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Simon Altaf with Howard Conder on Revelation TV
Its a package take it and be
guaranteed eternity with Him or remain outside
to suffer eternally.
Choice
is clear,
either
you have the Son or you
have nothing!
For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
Psalm 83:5
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The Adulation of Man -
Richard Bennett's part II
I hope to get to answer the
ridiculous comments on your book. Note re the book at the
very end
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GREAT
HELP.
In the light of the true Gospel in Part 1 of our analysis of
Rick Warren’s “The Purpose-Driven Life”
movement, we documented that his “gospel” consists of a
formulated whispered prayer and finding one’s “true self”.
In this Part 2, we highlight God’s true love as seen
in the maintenance of His law and in the manifestation of
His justice. In Christ Jesus, God’s love and righteousness
compliment each other. This emphasis on the true love of
God is necessary to reveal the demeaning of this divine
attribute that is evident in Rick
Warren’s writings. The involvement with the Catholic
Church with the movement and the connection with Catholicism
is also documented
Please send this article to others as both the true love of
God and the true Gospel are needed by the many who are
deceived by of Rick Warren’s movement. I request also, if
possible, that you post it on your WebPage.
Yours in the grace of the precious Savior,
Richard Bennett
Our WebPage is: www.bereanbeacon.org
If there is any problem
with the script or endnotes the article is also attached.
The Purpose
Driven Life:
Demeaning the Very Nature of God
Part 2 By Richard Bennett
There is an underlying feature of Rick Warren’s book and
movement that makes an analysis of it very difficult. It
stems from the fact that Warren presents some basic teaching
regarding God’s purpose to glorify Himself and what man
should do in relation to God. The fact that none of these
purposes is presented in a biblically accurate way makes
Warren’s work all the more dangerous to the true
understanding of Who God is and His Gospel in Christ. In
the first part of our analysis we documented the way in
which the Gospel was vitiated by the exaltation of man and
so called “true self”. This error together the
corresponding neglect to show that man is in fact
spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins” showed that
the book is both a hindrance and a deceit. The most
dangerous of heresies have always been those that have been
presented in the context of general basic truth. In this
section, too, we must continue to analyze the saving purpose
of God from all eternity in Christ Jesus. Salvation comes
from God to sinful man in and through Christ Jesus alone.
The origin of free grace and eternal purpose of God is in
Christ Jesus alone, “Who hath saved us, and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began.”[1]
This elementary truth would not need to be emphasized were
it not for the fact that Warren misrepresents God’s saving
love for mankind as being in a man himself.
The nature of God in Scripture is proclaimed to
be All Holy, thus the Bible states “Holy, Holy, Holy, is
the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”[2]
To inspire utter reverence for God’s nature, the question is
asked, “Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy
name? For Thou only art Holy: for all nations shall come
and worship before Thee. . .”[3]
One of the most flagrant sins of Warren and his movement
is the failure to respect the nature of the Almighty, All
Holy God. For example, in his chapter entitled “Becoming
Best Friends with God”, God is portrayed as if He
were in need, “Almighty God yearns to be your Friend!”[4]
“Yearns” signifies “craves”, “hankers”, or “covets”,
basically meaning He needs to be your Friend. The love of
God, however, whereby He gave His only begotten Son, is
totally sacrificial and giving. It in no way signifies a
lack in God. On the contrary, the giving of His only
begotten Son is the total outpouring of His perfect love and
certainly not needed to complete or perfect His love. The
fact that God demonstrates His love to unworthy sinners in
no way implies that God needs sinners to satisfy something
lacking in Him! Warren’s terminology misrepresents the
nature of God.
Warren builds on this serious error by means of
a modern corruption of Exodus 34:14, “He is a God who is
passionate about his relationship with you.”[5]
The verse should read, “for thou shalt worship no other
god: for the Lord,
whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” The jealousy
or passion of the Lord
God is against those who would worship another
god. Such worship is utterly condemned. It is significant
that the first part of this verse, “for thou shalt
worship no other god”, is totally absent from Warren’s
chapter. Yet when the terms “jealously” or “passion” are
used of God in the Bible, it describes His fervor for the
true worship due to His holy name. It demands exclusive
devotion to Him. By teaching that God has a passion or
infatuation with the reader of Warren’s book rather than a
perfect zeal for His Holy Name, Warren has gotten the
meaning of the verse literally backwards. His use of a
corrupted and partial Bible text to depict his notion that
God has a passionate devotion to man renders his work an
attempt to flatter men rather than present them with God’s
truth concerning their depravity. Thus Warren teaches as
truth the very idolatry that a faithful rendition of the
whole text condemns. This type of Scripture twisting that
degrades the nature of God runs throughout Warren’s book.
