Is your church involved with Todd Friel materials in any way?

Yes, there could be a church right near you, maybe even your own church, which is teaching the heresies of a certain Todd Friel. Perhaps your church is doing these very lessons in their small Bible study groups! You might even think this Todd Friel is alright but you may not be aware that he teaches heresies that might shock you if only you had taken the time to check him out. Perhaps you trusted the integrity of the one you might call pastor, but if he has dealt out this heresy to you, then he is not a pastor called by God to shepherd your flock. A pastor called by God would feed his flock on good wholesome food, not poison. And all heresy such as this is spiritual poison!

The “Drive By Theology” series of lessons by Todd Friel (with S Lawson) is an example of his teachings. Even allegedly “fundamentalist” churches have been taken in by his rhetoric, although what he teaches is a far cry from what they should really be believing. It would be a pleasant surprise to see significant numbers of fundamentalist believers actually checking out thoroughly what their “pastor” is teaching them; they might likewise be surprised, very surprised!

Please note that Todd Friel is not the only calvinist who teaches a distorted and false gospel. Many others also teach a false gospel while claiming that they are so Biblical! Please check MacArthur Teaches Works Salvation and The False Calvinist Gospel.

But, not only do those “Drive By” lessons include heresy, Friel also condemns the praying of a sinners’ prayer. If you think that praying the sinners’ prayer is a proper part of leading a person to Christ, then Todd Friel says – think again! Todd Friel says that if you prayed the sinners prayer to ask Jesus into your heart, then you are not saved at all!
Todd Friel  – “People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment.” (See further down!)

By the way, if I cannot ask Jesus into my heart, then why did Paul writeThat Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17)??? Is this not the consequence of being saved by faith by asking Jesus into your heart???

“Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.”
(“Ten reasons NOT to ask Jesus into your heart” – By Todd Friel)
https://www.wretchedradio.com/ten-reasons-to-not-ask-jesus-into-your-heart-0
(This link apparently no longer works, so try one of the following (they all work as of 21st Oct. 2017):
https://truthingrace.com/2009/07/21/ten-reasons-not-to-ask-jesus-into-your-heart-by-todd-friel/#more-11011
Or https://truthingrace.com/2009/07/21/ten-reasons-not-to-ask-jesus-into-your-heart-by-todd-friel/
https://stonethepreacher.com/10-reasons-to-not-ask-jesus-into-your-heart-by-todd-friel/
https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/way-of-the-master/listen/10-reasons-not-to-ask-jesus-into-your-heart-609751.html
(mp3 by Todd Friel. He talks about the ten reasons in the course of this mp3. At approx. 13:15 – 13:30 minutes we are told to just Google this: “Ten reasons not to ask Jesus into your heart” and “Todd Friel” to find this list on the internet.
News Flash! Now you have to “Follow” the “Living Waters – Way of the Master Radio” before you are to be permitted to hear what Friel has to say!
In order to view this content, please this ministry. Thanks!
According to facebook.com/help “follow” is something a friend does. Do you really have to be Todd’s friend in order to be taught what he considers to be truth? If Friel honestly believes his teachings to be true, he shouldn’t be hiding behind removed web pages and a necessity to be a friend of his ministry before being permitted to hear his “truths”!) Note – this link now goes to “This link is no longer available! This Friel has more twists and turns than  a green gumby! If none of the links here works, then just type into your search box: “Ten reasons not to ask Jesus into your heart” and it should come up with it.

He also “teaches” from that same document (my comments in black): “Ten reasons NOT to ask Jesus into your heart” – By Todd Friel
Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.

Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.

If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.

  1. It is not in the Bible.

There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in. ….  [Really? What about “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17)???]

…. The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.

[There are many things not actually said in the Bible, yet we teach them nevertheless. Eg. the Trinity, and the rapture, etc. We may also believe that “whosoever will may come” but those exact words may not be found in your Bible either. However, the teaching is there to support these concepts (Romans 10:13), including asking Jesus into our hearts, as in Romans 10:9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. It’s worth noting what Paul Washer, someone with similar ideas to Friel, says about Revelation 3:20. Paul Washer doesn’t believe that Jesus stands outside the door knocking, asking us to open the door and let Him in. Washer says, “My friend, Jesus is Lord of your heart and if He wants to come in, He will kick the door down.” https://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2010/10/13/paul-washer-quotes/] This is extremely disrespectful indeed, even blasphemous!

