SPECIAL PRÉCIS ON THE TERRIFYING PLIGHT OF THE ONE WHO TROUBLES THE REMNANT SAINTS: ‘HE SHALL BEAR THE PENALTY!’ (WITH VIDEO)

THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “You were running [the race] well; WHO has interfered and prevented you from obeying the truth? This [deceptive] persuasion is not from Him who called you [to freedom in Christ]. A little leaven [a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers] leavens the whole batch [it perverts the concept of faith and misleads the church].

I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view [contrary to mine on the matter]; but the ONE who is disturbing you, whoever he is, will have to bear the penalty.” – GALATIANS 5:7-10, AMP

KEY TERMS.

“INTERFERED.” ‘Anakoptó’ [ἀνακόπτω]: “To hinder, beat back, hold in check; to cut off or restrain.” NOTE: “ἀνακόπτω (anakóptō) was employed in classical and Hellenistic Greek for the literal act of ‘cutting back’ vegetation, and by extension for ‘checking,’ ‘holding back,’ or ‘Impeding Progress as with any force that chops down forward movement’—whether physical travel, temple construction, or spiritual advance.” DK: I believe that Satan can “hinder” but not “overthrow” the Plans of God for those who remain obedient in these regards (Isaiah 54:17).

“PENALTY.” ‘Krima’ [κρίμα]: “‘Major Decision’ [for or against a crime allegedly committed]; ‘to Avenge, Assign Condemnation, or Damnation [as a Punishment for going against God’s Law].’” NOTE: “‘Krima,’ therefore, can also can refer to: (1) a Sentence of Condemnation, (2) the Act of Judging, or (3) the Resulting Penalty. It always carries the Idea that a ‘Morally Accountable Decision’ has been rendered, either by God or by legitimate human authority acting under God.” DK: In the present Hour of Antichrist, “Lawlessness” thereby enters deep into the Christian Church as she Rebels against God’s Holy Order.

QUOTATION. “The Greatest Danger to the Church today is not Humanism, Paganism, Atheism or Agnosticism. The Greatest Danger is not increasing Hostility against our Faith from the culture. ‘Our Greatest Danger is Apostasy on the inside, arising from False Teachers’ – Theological Liberals who Deny and Distort Biblical Doctrine and lead others down the same path.” ― MARK HITCHCOCK, The Coming Apostasy: Exposing the Sabotage of Christianity from Within, 2017; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Ye did run well’ — ‘In the Race of Faith, Love, and Obedience; in true, Genuine Christianity; believing its Truths, experiencing its Graces, enjoying its Privileges, performing its Duties’ [cf. Hebrews 6:4]. The exercises of Faith and Holiness, enjoined in the Gospel, are often in Scripture compared to the ancient athletic exercises of the Greeks, especially to ‘The Race;’ because in that exercise the greatest exertions of activity and strength were necessary to obtain ‘The Prize,’ Hebrews 12:1.

‘WHO did hinder you’ — Who hath interrupted you in that good course, ‘that ye should not continue to obey the truth?’ — In this Question the Apostle does not ask who the person was that had put a stop to them; but he expresses his surprise and grief at their being stopped. ‘This persuasion’ — Concerning the Mosaic Law, and the necessity of observing it in order to your justification and salvation; ‘cometh not of God, Who calleth you’ — To His Kingdom and Glory.

‘A little leaven’ — If it be suffered to continue; ‘leaveneth the whole lump’ — Operates unseen, till it diffuses itself on every side: That is, a little False Doctrine [in the absence of confronting it by Church leadership] may soon ‘Corrupt’ the judgment in other points, and a small number of seduced persons may soon infect the whole Church. It is a proverbial expression, in which the pernicious and infectious nature of erroneous doctrine and vicious example is set forth. Hence our Lord gave the name of ‘Leaven’to the Doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Matthew 16:11-12. The same name the Apostle gives to the Doctrine of the Judaizing Teachers in this passage, and to the ‘Incestuous Person’ [combining Truth with Falsehood],1 Corinthians 5:7.

