Wrong Notions

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. (James 1:16)

Henry Ward Beecher, born in Litchfield, CT in 1813, was the most famous man of the nineteenth century. His father was the prominent, last of the Puritan preachers, Lyman Beecher¹, and Henry’s siblings accomplished remarkable things. One brother was a prominent theologian. A sister began a women’s school in Hartford; another sister was a leader in the women’s voting rights movement of the day, and of course, his most prominent sibling, Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the early 1850’s.

Henry was a gifted orator and pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn. His salary from the church, when adjusted to present day dollars, was $1.8 million per year, and he signed a book deal in 1865 to write a novel, the advance being the equivalent of $3.4 million. When examined by Congregational pastors upon coming to take the Plymouth Church, he was asked if he believed in the doctrine of original sin. He said that he did not think too much about that since there was plenty of sin to go around today. When asked about the doctrine of predestination he said that he did not think too much about that either, preferring, instead, to think on the love of God. He was so winsome and so dynamic that the pastors accepted him, though some had reservations about his theological orthodoxy.

He made even more money as an author and regular contributor to some of the largest newspapers in America. He travelled the country making speeches for which he also was paid handsomely. He had a summer home at Lenox, MA and regularly discussed philosophy and world events with his neighbours, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, leaders in the ‘free thought’ movement of the day. Some say his sermons bore an uncanny resemblance to Emerson’s thought.

While never proven, a cloud of serial, marital infidelity perpetually hung over him. In fact a civil trial for adultery in the late 1860’s caused a feeding frenzy by the tabloids of the day. One of his antagonists said that Henry preached on any given Sunday night to seven or eight of his mistresses from the congregation. By the end of his ministry he said that he did not believe God would send anyone to hell. The Old School Presbyterian Princeton Review wrote that the Beecher children had done more to eradicate Biblical Calvinism in their day than any other people.²

James, the half-brother of Jesus, admonishes us saying, ‘Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.’ This verse serves as a transition between what James has said earlier about trials and temptations and what follows concerning the doctrine of God (‘every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation’) and the doctrine of salvation (‘in the exercise of his will he brought us forth by the word of truth’). Bottom line – wrong notions about sin, salvation, and God can bring eternal perdition. By wrong notions I mean this. We tend to believe that we can sin and be forgiven easily. Sin, however, has an enslaving dimension and one ought never to assume that repentance is an easy thing to do, for Paul says that it is a gift from God (2 Tim. 2:24-25). And sin is not merely outward action. Jesus constantly addressed this with the Pharisees who thought they were righteous because they did not commit murder or adultery (Matt. 5:21-22, 27-28). One can sin in thought as easily as he can in bodily action.

We also deceive ourselves by wrong notions of salvation. So many people with whom I speak the gospel are trusting in their perceived goodness, hoping their good outweighs their bad, as a ticket to heaven. Paul, however, says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Many today also inter-mingle justification with sanctification. Justification, receiving the imputed righteousness of Jesus by faith, is a glorious doctrine, and it means that the believer is eternally accepted by the Father, that he can do nothing to gain, maintain, or lose his eternal salvation. But many proponents of sola fide³ carry this notion of God’s love and acceptance over into their sanctification, the need to grow in holiness. They say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful to know that God is never angry with me again . . . I don’t have to attend worship, meet daily with God, tithe, or make much progress as a father or husband because God loves me and will never let me go.’ Yes, it is true that God loves his children, but just like a loving father who is displeased, angry, and thus will discipline his disobedient child, God will do the same with us (Heb. 12:9-10). A true believer ought to be a better spouse today than he was last year, a better worker, a better neighbour, a better church member. And wrong notions about God can also be deadly. Some believe that God is grace only, that it is ‘his job to forgive people’, that he will therefore save all but the really bad people. Others believe he is impotent, not really able to do anything about the wickedness and violence in our world. And others believe he is imperious – tyrannical, unkind, and cruel.

Wrong notions can bring eternal perdition. James says that a man who restores one who has erred or gone astray – who allows himself to be deceived by wrong notions of God, salvation, or sin – will save that one’s soul from death. The death of a soul means the second death (Rev. 20:13-15), being cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. This is serious business. What is the remedy for wrong notions about God, salvation, sin? We need a Biblical and experiential knowledge of the doctrine of God and salvation. Head knowledge is a start but it is not enough. The truth, as it is in Jesus, must grip our hearts – moving us to zeal for God, increasing our faith, and sending us into the world to serve others in the name of Christ. When Jesus told Pilate that he came to testify to the truth (John 18:38), Pilate mocked him by asking, ‘What is truth?’ That is the issue. We do not find soul-saving, sanctifying truth outside of Scripture. You must never jettison the authority of Scripture. James puts forth his command in the present tense. In other words – never allow yourself to be seduced, led astray, given to error when it comes to God, salvation, or sin. I fear for people like Bart Ehrman⁴ and Henry Ward Beecher. Can people who write, speak, believe, and act so contrary to the Scripture expect to find a seat at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-10)? Seek the Lord while he may be found (Isa. 55:7), draw near to God and he will draw near to you (James 4:8). You ought to want to finish well, not bringing shame to Christ or his gospel, not doing anything that would cause your family or friends to stumble due to your hypocrisy or apostasy. Gain a growing and transforming knowledge of God through his Word. Jesus, after all, is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6).