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In these days of the Great Deception, when people prefer a reassuring lie rather than the inconvenient truth, this is a collection of articles I have written about the truth found in God's Word, the need for biblical teaching, and sound doctrine.  It includes articles that refute false doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the prosperity movement, the eternal security doctrine, Islam, agnosticism, antinomianism, relativism, atheism, humanism, ecumenism, the New Age movement, the Jehovah's Witness, the Mormons, also known as the Latter Day Saints (LDS), as well as the oneness doctrine of Unitarians. This collection of articles also exposes certain other cults and movements based outside the USA. It even exposes the popular, international Hillsong church, as well as certain novels that are popular among Christians.

As the Scriptures say:

“Holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”  (Tit 1:9)

"I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints." (Jud 1:3b) 

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2Ti 2:15)

"In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures." (Jas 1:18)

"Jesus *said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.'" (Joh 14:6)

It is my prayer that these articles will lead you to pray earnestly and seek the Lord's face, as well as search the Scriptures, regarding what you have been taught and have come to believe, so that you will not miss the glories of heaven and wind up in hell for eternity.  “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (Joh 8:32)

Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church	New Age-New World Order	The Holy Trinity
Pagan Symbols of the Popes	Pope Establishes One World Religion	The Cult of Mormonism
Pope Francis Supports Homosexuality	Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshiping Idols	The Cult of Mormonism -- Part II
Accurately Handling the Word of Truth	Former Pope in Hell Declared a Saint	Children of God
Pope Francis Validates Evolution and Big Bang Theory	Why Infant Baptism if Not Scriptural	What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel?
Exposing Heresy	Unbiblical Practices of the Russian Orthodox Church	Rhema vs. Logos – Is there truly a distinction in the word?
Not Enduring Sound Doctrine	The Nature of False Prophets	The Creation Gap Theory
What is Truth?	The False Gospel of Eternal Security	The False Gospel without Repentance
Restored Truth	Gabriel Doufle Issues and Concerns	HOREMOW Issues and Concerns
Tradition vs. Truth	TGRM Issues and Concerns	Exposing the Darkness within HOREMOW
Is it Always a Sin to Not Tell the Truth?	Heresies of C.S. Lewis	Harry Potter is the Devil's Snare
The Shack is an Attack	The Message Bible or "The Mess"	Catholic Priests Molesting Children
The Truth About the Roman Catholic Church	The Truth About Hillsong	Is It Possible to Resist God?
Kanye West Issues and Concerns	Awaken 2020 Event Exposed	Pope Francis Pushing for the Mark of the Beast?
HOREMOW Descends to New Low	The Truth About Islam	The Truth About Ravi Zacharias' and His Sexual Immorality
Exposing the JMS Cult	Refuting the Oneness Christology Heresy	Is it a Sin for a Woman to Cut Her Hair?
Have the Spiritual Gifts Ceased?	The Evil Agenda of the World Council of Churches	Are Jehovah's Witnesses a Cult?
Seventh-Day Adventist Heresies	New Testament Books Disproving Eternal Security	Can You Lose Your Secure Position in Christ?
Andy Stanley's Disconnect from the Old Testament	Andy Stanley's Unbiblical Views on Homosexuality	Kanye West Claims to Be God
Issues and Concerns with Deeper Life	HOREMOW's Linda Rika "Knows" Whose Names Are in Book of Life	The Heretical Hebrew Roots Movement
The Eth Cepher "Bible"?	Ten Commandments: Protestant vs. Catholic	The Biblical Word of Faith
The Apostasy of the Church of England	Unbiblical Hierarchy of the Church of England	The Faith of King Charles
EW Kenyon and New Thought Metaphysics

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note:  You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master. 

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

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The Biblical Word of Faith

There have been many criticisms of the Word of Faith movement, because of various abuses of what has become known as the “name it, claim it” theology, particularly the prosperity part of that teaching. 

Let me give a brief history. An author named D.R. McConnell, in his book A Different Gospel, documented the historical link between word of faith theology and New Thought metaphysics. He documented irrefutable evidence that Kenneth Hagin plagiarized E.W. Kenyon (see link for details). In A Different Gospel, McConnel quotes earlier works of Kenyon in one column, and right beside it in another column he quotes works of Hagin, and they are identical, and there are a lot of them. 

Meanwhile, Hagin is considered the father of the Word of Faith Movement, and others like Kenneth Copeland consider Hagin their spiritual father. We know of their heresies (eg., little gods and rhema word) and abuses, especially the prosperity part of their teaching, which I have written about in the links provided here and at the end of this article. 

But at its core, there is actual truth to this word of faith teaching, which is based solidly upon the Word of God. It's important that we don't throw out the baby with the bath water. So let’s look and see what the Scripture says.

Profess your Faith 

First of all, the apostle Paul taught in Rom 10:6-13 that we must profess our faith.

