5 Common Heresies Today

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#1 Jesus Was Just a Good Guy

This is the idea that Jesus was a really great guy, a wise teacher, a loving spiritual leader, a divinely-inspired prophet, or maybe even a special creation by God sent to save the world – but he wasn’t God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. This idea paints Jesus as something less than the eternal, uncreated God who created and rules the universe.

The Bible teaches that Jesus was God in the flesh who came to the earth to bring salvation to humankind. It teaches that Jesus was never created but has eternally existed as a part of the Triune Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus referred to himself as God, he received worship as God, and his disciples taught that he was God. (John 1:1-3, 8:58, 20:28-31; Colossians 1:15-17, 2:9; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 1:8.)

#2 Don’t Take the Bible too Literally

This is the idea that the Bible is a great book that can be really helpful, but it’s not to be taken too literally or seriously. Many believe that while the Bible might be inspired by God on some level, there are many errors, corruptions, and myths in it. Many also believe that the Bible was written to a certain time and culture and therefore it is irrelevant for our world today. While it’s good to study the Bible for some general principles or to study the Bible as literature, we shouldn’t apply all of it’s teaching to our lives today.

The Bible we have today is an accurate record of what was written centuries ago and has proven not to have any meaningful errors. And while it’s important to interpret the Bible correctly so as not to apply things in ways they weren’t intended to be applied, taking into account cultural nuances, genre, and different types of literary techniques, the Bible speaks relevantly to our world today.

The Bible also teaches that the words of scripture are the very words of God, and as such, are meant to be authoritative in our lives. So even when the Bible is “politically incorrect” by contemporary standards, we can trust that it is from God and that its teachings are perfect and eternally relevant. (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 14:37.)

#3 God Will Be Good with Everyone in the End

This idea, often called Universalism, is the idea that everyone goes to heaven in the end. It doesn’t really matter what religion you believed or didn’t believe, God wouldn’t actually punish anyone in hell, so everyone will end up in heaven eventually. Some believe that if you don’t come to believe in the right spiritual truth in this life, you’ll be given another opportunity in the afterlife to turn to God and accept his truth. Others just believe that there is no one right way and that all roads will eventually lead to heaven. Others believe – in direct contradiction of John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8-9 – that Jesus is the savior of the world and that his sacrificial death applies to everyone whether or not they trust him for salvation.

The Bible teaches that the only way to make it to heaven is by recognizing your sin and putting your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. It teaches that if you deny Jesus, ignore Jesus, believe in a Jesus in ways other than what is described in the Bible, or choose another path besides Jesus, you will not go to heaven when you die, but rather be eternally separated from God. (John 14:6; Matthew 7:13-14, 25:31-46; Acts 4:12; 1 John 5:11-12.)

#4 Good People Go to Heaven

This is the idea that as long as you try your best to be a good person, you’ll end up in heaven. It’s different than Universalism, which says everyone goes to heaven, but says that anyone can go to heaven as long as their good outweighs their bad and they avoid the really big sins. Essentially, it makes heaven the reward for people who try their best to be good. Different people and groups have different ideas about what constitutes “being good” or just how good you have to be, but the idea is the same – as long as you’re a good person and follow the rules, you’ll go to heaven as long as you were a generally good person.

The Bible teaches that no matter how hard we try to be good, we’ll never be good enough on our own. It teaches that every human being is inherently infected with sinfulness and even the good things we do are tainted by our sin. It teaches that God’s standard for getting into heaven is absolute holiness and perfection, so even if we are 99.99% good and .01% bad, we are not perfectly holy and cannot enter God’s presence. In the end, no matter how hard we try, we can never be good enough.

Rather than trying to make our good outweigh our bad, the Bible teaches that we need to be forgiven of our sins and made holy by God through putting our faith in Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross cleanses anyone who puts their trust in him for salvation. (Romans 3:21-23, 4:5-6, 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:9.)

#5 Christians Will Be Healthy and Wealthy

This idea, often called the “prosperity gospel,” is that if you’re really living for God the way he wants, you’ll be physically healthy and financially prosperous. Many people believe that health and wealth are God’s way of rewarding those who are faithful in this life, and conversely, sickness and poverty are punishments for a lack of faith or sinful behaviors. This idea sets up the expectation that good Christians will be spared of difficulties in this life while weaker Christians will be forced to endure hardship for their unfaithfulness.

The Bible never promises a life of ease and fortune to those who are faithful and a life of difficulty and pain to those who are unfaithful. In fact, wealth is often described in negative terms and suffering in positive terms. The Bible teaches that sometimes God blesses people with health, wealth, and positive experiences. But God also sometimes blesses people with challenges, suffering, and hard times as a means to grow them or to glorify himself. Sometimes, evil people seem to have everything in the world while righteous people suffer hardship (just read the book of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes). There is no biblical reason for a Christian to expect physical, worldly blessings for faithfulness or physical, worldly difficulty for unfaithfulness. (Luke 12:15; Matthew 6:19-25; John 15:18-20; Acts 12:1-3; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; 1 Timothy 6:6-11; James 1:2-4.)