Love is not the essence of God’s
character apart from His righteousness
Warren’s teaching that God has a saving love for everyone
demeans the very nature of God. Such particular love for
everyone is stated to be “the essence of God’s character”.
Warren teaches,
“You were created as a special object of God’s love! God
made you so he could love you. This is a truth to build
your life on. The Bible tells us, “God is love.” (I John
4:8) It doesn’t say God has love. He is love! Love is the
essence of God’s character. There is perfect love in the
fellowship of the Trinity, so God didn’t need to create
you.” (pp. 24-25)
This is still another contradiction by Warren, who had just
previously implied that God was somehow lacking. Now Warren
has given his readers the heady notion that God loves each
one “as a special object”. With this type of assurance, the
reader has security in himself and in his sins. According
to Scripture, however, we cannot know that we are the
objects of God’s saving love until after we have fled from
His wrath against our sin, repented of it, and turned to put
our faith in Christ Jesus alone. Warren’s type of god, who
loves everyone as a special object of His love, is utter
heresy. Love apart from His righteousness is not the
essence of God’s character. Rather in Scripture God’s
saving love is always in accord with His righteousness, “mercy
and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have
kissed each other.”[6]
We must accept God’s love as He himself has defined it
rather than how Warren has presented it!
In Scripture God’s love is seen in the maintenance of His
law, and in the manifestation of His justice. In the
Messiah there is a harmony of the divine attributes, love
and righteousness. In Christ, God’s righteousness and peace
have kissed each other. In the work of the Redeemer, God’s
love is shown in the Messiah being “wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes
we are healed.”[7]
The demonstration of God is love is “that He might be
just and the justifier of him, who believes in Jesus.”[8]
God is true to His wrath against sin and He is just in His
government to both love and pardon sinners in Christ Jesus.
He is just because Christ Jesus’ blood paid the penalty,
satisfying God’s justice. He is “justifier” in that
Christ’s righteousness is credited to believers. But
unbelievers remain under God’s wrath because of their own
unrighteousness. In that state they have no reason to
believe they are special objects of God’s love.
Warren’s so-called love of God for unrepentant sinners as “a
special object of God’s love” is an insult to the true love
of God because it attempts to redefine the very nature of
God.[9]
The true love of God upholds His truth, His commands, His
Word, and His righteousness. For example consider the
preaching of C. H. Spurgeon, “O Sinner, humble yourself
under the mighty hand of God! Think how often He has shown
His love to you by bidding you come to Himself. Think how
often you have spurned His Word and refused His mercy.
Think how you have turned a deaf ear to every invitation and
have gone your way to rebel against a God of love. Think
how often you have violated the commands of Him that loved
you.”[10]
If Warren wrote and preached as Spurgeon did above, he would
not be as popular with the thousands of so called “carnal
Christians” across the world. However, when the commands of
God are preached together with His love, true conversions
are seen as righteousness and peace come together in Christ
Jesus. God’s saving love is always particularized to those
who are in Christ. It is always declared to be in Christ
and because of His grace. Thus the Bible proclaims, “according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him:
in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself… To the praise of the
glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the
beloved.”[11]
Without exception, human beings are the objects of God’s
saving love only in Christ Jesus; otherwise, and without
exception, they are objects of God's wrath! “Surely,
shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength.”[12]
God’s focus on Christ is changed for
Warren’s focus on man
In Chapter 2, “You Were Not an Accident”, Warren emphasizes
God’s sovereignty in appointing every detail of each
person’s birth. Warren seems to equate being born with
being a child of God for he states, “While there are
illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate
children….God never makes mistakes….God made you so he could
love you.”[13]
Leaping over the huge difficulties such as “the vessels
of wrath” in Romans 9:22, Warren moves to
Ephesians 1:4 to make his case, “according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before him”. He
teaches a distortion of its meaning, however. Citing
The
Message he teaches,
“God’s motive for creating was
his love. The Bible says, ‘Long before he laid down earth’s
foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the
focus of his love.’” (p 24)
This corrupt text allows Warren to exclude the true focus of
the Bible text that God’s choice of individuals is “in
Christ” and not in unrepentant people who, Warren
teaches, are loved in themselves. Nowhere in the book does
he deal with Ephesians 2:1 nor any of the great passages
speaking of being born dead in trespasses and sin. He
totally omits dealing biblically with the problem of
justification. By disregarding this central issue, Warren
utterly fails to acknowledge that Paul is not addressing
people who are loved in themselves but rather to “the
faithful in Christ Jesus”[14],
telling them of the riches of His grace which are theirs
precisely because they are “in Him [i.e., Christ].”