But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, "Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Rom 10:6-13)

Paul taught that this is the way to be saved and attain the righteousness that is by faith. But it is also the way to be healed, to operate in miracles, and to receive anything from God. In fact, it's the way to live life. You have to speak forth what you believe in your heart, in accordance with God's will, and it will surely happen. Don’t expect another to come do it. You are the one who must speak it.

The Word is in Your Mouth

In that same passage, Paul taught that the Word is near you, in your heart and in your mouth. He said, "That is the word of faith we are proclaiming" (Ro 10:8). So clearly the expression "word of faith" and the definition of it are found right there in the Word of God; therefore, it is biblical.

You need to activate God’s Word by quoting Scripture. Simply claim by faith those Bible verses out loud that pertain to your situation. And in some cases you can claim the Bible reference to those verses, as long as you know and believe the truths contained in those verses.

This is not magic, and God is not your trained seal that has to jump through all your hoops whenever you tell Him to; but if what you are claiming is His will, and you wait upon Him in faithful expectation without doubting, you will receive. That's biblical.

Speak from Faith 

According to God's Word, you need to speak from faith. So you need to confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart. Paul wrote:

"It is written: 'I believed; therefore I have spoken.' Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak..." (2Co 4:13)

If you believe, then you should speak whatever you believe in your heart. In his epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle was quoting from Psalm 116:10, when he wrote: "I believed, therefore I have spoken." The KJV, NASB, NIV are essentially all the same, and all correctly quote the psalmist.

---- 2 Corinthians 4:13 ----

KJV	NAS77	NIV
13  We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;	13  But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe, therefore also we speak;	13  It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,

Now I want to show you what Psalm 116:10 says. I am not a King-James-Only person, but in this case, the King James was the only version that correctly translated Psalm 116:10, as quoted in all three version of 2 Corinthians 4:13. The KJV is the only one that translated Psalm 116:10 the same way as the Septuagint (LXX), which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, as I have shown in the table below.

---- Psalm 116:10 ----

LXX	KJV	NAS77	NIV
10  I believed, wherefore I have spoken: but I was greatly afflicted.	10  I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:	10  I believed when I said, "I am greatly afflicted."	10  I trusted in the LORD when I said, "I am greatly afflicted";

It's interesting that the KJV correctly follows the Septuagint (LXX), since the KJV is based on the Masoretic text, and not the LXX. The LXX was based on earlier Hebrew manuscripts older than the Masoretic text. So score one point for the KJV for getting this one right. But amazingly, the NAS77 and NIV still both correctly translated Paul's quote of this passage in 2 Corinthians 4:13.

I would like to illustrate this point by sharing with you the testimony of a man named Steve Boyls, who was taken to heaven by an angel, while he was laying in an induced coma in the hospital. In heaven, he saw his father, who enjoyed working with wood during his earthly life, and was also doing wood carvings in heaven. When Steve asked his father what he does if he makes a mistake while carving wood, his father told him that in heaven, mistakes are corrected by words. They just speak to the mistake and command it to correct itself, and it does so. That is how we should also operate on earth using our faith in Jesus' name.

Speak to the Mountain 

Jesus taught that you have to actually speak to the mountains.

"'Have faith in God,' Jesus answered. 'Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, "Go, throw yourself into the sea," and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.'" (Mar 11:22-24).

It's important that you do not doubt, but believe in your heart that what you say will happen. When you do so, it will be done for you. This also applies to trees, storms, and virtually any obstacle that stands in the way of you being able to accomplish God's will. See Speak to the Storm.

Focus on the Other World 

You need to focus on the other world, which is the spiritual world, and not on the natural world.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2Co 4:18)

We live in two worlds simultaneously. There is the visible, natural realm, and also the invisible, spirit realm. We must focus on the real world-- the unseen one, which is eternal, not on the visible one, which is only a temporary shadow of the real world. 

The Power of the Tongue 

Scripture says that our tongue has great power.

"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Pro 18:21)

Indeed the power of life and death is in the tongue. So we have the ability with it to either speak forth life or death, blessing or cursing. That's why we must be careful about saying anything negative. And that applies to what we say over ourselves, as well as others.  

We also need to pray specifically and receive specific answers. The reason you do not have is because you do not ask God (Jas 4:2).  

Doing Greater Works Than Jesus Did 

Jesus promised that as long as we have faith in Him, we will do what He did, and even greater works than these!

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (Jn 14:12)

How do you think you are going to do the works that Jesus did and even greater works? You are going to do them by faith, in the name of Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, just as He and His apostles did. You are going to speak by faith to the storms of life, including literal storms, and watch them be calmed. You are going to speak by faith to the mountains, and watch them be moved.

Some Words of Caution

I want to give you some words of wisdom as a caution, in order to safeguard you from error as you put this biblical teaching into practice.

First of all, always remember that God is God and you are not. That's rule number one and it cannot be broken.