  1. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense.

What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser reminds us that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.
[Then why did Paul write “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17)???]

[This is really a ridiculous reason when you think about it. Jesus said He was the door; do we also say this makes no sense? If believing in our hearts is OK – Romans 10:9 – then how is that much different from asking Jesus into our hearts?]

  1. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.

[Note – there is no reason why repentance should not be a major part of the sinners’ prayer. In fact, it is necessary that godly sorrow and repentance be the reason for desiring to pray the sinners’ prayer – 2 Corinthians 7:10For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of …]

  1. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.

[I fail to see even one justification, here or anywhere else for that matter, how asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith! This is a ridiculous grasping at straws! It might be possible to leave out faith, but nothing says the sinners’ prayer cannot involve faith! It’s the person who has or hasn’t faith, not the sinners’ prayer!]

  1. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

[Once again, why then would the sinners’ prayer do this and not any other means of leading a person to Christ? In fact, what other way can you lead a person to Christ without requiring some sort of prayer dialogue (sinners’ prayer) with God? And how may one call upon the name of the Lord without praying (Romans 10:13)?]

  1. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden. Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.
    (I assume that here the word “inoculated” means to introduce something into the mind of a person? So does Friel mean brainwashed? So how can asking Jesus into your heart be termed brainwashing? Or does he mean just an idea introduced into a person’s thinking? So therefore preaching the gospel could be termed inoculation? And therefore bad? I think that Friel is introducing heated language into this discussion in an effort to sway by force what he cannot sway by proper persuasion! One thing is abundantly clear: Friel doesn’t like the preaching of the gospel, so he’ll use any emotive terminology to make it look like we’re brainwashing people.) [By the way, Paul said that Christ would dwell in our hearts, being rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17), not inoculated, bitter and backslidden! When will Friel read the Bible properly?]

[This is making an assumption which may or may not be true, but could equally be levelled at any Christian who backslides, or perhaps never meant what he prayed in the first place. In other words, not everyone who says they’ve become a Christian will be a Christian, for one day some will have Jesus say to them to go away for He never knew them! (Matthew 7:23) There are also many Christians who prayed the sinners’ prayer who have gone on with their Christian walk to the end. And note that Friel also appears to equate backsliding with never being saved in the first place. That is, he believes a Christian can never really backslide! Then Paul must have been afraid he might never have been saved in the first place – 1 Corinthians 9:27But I keep under my body, and bring {it} into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (= shipwrecked or disqualified Christian; this word adokimos is used 8 times in the New Testament and is translated as “reprobate” (= rejected by God) 6 times, “castaway” 1 time, “rejected” 1 time]

  1. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life. This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.

[And how on earth does the sinners’ prayer present God as a beggar?? Or rob Him of His sovereignty? This sounds dangerously close to hyper-calvinism where the sinners’ prayer is falsely presented as an effort of man to manipulate the sovereign will of God. And therefore, claim the calvinists, the gospel is likewise at fault for encouraging people to pray the sinners’ prayer.
For further on this, just do some serious testing of all things that calvinists (such as John MacArthur, John Piper, Paul Tripp etc) teach, and measure them up against the truth of the Scriptures. You will be surprised and shocked at some of their heresies. Friel is almost certainly what Al Mohler – of Southern Baptist Convention – terms a new Calvinist.
Al Mohler also says that –
If you’re a theological minded, deeply convictional young evangelical, if you’re committed to the gospel and want to see the nations rejoice in the name of Christ, if you want to see gospel built and structured committed churches, your theology is just going end up basically being Reformed, basically something like this new Calvinism, or you’re going to have to invent some label for what is basically going to be the same thing”
https://www.newcalvinist.com/albert-mohler-and-hip-hop-culture/
So new calvinists are the only good Christians on the block? Sounds more like arrogance to me!]

  1. The cause of Christ is ridiculed. Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, “How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn’t adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don’t get adopted by Christians?” Born again believers adopt kids and don’t get divorced.

People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.

[In other words, Friel is suggesting that the sinners’ prayer produces only false converts! Remember that Christians aren’t perfect, but they are forgiven! And talking about a bad name: what about the scandals erupting in calvinist churches in USA today – pottymouth Driscoll; child abuse and molestation in CJ Mahaney’s churches; child abuse hushed up in others; RC Sproul Jr who “admits accessing adultery website ‘in a moment of weakness, pain, and from an unhealthy curiosity.’   In a blog post this morning, Sproul Jr. said he accessed the site “in a moment of weakness, pain, and from an unhealthy curiosity. … My goal was not to gather research for critical commentary, but to fan the flames of my imagination.”
https://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/august/ligonier-suspends-rc-sproul-jr-over-ashley-madison.html]

  1. The cause of evangelism is hindered. While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. “Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?” People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.

