An Attempt to Explain My Belief System
As it relates to the Billy Graham, Robert Schuller Interview
Before I get started, I would like to say, I absolutely get mounting a defense for a faithful and beloved brother or sister in Christ. I do not relish bringing an accusation against anyone especially those of the household of faith. I wished we all always spoke the truth clearly as it is in Christ Jesus. However, where the truth of the gospel is being misrepresented, twisted or maligned then I believe (Eph. 5:11), we must speak up and set the record straight to the glory of God our Father and the lord Jesus Christ.
The brethren immediately sent
Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into
the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in
Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the
Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Acts
17:10-11
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I am obligated to
hold to the truth of the Gospel no matter who or what comes against it.
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Whether John
Calvin, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, John MacArthur, John Piper, or Billy
Graham asserts some teaching my first and foremost fidelity is not to any so-called
great teacher but it is to God’s truth in his holy scripture. I align myself to
great men of God only to the degree they are in line with the word of God.
Where they depart from the gospel, I depart from them until they repent. Not
because I am smarter, more experienced or holier than them but rather because I
am so weak and so frail that the truth of the gospel is the only thing I have as
an anchor to keep me from wrecking my gospel ship into the rocks of heresy.
But even if we, or an angel from
heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you,
he is to be accursed! Gal. 1:8
For many will come in My name, saying,
‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many people. Matt. 24:5
Teachers have come, are presently
among us and will continue to come affirming the name of Christ, they then use
the name of Christ as a means of getting their foot in the door, (such as the Judaizers
did) and by using the name of Christ they bring in their destructive heresies.
But false prophets also appeared among
the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will
secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought
them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2Peter 2:1
The Holy Spirit
through Paul’s letters admonishes us to jealously watch over and safeguard not only
what we do and believe but why it is we do and believe. This can only be done
through a careful examination of the scriptures. The scriptures are the
revealed knowledge and wisdom of God. Our human reasoning and feelings must be
held forever subject to the authority of scripture.
We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised
against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:5
Pay close attention to yourself and to
the teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will save both
yourself and those who hear you. 1Tim. 4:16
If doctrinal
truth is not taken earnestly, even formally solid Christian men can be dead
wrong when they do not make a concerted effort to watch their life and doctrine
closely.
Here is an
example of how a man may be used mightily by God being as right as rain in one
breath only to be as wrong as wrong can be in the next breath.
Matthew 16:13-20
Peter’s Confession of Christ
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea
Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the
Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John
the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one
of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do
you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You
are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And
Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,
because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but
My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you
are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates
of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give
you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on
earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then
He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the
Christ.
Here Peter is being told by Jesus that he is the mouthpiece of God in his
declaration of the divine personhood of Christ.
And
then, three verses later he is called the mouthpiece of Satan.
Matthew
16:22-23
Peter Being
Strongly Rebuked
22 And yet Peter took Him aside and began
to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to
You!” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind
Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your
mind on God’s purposes, but men’s.”
Even
after the Holy Spirit came Peter was in error again and once again needed to be
rebuked for it. He was wrong about his understanding Jesus’ mission and purpose
in going to the cross and he was wrong to compromise the gospel life to accommodate
Christ deniers. Never forget, it was through his sinful compromise which caused other believers to be led astray because of his error.
Paul Opposes Cephas
Galatians 2:11-14
When Cephas came to
Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For
before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the
Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate
himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the
circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by
their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the
gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet
you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you
force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
So, when I hear
the Schuller and Graham’s conversation and the assertions of these two men, I
must compare it to the truth of the gospel and side with the truth as it is in
Christ Jesus and not wink at it simply because one of these men holds a warm
place in my heart.
Here is the
transcript from this conversation.
Dr. Schuller: "Tell me, what is the
future of Christianity?"
So, Schuller starts off by asking what is “the
future of Christianity” he says this as though it’s a fluid changeable
thing, as if its middle and end is or could be, somehow different from its
beginnings. Schuller is a humanist, and he unapologetically values human
thoughts, feeling and opinions above that of holy scripture.
Dr. Graham: "Well, Christianity and
being a true believer, you know, I think there's the body of Christ
which comes from all the Christian groups around the world, or outside
the Christian groups. I think that everybody that loves Christ or knows
Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the
body of Christ. And I don't think that we're going to see a great
sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time. What God
is doing today is calling people out of the world for His name. Whether they
come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or
the non-believing world, they are members of the body of Christ because they've
been called by God. They may not even know the name of
Jesus, but they know in their hearts they need something that they don't have
and they turn to the only light they have and I think they're saved and
they're going to be with us in heaven."
Dr. Graham’s unscriptural response gives
Schuller exactly what he wants to hear. Dr. Graham states what it is he
believes rather than what scripture clearly says. Graham starts off well
enough by stating Christianity consists of “true believers”.
He also correctly states that true believers
are what constitutes the “body of Christ” He then goes off the rails as he
incorrectly defines what constitutes “true believers” and the “body of Christ”.
He states the “body of Christ” is made up of all the Christian groups all over
the world. Okay? Not exactly. But that might simply be an over statement. So, I
am willing to give this Christian brother speaking extemporaneously, the
benefit of the doubt for charities sake. However, when he also throws in
“those” outside the Christian groups as well I must cry foul and insist on what
exactly does, he mean by this bizarre assertion.
Dr. Graham to our great sadness and profound disappointment
goes on to explain exactly what he means by his “those outside the Christian
groups” statement. He asserts that he believes that there are
individuals outside of Christianity, outside of repentant faith in Christ Jesus
as both Lord and Savior who, somehow, “unconscientiously” love Him. Why does he
say he believes this? Firstly, he states that once again that he believes
that “we’re not going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the world
to Christ at anytime”. This is a slap in the face of God the Holy Spirit who declares
in Hebrews through its writer.