Secondly, you must be sure your faith is in the Word of God and in the name of Jesus, not in faith. We don't have faith in faith, we have faith in God. 

Thirdly, you must be sure that you don't use this power for selfish, evil purposes, but only for godly ones to do His will and further His kingdom. Remember that Jesus resisted satan's temptation to use His power to turn a stone into bread.

Fourthly, you must always submit to God's will and wait for his timing. Timing is key for every miracle, as there is a correct time and procedure for everything. That requires waiting upon the Lord. Sometimes the miracle happens immediately, and other times there is a delay, whether short or long. 

Last but not least, be sure you always forgive everyone from your heart, or else you won't see any answers to your prayers. Jesus taught this in the context of using your faith to speak to mountains and command them to move. He said, "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." (Mar 11:25).

Closing Words

As we have just seen, there is a true, biblical word of faith. We have acknowledged and exposed the plagiarism, abuses, and heresies of Hagin and his followers, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the word of faith is still a true, biblical teaching. 

The Word is in you heart and it must also be in your mouth. You must profess your faith, speak from faith, claim the promises of God, quote the Scriptures in order to activate them, use the power of your tongue to release life and not death, speak blessings and not curses, speak by faith in Jesus' name to mountains and troubles, commanding them to be removed, and it will be done, as long as you do not doubt. Now go and put this into practice. Ask the Lord to implement this in your life starting today.

 

Attribution notice: Except where otherwise noted, most Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission.  

Author's note:  I also recommend reading EW Kenyon and New Thought Metaphysics, Are We Really Little gods?, Rhema vs. Logos – Is there truly a distinction in the word?, Does Being Saved Make All Your Troubles Disappear?, Personal Proclamations of Faith, Speak to the Storm, The Authority of the Believer, Link Between Two Realms, and What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel?. You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Is it Possible to Resist God?

Dear friends,

I want to address a myth that's very popular in the Church today that says you cannot resist the grace of God. The irresistibleness of God's grace is actually the "I" in the Calvinist acronym TULIP. Let's see what Scripture has to say about it. But first, you should stop and pray, asking God to remove all scales from your eyes, and illuminate your heart, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth. I find that it's best to approach God's Word this way in humility, putting aside all your preconceived notions about Him. 

Choking the Word

In His parable of the sower, Jesus told about a farmer who went out to sow his seed, which ended up falling on four different types of soil. He said, "Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants." (Mat 13:7). Later He explained this to His disciples saying, "The seed falling among the thorns refers to him who hears the Word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the Word, making it unfruitful." (Mat 13:22). 

He taught that the Word can actually be choked, thereby making it unfruitful. The kinds of things that can choke the Word are the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. Yet we know from John's gospel that the Word is God, because it says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (Joh 1:1). If the Word is God, and the Word can be choked, making it unfruitful, then that means it is possible to allow things into your life that choke God out of it. 

Quenching the Holy Spirit

In another passage, the apostle warns the saints not to quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thes 5:19). The Greek word for quench in that verse (sbennumi) means to quench, extinguish, or go out. This means it's possible to extinguish the fire of the Holy Spirit, who is the third Person of the Triune Godhead. The Holy Spirit is not a thing or a force. He can be grieved (Eph 4:30), lied to (Ac 5:3), and quenched (1 Thes 5:19). He is referred to with the pronoun "He". Therefore, we know that He is a divine Person, and He is God. If it were not possible to quench Him, then there would be no need to warn us against doing so.

Resisting the Holy Spirit

In fact, right before the Jews who were about to kill Stephen actually stoned him to death, he said that they always resisted the Holy Spirit. He said to them, "You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" (Act 7:51). Not only can the Holy Spirit be lied to, grieved, and quenched, but He can also be resisted. 

Refusing Him Who Speaks

We also learn from Scripture that it is possible to refuse Him who speaks, For the apostle wrote to the Hebrews: "See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?" (Heb 12:25). If it were not possible to refuse the Lord when He speaks, then it would not be necessary to warn us not to do so.

Closing Words

Therefore, in light of the Scriptures showing us that it's possible to choke God and His Word out of our lives, as well as refuse Him when He speaks to us, and that it's possible to quench, as well as resist God's Holy Spirit, it seems quite reasonable to me that one could also resist the grace of God. Scripture is clear that you can receive God's grace in vain (2 Cor 6:1), so it is possible to mishandle it to your own detriment. Since God's grace is not God Himself, but something He gives, then it is a fallacy to teach or believe that it cannot be resisted, when Scripture says that God Himself can be resisted.

TULIP Calvinism is not biblical. If you still have any doubts about that, talk to the Lord about it, and ask Him to confirm it. He is faithful and He will do it.

Attribution notice: Scripture taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. 

Author's note: If you enjoyed this article, you are invited to check out the series called The False Gospel of Eternal Security. If you would like to become a disciple, consider enrolling in our Doulos Training School. You may access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Can You "lose" Your Secure Position in Christ?

