For years, I've listened to a certain pastor whom I greatly respect and one whom I believe to be a very Godly man. I don't agree with him on everything, and up until now, I've been able to ignore those issues, but recently he has been saying things that just grieved the Holy Spirit inside of me. I pray for him, that the Lord will correct him on this particular point I'm about to discuss. He is leading many astray and I fear he will be judged for what he says.
I'm not one to call out certain pastors or teachers because who am I to do so? But the Holy Spirit kept prompting me to at least address a few things this man has said. As I've often posted before on my blog, I strongly believe Scripture clearly says that even after the point of salvation, a person can walk away from the faith. I've listed countless passages from the Bible to prove this. I also believe that it is rare and that it takes a total rejection of Jesus and His gift of salvation to cause someone to lose that salvation.
But to say that once you are saved and have received the Holy Spirit, that you cannot walk away is to say that God removes your Free Will completely. God never removes our free will! It would be like someone who received Jesus but who decided he no longer wanted to believe at all. Well, sorry dude, but you received Jesus and the Holy Spirit entered you, so it's too late to change your mind! That sort of belief flies in the face of the totality of Scripture! Both Old and New Testaments! God gave us free will so we wouldn't be robots and be forced to choose Him. He wants us to willingly and lovingly choose Him!
In addition, this kind of false theology is highly dangerous because it leads people to think they can receive Jesus and then no matter how they live their lives or what they do or don't do, they are saved and going to heaven. This ALSO flies in the face of the totality of Scripture!
NO, I'm not talking about Works. We can do nothing to save ourselves. We can't earn it or work for it, no matter how good we are. It is a FREE Gift! However, like any gift, we must cling to that gift and not let it go. We must have a relationship with Jesus and walk in obedience to Him, as much as we are able. Because yes, we are still sinful creatures and make mistakes, but we repent and keep allowing the Holy Spirit to sanctify us. (That means to change us to become more like Jesus!) And for anyone who believes repentance is a work, I encourage you to read the first 3 chapters of Revelation.
I ask you, how many people who have been taught this will end up in hell?
So, here's just a few statements this pastor made from the pulpit
1. He said that when Jesus said "It is finished" on the cross, that meant salvation was finished for everyone. Nothing else needs to be done by anyone. The totality of salvation is finished. No! It was Jesus's work on the cross that was finished. He took on all the world's sin and paid the price for every person who ever lived or would live. But that doesn't mean it is finished for us! If that was the case, then every person who ever lived would be saved because nothing would be required of them, not even to believe. In addition, there would be nothing else for any of us to do and everyone would have automatically been translated to heaven whether dead or alive. We wouldn't even have to accept Jesus if all the work was done. It's a silly statement.
2. He says that a person can't be unborn. This is a ridiculous statement which I addressed in this Post. This pastor is treating the Born statement as a physical act of giving birth, when Jesus Himself spoke about it in the spiritual sense. Nicodemus even questioned how someone could be born again, and Jesus's answer was a spiritual one. The entire process is spiritual not fleshly.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30
3. He says that the phrase above "sealed unto" means you cannot be unsealed. The Greek word is EIS which can mean "into, unto, to, towards, for, among". We learn from the following Scripture that The Holy Spirit is actually a down payment much like an engagement ring. He is a down payment for complete salvation when we either die or are raptured. A person who gets engaged can break off the engagement at any time without consequence. A person who has been given a down payment for a future prize can certainly discard that down payment if he no longer wants the prize.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1: 13-14
4. He said people who believe you can lose your salvation call the Grace of God cheap. That is a lie. We say that people who believe in OSAS and then go about living a life of sin are treating Grace as cheap. We do not in any way believe the Grace of God is cheap.
But the thing that finally caused me to not continue listening to this man was this:
5. He said that people who believe someone can lose their salvation are spitting in the face of Jesus. I mean. wow. I immediately turned him off and haven't watched him since.
