The Counterfeit Gospel Of Missionary Paris Reidhead

1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

I was driving to Harvest Baptist Church on Easter Sunday morning in 2014, listening to the church's radio station on KHMG 88.1 FM, when for the first time I heard Paris Reidhead preach. It was a sermon named, “TEN SHEKELS AND A SHIRT.” I almost drove off the road as I heard him teach the heresy of Lordship Salvation. Paris Reidhead (1919-1992) was a religious missionary, teacher, writer and advocate of economic development in impoverished nations. Reidhead's sermons are popular on YouTube and various religious websites. Unfortunately, like Adrian Rogers, Steve Pettit, Marty Herron, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, John MacArthur, William Lane Craig and others, Paris Reidhead espouses a Calvinistic false plan of salvation known as “LORDSHIP SALVATION.”

Consider the following heretical quotes from Reidhead's book, “FINDING THE REALITY OF GOD” . . . 

THE DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE: 

"Repentance is defined by the Scripture as a change of mind, turning away from the intention and purpose of pleasing self and choosing to please God. The seed of all righteousness and holiness is in repentance. Perhaps a man's purpose - his aim and direction - is to please himself. But when he repents he must make an about-face This is a complete turnabout. From that moment on, the intention of this man is to please and glorify God - to satisfy only Him. The salvation of which Jesus speaks is not our being satisfied with Him, rather it is His being satisfied with us." [emphasis added] —Paris Reidhead (Finding the Reality of God, pg 32-33) 

"Repentance means making a 180-degree turn. It means changing your mindset from 'I'm going to do what I want to do,' to, 'Lord, I'm going to please You as long as I live.' It is a change of mind, a change of intention, a change of purpose, a change of practice." [emphasis added] —Paris Reidhead (Finding the Reality of God, pg 87) 

"So we see that repentance has to be complete and not partial. Repentance is a committal of the will to the principle and practice of pleasing God in everything. That means, from today on, the Lord is going to be king and boss and sovereign. You do as He tells you. Because, out of love, He deserves to be obeyed and served. We need to understand this ourselves in order to proclaim it to others." [emphasis added] —Paris Reidhead (Finding the Reality of God, pg 88) 

"This is the nature of repentance. It is a change of mind - a change of intention - a change of purpose. It is not merely 'accepting Christ." [emphasis added] —Paris Reidhead (Finding the Reality of God, pg. 89)

Notice how Paris Reidhead subtly begins in “FINDING THE REALITY OF GOD” by correctly defining “repentance” unto salvation as “a change of mind,” but then he deceitfully and dishonestly redefines the word to mean: “Lord, I'm going to please You as long as I live.” Pleasing God is a matter of discipleship and fellowship, not sonship. Salvation is immediate, but sanctification is a lifetime process. Mr. Reidhead is a theological liar!!!

Paris Reidhead is a false prophet teaching a doctrine of devils. On page 89 of his book “FINDING THE REALITY OF GOD” Reidhead errantly states, “Repentance is a committal of the will to the principle and practice of pleasing God in everything. That means, from today on, the Lord is going to be king and boss and sovereign. You do as He tells you.” How did repentance begin as “a change of mind,” but then become “a committal of the will to the principle and practice of pleasing God in everything?” What blatant heresy!!!

Anyone Who Requires Full Surrender For Salvation Is A Liar

I am wearied by these religious intellectuals like Paris Reidhead who make soul-winning hard and difficult. As I mentioned, I first learned about Missionary Paris Reidhead when I heard his classic sermon, “TEN SHEKELS AND A SHIRT,” which is a powerful and great sermon, but toward the end he starts getting into the Lordship Salvation heresy. Reidhead is correct that the human race are all monsters of iniquity in need of repentance toward a holy God. We all need to repent of our wickedness. Reidhead is correct that there can be no repentance until their has first been conviction, convincing us that we are all monstrous criminals in the eyes of a holy God. The Bible is not trying to convince good men that they deserve the wrath of a bad God; but rather, the Word of God attempts to convince bad men that they deserve the wrath and anger of a good God. We all deserve to go straight to Hell and burn forever. I agree with all that! Christianity says that the end of all being is the glory of God. Humanism says that the end of all being is the happiness of man.

However, Paris Reidhead contrasts two types of repentance: claiming that one is based upon the conviction that we are all monsters of iniquity deserving of the damnation of Hell, whereas there is another insincere form of repentance that merely desires to escape being burned in the fires of Hell. May I say, there is nothing wrong with getting saved to avoid the fires and damnation of Hell. Reidhead is teaching a strange doctrine here that is unbiblical. Whether you get saved because you desire Heaven or fear Hell is irrelevant. I heard Dr. Jack Hyles in his great sermon, 'LITTLE SANCTUARIES,' say that the day he got saved he asked God to give him a mansion in Heaven. There's nothing wrong with that. Even Jesus Himself enticed us with the command to lay up FOR OURSELVES treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-20).

