Jesus said, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Technically, the verse deals with the Second Advent, not the rapture of the church. But even then, the verse plainly states that it is the “day and hour” that no one knows, not the general time of our Lord’s return. A good analogy is that of a woman about to give birth (Rev. 12:2; Isa. 66:7-9). No one can predict the exact day and hour that a child will be born, but after a woman has carried a child nearly nine months, anyone knows that a birth will come soon.

Besides, even the most casual reading of Matthew chapter 24 reveals the folly in suggesting that verse 36 somehow discourages prophetic studies; the whole chapter deals with the SIGNS of the end-time (see verse 3)!

All Men Are Created Equal

This lie is so frequently told that many actually believe that it’s from the Bible.  Not quite. The phrase is from the Declaration of Independence, and even then the context is human RIGHTS, not possessions or abilities. All men are NOT created equal. Some are healthy; some are not. Some are born into third-world poverty and idolatry; some are born into American Christianity. Some are born with a 200 IQ; some are lifelong Democrats. The list goes on. All men are created with equal RIGHTS, in regards to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but that's where it ends. All men are not created equal in the way that the statement is normally used, and the Bible never says that they are. God’s word allows men equality in regards to free will in decision making (II Pet. 3:9; Exo. 35:5, 21, 22, 29; Rom. 10:13), but all decisions come with consequences (Gal. 6:7-8), and that’s where the equality ends.

This lie is commonly used to push the Marxist philosophy of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”  This puts the state in the final authority position as it is the state which has the final say as to who is able and who is needful.  This is where such slogans as “spread the wealth around” (Obama, 2008) are used to garner political votes.  The whole philosophy is a lie from hell, and no Christian should embrace it. A man’s lot in life is never equal to anyone else’s, and, as Dr. Thomas Sowell has said, he’s “not equal to himself on different days.”  Far too many make the mistake of confusing equal rights with equal things.

Christians are Just Sinners Saved by Grace

One of the most unpopular publications that we offer is a little booklet titled “Identity Crisis.”  The booklet is unpopular because it shows from scripture that Christians are not sinners.  One would think that believers would rejoice in this great truth, but not so.  The average Christian today wants to believe and take comfort in the idea that he sins because he’s a sinner and that it’s natural for him to sin.  He does not want to face the fact that his sin is UNNATURAL because he is NOT a sinner.  The truth is that he is now a born again saint of God, sealed with the Holy Spirit, so righteousness is natural and sin is unnatural.  Righteousness is the natural fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), while sin is the carnal and unnatural work of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21).  He might see himself as a sinner, but God sees him as a sinless saint of God.  Sinners in the New Testament are LOST people, which is why the words “saint” and “saints” are used forty-one times in reference to believers only.

Paul uses the terms "sinners" and "sinner" nine times in his epistles, and only once does he call HIMSELF a sinner:

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." (I Tim. 1:15)

He only labeled himself as a sinner in the context of pointing out WHO benefits from Christ's atoning work, not in the context of his present doctrinal standing as a Christian.  The preceding verses make this clear by placing the context in the PAST TENSE:

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who HATH ENABLED me, for that he COUNTED me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who WAS before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I OBTAINED mercy, because I DID it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord WAS exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”  (I Tim. 1:12-14; CAPITALIZATION used for emphasis)

Paul was not emphasizing his present standing as a sinner, but rather his transition from sinner to saint because of the redeeming mercy of Jesus Christ.  His words in his other epistles make it very clear that he knew that a sinner is indeed a lost person:

Romans 5:8: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while WE WERE yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:19: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."

Galatians 2:17: "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid."

1 Timothy 1:9: "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers."

Other New Testament writers agree as well:

James 5:20: "Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."

1 Peter 4:18: "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

Jude 1:15: "To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

Clearly, it is LOST people who are classified as sinners, not born-again believers in Christ.

By contrast, the words "saints" and "saint" are found forty-one times in Paul's epistles, and EVERY occurrence refers to Christians only. The Bible record is clear: unsaved people are sinners, and saved people are saints. This doesn't mean that a lost person can't perform a good deed, nor does it mean that a saved person can't perform an evil one, but the doctrinal terminology is very clear in the Book: sinners are lost people and saints are saved people.

