Paul warned that many false teachers would gather followers by appealing to people's fleshly desires. As Steve Gallagher explains in this "Timeless Truths" segment, that warning is needed just as much in our day.

Host: Steve Gallagher has joined me in the studio. Steve is the founder of Pure Life Ministries. Steve as always it's great to see you again. Thanks for coming in.

Steve: Great to be here with you, Mike.

Host: As we continue our discussion in your book “Intoxicated with Babylon,” you make the point that a worldly-minded church will embrace worldly concepts that inevitably pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and as you talk about this happening, you have laid the blame for this squarely at the top.

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Steve: There's a culture in Christianity that just makes it possible for people to rise to the top who are good at working the system that we have in place here, but you know Mike, this is nothing new. Paul faced it. All the first-century Christian leaders faced it. You know when Paul was giving his final address to the Ephesian leaders, he told them that after he left, there would be savage wolves in their midst, not sparing the flock, but wanting to accumulate to themselves followers. Elsewhere he talked about angels of light who are really serving Satan. And of course, Jesus alerted us to be wary of false prophets who come in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. It's all through the New Testament we're warned to be aware of the fact that there's going to be false teachers who are going to try to capitalize on the Christian situation for their own selfish purposes.

Host: Steve, you talk about deceivers in the body of Christ, in your book you talk about two types of deceivers that are at work in the body today.

Steve: Yeah, there's those who are just outright deceivers, you know, television preachers begging for seed faith offerings or men who prey on vulnerable women or entertainers that are tapping into the lucrative Christian music industry. And you know that there are people out there that our capitalizing on the system to further their own aims. But not so obvious are the teachers who are inadvertently leading people astray. You know they've been taught wrong doctrine and they are simply passing along what's been given to them. And that's what makes the deception so powerful is because they're sincere, and they're simply telling others what they've been taught.

Host: So when we're talking about false teachers, when the average Christian is looking for a false teacher, they may not be as obvious; they may not be the wolf that so oftentimes we're looking for.

Steve: Well that's the problem; people are looking for wolves instead of sheep. They're looking for servants of Satan instead of angels of light. In other words, a deceiver doesn't look like a wolf; a deceiver doesn't look like a servant of Satan. That's what's really the challenge is that the people who are out there deceiving are so often very smooth in what they're doing.

Host: And a church that does not have a solid foundation to begin with is going to be in real trouble in this matter.

Steve: When Christians are wrapped up in the spirit of the world, their discernment is just going to be practically nonexistent, so it's very easy for a worldly-minded church to be led astray by false teachers.

Host: In your book, Steve, you've laid out four reasons that this kind of deception can occur. One is that false teaching is one of the inevitable side-effects of ambition within the Christian church.

Steve: What we have here, Mike, is a morphing of two distinct cultures: We have the Christian culture, which follows the teachings of Christ obviously, and things like what Paul said, “Do nothing from selfishness but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important himself.” Or Jesus saying to his disciples, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last and servant of all.” That is a kingdom mindset, but we also have fused into this Kingdom culture the American culture, which is exactly the opposite. The American culture all revolves around success, driving ahead, being the first. It's all about putting self forward, so you have a clash of two cultures. We have the American culture because of the worldliness in the church which has kind of overtaken what should be the culture of the Kingdom of God.

Host: You said earlier that this was not new in the church and of course even with Jesus we found the disciples arguing about who was going to be first already, looking to make their way up the ladder of the church even at that time.

Steve: Well, in those early days they just didn't understand things very well. It wasn't until after Calvary that they began to understand that it wasn't going to be like they thought it would be. Calvary destroyed that mentality.

Host: Steve, you said that the substitution of education for anointing is another cause of this problem.