There are no right or wrong reason to get saved, just so long as you come sincerely as an admitted guilty sinner and place your complete trust and reliance in the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross for YOUR SINS, and His burial, and His resurrection from the dead. Mark 1:15 says, “...Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” The Bible doesn't say to clean up your life and believe the Gospel. Nor does the Bible say to repent and turn over a new leaf. No, it says to 'REPENT YE, AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL.'

The Great Commission is four-fold:

1. You GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD!
2. You go PREACH THE GOSPEL and get people saved first, so now they have the Holy Spirit to work inside of them.
3. Second, BAPTIZE THEM WITH WATER, which is their public profession of faith.
4. Then you DISCIPLE THOSE CONVERTS, which takes years if not decades, teaching them all about Jesus and the things of the Word of God. 

The purpose of the Church is not to educate people; but rather, to disciple them to follow Christ. This is how the great commission works. Our part is to preach the Gospel. Whatever changes need to be made in a convert's life is God's department, and you can be assured that He will attend to that is taught in Hebrews 12:6-8. God is not an absent parent, and He will raise His children (Hebrews 12:6-8).

Here is one of the greatest sermons that I've ever heard by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), which so plainly explains the debate over getting saved verses living the crucified life . . .

The Saved, Crucified, Resurrected And Ascended Life

(an awesome MP3 sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles - Read Article)

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Savior of ALL MEN, especially of those that believe. 1st Timothy 4:10-11, “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach.” Not one verse in the Bible teaches that a sinner must declare “Jesus is Lord” to be saved, unless you have a perverted, corrupted and ungodly New International Version (NIV or H.I.V.) version of the Bible. Anyone who teaches that someone didn't get saved, because they haven't made full surrender to Christ, is being a religious hypocrite and teaching false doctrine. The Bible says that eternal life is a gift, a free gift, which cannot be earned nor merited. 

When a false preacher like Paris Reidhead teaches that a person MUST cease from sinful living to have eternal life, they have perverted the Gospel, ADDING something to salvation which God doesn't require (just as evil men did in Acts 15:1, 24). Like it or not, eternal life is a free gift for 'WHOSOEVER' wants it (Romans 10:13). Jesus promised to NEVER turn anyone away who comes unto Him (John 6:37). If you desire to come to Christ, then come dear friend, and He will save you just as He solemnly promised.

Romans 4:5 says “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Notice that Jesus JUSTIFIETH THE UNGODLY. The entire notion that a person must clean up their life, reform and turn away from a lifestyle of sin to be saved, is Satanic teaching. We turn away from our sins because WE ARE SAVED, not to GET SAVED. Eternal life is the free gift of God the Bible says, and a gift is totally free without any obligations, requirements, nor strings attached. If you want to be saved, just LOOK TO THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST! A man's faith is COUNTED for righteousness! Woe unto the man who corrupts God's grace! Jesus PROMISED in John 6:37 that He would NEVER turn anyone away who comes to Him. John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” We've got a bunch of wicked men, like Ray Comfort, Sam Horn, Steve Pettit, Marty Herron and John MacArthur running around, lying to people that Jesus won't accept them unless they are willing to surrender everything in exchange for God's gift of eternal life. 

Paris Reidhead is preaching “ANOTHER GOSPEL” (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). Reidhead and other proponents of the Lordship Salvation heresy boldly claim that faith in Christ is insufficient to save a person. What saith the Scripture? Romans 4:4-6, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.” There you have it, plain and simple, the Bible teaches that a person's faith supersedes all self-righteousness. When religious people cringe and strongly disagree with the simple idea that a person can be saved by faith in the Gospel, they are 100% going contrary to the plainest teachings of God's Word . . .

Acts 15:1 and 24, “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. ... Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment.”

A group of false prophets came to town in Acts 15:1 teaching a false plan of salvation, requiring people to keep the deeds of the law to be saved. Like demonic Lordship Salvationists, so also did these heretics add works to grace. Whether doing GOOD WORKS, or ceasing from BAD WORKS, these are all DEAD WORKS (Hebrews 6:1). My friend, Christ paid the price in full for your sins and mine, because we are horrible sinners, deserving of the Lake of Fire, but the love of God has provided redemption for us through the dear gift of God's only begotten Son, Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God. Repentance is forsaking ALL WORKS (bad and good alike), and resting completely in Jesus Christ for salvation (Hebrews 4:10-11). Lordship Salvation proponents require people to forsake bad works to be saved, but that is wrong! To be saved you don't try to do good works, nor do you try to forsake bad works (i.e., turning from sins), you simply believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and receive God's free gift of eternal life.

We hypocritically sing the famous Gospel hymn “JUST AS I AM” in our churches, but then tell people that God won't save them unless they make full surrender, turn over a new leaf, forsake their sinful bad habits, and intend to reform for the rest of their life. What a crock of garbage! The song “JUST AS I AM” is accurate, you come JUST AS YOU ARE and God saves you by faith alone, without works!