Perhaps if we'd stick to this understanding, we'd find ourselves being called to a higher and holier way of life rather than excusing ourselves from such by being "only a sinner saved by grace."

Doctrinally speaking, I'm NOT a sinner. I'm a new creature in Christ, my name is in the Lamb's book of life, I have abundant life in Christ, and it is my responsibility to LIVE like it. I can start by calling myself what God calls me: a SAINT. To classify myself as anything less would amount to diminishing the redemptive work of Christ in my life and identifying more with the lost than with the saved. No, thanks.

A Christian is a NEW CREATURE in Christ, and that new creature most certainly is NOT a sinner! He is trapped in a sinful BODY, but HE IS NOT HIS BODY. His new identity is IN CHRIST, not in the flesh.

The trouble is that people keep thinking that they ARE what they DO.  If this is true, then the work of Christ on the cross was useless, because a saint can be a sinner and a sinner can be a saint simply by DOING things.  If I am a sinner when I sin, then a lost man is a saint when he does something good, like attending church services, reading the Bible or helping out a neighbor in need.  That’s consistency.  You can’t allow for Christians to be sinners and then not allow for lost people to be saints.  If a Christian is a sinner when he sins, then a lost man is a saint when he does right.  NEITHER is the case, because our standing is not determined by what we DO, but rather by what we BELIEVE in regards to what CHRIST has done.

There is no such person as a “sinner saved by grace.”  Either you WERE a sinner until the Lord saved you by grace or you are still a sinner who hasn’t been saved at all.  Any Christian who classifies himself as a sinner clearly does not have a grip on rightly dividing the word and standing versus state. He's like a pardoned criminal who keeps thinking of himself as a limited prisoner instead of a free man with great potential. Sinners are losers. Saints are winners. That's sound Bible doctrine 101. Anything less is vain Laodicean tradition and is unworthy of your Christian testimony and calling.

God Accepts Those Who Are Sincere

This belief is very common.  It’s usually found in the words of the statement, “I believe God accepts you as long as you’re sincere in your belief and you are not a hypocrite.” 

This erroneous belief survives through the ages only because the people who subscribe to it refuse to think it through and put it to the test.  Adolf Hitler was more sincere and consistent in his beliefs than most anyone of our time, yet he was dead wrong and God did not accept him, if he died without receiving Christ.  The devil himself is sincere in his belief, but he’s sincerely wrong, as are all who follow him.  The notion that NOT being a hypocrite somehow merits salvation is foreign to the word of God.

Jesus said in Matthew 23:14 that the Pharisee hypocrites would receive the GREATER damnation, which means that standard damnation is for unbelievers in general who are NOT hypocrites.  Nowhere does the word of God say that sincerity saves anyone or that only hypocrites go to hell. 

God accepts those who are IN JESUS CHRIST, according to scripture:  “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”  (Eph. 1:5-7)  We are accepted IN CHRIST, not in anything or anyone else.  There would be no point at all in Jesus saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6), if mere sincerity were all that God required.  God didn’t give us thirty-nine Old Testament books and twenty-seven New Testament books only so we could ignore them and “be sincere” in our own flawed beliefs.  God told us to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding”  (Pro. 3:5).  God told us that “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”  (Pro. 14:12)  Sincerity is often useless, because one can be sincerely wrong.

If a man leaves Nashville headed eastward on I-40, then he will NOT arrive in Memphis unless he turns around and heads westward.  He can be sincere and cry “Don’t judge me” until the moon turns to blood, but he is WRONG and will never reach his desired destination.  In fact, his sincerity does far more to damn him than to save him!  JESUS saves; sincerity does not.

