TPW 58 Old Hank Hanegraaff Versus New Hank Hanegraaff

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Welcome to the
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Protestant Witness, this is Pastor Patrick Hines here at Birdwell Heights Presbyterian Church on a
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Friday afternoon, February 22nd, and today I'd like to post the audio of a video
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I did a while back on the Hank Hanegraaff issue. I took my YouTube channel down because I felt there was too much redundancy.
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The stuff that I was doing was being put on that YouTube channel, and it was also going on Sermon Audio, and it was also being put on the
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Protestant Witness, and I thought three versions of everything I do is not good for the internet.
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So I got rid of the YouTube channel, but I did save a lot of the audio from those old videos because I did a lot of work, a lot of work on that stuff.
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I was looking back through some of the archives, and there's a number of things I want to post because they're not really out there on the
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Protestant Witness, I don't have the YouTube channel anymore, so I wanted to get these uploaded. This is a relatively short piece
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I did, it's only 22 minutes long, but I was a little disturbed when Hank Hanegraaff converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.
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First of all, that did not surprise me because he's always been semi -Pelagian.
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He had someone like George Bryson on his radio program. George Bryson's method of dealing with Calvinism coming from the
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Calvary Chapel movement was really, I think, was not up to par in terms of the kind of standard that CRIs usually have for the people that they promote, but they had him on with James White, and that was a big mistake.
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But anyway, to talk about the Calvinism issue, but Hank has always been a vociferous opponent of the
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Biblical doctrine of grace, and I'm sorry, but the Biblical doctrine of grace necessitates unconditional election.
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If you don't have unconditional election, you don't have the Biblical doctrine of grace, that's just all there is to it. You could say that grace is necessary, that you couldn't be saved without it, but if you lose the doctrine of unconditional election, you cannot argue for sola gratia, you cannot say that we're saved by grace alone.
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It is not grace alone, if unconditional election is not true. But my primary concern in this short piece, it's only about 22 minutes long, this video
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I did, was the assertion that the Christian Research Institute made that Hank's views have been codified in 20 books, and his views haven't changed.
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I document in this video that that is not true. Hank's view of justification has changed, and has changed dramatically, and I hope that you will find this edifying.
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This is a very serious issue, it's a very serious form of apostasy that Hank has engaged in here, and I hope that people recognize that he does not speak for, in any sense,
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Orthodox, Biblical, Reformed, Protestant Christianity anymore, and in a sense, he never really did, because of his vociferous opposition to the
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Biblical doctrine of grace, which is unconditional electing grace. So anyway, I hope that you find this edifying.
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On the Christian Research Institute's website, there's an article called The Body of Christ, Denominations, and Q &A.
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And in it, it says, Hank discusses an issue in response to many calls he has received.
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Hank was asked if, by becoming a member of the Orthodox Church, he had walked away from the faith, and is no longer a
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Christian. His views have been codified in 20 books, and have not changed.
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His views have been codified in 20 books, and have not changed. I'd like to point out that that is not a true statement.
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Hank's views have changed. I'd like to play a call where someone asks specifically about justification by faith alone, asked about Sola Fide, and listen to Hank's answer.
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Listen to Hank's answer. I'll just let him speak for himself as I play this. I'll stop and comment a little bit along the way.
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You maintain that Protestants and Catholics hold to the essentials of our faith.
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But, Hank, that's not true. Catholics do not hold to the core essentials of our faith.
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In fact, they do not ascribe to Sola Fide. That's right. They don't.
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And Sola Fide, justification by faith alone, meaning faith apart from works, is certainly an essential.
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And I feel for this guy, because I get the impression he thinks Hank believes in that, because, well,
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Hank has said he believes in that in books that he's written. So, let's just see how he answers it. And so, for that purpose,
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I don't think that we can call the Catholic Church a
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Christian church, at least not in its orthodoxy. And so, when we say things like the
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Catholic Church, while they may differ on certain nonessential issues, they do differ on essential issues.
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Well, let me simply say I appreciate your call. I've often defined the
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Roman Catholic position as best I know how with respect to Sola Fide. The Roman Catholic Church does not hold to a crass system of works righteousness.
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Totally irrelevant. It's not about whether it holds to a crass system of works righteousness.
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Now, what he's going to go on to say here is that, well, they believe that grace is necessary. Everyone believes that grace is necessary.
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Mormons believe grace is necessary for us to be saved. But that's not the issue. The issue is not grace's necessity.
