4.2 Corruption of the Gospel - THE HOPEFUL MARTYR

The corruption of the gospel:

Do you believe the gospel is under attack? Are there people who consciously attempt to undermine or corrupt the message of salvation? If the apostles were warning the church against a corrupted gospel in the first century (1&2 Timothy, Titus and Jude), can we expect this to continue today?

It would be naïve not to think so. In every generation there is a renewed attack. We may well ask what such an attack on the gospel would look like. When we do so, consider that these corruptions are often subtle, either taking a small part of the gospel away or adding something to it.

The reason why the gospel, the message of salvation, is such good news is that its free. We get glorious eternal life, much better than anything this life can offer, for free! The entry point is the door, Jesus. By entering through Jesus, the door, we become part of his flock (John 10). All we do is accept the gift he offers, the invitation to spend eternity with Him. We can simply say “Yes Jesus, I accept your offer, your gift of eternal life with You.” That’s it. As we shall see below, this is where the first point of attack on the gospel takes place, a subtle introduction of something we must do. Something in addition to the simple acceptance of the free gift. It seems to be human nature for mankind to want to add “our bit”. However, the bible teaches that any condition added by man corrupts the gift. We cannot add anything without changing the nature of God’s gift. If we do we will spoil it. The gift is perfect, why change it?

Jesus showed that he wants us to accept the gift, He desires that we become part of His family. He has provided a way of salvation whereby there is no ‘entry requirement’ other than desiring and accepting His gift. We simply believe that he makes this offer us individually, personally. He makes this offer to all of us, to all mankind. What is better than that?

However, if we read the bible the picture is even more radical. It is impossible for any person to ever be good enough to earn salvation. We are infected by sin. We are by nature impure and defiled. If we were to go to heaven in our current impure state we would defile heaven. God can only allow 100% pure people in heaven. Our situation is so bad that even one lie will cause us to be impure and disqualify us. (Rev 21:27)

The Gospel is that God loves us has planned to purify us. He allowed His Son Jesus to pay for our sin, therefore washing our sins away, purifying us. He personally carried the consequence of our sin when He died on the cross. He accepted all our sin and gave us His purity. The most unequal swap in the universe! Upon believing in Christ we receive his gift of eternal life, and receive with it His purity, we are ‘born anew spiritually’ and are now acceptable to God, in a father-child relationship with God, an adopted child of God. The only step we must take is accept Jesus free gift of cleansing when we put our trust in Him. “After we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation and believed…“, we are ‘sealed by the spirit’ as His ‘purchased possession‘. (Eph 1:13)..

{1:13} 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, {1:14} Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

See also post 7.8 for the scriptures describing and confirming that we are part of His eternal family once we believe.

The false Gospels, ‘another’ Jesus.

The apostle Paul warns:

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. {11:4} For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (2 Cor 11:3,4)

Paul warns that some will come who preach a gospel, and talk of Jesus, but that it will not be the Jesus Christ of scripture, it will be another Jesus and another gospel. Faith in another Jesus cannot save anyone, it is a corruption of the gospel and will deceive many. The two most prevalent historic false gospels, which we will investigate, are:

Roman Catholicism. (preaches salvation is through faith, plus Baptism and the observance of the Commandments)
Calvinism (preaches that salvation is only available to a predetermined group, which have no choice in the matter)

Recent false gospels include:

The NAR: Supernatural Signs & Wonders, ‘Kingdom now’ and the experience gospel.

Other more obvious false teachings like those of the Mormons, Jehovah’s witnesses, prosperity teachers, self-help TV evangelists, etc. are not considered here.

A) Catholic corruption of the Gospel

Before looking at the ‘Calvinism and Supernatural Signs & Wonders’ corruption, it is wise to consider the main historic (also still current) Catholic corruption. All statements are accompanied by a Catholic Church Catechism (or teaching) reference number (CCC number).

Summary of process of salvation in Roman Catholicism *

The major corruption is that Salvation in Roman Catholicism is a process, and not a free gift received once and forever. To begin, they teach God grants ‘actual grace’ to a person which enables him to believe in Christ (CCC 2000) and also believe in the truth of the Catholic Church (CCC 1814). After belief, the person must be baptized, which is necessary for salvation (CCC 1257) – a corruption, because Jesus teaches eternal life is received upon belief in Jesus.

Without further commentary, they teach as follows: This baptism erases original sin (CCC 405), unites the person with Christ (CCC 977), infuses grace into the person (CCC 1999), and grants justification (CCC 1992, 2020). After baptism, he is saved.

