Steven Anderson's Heresy of "Easy Believism"
We really need to talk about a very serious issue. In case you don't know, I will be talking about a person named Steven Anderson who calls himself a pastor. You may have come across one of his sermons on YouTube or have watched one of the films he made. I'll admit that I was intrigued by Anderson's preaching at first. But then when I looked deeply into what he teaches, I found something very disturbing. And it's the fact that Anderson preaches that repenting of sins is not needed to be saved.
This belief is known as "easy believism". And it's a modern day heresy that has been plaguing the Church. This heresy teaches that one only must accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and that nothing else is needed such as the repentance of sin. However, nothing could be further from the truth. If you believe in Christ, repentance is very important. Faith is not a license to sin.
First of all, I am not arguing that grace and faith alone isn't what saves us. There are many clear passages in scripture that prove it. Just one of these passages is Ephesians 2:8-9, which reads as follows: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." However, we also have James 2:20, which also reads as follows: "But wilt thou know, O vain main, that faith without works is dead?". How these two passages are reconciled is that if you have true faith, then good works are the evidence. As faith cannot produce bad works.
Second of all, there are plenty of verses that emphasize repentance and how extremely important it is. Repentance is defined as a change of mind. It is the regretful acknowledgement of sin and that you will commit to strive to not sin. I will list off several verses that emphasize repentance:
Matthew 4:17: "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Luke 24:46-48: "And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things."
Luke 5:31-32: "Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance"
Acts 3:19: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;"
Acts 20:21: "I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus"
These passages and several more all command repentance. It could not be more crystal clear. So Steven Anderson, don't YOU have some sins that you need to repent of? Let's look at the works you've done.
From what I understand, Anderson claims to believe in hard preaching, where the Truth is preached out loud no matter what the world thinks of it. However, he goes way way off the deep end with his preaching. At one point, Anderson did a sermon about former president Barack Obama, where he prayed that Obama would die a horrible death. Now, back when Obama was president, I was not a fan of his. There were a lot of things Obama did to this country that I really didn't like. And I know that many Christians would agree with me. But I do not believe that it means we should wish death upon the President or any elected leaders no matter who they are. Instead, we are to pray for all of our politicians, in hopes that God will touch their heart and that they will repent and make the right choices for our country.
Next, he has also claimed that homosexual people should suffer the death penalty for their sin because they are "reprobates" according to Romans 1. As justification for this, he quotes the famous passages against homosexuality in the book of Leviticus. Now, this is a teaching I heavily disagree with. Don't get me wrong, I too believe that homosexuality is a sin. But what Anderson is teaching is that we should go back to instituting the Law in order to kill off sinners such as homosexuals. I'll admit that God's Law is perfect and God gave it to His people for a reason. Back then, there were very hard penalties for sin because God wanted His people to be holy and separate from the sinful nations of their time. Since God's Law is perfect, it would seem like if it we instituted the Law again, the world would become a less sinful place. But only in theory. This is under the assumption that we could perfectly follow the Law. But instead, we have all broken the Law and so we deserve death. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. While I am certain that some people can get to a certain point where they won't repent, that doesn't mean homosexuality is unforgivable. While it may have been unforgivable in the Old Testament, we are under a New Covenant of Grace, where all those who accept Jesus and repent can be saved. I was once part of the LGBT community, but not anymore. I should be dead according to the Law. But praise be to God that He gave me His Grace and Mercy upon my repentance, so that I could be His child. I love homosexuals as much as I love any sinner, and I want all of them to repent and know God's Love and Mercy.
In his preaching, he has also used very childish derogatory terms against anyone he disagrees with, and claims that it is biblical language. While there are indeed derogatory terms in the Bible, the derogatory terms that he uses are actually modern slang. And do not come from the Bible. He uses modern derogatory terms to slam people he doesn't agree with, such as other pastors and as mentioned previously, former president Obama. He even slams other fundamentalist preachers that disagree with him, like Jack Chick. He makes large general statements against anyone who disagrees with him, such as saying that anyone who disagrees with him in a homo. He mocks anyone that disagrees with him or questions him, and he yells at them and has them kicked out of his church. Well, I'm not a homo at all, Mr. Anderson. I just don't agree with what you are teaching.
Here is my message to you, Steven Anderson. Why do you act so hatefully and act unrepentant? Do you believe in "easy believism" because you know you are sinning but don't want to repent of them? I think that is the case here. The reason you lash out and berate anyone who disagrees with you is because you're scared. You are scared of the biblical truth. And so you must deny it by yelling and screaming. But this is the Truth. This is what the Bible says and you can't run away from it no matter how hard you try. Please repent of your sins and learn to preach the Truth in love. Because if you don't, then Hell will be your destination.