To all of my brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Have you ever heard anyone say that it's not possible to lose your salvation? That's actually a very popular teaching all around the world, known as "eternal security" or once-saved-always-saved (OSAS), which I've already disproven completely in numerous other articles. In this post, I'd like to respond to the question: can you "lose" your secure position in Christ?

Just to give you one example of a single verse that answers that question, rather than showing you over 200 of them, here is a verse from Peter's second epistle that states:

"Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position." (2Pe 3:17)

The word "fall" in this verse is translated from the Greek word ekpipto. According to the Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, ekpipto means "to fall off or from, Act_12:7; Act_27:32; met. to fall from, forfeit, lose, Gal_5:4; 2Pe_3:17; to be cast ashore, Act_27:17; Act_27:26; Act_27:29; to fall to the ground, be fruitless, ineffectual, Rom_9:6; to cease, come to an end, Jas_1:11; 1Pe_1:24."

According to NASEC, ekpipto means: "to drop away, fig. to lose, become inefficient: — failed (1), fall (1), fall away (1), fallen (1), falls off (2), fell off (1), run aground (3).

According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, ekpipto means "to drop away; specially, be driven out of one's course; figuratively, to lose, become inefficient:—be cast, fail, fall (away, off), take none effect."

According to Thayer's Greek–English Lexicon, ekpipto means "to fall out of, to fall down from, to fall off;  metaphorically to fall from a thing, to lose it, to perish, to fall; to fall from a place from which one cannot keep; fall from a position; to fall powerless, to fall to the ground, be without effect."

This same greek word ekpipto is used in the New Testament to refer to flowers falling and ships running aground.

I have just cited four reputable, Greek-language Bible resources (Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, NASEC, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, and Thayer's Greek–English Lexicon), which all indicate that ekpipto can mean "to lose."

The "secure position" Peter was referring to is our secure position in Christ, known as the divine promise of our salvation, which some people falsely teach is eternally secure. But it is actually conditionally secure, since Peter the apostle under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit warned that you must be on your guard, so that you do not "lose" (Gr., ekpipto) your secure position or salvation. Obviously there would be no need for Peter to warn believers to guard against losing their salvation if it were not possible.

Also see the LSJ Lexicon online and Blue Letter Bible for a more in depth definition of ekpipto.

Closing Words

Based on the definition of the Greek word ekpipto, the verse in 2 Peter 3:17 that we have studied could be translated like this: Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and lose your secure position in Christ by falling from it, thereby forfeiting it and perishing.

Indeed, Scripture teaches that our secure position in Christ is conditional, as I have clearly explained and proven in my article called The Conditional Security of the Believer. In it, I show 24 positive conditions in Scripture for maintaining your secure position, which contain the word "if", as well as 30 negative conditions -- or warnings found in Scripture-- for those who do not keep the conditions, which also contain the word "if." 

My article called New Testament Books Disproving Eternal Security shows that most New Testament books contain one or more verses disproving the once-saved-always-saved heresy. There are hundreds of these verses, more than half of which are the very words of our Lord Jesus Himself.

Another article of mine called Drifting Away highlights 22 Greek words in the New Testament Bible that mean to forfeit one's salvation, abandon one’s faith, drift away, turn aside from the truth, forsake the straight way, stray, wander, or become apostate and fall away from the Lord.

My post called The False Gospel of Eternal Security contains numerous articles I have written disproving OSAS, which no one has ever been able to contradict or refute. If you still have any doubt about this matter, or know someone who is confused about it, please share this article with them.

Attribution notice: Scripture taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image courtesy of Beth Ariel Congregation, used per the Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only. We have no affiliation at all with that ministry, nor does use of this image imply any endorsement of their teachings.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this article, you are invited to check out the series called The False Gospel of Eternal Security. If you would like to become a disciple, consider enrolling in our Doulos Training School. You may access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Are Jehovah's Witnesses a Cult?

In this blog, I have addressed many false teachings and cults, including the Mormons, the Oneness Christology heresy, the prosperity gospel, cessationism, the false eternal security gospel, those who deny the Deity of Christ, and the Roman Catholic Church. Today I would like to touch briefly upon a very active group that is constantly trying to make converts to their religion, which is the Jehovah's Witnesses.

These people go around from house to house, knocking on doors, ringing door bells, wanting to talk to people about God and the Bible; but if you are wise, you will not allow them into your home. 

I know a precious sister in Christ, who once made the mistake of welcoming these people into her home. They became friends, and she was away from the Lord for several years, while she was caught up in this cult. 

She says of those nine years of her life as a JW, "I never once felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. My time there was absent from the presence of God. The reason I stayed in the cult for so long was because they skillfully use scripture out of context to support their claims, and they keep people using their intellectual, natural thinking, and don't allow room whatsoever for the person to experience the confirming, spiritual presence of God.  They 'reason' everything with their natural minds and give no room for the life-giving presence of Jesus to abide in their hearts.  Those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth, not just head knowledge." 

