Today's Many False Gospels Are Rooted In Leaning Upon Flawed Human Understanding

Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Isaiah 58:13, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:”

I was listening the other day to the Old Testament book of Proverbs. A popular passage of Scripture from Proverbs 3:5-7 caught my attention. Specifically, the phrase, “lean not unto thine own understanding.” Then it dawned on me that all of the junk theology being preached in hundreds of thousands of churches today is the consequence of violating this Biblical truth. Those false prophets are LEANING UPON THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING!!!

One popular false teaching is that you must “repent of your sins” or “turn from your sins” to be saved. Two major counterattacks made by these false teachers against the proponents of a free grace Gospel are:

1. “You have left off repentance!” - No, we in the free grace camp still believe that a sinner must repent to be saved (Mark 1:15). Repentance is not optional. However, the Bible meaning of “repent” regarding salvation is always either the Greek noun, metanoia, which means: “a change of mind”; or it is the Greek verb, metanoeo, which means: “to think differently.” Repentance is simply a change of mind concerning whatever has been hindering you from BELIVING ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST to be saved (Acts 16:30-31). You don't get saved by repenting, you get saved by believing, but you would never believe without repenting (i.e., without thinking differently). The object of repentance is not turning away from your sins, it is believing the Gospel. The man who believes has repented, and the man who repents has believed! They are one and the same event.
2. “You believe people can live like Devil, wilfully committing the very sins for which Christ died.” - Yes and No. Yes, a saved person can live like the Devil and still be 100% assured of eternal life. We know this because getting saved is a free gift from God. Jesus paid for that gift with His precious blood. A gift is something given freely without obligation or compensation. So, yes, you can live like the Devil as a child of God, and still be assured of eternal life, because our eternal security is based upon God's faithfulness to keep His promises, and not our faithfulness to live a holy life.
   
   But, No, you don't have God's permission to continue in gross immorality as a believer. The truth is that EVERYONE continues in sin. Even the best Christians still sin every day! So to tell someone to “turn from their sinful ways” to be saved is a fallacy, an impossibility. Christ came to die for our sins, because we cannot completely escape our sinful nature, not as long as we are in the flesh. God is not an absent parent, He will chastise His children (Hebrews 12:6-8). God commands every believer to depart from iniquity (2nd Timothy 2:19, and to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God (Romans 12:1-2).

These false counterattacks are based in flawed human understanding, not the inspired Word of God. The dear Savior came into the world to die on a cross to pay our debt of sin. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. JESUS PAID IT ALL!!! We don't owe Him anything! I'm tired of hearing that stupid church hymn: “Jesus Paid It All,” which says in the lyrics: “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.” No dear friend, you don't owe God anything!

Now, the Bible does say in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” It is not the believer's “mandatory service,” but our “reasonable service.” 1st Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” Since Christ gave His life for us on the cross, to purchase our redemption with His blood, it is only reasonable that we should live for Him; however, this is not required by God.

Lordship Salvation is a false doctrine! Lordship Salvation is the unbiblical teaching that you cannot merely “accept” Jesus by faith as your Savior to get to Heaven, but also, you must follow Him as controlling “Lord” of your life, so that you turn away from your deliberate sinful behavior and give Him complete rule over your life. Lordship Salvation is a works-based plan of damnation! The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. Lordship Salvation points to YOU, making demands of YOU which God does not require to be saved. God only requires that you BELIEVE the Gospel (i.e., the Good News that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He was buried, and He resurrected from the dead three days later - 1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Lordship Salvation is a perversion of God's grace!

• Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty!
• Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.
• Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.
• If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?
• Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.

If you listen to the unbiblical arguments made by the perverse Lordship Salvation crowd, you'll quickly discern that they base all their reasoning on flawed human assumptions; such as:

1. Jesus didn't die for your sins, just so you could keep living in sin; therefore, you must turn away from a sinful lifestyle to be saved.
2. Jesus paid for your sins, and all He asks in return is that you forsake your sinful ways.
3. No judge would pardon your sins if you intend to keep committing them (Ray Comfort's favorite falsehood).
4. Nothing unrighteous can enter into Heaven; therefore, you must forsake your sinning.
5. The Bibles says in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; therefore, you cannot continue living in sin if you want to go to Heaven (Pacific Garden Mission's 'UNSHACKLED' radio program uses this Devil's lie all the time).
6. There were no saints in the Bible who didn't follow Jesus as their “Lord” (Evangelist Tom Williams uses this demonic heresy). The Bible is full of saints who selfishly chose to go their own way, lived in horrible sin and didn't follow Christ as their Lord (Samson, Esau, Joseph's wicked brothers, Solomon, Demas, Ananias and Sapphira, et cetera).

These are but a few of umpteen falsehoods based in flawed human understanding, which are being used today everywhere to justify the Devil's lies of Lordship Salvation, Calvinism, Wrong Repentance and other works-based false gospels. Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” False knowledge is more dangerous than ignorance! Beware of Satan's leaven. That is, the Devil's bread. Don't eat at the Devil's table, not unless you want food poisoning. Satan is a beautiful liar!

Please don't make the foolish mistake, as so many fools are doing nowadays, of leaning upon your own human understanding. Proverbs 3:7 warns not to be wise in thine own eyes! I am not going to question God, I am going to obey Him! The Bible teaches that we all deserve to burn in Hell forever, as punishment for our sins. All humans are sinners, with the only exception of Jesus (Hebrews 4:15). But God the Father in His unconditional love, sent His only begotten Son into the world, to die as a condemned criminal in our place on the cross of Calvary. Any admitted guilty sinner, who by faith receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for their sins, believing that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, is saved. Nothing more is required nor permitted, oh sinner!

Throughout history, even going back into the Old Testament, wicked men have changed God's simple plan of salvation, SPEAKING THEIR OWN WORDS. Isaiah 58:13, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:” It is a dangerous and foolish thing, to say something different than what God has already said in His inspired Word. Lordship Salvation is a perversion of God's grace!

God's simple plan of salvation rubs the carnal flesh the wrong way. There is just something inside our old sinful nature that feels compelled to clean up our life of sin, turn over a new leaf, forsake the world, and pay the price of lifetime service to Christ to get saved; but that is NOT God's plan of salvation, it is the way to Hell. In God's simple way of salvation, His only begotten Son paid for your ticket to Heaven with His precious shed blood (1st Peter 1:18-19). In God's simple plan of salvation, you must CEASE from all your own works and REST only in the Good News of Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.