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4. Heretical New Age Church -> New Age Salvation Doctrines -> New Age Changes First Began

The False New Age Salvation Doctrines First Began

In the 1720's a Calvinist, named John Glas began to redefine the orthodox ideas about saving faith. He believed that is was sufficient for a man to say that he simply believed the scriptures, and he began to believe that it was simply sufficient to define "saving faith" as "believing with the mind." He rejected the idea of faith having anything to do with putting full active dependency upon God. He was deposed from the Church of Scotland for this, and formed an independent church of his own.

His son-in -law, Robert Sandeman (1718-1771) aggressively took up these new views. He said Wesley and Whitefield's emphasis on repentance, will, and corresponding emotions were repugnant. He thought that John Wesley was "the most dangerous man that had ever appeared in the Church." In the 1780's many churches in Wales, Scotland, and England taught his views, which came to be know as Sandemanianism.1 With an American interest in His teaching, he migrated to America in 1764 and soon established Sandemanian churches in Massechusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. He resided in Danbury Connecticut, his largest congregation. His teaching met much resistance from the Baptists and Congregationalist of that time.2 Sandeman argued that saving faith issues from the mind accepting the testimony regarding Jesus Christ, thereby rejecting emotional experiences.3

Sandemanianism, at the time, "was adequately dealt with by Daniel Rowland, William Williams, Andrew Fuller, and Thomas Scot. However, it is important today for its significant influence on a very large part of the evangelical Church which has embraced Sandemanianism, although often unaware of its deviation from historical orthodoxy, since it is taught by respected so-called fundamental schools like Dallas Theological Cemetery (DTS) and its graduates all over the country.

D. Martin Lloyd Jones in 1967 gave an address at the Puritan Conference on Sandemanianism. "Dr Lloyd-Jones proceeded to show that this theological aberration is of paramount importance for our own day... Sandeman, who assumed the leadership of the movement in the 1750s, insisted that faith becomes a work of human merit if it includes anything beyond simple assent to the truth of what God has done through Christ's death and resurrection. In Sandeman's reading of New Testament passages like Romans 4:5, justification by faith has everything to do with God instilling into the minds of impenitent men and women, the belief that God gave his dear Son for sinners. Essentially, it has nothing to do with the exercise of the will in repentance or the engagement of the heart's affections towards God. Sandeman also turns to 1 John 5:1 to argue that regeneration accompanies intellectual assent to the central truth of the Christian faith, namely, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and that he died and rose again for sinners. Thus, Sandeman can talk of 'bare faith' and 'bare persuasion of the truth'. In a genuine desire to exalt the utter freeness of God's salvation, Sandeman sought to remove any vestige of human reasoning, willing or desiring in the matter of saving faith. He was convinced that if the actions of the will or the affections are included in saving faith, then the Reformation assertion of 'faith alone' is compromised. Thus, in the Sandemanian system, saving faith is reduced to intellectual assent to the gospel proclamation about Christ." 4

"Exactly why have so many called Sandemanianism a heresy--because it fundamentally redefines the nature of saving faith! Principle Maclead responded that it was 'in a way, a return to the Roman Catholic teaching, which is that all you have to do is to believe and accept the teaching of the Church. You accept the teachings of scripture with your mind, and that is all that is necessary.' Andrew Fuller said of Sandeman: "they will not have even a 'hearty Persuasion', but emphasize only a notional belief."

"The historical view of 'saving faith', on the other hand, was "repent [from sin to God] and believe--all as an unmerited gift of God by grace, all bound up in great love, great humility. Sandeman equated grief over and repentance from sin as a "work" not to be added to 'naked' belief of the intellect, and he frowned on all emotions."5 This is what Louis Sperry Chafer (1871-1952) of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) wrote about repentance in his writings, and is the common teaching of the Dispensational "grace" regardless teachers today throughout the world.

Here, apparently, is the first notice of the present New Age doctrines of the Dispensational "grace" regardless.  Sandeman taught (1) just believing intellectually about Christ and his promise of eternal life for salvation, (2) no repentance needed, only believing, (3) believing being only an intellectual affirmation and trust in a promise, (4) believing also being held as synonymous to faith and that, therefore, faith (trust) which any unregenerate has needs only to be exercised for salvation, and (4) salvation was totally by the grace of God and denied any action of man as a perversion. This sounds almost exactly like the Dispensational "grace" regardless teachings coming from Chafer and Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS).

