Monday, December 13, 2021

The Counterfeit Gospel Of Billy And Franklin Graham

Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” ...

Dear reader, things that are different are NOT the same! I love this needful and important sermon by Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995)...

Things That Are Different Are Not The Same
(a wonderful sermon by Pastor Curtis Hutson)

The following helpful information is a quote from Michael P. Bowen's doctrinally sound book titled: “I Never Knew You: The Coming Great White Throne Judgment And How YOU Can Avoid It!” Brother Bowen graciously shares his testimony, how that for three years he had been woefully DECEIVED by the counterfeit gospel of Billy Graham (1918-2018) and his son Franklin Graham...
Chapter 12 The Plan Of Salvation According To Franklin Graham
...At this time, I would like to draw your attention to the plan of salvation according to Franklin Graham. If you will visit his Franklin Graham Festivals Website and click upon the “Peace With God” link, you will be taken straight to the salvation statement issued by Billy Graham at the BGEA Website. Franklin uses his father’s plan of salvation rather than issuing a statement of his own. Essentially, Franklin is just a younger version of Billy, only Franklin does not deliver his sermons in the same forceful manner in which his father did when he was Franklin’s age. Franklin delivers a much kinder, more inclusive call for people to come forward and surrender their lives over to the Lordship of Christ. Because Franklin uses the exact same plan of salvation as his father, I will take you to the plan of salvation given by Billy Graham at his BGEA Website. Now, because of potential copyright issues, I will paraphrase for you what salvation is according to the Grahams’. 
First of all, we are told that God loves us and wants to give us an abundant life. 
Second, we are told that we are sinners. 
Third, we are told that Jesus died for us and that He is the only way to heaven. 
Fourth, we are told to turn from our sins and to receive Christ as both the Lord of our lives and as our savior, which, according to the Grahams’ means that we are to trust that Christ paid for our sins by His death on the cross and that we are to follow the Lordship of Christ over our lives in strict obedience (for the rest of our lives) “in order to” get to heaven. In virtually every sermon you hear given by Franklin Graham, he makes surrender of one’s life to Christ sound more appealing to us than a hot-fudge sundae could ever appeal to a child. 
What Franklin says about giving our lives to Christ is truly beautiful. At the end of his messages, I would follow him in prayer, trusting Jesus Christ and then giving Him rule over my life by determining to follow Him in obedience for the rest of my life so that I, too, could go to heaven when I die. When I thought I was saved as a result of trusting Christ the way both Billy and Franklin told me to do, from the years 2002 through 2005, I decided to make my decision “public” the way they said we all have to do in order to go to heaven. I literally became “high” on Jesus. I was so “on fire for Jesus” that I became a pamphleteer in order to get the “plan of salvation” out to everybody.
...For three whole years I had been going about trying to establish my own righteousness before God through my own efforts, when in actuality Christ had, by His own righteousness, paid for all of my sins by His death, burial and resurrection from the dead 2,000 years earlier. 
When I learned the bible said I could have the free gift of everlasting life by believing solely upon what Christ had done for me by His death and subsequent resurrection from the dead, I believed His message immediately, hungrily, and to the exclusion of all the other counterfeit plans of salvation that I had been led to believe by today’s biggest hitters in Christianity. I was finally “free.” I was finally born again, and I knew it beyond any doubts at all. God put an end to my pamphleteering of false gospels. 
Now, I preach His plan of salvation via my personal Internet page, by face-to-face discussions with people, by tract, by CD, by DVD, as well as through the use of email. Today, I am now proclaiming Christ’s free gift via this book you are holding in your hands now which shall eventually go all around the world. The plan of salvation according to Franklin Graham is different from the plan of salvation according to Jesus Christ. 
...Christ is telling us that many will claim to be Christians, that they will agree that Jesus is “the Messiah,” that He is deity, but that they would deceive everyone with a faith plus works message that cannot save anyone at all.
...These are persons who were trusting in their works alone, or in partial faith in Christ plus their good works, to get them into heaven. Look at the various areas of service in which they brag. They acknowledge Him as “Lord” and then they brag about preaching in His name, about healing in His name, and about the myriad of inexhaustible works of goodness they have done in His name; yet, because they did not trust in Him alone, the way He so clearly tells us to in His bible, He tells them to depart from Him because He sees their good works in His name as “sin.” As if that were not bad enough, this is the fate of everyone who appears at the Great White Throne Judgement, where they stand not in Christ’s righteousness, but in the filthy rags of their own inadequate righteousness. This is their fate:
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).
Reader, this chapter presents to you two plans of salvation: 1) the plan of salvation according to Franklin Graham, and 2) the plan of salvation according to Jesus Christ. Of these two plans, which one will you choose?

