Purpose Driven Deception and Division

From Dr. Paul Elliott's Scripture Driven Church broadcast:

"...Rick Warren and his followers are posing as uniters, but in fact they are dividers. The Purpose-Driven Church movement may be able to unite unbelievers in an ungodly ecumenical cause, but it divides Evangelicals who follow after it from the one true Gospel. It divides them from all of the fundamental doctrines of the faith.

How is the Christian to guard against such deception? How are you going to do it? How is your church going to do it?

We have the first indication of what we are to do at the very beginning of Colossians chapter two, verse four: ―Now this I say…"―Now this I say…" This is a transitional statement. Paul is reminding them of what he has been saying up to this point. What has Paul been saying? He has been saying that Jesus Christ is preeminent. He must be preeminent. If anything, or any theory, or any person, or any movement, or any cause, usurps the rightful place of Jesus Christ as Head of the church and Lord of the church, then that thing, that theory, that person, that movement, that cause, is absolutely wrong. Absolutely to be avoided. Absolutely to be considered as worthless in terms of the things that count for eternity.

Now I know that those are strong words. But we need strong words today, because the Bible uses strong words against such error. So many of us have forgotten what it means to take a stand against apostasy. So many have left their first love. In reality, so many who call themselves Christians, so many who call themselves Christian churches, have forsaken Christ at the most basic and fundamental level.

Listen or read more on Dr. Elliott's message regarding deception from the Book of Colossians here. See Dr. Elliott's study on Responding to Apostasy.

See more resources at Teaching The Word Ministries.

Read this account of a covert purpose driven takeover of a once Biblical church.