False Teachers Distort Jesus
A preacher who seeks to profit off of God’s sheep needs to twist the Gospel. He must change the message of Jesus to get what he wants. There is nothing about the Gospel of grace that is useful to those who want to make merchandise of God’s people. God becoming a man in the form of a servant and dying a terrible death on the Cross to pay the debt of mankind is not an attractive message in general. It takes a work of God for it to make sense. But the rest of the story is absolutely fatal to manipulation and servitude. After death on the Cross, Jesus is raised to new life and offers us the same freely without anything offered on our part. Jesus replaces the old sinful man we were with a new man and simply tells us to follow Him from that moment forward. Abundant life follows. For more reading new life, read here What Does it Mean to be Born Again? Salvation freely given and never earned is not useful to false teachers. They can’t use it to get their hooks in people so they distort it…in big ways and more subtle. We have the more drastic examples where men have created totally different faiths in order to control people. Mormonism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are two examples of obvious attacks on grace. When they show up at your door preaching their grace-less doctrine, it is obvious that they are not like us. It is when the grace robbers are more subtle that the danger increases. They come into our churches and present a Jesus who seems like the same Jesus we worship but sets forth a Gospel message that is all about our works. If they can shift our focus from what Jesus did to what we need to do, this is when we are open to exploitation. John Mulinde is one of these subtle grace robbing teachers. His message sounds good initially. It appeals to our fleshly desire to justify ourselves. But it is not Jesus’ Gospel.
For more on the Mormon issues see The Mormon Historical Problems and A Conspiracy of Silence. For more on Jehovah’s Witnesses, read Should I Talk with Jehovah’s Witnesses.
John Mulinde’s preaching and testimony have been all over the internet. A self proclaimed he also travels world spreading the word about what he calls his prophetic message. He is an engaging and powerful speaker. His delivery is smooth and seemingly heartfelt as he lays out his message. He claims it is one of repentance and a call to prayer. When we listen to it closely, though, it is something very different. It is the work of someone trying to steal our liberty, our freedom that Jesus bought for us on the Cross. Mulinde’s sermon is presented in the style of a personal testimony. He claims that Jesus came and spoke with him in a vision. This sounds wonderful, but I am not sure I want to see John Mulinde’s Jesus. He is very different than the Jesus of the Bible. You see when Jesus appears in his story, it is not to praises with awe and joy from one of His followers. Rather though it is a story of Jesus on the surface, when we drill down it actually focuses on Mulinde, what he did and did not do. This is always a sign of something amiss. The story of Christianity is all about Jesus and His glory. If we are focusing on ourselves, something has gone wrong. Mulinde doesn’t stop with simply being self-centered in his message. He goes way further and describes a very different Jesus. Mulinde’s Jesus is mad at him for not working hard enough. Mulinde’s Jesus is demanding. His Jesus is also focused on the works of His creation rather than on His own work on Calvary. The Savior who preached the Gospel of Grace is not actually full of grace – unmerited favor – in Mulinde’s story. The created sinful one is somehow the center of a story about the Creator, Jesus. Our salvation is by grace through faith according to Ephesians. According to Mulinde, it is contingent on how good we are. This is outrageous. For more on Grace, read What Grace Really Means: Freedom and Jesus Doesn’t Need our Penance.
According to the multiple tellings of this vision, Jesus appears in order to rebuke the Mulinde for his sin. Mulinde is a Christian at the time of the vision. Despite believing in Him, Jesus is reported as telling Mulinde that if He returned for his church today Mulinde would not be taken to heaven. Why? Because his work was not enough according to Jesus. His repentance was not pure enough. His heart was not good enough. His work was not up to Jesus’ standards. This is the core of the issue why Mulinde is preaching a false gospel. Jesus says come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. He guaranteed our acceptance into the family of God by offering it for free to those who come to Him. He never says come if we perfectly understand how bad we are. He never says come if our works are pure. Jesus just says come and HE will save us. He gives us new life in Him thanks to His completed work on the Cross. It is for Him and by Him, we are Born again, not for us and by us. For more read What does it Mean to be Born Again and 11 Life-Changing Verses about being Born Again. Mulinde’s Jesus says salvation is contingent on us. This is very different than the Bible’s Jesus.
Repentance is Not Enough is a Lie
Mulinde’s Jesus goes even further than simply demanding works. When Mulinde tearfully repents of his alleged sins, Mulinde’s Jesus refuses his repentance. Mulinde’s Jesus decides that he was not sorry enough. If your skin is crawling right now that is a good sign. This Jesus is not filled with love for His sheep. This Jesus is not filled with compassion for his very flawed creations. He is demanding and arbitrary. This gospel is one of achievement and striving. More, more, more, Mulinde needs to do more works before his repentance will be accepted. That is right, the Savior evidently is reliant upon the sinful creation to make His redemption work. This is required to allow the grace robbers to get their hooks in us. They need to shift the focus from God’s completed work to His imperfect creation. Once that is done, they can work us into the ground. They can turn Godly conviction into human condemnation and work us into the ground. The Gospel that saves even the worst sinners, from the Thief on the Cross to you and I, into a whip to beat us with until we do what they want. For more on the Thief on the Cross, see Am I too Far Gone for Jesus? For more on the idea of worthiness, see Feeling Unworthy?
