Hagee Heresy

"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." 1 John 2:22

(HT) The Contemporary Calvinist

The Work of God

"We must remember above all that salvation is a sovereign work of God. Biblically it is defined by what it produces, not by what one does to get it. Works are not necessary to earn salvation. But true salvation wrought by God will not fail to produce the good works that are its fruit (cf. Matt. 7:17). No aspect of salvation is merited by human works, but it is all the work of God (Titus 3:5-7). Thus salvation cannot be defective in any dimension. "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). As a part of His saving work, God will produce repentance, faith, sanctification, yieldedness, obedience, and ultimately glorification. Since He is not dependent on human effort in producing these elements, an experience that lacks any of them cannot be the saving work of God." —John MacArthur

Taken from the article titled True Faith and True Grace.

Whithersoever

Would the patrons of free-will who deny the five points of Calvinism please take the time and meditate on the verses below and then ask yourself; is God, God? Doesn't His sovereignty extend even over the heart and will of man? If you say no, then you have made God in your own image and you are denying the God of the Bible that has been revealed to us.

“What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” 1 Corinthians 4:7

“predestinated to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,” Ephesians 1:5

“Many are called, but few are chosen,” Matthew 22:14

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom,” Luke 12:82

“ For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth,” Romans 9:11

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me,” John 6:37

“Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” 2 Timothy 1:9

“He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy,” Ephesians 1:4

“Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” So that “nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:29, 30, 39

“ Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased,” Psalm 115:3

“None can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” Daniel 4:35

“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD,” Proverbs 16:1

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will,” Proverbs 21:1

“Thou hast wrought all our works in us,” Isaiah 26:12

“My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure,” Isaiah 46:10

Quote of the Day

"The first work necessary for true religion is to be convinced of our dreadful state without Christ." —John Owen (1616-1683)

Troubling Books

As Christians tend to get ruffled over every little thing that the unsaved try and do to reject God and the Bible in society, which shouldn't come to a shock to anybody for "can the leopard change his spots"? What troubles me even more is when I go into "Life Way" a Southern Baptist based Christian bookstore and find books like these. Perhaps Life Way directors should re-read the Baptist Faith and Message before they let Oneness Pentecostal preachers distribute their trinity denying, word of faith doctrines in their stores to unsuspecting Christians.

Distorted Grace

I was sent this cartoon a while back and after pondering the meaning behind this imagery I am troubled that Christians forward this type of stuff via email without ever considering the real message they are endorsing, what disturbs me most about this particular email is that I believe it perverts the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone which "is the hinge by which all Christian theology swings." So ask yourself if this cartoon is a true depiction of Biblical justification or is it a distorted view of the grace and mercy of God? Does this present a religion of grace or works?

Romans 5:6 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

Resurrect Yourself?

Weapons of War?

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"

"A spiritual war, however, cannot be successfully fought with fleshly weapons. Therefore, the weapons in Paul's arsenal were not those of human ingenuity, human ideology, or human methodology. Human reason, wisdom, plans, strategies, organizations, skill, eloquence, marketing, religious showmanship, philosophical or psychological speculation, ritualism, pragmatism, or mysticism are all ineffective weapons against the forces of the kingdom of darkness, the "powers . . . world forces of this darkness . . . [and] spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). They cannot rescue sinners from the "domain of darkness" (Col. 1:13) or transform believers into Christ's likeness. Such weapons gain only superficial, temporary, and deceptive victories at best." —John MacArthur

Taken from The MacArthur New Testament Commentary 2 Corinthians, Moody Publishing/Chicago, 2003. p. 328

Article V

Attention: If you are a Southern Baptist and you refute the doctrine of election, please note that you are denying the very doctrines of the Baptist Faith that you are claiming to represent and bringing shame upon yourself and confusion into our denomination. Please learn and understand the doctrines of our faith before you teach something we don't believe. If you don't agree with the doctrines of the Baptist Faith and Message then why are you a member of a Southern Baptist Church in the first place?

Baptist Faith and Message article V. God's Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-8; 1 Samuel 8:4-7,19-22; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Matthew 16:18-19; 21:28-45; 24:22,31; 25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44; 24:44-48; John 1:12-14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45,65; 10:27-29; 15:16; 17:6,12,17-18; Acts 20:32; Romans 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15; 11:5-7,26-36; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 15:24-28; Ephesians 1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Colossians 1:12-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Hebrews 11:39–12:2; James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:2-5,13; 2:4-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:19; 3:2.

