Spiritual conviction as Hyper-grace teaches it
(All bold and italics are my emphasis)
Pastor Steve McVey, “The Holy Spirit isn’t going to convict unbelievers of their specific sins because that wouldn’t meet the deepest need they have. Their biggest problem isn’t their misbehavior. He’s going to convict them of the one thing that ultimately matters – their unbelief in Christ. That’s the core issue.” 52 Lies Heard in Every Church Every Sunday, Harvest House Publishers, 2011, McVey, page 39.
Now, that’s a very horizontal view of sin. Read 2 Sam 12:13, and Psalm 51:4. Alienation from Almighty God because of our sin is not our biggest problem?
Clark Whitten defines conviction this way: “The Holy Spirit’s ministry to the world is to convince the world of sin ‘because they do not believe in me’ Jesus says in John 16:9. The Holy Spirit has already convinced me of sin, and now I believe in Jesus! He is now convincing me of righteousness (see John 16:10). I am convinced that I am becoming ‘the righteousness of God in Him’ (2 Cor. 5:21). The Holy Spirit convinced me of judgement and that truth helped me become a believer. Now He is convincing me that ‘the ruler of this world has been judged’ (John 16:11) – not me!” Pure Grace, page 107.
For Whitten, conviction of sin is a one-time event in the life of Christians. After that, one just needs to remember their justification. As Tullian Tchividjian says: hit the reset button on our justification a thousand times a day. When we sin, we just need a fresh coating of our justification so that we can believe and be assured that we are already saved.
Hyper grace has a large following in Singapore
Joseph Prince writes, “The bottom line is that the Holy Spirit never convicts you of your sins. He NEVER comes to point out your faults. I challenge you to find a scripture in the Bible that the Holy Spirit comes to convict you of your sins”, Destined to Reign, Prince, Harrison House Publishers, 2007, page 134.
Prince later writes, “It does not take a revelation from the Holy Spirit to see that you have failed. However, when you know that you’ve failed what you need to do is remind yourself that the Holy Spirit was sent to convict you of your righteousness apart from works”, page 151. (A fresh coat of justification in lieu of repentance?)
Does this remind you of the RP “what you do doesn’t matter”? Or, “I know that my heart is perfect, even though my flesh is not”. ~Believer’s Internal Warfare, N.L.
Prince again
“The word repent … simply means ‘to change one’s mind’. But because we have been influenced by our denominational background as well as our own religious upbringing, many of us have the impression that repentance is something that involves mourning and sorrow”; from Destined to Reign, page 233.
Read a reformed writer’s review of Prince’s book at Gospel Coalition (2017). The original article was written in 2016 in the Journal of the Anglican Church of Myanmar. The Malaysia Gospel site recently reprinted it in 2020.
Does the Holy Spirit convict believers of their sins? Hyper-grace answer: NO
Deeper questions
The Hyper-grace teachers claim John 16:8 says that the Spirit convicts the world of sin, not believers. They claim that the NT doesn’t use that word in reference to the ministry of the Spirit to the church. They claim that the passages that speak about conviction are referring only to brethren convicting and rebuking other brethren.
Are the Hyper grace teachers right when they say that conviction is not necessary because God does not see believer’s sins? Does God care if we turn away from our sins once we have faith?
For Whitten and hyper-grace teachers, ‘convict’ means to convince. That’s not very strong language, especially when the scriptures make ‘conviction of sin’ seem more personal, impassioned, energetic and even fervent.
So, does the Holy Spirit ever speak to us about our sins? Does He ever draw attention to things we have done wrong? Would He ever rebuke us or correct us? Does He use warnings or threatenings in the preaching, and aim them right at us personally? Is part of His work of sanctification making us uncomfortable in our sins so that we will turn away from them and turn back to God? Does He use the weight of guilt to turn us from sin?
More on repentance according to Hyper-grace
Andre Rabe, “Repentance is not the event in which a person twists the arm of a reluctant God to forgive. God forgave even before you were born”; Metanoia, Rabe. Kindle location 160.
Dr. Chuck Crisco writes, “In the old covenant repentance essentially meant ‘stop sinning’ because the blessing and cursing was based on obedience to the Law. In the new covenant it is tied to the terms of the covenant too but the primary sins we are being called to repent of is unbelief. The Greek for ‘repent’ simply means ‘change your mind’. Change your mind about God and sin so you can believe with your heart … So we are not repenting of behavior in order to get forgiveness but changing our minds about the finished work of Christ, opening our heart and believing the good news”, Dr. Chuck Crisco, Extraordinary Gospel, True Potential Publishers, 2013, page 96.
RP leaders are picking up more of the language of Hyper-grace
Does this ‘changing your mind and opening your heart’ remind you of Andy’s “repentance is love”?
Andy in Mar. 15, 2022, S&S; “Repentance has no bearing whatsoever on that man’s remission of sins or his justification”. “The sinner has forgiveness without repenting“. “Here is my definition and doctrine of repentance: Repentance is the believer’s spontaneous love for God as that love comes into contact with and hates the believer’s own sin and corruption. My explanation of that definition is that, in its essence, repentance is love for God”.
Hyper-grace teachers teach that “you simply cannot focus on yourself and Jesus at the same time. You cannot attend to your shortcomings and behold his glorious perfections simultaneously. It’s one or the other. It’s you or him.” Paul Ellis, Escape to Reality Blog, Feb 2, 2013 (link no longer available); referenced in Hyper-grace: exposing the dangers of the modern grace message; Michael Brown PhD, page 71, Charisma House Publishing, 2014, Kindle Ed.
This sounds the same as Andy and Nate. They call repentance for forgiveness from God a ‘focusing on man’. They claim the turning from sin to purposefully walk in obedience to be some kind of ‘two-track theology’.
The hyper-grace teachers teach a repentance that is simply ‘coming into agreement with God’.
This sounds like Rev. N. Langerak in his sermon on the Believer’s Internal Warfare when he says almost the same exact words and teaches the same idea. He states that the Christian agrees with the Law and with God that he is a sinner; “we affirm the Law”. He desires to be perfect, but knows he cannot be perfect; so he agrees with God that he fails.
For Hyper-grace teachers, this ‘agreement’ is the sum of the work of the Spirit in the life of Christians.