Hushed voice and tears in abundance accompany the tale. It is a vivid and compelling story offered by a talented showman. Mulinde has been drawing people in all over the world in person and through online videos. There is one major problem with the message though. It is heresy. It defames the name and nature of Jesus the Savior. It steals Jesus glory in the name of focusing on a man. In doing so, it also appears to be a rehashing of the message of the ancient opponents of the Gospel, the Judaizers, in a new and shiny package. It is a message that comes in a shiny package but is filled with poison designed to rob us of the grace that God has for us and the love and gratitude we should be showing Him. No One is Too Far Gone for Jesus!
John Mulinde is not alone in his false perversion of the Gospel message. There are many people preaching this version of the gospel out there today. It has been a consistent threat to Christians since Jesus walked the Earth. It is compelling to our flesh, yes, emotional, sure. It is a great message to get people to try harder, sure, but it’s counter to the message of Jesus.
The message of the Bible is pretty simple. In regards to keeping the Law, God says that it is impossible for man on his own to do. The Law is perfect and holy, but man is sinful and will sin no matter how hard we try not to sin. We are fallen and therefore imperfect. We can never be good enough for God as a result. Jesus says come anyway and I will bless you. Jesus sets us free from this nonsense. Grace Means Freedom!
The Apostle Paul Tried to be Perfect too
Paul was the picture of this futility as every moment of his life before Christ was about trying to work for God and keep the law. He tried really hard to be perfect and thought he was doing a great job of it. Yet, when Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, his life was exposed as being all about sin. What he thought was good enough to reach God on his own was actually rebellion, coveting and evil doing. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”, Jesus said. Paul tried really hard to be good but failed spectacularly. It turned out he was just trying to get what he, Paul wanted. A few of us can relate to that level of failure, I suspect. It is only Jesus and the Cross that sets us free from this futility through His atoning sacrifice. Not by making us better, we still fall on our faces on a regular basis and need His continual work in our lives through sanctification, but through His blood washing us clean in the eyes of God. That is, though we still sin and will always
It is only Jesus and the Cross that sets us free from this futility through His atoning sacrifice. Not by making us better, we still fall on our faces on a regular basis, but through His blood washing us clean in the eyes of God. That is, though we still sin and will always when God looks at us He sees the righteousness of Jesus on us. We are seen as righteous not because we actually are righteous, but because of how our great Jesus. He completely paid the price for our sins so God takes His payment on our behalf. It is finished meant our debt was completely paid for us.
Payment for our sins was done forever by the One whose life was given as payment for those sins. Our sins no longer have power over us because Jesus defeated them and the accuser.
Those that would steal from us the grace of God from the beginning have not been happy with this simple answer to the question of sin. Having been offered a way out of the prison of their own sin caused by their own effort by the grace of God, they bind themselves with the chains of legalism. Originally, the Judaizers argued that those who became Christian through the work of God were not truly saved unless they also kept the Law, ignoring the fact that it is impossible to keep the whole Law, Paul addresses this in multiple writings, but Galatians 5 comes to mind.
Originally, this looked like the Judaizers who argued that those who became Christian through the work of God were not truly saved unless they also kept the Law. They ignored the fact that it was impossible for them to keep the Law and tried to put weights on those for whom the Law was never intended, the Gentiles. Paul and Peter put a stop to this in the Book of Acts.
The modern grace-robbers are more subtle but no less dangerous. They usually argue that true salvation is Jesus plus something that depends on our efforts. They take the free, full grace of God and make it contingent and frankly arbitrary. They base it upon some guy’s made up standard set out to define what is good enough for God.
We Can Never Save Ourselves
It is like a person being rescued from a shipwreck on the high seas and placed in the middle of an Indiana cornfield. That person then began to make swimming motions and decided that whether they were going to drown or not was based on how well they were pretending to swim. The actions of the rescued pretending to save themselves adds nothing to the rescue and detracts from what the actual savior accomplished. It also makes little sense when one understands the context.
Similarly, God’s grace also goes from a free unconditional gift given by a loving Father to His children because He is good, to a prize given to one’s self. The creation dictates to the Creator whether we have met His standard. Honestly, even on our best days when we feel like we are doing a good job for God, how many sins do we overlook? Yet, those who seek to be good enough by works want us to make our righteousness dependent on our actions. Yikes, no thanks. Grace is freely given without anything on our part contributing ….or else it’s not grace.
Honestly, even on our best days when we feel like we are doing a good job for God, how many sins do we overlook? Yet, those who seek to be good enough by works want us to make our righteousness dependent on our actions. Yikes, no thanks. Grace is freely given without anything on our part contributing ….or else it’s not grace.
The worst part about the message of the grace-robbers is that it appeals to all of us to some degree and it relies upon elements of truth to ensnare us. Our flesh wants to make the worship about us and what we do. Man has been doing this since the beginning. We love building our religious towers of Babel to try to work our way to God.
God’s conviction shows us that despite the great work of Jesus saving us, we through our flesh still sin every day in ways that disgust us. Our human desire is to want to try harder to do things to be better. Jesus’ answer though is to simply trust Him. He will continue the good work He started in us until its completion. He invites us to cast our cares, including cares about our failures and sins on Him so He can care for us through the struggle. If we make it about relying on Jesus, then every struggle is about trusting in Jesus. If we make it about us, then who is the struggle about?
Which brings us back to John Mulinde and his ilk. His message is that Jesus appeared to him in a vision. Jesus then told him that he would not be coming to heaven if Jesus returned that day, that his repentance was not enough and that John Mulinde had to work harder. This is false doctrine. John Mulinde contradicts the Bible so he is a false teacher. Jesus plus works for salvation is not the real Jesus.