Only the Original Autographs Were Inspired

This is a very common belief throughout Christianity, and Satan spreads much confusion over the issue. Written scripture inspiration is only dealt with once in the Bible, and the “originals” are NOT the context. II Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The scripture that was profitable for Timothy at that time was not any original copies, but rather whatever copies that he had, yet it was still said to be “scripture” and “given by inspiration.” In the previous verse, Paul told Timothy, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” So, the COPY or COPIES that Timothy had known from childhood were said to be “holy scriptures” that were “given by inspiration.” Nothing was said about any original autographs, but rather about the very copies to which Timothy had access. So, the very notion that “only the originals were inspired” is unscriptural.

It is often said that the scriptures are "preserved without error," which is true, but if that's true, then they are also inspired since they were given by inspiration. That is, what was inspired was also preserved, thus making the product of preservation, or the copy, also inspired. Otherwise, it couldn't be said that it was preserved.

It was assumed by Paul that God had honored his promise to PRESERVE his words, and he promised it many times. With Satan’s first appearance in the scriptures, he questions and attacks the very words of God (Gen. 3:1-5), so God knew more than anyone the importance of preserving scripture. If scripture can only be inspired and holy in the originals, then the possibility of anyone having a “Holy Bible” would have died out thousands of years ago due to the decay of the original scrolls and the attacks of Satan on any subsequent copies. Yet, as the following scripture shows, God promised to preserve his words regardless:

“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” (Psa, 12:6-7)

Some like to argue that this passage is not speaking of God’s preservation of his words, but rather his people. This writer disagrees, but even if that were true, there are many other promises of preservation in the scriptures. The idea that we are left without a leg on which to stand without Psalms 12:6-7 is just not true. Scripture preservation is promised all through the Bible:

“Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.” (Deu. 12:28) How can it go well with the children “for ever” if God’s words aren’t preserved for them to “observe and hear”?

“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deu. 29:29) How can anyone do the words of the law “for ever” if God fails to preserve the words?

“For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” (Psa. 100:5) God’s truth is his word (John 17:17), and he promised to preserve it to “all generations.” In fact, the text says that his word “endureth” to all generations, implying that it will overcome adversity. Satan will attack, but God’s word will ENDURE. Well, it has NOT endured in the form of original manuscripts, so the reference is obviously to the millions of subsequent copies that would be produced over the millenniums from God-honored, uncorrupted texts.

“For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.” (Psa. 117:2) Same thing again: God’s truth endures forever. That's preservation.

“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” (Psa. 119:160) The word “judgments” in Psalma 119 is one of the synonyms of God’s “words” (vss. 30, 43, etc.), so Psalms 119:160 is saying that God’s words will endure from the beginning until “for ever,” from the beginning until the end. This is why the last chapter of our Bible gives a sharp warning to anyone who would alter God’s words (Rev. 22:18-19). God’s words are in the process of “enduring,” and God will judge anyone who opposes that effort.

“Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever.” (Psa. 146:6). Again, God keeps his truth “for ever.” That means you can get a copy for yourself.

“As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.” (Isa. 59:21) The words of God are to be preached “for ever,” which would not be possible, if they were not preserved in print so that we might read and know them.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Mat. 24:35) That’s why we still have them today; God preserved them as he promised.

Look at this one, John 14:23: “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” Do you realize what he just said? He said that you can keep God’s words. How can you keep them, if God didn’t first keep them for you? If only the originals are inspired, then you don’t have God’s words and Jesus’ words, so you can’t keep them! But he said that you CAN keep them. That’s because HE kept them first; he preserved them. You can keep God’s words because God kept them for you!

“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (I Pet. 1:24-25) There it is again, the word of God (1) ENDURES (2) FOREVER. That's from Isaiah 40:8, by the way. God sees to it that the word of God never has an expiration date. You can write that on your Bible: “EXPIRATION DATE: NEVER.”

The age-old claim that only the originals were inspired might seem logical at first, but it runs contrary to scripture, as we've just seen. God made a promise to preserve his words, and that's what he has done. If you do not have a King James Bible, God has made them so widely available that you can likely own one within an hour. This is the Book that God has honored for the past four hundred years and Satan has fought continuously. All modern translations are Satan's attempts to dethrone the king of books and replace it with deceptive counterfeits. If you are unsettled on this issue, get our booklet “The Word of a King" and get your questions answered. God has preserved his pure words.  You don't have to settle for anything less.