Therefore He (Christ Jesus the
righteous) is also able to save forever those who come to God through Him (Christ Jesus the righteous), since He (Christ Jesus
the righteous) always lives to make intercession for them. Heb 7:24
Graham asserts here that we are not to expect
the gospel to be “the power of God for salvation” for the salvation of
those outside of Christianity. He is saying that God is
going to, for no biblical reason, save these outside people some other way than
faith in Christ Jesus. He is saying that faith in Christ Jesus is not necessarily
necessary for “these people”. If it is not necessary for those people then, it
is not necessary for anyone ever.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and
the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for
it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16
Graham’s convoluted opinion/belief, that somehow
the world is in such a state that even God himself cannot bring certain men to
salvation by the means in which He has declared they are to be brought to
salvation.
So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word
of Christ. Romans 10:17
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one
of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
He then goes on to say, “What God is doing
today” what God is doing today?... he is saying authoritatively that God has a need
to “switch His tactics” He needs to come up with a “plan b” because the gospel plan
apparently doesn’t work for every person in every situation. This is an outrageous
assertion, and we are to simply overlook it because he has built a reputation
for himself?
“What God is doing today is calling people out of the
world for His name.”
Although, this
sounds pious and “gospel sounding”, in reality it is nowhere near the gospel. How
can God be “calling people out of the (sinful) world” and effectively
leaving them in the (sinful) world? By leaving them in Islam? By leaving them in Buddhism?
By leaving them in the non-believing world? If this is the case then in the end
it does not matter what one believes, it only matters if God believes in you. Absolute
nonsense. And what does Dr. Graham say is the reason that God will do this Christ
dishonoring thing which is spoken of nowhere in holy scripture? Why does he make
this unsubstantiated claim that these non-repentant, non-believers are members
of the body of Christ?
Because as he
puts it, “They
may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts they need
something that they don't have and they turn to the only light they have”
That’s right, he says they turn to the light of Islam, the light of
Buddhism, the light of atheism. The light of their deceitful hearts and fickle
feelings. So, because they are “good” Muslims, Buddhists, and Atheists God will
save them. That might sound super nice and kind and loving to his friend Dr.
Schuller who despises the word of God and hates the Gospel of Christ even more,
but the Bible must object…
Romans 3:10-1210 as it is written:
“There is no righteous
person, not even one;
11 There is no one who
understands,
There is no one who seeks out God;
12 They have all turned
aside, together they have become [a]corrupt;
There is no one who does good,
There is not even one.”
Ephesians
2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Colossians 2:13 When you were dead
in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive
together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
Now, at this point, even Dr. Schuller is absolutely shocked by Graham saying this. So, he is so excited by it that he wants to
nail this point down for all to hear.
Dr. Schuller: "What I hear you saying is
that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into a human heart and soul and
life even if they've been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the
Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you're saying?"
So, here, Dr. Graham, if he has misspoken or
has been taken out of context can correct the matter right here and now. But he
does not do that. In fact, he doubles down on it and says this…
Dr. Graham: "Yes
it is because I believe that. I've met people in various parts of the world
in tribal situations that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible,
have never heard of Jesus but they've believed in their hearts that there is a
God and they tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community
in which they lived."
Dr. Graham states that the reason these people
are being saved by God apart from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from
repentance for a life of rebellion, and a life that loves darkness rather than
the Light (John 3:19) is because “they believed in their hearts that there is a
“god”. Additionally, that they “tried to live a life blah, blah, blah…
But here is the deal, everyone knows that
there is a God. God has declared it to be so. So, based on what Dr. Graham
claims here then everyone is to be saved.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the
truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that
which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the
creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine
nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been
made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they
knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they
became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was
darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became
fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the
incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and
four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Romans 1:18-23
Dr. Schuller: "This is fantastic. I'm so
thrilled to hear you say that. There's a wideness in God's mercy."
Schuller is thrilled to hear Graham say this because Schuller despises the Gospel, the concept of sin guilt, substitutionary
penal atonement and Graham’s thoughts on what he truly believes "Yes it is because I
believe that” eliminates the need for the Gospel. What Graham says
here fully agrees with Schuller’s position that man’s greatest need is not to be rescued
from his sinful position, God’s wrath against sin, God’s demand for divine
justice. Graham’s statement agrees with Schuller’s position that God has a man
shaped whole in His heart, and He will even violate His law, gospel and even
His holiness to fill it. "This is fantastic.
I'm so thrilled to hear you say that. There's a wideness in God's mercy."
Dr. Graham: "There is. There
definitely is."
Again, Graham triples down what he has stated
that he truly believes. He could have backed out at any point in this
conversation and corrected himself and Schuller, but he didn’t.
Again,
I am not saying that Graham is not a Christian (God knows) but what he says and
affirms here is blasphemous and heretical to the n’th degree. I do hold a genuinely
warm affection for Graham in my heart. So, naturally I am very sad to hear
Graham say such things because they are indeed destructive heresies.
Therefore, beloved,
since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in
peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of
our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother
Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters,
speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to
understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the
rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing
this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away
by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own
steadfastness, but grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the
glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 2 Peter 3:14-18
I am not concerned with warning people about goblins. Goblins do not exist. Wolves on the other hand, they do exist and I will do my level best to warn you as to their very real and present danger even if you swear it is only a sheep