With this all said and done, I conclude with this Bible passage. Matthew 7:21-23: "Not every one that saith until me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye who work iniquity".
God bless, everybody. And thank you for reading!
This belief is known as "easy believism". And it's a modern day heresy that has been plaguing the Church. This heresy teaches that one only must accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and that nothing else is needed such as the repentance of sin. However, nothing could be further from the truth. If you believe in Christ, repentance is very important. Faith is not a license to sin.
First of all, I am not arguing that grace and faith alone isn't what saves us. There are many clear passages in scripture that prove it. Just one of these passages is Ephesians 2:8-9, which reads as follows: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." However, we also have James 2:20, which also reads as follows: "But wilt thou know, O vain main, that faith without works is dead?". How these two passages are reconciled is that if you have true faith, then good works are the evidence. As faith cannot produce bad works.
Second of all, there are plenty of verses that emphasize repentance and how extremely important it is. Repentance is defined as a change of mind. It is the regretful acknowledgement of sin and that you will commit to strive to not sin. I will list off several verses that emphasize repentance:
Matthew 4:17: "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Luke 24:46-48: "And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things."
Luke 5:31-32: "Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance"
Acts 3:19: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;"
Acts 20:21: "I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus"
These passages and several more all command repentance. It could not be more crystal clear. So Steven Anderson, don't YOU have some sins that you need to repent of? Let's look at the works you've done.
From what I understand, Anderson claims to believe in hard preaching, where the Truth is preached out loud no matter what the world thinks of it. However, he goes way way off the deep end with his preaching. At one point, Anderson did a sermon about former president Barack Obama, where he prayed that Obama would die a horrible death. Now, back when Obama was president, I was not a fan of his. There were a lot of things Obama did to this country that I really didn't like. And I know that many Christians would agree with me. But I do not believe that it means we should wish death upon the President or any elected leaders no matter who they are. Instead, we are to pray for all of our politicians, in hopes that God will touch their heart and that they will repent and make the right choices for our country.
Next, he has also claimed that homosexual people should suffer the death penalty for their sin because they are "reprobates" according to Romans 1. As justification for this, he quotes the famous passages against homosexuality in the book of Leviticus. Now, this is a teaching I heavily disagree with. Don't get me wrong, I too believe that homosexuality is a sin. But what Anderson is teaching is that we should go back to instituting the Law in order to kill off sinners such as homosexuals. I'll admit that God's Law is perfect and God gave it to His people for a reason. Back then, there were very hard penalties for sin because God wanted His people to be holy and separate from the sinful nations of their time. Since God's Law is perfect, it would seem like if it we instituted the Law again, the world would become a less sinful place. But only in theory. This is under the assumption that we could perfectly follow the Law. But instead, we have all broken the Law and so we deserve death. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. While I am certain that some people can get to a certain point where they won't repent, that doesn't mean homosexuality is unforgivable. While it may have been unforgivable in the Old Testament, we are under a New Covenant of Grace, where all those who accept Jesus and repent can be saved. I was once part of the LGBT community, but not anymore. I should be dead according to the Law. But praise be to God that He gave me His Grace and Mercy upon my repentance, so that I could be His child. I love homosexuals as much as I love any sinner, and I want all of them to repent and know God's Love and Mercy.
In his preaching, he has also used very childish derogatory terms against anyone he disagrees with, and claims that it is biblical language. While there are indeed derogatory terms in the Bible, the derogatory terms that he uses are actually modern slang. And do not come from the Bible. He uses modern derogatory terms to slam people he doesn't agree with, such as other pastors and as mentioned previously, former president Obama. He even slams other fundamentalist preachers that disagree with him, like Jack Chick. He makes large general statements against anyone who disagrees with him, such as saying that anyone who disagrees with him in a homo. He mocks anyone that disagrees with him or questions him, and he yells at them and has them kicked out of his church. Well, I'm not a homo at all, Mr. Anderson. I just don't agree with what you are teaching.
Here is my message to you, Steven Anderson. Why do you act so hatefully and act unrepentant? Do you believe in "easy believism" because you know you are sinning but don't want to repent of them? I think that is the case here. The reason you lash out and berate anyone who disagrees with you is because you're scared. You are scared of the biblical truth. And so you must deny it by yelling and screaming. But this is the Truth. This is what the Bible says and you can't run away from it no matter how hard you try. Please repent of your sins and learn to preach the Truth in love. Because if you don't, then Hell will be your destination.
With this all said and done, I conclude with this Bible passage. Matthew 7:21-23: "Not every one that saith until me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye who work iniquity".
God bless, everybody. And thank you for reading!
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