Speaking of the Sandemanian teachings was the imminent Robert L. Dabney (1820-1898), an outstanding expositor of fundamenals of Calvinism.  He said "It is very clear, that if this account of faith is correct (commenting on the active will of man involved in 2 Thess 2:10 and Rom 10:9-10), it can only be an exercise of a regenerate heart. The moral affections which dictate the opinions as to moral good and evil, according to truth, and thus procure action, are spiritual affections. (An objection to this might be) that of the Sandemanian, that by giving faith an active and holy character, we virtually bring back justification by merit."6

This is the constant retort of these New Age "grace" regardless teachers today. They say that salvation is by "grace" and nothing else, and that faith and repentance, the same as believing, is just a belief and trust in a promise, nothing else
. This, of course, comes from their total denial of the scriptural uses and the scriptural definitions of believing and faith. Their doctrines are very much like the Sandemanians of Dabney's day. They prescribe a faith originating entirely within an unregenerate man. A faith of reason of the intellect. Humanism.

The open fallacy of all this is that "grace" is the method, faith is the means. The Dispensational "grace" regardless people of DTS have apotheosized their "grace" to the place of the "means" so that faith hardly has any place except mouthed in their rhetoric.  And our Lord Jesus Christ Who is the cause, also hardly gets any credit in our earthly living..  Either He is indwelling  our hearts to lead, teach, gift, and empower us to obey Him from our hearts or He is not Lord at all. And interestingly, in their preverted understanding, the Dispensational grace regardless teach that this is exactly correct; "Lordship of Christ in our lives is not necessary in our salvation to Heaven," they say. 

This is one of their many "tall tail" signs. When you listen to them preach, you'd think that God's working in and through man was through grace, grace, and only grace. You almost begin to wonder who this "grace" women is. How can their listener grow, only in this "grace" of theirs? The young wide-eyed bewildered can only wonder about this "grace" given to them as a means by which they are to grow and live. They fall very flat when they try to explain faith as something exercised by an unregenerate man and also by the new-born to serve nothing but himself. They deny that his salvation involves any intent to serve his Lord. All living by faith concepts, according to their definition of faith, fall flat into humanism, despite their boisterous denials.  

They teach pure Pelagianism, that all men are born with faith as natural infants, which is also the same as the human ability to trust or believe something.  By exercising this natural faith they can of their own volition believe in Christ as their Savior only, and thus be guaranteed Eternal Life after they die. 

Although DTS and their prolific writers calling themselves "grace" teachers, certainly don't ascribe their teachings as originating with Sandeman, they are nearly identical in many respects. But historically Scofield's Bible in 1904 and Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) popularized these Sandemanian teachings in the past 90 years in the United States. These types of beliefs were never countenanced by the historic Christian church. One wonders how much Chafer in the late 1800's and early 1900's in New England was affected by these Sandemanian teachings.

Wayne Gruden in his Systematic Theology, concerning the dispensation teachings of DTS as affecting their salvation teachings states, "The Sandemanians were a small group of evangelical churches who taught a view similar to Zane Hodges (the late former Greek professor in DTS for 27  years, and a long-time large teacher and writer advocate of "grace" regardless salvation doctrines), in England and the United States from 1725 until they died out around 1900."7 (Parenthetic explanation about the late Zane Hodges mine, for understanding.)

As far as can be determined from the writings of Dallas Theological Cemetery (DTS), these DTS teachings about salvation have been derived from their adoption of John Nelson Darby's (1830) first Systematic Theology of Dispensationalism.   These Dispensational assertions were widely popularized in this country by the Scofield Bible (1908 to date) and by Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871-1952), co-founder(1920) and past president of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) till his death in 1952, rather than from an admitted origin with Robert Sandeman's salvation teachings. But one cannot but wonder to what Sandemanian teachings Chafer in New England was exposed to in the early 1900's when he was ministering there for many years.  His teachings, and Zane Hodges, seem to be identical to them in regards to salvation.