‘Yet I have confidence in you’ — That, on reading this, and being thus warned of your [Great] Danger; ‘You will be no otherwise minded’ — Than I am, and ye were, concerning the Doctrine of Justification by Faith; ‘But HE that troubleth you’ — And would ‘Pervert’ your minds from the purity of the Faith; ‘shall bear HIS Judgment’ — A heavy burden, already hanging over HIS head. The Apostle seems to refer to ‘ONE PERSON’ chiefly, as endeavouring to seduce them.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

THE WARNING. “But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give AN ACCOUNTING for every careless or useless word they speak’ … So then, each of us will give an account of HIMSELF to God.” – MATTHEW 12:36; ROMANS 4:12, AMP

Selah. Selah.

II. TEACHING

We have watched the White Evangelical Church (including the “Spirit Filled” wings of that Body) descend rapidly over the last ten years into increasing Syncretism by blending the Sacred Canon with Political Materialism.

I have noted TWO FORGOTTEN DOCTRINES that have led the way.

ONE: INDIVIDUAL OBEDIENCE. The past decade has taught most of us that the American Church has fallen willfully captive to an Heretical Movement most often referred to as the HYPER-GRACE GOSPEL. It has nearly torn the very guts out of the entire Biblical Canon and largely led to the Present Crisis in which the vast majority of the White Church no longer seems to care about making Hard Distinctions between Good and Evil.

To examine this horrific Spiritual Reality, we briefly look at the theological and historic REQUIREMENT FOR OBEDIENCE in both Old and New Testament times. Our Teacher for this shall be RICK SIMONI, a Bible teacher of considerable depth, though I could not find any background links on him. Still, I am impressed by his analysis.

His essay is titled, “The Hyper-Grace Heresy: Forgiveness Without Repentance,” published in, The Overcomer (June 4, 2025; edited). Hard hitting and theologically accurate.

OPEN. “‘The message of God’s Grace is beautiful, powerful, and central to the Gospel. But when it is twisted into a License for Sin, it becomes poison’ That’s the danger of Hyper-Grace. This modern Heresy teaches that once you are ‘Under Grace,’ there is no longer any need to Confess sin, Repent, or walk in Obedience. Any conviction of the Holy Spirit is labeled as Legalism. Accountability is seen as Judgment. And Repentance? That’s called ‘Going back to the Law.’ But Jude warned of this long ago: “Turning the grace of our God into lasciviousnes” [‘aselgeia’ (ἀσέλγειαν) – ‘filthy, wanton’] (Jude 1:4). The Hyper-Grace Movement doesn’t just downplay Holiness — it Redefines it.”

DIVISION. “In John 1:17 we read: ‘Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. The two are never separated!’ True Grace always leads to Truth — and Truth always calls for Repentance. But Hyper-Grace ‘Separates’ what God has joined. It preaches Grace without Transformation. Love without Correction. A Gospel without the Cross.”

FRUIT. “Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it ‘Cheap Grace’ — Forgiveness without Repentance, Baptism without Discipline, Communion without Confession. And it has filled churches with unconverted people who believe they are saved. This is why Jesus said many would call Him Lord — but He would say, ‘Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity’ (Matthew 7:23). They had Grace in name only, not in Truth.”

GRACE. “Titus 2:11–12 tells us: ‘The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts’. True Grace is a teacher. It doesn’t just forgive sin — it leads us out of it. If your understanding of Grace doesn’t lead you into deeper Repentance and Holiness, it’s not Biblical Grace. It’s Spiritual Deception.”

CLOSE. “(1). Have you embraced Grace as freedom ‘from’ sin — or freedom ‘to’ sin? (2). Do you avoid Correction and Accountability in the name of ‘Love?’ (3). Does your walk reflect both the ‘Kindness and the Severity of God?’ (Romans 11:22). Grace is not a Loophole. It’s an Invitation to Transformation. And that begins with Repentance.’”

Note. As with my own introductory remarks here and last week, this is a massive Foundation of the American White Church’s Harlotry, beloved, to put it bluntly in Biblical terms. She has blinded herself to the Doctrine of ‘Costly Grace,’ to use Bonhoeffer’s phrase (The Cost of Discipleship, 1937), and consequently led the vast majority of followers of Christ into: ‘Accommodation of the Maga Christian Nationalism Heresy!’

That shall lead to The Flame, beloved. “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

TWO: GOD’S WRATH. The Second Lethal Blow to American Christianity’s integrity (or astonishing lack of it!) is our failure to include “The Severity of God”in our Sermons and Instructions. We are a very, very long way from JONATHAN EDWARDS’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” delivered to his congregation at Northampton, Massachusetts on July 8, 1741.