Hell-Bound Sinner

"A Christian can generally be known by his very appearance. The man who really believes in the holiness of God, and who knows his own sinfulness and the blackness of his own heart, the man who believes in the judgment of God and the possibility of hell and torment, the man who really believes that he himself is so vile and helpless that nothing but the coming of the Son of God from heaven to earth, and His going to the bitter shame and agony and cruelty of the cross could ever save him, and reconcile him to God‑‑this man is going to show all that in his whole personality. He is a man who is bound to give the impression of meekness. He is bound to be humble. Our Lord reminds us here that if a man is not humble, we are to be very wary of him. He can put on a kind of sheep's clothing, but that is not true humility, that is not true meekness. And if a man's doctrine is wrong, it will generally show itself at this point. He will be affable and pleasant, he will appeal to the natural man, and to the things that are physical and carnal; but he will not give the impression of being a man who has seen himself as a hell‑bound sinner, and who has been saved by the grace of God alone" —Martin Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981)

Taken from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1977] pp. 258‑259.

Biblical Deceiver

With all the recent attention Joel Osteen has received from the media of late, which is nothing more than a publicity stunt to help promote his new book. Let us be sure not to loose site of the fact that according to scripture Joel Osteen teaches a different gospel, he even admits it in his 60 minutes interview when asked quote:

Pitts: "Hear what some others have said about you: he’s diluting and dumbing down the Christian message,".

Osteen: "Sometimes you have to keep it simple and not make it so complicated that people don’t understand,".

You see he doesn't deny dumbing it down he justifies it. By who's authority is he commanded to "keep it simple"? Is that anywhere in the Bible? Please take the time to download the four mp3's below of Dr. John MacArthur's radio program Grace To You where he preached a message titled "Beware of False Prophets" and see how close Joel Osteen's message lines up with the credentials of a Biblical deceiver.

Beware of False Prophets, Part 1 (1 of 2)
Beware of False Prophets, Part 1 (2 of 2)
Beware of False Prophets, Part 2 (1 of 2)
Beware of False Prophets, Part 2 (2 of 2)*

*If you only download one be sure it's this one.

Slice is Back!

http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com
The famous blog of Ingrid Schlueter a Slice of Laodicea is back online. Thanks Ingrid

Reactions To Joel

In case you missed the 60 Minutes interview with Mike Horton regarding Joel Osteen, it's online now.

Reactions to the 60 Minutes interview around the Blogosphere
i-Monk - Reactions to the “60 Minutes” Joel Osteen Piece
Houston's Clear Thinkers - What is Joel Osteen's message?
Flesh is as Grass - His own private possession
Doctrines Unite - Joel Osteen and “itching ears”
Tom in the Box - New Study Reveals Good Looks = Bad Theology
De Regnis Duobus - Thanks Anyway, But I'll Take My Best Life Later
Yinkahdinay - Joel O. and Mike H.
The Shepherd's Scrapbook - Kinder and Gentler Legalism
The Confessional Outhouse - CBS wants more gospel?
The Bororean - Biblical Deceiver
Amazing Grey City - Joel Osteen is a gospel preacher like Col Sanders is an army officer
Steve Markle - Joel Osteen on 60 Minutes
Denny Burk - Joel Osteen’s Christianity without a Cross
Mark Driscoll - State of The Pulpit / Video
Calvinist sojourner - Westminster Seminary Professor on CBS' 60 Minutes Last Night

(HT) OURC

Become a Better You?

Tim Challies has posted a review of Joel Osteen's new book Become a Better You which hit the book stores today. If you have bought into this smiling charlatan then please take the time and read Tim's review.

"the secret to Osteen's success is this: he teaches self-help but wraps it in a thin guise of Christian terminology. Thus people believe they are being taught the Bible when the reality is that they are learning mere human wisdom rather than divine wisdom. Osteen cunningly blends the wisdom of this age with language that sounds biblical. He blends the most popular aspects of New Age and self-help teaching with Christianity. And his audience is eagerly drinking this in.

And this raises an important and related question. What is Osteen's authority? On what authority does he base what he teaches? Christians have long understood that the only authority we have when it comes to spiritual matters is authority given to us by God through the Bible. We are committed to teaching only things that are consistent with God's revelation of Himself in the Bible. Without the Bible we have no authority. A pastor has no right to stand in front of a congregation and teach people what he believes. Rather, the pastor is to stand in front of the congregation and teaches people what God says about Himself. He bases all he does and says on this standard. In reading Joel Osteen we do not see this manner of authority. In reading Osteen we see a man who appeals to himself and to his own understanding and experience as authority. Rarely does he appeal to the Bible (66 times in 380 pages). Never will the discerning reader feel that Osteen has sought to understand the Bible first. Rather, it seems that he looks to the Bible to prove what he has already written or what he already believes. He uses the Bible, but not as a source of authority." Tim Challies

Lost Hymns

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Words by: Robert Robinson (1735-1790)