Thank the Lord that eventually, through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, she came out of it, and is once again walking with Jesus as her Lord and Savior. But it all began with allowing them into her home, which the Scripture teaches us not to do so. It says: 

"Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work." (2Jn 1:9-11)

I saw an excellent video recently about a lovely Amish couple that got saved. The Amish couple mentioned that after they were excommunicated from the Amish, they were approached by people from four of five different religious groups, including the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Christ (probably he was referring to Latter Day Saints/Mormons), and another was an Apostolic guy (Oneness Pentecostal). That last one has something in common with the first ones, as both the JW's and Apostolic people deny the essential doctrine of the Holy Trinity.  A person made a comment on the video asking what was wrong with the Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs), since he apparently has noticed that a large part of society seems to dislike them. Here is the person's comment:

"Why is everyone so anti- JW? I had them visit me every week, and they were absolutely lovely. I'd love to understand why they are considered cultists, as they were open, friendly, and welcoming. They love God and family. Those are two things that are undervalued so much."

Please allow me to explain why true believers are against the JW cult. It's because we love the truth, and we hate the devil's lies; that's why. JW's deny the doctrine of the Trinity — one of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. They claim that Jesus is not God. Rather, they say he was the Archangel Michael. And they don't believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, but that He was resurrected as a spirit. John 1:1 clearly says He “was God.”  They changed it in their own New World Translation (NWT) to say he was “a god,” and teach that He is something less -- not truly God. But there is no Greek word for “a” (the indefinite article) in this verse, nor does Greek grammar allow one to be inserted¹, as they have done. This is just one of the perverted verses in their NWT Bible translation, produced by their Watchtower Society, which is not a valid translation of the Bible, but rather one that is dishonest, inconsistent, and has been changed in order to agree with their false doctrine, since the true Scriptures do not support it². 

Not only do they deny Christ's deity, which is clearly taught all throughout Scripture (see here), they also deny the existence of a literal hell as described in the Bible. Watch Tower publications teach that hell (Hades or Sheol) is not an actual place of fiery torment, as Scripture clearly teaches, but rather the "common grave of mankind", a place of unconscious non-existence. Therefore, the JWs deny that hell even exists, in clear contradiction of the Holy Scriptures, which explicitly teach that hell is real (Mt 5:22, 29-30; 8:12; 10:28; 13:42, 50; 18:8-9; 22:13; 23:33; 24:51; 25:30, 41; Mk 9:43-47; Lk 12:5; 13:28; Jn 5:29; 2 Pet 3:7; Rev 14:9-11; 20:10-15; 21:8; Dan 12:2). 

In fact, they even teach that there is no general (universal) resurrection of all the dead, although the Scripture explicitly says the exact opposite (Mt 22:30-32; Lk 14:14; 20:35-36; Jn 5:28-29; 11:25; Ac 4:2. 33; 17:32; 23:6; 24:15, 21; Ro 6:5; 1 Cor 15:12-13, 21, 29, 42; Heb 6:2; 11:35). The Bible teaches that there will be a resurrection of all the dead, the righteous to eternal life and the wicked to eternal punishment. But the JWs believe that at the time of death, a person's existence completely stops, since they believe that human beings do not have an immortal soul that survives when the body dies. For more proof that this belief of theirs is false, please see eternaldestinations.info where I have posted many testimonies of many people who have been shown heaven and hell either through near-death experiences, after-death experiences, or through dreams and visions.

To be sure, while the JWs do not believe in a general, bodily resurrection of all mankind, they do believe that a spiritual resurrection is possible for certain people. They teach that in 1878 Jesus resurrected as spirit beings to heavenly life those among the 144,000 (known as the "anointed") who had already died at that time. And they believe that since 1878, any "anointed" (i.e., members of the 144,000) are individually resurrected as spirit beings to heavenly life at the time of their death. They teach that the 144,000 anointed ones, which are all Jehovah's Witnesses, of course, shall serve as kings alongside Christ in his heavenly government. They say that the 144,000 are the only ones who are born again and who experience heavenly life. Finally, they falsely claim that all other JW's who have died and don't go to heaven will one day get resurrected and will live on a paradise earth (not heaven).  Therefore, to summarize, they only believe in a resurrection (as spirit beings) of the 144,000 to heaven, and an ultimate resurrection of all other JWs to an earthly paradise, but they do not believe in a general, bodily resurrection of all mankind.

Furthermore, the Jehovah's Witnesses deny the power of God and believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased during the first century. They do not believe these gifts are still in operation today, and in teaching this, they directly contradict Scripture (Mk 16:17-18; Jn 14:12; Ac 1:8; 2:17-18; Joel 2:28-29), as well as the experience of billions of people like me, who have and still are experiencing the spiritual gifts in operation in their lives today. For more on this, please see Have the Spiritual Gifts Ceased?