Yes, amen! I thank God for Michael Bowen's excellent book, which exposes the damnable false gospel of the Billy Graham and company. In the year 2013, Billy Graham authored his 32nd book titled, "The Reason For My Hope: Salvation," in which he makes this ungodly heretical statement:

A ‘simple’ gospel
“I am afraid that many Christians, in their zeal to share their faith in Christ, have made the Gospel message of making disciples for Him too simple. Just to say ‘believe in Christ’ can produce a false assurance of the hope of Heaven. Jesus spoke often about the gift of eternal life. To make it clear, He said, ‘Count the cost.’”
‘Earning’ salvation
“Giving up something to follow Christ is not earning salvation; it is giving up what keeps you from salvation. When we hold on to something that is dearer to us than receiving the greater gift of salvation in Christ, we lose.” SOURCE
WRONG! WRONG!! WRONG!!!

First of all, not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches that we get to Heaven by “following” Christ. In fact, we read about a cursed group of people in Matthew 7:21-23 who Christ denied knowing, who devoutly followed Christ. They boasted of their “many wonderful works” in Jesus' name. They boasted of prophesying (preaching) in Jesus' name. They boasted of casting out devils in Jesus' name. They even called Him “Lord, Lord.” Yet, the blessed Savior denied ever knowing them, and they went to Hell forever.

Secondly, no where in the inspired King James Bible are we taught to count the cost to be saved. Billy and Franklin Graham are false prophets! When Christ spoke of “counting the cost in Luke 14:28, He was speaking of discipleship (sanctification), not sonship (justification). Pastor M.R. DeHaan said it 100% correct:
"There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness." —Pastor M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117).
Dear reader, you'll never read a better explanation of discipleship verses salvation, as what you just read by Dr. Martin R. DeHaan (1891-1965). But here is another awesome quote, this time from Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan (1628-1688):
“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —Evangelist John Bunyan
Dear friend, Billy Graham and Franklin Graham are theological liars, who corrupt the Word of God and cast stumbling blocks before the people!

I just learned yesterday that Bob Jones University (BJU) is sinfully yoking together with Franklin Graham's ecumenical ministry. This doesn't come as a surprise to those of us who have been observing the downward plummet of BJU in recent decades, from the admirable fundamentalist institution it once was when Dr. Bob Gray Sr. (1883-1968) was still alive, to the cesspool of iniquity and Calvinism that it has become today in 2021. Dr. Steve Petit is an unsaved false teacher, and the new president of BJU since 2014. Birds of a feather flock together! These false teachers are partners in spiritual crime, perverting the Gospel of free grace, by adding the works of the law to faith.

Dear reader, the ONLY thing that hinders a man from coming to the light of THE TRUTH of the Gospel to be saved is UNBELIEF. Billy Graham and his son errantly teach that you must do all of the following to get to Heaven (as quoted from their ministry website):
Will you receive Jesus Christ right now? Here is how you can receive Christ: 
1. Admit your need (I am a sinner).
2. Be willing to turn from your sins (repent).
3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.
4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.) If you would like to pray right now and receive Jesus Christ, see Step 5 below.
STEP 5 – PRAYER

Pray to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior
SOURCE: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/knowing-god/

First, no where does the inspired King James Bible teach that a person must be willing to turn from your sin to be saved. Christ came to die for our sins. A child of God SHOULD live a godly life, but this is a matter of sanctification (James 2:18-21), not justification (Romans 4:4-7). Forgiveness of sin and eternal life are a free gift from God, received by faith alone (Romans 6:23; Galatians 3:26).