Perhaps, his heart is in the right place, but my goodness, he is leading so many astray. I completely understand the need to believe that we are eternally secure. I believe those who have a real relationship with Jesus and who follow and love Him are Eternally secure. As long as they continue in their walk, in their relationship with Jesus. Not Works, but relationship!
Here's a few of my prior articles. If you're in doubt, please study the multitude of Scriptures I use to prove what I am saying. What the Lord is saying! This is such an important topic because I sense from the Holy Spirit that many many people will be left behind when the rapture occurs because they believed this lie and continued living their lives of sin.
Can A Christian Lose their Salvation
The Doctrine of Demons: Once Saved Always Saved
So true MaryLu of course we can walk away and loose our salvation - Jesus said the road is narrow and few get through - he also said “I never knew you” we have to know and love God with all our heart and to show that love me must obey Him to the best of our ability- Jesus said “If you
ReplyDeleteLove me you will obey me” not you will try to obey me - no He says “You will obey me” and to have eternal life we must love God. I wonder if people who walk away ever really had salvation. Blessings
Vicky Australia.
MaryLu Here: Thanks Vicky! I expect I’ll get some flack for this as this OSAS is taught in most churches, but I must speak truth. Even before I ever went to church where I heard this false doctrine, I read the entire Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit and knew that a person could walk away. But you’re absolutely right. Most who do were probably never saved at all. Blessings!
DeleteEvery day when I hear such false doctrine mistakes in theology, I’m glad that I attend a church who at least understands what sound doctrine is. As a young person who is exposed to so many voices online and so many differing ideas, it is something grounding to be led by the Holy Spirit to people who Are completely outside of my wheelhouse normally. I am for a context, a blind 20-year-old man and for such a long time I have struggled with my faith with Jesus. Funny enough I was exposed to Christian fiction and my friend and I have this joke saying that it’s pretty funny because most of Christian fiction is romance lol. But I told him I much prefer this to some of the nonsense that’s out there. So in short when I found your blog and I found your books, despite the fact that the genre is normally outside of my wheelhouse because of what I usually prefer, I have been blessed by your books and by your words. And as a recommendation if you ever wish to go more in depth, if you haven’t already with any times theology, eschatology I would recommend people like Michael S Heiser, Gary, Wayne, Derek and Sharon Gilbert, Thomas Horne, Chuck Missler, and a few others who you will find once you look up these people. God bless you and thank you for letting the Holy Spirit lead you and guide you in the way that he does.
ReplyDeleteMaryLu Here: If you attend a church that teaches the pure Bible, consider yourself blessed! yes, indeed. There are so many “voices” out there aren’t there? I see so many self-proclaimed prophets and teachers on YouTube who have no grounding in the Scriptures and certainly no leading of the Holy Spirit. I’m so pleased to meet you! I love hearing that young people are being blessed by what the Lord gives me here to post! Welcome and God Bless you!! I also appreciate your suggestions for good pastors on end times. I have gobbled up Missler’s teachings already and have a few of his books, and I’ve heard of Michael Heiser. I also have Tom Horn’s books! He is now with the Lord, but I haven’t heard of the others.. so I will check them out. Appreciate it!
DeleteGreetings Precious Sister in Christ,
ReplyDeleteHmmm, my comments are missing ? And you know I had a few words about this issue ?
MaryLu Here: Oh no! Let me check Spam
DeleteNope not there. I’m so sorry. I always love what you say
DeleteGreetings again Precious Daughter of the Lord,
ReplyDeleteGreat post Sister.
No we cannot lose our free will. God reserves judgement of man for Himself. If we did not have free will, God could not break His own law and judge us.
Romans 3: 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
I think this also answers the next question,: can we loose our Salvation ? Free will gives us free choice. God has given a free will choice to choose who we will serve. God has given us every proof and every door way to make the right choice. But God will not violate His Righteous law.