Nobody’s Perfect

You've heard sins and faults justified many times by someone making the lame excuse that "nobody's perfect." If that's true, then we have an imperfect Bible as well, because it says that we can be perfect, and it introduces us to people whom it says are perfect. Let’s consider some of God’s commands for perfection.

The first is Matthew 5:48, straight from the mouth of Jesus himself: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Would Jesus command you to do the impossible? No, He would not. Therefore, it must be possible for you to be perfect. “But, I thought Christians weren’t perfect, only forgiven.” That’s because you’ve been reading too many bumper stickers and not enough Bible. The Bible says that you can be perfect, and that you should be perfect, and it says it numerous times.

In Genesis 17:1, God told Abram, “. . . I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” I don’t like that any more than you do, but there it is. God does command His people to be perfect.

Look what God commanded His people in Deuteronomy 18:13: “Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.” Why would God command the impossible? Friend, it’s all through the Bible. God commands His people to be perfect.

Okay, look at I Kings 8:61: “Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.” Now, don't miss that. Perfection has to do with the heart.

Psalm 101:2 offers a strong admonition for us to be perfect: “I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.” That will clean up the television time, won’t it? You won’t be squabbling and fighting all the time with your brothers and sisters, if you walk within your house with a perfect heart. You see, instead of going around saying, “Well, nobody’s perfect,” we ought to be saying, “How can I become perfect? What heart adjustments do I need to make?”

Okay, let’s come over to the New Testament. In Matthew 19:21, Jesus said, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” Why would Jesus say that a man can be perfect if (1) it isn’t possible, and (2) He doesn’t desire it? It is possible for us to be perfect, and our Lord expects us to strive for that goal. He said so in Matthew 5:48, and He said it here. And don't try to "rightly divide" your way out of it, because it's found in the Pauline epistles as well.

In II Corinthians 13:9, Paul tells the Corinthians, “For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.” He repeats it in verse 11: “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” You see, the perfection that God wants for us has to do with our hearts, our attitudes toward God and toward others. The attitude naturally affects the actions, but the attitude comes first, so that’s what God is watching, not just the actions.

Ephesians 4:13 speaks on this same subject: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” He didn’t say “if we could;” he said “Till we all come,” which is a more definite thing, a goal that can be reached.

Paul brings this goal up again in Philippians 3. Verse 12 says, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” Paul said that he hadn’t yet reached his goal of perfection, but he was striving for it. He had not thrown out the possibility that he could be a perfect man. He believed it was possible, and he was working toward that end. In verse 15, he went on to say, “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” So, some folks there had reached the goal of perfection, and they were expected to remain there.

Colossians 4:12 is very clear with what Christian perfection is all about: “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” He said you may stand perfect, which means it is possible, and it has to do with being complete, or, as we have already pointed out, wholehearted.

Paul tells us in II Timothy 3:17 that the word of God is given “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” If you want to be perfect, get in the Book. It’s a perfect book, and it can make you perfect.

Hebrews 6:1 says, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection . . .” That’s the goal for the Christian, but you’ll never reach that goal, if you throw out the idea altogether, thinking it’s impossible.

Okay, one more verse, then we’ll move onward. James 1:4 says, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” You see, perfection has to do with what you are (“that ye may be”). It concerns the inner you, the heart, the real you that produces the thoughts, the words, and the actions. Is the real you a perfect being, or is he or she less than perfect? That’s the issue.

Alright, let's consider a few people who are said to be perfect. First on our list comes Noah. Genesis 6:9: “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” At a time when others were corrupting the earth with wickedness, Noah kept his heart perfect and found grace in the eyes of the Lord as he kept his family right with God and separated from the world.

I like David as an example of perfection. Speaking of Solomon, I Kings 15:3 tells us that David had a perfect heart: “And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.” We know that David sinned, yet God says that his heart was perfect. Some folks will never understand that because they are too focused on the outward man. They are so focused on the results that they overlook the motives. The Pharisees had that problem.

