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Shocked by the Bible p.4 The Way to Life, Works for Salvation? THE JOURNAL: So you would say that we’re not born into physical existence on earth as God’s children. Rather, we’re born as separate from God, and the Christian journey is one of striving toward and hopefully becoming attached to or integrated with God, with the divine. So would it be correct to say we’re separate from God until our conversion as a Christian? Mr. Kovacs : Oh, we’re not separate from God. We’re kind of a prototype. God is creating us in phases. We’re in the form and shape of God. We look like Him. God has a head and torso and arms and fingers and feet. We look like Him, but we are not complete. We have our character properly developed to become part of God’s family. (Journal Issue No. 150 (July 27, 2012) This wrong answer is the premise of not being separate from God because of sin, this affects his other doctrines towards salvation. Kovac’s “encourages people of all backgrounds to read and believe the words on its pages so they can reach their God-given potential and inherit eternal life.” (Stand for truth Radio interview with guest JOE KOVACS) God has a predetermined plan for those who are spiritually born by grace through faith (Eph.1:8-10). A god given potential is a term the New Age movement teaches, it is what is called the human potential movement. To further complicate this inheriting eternal life to Kovacs means we receive it as an award for obeying. Kovac does not believe Jesus fulfilled the law and mocks those who say we are not under the Old Testament commandments given in the old covenant. He says they come up with dozens of excuses not to keep the commandments “they are Christian in name only I think.” He has a works base salvation “what did Jesus himself say to inherit eternal life keep the commandments” (Remnant call Audio interview with Joe Kovacs “The Devil doesn’t want you to know the truth”) So the gift of grace that was purchased at the cross is rejected for a works based system that depends on man by the Old Covenant. But only Jesus kept all the commandments. What did Jesus say” John 3:15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.” Present tense. Rom. 6:23 the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God " Titus 3:7-8 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” John 5:24 he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, John 6:40 that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life.” In Rom. 1:16 Paul tells us the gospel of Christ, “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” The whole new covenant is about grace, not law. We read the law is still there for those who are not redeemed (1 Tim.1:9). It is New Testament commandments we are to obey, because we are in a new covenant. I expect that all this has something to do with Sabbath keeping as well. Kovacs states “there is a way to get eternal life and its not the usual way the pastors are telling their flock.” (ibid.) Well it’s certainly not the way he interprets it to be. Speaking of Jesus and salvation “examining the hearts and minds of His own children and studying their actions to determine who is worthy of the astonishing reward of eternal life as members of God’s very own family.” Is Eternal life a reward? The Bible says it is free gift, received by those who believe, exercise faith in the gospel. there seems to be a obvious problem of Kovac's understanding this. Speaking of getting to heaven he says, “the first thing we have to do according to the Bible… is repent, stop our sinning, stop our ways of rebellion against God and obey the commandments.” He is missing the gospel which is the way Jesus gave. By the necessity of having the indwelling Holy Spirit live in us so we have the power to obey. Otherwise it’s just a human effort, which fails. “Jesus himself said if you wish to enter into life, because we don’t have life now we only have a temporary existence, …but you wish to enter into life keep the commandments” “He says when we break these laws (commandments), then we are sinning, The Bible actually defines sin as breaking of Gods law. So you have to obey God’s laws.” (paranormal palace radio) So he is saying that we need to keep the commandments for salvation. And what he does not understand the law shows us we are sinful so that we come to Christ to be forgiven. He says “knock it off, stop sinning.” No one can without having the power of the indwelling Spirit ruling over their human nature. And this can only take place when we yield to his Spirit. He says that ‘you may be partakers of the divine nature.’(2 Peter 1:4) We’re actually going to take on God’s own divine nature … in the future … if we stop our sinning and give our life to God, and He has promised that He will raise us from the dead, give us eternal life, and we’ll be part of the divine family.” http://www.wnd.com/2...ving-offspring/ The strength to live godly is not in man, it is our surrender to the Lord that brings about obedience because we allow his nature to rule over ours. Apparently he has not come to the conclusion of the differences between Jesus’ ministry before he sent the Holy Spirit Yes, all of us are currently sinful, mortal beings headed for everlasting death if we don’t repent…and we can actually ‘put on immortality’ if we’re faithful to God” (The Divine Secret p. 52. Kovacs) “We are spiritually dead until we have God most high, Christ Jesus living in us who makes us spiritually alive and gives eternal life” “People don’t realize we are not immortal, we don’t have eternal life dwelling in us, and that’s the goal” If you don’t have Christ in you, you will be dead forever. Until we have God in us we are walking around being spiritually dead” (What you never thought is actually in the Bible interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZgMlrOfB50 ) Kovacs points to the resurrection for us to be made a spirit to have eternal life, that we are not made spiritually alive until the resurrection. Neither is he. He changes the good news of salvation to be the coming kingdom. When it is the gospel that Paul preached to be saved-- Today. The Bible says in 1 Cor. 3:16 that the Spirit of God dwells in you (believers), now. Without the spirit of Christ in you then you are in danger. Rom. 8:9-11 "now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Col 1:27 Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In other words without him being in you, you will not be resurrected with eternal life 2 Cor.13:5 Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you.” So according to Kovacs no one in the church has Christ in them we all must wait for the resurrection, which wrong. Kovacs in “Shocked by the Bible 2” “This is exactly how Jesus operates, examining the hearts and minds of His own children and studying their actions to determine who is worthy of the astonishing reward of eternal life as members of God’s very own family.” underline mine No that is not how Jesus works in the new covenant. Salvation is a