Secondnor is that what the Bible word for “repent” means! The word "repent" in the Bible regarding salvation is ALWAYS either the noun form metanoia (a change of mind), or the verb form metanoeo (to think differently). The man who BELIEVES on the Lord Jesus Christ has changed his mind. That is, he has repented. That is why the Gospel of John never mentions the word "repent," but we find the word "BELIEVE" mentioned 88 times!

Third, the Bible does NOT require praying to be saved, another heresy of Billy and Franklin Graham. That makes THREE heresies so far in the preceding false plan of salvation! Not once in the Gospel of John is the reader told to “pray” to have eternal life. It is okay to pray in response to one's faith, but NO ONE has ever been saved by praying. We are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Fourth, the Bible does not teach us to “invite” Jesus Christ into our life. Judas invited Jesus into his life, becoming one of Jesus' very own Apostles, yet Judas had a devil (John 6:70). Ungodly preachers have perverted God's grace, by adding a bunch of junk that God doesn't require to get saved. Christ is already inviting you to come to Him for salvation. You don't need to invite or ask Christ to save you!

Fifth, no where does the Holy Bible require that a person surrender “control” of their life over to the Holy Spirit to get to Heaven. In Romans 12:1 the Apostle Paul is pleading with the saints at Rome (Romans 1:7) to “present your bodies a living sacrifice” to God. Clearly, if surrendering to God were necessary to be saved, then these Romans couldn't have been saved, because they hadn't surrendered to God yet.

Sixth, no where does the inspired King James Bible require anyone to receive Jesus as their “Lord” to be saved. We simply need to receive Jesus as our personal Savior to get to Heaven. Christ automatically becomes your “Lord” the moment you receive Him as your Savior, whether you are surrendered to Him or not. Romans 14:9 teaches that Jesus died to be Lord of all. Every living creature, saved or unsaved, will someday bow down before Jesus and confess Him as “Lord.” Yet, many of those who confess Him will still spend eternity burning in Hell. Romans 14:9, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” If you want to go to Heaven, you only need to receive Jesus as your personal Savior (John 6:40).

We covered the heresy of having to “pray” to be saved in point three. I have exposed SIX damnable heresies of Billy and Franklin Graham. Tragically, I hear Baptist preachers by the droves praising Billy and Franklin Graham, giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are really born-again children of God; yet, what I have just shown you is NOT THE FREE GRACE GOSPEL. Pastor Curtis Hutson got it 100% correct—THINGS THAT ARE DIFFERENT ARE NOT THE SAME!!!

Now that I have shown you the accursed false plan of salvation of Billy and Franklin Graham, let me show you what saith the Scripture? Acts 16:30b-31a, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He was buried and three days later He physically resurrected from the dead. This is the GOOD NEWS, or “THE GOSPEL” (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Anyone who comes to God as a guilty sinner in need of salvation, who receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for their sins, is immediately, irrevocably and eternally saved. You have God's PROMISE of it in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” How does that drastically compare to Billy and Franklin Graham's complicated SIX HERESIES ON salvation?

Galatians 3:1-3, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Dear reader, just as Michael P. Bowen states at the end of chapter 12 in his wonderful book, you must CHOOSE whom to believe. Will you choose to believe Billy and Franklin Graham, or will you choose to believe what the precious Savior said? John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

False teachers are nothing new...

Acts 15:1 and 24-26, “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: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostles sent Word that the false gospel being propagated in town didn't come from them. Dear reader, Billy and Franklin Graham DIDN'T get their plan of salvation from the inspired King James Bible, they got it from the Devil.

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