As a magician who with one wave of his hand changes what one
sees, so Warren has with one contrived paraphrase of
Scripture changed “chosen us in him” to read “he had
us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love.”
With this switch from “the faithful in Christ” to
sinful individuals as they are in themselves, Warren has
removed the one Mediator and His redemption as the means by
which God’s active love has procured its goal. In the
context of salvation, which is the whole theme of Ephesians
chapter 1, this removal of the Person of Christ Jesus means
that Warren presents a god who has saving love for sinful
individuals as they are in themselves. His god is not the
God of the Bible. Outside of God’s choice in Christ Jesus
there is no salvation.[15]
The love of God finds satisfaction and delight only in his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. His love is not only
particularized in Christ Jesus, but His express purpose is
to uphold His own righteousness, as the Apostle Paul
proclaimed, “being justified freely by his grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…to declare, I say, at
this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”[16]
In all things we rejoice that God is almighty
and that there is good news for all who are “dead in
trespasses and sins”. In the light of God’s Word we
know, “the gospel of Christ…is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth.…”[17]
By nature we are all children of wrath, and by practice
we are rebels against the Lord God and His Word. The
perfect and just law of God condemned us all and the Lord
God is not responsible to rescue any of us from His just
wrath. Despite our sin nature and personal sin, the Lord
God has given His beloved Son for all true believers. God
is the All Holy One. His holiness is the distinguishing
factor in all His essential characteristics. This is the
reason why we need to be in right standing before the one
and only All Holy God on the terms He prescribes. Turn to
God in faith alone for the salvation that He alone gives, by
the conviction of the Holy Spirit, based on Christ’s death
and resurrection, and believe on Him alone, “to the
praise of the glory of his grace.”[18]
The understanding of the Gospel causes us to proclaim
in loving gratitude, “not unto us, o Lord, not unto us,
but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy
truth’s sake.”[19]
The consequences of Warren’s trifling with
the Holy and Just nature of God
Warren’s saving love applied universally to all degrades
God’s holy and just nature. His love is specifically “in
Christ,”[20]
and for the express purpose of showing forth His
righteousness. God cannot and will not accept our
sin. Thus Warren significantly distorts the biblical
doctrine of the just and holy God and thus disfigures the
biblical concept of the nature of God. If God loved man as
he is in himself He would be unrighteous. Such a concept is
sacrilege. “God is light” as well as “love”,
“and in him is no darkness at all.”[21]
His love is a holy love, as are all His attributes.
In the Scripture His Holiness is every bit as important as
His love. “Be ye holy; for I am holy.”[22]
Equal to God’s love is His wrath and judgment which produces
healthy fear and awe of the Creator, “despisest thou the
riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering;
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to
repentance?”[23]
A sinner ought not to be comforted by assurances
of the love of God apart from repentance and faith in
Christ. Rather a sinner should be reminded that God hates
sinners as Scripture insists, “the boastful shall not
stand before thine eyes; thou dost hate all who do iniquity.”[24]
“I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit
with the wicked.”[25]
Without Christ Jesus “the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven…”[26]
God clearly depicts His Holy and just nature in the
pages of Scripture. Great is the guilt of anyone who makes
it seem that God’s saving love is indiscriminate, rather
than focused on sinners as they are in Christ Jesus. The
Lord’s glory and redemption in Christ Jesus are what is at
stake, “let us have grace, whereby we may serve
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God
is a consuming fire.”[27]
Involvement with the Catholic Church and
more similarities
Since Warren’s policy is to implement church growth without
respect to biblical doctrine[28],
it is no wonder that Catholic Churches such as Saint Michael
the Archangel Catholic Church in Cary, NC are now
enthusiastically joining in the Warren church growth
program. The Webpage for this Catholic Church states,
“Having finished the first 21 days of the book, our growing
group decided to push on to the end (so if you've already
read parts of the book and weren't able to join us in
November, now’s the time to hop aboard!)…”[29]
Another example: “In the Chicago area, more than 200
churches are participating in ‘40 Days of Purpose’ (some
used it as a Lenten series). Among them is St. Walter’s
Catholic Church in Roselle which had hoped 100 people would
sign up for small home groups for the ‘40 Days of Purpose’
program studying Warren’s book. Instead, 700 got
involved.’”[30]
Warren quotes from Catholic mystic Brother
Lawrence, endorsing Catholic contemplative prayer
techniques, which he says are “helpful ideas”. Brother
Lawrence was not only traditionally Roman Catholic but also
disseminated teachings that have similarities with Hinduism
in the Bhagavad-Gita, and with many New Age writers.