The Truth of God in His Scriptures


After He Rose from His Grave,  He said to His Apostles, "Peace to you, just as My Father is Now Sending Me Out continuously by His Choice, I also, I am continuously Sending you by My Choice" (John 20:21).  He is saying that just as He followed His Father's Leadings and Teachings, we are now Indwelt by Christ's Holy Spirit Mind of Christ Himself to be Given His Own Teachings, Leadings, Assurances, Revelations, Fruits of the Spirit, Gifts of the Spirit, and Empowerments to accomplish the Works of Himself, Lord Jesus Christ, from inside us individually according to His Wisdom for each of us individually, listening to and obeying HIs Father ONLY, just as He Did, and just as we are Now to DO ourselves, through His Holy Spirit Mind of Christ Now Inside us AND the kicker is Christ himself said that he always prayed ONLY to His Father in Heaven, just as he instructed His disciples to Only pray to their Father in Heaven.  AND also, He ONLY did what He Heard from His Father Speaking to Him, and Christ said He only Obeyed His Fathers voice, and now ONLY speaking to Christ inside us, and THEN we also hearing the Fathers voice inside us, and by our obedience HIS Works by God are accomplished through us.   And we are now Praying to our Father and Hearing His Voice, and then Obediently Doing it, as Christ did, and this by His Death, Burial, and Resurrection is NOW Provided to us.  Read above John 20:21 again.

Second Cor 6:15-18, However, in this day of extremely subtle demon teachings of this last day (2 Tim 4:1-2 and 1 Tim 4:1), we must warn at the outset about the place we are to focus our minds to be a Living Life of Him inside us and through us (Rom 8:25).

A person who has turned from his own ways (repented) and committed his living to the Lord Jesus Christ to guide, Gift, and Empower us, has of His own free will committed (put self under the orders of another), relinquished his own self rights in order to exercise the rights of His Heavenly Father during his own Son-ship Life while Christ is Living inside us on this earth.  We are to account ourselves to be dead but now alive to another Life within his Renewed Indwelt spirit (Gal 2:20). The real committed one then, committed totally to His Lord of Heaven, knows that he now has no rights of his own that he wishes to exercise. He freely chooses not to act on his own behalf, continuously day by day, but to focus upon and serve the Life of Christ, the Holy Spirit Mind of Christ (Faith), within himself, as he prays on to His Father as Christ did on earth, for our example.   Paul in Romans called this the "obedience of faith (Christ in you)," Doing what you cannot Do. Christ is Himself Living inside you  (Rom 1:5 and 16:26, "obedience of Faith") Doing His Works by God through your obedience, and in Galatians states the method of this living very clearly in Galatians 2:20.  "Faith is Christ inside you, the expectation of Glory (Spiritual Perfection)" Col 1:27.

*****     IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Millions of deceived people are going to hell, due to false teachings, while devoutly playing church.  This includes their so-called pastors and teachers, because they have a false knowledge of salvation and no understanding of indwelling Christ (Faith) in them AFTER truly repenting and committing to Christ's necessary Lordship inside them to Assure, Teach, Reveal, Lead, giving Fruits of the Spirit, giving Gifts of the Spirit, giving Empowerments, according to His Wisdom for us individually, IN ORDER FOR US to Obediently be doing God's Holy Spirit directed God-Good Works by God Himself. by God Himself from inside us.  All by God, Lord Jesus Christ, Himself inside us, who are Born-from-Above.

"Christ inside you (Faith), the expectation of Glory (Spiritual Perfection)." Col 1:27

Faith (God's Means) = Christ inside you (Faith).     Grace (God's Method) = Christ inside you (faith),  through your Obedience, Doing what you cannot Do.

"Now Faith is the Spiritual Being continuously Making Expectings: the Convincing of Things not made physically seen.  For by This the elders have been Made Witnesses. By Faith we are Comprehending to be Now Being Made Complete for the Ages by the Word (Spiritual Communication) from God. in that out from not appearing, we are Now to become Made Spiritually Seeing." Hebrews 11:1-3

*****

We must NEVER make the mistake of blanking or "otherwise focusing our minds" in order to hear some UNKNOWN spirit voice speaking to us.  Our constant prayers and searchings must always be directed by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, just as Christ also did with His Father while on this earth (John 20:21).  Directing our minds to seek a strange voice guidance from within or outside ourselves is a very subtle demonic gate, for us to be lead by demons.  "Beware, let no man deceive you."   This is the great NEW AGE Contemplative Spirituality of the Emerging Church, starting from about 2000 AD, that so many are being deceived by demons to practice.  Eastern yoga and Eastern blanking of mind of Hinduism religious practices of all types in order to hear spirit guides teaching you are of the devil.     AVOID THIS DEMONIC DECEPTION, and AVOID ALL WHO PRACTICE AND TEACH THIS !!!! 