But, to maintain his salvation, it is necessary for him to perform good works (CCC 2010, 2068, 2080) and participate in the sacraments (CCC 1129) which provide grace that is “proper to each sacrament” (CCC 1129, 2003). This is necessary in order to maintain ‘infused grace’ (CCC 987, 1468). However, grace can be lessened by venial sins or completely lost by mortal sins. Venial sins (CCC 1862) remove part of the infused grace but not the saving grace known as sanctifying grace (CCC 1863). To remedy the problem of venial sins, the Catholic is to take the Eucharist which the Church teaches forgives venial sins (CCC 1416). He must also perform various penance which must be done in concert with perfect contrition (CCC 1452).

But there is a problem. Sins require punishment. Even though sins are absolved by a priest (CCC 1463, 1495) the punishment due to a person because of his sin can remain. To deal with that remaining punishment, indulgences are administered to deal with the punishment due to the guilt of the sins already forgiven (CCC 1471, 1498). These indulgences draw upon the “good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary” (CCC 1477) and “of Christ and the saints” so as to obtain “the remission of the temporal punishment due for their sins” (CCC 1478). Furthermore, the indulgences can be applied to themselves or the dead (CCC 1471) who are in purgatory (CCC 1498).

Now, in case the Catholic has committed a mortal sin, then all his infused grace is lost. To regain this grace, he must partake of special penance (CCC 980) since it helps restore grace that was lost (CCC 1468, 1496). To conclude, the Roman Catholic must have faith, participate in the sacraments, take the Eucharist, keep the commandments, perform penance, and do indulgences in order to attain, maintain, and regain his salvation as well as reduce the punishment due to him for the sins of which he has already forgiven.

Catholic Catechism references:

CCC405 – Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin – an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence”. Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.
CCC977 – Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that “we too might walk in newness of life.”
CCC980 – It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church: Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers “a laborious kind of baptism.” This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have not yet been reborn.
CCC987 – “In the forgiveness of sins, both priests and sacraments are instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ, the only author and liberal giver of salvation, wills to use in order to efface our sins and give us the grace of justification” (Roman Catechism, I, 11, 6).
CCC1129 – The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation. “Sacramental grace” is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior.
CCC1257 – The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.
CCC1416 – Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant’s union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
CCC1452 – When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called “perfect” (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.
CCC1463 – Certain particularly grave sins incur excommunication, the most severe ecclesiastical penalty, which impedes the reception of the sacraments and the exercise of certain ecclesiastical acts, and for which absolution consequently cannot be granted, according to canon law, except by the Pope, the bishop of the place or priests authorized by them. In danger of death any priest, even if deprived of faculties for hearing confessions, can absolve from every sin and excommunication.
CCC1468 – “The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.” Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation “is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation.” Indeed the sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true “spiritual resurrection,” restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God.
CCC1471 – The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance. What is an indulgence? “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.” “An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.” The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.
CCC1477 – “This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in their value before God. In the treasury, too, are the prayers and good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by his grace have made their lives holy and carried out the mission in the unity of the Mystical Body.”
CCC1478 – An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity.
CCC1495 – Only priests who have received the faculty of absolving from the authority of the Church can forgive sins in the name of Christ.
CCC1496 – The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are: – reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace; – reconciliation with the Church; – remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins; – remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin; – peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation; – an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.
CCC1498 – Through indulgences the faithful can obtain the remission of temporal punishment resulting from sin for themselves and also for the souls in Purgatory.
CCC1814 – Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith “man freely commits his entire self to God.” For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God’s will. “The righteous shall live by faith.” Living faith “work[s] through charity.”
CCC1862 – One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent.
CCC1863 – Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul’s progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it merits temporal punishment. Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit mortal sin. However venial sin does not break the covenant with God. With God’s grace it is humanly reparable. “Venial sin does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness.” While he is in the flesh, man cannot help but have at least some light sins. But do not despise these sins which we call “light”: if you take them for light when you weigh them, tremble when you count them. A number of light objects makes a great mass; a number of drops fills a river; a number of grains makes a heap. What then is our hope? Above all, confession.
CCC1992 – Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life: But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
CCC1999 – The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification: Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.
CCC2000 – Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God’s call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God’s interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification.
CCC2003 – Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning “favor,” “gratuitous gift,” “benefit.” Whatever their character – sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues – charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.
CCC2010 – Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. Even temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance with God’s wisdom. These graces and goods are the object of Christian prayer. Prayer attends to the grace we need for meritorious actions.
CCC2020 – Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ. It is granted us through Baptism. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who justifies us. It has for its goal the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life. It is the most excellent work of God’s mercy.
CCC2068 – The Council of Trent teaches that the Ten Commandments are obligatory for Christians and that the justified man is still bound to keep them; the Second Vatican Council confirms: “The bishops, successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord . . . the mission of teaching all peoples, and of preaching the Gospel to every creature, so that all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments.”
CCC2080 – The Decalogue contains a privileged expression of the natural law. It is made known to us by divine revelation and by human reason.”