Warren endorses him and goes on later to recommend “breath
prayers”. He teaches,
“Many Christians use ‘Breath Prayers’ throughout their day.
You choose a brief sentence, or a simple phrase that can be
repeated to Jesus in one breath: ‘You are with me.’ ‘I
receive your grace.’ ‘I’m depending on you.’ ‘I want to
know you.’ ‘I belong to you.’”[31]
For centuries Catholic mystics have practiced “breath
prayers” such as these. They are simply the Catholic form
of old Greek mysticism and akin to the mantras of Hindus.
In this same book, Warren cites approvingly the famous
Catholic mystic Madame Guyon (p. 193). He approves also of
St. John of the Cross (p. 108) and the Catholic priest
mystic, psychologist and ecumenist Henri Nouwen (pp. 269-
270). He warmly agrees with Mother Teresa (pp. 125, 231).
These misleading techniques are thus propagated and lead
further into the whole mystic plague that presently is
threatening believers. This plague is the imagination that
there is a unity consciousness with God apart from the
Person, unique life and sacrifice of Christ Jesus.[32]
Warren presents a mystical agenda, which the world loves and
accepts, but which is an abomination before the Lord God.
Displacement of Pastors and the
Consequences
The “40 Days of Purpose” campaign of purpose and community
is distinct from other movements we have seen in recent
times. Warren asks pastors to devote their church and their
people to an intensive forty days of reprogramming their
understanding of God, Christ, and how one becomes a
Christian. He promises at the end of forty days that the
church will be transformed. Through his book and the agenda
laid out, he teaches for forty days on nearly every aspect
of the Christian life. This type of interference in the
running of a church opens the way for an insidious take-over
of that church. In Scripture the function of pastors is to
teach and to be watchmen and guardians of the flocks the
Lord has given to them. “Take heed therefore unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy
Ghost hath made you overseers.”[33]
To hand over their position before the Lord to another who
will for seven weeks teach his own doctrinal messages based
on a multitude of flawed paraphrases of Scripture is utterly
unbiblical. The church is the pastors’ and elders’ charge.
It is not theirs to bring in debased ideas that infiltrate
every important area of the church life. In Warren’s book
and movement, God’s absolute sovereignty is flatly denied as
men are counseled to determine their own destinies.
Conclusion
Warren and all who associate with his plans and purposes
ought to fear the All Holy God for, “thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord
thy God in vain.”
This is just one of the Ten Commandments Warren breaks.
Another is “Thou shalt not bear false witness”.
Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, is
replete with fraudulent claims. The fact, however, is that
the All Holy God reigns as proclaimed by the Holy Spirit, “The
Lord reigneth; let the people tremble.”
“The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and
his kingdom ruleth over all.”
The Lord God is ruling with complete dominion,
fulfilling His eternal purpose, not only in spite of but
also by means of those who would misrepresent His nature and
that of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His glorious and
invincible Gospel. The essence of sin is forsaking the Lord
as truly the sovereign God and presenting Him as less, in
this case a god who has needs and thereby can be
manipulated.
The message for our day is the same as ever: if people do
not repent and believe the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, they will die in their sins. If people continue to
run after worldly methods to propagate debased forms of what
is called Christianity, they will personally or corporately
experience what the Apostle Paul wrote under the direction
of the Holy Spirit, “the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
The Evangelical decline into doctrinal and practical
apostasy expressed in sentiment and fleshly experience
should be one of our gravest concerns. Warren’s book and
movement is a vivid example of what is now so popular and
devastating. Hundreds of thousands of souls, likely now
millions, around the world have succumbed to the
presentation of a false gospel flowing constantly from
Neo-Evangelical pulpits and presses. Consequently grandiose
Evangelical church buildings, Christian colleges,
seminaries, and teaching institutions are presently overrun
with people that have been taught by their leadership to
confuse manufactured human religious feelings with a genuine
work of the Holy Spirit. Multitudes blindly credit
themselves as being “born again Christians” while rejecting
the Lordship of Christ and authority of His Word, which are
the marks of authentic discipleship.
