Would You Recognize the Deception of Hyper-Grace? - David Ravenhill

Someone wisely stated, “The church has suffered more from her exponents than from her opponents.” This is certainly the case today, as we are seeing an onslaught of dangerous teaching sweeping through the body of Christ like never before. We have the graphic and prophetic picture of the serpent in Revelation pouring water like a river out of his mouth in order to sweep away the woman (Rev. 12:15-16). This, to me, speaks of the false river the enemy is attempting to use to deceive the church in these last days. Thank God that He has promised, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him” (Is. 59:19, NKJV).

One of the enemy’s wiles is to take something that is inherently good and seek to make it appear better. The hyper-grace message is a prime example of this. What is more amazing than grace? Nothing sets Christianity apart more than the message of grace. None of us would ever know our magnificent Savior and Lord without His redeeming, reconciling grace. There is no sect, cult or religion that has any doctrine comparable to it. Grace is found in Christ alone!

Little wonder, then, that the enemy has sought to improve on this glorious message by appearing to make it even more glorious, while at the same time lacing it with his deadly poison of deception and distortion.

Consider how you would respond to a message exhorting you to guard your mind, stay sober, be obedient, don’t be conformed to your former lusts, be holy, conduct yourself in fear, obey the Word and put aside all malice, guile and hypocrisy? What if the message went on to tell you to love and read God’s Word, grow up, tell others about God’s goodness, avoid fleshly lusts, do good deeds, do right, don’t speak about evil, be zealous for what is good and sanctify Christ as Lord?

Many within the body of Christ today would cry out against such a message, claiming it to be nothing more than a religious spirit or legalism or even fleshly works. Grace, we are told, frees you from all these works and liberates you so that you are no longer under any obligation of any kind. Grace, they say, is the gift that comes to us with no strings attached. But is that really the message of grace? Has the enemy blinded our eyes through super-sizing the true message of grace—and thereby distorting it?

It may surprise you to know that all the exhortations I’ve listed above were taken directly from Peter’s first epistle. Now, here is a most amazing truth: Peter tells us in the closing verses of his epistle, “I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!" (1 Pet. 5:12, NASB, emphasis added).

Here we have one of the most complete and comprehensive revelations on true grace to be found in the New Testament. Yes, grace is totally and irrevocably free, and it provides us with God’s power to change us. That was its original intent. Paul, in his letter to Titus, explains it this way: “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12, emphasis added).

Peter and Paul saw the Lord, who is the only true embodiment of grace and truth. If anyone had a correct revelation and understanding of grace, these two men certainly did.

Paul, you recall, had to correct the Romans on their tendency to abuse grace by continuing in sin. This abuse of grace has now raised its head again and is being taught in ever-widening circles within the church. Those proponents of the hyper-grace message will tell you that since your sins past, present and future have all been forgiven, there is no longer any need of repentance for the believer. Repentance, they claim, is the acknowledgment of a sin that has already been forgiven. Why put back in the ledger what has already been erased? So the reasoning goes.

But is this really sound biblical doctrine? Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, scolded them for not dealing with the blatant sin of a brother who was sexually involved with his father’s wife. The Corinthians took to heart what Paul wrote. Then in his second letter, he commended them for their godly sorrow that brought them to a place of repentance (2 Cor. 7:9-10). He mentions repentance twice within two verses. If we did follow this erroneous concept of grace, then why was this sexual pervert disciplined in the first place, if his sin was already forgiven? Why punish him for something that is already under the blood? Jesus obviously didn’t consider this to be the case when He admonished five out of the seven churches in Revelation to repent.

Finally, as I have said many times, if we say that repentance is no longer necessary because all sin has already been forgiven, then why do we need to repent the first time in order to be saved? There is the belief by some that since all sin has been atoned for, all are saved but just don’t know it. This is the old but still very much alive false doctrine of universalism or ultimate reconciliation.

Jude was greatly disturbed by these errors in his day and tells us, “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3, NKJV). Why? Because there were those within the church who were distorting the grace of God and turning it into licentiousness. This, I believe, was also the subtle teaching of Jezebel in the church of Thyatira. I don’t personally believe she was openly teaching that it was OK to engage in sexual immorality, but rather that the fruit of her distorted message led to this type of activity.

