Once upon a time, people would deny that they preached “cheap grace,” even if they did. But we live in a brave new world where up is down and down is up. Today, if you speak out against “easy-believism,” hordes of people rush to embrace the charge. They love that low-grade, 1-ply grace, wide as the ocean, deep as spit on a sidewalk. They defend it furiously. If you disagree, “Go ahead and go to hell, you dog!”

If you ever interact with this deadly heresy, you will quickly discover that you aren’t dealing with the sharpest tools in the tool shed. They hover somewhere on the idiot-o-meter between a poached egg and a bread crust. This is the kind of lie people believe when they have determined not to think. I would be grossly overstating the case to say they have a half-baked theology. Trying to follow their argument is like trying to trace the flight path of a sparrow. Rhyme and reason made a dramatic escape from the prison of their minds long ago.

So, why engage this stick figure of a doctrine at all? Because easy-believism has been gaining a head of steam for a while now. I had no idea until I posted one thing on Twitter, pointing out the lunacy of the thing. Suddenly, a virtual confetti storm of trash arguments descended on my head. Easy-believism is the illegitimate child of Jack Hyle and Stephen Anderson. I wish to treat it with all the dignity it deserves.

Having interacted with the cheap grace champs, I see five lies regularly promoted in their arguments. These five lies are argued like Joe Biden preaching the virtues of Bidenomics. Though Bidenomics might have slightly more intrinsic value (if that is even possible). I mention these five lies because you might accidentally step in something and wonder what the smell is coming from your shoes. You’ll want to understand how to clean that off your shoe.

Here are the five lies of easy-believism:

#1: Repentance is a work.

Of course, it probably is a work for the prophets of cheap grace. Belief is a work for them. As one of their poets explained, a work is anything that makes you think God is obligated to give you salvation. “Belief,” they argue, “is a choice.” And you better make the right choice – which would require you to reject repentance. If you think repentance is a necessary part of faith, you made the wrong choice, and you are damned. End of story.

But of course, repentance isn’t a work of man. Repentance is a work of grace.

When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. (Acts 11:18)

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18)

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; (2 Timothy 2:25)

It is impossible to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” while rejecting Jesus as Lord. It is impossible to turn from darkness to life unless you acknowledge that your sins separate between you and God. It is impossible to turn to the light unless you turn from darkness. It is impossible to carry on as the enemy of God by your wicked works unless you lay down arms against God and surrender to His Lordship. Jesus is both Savior and Lord. He isn’t the one and “wishes to be the other.” He isn’t to be received in partialities. Either you receive Jesus, or you don’t. If you receive Him at all, you have received the Lord Jesus.

That 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. (Romans 10:9)

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. (Romans 14:11)

If you will not say that you have lived your life without regard for God, and if you have no desire to live for Christ instead of self, you haven’t believed on the Lord. If you insist that your life of sin shouldn’t be a problem to God, if you think that God should save you while you continue to live according to the lusts of your flesh and of your mind, you have not believed.

This shouldn’t be controversial.

Repentance is a work of grace, not a work of man. But if there is no repentance, there is no faith. Faith without works is dead.

Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 18:31)

 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11)

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (Isaiah 1:16-20)

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:12-13)

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21)

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. (I Peter 4:1-2)

#2: Salvation and discipleship are two different things.

Debating the cheap grace people is like debating the clowns at the circus. But this one gets me every time. So, the name “Christian” was first a term of derision applied to – catch this now – the disciples of Christ in Antioch. A Christian is a disciple.

Let me wow you with a little logical display. A saved person is a Christian, and a Christian is a disciple. There is no difference between believing on Jesus and following Jesus. If a person were to say, “I will believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, but I’m not going to follow Him,” that person has not believed.

Again, I am baffled that this is controversial – thus the sarcasm-laced tone of this article. There is no such thing as a saved non-Christian. There is no such thing as a Christian who doesn’t follow Christ. A Christian is a disciple.

Yet, this is the argument I get when I rehearse the demands Jesus placed on those who would be His disciples (e.g., Luke 14:25-35). Salvation and discipleship are treated as if they were in separate containers, as if God could tolerate those who say, I don’t intend to move from the basic “I believe” container to the “follow Christ” container.

And no, “saved so as by fire” isn’t a reference to those who believe but refuse discipleship. Again, that’s such a shabby, tattered rag of argument that it wouldn’t be worth hanging out on the clothesline.

There are others whose works shall be burnt (v. 15), whose corrupt opinions and doctrines, or vain inventions and usages in the worship of God, shall be discovered, disowned, and rejected, in that day-shall be first manifested to be corrupt, and then disapproved of God and rejected. Note, The great day will pluck off all disguises, and make things appear as they are: He whose work shall be burnt will suffer loss. If he have built upon the right foundation wood and hay and stubble, he will suffer loss. His weakness and corruption will be the lessening of his glory, though he may in the general have been an honest and an upright Christian. This part of his work will be lost, turning no way to his advantage, though he himself may be saved. Observe, Those who hold the foundation of Christianity, though they build hay, wood, and stubble, upon it, may be saved. This may help to enlarge our charity. We should not reprobate men for their weakness: for nothing will damn men but wickedness. He shall be saved, yet so as by fire, saved out of the fire. He himself shall be snatched out of that flame which will consume his work. This intimates that it will be difficult for those that corrupt and deprave Christianity to be saved. God will have no mercy on their works, though he may pluck them as brands out of the burning.^[1]

The call to faith is a call to discipleship. Otherwise, men who love darkness can have their darkness and come to the light simultaneously. Men can belong to Christ even though they have not crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24). Men can stay dead in their trespasses and sins; can remain unquickened.