Another good example of perfection is Asa, mentioned in I Kings 15:14: “But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.” He didn’t do everything that he should have done, but his heart was always right. That is, he might have broken the spiritual speed limit a little, but not with a rebellious and evil heart attitude.

In Isaiah 38:3, we see that Hezekiah also had a perfect heart: “. . . Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight . . .” Perfection concerns the heart, not the deeds. You’ll never understand these passages without understanding that.

Okay, let’s look at Job. We read in Job 1:1 that “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” According to the Holy Spirit, Job was a perfect man, and his perfection had to do with his attitude toward God and toward evil. He feared God, and he eschewed evil. That’s the general rule of his life, and that’s what made him a perfect man.

But, there is a catch. Being perfect should be your goal, but you probably won’t know it, if you ever reach that goal. Read Job’s words carefully from Job 9:20-21: “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.” That’s the trick. Part of being perfect is never thinking that you are and always looking to improve yourself! That’s what a perfect heart does: it strives for continual perfection. It never says, “Hey, look at me! I have arrived! I have reached the goal!” That’s what a Pharisee would say, not a devout believer.

So, what should we do? We should strive for perfection, keeping our hearts in tune at all times. The outer results will usually be right, but maybe not always. But we can keep the heart right. You can have a perfect heart, and God will take notice: “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him . . .” (II Chron. 16:9) God took note of Noah, David, Asa, and Job, and He will take note of you and I, if we believe His words and strive for the goal of perfect hearts.

The "nobody's perfect" excuse is of the devil, and it will stop you from ever reaching that goal.  It is nothing but an excuse to do less than your best and feel good about it. It belongs on the lips of unregenerate sinners, not on the lips of born-again believers.

We’re Not Supposed to Judge

Of all the misapplied and misunderstood principles in the word of God, probably none have been more abused in these closing days of Laodicea than those seven little words from Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”  The fact that almost no one ever quotes other verses about judging makes it pretty clear that scriptural obedience is not their driving motive.  Make no mistake about it, Laodicea’s driving motive is to misquote and misapply as much scripture as possible so as to help the devil cover, tolerate, rationalize, condone and promote sin while feeling good about it.  Emotions can be very powerful, and when society has knighted today’s professing Christian with a moral superiority for “not casting judgment on others,” it becomes somewhat of a self-righteous spell that seems nearly impossible to break.  Thankfully, it can be broken, but not without giving due consideration and respect to what the rest of God’s word says about judging.

As for Matthew 7:1, the context (verses 1-5) allows judging after you have first judged yourself. Jesus did not make a blanket statement against judgment. He simply pointed out a rule for judging.

The word “judge” in its various forms (judgeth, judging, judgment, judges, etc) is found over 700 times in God’s word. One whole book of the Bible is titled “Judges” because it was written at a time when God raised up judges to lead His people.  God expects people to judge. In fact, you are sinning against God if you refuse to judge.

“The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.” (Psa. 37:30) A righteous person will talk of judgment. He will not refuse to judge. He will talk of judgment.

“Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.” (Amos 5:14-15) How can you hate the evil and love the good, if you refuse to judge between the two? You can’t.

Our generation is well described in Isaiah 59:8: “The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.” People have refused to judge, so there is no peace.

Paul said in I Corinthians 1:10 to “. . . be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Why would Paul make such a statement if judging is wrong?

In I Corinthians 2:15 Paul says, “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” Judging is not a sin; judging is a characteristic of being a spiritual person. Satan has been lying to us, hoping that we will not judge, because he knows that the right kind of judgment pleases God and betters our lives and Christian service.

Paul actually rebukes the Corinthians for not judging: “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?” (I Cor. 6:1-5) If judging is wrong, then Paul needs to confess and repent for misleading these Christians! He clearly told them to judge people.

If judging people is wrong, how can we obey Romans 16:17-18? II Corinthians 6:17? II Timothy 3:5-6? I John 4:1? Friend, if judging is wrong, then God has contradicted Himself and His words cannot be trusted.

Notice Malachi 3:18: “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” It’s not wrong to judge.