Compare the above to the introduction, Appendix F and post 7.8. These describe the scriptures confirming that we are part of His eternal family at the moment that we believe. Salvation is not a process, like the catholic church preaches.

No person can be saved by the ‘gospel’ of the catechism of the Catholic Church, because it is another gospel, a false gospel.

B) The false gospel of Calvinism:

All bible believing Christians can be thankful for Luther’s courage of loosening the catholic grip on society by initiating the reformation in 1517. (refer to post 4.5). Luther promoted the understanding that every person could read and possess their own bibles, and be taught through God’s word and the Holy Spirit, and that this can occur independent of church organizations.

However, later reformers like Calvin added things to the gospel which should not be there. Calvin was influenced by Augustinian thinking, which led Calvin to produce his five points of Calvinism. Baptists would disagree with every single point of those five, and reject these as unbiblical. Refer to Choice and Calvin, and Appendix F. ( For Augustinian thinking, see the various internet articles exposing Augustine’s Gnostic beliefs.)

In addition to misrepresenting God, the secondary danger of Calvinism is that it removes any assurance of salvation. If only the ‘predetermined elect’ can be saved, and because I cannot know 100% for sure if I am one of them, how can I ever know for sure I’m saved?

The OSAS Baptist, however, believes scripture, that God wants all men to be saved. I believe Jesus died for all and thus for me too. He did all that suffering for me, and he did all that suffering for everyone else too. No one is excluded from His offer of salvation. The only condition is that I believe it, trust that this is God’s ONLY provision for my sin that is separating me from Him. If I do, I am saved! This is my responsibility, to make that choice to believe.

{6:43} Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. {6:44} No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. {6:45} It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

Yes, the Calvinists are partially right, God does enable us to believe, by drawing us to Him. But then they stop right there, and don’t read the next verse! The next verse says ALL will be taught by God. Thus from John 6 45 we see that God teaches all men.

ALL men

John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

Jesus died for all and wants all to be saved. It is impossible to miss this in scripture. The most famous verse in the bible, John 3:16, teaches this. So do multitudes of others. (Luke 2:10-11, 30-32, 3:6, John 1:7,1:9, 6:40,44-45; 11:25-26 17:2. Rom 1:16, 3:22-25,28, 5:8, 8:32, 10:4, 12-13. Gal 3:8-9, Heb 2:9. 1Tim 2:1-6, 4:10, Tit2:11. Rev 22:17 ) Refer to the link All men .

Calvinism is simply a failure in understanding that it is possible that ‘my choice’ and ‘God’s enablement of our faith’ can co-exist. Calvinists insist that it must be one or the other.

It may be a bit hard to logically reason out the process of God’s enablement and our choice, but is logic our standard? Is it by logic or by faith, informed by scripture? How well does logic fare in explaining the Trinity? How does it do in explaining eternity or the pre-existence of God? Logic utterly fails, but faith does not.

And the Anglicans?

Surprisingly, conservative Anglicans, holding to their articles of faith are more faithful to scripture than both the Catholics or the Calvinists. Refer to http://anglicansonline.org/basics/thirty-nine_articles.html. For example, article 31: “The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin, but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits”

Anglicans are very clear on salvation by faith in Jesus Christ only, and not by works. (Eph 2:8). Note that it is clear to them too, in Article 31, that Jesus died for all and wants all to be saved. Calvinists don’t believe that. In the same article, also note the rejection of the catholic mass as “blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits”. Many other Anglican articles out-rightly condemn catholic practices. While the Anglicans are somewhat unclear on whether baptism is required for salvation, and do not hold to baptism by immersion, a OSAS Baptist will find more points of agreement with Anglicans than with the two corrupt gospels mentioned above.

Why is it so hard for some to believe in the simplicity of the Gospel: Salvation by faith ONLY?

Are the promises of Jesus concerning eternal life in the gospel of John hard to believe? Perhaps, for some, it is hard because:

Experience has shown them that life doesn’t work that way. You don’t get anything for nothing.
There are always seem to be strings attached to any promise or,
They have experienced broken promises in life and don’t want to get hurt again.

For others its difficult to wade through the false teachings they have heard and pre-conceived ideas they may have about Christians and the church. Some preachers, for example, misapply Matt 24’s “those who endure to the end will be saved” to ‘prove’ that Jesus’ free gift has strings attached, that our effort is also required to be saved. In this passage Jesus describes the end-time persecution just before the second coming, that it will be so severe that, if God did not cut that time short, “no flesh would be saved”. He is clearly speaking about physical survival, as He clarifies later, should one only read the whole passage.