To examine this Theological Error of historic proportion, I turn now to the work of prolific author, DR. RAY PRITCHARD, who also serves as president of Keep Believing Ministries and is a co-host of Today’s Issues onAmerican Family Radio.

His article is titled, painfully appropriately, “The Forgotten Doctrine: The Wrath of God” (Keep Believing, April 6, 2017; edited). This Doctrinal Condition, combined with the Hyper-Grace monstrosity, has pretty much put to death any remedial impact on the Culture by the White Church.

OPEN. “‘Sometimes the title tells the whole story. My sermon today is about the WRATH OF GOD. It is truly a Forgotten Doctrine, even in the Evangelical Church.’ I’ll dare say that many of you have never heard a sermon on God’s Wrath—that is, not a full sermon devoted to this one topic. The Reasons for this apparent neglect are not hard to find. Most of us would rather hear about Love and Grace. I know I would rather preach about God’s Grace. After all, to speak of the Wrath of God makes us appear narrow-minded, judgmental, and God help us, ‘Fundamentalist’” NOTE: The work of the great Princeton theologian, J. Gresham Machan on “The Fundamentals” of Orthodox Christianity puts to rest the pejorative of that term for the historically informed as set forth in his epic work, Christianity and Liberalism, 1923].

SIGNIICANCE. “Let us then consider the words of J. I. Packer: ‘The fact is that the subject of Divine Wrath has become Taboo in modern society, and Christians by and large have accepted the Taboo and conditioned themselves never to raise the matter’ (Knowing God, 1973, p. 149). True though these words may be, TWO FACTS stare us in the face. ‘(1) The Bible says more about Wrath than about Love. (2) Jesus spoke more about Hell than about Heaven.’ We may speculate as to the Reasons behind those two facts, but no amount of reasoning can change the Truth. The Bible is filled with Warnings about God’s Wrath and about Eternal Judgment. I would not be a faithful Pastor if I did not deal with this topic. God has made no secret of His Wrath, and neither should we.”

DEFINITION. “Let’s begin with a simple Definition of Wrath as one of God’s attributes. It’s important to get a proper definition because when we use the word ‘Wrath’ we tend to think of ‘uncontrolled anger.’ While that may be Human Wrath, it is far from the Truth about God’s Wrath. Here’s a working definition: ‘God’s Wrath is His Settled Hostility toward sin in all its various manifestations.’ To say it is ‘Settled’ Hostility means that God’s Holiness cannot and will not coexist with sin in any form whatsoever. ‘God’s Wrath is His Holy Hatred of all that is Unholy. It is his Righteous Indignation at everything that is Unrighteous.”’

THE UNVEILING. “ROMANS 1:18: ‘The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who SUPPRESS [‘katechó’ (κατεχόντων) – ‘seize or withhold’] the truth by their wickedness.’ This passage pronounces God’s Judgment on the whole human race [beginning with ‘His Church!’ cf. 1 Peter 4:17]. And it comes in response to Man’s Rejection. The Truth is, WE have The Problem—not God. First Man Rebels and then God responds with His Wrath. There is a Simple Progression here: Men by nature Suppress the Truth about God. That Suppression leads to Ungodliness. Ungodliness leads on to Wickedness. That Wickedness leads to every kind of Evil and Violence. ‘The Upshot is that Paul is teaching that: ‘Moral Perversion comes from Perversion in Faith [and Doctrine].’”

CONSEQUENCES OF DIVINE WRATH. We begin Dr. Pritchard’s Conclusions by looking at his detailed review of what happens to ‘The Ones Who Hinder.’And it ain’t pretty, beloved, so do pay close attention here.

STAGE 1: INDIFFERENCE. “‘For although they KNEW God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him” (21a). Truth demands a Response, and the Truth about God demands that we the creatures Glorify Him as the Great Creator. When we don’t, we fail in the Great Purpose for which we were created.”

STAGE 2: BLINDNESS. “‘But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools’ (21b-22). If the First Step might be summed up in the word ‘Neglect,’ the Second Step might be called ‘Speculation.’ As men become Indifferent to Known Truth, they begin to actively search for alternative explanations. Paul draws a vivid picture of the result: ‘Their thinking [becomes] futile.’ This refers to the mental processes of those who turned away from God. Their thinking—that is, their ability to look at the world around them and to draw accurate conclusions about it—became ‘Futile’ [‘mataioó’ (ἐματαιώθησαν), used only here – ‘Become morally foolish, wicked, idolatrous; vain’]. Goodspeed says they were given over to ‘Futile Speculation.’”