Proof - Romans 11:…21For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either. 22Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.…
My Sister and her family believe OSAS. We've discussed it many times. But they serve the Lord whole heartedly. They stand at City Hall and pass out Bibles, and preach the true Gospel. They preach at Nursing Homes. She teaches Childrens Bible class. And she love the Lord and puts Him first. But most of all, even though they believe this doctrine, she does not take her Salvation for granted. She cherrishes it.
Now Sister, dont even get me started on the " It is finished " trip ! The xpastor takes this a step further saying: everything God was ever going to do, He has already done !
Really ? Cause just three day after Jesus said this, God raised Him from the dead ! Jesus now sits at the right hand of His father, His rightful place. But if we were to have a peak into Heaven, I do not think we would see Jesus slumped back in an easy throne with a chalis of wine in His hand. As a wise Pastor said, Jesus is not finished, He's just getting started. He is building mansion, raising an army, planning His strategies', preparing a table, and making out His guest list !!! Hallelujah !
But the Progressive Church is bring all this false theology they dreamed up. And its catching on at an alarming rate. We must be vigilant !
And I'll tell you, that offense you feel inside when we hear such things is exactly why we receive the Holy Spirit. If you've studied the word and believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit is at work in you. We dont all have to be Bible scholars to recognize faulty scripture.
I know some get offended when we call a pastor out. Often this is because they've followed that man oe woman. Lets face it, no one likes to be made a fool of, so they immediately deffend these swindlers. If you support such men, who Paul said not to even assiciate with, if you given them money to promote their false doctrine, then you have yoked yourself with them. You have become partakers with them.
Some said, criticism of bad doctrine doesnt bring division, false doctrine brings division.
We are responsible to call such false preachers out, for the good of the Body.
1 Corinthians 5: 9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[c] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”[d]
MaryLu here: Thanks for the great confirming Scriptures, Joe. And your sister sounds like a lovely Christian. Believing in OSAS does not disqualify anyone from salvation… she sounds like someone who loves the Lord.
DeleteThe key to all of this is, as you said, being someone who loves Jesus, reads the Bible a lot, and has the Holy Spirit leading them. We don’t have to have gone to seminary or have multiple degrees. In fact, that sometimes can be a detriment.
People who get offended when you call out their pastor is usually because they are fans of said pastor… they put him on.a pedestal and he can do no wrong. It’s so sad. Jesus told us to call no man teacher but Him.
Thank you for that last Scripture! We are supposed to cast out people who claim to be Christian but who live a life of sin. We aren’t even supposed to eat with them!! Yet so many seeker-friendly churches allow this within the walls of their church. Yes we are to witness to the lost, but not within the church! The church is the body of Christ! Anyway, enough said. Blessings!
to finish this off ; We must always stand in the Truth, and never compromise the word of God to appease the crowds.
ReplyDeleteBetter to be hurt by the truth, than be deceived by the lie !
Now thats love.
Blessing of faith and strenght to finish this race we are in.
Amen!
DeleteHello Sister in Christ,
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a safe and pleasant trip.
It is aggravating that there are so many who may know the Lord, but preach messages that contradict Scripture or do not align with the Lord’s Word. In my earlier days when I first got introduced to the Lord, I used to think going to Church is a required act for Believers, but after seeing how evil the world is, how arrogant and heartless people have become, and how profound your posts have been in revealing the Truth, I am thankful I never went to Church regularly. Besides, I know there are those people who regularly attend Church, but revert to their sinful ways as soon as they step out of the building - does it make you want to cry how fraudulent believers could still go to Church thinking no one would ever know the real them, not even God?
There are those who also accomplished a lot of major things in their lives and claim to be a devoted follower of God, but they treat certain people with contempt and resentment, likely citing being “different” or whatever twisted judgmental reason. Didn’t God say to love others as we love Him? I am sure we find this frustrating, but God will ensure they go through a serious attitude/character adjustment if they do end up getting to Heaven, for God will ensure such personalities do not exist in Heaven. In other words, it is pointless to feel upset about this since God has promised a paradise with no more wickedness and cruelty, so that should be reassuring to us.