Steve: Well, certainly in certain circles, academic achievement is given so much credibility that if you have a Ph.D., or you have a doctor before your name, that somehow is supposed to establish your credibility as a spiritual leader, but just because you have academic accomplishments doesn't mean the slightest thing in regards to your life in God. It reminds me of something that John Wesley said.
“I don't care about your seminary degrees. Just give me 100 men who are hungry for God and fear nothing but sin, and I'll turn this country upside down.”
        He understood that a man's life in God was the most important thing. Now education can be a good thing, but it certainly should be secondary to a person's life in God.

Host: Steve, the third cause that you bring up here really stems from that, and that is, men are going to the pulpit that are not prepared to be teaching and preaching. So they're just making assertions about things they really don't know anything about.

Steve: Well, what those kind of teachers are depending on is maybe not their academic achievements, but on their own personal abilities, their charismatic personalities, or their abilities to woo a crowd, affect people emotionally, or challenge them intellectually. In other words, it isn't their life in God that is giving them confidence. Their confidence is coming through their own personal abilities, and they use those abilities to create a following for themselves.

Host: In concluding your discussion on the subject, you did have something to say to the men of God, the true men of God that are really preaching the Word, about what they can expect.

Steve: I need to say, Mike, that there are many godly people pastoring churches, but the reality is that in this current culture that we find ourselves in, true men of God are going to be largely ignored by people who prefer charisma to godliness and flashiness to spiritual substance. But God did not call us to success. He called us to faithfulness. And when we stand before Him, even if we were nothing more than a pastor of a tiny church, or something like that, if we were faithful to what He called us to do, then we will hear those words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” And many of these big, big names that we have come to look up to so much are not going to be hearing that same thing.

In the 24th message of our “Unveiling Yahweh” series, we will be looking at the Severity and the Mercy of God.

“God hates the sin, but He loves the sinner.” While there is truth to these words, we have a propensity to make the love of God an excuse for living in habitual sin, while totally ignoring God's severity in dealing with sin.

So in this week’s message, Nate Danser breaks down what sin really is in order to help us more clearly understand how God sees sin. Then, he helps us appreciate the true love and mercy of God.

Ambitious athletes seek out a coach. Sick people find a doctor. New business owners get a mentor. Why?

Because they know they can’t get where they need to be on their own. And if this is true in sports, medicine and business, how much more necessary is it for those who want freedom from something as powerful as pornography? In this episode, we'll look at reason #3 our Residential Program is so effective at helping men overcome sexual sin: Because we provide true discipleship.

Resources

• Check Out Our Residential Program

Bob and Lori seemed like the picture-perfect, American Christian family —stable jobs, regular church attendance, a comfortable life, and a loving home.

But behind the scenes, their lives were falling apart. Lori discovered Bob’s infidelity and his struggle with addiction. Bob, drowning in shame and darkness, saw no way out but to end his life.

What changed wasn’t anything they could do to simply fix their marriage. It was what God did to transform their entire lives.

This is the powerful story of how God stepped in to their crumbling world to save them, restore their marriage, and give them brand new lives.

If you’re battling addiction, feeling hopeless in your marriage, or doubting whether God can redeem your life, take the time to watch Bob and Lori’s journey because what God did for them, He can certainly do for you too!

There are many people who believe that because we are justified by faith, the way we live our lives—our thoughts, words and actions—has no bearing on whether or not we are saved. The New Testament actually teaches the exact opposite.

Host: Pastor Steve, one thing you discuss in your book, “Intoxicated with Babylon,” is the difference between genuine and false faith. You started that discussion in the book by talking about two conflicting messages going out to the church in America today. What are those two messages?

Steve: There is a cry, I believe, going out from sober and godly people who understand how the spirit of the world has infiltrated the church and how it's affecting people's lives. They are passionate about the need for Christians to return to holy living. It's like a refreshing call to repentance and holiness going out from some. But unfortunately, there is another voice that is so loud and so dominating in Christian circles that it really smothers out the first voice, and basically, the message that they are propagating is this: "You don't have to be holy. You don't have to obey God. You can basically live how you want to live. As long as you go to church and just follow some basic outward rules, you don't have to get yourself in a strain about living a holy life. That's what grace is there for. If you have just a few little sins in your life, don't be too concerned about it. God loves you, and His grace will cover it all."