Yet none of this should be relevant. God is making the offer, not other people. Logically we can’t judge God by what men do or say. Judge for yourself what God says in His word, the bible. If we can read, we can discover the simplicity of the gospel for ourselves. (Eph 2:8). Jesus gives a simple answer when he is asked by the crowd what works they should do to be saved: Believe. Its that simple. They ask: “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? ”

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:28b,29) Jesus adds no conditions, there are no strings attached. Simple and easy: Believe on Jesus, trust in Him! That is the only ‘work’ we have to do to enter into God’s family, to become a child of God.

C) The false Gospels of 2018:

The focus is on the subtle deceptions within current ‘bible believing’ evangelical christian churches. The current false gospels that are being preached in ‘bible believing’ churches are not obvious heresies, but they have slowly been drawing Christians away from the centrality of the bible. You may have heard statements like the following:

Pray for new beginnings, a touch from God,
Experience God’s presence, wait on God, soak in God’s presence,
Press into God, thirst for more,
Ask for revival, signs and wonders, for heaven to come down to earth.
Lets ‘usher in’ the kingdom,
Let it rain down, come receive a fresh impartation, a laying on of hands, an anointing.

If you’ve heard these phrases, it is possible that you are in a ‘new gospel’ church. It is time to carefully write down what is being said and consult the Word of God. Check the quotes against the entire passage of scripture and not a few verses. Check what is being said against the time-tasted King James Version of the bible. Much of what is being said will sound right, and scriptural, but is actually a false gospel.

How has this happened? This has come about over a number of decades. The more obvious false teachings like those of the Mormons, Jehovah’s witnesses, prosperity teachers, self-help TV evangelists, etc. are not considered here. The deceptions we are investigating have slowly crept in over many years, unnoticed and under the surface. However, they are now becoming visible as they are accumulating and culminating into the grand idea of bringing the ‘Kingdom of Heaven to Earth’, an idea to change the world by ‘ushering in God’s kingdom’. (Refer to Seduced by Bethel for a detailed description of the movement) To do this a number of tools have been used which are described below.

The ‘ushering in the kingdom for Jesus’ marks of a loosely knit and often unaffiliated network of leaders who share a common vision and goal for the visible Church. It isn’t an official organization, nor can it be characterized by a common creed. It is instead a counterfeit, un-biblical movement that has been gaining worldwide momentum. However, those members of such churches who have kept themselves immersed in scripture have begun to take notice, and discernment reporters have been shining the light of Scripture on the very subtle swing away from the centrality of the Word.

While the leaders of this un-biblical movement are promoting their ideas as if they are fully supported by scripture, it is not very difficult to discern the error once one bothers to study or question the topic. Well versed believers will see through the deception fairly readily, however, because so much of it feels right, very few do. Supernatural Signs & Wonders are very difficult to argue against. However, when ‘ushering in the kingdom for Jesus’ by healing and taking dominion over earthly kingdoms have become the new gospel by which the world is to be reached, they are clearly replacing the gospel of the cross with something else and are moving into heresy.

The softening of the church:

One may ask, how has this happened? How have so many of us been drawn into this movement?

There has been a softening up of the church over the last four decades to prepare us for the movement that is now gathering worldwide momentum today. Slowly and subtly the church has been drawn away from bible centrality to the preaching of another gospel, a powerless, vague and watered down gospel. This has been a process which has weakened the believers and made them receptive for deception. The three main elements comprising this process are: the ‘Surrender gospel’, Seeker-based services and Topic-based sermons.

The ‘Surrender’ gospel: What we are looking at here is the subtle twisting of the gospel, corrupting it so the focus is on what we do and not on what Jesus has done. The corrupted gospel message becomes ” Surrender your life to the Lord”, “Give your heart to the Lord”, “Put God on the throne of your life”, “Repent from your sin”, “Change your ways”. The focus is on ‘me’, about what I have to do, and often about what the benefits are to myself. Also this gospel ends up not being such good news because we are left unsure, inevitably, on whether we ‘did it right, repented right’ or are ‘still on the throne’ in some areas of our lives. Did I really “surrender all”, and if not, am I saved? Any of the above ‘me’ responses could have been done “wrong”, so we end up never being quite sure if we are saved.

The power of the gospel is that Jesus has done EVERYTHING, we can do NOTHING and are not required to do ANYTHING, other than accept His free gift of eternal life with Him. Then we are SAVED, no tingly feelings required, no speaking in tongues, no crying or sobbing over our past sins, no surrender of self or anything we have to give to Him.

