There are many times I have heard false teachings in church and then had to confront that pastor about it later on. Even today I heard a pastor say, “since Jesus paid the price for our sins, there is nothing else we need to do but believe in Him and give Him worship.” And as a believer in Christ, I know for a fact that this is heresy and will cause many people to go to hell. Wow! I can’t believe people are buying this in church. Sure, as believers, we are to believe in Jesus and give Him praise, but a life of sin and a life without God’s works in us will not lead us to heaven. So to get right down to it, what this pastor said is wrong and I will prove it in scripture. #1 Repenting of our sins is necessary, or else we will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul said, “know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) Did you get that? These laundry list of sins will keep us out of heaven, lest Jesus’s blood covers us and we are washed clean. This doesn’t mean that we can keep sinning, it means that He is able to break us free from our addictions and bad habits. Then, we can now say that we were once a porn watcher or drunkard and are now alive in Christ.
So many pastors like to say that faith alone will save us because of what Paul said here, “for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9) And this is where they stop reading. However, the very next verse explains what we do because we have faith in Christ. It reads, “for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) So #2, So our faith leads us to do God’s works in our lives. We were incapable of doing God’s will before, since our lives were just like those in this world. But now we are born again in the Holy Spirit and are able to live by what God teaches us. And to make this crystal clear that good works are important, let us read what Paul said to Titus. “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” (Titus 3:8) So as Christians, our faith will lead us to worship Jesus and live a life for Him. That means, keeping our lives separate from the world and not living in willful sin. We do this by being led by the Spirit and doing as God says. This is maintaining good works in our lives as Paul said. Therefore, be careful what your Pastor may say. Always check what you hear in the Bible and don’t be scared to comfort your pastor on what you found out. We do this with respect and love, since we care for the pastor and the people who attend this church.
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, I pray that people will gain real faith in You. That their faith will no longer be dead but become alive in them. So many people can worship You in church and say they believe in You, but then during the week, they live just like the world. They are not any different than people who are not saved. And God, this leads me to believe that pastors are teaching a watered-down gospel in their church, that their members don’t even know any better. And this is because the importance of reading the Bible outside of church is not emphasized. Either is repenting of our sins and getting right with You in prayer and baptism. So many people now think that repenting of our sins is not necessary and good works are bad. How sad is this to see these people brainwashed in thinking this way. Lord, I wish that people would come to realize that what is taught in scripture overrules their pastor and their own beliefs. I so desire that people would check the Bible with everything they know now, in order to make sure it is true. Lord, I have done this and can now spot the heresies that are taught in church. I can’t even stay sitting down anymore if I hear any false teaching or a watered-down gospel. Lord, this makes me want to scream, for it upsets me to know that so many people are being led astray because of these teachings. Lord, I know that it would be disrespectful to say anything during the meeting, so I leave it for afterward. Surely, what is false needs to be brought to light, especially if people have spoken against Your Words. The same can be said about a watered-down gospel. These people are lukewarm and will one day be spewed out of Your mouth, lest they repent. I love You, God. Thanks for hearing me out on these matters. Help me to know what to do next. Amen.