This is the false teaching of demons, in this last day, to bring all the world under their direct control, while their victims think they are doing God a service to kill you (John 16:2).  But we have a special righteous relationship through the Faith of Christ inside us, the "righteousness which is of God by faith" (Phil 3:9), that we may pray to our Father in Heaven just as Christ.   What a restoration (Atonement) !!


This practice protects, helps protect, us from the wiles of the devil (Eph 6:11). We are to walk by Faith, being led by the Holy Spirit (Mind of Christ) within us.  But beware of focusing our minds by simply blanking our minds passively as by Yoga or any Hindu meditative prayer methods to hear or be led by some spirit guide.  We are given this Mind of Christ (Faith) by the indwelling Holy Spirit to walk as Christ Himself
walked on earth, giving us example.  He only focused his mind actively upon His Father, upon His Fathers Will,   We are to only be focused and obedient to the Indwelling Holy Spirit of the Mind of Christ within us.

But Now with Christ indwelling of all Born from Above people, He instructs his Apostles and us after his Resurrection, "Peace to you, just as My Father is Now Sending Me Out continuously by His Choice, I also, I am continuously Sending you by My choice." John 20:21.  But He is sending us and directing us as by His indwelling Holy Spirit, and NOT by some strange voice to direct us from inside or outside of us, that we must direct our attention to at all times.    This removes the gate of our sinful flesh natures to demon influence in these evil days.

IMPORTANT !!  The last so-called post-modern church totally and completely preparing us for the arrival and worship of the latter day antichrist to come into the world within a relatively short number of years is "The Emerging church" of today.   It is totally of satan.   It teaches exactly the opposite of what you have just read concerning our need obedience to Faith of Christ inside us, and teaches to ignore Doctrines and Prophecies, regarding them to be outdated and divisive against the coming of our realization of the universal "god-force" residing in all of us, bringing our worldwide peace and brotherhood of all peoples, regardless of our religions or practices.. 

You will know when the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding you, if you are one of His.  "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10: 27).   Christ is in us, and He in us restores our relationship/fellowship to our Heavenly Father, through His Holy Spirit inside us TOWARD His Heavenly Father in Heaven.  We are to be praying continuously to our Father in Heaven, and NOT to Jesus in us or to Lord in Heaven.  He said, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father ...who is in Heaven......Holy......" (Matt 6:9). 

This "leading" and "enablings" by the Holy Spirit must be clearly understood.  Faith (the Mind of Christ within us) is His Restoration Gifts in us, RESTORATION of our fellowship/relationship to our Father in Heaven in Truth of a Holy Spirit of God Relationship.   Our minds (as Christ's Mind was on earth) must always be focused in prayer TOWARD His Heavenly Father's Will. Then we are walking by faith (Christ in you), just as our Lord gave us example in His own Life to His Father.  This practice protects, helps protect us from the wiles of the devil (Eph 6:11) being taught as listening for spirits or spirit guides speaking to you by blanking your minds or deceiving you by other means.

This is what disturbs demons and the powers of darkness upon this earth.  They are powerless against this perfect Restoration our Lord has provided to us through His Faith, (Christ's indwelling Mind, through the Holy Spirit).  
We must not be deceived by demons and evil angels to listening or following anything but the Lord Jesus Christ's Endowments of us by the Holy Spirit of Mind of Christ inside us to listen to or to follow.

"For by Grace are ye saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (Himself in us): Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto Good (agathos, God only) Works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph 2:8-10).
What a marvel. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so Great Salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him" (Heb 2:3).


















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Chapters
1. Who is God to us?
2. God's Purposes
3. Who are we to God?
4. God's Attributes
5. Priority of Attributes
6. Truth, Next Attribute
7. Highest Attribute
8. Holiness Scriptures
9. Man's Purpose
10. No Sin Permissible
11. Covenants of God
12. Christ's Laws

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A. Sons of God
B. Dear Brother
C. Cessationism
D. How to be Saved
E. Let us Reason
F. Verbal Inerrancy
G. Knowing Scripture




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