Nov.
10, 2009
Gal_5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Many people try to water down the gravity of False Doctrine by
setting forth the notion of "Error". They attempt to contrast False
Doctrine with "Error" in such a way that it allows a person who holds
to False Doctrine and/or a False gospel to pass as a true Christian. By
"Error" they mean non-vital, non-threatening "mistakes in doctrine"
that do not affect one's profession of faith and standing in the
Gospel. In short, people can embrace error, even to the point where
they refuse to change and repent of such error when shown from the
Bible that what they believe is not in accordance with the Bible, and
still be considered saved. The following is an example of what someone
actually said to me in response to my...
Question; I believe there is a difference between Vital and Non vital
issues. Further I believe the Atonement is the central core of the
Gospel. Therefore any false view of the Atonement is by definition a
false gospel. Would you agree to that...?
The person's response;
"I agree the atonement is the central core and many views are false and
present a false gospel. However, some views are just in error at
points that do not affect the “vital issues” of the
atonement. Just because someone holds to a universal atonement
that makes salvation possible to all, but effective only to those who
repent and believe, doesn’t destroy the “vital
issues” that show the atonement to be vicarious and
substitutionary. As wrong as they are, they may not be presenting
a false gospel. They are giving the good news of Christ’s
atoning death for sinners who repent and believe. Yes, they are
in error when they say it is “available” to every man,
woman, and child, but that error doesn’t negate the truth of what
the atonement did for some sinners and what benefits it will have if
any sinner will trust Christ. I know that there is a line that is
crossed by many who teach a man-center gospel and present the atonement
in a way that it does negate the biblical truth, but not all."
Reverend Donald Foose; Oakwood Baptist Church, Camp Hill, Pa.
Clearly this person is attempting to make a difference between
False Doctrine that indicates unregeneracy and "error" that does not.
And he is doing so with the most important Doctrine of Christianity,
namely, the Atonement, which is the Gospel. Keeping in mind that
Messiah said quite plainly that the one and only way anyone will ever
be saved is by belief in the Gospel, otherwise they will be damned,
[Mar_16:15-16] this person is saying that one can hold to a False view
of the Atonement and it is only "Error" that does not really "negate
the truth" of the Atonement. He says that the notion of Universal
Atonement "may not be presenting a false gospel." This is damaging
enough but notice the context of the person's remarks. He says in
effect that people can believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has shed His
precious blood for people who will end up in Hell, and for people who
were already there before the cross... IOW people can believe that
Christ made an Atonement for all the sins of everyone in the entire
human race... for that's what Universal Atonement is, and this person
believes that such people can still be saved. They're saved because
what they hold is not a False gospel... [if Universal Atonement is not
a false gospel folks then what is?] ... it's just "Error". As if
this were not bad enough, this man, Donald Foose who calls
himself a "reverend" [where's ~that~ in the Bible?] occupies a
place of leadership in a 'church'. With men like this
'leading' people and teaching them that condoning false doctrine is OK
with God, is it any wonder we see such chaos in the evangelical
community?
Is such a thing Biblical? Does the Bible teach such a thing as
"Error" that does not affect one's relationship to God and His Gospel?
It does not affect one's profession of faith and claim to salvation?
Can a person hold Doctrinal "Error" without repenting of it and still
be considered saved? Before looking into the Scriptures to see what God has to say about "error" consider these points;
1. When dealing with the matter of Truth there are two and only two
possible conclusions to any given statement or proposition. A statement
can be Either True, or it can be False. That's it folks. Technically speaking there is no such thing as "error" within the arena
of Truth. If something is "error" then it is, by definition, False. For
example, the statement; "The sun's temperature is 347 degrees
farenheit" is, by definition, False. Now... someone is sure to
rise up and say... "Yeah but that's just an -error- about the
temperature of the sun. It does not negate the fact that I still
believe in the sun." This is essentially what the person above
means when he says people can hold to error on the Atonement and it not
be a false gospel because the one holding said 'error' still believes
in the Biblical Doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement. The trouble with
such thinking is that, once one element of something is changed it
changes the entire identity of the thing. The person who believes in a
sun who's temperature is 347 degrees farenheit is believing in a sun
that does not exist. If he tries to act on what he believes by getting
a little closer to the sun he's liable to experience a supreme roast
job! In other words, what he believes about the sun is Deadly! So too,
if a person believes something that is in "error" about the Atonement
he is believing in an Atonement that is not identical with the Biblical
Atonement and is therefore, by definition, believing in a False
Atonement, which is a false gospel. In other words, if a person
believes in a "Jesus" who atoned for the sins of everyone in the entire
human race, for that's what Universal Atonement is, that person is, by
definition, believing in a "Jesus" that does not exist. 1John
4:1-3 would apply and such a person must be said to be of the spirit of
anti-christ.
If I am asked to give a description of you and I get one feature
wrong, like the color of your hair or eyes or the shape of your nose
then I have given a description that identifies someone other than you. I'm
sure you would fight that tooth and nail if you were on trial for a
crime you didn't commit and someone "identified" you and gave a
description that did not match your eye-color. What if the prosecution
argued... "Well that's just an -error- but it does not affect the fact
that he was seen at the scene of the crime."?
2. The ungodly idea that Messiah shed His precious blood for the
Reprobate, including all those who already perished in their sins
before the cross, as well as the anti-christ and the 'man of sin/son of
perdition' in 2Thes 2 is a doctrine of darkness from Hell! It destroys
the efficacy of the Atonement and makes God out to be an unjust monster
who sends people to Hell whose sins have been Atoned for by His own
Son. That's nothing but utter blasphemy. See the man who turned himself in.