It is also worth noting that it takes the attention off of Jesus and what He did to the created being and his works. Taking attention away from Jesus is never good. He gave everything to save us completely. A gospel that is inconsistent with that laid out in the Bible is not good news at all. As Paul said in Galatians 1:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
I’ll stick with the Gospel, thanks!
This is a scary twisting of The Real Gospel. I imagine that some people think, “if a pastor might not go to Heaven, what chance do I have? I’d better listen and do what this pastor says!” This generates fear, and there is no fear in love. Thanks for sharing this!
Yeah, it is really deceiving and subtly appeals to the pride in us as well. Even while watching a second time, part of me was drawn to what he was saying. I think it is because he takes a truth, we really are not worthy and then mixes in an appeal to our pride and self involvement saying we can justify ourselves. It sounds so attractive but is so wrong.
Thanks for the taking the time to comment brother!
Good word Thomas. If it’s okay with you I’d like to link this post to one I’m just about to publish. It is titled Are Spiritual Experiences from God?
Hi Rob, thanks and sure, please do. I look forward to reading your post!
I just posted it. WordPress has been acting strange these past two days. Weird characters being inserted, etc.
Ok, great! I will check it out.
Hi Thomas. My mother is very familiar with Mulinde’s work and is a licensed family and christian therapist. We noticed you didn’t put any references in your article and she said she hasn’t noticed anything of the likes in his books or otherwise. Could you please provide references for these accusations of self focus and the condemning unloving Jesus? Thank you!
Hi Jennifer – have you are she heard any of his testimonies? I sat through a sermon by John Mulinde during which he laid out his testimony of his claimed vision of Jesus. I then watched the same testimony on YouTube that he has repeated many times. It is during these presentations that he actually speaks for Jesus and claims that Jesus would not accept him even though he was a Christian because he did not work enough. He does it with tears and lots of emotional appeal but it is a great example of false teaching that is very well done and sympathetic. It is terribly sad. I have not read his books because I will not read a book from a man who presents a false Jesus.
That is supposed to be “you or she”. Sorry and God bless you.
Wait till you need the Jesus of the book of Revelation 2 and 3. Then you’ll know the Lord disciplines those He loves so they will escape future condemnation. The False Grace message denies the need for repentance.
By the fruit of the prophet we know. Superficial repentance and the real can be seen in Isaiah 58. Your Jesus settles for the lip based repentance or none at all. I’ve heard False Grace teachers say there’s no need to even repent after you’re saved cos Jesus did it all. Talk about heresy! 1 John was written, according to him, to unbelievers and believers so verse 9 of chapter 1 is for the unbelievers. Talk about twisting Truth.
The Lord is kind and severe. You’ll know that soon enough. It’s at the door. As the Jews of old, Christians presume immovability, refusing to read Romans 11. But! —Faith comes from hearing God’s word. What’s the fruit of Mulinde’s story? Deep seated avoidance of sins of the heart like adultery in thought. Yes, I’ve heard the messages. I would like to ask if you are free of those internal sins he said Jesus spoke about?
Ita – you seem to make conclusions about me that are incorrect.
I clearly state John Mulinde is a false teacher, yes. Why? Because he diminishes the work of Jesus on the Cross. Mulinde claims that he was a follower of Christ, one of Christ’s sheep, when his claimed vision happened. He claims the Good Shepherd appeared and told him that he would be rejected if Jesus returned today DESPITE being a Christian.
This is awful, ugly false doctrine. It diminishes the Cross of Christ. It also makes our salvation less about Jesus and what He did on the Cross and more about us and our arrogant belief that we can actually earn salvation.
I never said grace was easy – Jesus died to set you free. The Bible says that you are not only free but adopted into God’s family. Mulinde says that after being adopted and promised eternal life, born into new life in God, you will be cast out if you don’t do enough….what?
I also never said God will not discipline us or that there are not false converts – those who pay lip service but don’t believe. That is not what Mulinde says though. He uses guilt, shame, and the name of Jesus to contradict the teachings of Jesus.
Corrected
Wait till you meet the Jesus of the book of Revelation 2 and 3. Then you’ll know the Lord disciplines those He loves so they will escape future condemnation. The False Grace message denies the need for repentance.
By the fruit of the prophet we know. Superficial repentance and the real can be seen in Isaiah 58. Your Jesus settles for the lip based repentance or none at all. I’ve heard False Grace teachers say there’s no need to even repent after you’re saved cos Jesus did it all. Talk about heresy! 1 John was written, according to him, to unbelievers and believers so verse 9 of chapter 1 is for the unbelievers. Talk about twisting Truth.
The Lord is kind and severe. You’ll know that soon enough. It’s at the door. As the Jews of old, Christians presume immovability, refusing to read Romans 11. But! —Faith comes from hearing God’s word. What’s the fruit of Mulinde’s story? Deep seated avoidance of sins of the heart like adultery in thought. Yes, I’ve heard the messages. I would like to ask if you are free of those internal sins he said Jesus spoke about?
How about Galatians 2?
19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
You know, this is so often the knee jerk response of those who defend guys like Mulinde and the ugly systems that grow up around them. It is easy to charge “You just wait” and “You preach you can do what you want” or “Just want to sin”.
I do none of those things. I take God’s holiness very seriously and know that His judgment is righteous, perfect, and inescapable. He will pour out His wrath on the world.
