A List of False Religious Hopes that
Will Send Many to Hell
By Kevin Williams
The Bible warns that there are many false converts who are
holding onto a false hope.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is
wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who
enter by it are many.14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to
life, and those who find it are few.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you
in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matthew 7:13-15 English Standard Version (ESV)
Here is a list of false religious hopes
that can send people to Hell.
As you read them “Examine yourselves,
to see whether you are in the faith.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
And
make sure you are not trusting in a false hope. Your eternity is at stake.
Being brought up in a Christian home does not make someone a
child of God.
Jesus said: “But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to
those who believe in His name, 13who were born, not of blood nor of
the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John
1:12-13)
The
Pharisees were trusting in their physical descent, that they had Abraham ‘as
their father.’ (John 8:33)
However John the Baptist warned
them: “do
not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.” (Matthew
3:9)
And Jesus warned them “You are of your
father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires” (John
8:44)
When someone gives a testimony of: “I’ve always been a
Christian”
this should start alarm bells ringing as Jesus warned “unless you are
converted…, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” NASB
(Matthew 18:3).
Now
it may be that someone who has grown up in the Christian faith, has the
evidence of true conversion but is not exactly sure when they were converted,
because they can look back on more than one point in time in which they may
have been converted.
But while there may be more than one possible crisis/turning
points in which they were converted, there is never none.
Salvation is coming “out of darkness into
his marvelous light”
(1 Peter 2:9).
So
they should be able to look to possible times that this happened.
Note: 2 Tim. 3:15 is often cited to claim Timothy did not
know a point of conversion or was somehow converted gradually, but that is
reading something into that text that simply is not there.
In Acts 8, after hearing the preaching of Philip (verse 12),
Simon the magician “believed, and after being baptized he continued with
Philip” [joined
the disciples/church].
But in verse 21 Peter told him: “You have neither
part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God”.
So,
being baptized and joining a church is NOT conversion.
“You believe that God
is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James
2:19)
And when the demons cried out to Jesus:
“What
have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before
the time?”
(Matthew 8:29) showing they knew both who Jesus was,
that there was a judgment coming, and there is a place of torment for the
wicked.
Faith begins with having a correct understanding of the
Gospel. However conversion is more than just having the correct facts.
Jesus warned “On that day many
will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out
demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’” (Matthew 7:22)
These people were very busy for the
church, but in the next verse Jesus declares to them “I never knew you;
depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew
7:23)
Also
notice, Jesus does not say to them, that He once knew them but they lost their
salvation, but rather that He never knew them.
Even though they professed Christ as
their “Lord, Lord” (verse 21) and were very active
in serving (verse 22) they were never truly converted in the
first place.
The Pharisees were considered by the masses to be highly
moral people. (Matthew 5:20)
And someone can clean himself up a lot on the outside
without being converted. (Matthew 23:27)
The rich young ruler thought he was doing a good job of
keeping the commandments. (Matthew 19:20),
And Paul before conversion felt ‘alive’ and was morally good
before the Spirit of God worked in His heart. (Romans
7:9)
Jesus at the last supper said: “one of you will
betray me.”
(John 13:21)
The disciples did not all point to
Judas and say “it’s him”, but it says they were, “uncertain of whom he spoke” revealing that Judas must have been outwardly
moral in character. (John 13:22)
Many unbelievers quit drinking, smoking, bad language etc.
Moral reformation IS NOT conversion.
In the parable of the Sower Jesus spoke
of those rocky ground hearers “who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy.”
They had an emotional experience of joy
when hearing the Gospel, however the verse continues: “But these have no
root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.”
So these rocky ground hearers “receive” the word “with joy” and so have an emotional experience,
they “believe
for a while”
but are NOT truly converted.
Verse 15 tells us that only the “good soil hearers” bear fruit to conversion, and false
converts are sown by the devil. (Matthew 13:39)
Also Judas had an emotional experience
and was convicted “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been
condemned, he felt remorse but
he was NOT converted.” (Matthew 27:3)
Esau had an emotional experience, but
was NOT converted as “he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it
with tears”
(Hebrews 12:17)
Felix
had an emotional experience when Paul preached the Gospel to him and spoke of “righteousness,
self-control and the judgment to come.” “Felix trembled” but he was
NOT converted. Acts 24:25 KJV
When Jesus healed the ten lepers only one was converted and
returned to give thanks, the other nine, although healed, were still lost.