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Host: There is a kernel of truth to this message of grace you're describing. So would you say that the problem is that the message of grace is being overemphasized?

Steve: That's exactly what it is. Of course, we appreciate God's grace, and it does cover us in our lapses. But his grace is meant for sincere believers. We're talking about a holy God, and He does not wink at sin. Paul said, "God is not mocked." But the message of the modern church is largely that you can live for yourself, that you can live selfishly, that you can live a worldly, carnal and even a sinful life...and none of that really matters because God's grace is going to cover you no matter what. And that’s just simply unbiblical.

Host: You mentioned Paul's writings. Didn't Paul warn us about this kind of teaching becoming common in the last days?

Steve: Yes, he did. In one of his passages of Scripture where he started referring to what Christianity was going to look like in the end times, he gave Timothy what has become a famous warning—that the time would come when "they will not endure sound doctrine." Why not? Because they "want to have their ears tickled." And so, therefore, they will "accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires," and they will turn away from the truth. (2 Timothy 4:3) And that's exactly what we see happening in America today.

Host: If you look at the American church today, it seems like we think we can do whatever we want without any consequences. Is that where this false teaching has brought us?

Steve: Let me take it a step backwards. Our prosperity has affected us. There's a reason Jesus warned about the "deceitfulness of riches" (Mark 4:19). We have become accustomed to a certain type of lifestyle, and that lifestyle is very much to please the flesh. So what has happened is that there's been a subtle change in Christianity over the last forty years. We started with Christianity being Christ-centered and revolving around a sovereign and holy God—the Almighty. We had a huge perspective of the Lord forty years ago. And little by little, that has been withered away by this selfish desire for worldly living, until now, by and large, the Christian faith in the United States has become man-centered. Richard Baxter, an old Puritan, encapsulated what I'm talking about when he said, "As much as God desires the salvation of men, he will not prostitute heaven and set the gates of it wide open to those who only fly to it in extremity but never sought it in good earnest, nor indeed do now care for it or desire it for any other reason but to excuse them from going to hell."

Host: You're talking about our need to do more in order to seek God. But someone might ask, "Wait a minute. Are you talking about works? I thought we were saved by grace?" What's your response?

Steve: Yes, that is very true. We are only saved by grace and by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. But James makes the point that if there is true saving faith, there is going to be works accompanying that faith. And if there are no works, then it's a good sign that there is no true, saving faith. And so it seems like a contradiction with all that Paul says about works. But actually, there is no contradiction. Because when Paul is saying that we are not saved by works, he is referring to the Jewish system of trying to earn your salvation through works.
       If I could put it this way, what we're talking about is before and after conversion. If you have not been converted and you are trying to earn your way to heaven, you will never do it. You will never make it there. But if you have truly been converted, then there is going to be proof of that conversion in the way that you live your life. So there really is no conflict between what James is saying and what Paul said.

Host: In “Intoxicated with Babylon,” you give three proofs of true conversion. What are they?

Steve: These are three of many proofs of conversion, but they are maybe some of the bigger issues.

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1. One proof is a continual growth in obedience to God.

We begin this Christian life as spiritual babies, and of course, at first, God gives us a lot of latitude for our mistakes and sin issues that are still hanging on our lives—the struggles we have to work through, and so on. The Lord understands. But he expects growth, and for a person that has truly been saved, there's going to be that growth, because Jesus Christ is living within.

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2. Another proof of genuine conversion is the development of an eternal perspective.

The genuine believer is just simply going to have eternity in the back of his mind. It's going to shape his worldview and the way the sees the rest of his life. He's going to have eternal values in the equation. What many so-called Christians do is live with a temporal, earthly mindset, and that makes me wonder whether they have really been converted.

