They keep saying to those who despise my word, ‘Don’t worry! The LORD says you will have peace!’ And to those who stubbornly follow their own desires, they say, ‘No harm will come your way!’ [Jeremiah 23.17]
The message that false prophets preached, identified by Jeremiah above, is the same message false prophets are preaching today ...calling it "Grace." But, it's cheap grace.
The wildly popular version of "Grace" that false prophets preach today makes Jesus Christ a replacement for the Ten Commandments instead of a replacement for the sacrifice of animals. The blood Jesus shed did not break the Covenant of God's Word, but fulfilled it! Jesus' blood, once and for all, replaced the blood of animal sacrifices required to make man right with God as eternally required for breaking the Ten Commandments! The Ten Commandments did not go away, but the repeated sacrifices for breaking them did for those who trust in Christ as the only way to God and His every blessing. For Christ's blood to accomplish anything short of making man right with God measured by the standard of the Ten Commandments is a gross misrepresentation of both God and His Son. Cheap grace despises God's Word.
False prophets who spout "cheap grace" today are the same false prophets who refuse to acknowledge the gross idolatry that is more prevalent in mankind today than ever before. The looser the "grace," the more idolatry is tolerated - the more man-made solutions (idols) promising peace and safety are accepted by "God's people." Any message that relieves man of the responsibility to trust God ALONE in the Way He demands it, faith in Jesus Christ, despises God's Word.
Here are some things that are always associated with idols: promises of peace, "self" pursuit, and promises of protection. Every promise made by idols, effectively negating every promise of God, despises God's Word.
There is no distinction today between the "Church" and the rest of the world. Even though the Bible records God's ancient people repeatedly asking, "Why do we suffer curses and difficulties?" to which God ALWAYS replied, "Because of your idolatry!" the "Church" today ignorantly attributes curses and difficulties instead to randomness. Failing to acknowledge that God controls EVERYTHING despises God's Word.
If God's Word can be despised, should not true followers of God pay extra attention to avoid that scenario? Yes, they should!
Unfortunately, man is incapable of not despising God's Word. Since the sin of Adam, this was true of all mankind and will continue as long as the earth exists. Man still must obey the Ten Commandments to have peace and protection (avoid harm). The singular act of repentance-and-faith in Jesus Christ, and absolutely no other source/remedy/idol, is the Way to accomplish that. To seek peace and protection from anything or anyone other than God THROUGH Jesus Christ is the message of idolatry preached by false prophets. "Grace" that allows idolatry (and the sin it leads to) is indeed false prophecy no matter how loudly the false prophet proclaims, "Don’t worry! The LORD says you will have peace!" and, "No harm will come your way!"
In the midst of turmoil and devastation (the curses described in Deuteronomy 28.15-68), the true prophet of God says, "Repent and believe God's Word." To be sure, idolatry with all its pride and sin is what must be repented of - it was in Bible times, and, it is now - and Jesus Christ (God's Word) is Whom we must believe in.
Father, as difficult as these words are today, they reveal a problem no one is talking about: idolatry. This idolatry is what has brought all manner of curses upon Your people while false prophets keep preaching "Don’t worry! The LORD says you will have peace!" and, "No harm will come your way!" May our eyes and ears be opened to the Truth that is Your Word. May our eyes and ears be opened to the Truth that is Jesus Who demanded that we give up our own way, take up our cross, and follow Him. So be it.