The problem is simply the fact that if we base our salvation on ourselves and our holiness we will fail, every single time. You cannot keep the Law perfectly. I cannot keep the Law perfectly. The Jews could not keep the Law perfectly – it is why God sent a Savior to save them and us. His blood to cleanse us, once and for all.
Does that mean we can now sin, of course not – as Paul says – let it never be so. Sin should be offensive and we should welcome God’s discipline. It is just that if we turn around from the One who saved us through His Cross and say, “Thanks, it is now all about my work”, that is both foolish and self involved.
You ask what the fruity of Mulinde’s ministry is? That is exactly the point. It is focus on self. It is pride. It is legalism. It is thinking Jesus did not say “It is finished” and would reject His sheep because they are not good enough. He already knew we are not good enough – it is why He died for us.
Man centered religion comes in many forms. Mulinde’s is just packaged in a veneer of self righteousness.
“The problem is simply the fact that if we base our salvation on ourselves and our holiness we will fail, every single time. You cannot keep the Law perfectly. ”
Based on what you have said here, you have misunderstood the reason Pastor John Mulinde gave his testimony. A Christian working out their salvation makes it clear that Christian has some role and responsibility in keeping their salvation which can definitelybe lost (due to irresponsibility).
This does not mean you are your own Savior as alluded to in your statement above. I believe this is the key aspect that you may be missing in your position. Jesus is the giver of the gift of Salvation, and every Christian who understands the value of the gift is admonished to cherish and keep this gift, by obeying Jesus’ commands and not grieving the Holy Spirit.
To your reference about the impossibility of an “inherently” flawd humans ability to be perfect, I say by the power of the Holy Spirit we can be perfect if we allow Him to work out our flaws. Grace comes into play every time we fail and fall. We fall and we get up and stop refrain the same mistakes that bind us.
As a child in middle school, I struggled to keep my white shirts clean. Now as an adult , there are hardly ever any stains on my white shirts. Every matured Christian must keep his robe of righteousness clean by crucifying their flesh daily.. We can not keep making excuses why out garments are stained. We have a responsibility to grow up!
Paul said when a was a child I acted as a child, but when a became a man I put away childish things.
Let’s stop using human flaws as an excuse to continue in unholiness and unrighteousness. Let’s stop using grace as an excuse not to walk before God and be perfect as He is perfect.
As you already know, anything that defileth shall not enter heaven.
And finally, I noticed you have not (at least in all I have read so far) referenced the power of the Holy Spirit in our grace walk.
With the help and power of the Holy Spirit missing in your doctrine of grace, you interpret accountability in our Christian walk as “falling every time we base our salvation on ourselves.”
I pray that the body of Christ will put away errors and grow up in things of the Spirit. Time is short and the Age of man is coming to an end. Let’s live our lives soberly, come out of the world and seek God in truth and in Spirit.
God help those who are willing to change. Amen.
Friend – I am sorry you agree with Mulinde as if you really try to follow that sort of doctrine you put yourself back under the Law.
You say that I misunderstand him but then say this:
As a child in middle school, I struggled to keep my white shirts clean. Now as an adult , there are hardly ever any stains on my white shirts. Every matured Christian must keep his robe of righteousness clean by crucifying their flesh daily.. We can not keep making excuses why out garments are stained. We have a responsibility to grow up!
Paul said when a was a child I acted as a child, but when a became a man I put away childish things.
Which is exactly what I am saying is the false doctrine of John Mulinde.
Applying your example – when does the level of stains on your shirt cause you to lose your salvation? You admit yourself that you still get some stains on your shirt so when does that rise to the level of cast out of the Kingdom of God? Who gets to make that decision?
The problem with the doctrine like Mulinde’s is right there in your example. If it is up to you to keep your shirt clean then your entire Christian life will focus on you and yourself – not Jesus and His mercy and grace. This is the very thing Paul addressed in the book of Galatians when he wrote;
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed [b]among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
And
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Paul gets to the heart of the problem. If there is any way that man could obtain salvation that is based on us then the sacrifice of Jesus was for nothing.
Mulinde’s claimed vision of Jesus scolding him is offensive against the Savior who died to set us free from our own failures.
These accusations are not true I heard Dr. Mulinde’s teaching and testimony and he does not teach a doctrine of works at all. This is wrong to spread this when this is untrue .
Dee – thanks for the comment and for reading the post even though it seems like you like John Melinda. I disagree with you, though. Mulinde teaches as part of his “vision” that Jesus Himself told him that He, Jesus, would reject Mulinde because Mulinde was not good enough…despite Mulinde being a believer. Mulinde’s secret sins were too many.
This sounds good to us. It appeals to a truth – we are ugly sinners and our thought lives could never be acceptable to a perfectly holy God on our own. It appeals to our judgment of ourselves based on our standards. So we need to get better and try harder or Jesus will reject us.
This is monumentally offensive to Jesus. It is not what Jesus says. It is not what the Gospel teaches. You are forgiven fully, loved perfectly, and pardoned fully if you are in Christ. You are new creation created by God Himself. This is not because you are good or you will be good in the future. It is because of Jesus’ death on the Cross only. The perfect One died for us ugly sinners.
Now, this does not mean we should willingly sin. Sin is hugely offensive to God. But the Cross of Jesus Christ is bigger than our sin. Jesus said “It is finished” as He poured out His blood for you.