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3. The last characteristic that I mention in the book is love.
Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). And here, again, the temptation is to take a superficial perspective of what love is: "I'm a nice guy, and I love people." But that's not the fiery love of Jesus Christ that burns through a real Christian's heart. That kind of love causes you to get out of yourself and meet the needs of other people in one fashion or another. So a true love that compels you to see the needs of others and to help other people is a sign of healthy Christianity.

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Host: If someone considering these things doesn't see evidence of genuine, saving faith in their life, what should they do?

Steve: If there is reason to doubt whether or not you have truly been converted, there is only one thing to do, and that is to get on your face before God, to begin to cry out earnestly for the Holy Spirit to make Himself real to you, to repent of your sins, to repent of your self-will and your worldliness—anything that you have allowed to get between you and God—and to refuse to get up, so to speak, until the assurance has come to you that you are a child of God. And then, you can go forth with the confidence of knowing that you have crossed that line, and that you belong to Jesus Christ.

There has only ever been one Judas Iscariot—someone who walked alongside God in the flesh, only to betray Him to His death. Yet, the lessons from Judas’ life and where he went astray are deeply relevant to all of us.

This powerful message by Ed Buch led many to the altar in repentance during our Sunday morning service. We pray the Holy Spirit will use it to search your heart as well, exposing any areas where your devotion to Jesus may be wanting.

Why is our Residential Program so effective at helping men break free from sexual sin? Because we lead people to the TRUTH—the only thing that has the power to bring people into real freedom. In this episode, we'll talk about some of the most common lies our Residential Program students are battling with, and we'll walk through the very truths that dismantle these lies.

Resources

• Check Out Our Residential Program
• 20 Truths that Helped Me in My Battle with Porn Addiction (Podcast Series) By Pure Life Ministries
• 10 Half-Truths that Keep Us Addicted to Porn (Podcast Series) By Pure Life Ministries

In the 23rd message of our “Unveiling Yahweh” series, Steve Gallagher shares God’s pathway for victory over sexual sin.

Every professing Christian who is constantly losing the battle against sexual sin has developed a distorted view of God. As a result, they question God and His ways. In today’s sermon, Steve Gallagher answers some of these questions with biblical answers to prove that God is not only trustworthy, but He is also the only source for lasting victory over sexual sin.

Compulsive porn users. Serial adulterers. Out-of-control spenders on sex. These are the kinds of men who enroll in our 9-month Residential Program, and for over 35 years we’ve been watching God radically transform these men. But why is our program so effective? In this short podcast series, we'll look at the top five reasons why so many men find a brand-new life at our Residential Program.

Resources

• Check Out Our Residential Program

It is a spiritual law that a life which is dominated by sin can only breed death. But it is also a spiritual law that a life dominated by righteousness can only breed life. So what hope can the habitual sinner ever have to live that kind of life? In our recent chapel service, Nate Danser & Steve Gallagher shared about how it wasn’t the American church system which enabled them to do so, but it was a radical encounter with the living God, and then an ongoing pursuit of Him.

Pride...it brought about the fall of Satan and put man at odds with God, resulting in the destruction of man. This is why the role of humility in a Christian's life can hardly be overestimated. Humility undoes the damage of the fall, and God becomes his protector and his friend.

Resources

• Exposing the Root of All Sin (Podcast Series) By Pure Life Ministries
• i: The Root of Sin Exposed (Book) By Steve Gallagher

When Chris looked at Marissa, he saw a woman who would help him control his lust. He saw someone who would help him achieve a prosperous life. When Marissa looked at Chris, she saw a man who would help her pursue the Lord, someone who would help her cultivate the kind of spiritual life she dreamed of having. One day, both of their dreams came crashing down. But this did not result in the destruction of their marriage. Instead, it brought about the creation of something unexpected. Something beautiful. Something brand new.