The WOW of the gospel is we don’t have to rely on any of our puny efforts, we are completely relieved of any contribution, we can only stand in awe of this magnificent gift that we now have in us, being an adopted child of God for ever and ever. We are now empowered by the spirit to, over time, to ” Surrender your life to the Lord”, to “Give your heart to the Lord”, to “Put God on the throne of your life”, to “Make a commitment”, “Repent from your sin” and to “Change your ways”. Note all these actions are all a valid part of our daily walk once we are saved Christians, but when these actions are presented as the gospel, it turns Jesus’ free gift into another gospel, a false gospel.

For a further discussion of the scriptures supporting salvation by faith alone, refer to post 7.8: http://www.hopefulmartyr.com/7-8-great-apostasy/ “ and the final section of this post.

Seeker sensitive services:

The idea of seeker sensitive services are based on the false premise that we have to invite friends to church if we want to see them saved. This is immediately attractive to the hearer because it takes him off the hook, relieves him of the responsibility of needing to being able to share the gospel. We simply have to invite unbelievers to church.

It is not difficult to see what follows. Once we and the church leadership have bought into this lie, it is obvious that sermons would be structured to avoid the difficult or offensive parts of Jesus’ teachings. That would scare away the seekers. The next victims of this ‘seeker based’ mind-set is to omit the study of the prophets, prophecies, or studies of the christian walk. The focus shifts towards entertainment, good catchy music and lightheartedness. While there is nothing wrong with any of these generally, its when they become the rule that something else must suffer. What suffers is the teaching of the ‘whole council of God’, because ‘all scripture is God-breathed’ and necessary for instruction AND REBUKE. (1 Tim 3:16)

Where services were intended as a gathering for believers and the teaching of the word of God (Heb 10:25), they have often become more focused on entertainment.

Topic based sermons:

Very popular in churches lately is for the pastors to ‘seek God’ at the beginning of the year to establish a program for the services. Topics are then selected with the aim of doing a “Series” of sermons on the topic. Except in the traditional churches, the habit of chapter by chapter bible preaching has become extinct.

The danger is clear: with topic based sermons it is easy to avoid the hard bits in the bible. Chapter by chapter bible preaching doesn’t allow that. When we read every word we have to deal with all the confronting statements. Whoever has been involved in struggling with these confronting statements will have experienced that these ‘hard bits’ do encourage us to drill deeper, to wrestle with the Word, to seek God in prayer. These are the exact bits that are the treasures, they force our lazy inclinations into action. Take away the hard bits and we become spectators rather than the actors in the eternal drama of life. We miss out on the growth and blessing that God has in store for us, growth which only comes through learning to know Him better.

Identifying signs of the movement:

In addition to the new gospel of reaching the world by ‘ushering in God’s kingdom’ by supernatural signs & wonders, there are some other marks identifying this worldwide movement. The identifying marks and signs of this teaching are along the following lines: (cited from the link http://www.piratechristian.com/berean-examiner/the-six-hallmarks-of-a-nar-church))

Kingdom now:

‘Apostolic’ leaders are teaching that we are to participate in bringing Heaven down to Earth, in a subtle twist of our Lord’s prayer. (thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.) The Gospel of ‘bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth’ is preached in preference to the Gospel of the cross. They do this by focusing on taking dominion over ‘earthly kingdoms’, by speaking, praying, claiming or proclaiming the dominion of God’s kingdom over these, and praying against the current structures. The ‘earthly kingdoms’ we need to conquer by proclamation and prayer are the “mountains” of government, media, entertainment, education, business, family, and religion. Leaders often talk of city building and organize prayer walks to pray against demonic strongholds. The idea that we have to ‘usher in the kingdom’ is an often used statement to convey another false principle, an imminent revival. They raise expectations that there will be a revival right before the end, and that we will be the instruments of establishing God’s kingdom here on earth, rather than Jesus destroying the evil governments of this world at his second coming.

This flies in the face of the entire bible teaching that this world will grow increasingly corrupt, not better, as the second coming of Jesus approaches. This evil climaxes when the antichrist unleashes the greatest persecution of the elect that the world has ever known, just before Armageddon, when Jesus comes to establish His millennial kingdom. It is Jesus, not us, who will usher in the millennial kingdom of heaven.

Revelation 20:1-6 clearly teaches that Jesus will rule over this earth for 1000 years. During this time the elect, the saints will be ruling and reigning with Christ. This is the millennium. This is the kingdom we are looking for when we pray ‘thy kingdom come’. Jesus as the physical king, reigning from Jerusalem. The kingdom now movement is a false teaching proclaiming that we are living in the millennium now. There is no scriptural basis for such a claim.