The question is whether we believe that or not. Do we really think we can add anything to that?
Mulinde does what the Apostle Peter was trying to do in Antioch when he refused to eat with the Gentile Christians. Peter was giving the message that the Gentiles were “less than” the Jewish Christians because they were not Kosher. That they needed to keep the Law to be fully acceptable to Christ.
Read and ponder Paul’s response to this set out in Galatians. He says that Peter was perverting the Gospel and diminishing the work of Jesus. Think about Mulinde’s claim that he needed to get “more holy” before he would be acceptable to God in light of Galatians 2:21:
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
If you need to work to gain righteousness then Christ died for nothing.
God bless you.
Pastor Unlikely, have you ever come acrross a verse in the bible that admonishes us “to work out our salvation with fear and trembling”?
Hi Norman – I am aware of Philippians 2:12 and do not ever ignore the fact that God is perfectly just and holy. In fact, God is so holy that we imperfect sinful humans could never live in a way that could earn His approval. Our works are filthy rags before Him and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Where does that leave us if salvation is up to us?
Thankfully, we cannot also underrate the grace and mercy of God displayed through Jesus. He is either our Savior by grace through faith – a free gift that cannot be earned so that no man (including John Mulinde) can boast. It is God’s work so how can any many claim responsibility and boast over what he has done. This is the Gospel of grace – Jesus on the Cross saying “It is finished” – your debt is paid.
Mulinde’s response subtly perverts this Gospel. He says that Jesus’ work was not complete and your salvation is not totally in Jesus. He claims that salvation is not actually by grace through faith – a free gift – but that you have to continually earn it, over and over and over again. In doing so, he misrepresents and diminishes Jesus. His blood is not sufficient to wash us clean. You have to help the perfect Savior do His job.
The Bible says that it is by grace so that no man may ever boast. Yet, Mulinde’s whole claimed vision is a what we call a humble brag. He pretends to be humble in claiming the Good Shepherd shamed and scolded him for his failures in life. But what is his real point?
To brag about how HE has been given this special knowledge and if you listen to him and follow what he says, you can be as great as he is. He drags attention from Jesus and His wonderful grace and perfect peace to place the spotlight squarely on one man – John Mulinde.
This is manipulative false teaching. It is encouraging people to be self focused and legalistic. It is just another version of the man centered prosperity gospel people love so much.
It has nothing to do with the real Jesus.
The Prosperity Gospel is Garbage – A Simple Response to a False Gospel
Galatians 2:
For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
Don’t set aside the grace of God in favor of your own righteousness. It tells Jesus you think He died for nothing.
The man, was telling the truth.John Mulinde was in sin. If he or we continue to sin and not repent WE WILL go to hell. That’s in the bible. What John Mulinde was saying in that video IS the truth and it’s based on the Bible. Don’t read watered down versions of the Bible read the King James or the Amplified bible. We still have responsibility to repent regardless of what Jesus did at the cross. Roman 6- 8 talks about repentance. That6 the whole message right there. Repent means to turn away from our way into God, not just a mental change but behavioral as well. My God church wake up!! Don’t let the devil tell you that 🤥 lie.
Hi Paulette – I read the KJV and the Amplified and neither supports the idea that Jesus will reject His sheep He died for on the Cross of Calvary because they sin after salvation. Jesus said that He gave His sheep eternal life – and no man can take them out of His hand:
27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and my Father are one.
Mulinde claims that Jesus was not telling the truth when He said He gives us eternal life and we will never perish.
He entirely misses the point of Galatians 2:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
If we could earn or lose Christ’s approval based on our claimed sinlessness, then Christ died in vain. Mulinde’s claim seems like it is presenting a standard for holiness. It is actually insulting to Jesus.
Yes, we should turn from sin. Yes, we should be holy and righteous. But if righteousness comes through our behavior then we are all doomed. It is only through the grace of God so that no man, like John Mulinde, may boast in himself.
I don’t agree with you. I’m a follower of Jesus and I started my walk in love with Jesus. But as years have gone by I saw myself changing back to darkness. My thoughts were dark and the joy was gone. As I prayed God spoke to my spirit to look up defilement so I did. Defilement means to make something unclean. He began to show me other scriptures and at the end I understood I allowed bitterness in my heart. This bitterness is what Paul says defiles. God was teaching me and showing me what was causing the darkness in my thoughts and attitude. Why I couldn’t pray and I didn’t feel connected anymore. But he also showed me there is hope. If once people become believers that’s it they are saved, why in revelation does God give warnings to church to repent and change before he comes? I can only speak about my experience but I can also see how many people on the church don’t understand about guarding our hearts. There are so many scriptures that talk about the heart and that is what God will judge at the end. He has given us a new heart but we must guard it because that’s what the enemy is after.
Hi there – thanks for the comment. I do appreciate your thoughts, even if I ultimately don’t agree. One of the big contrasts in the Christian faith is the difference between what our emotions and senses tell us that our faith should be and the full Gospel set out by Jesus in the Bible. There are so many things, big and little, that we think should be one way in our relationship with Jesus based on our ideas of fairness, merit, and just what is “right” that simply aren’t so. Our general sense of fairness pushes us to see our life in Christ as one based on how well we are doing, how much we study the Bible, or how much we don’t sin, for example. Or we base our view of how we are doing with Jesus on how we feel – I feel bad about myself, therefore Jesus must feel bad about me. These make sense within the human and worldly structure of man – but Jesus specifically refuses to play by our rules. If He did, then none of us would ever be saved.
