Every year on October 31^st many celebrate the revelation of biblical truth prompted by Martin Luther in the 1500s. Luther challenged the unbiblical teachings of the Catholic Church and opened up the Bible to the common people of Germany, by translating the Bible into the German language. We call the October 31^st celebration Reformation Day. Martin Luther certainly did cause a great leap toward the truth of Scripture. But the struggle for recognition of the truth of Scripture is an ongoing battle that requires studying the Scriptures and carefully interpreting them.

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Colossians 2:8 says: “Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of this world, and not after Christ.” [WEB] I’ve just finished reading a book highlighting some of these twistings of biblical truth that are around today. The book is called Misled: 7 Lies That Distort the Gospel (and How You Can Discern Truth). It’s alarming to learn how many ways people are being led astray.

Misled was written by a well-known YouTuber and teacher of the Bible named Allen Parr. Allen earned a master of theology degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. (I refer to him by his first name because he almost feels like a friend after watching some of his videos. He is straightforward, but he seems personable.) He has served in various church positions, which have included being a worship pastor and Christian education pastor.

Although inspired by his own struggle to find a good church as a new Christian, Allen writes the book using a fictitious character named “Jarren.” Jarren goes on a fictitious journey from church to church, after finding a problem with each church he tries out.

Church #1

The problem in the first church Jarren visits is that they believe every Christian must speak in tongues. During worship the leader begins speaking in another language. Then the pastor suddenly begins speaking in another language in the middle of his sermon. It gives Jarren a strange, confused feeling.

Allen explains that every believer is filled with the Holy Spirit when they believe. It seems the author doesn’t believe there is a separate experience, sometimes called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t mind if you disagree on some points, as long as you are backing up your belief with Scripture. As with all good Bible teachers, he encourages readers to study the Scriptures on their own and base their beliefs on them.

Although I do believe the Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit indwells each believer when they first believe, I myself believe the Holy Spirit may come “upon” you for additional power in a separate experience. The Holy Spirit came “upon” some Old Testament figures to give them supernatural power. That aside, Allen makes the important point that the apostle Paul clearly stated that speaking in other tongues should only be used in the service if there is an interpreter. Use of tongues outside of that only causes confusion and discomfort for the unbeliever you hope to win to faith. And it’s dangerous to make someone doubt whether they are genuinely saved because they haven’t spoken in tongues. According to the Bible, repentance and faith in Christ’s sacrifice for our sins as the sinless Son of God are the basis for our salvation.

Church #2

The next church Jarren attends teaches the “health and wealth gospel.” Recently I read a book about the Word of Faith movement called A Different Gospel, written by D. R. McConnell. The health and wealth gospel is associated with the Word of Faith movement. A Different Gospel speaks of the same concerns Allen expresses about the origins of these teachings being rooted in mysticism, rather than correct interpretations of Scripture. Allen outlines the great dangers in following the health and prosperity movement, as well as the ill motives of their teachers.

Church #3

The third church Jarren visits believes people have the power to speak things into existence. That means they can’t say anything negative. They believe that if you say you feel you are coming down with the flu, you will come down with it because you said it. Those teachings are found in the Word of Faith movement. (I believe they are often tied with the health and wealth gospel, as well.) Supposedly, since you can speak things into existence, saying you’re well will cause you to get well.

In order to back up this belief, the proponents of the power of words have misinterpreted some Scriptures and have taken some Scriptures completely out of context. (For instance, Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue. . .” [WEB] When you read the verse in its context, you find that it’s speaking of the effect our words have on other people.) The author encourages readers to always read the context of a Scripture and take into account other Scriptures on the same subject, to help you make a correct interpretation. In this book, Allen reveals many of the Scriptures that these people misunderstand to arrive at their false beliefs.

Church #4

Next Jarren is talked into visiting a church where prophetic words are spoken over those attending. There is a lot of emphasis on “sowing” an offering to reap a ten-fold blessing. A man comes onto the platform and begins speaking prophecies aimed at certain individuals’ experiences. Suddenly the prophet says that someone there has recently lost someone very dear to them to cancer. God was going to bring someone into their life to take their place in 90 days. Since Jarren had recently lost someone by cancer, he believed that prophecy was for him. But 90 days later nothing had happened. Jarren left the church, feeling that God had let him down. He began drifting spiritually.