There is already noticeable shift in end times teaching where previously staunch pre-millennial baptists, for example, are now moving away or avoiding any teaching on a literal millennium as ushered in by Christ.

Miracles can change the world: Whereas we all believe that God does supernatural healing in response to prayer, they often believe that there is a special anointing possible whereby we can receive direct revelation from God, perform healings and other signs and wonders at will. The purpose of healing is stated to be to win people to the Lord, and that we can in this manner change the world. Also refer to the discussion below on the purpose of and our response to miracles.

Presence and spiritual atmosphere: Though participants of this movement are not always charismatic, they frequently emphasize a manifestation of “Glory” and “God’s presence”. Once again, while there is nothing wrong with this in general. Being filled with peace, awe and wonder at God’s magnificence is an essential and valid part of our christian walk. We need to be refreshed and inspired by His beauty. It is God who is working a pure appreciation of His beauty and the love for His Word in our hearts, where we experience feelings of wonder and closeness. However, hyped and emotionally charged music should not be used in this way. Also, when repetitive music bordering on mindless chanting is being used to create ‘an atmosphere for miracles’ we should start feeling uncomfortable. We should not attempt to artificially create an atmosphere for miracles or try to chant our way into His presence.

Revival: Revival on a massive scale is key in this movement. There is a strong emphasis on an “end times harvest” through a great awakening that we can usher in. Often these revivals are held in stadiums and reach millions around the world via live stream technology; they are marketed and produced like rock concerts. All scripture verses about an end times falling away are ignored, and get replaced with hyped-up claims about the Next Big Thing that’s always just around the corner. Leaders teach that our purpose is to achieve our dream destiny so that we can change the world. Leaders also speak of being mission-focused and changing the world rather than being Christ-focused and Christ-centered.

Apostles: The leaders (apostles) and adherents of this movement may believe in the inerrancy and authority of the Bible, but God’s breathed-out Word seems just not enough for them. Jesus’ sacrificial death for our sins is not good enough; the promise of eternal life in Heaven is not good enough. They believe there are new Apostles are on the earth today, anointed by the laying of hands, to represent and speak for God here on Earth. These “Super Apostles” are thought to be equal to the original Apostles – the ones who witnessed Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and were appointed by Christ Himself to the office. Since these new apostles are ‘commissioned by God’, they also think that their authority may not be questioned. Refer to the further discussion below on characteristics of these false apostles.

Unity among denominations (at the expense of biblical doctrine): Unity for the sake of bringing Heaven to Earth is leading to the blurring of doctrinal and denominational lines, often bringing together well-known leaders of charismatic, reformed, Word of Faith, seeker-emergent, progressive and Roman Catholics churches, all under one umbrella.

Participants:

Other than the “ushering in the kingdom” by bringing “heaven down to earth and the associated dominion teachings, there are some other parallel movements. The following movements are all contributing in some way to further this teaching: The Latter Rain Movement; Joel’s Army; The Seven Mountain Mandate; The Third Wave Revivalism; IHOP (International house of prayer); Bethel Church, The Hillsong Media Empire. These are all a part of this shape-shifting movement in one way or another. It is gobbling up churches and deceiving millions who don’t even know they’ve become a part of an apostate, end-times falling away. Pastors, those who have bought into this movement, and invested time and energy into it, are often reluctant to discuss questions that arise from the congregation. They are often fearful that a schism will develop in the church, little realizing that the longer they divert, the harder it will become to stem the apostate tide. Whenever challenged these pastors will quote a scripture, such that only the brave will openly challenge them and expose how that scripture is misapplied or twisted.

Discussion on the purpose of and our response to miracles:

Do the gospels teach that miracles will lead us to faith? Miracles follow faith, a faith that is already present in the believer. This is often misunderstood, faith doesn’t follow miracles but miracles follow faith. Jesus makes it clear, “your faith has healed you”, He says in many instances. That faith Jesus is talking about was worked in that person’s heart prior to the event, when that person had heard about or had listened to Jesus.