[Then why did Paul plead just that with people? Was he advising them against such as praying the sinners’ prayer? Or perhaps it’s Friel’s heresy that praying the sinners’ prayer cannot actually save you? Or maybe that God doesn’t hear those who pray the sinners’ prayer? 2 Corinthians 6:2For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now {is} the accepted time; behold, now {is} the day of salvation. Admittedly many alleged Christians are very poor examples of salvation, but those who pray the sinners’ prayer don’t all turn out like this. Many who allegedly don’t pray the sinners’ prayer are also bad examples of being a Christian! (Such might claim that they’ve always been a Christian, that they can’t remember not being a Christian!) And if they didn’t pray the sinners’ prayer, then how did they come to Jesus via the Cross? And maybe we’d better stop handing out tracts because they advise or strongly encourage praying the sinners’ prayer, and we don’t want to have too many false converts, do we now?]

  1. Here is the scary one. People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, “Lord, Lord” on judgment day will be “Christians” who asked Jesus into their hearts?

[And where does it say in the Bible – or even suggest it – that “people who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved”? Try reading Ephesians 3:17!! And where does it say that it was because they asked Jesus into their hearts that caused Jesus to reject them? Read it carefully! Matthew 7:21-2321 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.]

So, what must one do to be saved? Repent and trust. (Heb.6:1) The Bible makes it clear that all men must repent and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Every man does have a “God shaped hole in their hearts,” but that hole is not contentment, fulfillment and peace. Every man’s heart problem is righteousness. Instead of preaching that Jesus fulfills, we must preach that God judges and Jesus satisfies God’s judgment…if a man will repent and place his trust in Him. (Todd Friel)

[He says to read Hebrews 6:1 (“Repent and trust.”) in order to find out how to be saved. So let’s look at the “gospel” in Hebrews 6:1Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Apart from telling us not to lay again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, it appears that Friel’s gospel is to leave the principles (first things; beginnings; origins) of the doctrine of Christ and go on to perfection. That is, Friel’s gospel is to go on to perfection. This is what is termed New Calvinism – see further down for more on this – a works-based salvation under the guise of what they deceitfully call “grace”.

This is so clearly another gospel that anyone who desires to learn more of Christ and the Bible should leave Todd Friel alone and never touch him for fear of contamination by doctrines of devils – 1 Timothy 4:1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;]

If you are reading this and you asked Jesus into your heart, chances are good you had a spiritual buzz for a while, but now you struggle to read your Bible, tithe, attend church and pray. Perhaps you were told you would have contentment, purpose and a better life if you just ask Jesus into your heart. I am sorry, that was a lie. (Todd Friel)

[I’m sorry to have to tell you this too, that much of what Todd Friel says, when measured up against the truth of the Bible, is really the lie! Please test all things he says against Scripture and determine for yourselves where he stands with the truth.]

Todd Friel also says that a mark of the good Christian is “You must proclaim that good news [that is, of the gospel that saves you] to yourself daily” (Knowing You’re Saved by Todd Friel on April 1, 2011; last featured May 18, 2014)
https://answersingenesis.org/gospel/salvation/knowing-youre-saved/

This is very similar to the new calvinism gospel which says that justification is not a once-off act when we are saved, but instead is an ongoing justification that continues until the day we die. However, justification is something that happens once when God saves us; then ongoing sanctification continues to cleanse us as per 1 John 1:9. But calvinists today usually fuse both sanctification and justification to teach that we are sanctified daily by the confession of our sins; thus we are justified daily by the same process. That is, the gospel that saved us continues to save us daily!