They also deny the Holy Spirit, and say that He is not a Person but just a force. They like to use head knowledge, natural, intellectual, and human reasoning to explain God's Word, instead of being led by the Holy Spirit.

Lastly, they are into using occult symbols. For example, the early Watchtower publications prominently displayed on the upper left-hand corner the cross and crown symbol of the Knights Templar, which is actually a Masonic symbol. The same symbol can be found at the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pictured here to the left is the Jehovah's Witness headquarters in Denmark as seen from the sky using Google Earth. Notice the obvious pyramid with the all-seeing eye at the top like the one on the US currency. 

Closing Words

The Jehovah's Witness religion meets the basic criteria of a cult, which is any group that claims to be Christian, as this group does, yet does not adhere to the basic, essential tenets of the true Christian faith as taught in Scripture and embraced by the Church for thousands of years. They do not hold to the true doctrines of the Holy Trinity, the Deity of Christ, or His bodily resurrection, nor do they believe in the general resurrection of the dead, or a literal hell, where the wicked are forever separated from God in a fiery place of eternal, conscious torment. They claim that theirs is the only true religion. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of God (2 Tim 3:5). They deny the Person of the Holy Spirit, and teach that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. They have their own erroneous Bible translation, and they use it, as well as any Bible version, to deceive people, as Peter the apostle spoke of, distorting the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Pet 3:16). They follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (1 Tim 4:1). The Bible tells us to have nothing to do with such people. Do not take them into your house or welcome them (2Jn 1:9-11). 

If you do a Google search on whether this is a cult, one of the first results that you will get will be an article written by the JWs defending their false religion. Anyone can pay to have search engine optimization (SEO), so that their article will be one of the top results in a search. They don't want you to find other results from Christian authors that will show you the truth about their cult from Scripture. But one article you may find helpful that is buried in the search results is called Using the New World Translation to refute the New World Translation: John 1:1. If you know what's best for you, I urge you to stay away from this cult, even though they claim to be the only true Christians.

Footnotes: ¹ Ancient (koine) Greek does not have an indefinite article like the English word a, and nominatives without articles also have a range of meanings that require context to interpret. The noun theos (meaning "God" in John 1:1) is anarthrous (meaning it lacks an article), which often is how indefinite nouns are expressed in Greek. The construction in John 1:1 is that of an anarthrous nominative singular in a preverbal position; so in this verse, theos (1) lacks an article, (2) it occurs before the verb, and (3) it is a nominative singular. Therefore, an indefinite article "a" cannot be inserted before the word "God" in this verse, as the JWs have done. Also see here.

² Dr. Julius Mantey, author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, and a first rate scholar who studied Greek for more than 65 years, calls the NWT "a shocking mistranslation." "Obsolete and incorrect." "It is neither scholarly nor reasonable to translate John 1:1 'The Word was a god.'" "I have never read any New Testament so badly translated as The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of The Greek Scriptures.... it is a distortion of the New Testament. The translators used what J.B. Rotherham had translated in 1893, in modern speech, and changed the readings in scores of passages to state what Jehovah's Witnesses believe and teach. That is a distortion not a translation." (Julius Mantey, Depth Exploration in The New Testament (N.Y.: Vantage Pres, 1980), pp.136-137). The translators of the NWT are "diabolical deceivers." (Julius Mantey in discussion with Walter Martin). Also see here.

Attribution notice: Most Scriptures takes from the NIV Holy Bible, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image may be subject to copyright, used per the Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only. Special thanks to my son Christopher Lacroix for proofreading this article.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend Charles Taze Russell -- JW Founder in Hell, Refuting the Oneness Christology Heresy, Is Jesus God?, The Place of Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth, The Holy Trinity, Have the Spiritual Gifts Ceased?, The Person of the Holy Spirit, The False Gospel of Eternal Security. The False Gospel Without Repentance. You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

New Testament Books Disproving Eternal Security

In my series of articles entitled, The False Gospel of Eternal Security, I have completely disproved that doctrinal error, which is also known as Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS). In this article today, I will show you how most of the New Testament books of the Bible contain one or more verses proving that doctrine to be false. For the sake of brevity, I will directly quote only one verse per book, and simply cite the references to the other verses, while in some cases also making general reference to them for emphasis.

Matthew
Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Mat 7:21). It could not be clearer than that. He said that only the one who does the will of His Father in heaven shall enter the kingdom of heaven, regardless of whether that person calls Jesus their Lord. 