3. Clearly if such a "Jesus" dies for everybody in the entire
human race then His death, in and of itself is insufficient to save
anybody because countless legions for whom he died end up in Hell. Such
an "atonement" is powerless to save. Something -else- is needed
for salvation to occur. And what is that something else ladies and
gentlemen? It is non-other than the activity of the Sinner, who must
"decide for jesus"; "Ax jesus into my heart"; exercise his so-called
free will and "accept" this "jesus". And that's nothing but a
man-centered false gospel whereby salvation hinges on something the
creature does rather than what God has done in Jesus Christ. It's a gospel of human works.
4. God is the God of Truth ladies and gentlemen. If you want a
stimulating study in the Scriptures just look up the words "truth" and
"true" in your concordance and prepare for a shock! One of the reasons
the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world was to bear witness to the
Truth. John 18:37... because His God is the God of Truth and He Himself
is Thee Truth.
Did the Lord Jesus Christ ever go around either teaching or condoning
"error"? Again such a thought is blasphemous. He came to reveal Truth
not error. He never taught that it is ok to hold to error and still be
saved; Especially not in such a Vital issue as the Atonement.
He said... "you shall know the truth and the truth.... not
'error', will set you free." Messiah's Doctrine was completely void of
any and all error. Now, go over to 2John 9 and see what that says. It
says that anybody who does not abide in the Doctrine of Jesus Christ
does not have God. That means that people who "abide" in Error, which
is
False Doctrine, are lost. And anybody who says they are not is sharing
in their wickedness and is lost as well.
On to the Scriptures. What saith the Scriptures on the issue of "Error"?
Let's see....
2Sa_6:7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and
God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.
I daresay if I ended this paper here I have shown the fallacy of resting in "Error" and how dangerous it is. Here
Uzzah, who's intentions were -Honorable toward God,- was in
"error" and God killed him for it! Good intentions are no excuse for
sin... and "error" in Doctrine is sin plain and simple. Those who defend 'error' are defending sin.
More...
Isa_32:6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will
work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the
LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink
of the thirsty to fail.
The verse hardly needs much comment on the point. Clearly "error" is
descriptive of the serious sins listed in the verse. And NT
Christianity teaches very plainly that people who persist in sin have
no Biblical cause to claim they are saved. The mark of a true Christian
is that he has been delivered from sin. He is set free from it. Romans
6. That of course would include Doctrinal sin. False Doctrine needs to
be repented of just like any other sin otherwise a person has no
Biblical claim to salvation. Again one of the marks of the NT Church is
that of Doctrinal Purity. The Church is the pillar and ground of the
Truth, not of error. Those who hold to false doctrine as well as those
who tolerate such people are both in opposition to Christianity.
One more from the OT...
Jer_10:15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
This one is rather self-evident folks. The context is speaking of those
engaging in the Sin of idolatry. Those who work "errors" of
idolatry will perish. So again the idea of "error" is equated with sin
and those who engage in it will perish. Pretty serious I would say.
NT evidence;
Rom_1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the
woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working
that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of
their error which was meet.
See context. Can such people who are in "error" make a valid Biblical claim that they are saved?
Heb_9:7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year,
not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of
the people:
See context again. It's talking about the OT sacrificial system that
was typical of -Atonement for sins-, the very issue in which the person
in the example said men can be in Error on and still be saved. Here the
Holy Spirit is equating "errors" with Sin that needed to be atoned for.
Can people then persist in "error" and make a valid Biblical claim that
they are saved?
2Pe_2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they
allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those
that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
Again and obviously, those who are "living in error" are those who are
still dead in their sins. They're Lost folks. Can people who live
in error, Doctrinal or otherwise, make a valid Biblical
claim that they are saved?
2Pe_3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall
from your own stedfastness.
Here "error" is attributed to wicked people. Can wicked people make a valid Biblical claim that they are saved?
1Jo_4:6 We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of
God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of
error
Again see the context. It's talking about the difference between those
who are of God and those who are of "the saved ones who just have
some error..."! No! It's the difference between those who are of God
and
those who are of the spirit of anti-christ! 1John 4:1-3ff. Can
those who are of the spirit of anti-christ make a valid Biblical claim
that they are saved? Is the Lord Jesus the minister of "Error"?
According to this verse those who are of the spirit of error are
~Not Of God~! That means such people are not Christians. They are Lost.
So, after all the Biblical evidence presented here the question is;
Can a person believe in Doctrinal "error" that is Vital to Salvation,
not repent, and make a valid Biblical claim that he is saved? And the
answer is, according to Scripture..........
Jud_1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran
greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the
gainsaying of Core.
In Galatians 1:6-9 Paul clearly condemns anybody who brings a
false
gospel including himself as being under the curse of God! People who
say then that you can hold to "error" on the Gospel and still be
saved clearly
contradict the Apostle Paul. Moreover Paul also wrote in the book of
Romans that people who hold down the Truth in unrighteousness are under
the wrath of God! This is precisely what folks are doing when they
insist that their false jesus has died for the entire human race. It's
what people are doing when they defend the darkness of 'error'. These
passages can only mean then that anybody who persists in "error" which
I have shown is False Doctrine are under the curse and wrath of God...
such people cannot possibly by any stretch of sanity be said to be
saved, regenerate people.
2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you,
brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you
to salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the
truth,
God saves His people by causing them to believe the Truth, not "Error". Error, ladies and gentlemen, is from Satan.
Prove All Things