Galatians 1:8, "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."
I was listening to 'UNSHACKLED' today. I've heard a couple dozen episodes
over the past couple days. I wanted to vomit as I heard PGM spewing their
lies of LORDSHIP SALVATION, WRONG REPENTANCE and OTHER HERESIES!
Case in point is 'UNSHACKLED' program #3590 (aired in 2019). A man named Matthew gets a flat tire and stops in a little church, meeting a church member named Ted, who listens to Matthew's troubled life's story and offers this horrible advice:
“I believe God loves you, and wants you to invite Him into your life. I believe that is the change you may be looking for!”
This type of junk theology saturates the UNSHACKLED series! Folks, you don't get saved by “inviting Jesus into your life”! Judas invited Jesus into his life, becoming one of Christ's very apostles, but Judas had a devil in him (John 6:70), and went to Hell.
In little later in the UNSHACKLED program (after being coached by his
religious sister to “REPENT and RECEIVE THE INVITATION”), Matthew prays and
tells Jesus that he wants Him to be his Savior, but there is no mention of
Christ's death, burial or resurrection (The Gospel). Matthew says:
“I got up from my knees and I was free. I was new. That day God delivered me from my addictions! Within minutes of my spiritual salvation, he took away my impulse to use [drugs].”
Folks, that is junk theology! What Pacific Garden Mission is espousing sounds like the Charismatic Health, Wealth and Prosperity garbage! Drug addiction is a Chemical Addiction, often requiring medical intervention. It is false doctrine to teach that people get saved and suddenly turn away from all their sins. PGM mandates this to be saved, mistakenly thinking it to mean repentance!
Here is the truth...
“Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.” —Heraclitus of Ephesus (535-475 BC)
For the believer, we are supposed to WALK IN THE SPIRIT. Galatians 5:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” In other words, if you are a Christian you should let the Holy Spirit control you (Galatians 5:22-25).
What saith the Scripture? ...
Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
I am unalterably opposed to Pacific Garden Mission's junk theology, which says that a sinner must “REPENT and BELIEVE” (two steps) to be saved. The problem is that PGM wrongly understands repentance to mean full surrender to Christ, and to turn away from one's sins. This is the heresy of Lordship Salvation. I am against the heretical idea that if a person comes to Christ, they will instantaneously be changed. The only difference when you get saved is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God (1st Corinthians 3:16-17; Romans 8:9; 1st John 3:24).
As I just showed you from Romans 12:1-2, the Bible says we are TRANSFORMED
(changed), by the RENEWING OF OUR MIND. This is very different than the
false message being propagated by UNSHACKLED that your life will immediately
change at the time of salvation. It is junk theology, meaning it is not
Biblical; it is JUNK!!!
Growing in grace takes time. Granted, you cannot sit under the Word
of God and not be changed! Romans
10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” However,
it takes time for a new believer to change, as they are renewed
in their mind by
the Word of God (Romans 12:1-2). That is why I am very much against the junk
theology being promoted by Pacific Garden Mission's 'UNSHACKLED' radio
program, which relentlessly promotes the idea that the moment a person comes
to Jesus Christ, they will instantly become a 'new creature' in behavior,
and all desire to commit sin will be gone forever! PGM errantly understands
this to be repentance.
When they tell people to “REPENT and BELIEVE” in all their UNSHACKLED episodes,
what they really mean is to turn
away from your sins AND
then also place
your faith in Christ.
It is a TWO STEP false plan of salvation! What they are really saying is
that a person must commit to KEEPING THE LAW before Christ will accept their
faith in Him for salvation. This is “ANOTHER GOSPEL,” which is accursed by
God (Galatians 1:6-7). Case
in point!
You need to understand that Jehovah's Witnesses,
Mormons and Roman Catholics talk about Jesus all the time, as does Pacific
Garden Mission, but that doesn't make them right on the Gospel! I am not
trying to criticize PGM, God knows my heart. But what you have just read
about Debbie Brooks' counterfeit salvation testimony is of the Devil! You
don't have to give up your sins to be saved, let alone permanently forsake
them, to be saved! That is keeping the law! Romans 3:20, “Therefore by
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by
the law is the knowledge of sin.” Pacific Garden Mission needs to repent
themselves, and do some serious housecleaning, because they are helping the
Devil hinder people from being saved (2nd Corinthians 4:3-4).
The Satanic 'UNSHACKLED' Religious Experience of Debbie Brooks
Many
of UNSHACKLED's heart-touching stories are a nice fairytale, but they are
not Scriptural! Here is PGM's 'GO TO' Bible passage—2nd Corinthians
5:17-18, “Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation;” There
is a fine line between faith and foolishness! God knows that I am not trying
to be negative, nor criticize Pacific Garden Mission without a cause; but
rather, they are pressuring sinners to make a commitment to turn away
from sin to be saved, which is not true.
For example: In UNSHACKLED program #3589
(aired in 2020), a woman named Debbie Brooks meets with a religious
friend named Sharon:
SHARON: Trusting Jesus is the only thing that can make a difference in my messed-up life.
DEBBIE: I keep hearing that in church, but I don't get it—how something that EASY can be a life-changer.