STAGE 3: APOSTATIZING. “‘And exchanged the glory of the immortal God’ (23a). Again the Progression: ‘Neglect’ leads to ‘Speculation’ which leads to ‘Moral Blindness’ which now climaxes with a TOTAL LOSS OF GOD! Here is the Divine Estimate of the great philosophers of Greece and Rome [and Heretical, False Teachings]. In God’s eyes they were fools because their Philosophy was based on a ‘REJECTION of God’s Truth.’ Dr. R. A. Torrey used to read verse 22 this way, ‘Professing themselves to be wise, they became philosophers? No, Foolosophers.’ That’s what God thinks of the world’s intellectuals [and False Teachers in the Church!]. Although possessing great intelligence, they are ‘Moral and Spiritual Pygmies.’”

STAGE 4: IDOLATRY. “‘For images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles’ (23b). What has happened? Because Man is incurably Religious, if he will not worship God, he will find (or make) something to worship. We now reach the FINAL STAGE. Note again that Progression within this verse. When Man turns away from God, he creates an ‘Image’ to worship. First there are images that look human, then the images themselves begin to degrade into images of birds, then four-footed animals and finally images of snakes and snails and bugs. Interesting. When Man turns from God, he begins by ‘Worshiping Himself,’ but he doesn’t stay there. The course is always Downward.”

“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.

And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an IMAGE [‘Eikón’ (εἰκὼν) – ‘Likeness or Statue’] to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived]. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not WORSHIP the image of the beast to be killed.” – REVELATION 13:11-15, NKJV

Selah.

III. LAST THOUGHTS

Beloved, are you not sobered by these words (the ‘Words of God,’ certainly not this old man’s)? Because if you are not, if your friends and family members who read these Words are not, or worse: If your Pastor is not righteously offended by them, then I do fear the worst for them. And you.

‘Even Damnation!’

Too strong a theological brew, my friends? I hope not. I pray not. Though I add my own spirit and nuance to them, I tell you with Him listening, they belong to our Sovereign, given to Mankind as a Gift toward Real Life.

And given to our Pastors as a terrifyingly Sacred Trust.

THE CHARGE. Therefore, do not let even one more day pass without giving Reverent Heed to them, and to their Author, lest you ‘Pay the Iron Price,’ to borrow a phrase from a popular television series.

For here one last time is what THE LORD SAYS to us all, beloved, in the midst of the Beginning of the End of the Age.

“Therefore let the one who thinks he stands firm [immune to temptation, being overconfident and self-righteous], take care that he does not fall [into sin and condemnation] … But as for you, be clear-headed in every situation [stay calm and cool and steady], endure every hardship [without flinching], do the work of an evangelist, fulfill [the duties of] your ministry.” – 1 CORINTHIANS 10:12; 2 TIMOTHY 4:5, AMP

If ever there were a Call to Humility and Repentance, it is right now, beloved. In the prescient words of the award-winning Jewish-American journalist and historian, ANNE APPLEBAUM:

“Authoritarianism appeals, simply, to people who cannot tolerate Complexity: There is nothing intrinsically ‘Left-Wing’ or ‘Right-Wing’ about this instinct at all. It is Anti-Pluralist. It is suspicious of people with different ideas. It is allergic to fierce debates. Whether those who have it ultimately derive their politics from Marxism or Nationalism is irrelevant. It is a Frame of Mind, not a Set of Ideas.” ― Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, 2020; edited

CODA. Although the Yale-educated Ms. Applebaum wrote those words some five years ago, they are all the more penetrative of the very heart and soul of the Present American Crisis. THE QUESTION: ‘Whose Burden shall you bear in the New Year just ahead: The Cross of Christ, or the Penalty of the Hinderer?’

‘There is NO NEUTRALITY, beloved!’ It shall be the one or the other. In the simple and plaintive lyric of BOB DYLAN’S prophetic song: “You’re still gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed. You’re going to have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord, But you’re going to have to serve somebody” (1979).

‘CHOOSE WELL, my dear friends, for we shall all “Pay the Iron Price” for someone.’ May it ever be for The One who bought us with the Incalculable Price of His Death, that we might all of us Live and Co-reign with Him forever and ever and then Forever!

MEDIA

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/nt9r7Ms4WAg