“11
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And
as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and
lifted up their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’ 14 When
he saw them he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as
they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he
was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and
he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then
Jesus answered, ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was
no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ 19 And
he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”(Luke
17:11-19)
Supernatural healing may lead to
conversion. “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” (Romans
2:4)
But
it IS NOT conversion. Out of the ten lepers healed by Jesus only one was
converted.
Many wrongly trust in some “near-death experience” they have had were they “saw a bright light” or they had a vision, dream or some
angelic encounter.
But this IS NOT conversion. The Bible
warns “Satan
disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14)
In Matthew 19 when Jesus told the rich
young ruler to forsake his riches in order to follow Christ it says “he went away
sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
This
man was very rich but he was NOT converted. In fact his money and possessions
were the very thing that kept him from eternal life with Christ.
Jesus said “it is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew
19:24)
In
Luke 12:13-21 Jesus told the parable of the rich fool.
“Peter said, ‘I have
no silver and gold.’”
(Acts 3:6)
Jesus said: “Foxes have holes,
and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his
head.”
(Matthew 8:20)
So,
material blessings are no proof of God’s favor, nor is financial poverty and
hardship, an indication of God’s displeasure.
False teachers in the prosperity
movement have claimed Jesus must have been financially rich, “because He had a
treasurer.”
And they say “only a rich person needs a treasurer.”
However, Judas simply carried the money
bag for the disciples. He betrayed Jesus for just “thirty pieces of silver” which is less than three months wages
for a common laborer. (Matthew 26:15)
This reveals that there must have not been much money in the
bag, otherwise he would not have been tempted with such a small amount and
would have just took off with the bag.
Many are wrongly trusting in that they
are “good
people”
or “they
keep the commandments”
or certain rules, but the Bible says “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his
sight.”
(Romans 3:20)
In order to be justified by law/rule
keeping one would have to keep the law of God perfectly for every single moment
of their life as “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written
in the Book of the Law, and do them.” (Galatians 3:10)
But
“all
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans
3:10)
Any “good work” we do to try and earn favor with God
is like a “filthy rag.” (Isaiah 64:6)
The reality is that trying to earn
favor with God by our deeds, is like trying to bribe a judge. But God is not
corrupt, and so will not accept man’s bribes as only “the wicked accepts a
bribe.”
(Proverbs 17:23)
Some people are wrongly trusting that they will be okay
because they regularly listen to pastors like Paul Washer and Tim Conway who
preach a hard and uncompromising message.
However
Judas regularly heard the strong and uncompromising preaching of Jesus, but was
NOT converted.
In the mercy of God, Cain had
his prayer answered (Genesis 4:13-15)
but he WAS NOT converted. (verse 5, verse 16)
Also, the ten lepers had their prayer answered and were
healed, but only one was converted. (Luke
17:11-19)
God may occasionally grant the prayer requests of
unconverted people.
In such cases “God’s kindness is
meant to lead you to repentance” (Romans
2:4), nevertheless having
a prayer answered IS NOT conversion.
Merely professing to be a Christian does not make someone
one.
Jesus said, on the Day of Judgment many will profess to be
Christians. (Matthew 7:21-22)
But Jesus will “declare to them, ‘I
never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (v.
23)
It
is a twisting of Jesus’ words to take “So everyone who acknowledges me
before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew
10:32) to mean that merely professing to be a Christian makes someone so
when in fact they continually deny Him by their lifestyle.
The
Bible says: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil,” (1
John 3:8)
Jesus
said: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell
you?” (Luke 6:46)
14. Praying a ‘sinners prayer’ or
Similar, ‘accepting Jesus’, ‘made a decision for Jesus’ or walking an aisle
Many are wrongly trusting they are saved because they have
repeated some sort of “sinner’s prayer,” or/and they wrote the time and date
they did it in their Bible.
