Léonard

There are lots of ideas in this book ‘Heaven is so Real’ that appear truth, but when studied against the Bible (The Word of God) they fall short. Many new ideas that are being presented by Choo Thomas as being truth but yet the Word of God says, this is not so.

Jude was the half-brother of Jesus and a leader in the early church. In his New Testament letter, he outlines how to recognize apostasy and strongly urges those in the body of Christ to contend earnestly for the faith (vs. 3). The Greek word translated “contend earnestly” is a compound verb from where we get the word “agonize.” It is in the present infinitive form, which means that the struggle willbe continuous. In other words, Jude is telling us that there will be a constant fight against false teaching and that Christians should take it so seriously that we “agonize” over the fight in which we are engaged. Moreover, Jude makes it clear that every Christian is called to this fight, not just the local body’s leaders, so it is critical that all believers sharpen their discernment skills so that they can recognize and prevent apostasy in their midst.

After urging his readers to contend earnestly for the faith, Jude then highlights the reason: “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (vs. 4). In this one verse, Jude provides Christians with three traits of apostasy and apostate teachers.

First, Jude says that apostasy can be subtle. Jude uses the word “crept” (found in no other book of the Bible) to describe the apostate’s entry into the church. In extra-biblical Greek, the term describes the cunning craftiness of a lawyer who, through clever argumentation, infiltrates the minds of courtroom officials and corrupts their thinking. The word literally means “slip in sideways; come in stealthily; sneak in; hard to detect.” In other words, Jude says it is rare that apostasy begins in an overt and easily detectable manner. Instead, it looks a lot like Arius’ preaching in which, in a seemingly dismissive and nonchalant manner, only a single letter differentiates its doctrine from the real teaching of the Christian faith.

Describing this aspect of apostasy and its underlying danger, A. W. Tozer wrote, “So skilled is error at imitating truth, that the two are constantly being mistaken for each another. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which is Abel.” The Apostle Paul also speaks to the outwardly pleasing behavior of apostates and their teaching when he says, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). In other words, do not look for apostates to appear bad on the outside or speak dramatic words of heresy at the outset of their teaching. Rather than denying truth outright, apostates will twist it to fit their own agenda, but as pastor R. C. Lensky has noted, “The worst forms of wickedness consist in perversions of the truth.”

Second, Jude describes the apostates as “ungodly” and as those who use God’s grace as a license to commit unrighteous acts. Beginning with “ungodly,” throughout his letter Jude describes eighteen unflattering traits of apostates so his readers can more easily identify them. Jude says the apostates are ungodly (vs. 4), morally perverted (vs. 4), denying Christ (vs. 4), ones who defile the flesh (vs. 8), rebellious (vs. 8), people who revile angels (vs. 8), who are ignorant about God (vs. 8), those who proclaim false visions (vs. 10), self-destructive (vs. 10), grumblers (vs. 16), fault finders (vs. 16), self-satisfying (vs. 16), people who use arrogant words and false flattery (vs. 16), mockers of God (vs. 18), those who cause divisions (vs. 19), worldly minded (vs. 19), and finally (and not surprisingly), devoid of the Spirit/unsaved (vs. 19).

Third, Jude says apostates “deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” How do apostates do this? Paul tells us in his letter to Titus: “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed” (Titus 1:15-16, emphasis added). Through their unrighteous behavior, the apostates show their true selves. Unlike an apostate, one who is a true believer is someone who has been delivered from sin to righteousness in Christ. With Paul, they ask the apostates who promote licentious behavior, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2)

But the apostates’ false teaching also shows their true nature. Peter says, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Peter 2:1). Another aspect of true believers is that they have been delivered out of spiritual darkness into light (Ephesians 5:8) and therefore will not deny core truths of Scripture like Arius did with the divinity of Jesus.

Ultimately, the sign of an apostate is that he eventually falls away and departs from the truth of God’s Word and His righteousness. The Apostle John signifies this is a mark of a false believer: “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19).