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It is whether grace is sufficient by itself, apart from human cooperation and works, to justify us before God.
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They believe that we are saved by God's grace through faith.
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They believe that the faith are infused with works, and those works are meritorious. Now, so this is not a crass system of works righteousness.
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Totally irrelevant to the question that he was just asked by that man. The man said, look, they don't agree with us on the essentials.
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This poor guy understands that justification by faith alone is an essential truth.
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Hank doesn't believe that. He doesn't believe that. To agree with Rome on that position, when you get to the minutia of how they define faith and how they render the distinction between faith and works.
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Are you hearing that? He called the way that Rome talks about faith and works and the way we're justified, the minutia.
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The minutia. That's incredible to me. To act like the doctrine over which
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Paul calls down the anathema of God twice in Galatians chapter 1 verses 6 through 9.
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That's just minutia. Unbelievable. This has always been sort of a debate that Western Christians have had.
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That Reformation debate in the West raised the question in the Orthodox East, and I think this...
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It's long before the Reformation, Hank. This goes back to Augustine Pelagius and the whole issue of semi -Pelagianism all the way through the
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Middle Ages. This goes much further back than the Reformation. It goes to Paul and the
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Judaizers in the book of Galatians. So this is nothing new. It's not that recent.
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This is something that most people don't know. In the Orthodox East, they were raising the question, why is there a polarization between faith and works?
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Because the Apostle Paul in the New Testament makes a polarization between faith and works when it comes to our justification before God.
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This is such a common canard that's thrown at us. You guys are opposing faith and works. No, we're not.
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What we're opposing is justification by faith and justification by works.
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Paul says over and over and over again, justification is by faith, apart from works.
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Apart from works. Righteousness is imputed to us apart from works. Romans 3 .20
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Why is there a polarization between faith and works when it comes to justification?
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Because Paul says in Romans 4 .15 Paul says in Galatians chapter 5
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You either trust in Christ alone, or you're not justified. If you believe that your works in some way form the basis, in some way, even made possible by grace, some basis of your salvation is by works,
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Christ will be of no benefit to you. And that's essential. Because you want Christ to be of benefit to you.
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If Christ is of no benefit to you, as Paul says, because you've added works into the equation in some nuanced way, that means you're not going to heaven when you die.
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That's essential. We don't know what that's all about. Well, if you don't know the difference between saying that we're justified by faith and justified by good works that we do, when
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Paul excludes works from the equation in every conceivable way. Romans 4 .4 and 5
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Now to the one who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
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Just as David speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works.
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We don't understand this dichotomy. Well, then you're not reading the Apostle Paul. He talks about it extensively, chapter after chapter after chapter in the
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New Testament. Because it had been settled since the apostolic era. That's certainly true in the
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New Testament. That salvation was always granted to us by the mercy of God, granted to those who followed
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Jesus Christ. This was the mercy of God. Yeah, and Mormons believe that we're saved by the mercy of God alone.
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And the Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, mercy of God alone. And Rome, we're saved by grace alone.
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And the Jehovah's Witnesses, we're saved by grace alone. And every other cult on this planet, we're saved by grace alone.
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Because grace alone makes it possible. And that's not what the
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Reformation was about. The Reformation was about, and the issue with the Apostle Paul and his fight with the
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Judaizers of Galatia, was not, is grace needed? Are we saved by the mercy of God?
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It's, is grace sufficient to save us? You see, justification has to be by faith alone in order for salvation to be by grace alone.
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If it's by something alongside of faith, or in addition to faith, or as a supplement to faith, it's not grace.
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Romans 4 .16, Therefore it is of faith, justification is of faith, that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed.
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You see that? It is by faith, so that it would be by grace. If it's by something other than faith, or in addition to faith, it's not grace anymore.
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As Paul says in Romans 11 .6, And if it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace is not grace.
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So you can talk about and build up the mercy of God. It's necessity all you want.
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You still aren't answering the question before us about Sola Fide. They're cooperating.
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Their position is such that they cooperate with God's grace. Well, what can a dead man cooperate with?
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He's right. He is exactly right. The biblical imagery, Colossians 2, Ephesians 2.
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We're dead in our trespasses and sins. It's the valley of dry bones from Ezekiel 37. I mean, you can yell at dead bones all day long, but apart from a miracle of divine grace, they ain't coming back to life.
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And that coming back to life is not merely God making it possible for them to come back to life. It is effectual grace that brings them back to life.
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That's my position. Well, what I'm pointing out, though, is something different. But you see, Hank's not interested in your position, sir.