There are times when I fall into sin either by accident or because temptation was just too strong, but I got in a habit of confessing them in daily prayers whenever convenient rather than letting them be and show remorselessness, in addition to promising the Lord that no sin or temptation would drag me away from Him. Would this be a good practice?
I do not know if you knew about this, but I came across an article on Shemini Atzeret, which is also treated as a Jewish holiday following Sukkot after Yom Kippur. Interestingly, the Hamas attack on Israel took place on Shemini Atzeret (10/07/2023). Moreover, I found that this year this holiday will be on 10/13/25 since it is eight days after Sukkot on 10/05/25 (referred to as the Eighth Day). If you add 2520 days, which is the approximate length of the 7-year Tribulation based on the Jewish calendar, that lands on 9/06/2032, which is Rosh Hashanah (Yom Teruah). Could this be some connection to the End Times and the Hamas attack was probably a prophetic event in the form of war?
As of today, there are only 20 days until Pentecost. I also remember that if the Feast of the New Wine theory is true, that means end of July on 27 or 28 for an additional 50 days platter Pentecost. If those come to pass, then perhaps September? Speaking of which, I heard the UN conference in June may get delayed, but there may be another UN meeting in September 2025 to cover the same two-state solution goal. If this does take place, then perhaps the actual signing of the covenant will happen then?
Lastly, I remember 2 Samuel 2:11 where King David ruled Hebron for 7 years and 6 months - if the Tribulation does take place this Fall, then would that mean a 3-month gap after the Rapture and the other 3 months for God to set up the Millennium Reign after the Tribulation ends? I remember hearing that there is also a time period for God to make preparations for the Reign before it starts. It may not happen this way, but it is just a thought.
I hope when we all meet in Paradise, you will accept me as a Brother in Christ even though I can be quite talkative, but it is one of the things that I have experienced in this life, but they were all insincere since no one truly appreciated my worth and abruptly and silently disowned me and I only found out through further maturity in Christ and divine signs and messages such as your posts. I will just remember God’s promise to remind me never to feel upset about anything. Blessings Sister and take care!
MaryLu Here: I’m glad you told me you are a brother because I wasn’t sure how to address you , so thank you for that.
DeleteThere are many tares among the wheat, Brother. Many in church who profess the name of Jesus but who don’t even know Him at all and whose lives bear no fruit. The Scripture is full of warnings to them and about them. I think in the past, many churches were good places where Jesus was glorified and saints could fellowship but in these last days, that is no longer the case. Churches tend to be just social clubs with cliques and many of the people aren’t even saved. Then, of course there are those churches who don’t even teach the real Bible.. so I would advise you not to even bother unless the Lord leads you to a specific church. the best thing is to find a home fellowship with true committed Christians, but even those are hard to find. And yes, my heart breaks for these false Christians because they will be shocked when they are left behind!
As far as confessing your sins daily, yes! That is the best thing to do. We all sin. We all make mistakes. You will know because the Holy Spirit convicts you…. Just repent immediately and you are forgiven! Ask for help to do better next time. The Lord loves such prayers!
Yes, I’ve kept informed on all the “predictions” of the rapture.. including the Shemini Atzeret and all the feast days, new wine celebrations, etc…. I still do contend that the rapture is a harvest and I don’T believe it is a fall harvest or fruit harvest, but obviously I could be wrong.
As far as the UN Peace conference, I have heard there’s another one appending in mid June where they are discussing a Palestinian state.. but we wait and watch. The timing is all in God’s hands. I do believe, however, we are close to the Daniel covenant.
Not sure about the David/Hebron connection. It’s possible that it has no bearing on the gap between the rapture and Tribulation… so we wait and see.
Brother, when we meet in heaven, we will be family! We already are family.. and we will all love and accept each other! I’m sorry people in this world have treated you poorly…. I have suffered the same. But you are very very valuable to the Lord. Always remember that. God chooses people whom the world rejects. That means you are so precious to Him.