Jesus clearly teaches that miracles will not change a persons heart;

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus says to the rich man that even if someone were to miraculously rise from the dead, that such a resurrected person would not be able to convince the rich man’s family members about the reality of hell. In the face of such an obvious miracle they will still not abandon their unbelief.
In Luke 11:16, when Jesus had just healed a dumb man which then spoke, the pharisees immediately asked for another sign! Did that miracle generate faith? Jesus follows up by saying that a evil generation is looking for a sign. (elsewhere “a wicked and evil generation”)
In the next scene (Luke 11:29) Jesus says no sign shall be given other than the sign of Jonah. Jesus the continues with a discussion on the faith of the Ninevites. If the Ninevites responded to the preaching of Jonah, why do the pharisees not respond to someone greater than Jonah? Jesus illustrates that faith comes by a receptive heart, not by signs and miracles.
In John 6, immediately after the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fish, feeding the 5000, the crowd finds Jesus on the other side of the lake. Jesus first words to them were: “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” The crowd were really only interested in the “loaves”, i.e the direct benefit to themselves, and Jesus identifies that they aren’t even interested in the miracles. It’s like water off a duck’s back. Like with a firework display, their interest only lasts as long as the duration of the entertainment.
In addition, the entire crowd dispersed shortly after they came back to Him the next day, when offended at Jesus’ preaching that He was the bread of life that they should be seeking, not food that perishes. They were to consume his words, to “eat my flesh and drink my blood”, Jesus said. That is how quickly the effect of the miracle wore off.

The purpose of Jesus’ miracles thus seems to be an encouragement to the believer to love and praise God for His mighty works, and for individuals in need, a response to the faith ALREADY in a person’s heart. It should be obvious that this process can’t be reversed, and that faith can not arise as a response to miracles. Hence the basis of the movement of ‘ushering in God’s kingdom’ by supernatural signs & wonders is based on a premise not supported by scripture. Miracles are not likely to bring anyone to saving faith in Jesus, but the gospel of the cross will.

The truth is that: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 . The current apostate movement does the opposite, it waters down the word, and reverses the process of faith and healing.

Discussion on Apostles:

Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; {2:20} And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; {2:21} In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy temple in the Lord: {2:22} In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

The bible teaches that Christ is the cornerstone, the apostles are the foundations and we are the ‘living stones’ of the spiritual house that God has planned for us to participate in. This foundation has already been laid. There is no need to lay a new foundation of ‘new’ apostles or a elevated layer of foundation stones halfway up the building. (also read 1 Peter 2:6)

It is a false and deceptive teaching that there is still a need for apostles today. Any such self-promoting men must be tested against scripture. The typical characteristics of false Apostles are given in scripture by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11, v3 – 14:

They are subtle, i.e. they introduce the deception slowly and imperceptibly, probably preaching 99% truth and 1% error to start off with.
They depart from the simplicity of the gospel, from the simplicity that is in Christ. These men intellectualize the gospel, present study programs, seminars, conferences and run diploma courses on their teaching, convincing believers that the bible needs their ‘anointed teaching’ to be properly understood.
They are “preaching another Jesus, whom we have not preached.” .
From them the hearers receive “another spirit, which ye have not received,” or
From them one hears “another gospel which ye have not accepted”. Often they cloud or dilute the gospel as explained under the “surrender gospel” heading
They are deceitful workers, and discerning believers should challenge and expose their false doctrine.
They promote the idea that they are apostles, or accept the title of apostles after manipulating others to call them so, such that they are: “:transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. {11:4} For if he that comes preaching another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him……….{11:13} For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. {11:14} And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

From Paul’s warning above, we can now readily identify the current men posing as ‘angel of light’, if we know the scriptures.

Other new movements:

Israel: There is a widespread misunderstanding about the future of Israel and the status of Israel today. There is no power in Judaism to save any person on earth. Neither is there any power in the Law to save any person on earth. There is absolutely no basis for Christians to get enamored about keeping or participating in Jewish feasts, ceremonies, trumpet blowing and so on. The Bible teaches that the Israel of today will be deceived by the antichrist, that they will believe that he is the Messiah. There will be no Jewish revival (until the antichrist shows his true colours), except for the pseudo-revival when the temple rites get re-instated with the help of agreements made by the antichrist. But once the antichrist has global power the turns the tables on the Jews and starts a program to annihilate them, killing a full two-thirds of them:

Zechariah 13:8 “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. {13:9} And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

“…and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that makes desolate. {11:32} And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. {11:33} And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. (Dan 11:31b-33)

“…cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. {3:16} In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. {3:17} The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. {3:18} I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. {3:19} Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee:(Zephaniah 3:15-19)

The revival only occurs after severe persecution. As always God has reserved a remnant of the Jewish nation for himself, in keeping with his promises to their fathers: (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob)

Rom 11:28 “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes {11:29} For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

God keeps his promises, even if they are enemies of the gospel now. Because God keeps his promises a portion of the Jews will be restored right at the end, at Jesus’ second coming. They are not ‘blessed’ now as some are teaching, they are facing an extremely hard future. We can pray for the Jews, however that we must ‘bless them’ is a false teaching that ignores whole chapters of biblical prophecy about the future of Israel.