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I mean, I'm sorry that you still think he's a Protestant or that he believes the gospel that he has taught, as I'm going to show you, in other places.
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But he doesn't anymore. He has changed. The website says, my views have been codified in 20 books.
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I'm going to show you from quotations from his book, the Bible Answer book, that he has changed.
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I'm saying in the East, an opposition of faith versus works was unprecedented.
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Yeah, in the East, because they never had the debates about grace that we did in the West. They never had the
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Augustinian -Pelagian controversy. They didn't have the Reformation. Now, it is incredibly naive on their part to say, well, there was nothing to reform in those areas.
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Don't you recognize that in accepting the first seven ecumenical councils, of course, we would be with you on the first six, the
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Christological issues, the Trinitarian issues, those were brought about by debates.
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Heretics forced clarity. If only you would let the debates happen so you can force clarity in the issues related to soteriology.
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But for some reason, you guys decided to fossilize at the 8th and 9th century. That's a real shame. In the
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East, they believe that salvation comes through faith in Christ who fulfills the law.
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They believe that true faith is not just a decision. It is a way of life.
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Right, and if you conflate faith and obedience, Paul's entire argument makes no sense.
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He says we're justified by faith apart from obedience. But if you say faith is obedience, then how do you make sense out of what
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Paul says about all this stuff? It's James 2 .24
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he's citing against a question about sola fide. He's denying sola fide using
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James 2 .24 to do it. And he says his views haven't changed. Let's let him finish.
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We can't add anything to what Christ has done, but now
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I'm going to misinterpret James chapter 2 to try to say that actually what we do does add to what Christ has done, even though it's all made possible by Christ.
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If it does not have works, the point is, as James puts it, is dead.
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So we are not talking about the idea that somehow or other we can do what
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Christ did. However, we are talking about the fact that we need to participate in an active faith because if we don't, we're demonstrating that the faith that we have is not a real thing.
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Now, again, there is a difference between Protestants and Catholics and Orthodox on this position, but I'm out of time for this.
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And he's out of time, and he doesn't think that difference means anything anyway. It's just the minutia.
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So, Paul, man, what did you blow a gasket about in the book of Galatians? All this stuff about faith and works, and we don't even understand the dichotomy between faith and works when it comes to justification.
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So, Paul, what did you write the whole book of Galatians about? What did you write the book of Romans about, the book of Philippians about, the book of Colossians about?
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What are you talking about? There's no dichotomy between faith and works. But did you notice that Hank quotes
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James 2 .24? You see then that by works a man is justified and not by faith alone.
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That's a passage that's used by Roman Catholics as well to deny sola fide. Hank says in that article that I read at the beginning, his views have not changed.
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They've been codified in 20 books. Let's look at one of these books. This is from the Complete Bible Answer book.
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This is chapter 53. Does James teach salvation by works? Here are Hank's words.
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Critics of the Bible have long argued that the book of James contradicts the rest of Scripture in teaching that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone,
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James 2 .24. Upon closer examination, however, the book of James, like the rest of Scripture, confirms that we are saved not by what we do, but by what
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Jesus Christ has done. And the word done is in italics there. Continuing with the quotation. First, in context,
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James teaches that we are saved not by works, but by the kind of faith that produces good works.
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Breaking from the quotation. Exactly. That is what a contextually sound, sensitive exegesis of James 2 .14
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-26 will show you. In context, James teaches that we are saved not by works, but by the kind of faith that produces good works.
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But Hank, you just said, we don't even understand this dichotomy between faith and works. But it seemed that you used to.
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You used to understand that. Let's continue on with the quotation. As James puts it, What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?
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Can such faith save him? James 2 .14 The answer is no. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
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Amen. Hank continues. Furthermore, when James says a person is not justified by faith alone, he means that a person is not justified by mental assent alone.
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As such, he says, show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one
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God? Good. Even the demons believe that and shudder. Verses 18 -19 In other words, demons believe in the sense of giving mental assent to the fact that there is only one true
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God, all the while failing to place their hope and trust in him. And then he quotes a very famous Reformation slogan.
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Justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. We just heard on the
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Bible Answer Man, he doesn't believe that anymore. He says, look, this guy calls in that Rome doesn't agree with us on Sola Fide, which is an essential truth.
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And Hank says, we don't understand this dichotomy between faith and works. James 2 -24 You see then that by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone.
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And yet here, chapter 53, the complete Bible Answer Book. Justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.