This is also my great fear regarding the hyper-grace message. While I sincerely believe that many advocates of the hyper-grace message firmly believe they are proclaiming a fresh revelation of grace, I truly believe the fruit of their teaching will instead bring disgrace to the very God of grace they seek to magnify.

I can only plead with those who are caught up in this false teaching to re-examine their beliefs in the light of God’s Word rather than get carried along by the latest trend being taught by a few popular and flamboyant pied pipers. If the fruit of this teaching does not produce a longing after God and a desire to be like Him, then we should avoid it like the plague. Grace enables us to live and walk in victory over sin, the flesh and the devil. Anything less is not the true grace of God.

David and Nancy Ravenhill have a rich history in ministry. David worked with David Wilkerson's first Teen Challenge Center in New York City, Youth With a Mission, and pastored one of the largest churches in New Zealand. He is now a full-time itinerant minister and author of five books, including Blood Bought.

http://www.davidravenhill.com

Great article brother Greg, thanks for posting it. I went along this Sunday to a service where I knew the preacher was and has been preaching on what we would call " hyper grace." It is always good to hear first hand and living in Kansas, we have every kind of church here so one can check out these teaching's for one's self.

Listening to the sermon, I was reminded of an analogy given by Tozer I believe. He talked about a man of God who loved God and studied His Word all of his life and mined the depths of it and always pursued a deeper more intimate walk with the Lord. Near his death in old age, he proclaimed that the more he knew about God, the less he knew about God. Just how vast and ultimately unknowable He was to us mere mortals in this flesh, although He fills our minds and our hearts and spirits to their capacity. Now he longed to stand before God in his raised in-corruptable body so that he could know as he is known. This, Tozer suggested, was a good servant. Now, along comes a 18 year old, listens to the old man's dying words, and proclaims that since God is ultimately not able to be fully known in this flesh, then there is no point in studying His Word so much and pursuing a deeper walk. You see the point, they can both come to the same conclusion, but one is a good and humble servant and the other is a lazy servant who presumes upon God. I would suggest that one pleases God, and the other does not. Not unlike Cain and Abel.

We know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seeks Him. Hyper grace people would not understand that. They would suggest that the pursuit was a waste and that you already had it all so why waste your time. The very pursuit would be classified as works and legalistic. This is the deadly poisonous end results of this teaching. For sin indeed separates us from His presence, it does not nullify a genuine saint from his salvation. Yet, what use is a saint to the world who presumes upon God, refuses to acknowledge a need to repent and walks not in the presence of God?

I am sorry for this analogy but this preacher spoke about grace the same way as I have heard certain people over the years talk about the latest pyramid, get rich get in now scheme. Many of you have probably noticed that it is the same kinds of personalities who constantly fall prey to these schemes. It's just the latest thing to them.

In God there is balance. I know that there is the opposite end of the hyper grace spectrum and it is equally wicked in it's distortion of basic Biblical truth. The other end proclaims themselves to be miserable wretched sinners , vile worms, who are only separated from the wicked world by a legal transaction known as justification. They beat themselves, so to speak , and they end up living a Romans 7 life and are proud of it. They compete against each other to see who is the most vilest in their self condemnation and they make that the measure of their " humility." Oh Lord forgive all those who allow themselves to fall into these schemes of the enemy.

Here is what I know. I will not let false teachers rob me of the Truth. I am a blood bought, redeemed child of the Living God. My heavenly Father loves me with a love that the human mind cannot even perceive. That Love, that salvation rocked my world and took me from the gates of Hell to the throne room of God. I was transformed into a new creature in Christ. I was taken from a literal darkness into His marvelous light. I was released from a prison of sin and freed to walk in the beauty of His holiness. His love for me restored my broken spirit and He gave me worth. His thoughts towards me are more numerous than the sands of the sea. I will wait upon Him, I will pursue Him, I will abide in Him, I will come before His throne and ask my precious Father in heaven to forgive me and I have never been turned away. In fact His love and His mercy and His grace is a constantly affirming beautiful thing and it keeps me wholly dependent upon my Lord. Without Him I would be nothing. He is everything. Now brothers and sisters, that is simply the truth and it is the word of God. I stand not only upon that Word but the reality of it lived out.

I thank the Lord that a prodigal child can look around, realize that he is in a pig sty, say to himself " I will get up go to my Father's house." He does not look around and stay in the pig sty merely because he is His father's son. Oh Christian, we have an advocate before the throne. There has been a way made for us to come to that place.

1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: