It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:20-22)
For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)
Scriptures like these (and many more like them) are being dismissed by the majority of professing Christians today. How do I know? Because we are showered with the same mantra of darkness: “God’s mercy is boundless,” “No one is beyond salvation,” “Everyone can repent if they choose to,” “We must never give up trying to save someone no matter how wicked.” Sound familiar? This is the stuff that the itching ears of our day love. They flock to places that preach it. And yet what do such people do with Scriptures like those quoted above, and more:
If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. (1 John 5:16)
John has Jeremiah in mind here. The Lord told him the same thing:
“As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. (Jeremiah 7:16)
And then we have the testimony of Hebrews:
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:4-8)
Therefore, with even these few Scriptures, we have proven the case. It is an absolutely false representation of the Lord’s truth and His ways to say that His mercy is infinite, that salvation is always available to everyone, that we are required to pray for and seek the salvation of everyone no matter who they are or how evil they are.
Recently I received an email advertising a Christian/biblical counseling conference. I responded as I usually do to such things – I skimmed over it to see if the usual suspects are the key speakers. Sure enough, they were. When I say “usual suspects” I mean the people who are the notables in such a circle as this. The ones who write the books and pass on the same old same old man-made traditions all wrapped up in “bible” talk.
And what else did I see? Well, read it for yourself –
As Christians we know that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ pierces this darkness with hope, compassion, and forgiveness. In 2018, the ACBC annual conference will focus on the problem of abuse and show how the resources of Scripture equip Christians to counsel abused persons and those who have harmed them.
By the way, please do not confuse my blog here at Light for Dark Times with this group! I am in no way associated with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. I oppose them in fact and have done so in many articles and sermons.
Now, notice what sticks out in even this one paragraph from their brochure. These people say they are going to train attendees how to counsel abused persons and those who have harmed them. RED LIGHTS FLASHING!! WARNING! What is the problem you say? This is the problem:
These kinds of wicked people, these “domestic abusers” (or sexual abusers and others) generally parade as Christians. They are members of churches. Sometimes they are pastors or church leaders or missionaries. And all the while, for years and years and years and years and years, they have been wickedly being who they really are. Behind the scenes they have been destroying lives. They have heard God’s voice time after time after time, but they have hardened their hearts against Him, time after time after time. And they still don’t repent. Yet people like these “experts” at ACBC claim that such people are to be “redeemed.” That through counseling, they can be fixed. That we should never give up hope.
The result? Evildoers are enabled and their victims are oppressed even further. The darkness darkens.
Do you want Light for Dark Times? Well, don’t go to conferences like this. All you will get is more darkness. Open up God’s Word. Look long and hard at it and you will see Light. That Light says that evil exists all around us. That there are many charlatans disguised as sons of righteousness (2 Cor 11) and that they have a reservation with eternal destruction. WE are responsible for recognizing the traits that identify them so that we put them out from among us:
- Motivated by greed
- Claim to represent and speak for Christ
- Preach a message of sensuality and lust that appeals to the flesh
- Use and abuse Christ’s flock for self-glory
- Enslave people by false teaching
- Initially even showed evidence of apparent repentance and salvation, but did not persevere
Such people evidence that they are reprobate, that they are people we are not to pray for or try to “fix,” let alone assume they are Christians. Fail at this point and you contribute to the darkness of our day. People who are beyond God’s mercy are people for whom repentance is impossible (like Esau) and any person who claims we must keep pleading with them and showing them love and mercy is a person who thinks they know better than God.
Understand? We are speaking about a particular kind of wicked person, not sinners in general. We are not talking here about a wicked, pagan person who makes no profession of following Christ. No. Peter and Jude and other biblical authors are talking about people who “know” Christ (but not in a saving way), who have experienced His goodness and seen His truth, who once made a claim to believe the gospel, and yet who are teaching a false gospel of their own making that deceives many. That is the one to watch out for.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6-8)