There are some who believe that the day of prophets was over when the canon of Scripture was complete. Allen explains his views on the subject. Although he doesn’t discount the idea of having prophets today, he lists five ways we should test a prophecy. One test is to look out for prophecies that are too vague or too general. In a large congregation, how many people could have recently lost a loved one to cancer? Prophets in the Bible often told of punishment to come or called for repentance. They were usually not very popular, to say the least. They were also to be held to a high standard of accuracy.

Church #5

Disappointed once again, Jarren is encouraged by a sympathetic girl he met at work to try attending a very “non-judgmental” church. As it turns out, it is a “progressive” church. They believe that the Bible is just a guidebook that has to be adjusted for cultural changes. It just doesn’t feel right to Jarren. He is feeling guilty about some things in his life that he knows are sinful. The author explains how post-modernism—the “truth is relative” movement—led to the progressive church movement.

I had heard of the “Emergent Church” movement, but I didn’t really know anything about it. From this book I learned that those in the Emergent Church movement feel that questioning things is good. But soon they moved past questioning methods and traditions and moved on to questioning basic doctrines. This led to the “deconstruction” movement you may have heard about. People in some evangelical churches began deconstructing crucial beliefs.

Allen outlines five dangerous tendencies of progressive churches. The first one is a tendency to demote Jesus. Jesus may be thought of as just a good example, rather than the divine Son of God. Allen then gives Scriptural responses to those five dangerous tendencies.

Church #6

Jarren refuses to give up on his faith, but he is feeling very guilty about some behaviors he knows are wrong. He begins to wonder if he is really a Christian. He meets with a Christian friend for lunch. His friend only increases his worries by explaining that his church teaches that it’s possible to lose your salvation. Allen then explains why he believes it’s impossible to lose your salvation. This is what is commonly called “eternal security, or sometimes “once saved, always saved.”

Allen lists five Scriptural pillars of eternal security in this chapter of his book. Although his arguments have merit, I myself see other Scriptures supporting the other side. To me it seems better to err on the side of caution. I have run across many Scriptures that cause me to question eternal security, but I will give you just a few: (1) John 15:6, which refers to a branch being cut off and thrown into the fire; (2) The Parable of the Sower, explained in Matthew 13:18-23; (3) A reference to someone “shipwrecking” their faith in I Timothy 1:19; (4) The reference to finalization of our adoption at the Rapture in Romans 8:23; (5) Paul’s admonition in I Corinthians 5:5 to hand someone over to Satan so that his spirit could be saved at judgment time; and (6) Revelation 2:17, which states that the one who is victorious will be allowed to eat from the tree of life in paradise.

You might agree with Allen in regard to eternal security, or you might agree with me. As mentioned earlier, Allen encourages readers to dig into the Bible for themselves. The first pillar he lists to support eternal security is enablement of the Spirit of God, contributing to “perseverance of the saints.” I recognized “perseverance of the saints” as Calvinist (predestination) terminology. A video by Dr. Leighton Flowers, a former Calvinist, states that Allen Parr believes four of the five “TULIP” points of Calvinism. However, I also learned from Dr. Flowers that not everyone who believes in eternal security is a Calvinist. Although I wasn’t in total agreement with this chapter of Allen’s book, it did remind me of the danger of making people think they have lost their salvation every time they sin. Every Christian sins and must ask for forgiveness. I believe it is a matter of whether we are making an effort to follow Christ.

Church #7

After a period of attending no churches at all, Jarren is enticed by a friend to try a church called “Grace Abounds Fellowship.” But this church is teaching that it doesn’t really matter how you live because God’s grace excuses your sins. Allen reminds us that the Bible teaches that there are costs to being a disciple of Jesus. Although we aren’t saved by works, James 2:20 tells us that faith with no works shows that our faith is dead. Allen expresses concerns that someone who has no desire to live a life that pleases God may erroneously believe that they have become a Christian.

Conclusion

I have only scratched the surface of the information the author provides in this book. The great thing about this book is that it teaches us the importance of studying the Bible thoroughly for ourselves. It seems that if we Christians take study of the Bible seriously, we will be less likely to be duped by the faulty teachings sometimes found in churches. The 219 pages of this book are a pretty easy read. The spacing of the print is very easy on the eyes. I hope you might read this book to find out more about the important subject of ways many people may be deceived today. Like me, you may not agree with every conclusion the author makes, But if this book causes us to dig deeper into the Bible to determine whether some of the beliefs we have been taught line up with the truths in Scripture, that’s a very good thing.