What is extremism? My dictionary says “Extreme” means the outermost or farthest, the most remote, or the radical. An extremist would be a person with extreme views. I would have to say that when it comes to the rest of the Body of Christ, I am probably an extremist. I believe that I am extremely saved. I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ and I stand before our Father without any sense of sin, guilt, or inferiority. I was quickened together with Christ, raised with Him, and seated with Him in Heavenly places in Christ at the right hand of God.  I believe that all authority has been given to me in Heaven and Earth (Mt. 28:18-19).  I believe the devil, demons, and all evil spirits are subject to me (Eph. 1:22).  Of course, this is all because of the finished work of Christ at Calvary and what He did for me from the cross to His seating on the throne.  I believe we have all been made kings and priests unto our God.  I am an extremist when it comes to the subject of divine healing. I not only believe in healing but in divine health. I believe we shouldn’t even get sick to start with. We have been redeemed. Of course, I haven’t arrived at it totally, yet, but it doesn’t change my belief.  I believe in extreme prosperity.  According to II Corinthians 8:9, Paul states,  “For ye know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich”.  I believe in these things, and I preach them with great fervency.  And, I base my beliefs on the New Testament revelation given to the church.

Now you can take any of these beliefs and take them to the extreme. I believe that I am a god because Jesus said it in John 10:34. But I do not believe that I am the God on the throne even though I am seated there positionally in Christ. I am a son of God. Just like I am a son of a Whitfield therefore I am a Whitfield. I am not the Christ who died on the cross. I am not the sinless sacrifice or the Lamb of God. But the Father identified me with His Son on the cross. We all make up Christ, for we are His Body on the earth. In that way we can say we are Christ but balance it by saying also that Jesus is the Head of His Body. He has the preeminence. And because we have been so highly exalted together with Him (Eph. 2:4-6) we can say with our Brother Paul that all our enemies have been placed under our feet (Eph. 1:22). It’s all a matter of balanced teaching which comes from balanced interpretation of God’s Word which produces balanced believing.

I never would have thought the longest day in my life that I would ever have to address the subject I am about to address. I am referring to the Extreme teaching circulating in the body on the subject of “Grace”. But, sadly it is so. I am a witness first hand at what it has done to the church I pastor and to the Body of Christ. And, it is causing much danger in peoples lives. How in the world could believers take the subject of Grace to the extreme?

To start with Grace is extreme in itself. We are extremely saved by Grace - we are extremely healed to the point of divine health. The Lord said himself, “I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” Jesus was and is Grace in action. “For by grace are we saved through faith and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God”. It is not of any works that you or I may do outside of believing in Christ, receiving Him as Lord, and confessing with our mouths that He is our Lord. We cannot earn righteousness.

The Galatian church was birthed by Grace through faith. They made their mistake by getting back under the law or works. They accepted the teachings of the Judaizers that this new salvation required circumcision to further justify their new faith.  Circumcision deals with the flesh and no man can be justified by the flesh.  But, their new salvation was in Christ alone, which produces righteousness. Paul calls it the “righteousness of faith” in Romans 10. Anything else frustrates the Grace of God. If anything else is required then Christ is dead in vain (Galatians 2:16, 20-21). The whole context of the book of Galatians is about being made the righteousness of God (receiving eternal life) and not a permission slip to be excused from our sins and rebellion. He explains what the works of the flesh produces and the curses that come from it.  He also explains what the fruit of the recreated spirit produces and the blessings that come from it; which will spill over into the next life.

If someone is deceived into thinking that our manner of life does not produce results in the next life they are not reading from the same Bible I read from. The whole book of II Peter is a warning about out lifestyles.  The danger is that sin is progressive.  Once it gets a grip on you it is possible for a person to decide that he or she would rather have it than Christ.