Only a gracious outpouring of the Holy Spirit to turn the
hearts of His people back to Him is the sufficient remedy to
answer the assault on the true Gospel that is before us.
Pray then that the Lord may be pleased in mercy to heal the
affliction of doctrinal compromise and subsequent spiritual
blindness that plagues the contemporary Evangelical Church
rather than to permit it to run further into darkness. It
is mercy for which we are praying. Given the age-old
pattern of compromising the Gospel to please the world, and
joining hands in the dark with Rome, it is certain that the
Evangelical Church deserves nothing but a more severe
dispensation from Lord’s hand. This is no time to presume
upon the grace of God. Rather it is time to pray urgently
for it! The Lord’s glory, Gospel, and promise are at
stake! Yet we rejoice that we have a High Priest over the
house of God, the Lord Christ Jesus! “Come now and let
us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are
like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they
are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are
willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the
sword.”
The Lord God demonstrated His love for sinners in the death
of Christ. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”[40]
His love is magnified and made illustrious in that
His holy love upheld His righteousness. The biblical Gospel
is that the sinners are loved in Christ Jesus. The teaching
of the Apostle Paul gives the exact meaning of the Gospel, “For
He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”[41]
God’s purpose was that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Christ Jesus. As the Lord, who knew no sin of His
own, was made sin for us, so we, who have no righteousness
of our own, are made the righteousness of God in Him. The
love we receive from God and our subsequent reconciliation
with God is only through the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Our
great privilege as believers is to be accepted by God, which
shows His love and care for us. God cannot thus accept us,
except in and through Jesus Christ. He loves His people
because of His Beloved. “To the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”[42]
We take heed against resting on any worth within
ourselves and against any platitudes that change the
Gospel’s focus away from Christ and towards ourselves as
special persons. Multitudes have been so deceived and have
perished eternally with a lie in their right hand. The Lord
made the will of the Father abundantly clear when He said, “this
is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath
sent.”[43]
Where there is true faith and love of the
Lord, there is in the midst of all things a joy unspeakable
and full of glory. “For of him, and through him, and to
him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”[44]
♦
(Part 1 The Adulation of Man in The Purpose Driven Life is
on our webpage at:
http://www.bereanbeacon.org/articles/rick_warren_purpose_driven.htm
)
Richard Bennett of “Berean Beacon” WebPage:
www.bereanbeacon.org
Permission is given by the author to copy
this article if it is done in its entirety without any
changes.
Permission is also given post this
article in its entirety on Internet WebPages.
Endnotes
[4]
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002) p. 85. Page numbers
only in succeeding citations.
[5]
P. 86. Verse quotation taken from Holy Bible,
New Living Translation (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale
House Publishers, 1996).
[9]
The love God had for believers while they were as
yet unrepentant sinners was in Christ Jesus and not
in themselves, “that in the ages to come he might
shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph
2:7)
[10]
The C.H. Spurgeon Collection, “Sovereign Grace and Man’s Responsibility”,
Sermon #207, Ages Software
[15]
There is a consistent Biblical teaching that
justification is positional legal righteousness in
Christ. Jeremiah 23:6, Romans 1:17, 3:21-22, 4:6,
11, 5:18-19; I Corinthians 1:30; II Corinthians
5:21; Ephesians 1:6; Colossians 2:10, 3:3; II Peter
1:1, and elsewhere.
[20]
Ephesians Chs 1 and 2, such phrases as “in
Christ”, “in whom”, “in him”, “in the Beloved” are spoken of 18 times. This
is the same in all of the letters of Paul the
Apostle. Likewise the Apostle John consistently
teaches that eternal life in Christ Jesus, e.g. “And
this is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” (I
John 5:11) God’s love seen in salvation is always
expressed as being in Christ.
[28]
For a very insightful perspective on the church
growth movement, of which Warren is cited as a major
player at the moment, see
http://www.crossroad.to/News/Church/Klenck1.html
[32]
See our article on The Mystic Plague on our
WebPage: www.bereanbeacon.org
Luke.6: 43-49; Matthew 7:21-27.
[44]
Romans 11:36
For more information on the false teachings of Rick
Warren, the legion of false teachers he promotes,
and the false translations he uses in his Purpose
Driven Life book, I recommend the documentary
book entitled: Who’s Driving the Purpose Driven
Church? by James Sundquist. It is published by
Bible Belt Pubishers and available at Southwest
Radio Church Ministries at:
http://www.swrc.com/offers/index.htm#h616
Or call Toll Free 1-800-652-1144
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