THE ERROR OF HYPER GRACE DOCTRINE

Those who teach the theology known as hyper grace have created a doctrine about God’s grace from the private interpretation of the so-called grace teachers, whose teachings contradict the whole counsel of God’s word.

The doctrine of the hyper grace teachers is a twisting of the teachings of scripture regarding the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of the more prominent claims which the hyper grace teachers associate with the finished work of Christ are as follows:

1. All past, present, and future sins of the believer have already been forgiven.

2. God does not convict believers of sin.

3. Believers do not need to repent when they knowingly sin.

4. Addressing sin in the life of a believer makes them “sin conscience.”

These points of emphasis by the hyper grace teachers are predicated on the belief that God has eradicated believers from any accountability for sinful conduct on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Yet Jesus who died for all, confronted the sins of believers in his messages to the seven churches in the book of the Revelation.

The doctrine of the hyper grace teachers wrongly apply the teaching of the book of Hebrews, which places emphasis on the finished work of Christ, as once and for all, and refers to the merits of Christ sacrifice as having put away sin.

These expressions need to be understood contextually, as meant by the author of the book of Hebrews, who in no way was communicating the doctrine of the hyper grace teachers. If the author of Hebrews had been teaching the doctrine of the hyper grace teachers, he would not have repeatedly warned those to whom he was writing of the dangers of apostasy.

When the book of Hebrews is read and understood contextually, the entire theology of the hyper grace doctrine crumbles.

The putting away of sins and the once for all references in the book of Hebrews has to do with the superiority of the New Covenant in contrast to the Old. It has nothing to do with believers not needing to repent when they sin.

It has to do with the permanency of the finished work of Christ in contrast to the imperfect atonement under the Law. It has nothing to do with future sins already being forgiven.

Under the law, the blood of animals could not purify man’s conscience in the sight of God and those offerings were not sufficient to provide a lasting atonement for all sin, therefore atonement had to be repeated annually for the nation, and daily for individuals.

Furthermore, those sacrifices could not cleanse the conscience from guilt. Jesus’s sacrifice provided lasting atonement and that is why the author of Hebrews refers to it as once and for all. The sacrifice of Jesus is perfect and will avail forever.

Christ’s sacrifice being, once for all, does not mean that God can’t see our sins, when we sin. It does not mean that we do not need to repent when we know we have sinned. It simply means that there is no longer any need for the offerings for sins which were offered under the law.

Jesus’s sacrifice will cleanse us, and keep on cleaning us when we sin if we continue in faith towards Christ.

Consider the words of the apostle John:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sinIf we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. ~ 1 John 1:7- 2:1 

It is abundantly clear that John is writing to believers and addressing the issue of sin, for he refers to them as “my little children,” in contrast to the world.

SIN, CONVICTION, AND REPENTANCE

It is a dangerous thing to teach believers to ignore conviction from the Lord. The ideology of the hyper grace doctrine claims that because of the finished work of Christ we should ignore conviction regarding sin, because addressing sin makes us “sin conscience.”

This is a dangerous doctrine because a saved person who happens to fall into sin, such as pornography, is going to experience guilt. Such guilt is the voice of his conscience, and guilt will not be taken away until he has repented and been cleansed from this sin by the blood of Jesus.

Teaching Christians that any consciousness of sin is something to be shunned, is actually teaching them to override the voice of their own conscience when they are in sin. If the believer referred to in the example above continues in his sin, refusing to heed to voice of his conscience, his heart will become hardened to the Lord, and soon he will justify his evil conduct.

In the book of Hebrews, the author of Hebrews tells us the following:

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. ~ Hebrews 3:8-13

Notice that the author of Hebrews warns believers to take heed so as not to allow an evil heart of unbelief and to not be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Also, the apostle John says the following:

And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. ~ 1 John 3: 19-21

Whenever anyone teaches that as believers we should never be conscience of sin, they are actually teaching people to drown out the voice of their own conscience in their heart which is alerting them to sin in their lives.

If we have dealt with a particular sin, and have been cleansed, we should resist condemnation that enters our mind, because the precious blood of Jesus has purified our conscience and removed the guilt. However, if there is known and unrepentant sin in our life, our hearts will condemn us before God, because we need to deal with sin and pursue holiness in the sight of God.

The doctrine of the hyper grace teachers does not stand in the court of the whole counsel of scripture. When cross-examined by the entire doctrine of the New Testament, the teachings of the hyper grace doctrine fails miserably.

Those who claim that all future sins are already forgiven, and who claim that God can’t see our sins, and that we should never address sin because we are to have no more consciousness of sin, often cite isolated texts from the apostle Paul to support their doctrine.

The apostle Peter warned of those who do such things when he exhorted believers to live godly and holy lives in anticipation of the coming of the Lord.  Consider the following from 2 Peter 3:

14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. ~ 2 Peter 3:14-17

Peter warns his audience to be careful not to be led away by the error of the wicked, and he says this within the context of those who twist the scriptures to their own destructionand this is exactly what is happening within the hyper grace teachings. Many of these teachers are projecting onto Paul’s words a theology that Paul never taught.

Paul never taught that all the future sins of believers are already forgiven and that believers had no need to ever repent of sin. 

In 1 Corinthians 5:1-2, the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit confronted the Corinthians for the sin of fornication in their midst.

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. ~1 Corinthians 5:1-2

If Paul inspired by the Spirit of God, reprimanded the Corinthians regarding this sin, God obviously knew about their sin, and Paul obviously did not think this sin of the Corinthians was forgiven in advance.

In 2 Corinthians 7, Paul says the following to them:

For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. ~ 2 Corinthians 7:8-11

According to the Bible, God saw the sin of fornication which the Corinthians were allowing in their midst, and after Paul rebuked them they repented.

Though they repented, Paul was still concerned about the lack of repentance of some among the Corinth believers, for they had allowed false teachers (specifically, false apostles) to influence them with another gospel. Paul says the following in chapter 12 within context of the Corinthians tolerating false apostles.

20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:20-21

Those who teach that God does not see your sins after you are saved because all future sins are already forgiven, and that you should never be conscience of sin, are teaching error, and bordering on the lines of being false teachers. Some have already crossed that line.

Did God see the sin of Corinthian believers? Absolutely! And he can see mine and your’s too.

Did Jesus expose sin within the seven Churches in the book of the Revelation, rebuking his people and calling them to repentance? Absolutely!

While the hyper grace teachers want you to believe that God doesn’t address sin in the life of believers, the Lord Jesus Christ who is the one who died for our sins, says to his people, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. ~ Revelation 3:19

5 thoughts on “THE ERROR OF HYPER GRACE DOCTRINE

  1. Pingback: THE AWAKENING RIVER PART 1: FIRST LOVE - Two Rivers Ministries

  2. As I scan the summary introduction of hypergrace doctrine you posted, the confession is a probably a non issue when it comes to a sudden death of a believer if he never confessed his sins at that time? Will he go to hell? I don’t think so. Romans 8:1 kjv is violated.

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  3. You for got to mention

    Hebrews 10: 26-27
    26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

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    • Thanks for the comment. I’m sure I didn’t forget. I have used the text you referenced in other teachings. And there are other texts I could have cited that I didn’t. Hopefully the ones I referenced will be helpful to those who read the teaching.

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