free gift, we do not earn it (Eph.2:5-8). We work from salvation not for it. It si snot a reward. Faith means we trust in the work Jesus did to purchase our salvation. It is given to us by grace- through faith. That is what the New Covenant of grace is all about. Apparently Kovacs is not shocked by this doctrine but you should be. “Many Christians already understand that part of their reward is eternal life” http://www.wnd.com/2009/10/112253/ Kovacs calls eternal life a prize but it is not something we win, it is called a gift (grace) in the Bible. He says “there is eternal life coming.” Yes, we receive rewards but eternal life is not part of that. The Bible says those spiritually born are in possession of eternal (immortal) life NOW. It is gift to all who believe in the right gospel. It is the resurrection of the body that is coming and that too is part of the gospel promise. Yet he teaches the transformation will do away with our physical bodies instead of transforming them to be incorruptible like the saviors. He says that in his book is filled with Scriptures to explain the secret. “All I do through the book is I make my point here is what the Bible says, these are no my words in the Divine secret, I’m just quoting the Bible over and over and over again.’… they will see these verses that they never like to talk about in church because for whatever reason they really don’t want you to know your divine destiny.” (paranormal palace radio) He says “I’m just quoting the Bible.” No, not really. These are never quoted in a church the way he interprets them. But the main things, the things the church does quote he seems to ignore. Kovac’s teaches you are dead, that’s it until the resurrection, which means that he is either teaching soul sleep, or annihilationism, both teachings are found in cults and aberrant groups. One should not make the mistake of using Matt 10:28 for annihilation. "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." First, Jesus says the soul cannot be killed like the body. He then uses the word destroy (not kill), is not used in physical sense but about bringing to ruin what one once had. When Jesus spoke of being 'destroyed' in hell, the Greek word is apollumi does not mean to be annihilated, put out of existence but to be brought to ruin, to be useless for its intended purpose. In other words man who was created in God’s image, a moral likeness is not destroyed but left in its sinful state after death. They will not be transformed. Jesus also warned in Mark 9:47-48 “It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire-- where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.' How is it better if you no longer exist, it wouldn’t matter. Jesus tells us hell is a place of spiritual misery, a ruin and suffering in their spirit, this agony they will consciously understand as justified because of their decision to reject Christ. In response to the question of people still in the grave Kovac’s says, “everyone who lived is still in the grave and will be resurrected.” When you say everyone it includes Christians with non Christians. Seems presumptuous, how are you in the grave if you do not exist? It is their body that is in the grave. Let me interject a Biblical teaching, the bodies go into the grave, not the spirit or soul of believers of whom Paul said in 2 Cor. 5:8 “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” To be with the Lord means we are in heaven, because that is where He is. If we go out of existence it is not far better. Paul further stated “For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless toremain in the flesh is more needful for you” (Phil 1:23-25). So what Kovacs is stating is not at all what the Bible says or promises. He says this because he believes there is no one in heaven, no one but Jesus and the Father. A second chance after “Y’know if we don’t get our act together, God has no problem telling us forever, there is something called the ghennna fire… God will actually burn people into non existence.” (paranormal radio Interview). “God is not going to forever try to get us to follow him, he is calling certain people now who can handle it in this first go around, eventually he will call everyone else and give them a fair shot at this great, great destiny of salvation.”(ibid) Kovacs is teaching a universalist view where God will give those who refuse to respond to him another chance after death, What he calls “a fair shot.” Heb.9:27 tells us you have judgment after death, not another chance. He explains this by saying “In the book of Revelation a thousand years after Jesus comes back it says the rest of the dead will be raised and brought back to life, and they will be judged and of course found guilty… but they will be shown the plan. And say, Look it can work your friends made it, they have become children of God and now you have a chance too.” This is an extremely amateurish answer. So it’s never too late, even after death. According to Kovac (not the Bible) there is a second chance for all, but if you still refuse, you get burned out of existence. Where does it speak of God offering a plan for them accept after they are raised? If you read it in context it’s not about a second chance but how severe their punishment will be. So in fact they do not go out of existence. People mistake this because it is called the lake of fire. But Kovacs actually says, “A thousand years later (after the millennium) everyone else whoever lived, from Adam and Eve, Adolph Hitler, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, they will be raised and that’s the famous judgment day.” “The good news is that God is not raising them to destroy them but to give them another chance. Without the Devil around and will be judged by those who made it through the first round.” “there is good news for people who don’t understand the message now or never heard the name Jesus Christ or the plan of God. You don’t have to fret so much about your friends, neighbors and loved ones” underline mine Sorry, but the good news IS the MESSAGE! He goes on to say “they will have a chance in the future” (“What you never thought was said in the Bible,” Joe Kovac’s Interview) He says, “God will not give you eternal life unless you repent” but says you can repent after you have died. So they can live as sinful as they like now and repent later? The Bible says today, "Now is the day of salvation.”( 2 Cor.6:2) The Devil is the one that wants people to put their decision off, that they have time. I can’t begin to tell you the stories I have heard from people of those that waited to tell someone and thought they had time, and the next thing they knew they were gone. But according to Kovac you need not be concerned, they get another chance. Nonsense. This is not showing the love of Christ that is to be pleading with people to turn to God now. Jesus never taught such a teaching, neither did the apostles. This must be utterly rejected. What does Kovac teach on Enoch? Listen to a portion of Kovacs convoluted explanation for Enoch actually dying.