Yes, and Napoleon Bonaparte lives in room 208 at the State Hospital. You can find him in a padded cell.

#3: You can live like the devil and still go to heaven.

The first two lies deserve the mockery I have given. But this argument is a lie from the devil himself. Some arguments demonstrate the evil genius of the deceptions of Satan. But this argument shows the filth and depravity of Satan.

The only commendable element of this argument is the honesty of it. The prophets of cheap grace live by their principles. They live like the devil. I have said that it would be generous to guess that not more than 10% of the converts produced by easy-believism ever darken the door of the church even once. Many easy-believism evangelists report multiple converts every week – four or five to a Saturday. They will likely never encounter the person they “led to Christ” again. They may get 1-2 a month to visit the church with them once. They might coax a dozen of them into the baptistry every year. They rarely retain 1 or 2 of them for more than six months.

Easy-believism produces “converts” who are committed to their sins, not committed to Christ. Easy-believism defends this. They advocate for it. And, in my experience, they live out their principles. It only stands to reason. If I can live like the devil and still go to heaven, then why not?

Listen, I spent many of my growing years in the thick of easy-believism. I take that back: the “thin” of easy-believism – there is nothing thick about it. Believe me when I say this: easy-believism has a seedy underside. If you preach a repentance-free gospel, you will have a church with a raw sewage problem.

The Bible doesn’t offer so much as a shade of comfort to those who wish to live like the devil. Quite the opposite. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God has no tolerance for wickedness. “Believers” don’t get a pass.

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4)

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:5-9)

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (I John 2:15)

Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (I John 3:6-10)

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (Hebrews 12:14)

#4: Fruit is for reward, not a test of saving faith.

Nonsense. Actually, calling this nonsense is degrading to nonsense. It makes more sense to say, “The round square green oranged the slivy toves.”

Look, this is yet another bald-faced attempt to escape the clear demands of Scripture that we turn from our vanities unto the living God (Acts 14:15). The argument is that those who believe but never follow the Lord (the saved non-Christians) will go to heaven but won’t receive any rewards.

The cheap grace ambassadors insist that any expectation of fruit is “works salvation.” Now, “works salvation” is one of the favored pejoratives of these people. They have a plastic grocery bag full of “works salvation” labels tied to their belt, and they’re ready to zip-tie the tag to any argument that doesn’t fit their easy-believism.

Yet, Jesus insisted that “by their fruits ye shall know them.”

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:15-20)

And Jesus insists that there are only two kinds of branches – those that bear fruit and those that do not. Jesus tells us that the fruitless branches will be cut off and dragged to the burn pile.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:2-6)

And Paul identified this as a mark of those who belong to Christ.

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Galatians 5:24)

The mark of a believer is that he turns from his sin.

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. (2 Peter 2:20-22)

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. (Romans 6:17-22)

#5: If you dispute easy-believism, you are going to hell.

This is Gnosticism. The audacity!

This claim exposes the glaring double standard of the “no repentance” brigade. Apparently, you can freely indulge in any sin so long as you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and believe in his death, burial, and resurrection. The only sin you can’t indulge is the sin of thinking that repentance is a necessary part of faith. If you believe that, you are going to hell. Even if, once upon a time, you preached and believed easy-believism (as I once did).

The prophets of easy-believism require you to embrace easy-believism, no matter how fleeting the embrace, or you can’t go to heaven. If you believe, say, for instance, the gospel, then you are going to hell. Because easy-believism is not the gospel, and the proponents of easy-believism think that you have to believe what they believe or you are going to hell.

Trying to follow the easy-believism logic is like chasing a squirrel around the trunk of a tree. No matter how fast you run, it’ll always be on the other side of the tree. But given their standards, I should be fine. First, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for my sins, and that he was buried and rose again. By their standards, I should be fine. I also laid down arms against Him, surrendering to His authority. But still, I meet the bare minimum standard they hold. Second (as I said), I once preached and believed cheap grace as they do. My straying from this should qualify (I insist) as the same sort of thing they defend in the unrepentant – by their standards. For crying out loud, I’m living my life with eternity’s values in view. If God accepts believers who disregard Him and never change, surely He would accept a believer who does change.

But all of this demonstrates the Gnosticism of easy-believism. These folks believe they are the enlightened ones. They know what must be believed (and not believed) to go to heaven. They know who will be in heaven (themselves and people who believe what they do) and who will be in hell (for sure, Spurgeon). Alas, even this author – yours truly! – will be in hell without hope for redemption.

But, if they are correct, we’ll both be in hell together. Because cheap grace damns people to hell. Where easy-believism is preached, sinners remain unconverted. If any are saved, it is in spite of the false gospel preached to them, not because of it.

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^[1] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2249). Peabody: Hendrickson.