Instead, Jesus saves us because of Him and His goodness – our goodness (lack of) plays no part in that. Jesus paid our debt on the Cross and to make sure we knew what He was doing declared “It is finished” before dying. The Greek word used tetelestai was a word that was used in ancient accounting to mean “Your debt is paid”. So your sins were poured out in Him and your debt is paid – It is finished. When you are saved, you receive God, the Holy Spirit as a downpayment of what is to come in eternity and are born again through a miracle of God. The Bible promises that Jesus was the author of this faith, will keep this faith, will perfect this faith, and will complete the good work He started in you. Jesus also very clearly states that no one will take His sheep from His Father’s hand in John 10:
7 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
We are also promised in elaborate terms that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ in Romans 8:
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[a]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul goes to great lengths to make sure we understand that nothing means nothing – including our own sin, failure, doubts, and feelings about ourselves. This is the reason why Jesus promise to give us rest makes sense – Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We are secure in Christ, indwelled with God Himself, born again through a miracle of God. What human thinks they can undo such a miracle?
In addition, I ask you the question that should keep you up at night if you truly believe John Mulinde’s teaching and this viewpoint. How much is enough? I am serious – If you are truly honest with how you view yourself before God, do you honestly believe that you love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul – as He deserves. Do you not defile yourself one bit – even in little ways. Do you never lust after a person of the opposite sex, give as you are called, think only of the Lord’s Kingdom as you should? Martin Luther used to spend up to 6-8 hours at a time in confession before the Protestant Reformation examining just these issues – he was honest about himself, did not blind himself with pride, and detailed every one of his sins because he thought his faith relied on him.
If you think this way – where is the line between saved and unsaved? What if you are so prideful you don’t realize you are sinning just a little too much? Are you out of luck? This should lead to a life of terror and toil, if you view your own life in view of God’s perfection. You can only rest in this sort of system if you delude yourself or make up rules that God never set down.
So, I certainly understand the feelings that you describe. Every believer has a choice how they live in Christ. You can make it miserable through license or legalism. You can toy with sin. Life as a living sacrifice is certainly better and more full of Jesus. Yet, life in Jesus that is focused on you and how you feel or act in order to keep your standing with Jesus misses the entire point of the free gift of eternal life that was guaranteed by the only work that matters – Jesus on the Cross. The enemy is after you making life all about anything but Jesus – focusing on yourself, your feelings, or your works does that just as well as indulging in messier looking sins.
Agreed. The finished work was done at the cross but we have to run our race . We must die to self,the old man. This pastor John did not even realize the sin in his heart. Jesus showed him as well as the others . After we are saved we must go on to maturity. Be ye Holy as He is Holy. Carnal ppl say you can never be sin free? But if the son sets u free ye are free indeed. We believe it by faith till it is manifest in us. Till that which is perfect is come. Christ in us the hope of glory. We believe by faith Christ Jesus lives in us till it is manifest in us. Does Christ sin? God forbid. We are liars if we say we have not sin. Yes cuz we are born in sin. But by the Holy Spirit we are being shown sin not.even we are.aware of. Who can.know the heart. Praise God for open eyes taught of the Holy Spirit going on to finish this race and to manifest Christ Jesus in us some 30 some 60 and some 100 percent . Many are called few are chosen . Blessings .
This pastor John did not even realize the sin in his heart. Jesus showed him as well as the others . After we are saved we must go on to maturity.
Hi there – you and the other poster seem to be mixing together a number of concepts that are not the same in order to get to what is a vague assertion that we must get to “maturity”.
I want to ask you right now to spell out exactly the point where you are secure in Christ because of maturity?
Mulinde claims that he was a Christian working for God when Jesus appeared at scolded him telling him that he was not safe despite his belief because of sin. Tell me exactly when you and he, both of whom are sinful, are safe from berating by Jesus?
Jesus promised those who believe eternal life. At what level of achievement according to your scale does that kick in and become trustworthy?
How does this apply to the Apostle Peter, too? Peter was saved and taught by Jesus Himself. Peter went out and preached the Gospel boldly. He then denied Jesus. He followed this by arguing with God in Acts when the sheet came down and then was a hypocrit who had to be rebuked by Paul in Antioch. Under your and Mulinde’s doctrine, was Peter not saved up until Paul’s rebuke in Antioch? Was he saved, then unsaved with teh denial, then saved to preach in Acts 3, then unsaved again.
My point is that Mulinde’s self focused and subtly prideful view of his standing before God makes his and your life in Christ all about your subjective opinion of yourself. It has nothing to do with glorifying Jesus and His eternal unwavering love for you. It sounds like he is being holy, but he is actually demeaning Jesus. Galatians 2:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
Response to PastorUnlikely:
You asked the question–“I want to ask you right now to spell out exactly the point where you are secure in Christ because of maturity?”
Answer– You are secure in Christ as long as you continue in your belief in Him.
Peter sinned against Christ by denying Him, and Jesus restored Peter just as God restored David. Apostle Paul rebuked Peter who acted hypocritically, and Jesus restored Peter when he repented.
Yes, “Jesus promised those who believe eternal life,” so please be mindful that this B.E.L.I.E.F. is an action on going verb.
Hebrews 10.39 warns us:
But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
PastorUnlikely, what do you think about this bible verse, and what do you think God is saying to His Church for our edification?
Look forward to your response.
