Free Grace Theology; a blight on our churches.

Free Grace Theology…hereafter referred to as either FGT or carnal Christianity…does nothing but spit in the face of Christ and His crosswork. It denies that repentance is necessary in the life of the believer. I will use this as an illustration. Billy Roy comes forth during an invitation and does the ‘repeat after me’, the ‘canned prayer’ commonly referred to as the ‘Roman’s Road'[Romans 10:9,10]. He does this and is popeishly proclaimed saved based solely on the fact he ‘prayed the prayer’. He attends church regularly for a while, then his attendance begins to wane until finally he quits attending altogether. He is seen going in and out of bars, crack houses, brothels, is seen strung out on drugs, &c. Then one day his body is found, with his life taken from him. The pastor of the church he attended then preaches his funeral and states how Billy Roy is now in heaven rejoicing with others because he ‘prayed the prayer’, and God will not violate His word, and because he recited the ‘Roman’s Road’ he is now in heaven. There is one problem with that, his life painted a different portrait than the message the pastor preached. FGT adherents advocate(whether they are cognizant of it or not) a lifestyle that is anything but biblical for the believer. It denies progressive sanctification, as someone can possibly go years without showing any growth spiritually. It denies that works are an evidence of salvation, as we are ordained by God to walk in them[Ephesians 2:10]. When someone brings up works, they want to scream “you are advocating a works based salvation”, when in fact, all we are saying is works is an evidence of salvation, not the cause of it. So, they deny works when James wrote “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.  And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.  You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”[2:14-26]

FGT gets its backbone from 1 Corinthians 3 where it says  “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?” Look at how Paul worded this. None of these characteristics are of the true convert, the true believer. This church was rife with error. It had members abusing the Lord’s table[1 Corinthians 11]. It had a member who had his father’s wife(hoping it is his step-mother)[chapter 5]. It had members taking each other to court[chapter 6]. It was a young church that had more goats in it than sheep it appears. Ppl want to claim this as proof one can be saved and yet live a life of debauchery? Paul addressed this pretty clearly when he said “But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.”[5:11]  So Paul was NOT advocating FGT, but rather, debunking it.

We can read “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”[Romans 2:4] And also “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth”[2 Timothy 2:25]. And furthermore we can read “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death”[2 Corinthians 7:10]. And lastly When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life”[Acts 11:18]. I have shown you these verses as proof it is God who causes someone to repent. So, if someone/anyone goes years living a life that is devoid of repentance, you can say, through biblical proof I have shown you, that God has not done a work of salvation in that person.

 

I will close with a passage from 1 John 3 where John wrote “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,  we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.  No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”[vss 1-9] To say that someone is saved, yet they will not attend church, live a life of rebellion, are devoid of repentance, should be proof enough that FGT is not biblical in any way, shape, form or fashion.

The Serpent Seed Doctrine

The ‘Serpent Seed’ doctrine is one of the most horrendous teachings that has ever infiltrated our churches. A Primitive Baptist Elder by the name of Daniel Parker(January 29, 1781 – December 3, 1844) advocated this teaching in the early-1800’s, and many followed his heretical teachings.

What this teaching advocates is that Eve, when she was tempted by the Serpent(Satan), they had intercourse, and then she had intercourse with Adam, and Cain and Abel were born as twins, with Cain being the son of Eve and Satan, and Abel the son of Adam and Eve. To carry this even further, this teaching proclaims that all those of Cain’s lineage would never be saved, they representing the goats in the bible. We can read in Genesis 3 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”[Genesis 3:15] What is being misrepresented in this view is the ‘Seed of the woman’ was a reference to the coming Messiah Christ. All those who are the ‘Seed of the woman’ represents the church, the body of Christ, for which Christ would taste death for. The ‘seed of the serpent’ represents those the Father justly left in their sins. But this was not due to sexual relations, but a spiritual relationship. Each ‘Seed/seed’ was not from sexual intercourse, but via a relationship with the One/one they served. The sheep(the ‘Seed of the woman’) are His seed via a Spiritual relationship with Christ. The goats(the ‘seed of the serpent’) was Satan’s seed via a spiritual(although a fallen & sinful) relationship with Satan, their spiritual father.

Jesus expressed this in John 8 when He told the Pharisees You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.[vs 44] Even John the Baptist alluded to this when the Pharisees & Saducees witnessed him baptizing ppl and telling them But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?[Matthew 3:7]

Now there is the Shepherd’s Chapel in Gravette, Arkansas, that had the late Dr. Arnold Murray, and now his son, Dennis, advocating this heretical doctrine. They commonly refer to the ‘seed of the serpent’ as Kennites, and none of these Kennites will be saved, IIRC. A few days ago I heard Dennis say in regards to a question someone mailed him asking about where the Ethiopians came from and he said the 8 souls that were saved were Adamic souls, saying Ethiopians were not of Adam’s lineage and also spoke against a worldwide flood during Noah’s days. So ‘Pastor’   Dennis is saying that the Ethiopians were not of Adam’s lineage, but of Satan’s, and thereby, none of them will be saved. I do believe in Particular Redemption and that Christ died solely for His bride, the church, but out of every nation, every kindred, and every tongue, many will be saved, as all that fell in Adam whom the Father chose to give to the Son to redeem, will be saved. Yet, it is not based upon the ‘seed of the serpent’ being cut off via sexual relations. God gave Abram the name Abraham in Genesis 17 and he is the father of many nations, and that also includes those Ethiopians saved by God.

So in closing, this teaching is so horrendous that it boggles my mind how it gained any traction. There is no biblical support whatsoever to advocate it.