What about Revelation 2:2? “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:” Why would the Lord be pleased with these Christians, if judging were wrong?

The truth is that God’s word commands us to judge, but we must judge righteous judgment.  Jesus said in John 7:24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”  This is not done by refusing to judge altogether, but by following the principles of God’s word regarding judgment.  We should judge scripturally (Isa. 8:20).  We should judge prayerfully (I Kgs. 3:9).  We should judge truthfully (Jer. 5:1) and mercifully (Mat. 7:2), and we should, first and foremost, judge ourselves (I Cor. 11:30-31).  The belief that Christians should not judge at all is an evil belief, and it has always served the devil far better than it has contributed to the cause of Christ.

Packed Altars Prove Revival

God has taught me a few things along the way, and I've written about most of those things for many years. Yet, one subject that I've said very little about is the IFB notion that packed altars should be accepted as proof of spirituality. The truth is that packed altars are proof of only one thing: packed altars. Why people are at the altar and what will happen as a result are separate issues altogether. That's why I, as a pastor, have always placed more confidence in changed lives than in altar calls. After all, I can show you a great deal from the New Testament about changed lives. I don't recall reading anything about altar calls.

That doesn't mean that I condemn them or never have them; it just means that I don't trust them. I trust the Book, the Book that emphasizes changed lives instead of altar calls. Jesus didn't say that we'd know people by altar calls; He said "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." (Mat. 7:20) Paul didn't say that if any man be in Christ, you'll see him at the altar; he said, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (II Cor. 5:17)

Due to our lack of faith in the inner-transforming power of God's word, we've placed far too much confidence in visible things, such as altar calls and testimonies. I'm fine with having such things when I believe they can be helpful, but you will not find me saying things like, "What a great service last night! God really showed up and the altars were packed!" I am far more interested in how those lives are changed next week, next month and next year. I know that in the IFB world that makes me a very strange preacher, but I'm of the opinion that God's word will make anyone strange, if only they will submit to it. Unfortunately, tradition carries more weight with most Christians than the word of God.

Altar calls and testimonies can sometimes be helpful, but they prove nothing and should not be overly trusted or emphasized. In fact, looking back over the years, I must say that most of the drama that I've witnessed at altar calls never amounted to much of anything in the long term, and, personally speaking, the two most important prayers of my own life were not prayed at an altar, but rather in the privacy of my home. Come to think of it, seems that I recall Jesus saying something about a prayer closet. Of course, it's kind of hard to get noticed in a closet, and the numbers don't add-up much, and a closet can’t be displayed as a religious show in front of a church.  The flesh will turn God’s house into a faithless, eye-pleasing, worldly spectacle, if we allow it.  Lasting fruit is the spiritual standard that our Lord prescribed (Mat. 7:20; John 15:16; Gal. 5:22-23), not emotional displays that might or might not be the work of the Holy Spirit.

Emotionalism is Spiritual

Every time that I've heard someone say "God showed up tonight," I heard it said in the context of an emotional worship service and invitation. No one ever says it in the context of a good sermon or an edifying Bible study. This is because fundamentalism has placed far too much emphasis on drama and visible results. If there is drama and visible results, then "God showed up." If not, then God didn't show up, even though He said He did (Mat. 18:20). That's Baptist fundamentalism 101, even though few will ever admit it.  Feeling spiritual is a lot easier than being spiritual (and more fun), so emotionalism is pretty much the IFB standard while the word of God is merely used for sake of conscience.  If that seems harsh, keep reading.

After decapitating hundreds of her false prophets (I Kgs. 18), Elijah received word from the wicked Jezebel that she would have him killed within twenty-four hours (I Kgs. 19:2). This scared the daylights out of the man, so he fled for his life into the wilderness, sat down under a juniper tree, and then he asked God to take his life. An angel fed and strengthened him, so he went another forty days and came to the mount of God. It was there that the word of the Lord would come to Elijah, but not in the manner that one might expect. We are told in I Kings 19:11-12: “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” The Lord wasn’t in the earth, wind, and fire. He was in the still small voice.  God showed up, but not at all in the manner that IFB tradition teaches.