Hi there – thanks for the response, even though you are not the person I put the questions to. Your responses highlight the huge problems with John Mulinde and his claimed visions of Jesus:
You asked the question–“I want to ask you right now to spell out exactly the point where you are secure in Christ because of maturity?”
Answer– You are secure in Christ as long as you continue in your belief in Him.
I do understand your position here, even though I may or may not disagree with it – depending on what you mean regarding losing salvation. I would agree with you that belief is the only qualification that gets and keeps us in Jesus’ Kingdom.
The problem is, John Mulinde disagrees with you and under his standard, your belief in Jesus is not enough. If you recall his claimed vision, Mulinde claimed he was a believer in Christ and working for Christ when Jesus appeared to him and harshly rebuked him – telling Mulinde that he would not be taken with Jesus if Jesus came today. This was not because of lack of faith – he believed – but because of sin. Mulinde explicitly rejects salvation by faith, therefore, and instead makes up a new standard that he puts on people – a vague standard of doing enough or not sinning too much in order to be saved. This is why I asked the question – How much is enough?
The inherent problem with all false standards people put on Jesus for salvation is the fact that they are based on people’s pride. They have enough pride to think that they can do enough to keep salvation and the blindness to fail to see the sins that continue in their life. The standard from Jesus for good enough is perfection – love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, love neighbor as self, don’t lust, covet, be angry or otherwise transgress in any way – outwardly or in heart. It is what makes Mulinde’s claims so absurd – he sins in a thousand ways every day since he is a man and he actually thinks he can just “do better and do more” and that will make him more ok than the Cross of Jesus. His work is more important than Jesus’.
This whole trend is actually an expression of one’s flesh, not a statemen of holiness – it is what Paul talks about in Colossians 2:
Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and [n]neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Yes, “Jesus promised those who believe eternal life,” so please be mindful that this B.E.L.I.E.F. is an action on going verb.
Hebrews 10.39 warns us:
But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
PastorUnlikely, what do you think about this bible verse, and what do you think God is saying to His Church for our edification?
Look forward to your response.
I want to be clear here and say again that I do respect those who believe that you can lose your salvation from lack of belief. I disagree with the conclusion, but there are biblical arguments you can make for it.
But this is not what John Mulinde sets out in his claimed vision. He has Jesus coming to a believer in Jesus and scolding him severely for not doing enough. He depicts Jesus the Good Shepherd coming to one of His sheep and beating that sheep up and then rejecting it. The same Good Shepherd who promised to leave the 99 to save the 1 and whose whole mission was to come to us while we are still enemies because God so loved the world, rejects a wayward sheep because that sheep was unworthy.
I know the vision sounds powerful and appeals to our desire to be enough for Jesus and to be approved, but Mulinde’s whole message that he claims is from Christ goes directly against the Gospel. Jesus is the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23;
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.
So it comes back again to the question – When does security come in Christ if we are subject to Jesus appearing at any time and scolding us and telling us we are failures in Christ? Jesus promised rest when we come to Him – how can anyone rest if our salvation depends on doing “enough” or not sinning enough?
Romans 8:
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are either unable to be separated from the love of Christ by any created thing, that means everything in existence, or we are not.
Thank you for this.
God bless
You are welcome and you too.
Greetings,
I read many of the posts and also your answers. From my understanding and also revelations from what I read, I believe you need prayers as we all do! You come across as a bitter and jealous person, whose warped interpretation of the Bible must be accepted. Don’t you know that the Holy Spirit brings unity of thought and understanding to the body of Christ? Many people here are trying hard to steer you right but you’re resisting. I pray that God gives you what you really need if you’re truly a folower of Lord Yeshua, Amen!
Hi Rosalyn – I do certainly needs prayers and make no claims otherwise. I am a flawed person who fails on a regular basis and who knows that it is only Jesus and His perfect love that saved me, keeps me , and continues to teach me. Part of the reason I write here is because I enjoy discussing the Lord and thinking about questions from different perspectives than mine. I try to be open to bein shown that I am wrong and, honestly, have been grateful when people have shown that I was wrong about something. I am sorry if I come across as bitter in writing, that is far from my heart and I don’t think anyone who has ever met me has ever called me bitter.
Assuming you are accusing me of being jealous of John Mulinde, I can say that I am the farthest thing from jealous of him and the people he has under his influence. I have fallen into legalism and fallen for showmanship and emotionalism at times in my walk with Christ and it has been nothing but misery, exhaustion, and emptiness. I honestly don’t know where Mulinde himself stands with Jesus, but he has painted a picture of Jesus that is contrary to the biblical Jesus and is highly insulting to Jesus and His Gospel. Jesus stated that He came to set the captives free and Mulinde’s teaching effectively puts them back into prison. As Paul wrote about those who were also telling Christians that Jesus alone was not enough in Galatians 1:
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Accursed means beyond salvation – I don’t want any part of that. BTW – I also understand that I could have more people listen to me, a bigger stage, and lost of defenders if I preached a similar message that encourages the flesh. I assume that is what you mean by jealous. I am not interested as I the Gospel of Jesus saved me from my own self destruction and allows me to rest in the sufficiency of Jesus’ work on the Cross. I would rather have that by myself than all of the riches of the world given for preaching something different.
I just want to encourage you brother, that like many of the posters here, I too once believed in the legalistic doctrine of works (Arminian in practice) which is taught in Pentecostal-Apostolic charismatic type churches Like the one I was raised in. Do to my call to ministry, I invested in my education and exposed myself to the early church history and the teaching of the early church fathers. I failed to find any evidence that the apostles or their disciples taught or believe this heresy.