Charles Capps explains Grace like this, “God’s willingness to exercise his ability and power in our lives whether we deserve it or not”. A favorite definition is “unmerited favor.” How could it be taken to the extreme? Well, leave it to the devil, gullible Christians, and teachers who feel pressed to come up with something new that false teachings arise and people who have itching ears will just open their hearts and swallow it. This teaching is not really new for it has filtrated through the body before. Years ago there was a ministry in Louisiana that went through a great fall. A man of God who was in the forefront of the evangelist ministry was caught in moral sin. His ministry was almost completely destroyed. He had a great university as well as a tremendous church and was greatly loved and respected all over the world. I personally received the Holy Spirit in one of his meetings. Today this ministry is only a shell of what it was at one time.  But, what happened? Prior to the man’s fall a speaker came to his ministry teaching on the subject of Grace. The teachings were extreme. The head of the organization accepted the teachings and promoted it. The next thing you know there is immorality running rampant throughout the campus. And, this great man of God has fallen. They were taught that because of Grace, physical sin doesn’t matter anymore.  But, what we fail to understand is that the body is the instrument of sin. The sin is of the heart. And now, they believe a lie and it is OK to commit sin, adultery, or any sin of the flesh.  Jude 4 calls this “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness”.

A young individual in one church committed a moral indiscretion.  In the process of time she reported to her pastor that she had cancer. Of course, pastors are in the restoring business. Her pastor prayed with her for forgiveness and the Lord by his Grace forgave her of the sin. Then he prayed for healing and the Lord healed her. She is now cancer free. What a wonderful Lord we serve.  But, her Father, who was the head deacon, heard some teaching on television on the subject of Grace.  He now decides that because the Lord healed her, physical sins don’t matter. The pastor strongly disagreed with his stance and the Father accused the pastor of rejecting the Grace of God.  He said the Holy Spirit had told him that but the pastor said, “No, you got this from the minister on television”.  Grace forgave her and healed her but Grace is not a license to sin. If what he believes is true then all of us could just have an orgy in the church and not be concerned about it because according to this “new revelation”, physical sins don’t matter. This is extremism. This is ignorance gone to seed. This is a doctrine of the devil. My spiritual father would call it “Bunk” with a capital “B”.

You see, child of God, it is Grace that allows us to repent of our sin. The church is the only group on earth that must repent of its sins. The world only repents of one sin, which is rejecting Jesus Christ. It is Grace that gave us 1 John 1:9. If physical sins are not important then why did the Lord even put that in the Bible? The word tells us in 1 Peter 1:14-16 to, “Be ye holy for I am holy.” Hebrews 12:14 states, “Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

This teaching is just another version of the age old teaching that says “once saved always saved”. Yet, it even takes it to the extreme. In my 30 years of ministry I have seen the church go from one extreme to another, one tangent to another trying to find something new. And they only bring confusion and division to the church. And then the shocker comes. These people are so set on this new liberty to sin that they then use this as an excuse to try and split up a church. Somehow I just can’t see the Spirit of Grace doing this. I believe this is an insult to the Spirit of Grace.  Heb. 10:29 states, “and hath done despite (insulted) unto the Spirit of grace”. II Corinthians 5:10 tells us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”. This “new revelation” on Grace teaches if we sin we only miss out on blessings here in this life. Well, the judgment seat is after the rapture so what is it we are being judged for then? Yet, they will tell you that it only has to do with receiving rewards here or not. Really? Jesus said he gave the church at Thyatira “space to repent.” That was Grace. Read carefully what Jesus says will happen if the church didn’t repent.  He wants restoration. Not a freedom to sin.  No, I don’t believe that once you are saved you can do absolutely nothing to lose your salvation. I preached about the rich man and Lazarus.  He lifted his eyes up in Hell, tormented in the flames. This “new revelation” teaches that if he had been in the church age he would have gone to Heaven. I can’t buy that. It’s too extreme for me.  Doctor Kenneth Hagin told us life was like a road with a ditch on either side.  He always told us to stay in the middle of the road and stay ready.  Beware, Body of Christ - Deception is strong in these last days.  A very reputable Word of Faith minister addressed a group of ministers last November in Canada.  He shared that no less than 12 errors and false doctrines had crept into the Word of Faith movement last year.  If true, that happened in just ten months.  Major leaders and teachers are being deceived.  Jesus tells us through the Word this would come.  Stay with the Word, stay with Jesus, stay with the Spirit, and stay close to your Shepherd.  Watch out for strange doctrines.  They’re coming.

Pastor Jim