My, what a contrast to all the noise and activity of the previous chapter! God doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. Most everyone knows that God can thunder and shake the earth at will, so why should He do it? Is it not more needful for us to know that He can also reveal Himself to us in the quietest and calmest ways? Is He not God of all, a God of the valleys as well as a God of the hills? After all, we are reminded of this in the very next chapter: “And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” (I Kgs. 20:28)

Too many Christians have the false notion that God doesn’t show up unless He shows out, and this often blinds them from the greatest blessings and the best churches.  Friend, don't make the mistake of many by missing out on God's still small voice while looking for religious drama and emotionalism. Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Mat. 18:20) God can show up without showing out, and He usually does. Don't miss Him while expecting something bigger and more dramatic.  A preacher isn’t spiritual just because he yells and jumps around, and his listeners aren’t spiritual just because they flood the prayer altar when he’s finished.  I’ve observed this practice for nearly fifty years, and I can safely say that the most sound and fruitful believers are usually not the ones crowding the church prayer altar, but rather the ones who lead disciplined lives with daily prayer and Bible reading in their own privacy.  Having lively church services is good, but we must keep our guards up and not allow Satan to replace true and fruitful spirituality with empty, fruitless emotionalism.

Christmas Celebrates the Birth of Jesus

If you’ll run the etymology of the word “Christmas,” you will end up with the Latin phrase “Cristes Maesse,” first used right in the middle of the Dark Ages, in the eleventh century Roman Catholic Church when they were burning Christians at the stake for not participating in the blasphemous “Christ MASS.” One would do well to ask “WHICH Christ?” There’s more than one, you know (II Cor. 11:4; Luke 2:26; I John 2:18), and the one that we serve never has and never will sanction the torture and murder of millions of Christians in the name of “Holy Mother Church.” No doubt, Satan is laughing his head off over the fact that hundreds of millions of God’s people have accepted “Christ Mass” as a vital part of Christianity, right down to a refined and jolly edition of the devil's wild man mythology that precedes Jesus Christ in pagan lore by thousands of years. It’s pretty bad when God’s people take their marching orders from the world and value their traditions more than the word of God. Having a family gathering at grandmas is a good thing, but baptizing it in the heritage of hell is not a good thing. Grandpa doesn’t have to dress up like Santa, nobody has to be kissed under the pagan “mistletoe,” and the house doesn’t have to be decorated with a bunch of fallen angels while some fool spikes the eggnog with brandy, all in the name of “CHRIST MASS.” Again I ask, “WHICH Christ?”

If you’ll read the word of God from Genesis through Revelation, you will not find anything which states that Jesus was born in December at all, much less December 25th. You will find that He was likely born either in the spring or in the fall, but you will not find any commands to celebrate His birth, since it is the resurrection and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ that the word of God emphasizes. Leave it to weak Laodicean “Christians” to minimize what God maximizes and to maximize what God doesn’t even command.

Since Jesus was not born on December 25th, have you ever considered who was born then? Well, Horus the falcon-headed Egyptian god was born then. He was the son of Osiris and Isis, believed to have been born after the winter solstice, on or very near December 25th. The Roman god Attis enjoys a December 25th birthday, as does the Roman god Mithra, Tammuz the Mesopotamian god of fertility, the Greek sex god Adonis, the Olympian traveler god Hermes, the Hindu god Krishna, Prometheus the Titan god of fire, and, of course, Nimrod, the original sun god who was deified by his own wife, Semiramis, after he was killed and supposedly reborn as a god on December 25th. Why is the devil so interested in the date December 25th? Are we supposed to just ignore that, or should we be honest and admit that there just might be some bad things associated with the world’s biggest holiday?

Did you get that? I said the world’s biggest holiday. Don’t you find that a bit curious? Why would the devil’s world be so obsessed with a Christian holiday? Why is the devil so interested in December 25th, and why has he been interested in it for thousands of years?