Furthermore, most charismatic believers are unwilling to acknowledge the necessity to submit their understanding of scripture to an exegetical (to draw out) interpretation – where the bible reader has to ask themselves what is God is saying through the scriptures? While they commonly opt for an eisegetical (to read into) interpretation – where the bible reader tries to interpret scripture with presuppositions and anecdotal experiences.
I listened to this Pastor’s testimony many years ago as well as recently and I too was convicted, inspired to repentance, and held captive by his compelling and obvious pleas for self-evaluation and accountability. However, I noticed how subtle he revealed his wrong understanding on key gospel points that it clearly stated in scripture:
Eph. 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”
John 10:27-30 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Many other bible texts and the ones you mentioned in earlier responses as well details the Jesus (God) and the apostle’s understanding of grace and salvation (there is nothing we can humanly do to obtain it or keep it).
Unfortunately, when you SUBMIT to the authority of scripture (the written word of GOD), you humbly have to discern the false teaching, no matter how compelling the claims of spiritual encounters and personal experiences. I know what that means now and Pastor John Mulinde’s testimony is a perfect example of this dilemma the modern Christian face.
As quoted by Charles Spurgeon:
“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”
In closing, several posters reference the book of revelation as a rebuttal to the warning of this false teaching. Whether Pastor John Mulinde’s false teaching is rooted in unintentional error or blatant heresy, it is still diverges from sound scriptural doctrine. In Revelation 22:18-19 warns of adding or deleting to the word of God (the Book of Revelation specifically):
“For I testify together to everyone who hears the Words of the prophecy of this Book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add on him the plagues that have been written in this Book. And if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which have been written in this Book.”
Paul specifically warns of something similar with respect to the gospel when he said in Gal. 1:8-9:
[9] 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. [10] For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Many blessings to you brother and even the posters who I pray will study to show themselves approved…and discern false doctrines that frustrate the grace that Christ extended towards us at Calvary.
Thank you for the encouragement, my friend! I appreciate it, the love of the brethren that compelled it, and reading about your history with this sort of teaching. Praise the Lord for leading you out of that! This is the part that is so hard for so many:
I listened to this Pastor’s testimony many years ago as well as recently and I too was convicted, inspired to repentance, and held captive by his compelling and obvious pleas for self-evaluation and accountability.
Mulinde and many others are really good at mixing powerful truth with destructive lies that appeal to our flesh while hiding behind claims of righteousness, it is so easy to get sucked into the trap of pride, shame, and all the other ugly self focused emotions that are drudged up. That Spurgeon quote:
“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”
is awesome and so true! I know I have read it before, but thank you as you provided it at exactly the right time to shine light on something my wife and I are struggling with. Praise God again!
Many blessings to you brother and even the posters who I pray will study to show themselves approved…and discern false doctrines that frustrate the grace that Christ extended towards us at Calvary.
You too and amen! Tom
Greetings. I listened to Dr. Mulinde’s testimony over the weekend and I must admit that it has left me feeling quite unsettled. I am a firm believer in Christ and after listening to the interview, a grave unsettled feeling came over me and has been there for the past few days. I keep wondering, how can a man who is believer doing the work of God as he claimed, be told by Jesus that if He came now he wouldn’t accept him? If this man is going around, setting up churches, casting out demons in the name of Christ, prophesying and praying for hours daily is going to be rejected by Christ, then what chances do I have? Is there no room for Grace? Is this the Jesus of the Bible?
I started feeling so unworthy (and yes, we are all sinners and are unworthy), but I started to ask myself if I could ever be so good where I can earn Christ’s promise of salvation (even though I am already saved). I started feeling ashamed even when I went to pray because of that unworthy feeling. I find I started to focus more on what I am doing and not doing and have done and have not done (basically focusing on myself) and not on what Christ has done and the promises He has made.
The unsettling feeling i get is not one which is inspiring me to repent and sin no more….on the contrary, it has a feeling of hopelessness because what if that is not enough? Can I truly not sin no more? So I decided to research Dr. Mulinde and came across this post. I resonate with your characterization of his message being grace robbing. It feels that way.
I will never stop believing in Christ. I cannot earn His salvation. No amount of works I do will ever be enough. I will continue to rely on His Grace and love to keep me whole and worthy, not my actions or abilities.
Hi Georgia – thank you for this comment! I am so glad that the Lord led you to research and that you followed His leading. Though this is the post of mine that gets the most criticism – there are a lot of people who support John Mulinde and are vocal about it – stories like yours are why I wrote this and keep it published. People are so often entrapped with these type of messages and tricked into discarding the grace of God, it is just tragic!
I will never stop believing in Christ. I cannot earn His salvation. No amount of works I do will ever be enough. I will continue to rely on His Grace and love to keep me whole and worthy, not my actions or abilities.
Amen! If my righteousness and standing before God was up to me, I would be in a huge amount of trouble. Praise God that the Good Shepherd paid the price to not only get me into His flock, but to also keep me there eternally!
You do such a great job in breaking down the personal affect of this sort of false teaching on all of you in your comment. Would you give me permission to post it as a new blog post with some comments from me? I think so many people go through exactly what you describe when they hear a Grace Robbing sermon like that, I am betting it would be helpful to them to read.
God bless you!