From another source:
“Most evangelicals today speak of justification as a one-time act that takes place at the moment when saving faith is first exercised. This declaration is unique, unalterable, and unrepeatable.1
I was surprised a year or two ago to find out that Luther and Calvin didn’t see it quite that way, or at least didn’t always express it that way. Rather, they acknowledged the necessity of thinking of justification as an ongoing and continual experience and perhaps a repeated occurrence.”
Daily Justification?
https://philgons.com/2007/04/daily-justification/

The new calvinist gospel is “based on the slogans, “The same gospel that saved you also sanctifies you,” and “We must preach the gospel to ourselves every day,” slogans that show its undisputable kinship to COGOUS, “Gospel Sanctification””
https://paulspassingthoughts.com/2012/01/24/the-new-calvinist-agenda-take-over-all-of-the-church-with-cogous/

He also states that their justification is progressive, that is, justification isn’t completed in us until the day we die.
It begins with the idea that perfection, viz, justification, is a process. And next, we keep that process going by faith alone. And next, if we live by some sort of faith-alone formula, the same formula that originally saved us, the Holy Spirit will continue to keep us justified. In other words, we have to live by the same gospel that saved us in order to keep ourselves saved which is backdoor works salvation.
https://paulspassingthoughts.com/tag/new-covenant-theology/

The new calvinist (and old calvinist, too) progressive sanctification is the equivalent to progressive justification, such that ongoing sanctification requires ongoing justification.
We must be sanctified the same way we were justified so that we can properly finish justification. Therefore, Calvin believed that sins committed in the Christian life separate us from grace, and a continual repentance, the same repentance that saved us, is needed to maintain our salvation.
https://paulspassingthoughts.com/tag/2007-shepherds-conference/
Sounds like we’re heading back toward the Catholic confessional in order to maintain our salvation! That is, don’t die with unconfessed sin in your life! Don’t die not completely justified!

All of which is adequate demonstration of why Todd Friel should claim that what really saves us (Hebrews 6:1) is for us to go on to perfection. That is, Todd Friel supports the new calvinist gospel that not only saves us, but has to continue saving us until we die. And if we backslide, we have demonstrated that we have not continued to be sanctified/justified until the end, and therefore could not have been chosen by God to be saved in the first place! (Note Calvin’s doctrine of a temporary faith in Institutes Bk 3, Ch 2, Section 11) Friel sees the sinners’ prayer as unnecessary and misleading, because our salvation (according to him) is based on the lives we live, not the words we say (as per the sinners’ prayer). Friel believes that it is our life of service to God that saves us, as long as we persevere to the end. (That is, “go on unto perfection” – Hebrews 6:1)

The Gospel Coalition National Conference is a new calvinist organisation, so typically it preaches daily or ongoing justification.
As we sin daily, so he justifies daily, and we must daily go to him for it.
Justification Vs Self-justification, The Gospel Coalition National Conference 13/04/11

…the New Calvinists teaching that confuses justification with sanctification makes justification progressive …
https://5ptsalt.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/the-false-doctrine-of-gospel-sanctification/

Please note that Todd Friel is not the only calvinist who teaches a distorted and false gospel. Many others also teach a false gospel while claiming that they are so Biblical! The following list should be studied carefully, for these people teach a similarly false gospel to that of Todd Friel. Please test all things according to the Bible. This includes:
MacArthur
MacArthur is Wrong,
MacArthur is Wrong – Again!
MacArthur Teaches Works Salvation)
Gary Thomas
Gary Thomas – New Age Teacher
Paul Tripp
Paul Tripp – Heretic or Tare?
and other documents on the false teachings of calvinism
Does the calvinist God have a dual personality?
The False Calvinist Gospel,
Calvinists Deny God His Full Sovereignty
Calvinism is a Counterfeit Christian Cult

Especially note our recent document online: The Oxymorons of Calvinist Doctrine, a hard-hitting expose of some of the more illogical aspects of calvinism! Also, take a serious look at our article The Calvinist God created most of Mankind for torment in Hell in which we clearly demonstrate that the calvinist God (the God that they worship) deliberately creates most of mankind for the single purpose of tormenting them in hell for eternity!

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Other documents on Exposing the truth

Calvinism and Biblical Interpretation

What is True Biblical Fundamentalism?

Calvin says Sinners’ Prayer not a Work of Salvation

Foreknowledge and Free Will

The Free Will of Man

The Big Lie of the Calvinists

The Heresy of Calvinism Refuted Part 1

The Heresy of Calvinism Refuted Part 2

Favourite Calvinist Defence Tactics

The Foreknowledge of Sovereign God

Calvinist Jealousy of Israel and the Church

The Oxymorons of Calvinist Doctrine

The Calvinist God created most of Mankind for torment in Hell

Biblical Counselling & new calvinism today

New calvinist church counselling, discipline and control

The Gospel of New Calvinism