But neither of these are to be trusted in. The rich young
ruler asked Jesus “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark
10:17)
He did not reply “just repeat this prayer after Me,” but that he must forsake his
idols “and
come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” (Mark
10:21 NKJV)
A
person is saved through Christ and not as a result of any work they have done. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
It is a twisting of “if you confess with
your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) to make it somehow mean that
someone is saved, just because they have ‘prayed a sinners prayer’ or ‘made a
decision for Jesus’.
The context of that quote is that it was written to a church
in imperial Rome suffering much persecution (Romans
8:35-36)
and confessing that one was a Christian had certain consequences of death,
torture or imprisonment.
Jesus said that on the Day of Judgment
not everyone who confesses Him with their mouth will enter Heaven “Not everyone who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew
7:21)
These
people are convinced they are sincere and they are doing many works ‘in Jesus
Name.'(verse 22)
However Jesus will “declare to them, ‘I
never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (verse 23)
And Jesus does not say to these “many” (verse 22) who confess Jesus as
Lord with the mouth, that they were once saved but lost their salvation, but
rather that “‘I never knew you’” (verse 23) they were never converted in the
first place.
Someone merely confessing to believe and
saying “I
know in my heart I am saved” does not mean someone is converted as the Bible warns “The heart is
deceitful above all things.” (Jeremiah 17:9)
While a person’s life over time will give evidence as to
whether or not someone is truly converted or not (Matthew
7:16) one cannot be
certain about the condition of another person’s soul.
Neither a Pastor nor any mere man can truly see into a
person’s heart, Jesus warned there will be tares/weeds (false converts) among
the wheat (true converts) and it would be too difficult for man to separate
them. (Matthew 13:29)
So someone else saying “of course you are saved” is not something to be trusted or
rested in.
The Bible warns there are many false teachers telling people
they are right with God when they are not. (Jeremiah
8:11; Matt. 7:13-20)
Also, in the parable of the Sower, Jesus warned that there
are “rocky
ground”
hearers who at first look like they are converted, but later prove that they
never were. (Matthew 13:20-21)
Having a spiritual gift IS NOT conversion and certainly not
to be trusted in.
The “many” in Matthew 7, whom Jesus will say to
them “depart
from Me, I never knew you” were
prophesying and doing many mighty works/miracles but they were NOT converted.
“On that day many
will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out
demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I
declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of
lawlessness.'”
(Matthew 7:22-23)
Caiaphas prophesized and “he did not say this
of his own accord being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die
for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the
children of God who are scattered abroad”. (John
11:49-52)
The book of Hebrews speaks of those
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” (Hebrews
6:4-5).
But they fell away revealing they were
never truly converted (1 John 2:19; Matthew
7:23)
What
are YOU trusting in to get you to heaven?
There
is nothing else that will get a person to heaven apart from Jesus Christ’
finished (John 19:30) and perfect work on the cross alone (Hebrews 10:10; Jude 1:3).
Many
claim they are trusting in Christ. But if you ask them “How do you know you
are going to Heaven?” They
will reply something like “because I accepted Jesus” or “because I go to church” and reveal they are trusting in a false
hope.
Dear friend, if you are trusting in any one of those or
another reason apart from Christ alone as to why you think you are going to
Heaven, then it indicates that it may not be well with your soul.
Jesus
said “I
am the door”
(John 10:7).
And
“he
who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that
man is a thief and a robber.” (John 10:1)
There is no other way to eternal life, “Jesus said… “I am
the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.”
(John 14:6)
The book of Hebrews says that the
foundation of true conversion is “repentance from dead works and of
faith toward God”
(Hebrew 6:1).
The
context of the book of Hebrews is that professing Christians had fallen back
into law keeping/legalism and so the “dead works” here are any false hopes people are trusting in apart from
Christ alone for salvation.
In order to be saved, one must turn away from, forsake
trusting in their own [dead] works and put their faith/trust in the living God.
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http://illbehonest.com/a-list-of-false-religious-hopes-that-will-send-many-to-hell
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