Joel 2:31} The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. {2:32} And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call…..….

Joel 3:14 “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. {3:15} The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. {3:16} The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD [will be] the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

Matt 24:29 and Rev 6:12-17, describe the same event, where we read that the sun and moon are darkened and the heavens shake on the ‘day of the LORD’. We can conclude that we are being told about events surrounding the second coming of Jesus. Reading the above (and the rest of Joel) it becomes clear that the Jewish revival only occurs close to the second coming of Jesus. The New Testament confirms the Old as to the timing of Israel’s prophesied spiritual-rebirth as a nation, that it will happen only when Christ returns in judgment. In the interim, God has placed a veil which will remain upon them – until, as their own prophet said, as a people they repent as they look upon Him whom they have pierced.

Zech.12:10 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. {12:10} And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him….”

The repentance of Israel

Behold! He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the peoples of the earth will grieve on account of Him. Revelation 1:7

The grieving on the part of all unbelievers when Jesus comes on the clouds is in response to their knowledge that the time of reckoning has arrived. Jesus comes in unimaginable glory after the preceding darkness (Matt.24:27-31). How many unbelievers will repent at His coming we are not sure of, but we know that His coming on the clouds is the event that opens the eyes of the Jews and removes their blindness as spoken of by Paul:

{11:25} For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. {11:26} And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: {11:27} For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. {11:28} As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

{3:4} For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: {3:5} Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days. Hosea 3:4-5

{5:2} But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. {5:3} Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travails has brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. Micah 5:2,3

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. {12:10} And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him….”Zech.12:9,10

Jesus’ gracious hand of forgiveness is stretched out to the Jews even until His second coming. As the saints are raptured ‘at the appearance of his coming’, it may be too late for the Jews to be raptured also, but not too late to be delivered.

{2:30} And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. {2:31} The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. {2:32} And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:30-32

{2:12} Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye evento me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: {2:13} And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents him of the evil. {2:14} Who knows if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? {2:15} Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: {2:16} Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. {2:17} Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? {2:18} Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. {2:19} Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: {2:20} But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. Joel 2:12-20

The gift of Salvation

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. {12:3} Therefore with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. (Is 12:2-3)

Isaiah proclaims the reasons why we do not need to fear. God is our salvation, it is He who saves us. Salvation is nothing we, as flawed beings, have something to do with. He has done it, He works our salvation, in Him we trust. There is no fear in this, God has worked our salvation to the full, there is nothing flawed about it, nothing we need to doubt. He has worked a perfect work through his Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus, speaking to the woman at the well in John 4:10, refers to these same words from Isaiah’s as he addresses her: “If thou knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink; thou would have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” Jesus emphasises that the “water out of the wells of salvation” is a gift. A free gift, no strings attached. We simply accept the gift, trusting God that the gift is what He says it is: free, no strings attached.

Ephesians 2:8 confirms this: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: {2:9} Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Yes, it is free and it also sets us free. Not having to earn our salvation by our performance takes the pressure off us. This is what sets us free! There’s nothing else to be done. We accept the gift and can relax and enjoy having being made part of God’s family! Free to praise God with a free heart!

And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. (Is 12:4-6)

This is our spiritual condition and position. In a sense this condition is more real than our physical condition, because the physical is temporary and the spiritual eternal. Post 7.8 for more detail on our eternal security, the ‘once saved always saved’ principle.

But our temporary physical position is still in this world. The sinful condition of our fallen nature and the world around us will still impact us. The devil knows that if he can control our thought life, he can also control our spiritual, emotional and physical health. His favourite tools besides the lie, the tools he most often uses to neutralize us are fear, anxiety and stress.

God’s antidote to fear, anxiety and stress is for us to trust in Him and His word. His word assures us of our salvation but also warns us about the enemy. The enemy is dangerous, likened to a the most fearful beast imaginable, a multi-headed red dragon. Understanding the word and the enemies tactics will help you overcome him.

Refer to post 4.4 to understand how fear, anxiety and stress work in your brain, and its subsequent reaction in your body. Immersing yourself in the Word will prevent fear, anxiety and stress from becoming toxic strongholds in your mind which will disrupt the way in which you function spiritually, intellectually, emotionally and physically.

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. {12:3} Therefore with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. (Is 12:2-3)

‘* The Summary of catholic teachings is cited from carm.org(Calvinist site). This is a good example of one false gospel (Calvinist site) attacking another false gospel (Catholicism). This is prevalent on many websites. It is a Jesuit strategy to infiltrate ALL spheres of Christianity, and then attacking their co-Jesuits in another ‘camp’, in order to promote credibility for their own deception. (See Chris Pinto’s YouTube “Lamp in the dark”).

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