“First of
all, the King James Bible does not say Enoch never died, vanished into thin air
or was somehow was whisked off into heaven, the unseen dwelling place of God.
Those words are simply not on its pages. "In Hebrews chapter 11, there is a list of famous heroes from the Old Testament," says Kovacs. "There are great names mentioned including Abraham, Noah, Abel and Enoch. And guess what the Bible says about these outstanding characters who followed the true God of the universe. It says they all died." These all died in faith, not having received the promises (Hebrews 11:13, King James Version) …”We already know that Enoch did in fact die, so what does it mean when the Bible says “God took him,” “God had translated him” and that he should “not see death”? “It means exactly what it says,” Kovacs explains. “God literally took him. God transported or removed Enoch from his location so that he would not be found. Why? Because apparently there were people who wanted him dead.”… We’re not given the details,” says Kovacs, “but we are told that God transferred Enoch so that he would ‘not see death,’ in other words, not be slain. Remember, God also transported Elijah miraculously, airlifting that prophet to another location. Elijah did not go to the heaven of God’s home, but merely to the ‘first heaven,’ the sky, and came back to live out the rest of his days right here on Earth. He even wrote some less-than-pleasant mail to the evil King Jehoram of Judah after his famous angelic chariot ride in the sky.” (see 2 Chronicles 21:12-15) “God took Enoch away from those looking to murder him, but the Holy Scriptures tell us outright that Enoch eventually died, not having received the promises. It’s time to put away the fables and get back to the facts. The Bible does agree with itself when people read all of it” http://www.wnd.com/2009/03/88310/#TOb4DucuowXDtcKF.99 bold mine As an editor, he edits the bible as well. This is a fine example of not understanding Scripture by Scripture. Kovac somehow finds the details by some new way to interpret the word (more revelation?) He tell us Enoch was being pursued so God saved him so he could die elsewhere. Even though it has Enoch’s years far less than all his contemporaries and explicitly says he did not die. Enoch is NOT dead What does the Bible say? Kovac says all those mentioned in Heb.11 saw death. Gen. 5:23-24 “all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” All his days were 365 years until he was taken. Throughout the genealogical record we read of each person, the time the person lived, who they begot and then it says ‘and he died.’ It does not say this for Enoch, it is missing. Instead it says God took him, not that he died later as Kovac insists. In fact we find over 4,000 years later, in the New Testament, in Heb. 11:5 the author writes of Enoch “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him” This is said in the very chapter that Kovacs said they all died. How wrong can one be? So when we read Heb.11 we then understand why in Gen.5 is missing the phrase he died. That is God’s answer. But Kovacs has a hard time with this and denies what God has said. God took him, this is the exception because the bible tells us plainly Enoch was removed WITHOUT dying, and Kovac’s spiritual gymnastics to say he was removed and then saw death later does not make any sense. Talk about finding your doctrine from in between the lines, using assumption and human reasoning. So because of this view Kovac has come to the conclusion that there is no one who went to heaven or is in heaven, even believers who died after Christs’ resurrection. Yet the Bible tells they are there. 2 Cor .12:2-3 Paul speaks of a man in Christ (which most think is him) --whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a one was caught up to the third heaven.” We see those around the throne that are given white robes because they are washed in the lamb’s blood, signifying salvation, they came out of the great tribulation (Rev.7). This is all before he returns. Why does Kovac's doctrine seem nearly identical to The World Wide church of God of Herbert Armstrong? Or the Latter day saints (Mormonism)? Did he learn from them or does he have the same spirit of error in interpreting the Bible. On the Plain truth website they advertise Kovacs book. Of all the endorsers this one gave me a good laugh. “Indeed, nobody in 100 years has done a better job informing people about what the Bible really says. His books are not theology, just facts!” Bob Barney, Editor ThePlainTruth.com (note: Barney is Kovacs's brother-in-law.) Facts according to whom? If they are not theology which is doctrine how can they be biblical facts? As we have seen much is human reasoning, not interpretations drawn from the Bible. Maybe he could use some lessons on theology, the study of God and His nature. Then he can understand man as a creature will never be god. To sum this up, if you believe Kovacs interpretations on the many key doctrines he writes on you have accepted the same errors that are in certain cults, a blending of false doctrines that blur the truth to be false.
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