That God takes apostasy and false teaching seriously is evidenced by the fact that every New Testament book except Philemon contains warnings about false teaching. Why is this? Simply because ideas have consequences. Right thinking and its fruit produces goodness, whereas wrong thinking and its accompanying action results in undesired penalties. It should be remembered that Satan did not come to the first couple in the Garden with an external armament or supernatural weapon, but instead he came to them with an idea. And it was that idea that condemned them and the rest of humankind, with the only remedy being the sacrificial death of God’s Son.

The great tragedy is, whether knowingly or unknowingly, the apostate teacher dooms his unsuspecting followers. One of the most frightening verses in all of Scripture comes from the lips of Jesus. Speaking to His disciples about the religious leaders of His day, He said, “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14, emphasis added). This verse is alarming because Jesus affirms that it is not only the false teachers that go to destruction, but their disciples also follow them. —http://www.gotquestions.org/apostasy.html

I also wonder if this was not true, then why throughout the book, the devil want all the world to repent and believe in the existence of paradise and hell. Explain then, why satan want all the world will go to heaven because it is the objective of the book is to demonstrate and encourage people to take action to escape perdition.
think about it seriously. What does satan. What our Lord wants you to tell lost souls surroundings us, they are so many, everything you watch in TV, in the street, everywhere there are so many, what He expects us to our Lord Jesus

Our Eternal Father bless you abundantly in Jesus
Sincere thanks in Jesus Christ

Polly

Yip I am looking into that one as well. I hope to have both articles out tomorrow.

There is also a book by a pasotr, Steve Berger about the death of their son and how he visits them and interacts in their lives. I think it is called “Have Heart”. It is demonic also and appeals to people who have lost a loved one and are very vulnerable. I hope you include this book in your article. This is necromancy and is forbidden in the Bible.

Melissa

I am actually going to do an article on that book of that little boy that went to heaven because it’s selling like hot cakes and it’s story is of demonic origin. And I will use scripture to prove why these trips to heave and hell for that matter are false. Keep in touch.

Debs

Hey

So, I was busy researching what the Bible says about tattoo’s and if it’s right or wrong. I got such good answers that i thought why not do some background search on everything i’m questioning. One of the things I was uncertain about is the NIV Bible, if it’s misleading or not, and i’m not so sure if i should believe the information i got but i’ll leave those questions for another day. The second thing was these near death expiernces that everyone is talking about. I finished Matric last year and got a holiday job at PNA where they sell Christian Novilties. Most of the people came in looking for that book of that young boy who went to Heaven so i told my one friend that I honestly do not believe in it because the Lord wouldn’t show Heaven or hell to someone to prove that He exist. God gives you your own choice in who you want to follow, either you believe in Him or you don’t, he doesn’t want to force himself onto you or make you believe in him it has to be your own decision and it shouldn’t be made for you by someone else. Anyway back to what i was saying. I got no answers on what the Bible says about near death expierinces so i searched for Heaven is so real and came across this article which made so much sence and really answered most of the questions i had. One thing that got me believing it is, I know you should fear God but in a Fatherly way and not in such a way that you feel torture and experiencing pain from receiving the “holy spirit”. And the second thing is I use to be extremely afraid of seeing demons or like getting a visit from one and i heard from a friend that a demon is most active at 3 o’clock in the morning and one of your quotes were ‘”On January 19, 1996, I woke up at 3:00 in the morning. My body was shaking… I turned my head on the pillow to look in the direction of the sound, and there, all aglow, was a figure dressed in white garments. IT WAS THE LORD…”‘ which set the bar and made me believe that it should be false profitting coz why would Jesus choose a few individuals and not show Heaven to everyone.

Thank you very much for your article!
*Blessings

oh dear… I’ve been recommended that book to everyone I know :(
would you mind if you care to explain why is it fake/false?

Theo

>> Mary Baxter’s book is also fake truth?

Yes

and Mary Baxter’s book is also fake truth?