SHARON: Oh Debbie, it's not easy—believing in Jesus means repenting and asking forgiveness for all the old ways, and then GIVING THEM UP FOR GOOD. When you find the COURAGE TO DO THAT, He'll help you CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
DEBBIE: Huh, well, I'll have to think about it.
Dear reader, what you just read taught by Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago is of the Devil, straight out of the pits of Hell. I hope you see how evil this is. According to this UNSHACKLED program, it is NOT EASY to be saved; because you are required to GIVE UP YOUR OLD SINFUL WAYS PERMANENTLY! That is “another gospel” accursed by God!
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. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
Pacific Garden Mission are PREACHING ANOTHER GOSPEL!!!
The Gospel is not open to embellishment. There is a certain degree of
allowable semantics in presenting God's plan of salvation, but the Gospel
itself is set in concrete! Here it is:
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:”
There you have it—Jesus DIED, was BURIED, and miraculously RESURRECTED three days later. There is no mention of turning away from sins, forsaking the old ways for good, speaking in tongues, getting water baptized, joining a church, praying, confessing Jesus publicly, nor of anything else to be saved! The apostle Paul said this is, 'THE GOSPEL,' which Jesus personally gave to Him.
Galatians 1:11-12, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
The Distorted 'UNSHACKLED' Plan of Salvation for Angel Feliciano
I
listened to program
#3588 (aired in 2019) about a Hispanic man named Angel Feliciano. Unfortunately,
PGM uses a lot of junk theology, and I am simply trying to help believers
solidify their faith, by exposing the unbiblical teachings of UNSHACKLED
radio. This episode of UNSHACKLED is not nearly as bad as the
previous one, but it is still messed-up. For example: Toward the end of this
episode, the UNSHACKLED narrator says:
“Jesus will gladly receive you, and he wants you to receive Him. He wants a relationship with you. Angels' life changed forever when he asked Jesus Christ into his heart. The same can happen for you if you so desire. Just talk to the Lord. Tell Him you're sorry for the sins in your life. Receive Him as your Savior and trust in Him. It's that simple!” [emphasis added]
There are a few problems with the preceding corrupt plan of salvation:
First, having “A RELATIONSHIP” is not part of the Gospel. Judas had a relationship with Jesus, but still went to Hell in his unbelief.
Second, you don't have to “ASK” Jesus to save you, because He has already paid for all your sins on the cross with His precious blood; Jesus is OFFERING you eternal life. Literally, Jesus is ASKING YOU!
Third, you don't have to “TALK TO THE LORD” to be saved. All the Bible teaches is that you “BELIEVE” on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (Acts 16:30-31).
Fourth, don't get saved by “ASKING JESUS INTO YOUR HEART.” A heart is a muscle twice the size of your fist, that pumps blood 100,000 times per day!
Fifth, you don't have to receive Jesus as your Savior AND trust Him. To receive Christ is to trust Him, and to trust Jesus is to receive Him!
Sixth, you don't have to "BE SORRY" for your sins to be saved. Sorrow is an emotional feeling. To be saved you simply must see yourself as a needy sinner. Your “need” is redemption through faith alone in Jesus Christ!
We are ALL guilty at some point in our Christian life of embellishing the Gospel with junk theology. I used to tell people to 'invite Jesus into their heart' many years ago, but when I learned that it was unbiblical, I immediately stopped doing it! I question everything now!!!
Much unnecessary worry, fear and uncertainty is caused by the lie of
Lordship Salvation. No one ought to wonder if their life has changed enough
to prove they're saved. Dear friend, if you need to look at your life to
prove you're saved, IT PROVES THAT YOU'RE NOT!!! Eternal life is a
completely free gift, which imposes no obligations or demands on the
recipient. You simply come as a guilty sinner and receive God's free gift of
eternal life, by believing the record given in the Holy Bible concerning
Jesus Christ. Simply receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for
your sins. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put
to your account through receiving Him by faith.
I do believe that some people are being saved at Pacific Garden Mission, and through their 'UNSHACKLED' series; but it is also clear that many people have been misled to live the Christian life without being born-again. PGM is misleading a lot of people! Debbie Brooks proves that! That UNSHACKLED program is Satanic! You don't have to give up your sins to be saved, let alone permanently giving up a sinful lifestyle. PGM are putting the cart before the horse! The truth is that you simply come as a needy sinner and believe on Christ as Savior; then the Holy Spirit begins to work on you as His child, and you are transformed over time as your mind is renewed by the Word of God. But if you don't receive proper mentorship, and you keep old friends, your life won't change because you won't grow! That doesn't mean that you didn't get saved! I am sick of this Lordship Salvation garbage!!! I am simply trying to get more people saved. We cannot do that if the Gospel is not presented with clarity!
I love this powerful quote by Pastor Ralph “Yankee” Arnold:
“There is power in this Gospel message. Most people just don't know how to present it... The clarity of the Gospel is what makes it easy for them to believe.” —Pastor “Yankee” Arnold, a quote from the excellent MP3 sermon titled, “WHY GRACE CAN SAVE THE WORST MAN!”