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Hank continues. Finally, while James says a person is justified by what he does, and not by faith alone, and Paul says man is justified by faith apart from observing the law,
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Romans 3 -28, their words are in complete harmony. James is countering the false assertion that a said faith is a substitute for a saving faith, while Paul is countering the equally fallacious notion that salvation can be earned by observing the law.
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As the Reformers were wont to say, justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.
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And then Hank gives this final thing in this chapter. For further study, see
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R .C. Sproul, Justified by Faith Alone, Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books, 1999.
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Why didn't he recommend Sproul's book to that caller about Sola Fide? Why didn't he?
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And why didn't he say, well, I believe in Sola Fide. Justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.
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And James is talking about the demonstration of our faith. It can only be seen in the good works.
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Since faith is invisible, it can only be seen by good works. What good is it if a man says, why didn't he say that? Because Hank Hanegraaff's position on the gospel, on how a sinner is made right with God, has changed.
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He says, hey, it's been codified in 20 books, and has not changed. Yes it has. Yes it has.
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And in fact, he just quoted James 2 .24 in the precise opposite way that he explains it in one of those 20 books.
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Chapter 53, the complete Bible answer book. I challenge anyone to get the book and read it.
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But I also want to point out something else. You know, I had this memory that Hank's predecessor,
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Walter Martin, had written a book called Essential Christianity. And I found an out -of -print used copy of it.
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And you know what? This is a great little book. I've been reading it. Walter was a wonderful man of God.
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He definitely wasn't fully reformed. But he did understand this issue with regard to justification.
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Listen carefully to the words of Dr. Walter Martin in his book Essential Christianity. You know how Hank talks about the essentials of the
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Christian faith. Walter thought this was an essential. Hank's predecessor at CRI. On page 72, he says,
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As according to scripture, it is solely by grace that God shows mercy to a race deserving eternal judgment for the rejection of his son.
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This benevolent mercy in turn produces faith in men who will believe in the atoning sacrifice of his son for their sins.
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And as a result, it produces good works indicative of true repentance or proves repentance by deeds.
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Lest there be any confusion at this point, let us clearly grasp the fact that so -called good works can never save or justify the soul before God.
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You hear that? He's very, very clear about this. I appreciate that. He said, This extremely dogmatic teaching runs through the entire
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New Testament, particularly in what is termed Pauline theology, a fact evidenced by his preoccupation with it in Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and, oddly enough, with his practical application in the
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Epistle to Philemon. And he goes on from there. He says,
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But to return to the core of the matter, good works justify us before men in that they give tangible proof of our prior justification before God, which is solely on the basis of our faith in the
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Lord Jesus Christ. You hear that? Very clear. I'd like to read
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Walter Martin on page 74 of the same book. Listen carefully to him. James never taught that works justify the soul before God, as some who ignore the context of his remarks and the complete meaning of justification before God and before man imply, for he was well acquainted with Paul's teaching on the subject and concurred with it.
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James certainly did not contradict Paul. It was James and Peter, in fact, who interviewed
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Paul after his conversion, Galatians 1, 18 and 19, and later on, as Paul put it, perceived the grace that was given unto me, and God gave to me the right hand of fellowship that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision.
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Okay, so Walter's very clear. James never taught that we're justified before God. And you know who else used to be equally clear about it?
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Hank Hanegraaff. And, in fact, explained the misuse of James 2, 24 in one of the books that codifies his views.
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He says his views haven't changed. The fact is his views have changed on the very fundamental core of the gospel of Jesus Christ itself.
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He says in here, justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. It's always accompanied by the other saving graces.
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We are made new creatures in Christ. Our faith demonstrates its reality by the changed life that we live.
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Evidently, he used to believe that. But when he's asked about it on the Bible Answer Man now, he gives the standard
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Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic understanding of it using that very same passage that he once explained in the precise opposite way.
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So I would simply point out, if you're going to claim you haven't changed and that your views, they're the same as they've always been, that you've codified them in 20 books, why don't you believe chapter 53 of the completed
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Bible Answer Book anymore? Do you still recommend R .C. Sproul's book,
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Justified by Faith Alone? I certainly do. It's required reading for the officers of my church. So are we really getting the whole story when we're told nothing's changed, when
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Hank acts like, I just can't for the life of me understand why anybody thinks I've walked away from anything.
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Nothing's changed. Yes, it has. And it's been fully documented now, and I hope that everyone can see it.
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Thanks for watching. And may the
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Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.