Speaking to His disciples, He also taught that it is possible for them to lose their saltiness and become worthless (5:13). Anyone who says, "You fool!" is in danger of hell fire (5:22). You would be better to cut off any body part of yours that causes you to stumble, so that you can avoid hell and enter heaven (5:29-30; cf.,18:8-9). If you do not forgive, the Father will not forgive you (6:15), and any unmerciful servant will be thrown into jail (hell) to be tormented (18:32-35). If you merely hear His words, but don't practice them, you will be completely destroyed (7:26-27). Only those who stand firm to the end will be saved (10:22). You should fear God, who has the power to destroy you in hell (10:28). Jesus will disown any disciple who disowns Him (10:33). Any disciple who does not take up his cross and follow Jesus is not worthy of Him (10:38). It's possible to fall away on account of Jesus (11:6). Your words will either acquit or condemn you (12:36-37). The disciple who has no roots falls away from the Lord (13:21). You must be ready when Jesus comes back, or else be left behind (24:40-44). The wicked servant will be thrown out where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (24:48-51; 25:26-30). The goats are cast into the eternal fire, and the factor that made the difference between them and the sheep was what they did or didn't do (25:41-46). The Lord clearly taught that to enter life, you must obey the commandments (19:17).

See also Mt 12:31-32; 18:6-7.

Mark
Jesus said to His disciples, "...the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Mar 13:13). This salvation that He promised to those who stand firm to the end is not merely referring to deliverance from evil, but rather to the eternal blessedness to be received by all those who endure or persevere to the end throughout their service to Him in the midst of its accompanying sufferings. This implies that those who do not stand firm or endure to the end will not be saved, which he directly states elsewhere. For example, He taught about some seeds of the Word that are planted on the soil of human hearts, who initially make a start, but later fall away, because of trouble or persecution (4:16-19). For whoever tries to save his life will lose it (8:34-35), and at His coming the Lord will be ashamed of anyone who has been ashamed of Him and His Words. 

See also Mk 8:38; 9:42-48; 11:25-26; 13:22.

Luke
The Lord said to Peter, "But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers." (Luk 12:45-46). Notice that the Lord said He (the Master) will cut the servant up and assign him a place with the unbelievers (hell).

He also said that the disciple who is not careful or prayerful won’t be prepared for the Lord’s return (21:34-36).

See also Luke 6:49; 7:23; 8:13-15; 9:23-26, 62; 10:28; 12:9; 12:10; 13:24-25; 14:27; 17:33; 18:18-22; 21:19.

John
Jesus said that He cuts off every fruitless branch of His (Jn 15:2), and warned us, "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (Jn 15:6). He meant that any disciple of His who does not remain in Him will be cut off and thrown into the fires of hell to be burned. 

That is why He warned the former, lifelong invalid whom He had miraculously healed, "Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (5:14). It's also why He told the woman caught in the act of adultery to go and leave her life of sin (8:11). For at the resurrection, those who have done good will live, and those who have done evil will be condemned (5:28-29). Those who don’t keep his Word will be condemned (12:47-48). But if you are really His disciple, you will hold to His teaching (8:31-32) and keep His Word, thus you will never see death (8:51). It's simple: Love your life and you will lose it; or hate your life and keep it for eternal life (12:25). 

Jesus never taught easy believism or grace as a license to sin. Nor did he teach that nothing you ever do or say could ever have any bearing on your salvation. Instead, He had many hard sayings, which is why at one point, many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him (6:66).

Acts

Peter taught that just as Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people [Jesus]; you must listen to everything He tells you. Anyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from his people.'" (Act 3:22-23). Thus Scripture teaches us that anyone, no matter who they are, who does not listen to everything Jesus says will be completely cut off. That's why Peter told Simon he would perish for his sin, despite being a baptized believer (8:20-23).

Romans
Paul the apostle wrote to the Romans, "Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off." (Rom 11:20-22)

To all who persist in doing good, God will grant eternal life, but for those who are self-seeking, reject the truth, and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger (2:5-8). All who sin apart from the Law will perish (2:12). If you live according to the sinful nature, you will die (8:13). It is possible to destroy a brother by distressing him (14:15-16), for you can destroy the work of God in the life of a fellow believer by what you allow in your own life (14:20-21).

1 Corinthians
Paul the apostle wrote to the Corinthians, "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Co 6:9-11). By this he meant that those who do evil, including those in the Church, will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That's why Paul instructed them to expel the wicked brother from among them, and hand him over to Satan, so he that he wouldn't be destroyed (5:5). If the prospects of eternal destruction were not real, there would be no need to resort to such drastic measures. However, a believer may in fact be disqualified for the prize, even after preaching to others, and that is why Paul did everything in his power to avoid such a potential outcome for himself (9:27).

Of course, we are saved by believing the gospel, as long as we hold firmly to the Word. For it is possible to believe in vain, and perish in the end (15:2). Paul also taught the saints that God will destroy those who destroy His temple (3:16-17).

Galatians
He warned the Galatian church that, "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal 5:19-21). Those who live wickedly will simply not inherit the kingdom of God, regardless of whether they are a baptized believer or not. For he who sows to please the sinful nature will reap destruction (6:7-8).