Folks have laughed at my suggestion that December 25th might be the birthday of the Antichrist (Easter being his conception) and maybe it's not, but please consider the following. There are only two "birthdays" celebrated in the Bible, that of Pharaoh (Gen. 40:20-23) and that of Herod (Mark 6:21-29), and there was a death involved with each celebration . . . and both men were types of the Antichrist. Is all of this December 25th ChristMASS stuff leading up to something? There's also death associated with Revelation 11:10, while the son of Perdition (another  Christ) is ruling, as well as a few other familiar customs: "And they that dwell upon the earth shall REJOICE over them, and make MERRY, and shall send GIFTS one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth." (emphasis added)  That’s pretty crazy, I know, but there has to be some reason for Satan being so interested in December 25th. Maybe it’s the birthday of the Antichrist. Maybe it’s the day in which he sets up the Abomination of Desolation. Maybe it’s even the “day” in which Lucifer was created (Ezk. 28:15). I’m not sure what it is, but I am sure that there are some very bad things associated with Christmas, and the wise Christian will acknowledge this rather than give himself fully over to the Christmas “spirit.”

Easter Celebrates Jesus’ Resurrection

I’ll not go into a long thing here, but I trust that you have figured out somewhere along life’s way that Easter eggs and Easter bunnies are not ordained by God.  Rabbits and eggs are symbols of fertility, and fertility doesn’t happen without sex, and there was a great deal of that happening under the Baal and Ashtaroth religion.  That’s why it was so appealing to everyone.

Baal was the male god, and Ashtaroth was the female goddess.  In different cultures, this goddess was worshipped under different names.  Sometimes she’s called Ashtaroth, but she’s also called Astarte, Aphrodite, Diana, Venus, Isis, and Ishtar.  The Roman Catholics just call her Mary.   Her Babylonian name was Ishtar, from whence comes our Easter.  The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia also points out that “The English word comes from the Anglo-Saxon Eastre or Estera, a Teutonic goddess to whom sacrifice was offered in April . . .”  Hislop’s Two Babylons offers enough material on the subject to make your head spin.  It is a clearly documented fact of history that Easter is connected with the pagan sex goddess of Spring, not with Biblical Christianity.  She was honored and worshipped in various ways, including sex acts, and the rabbits and eggs are symbols of her religion. There is absolutely no justification for integrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ with such wickedness.

We know very well that Jesus was crucified on the Passover (Mat. 26:2, 17-19; John 18:39).  In fact, He was the Passover Lamb (I Cor. 5:7; I Pet. 1:18-19).  Yet, Easter and “Good Friday” are not dated by the Passover. If you doubt me, just look at your calendar.  This year, 2025, Easter is April 20th, Good Friday is April 18th, yet the Passover is a week earlier on April 12^th! 

  I can hear the Laodiceans whining already: “Well, brother Melton, it really doesn’t matter when you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus as long as you do so with a pure heart for the right reasons.”  Oh, really?  Well, that’s a strange thing.  Jesus is our Passover, right?  Well, God didn’t tell the Israelites to keep the Passover whenever they felt like it, even on Ishtar’s holiday, if they preferred.  God commanded that they keep the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month (Lev. 23:5; Num. 28:16), which was not Ishtar’s sex day complete with rabbits and eggs!  Yet, just like the scribes and Pharisees, Christians have made the word of God of none effect with their vain traditions.

The simple truth is that there are NO CHRISTIAN HOLIDAYS established in God’s word.  Religious holidays were a part of the Old Testament Jewish system that finds its fulfillment in Christ (Col. 2:16-17). We don’t need holidays since we have Jesus EVERY day. 

            Well, I try to keep most of our booklets under fifty pages, so it’s probably time to stop.  As mentioned earlier, our Handbook of Heresies covers some of the weightier false teachings and teachers, but this effort has dealt mostly with flawed beliefs and practices  found within our own ranks that often go unchecked.  In the spirit of “strengthening the things that remain” (Rev. 3:2), I have attempted to exhort God’s people to examine themselves, their beliefs, and their customs.  The largest room in the world is the room for improvement, and most of us need a great deal of it.  May God overlook any weaknesses or unintentional errors in my words, and may he bless the good for his own honor and glory.

JLM, February 15, 2025