Ephesians
Paul wrote to the saints in Ephesus, "For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient." (Eph 5:5-6). He could not have been more clear that no immoral, impure, or greedy person shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Philippians
Why else would he have told the Philippians, "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." (Php 2:12). Let there be no doubt about it that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Colossians
Again, he exhorted the saints in Colossae: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips." (Col 3:5-8). You must put to death the sinful nature, for because of these sinful things the wrath of God comes.

1 Thessalonians
He wrote to the saints in Thessalonica, "For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain." (1Th 3:5). Paul was afraid the tempter may have tempted the saints, and his efforts might have been useless, meaning that they had gone back into sin and forfeited the gift of eternal life.  Also see 4:6-8.

1 Timothy
In his first epistle to Timothy, Paul exhorted him to keep on "holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith." (1Ti 1:19). If any believer fails to hold onto faith and a good conscience, like Hymenaeus and Alexander, they will shipwreck their faith and perish. That's what happens to those who abandon their faith, wander from it, or turn away from it to follow satan (4:1; 5:15; 6:9-10).

2 Timothy
In his second epistle to Timothy, Paul again warned him to, "Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some." (2Ti 2:16-18). Not only do such people depart from the truth to their own ruin, but they also destroy the faith of some other believers as well (2:16-18).  

Hebrews
The apostle wrote to the Hebrews: "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb 10:26-31)

Therefore, if those who have been sanctified by the blood of Jesus deliberately keep on sinning, then there remains for them only a fearful expectation of judgement and fire that consumes God's enemies.

That's why we must pay careful attention, so that we don’t drift away, because it's possible to drift away to one's own destruction (2:1-3).  Indeed, a believer could have a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from God, so we must hold firmly till the end as Jesus said (3:12-15). Be careful that none of you falls short of God's eternal rest (4:1), and make every effort to enter that rest, so no one falls by following disobedience (4:11). The warnings against falling away are real (6:4-6), and that's why we must show diligence to the very end to make our hope sure (6:11), because those who shrink back are destroyed (10:36,38-39). Surely no one will see the Lord without holiness (12:14), and we won’t escape, if we refuse Him who warns us from heaven (12:25).

James
James wrote: "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." (Js 5:19-20). He was writing to believers regarding their fellow believers who have wandered from the truth and are headed for eternal death.

All religion, including the Christian faith, is profitless (worthless) if you don’t keep tight rein on your tongue (1:26-27). For example, James said that you will receive condemnation for swearing, and if your "yes" is not "yes", and your "no" is not "no". We must be men and women of our word, or else face condemnation (5:12). Moreover, judgment without mercy will be shown to the unmerciful, whether you are a believer or not (2:12-13). Likewise, if a believer becomes a friend of the world, then he is an enemy of God (4:4). 

1 Peter
In his first epistle, Peter taught that judgment begins with the family of God, that it is hard for the righteous to be saved, and that we must obey the gospel. He said, "For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, 'If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?'" (1Pe 4:17-18)

2 Peter

In his second epistle, Peter taught: "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them." (2Pe 2:20-21). Believers who have once known the way of righteousness, and then become entangled in the world again, after escaping it by knowing the Lord, are worse off in the end than they were before they got saved.

Therefore, you must make your calling and election sure by doing what Peter instructs us to do in his opening chapter. For if you do these things, you’ll never fall (1:10-11). Moreover, you must be on guard against error, so as not to be carried away by it and fall from your secure position (3:17). If it were not possible to fall from your secure position, there would be no need to warn against it. For more on this verse, please see my in-depth, Greek-word study called Can You "lose" Your Secure Position in Christ?

Revelation
Our Lord Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, said: "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." (Rev 22:14-15). This means that only those who wash their robes can enter the Holy City, not those who practice evil. 

Based on what He had previously said to the church in Sardis, we understand that, as a believer, you must be dressed in white, being careful not to soil your robes, and you must overcome in order for your name not to be blotted out of the book of life (3:4-5). We also learn from Him that those who’ve forsaken their first love must repent or have their lampstand (their church) removed (2:4-5). And as He warned the church in Sardis, if your deeds are not complete in God’s sight, you need to repent, wake up, and obey God, or Jesus will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour He comes (3:2-3).

Also see Rev 21:7-8.

Putting it All Together
There are 207 New Testament verses found in 19 out of the 27 New Testament books, disproving the false doctrine of eternal security, more than half of which (52%) are the very words of our Lord Jesus Himself found in the gospels. Put differently, seventy percent of the New Testament books, including seven out of the eight writers of the New Testament, contain one or more verses disproving the once-saved-always-saved heresy. This does not include countless Old Testament verses that we could also cite to disprove it.

Attribution Notice: All Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Special thanks to my wife Jennifer, and my sons Christopher and Joseph, for their help  in compiling these verses together with me.

Author's note: This article is part of the series called The False Gospel of Eternal Security. If you would like to become a disciple, consider enrolling in our Doulos Training School. You may access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.