False teaching in IBLP’s “Discerning God’s Will in Every Decision” Part 1

The Wolf: Bill Gothard and The Institute in Basic Life Principles

The Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) is an organization that grew around the ministry of Bill Gothard, who in the early 1960’s began speaking to large conferences on how to apply the Bible to everyday life, mostly by upgrading the Old Testament law for today. The teachings and programs that grew out of that initial organization, Advanced Training Institute (ATI) for homeschooling, youth conflict resolution, family support has largely been based on poorly exegeted Scripture, a misunderstanding of the Bible as a whole, and a reliance on at least works-based sanctification, if not works-based salvation. I’m seeking to expose these lies as the heresy that they are. Wolves often quote Scripture and sound correct on the outside. In fact, Satan himself quotes Scripture to Jesus as part of his temptation of Christ, and Christ refuted his misapplication of Scripture with Scripture. “Discerning God’s Will in Every Decision” is a document published by IBLP as an introduction to the 52 Wisdom Booklets that made up the core of IBLP’s homeschool program, ATI.

The Lie? - Scripture Twisting

How we quote Scripture reflects what we believe about God and the Gospel; how we quote and use other authors’ writings reflects how we view our neighbor. Since God is a God of order, we can use logic to make arguments for or against a position of biblical exegesis. If Scripture is God’s Word, we must treat it with the respect that the Word of God deserves. We are applying three standards when reviewing this document: Does the author of this document accurately use Scripture? Does the author of this document accurately quote and cite exterior references? Does the argument logically flow? I contend that the Institute of Basic Life Principles in authoring this document fails to satisfactorily accomplish all three of these standards. Does this document accurately use Scripture? Does the misuse of Scripture reveal a pattern of dishonesty that should invite rebuke from the larger church? Trust, once broken, is difficult to mend. An unrepentant usage of Scripture that enables falsehood and wrong doctrine to flourish should be rebuked by the larger church. Romans 10:4. IBLP refers to Romans 10:4 in two places, pages 3 and 15.

Trust, once broken, is difficult to mend. An unrepentant usage of Scripture that enables falsehood and wrong doctrine to flourish should be rebuked by the larger church. 

Contrary to what the author of the document asserts, telos DOES have a temporal aspect to it in the NT. The quote from Thayer’s Lexicon (which I will also examine later in this essay) refers to the use of telos in extrabiblical Greek, not its use in the New Testament. Thayer goes on to point out that in the New Testament telos can and does refer to an end as a point in time, not merely purpose. To that end, since telos can mean end as in “no longer effective”, that usage better fits the context of Romans 10. Paul is arguing that although physical Israelites zealous for the law, they desire righteousness, but being ignorant of the point or the purpose of the law seek righteousness in their own rules. Ironically, Romans 10:4 could be applied to a hard-core follower of Gothard’s teachings. Being ignorant of the purpose, point, or that the law even has come to an end, they have created their own “law” that enslaves, holds forth false hope, and ultimately creates unbiblical guilt and shame in the lives of their adherents.

Ignoring the context and what Paul was driving at with “The one who does them shall live by them.” (Galatians 3:12). Paul is arguing in Galatians that the Old Testament law has no authority over New Testament believers. IBLP on page 21-22 tries to make the argument that “the one who does them shall live by them” applies to New Testament believers, rather than what the ACTUAL context of the verse is, that all are under the curse of the law. The curse being that the law can only condemn, it cannot save. Salvation was never the purpose of the law (Hebrews 8:13). IBLP continues in giving examples from the Old Testament on Israel’s failure to keep the law as examples of why New Testament believers must keep the law. That’s a glaring bait-and-switch. IBLP claims that following or obeying the law is the “discovery and enjoyment of true life” (Institute in Basic Life Principles, 1999, p. 22), which is a complete contradiction of John 17:3 in that eternal life (real, true life) is found in knowing God through Christ. If you’re in Christ, you’re already there. You don’t need a broken-down charlatan like Gothard to give you more rules.

I John 5:2-8. Ignoring the context and skipping over verse 5! Not to mention including the spurious reading of verse 8. At the risk of becoming technical, I will raise the tackle the quotation of I John 5:2-8. There’s an interesting ellipsis in IBLP’s quotation of the passage. The full passage reads as follows with the edited portion highlighted in red, along with the broader context of I John 5:1-12 in the ESV.

1 John 5:2-8 (KJV)

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

1 John 5:1-12 (ESV)

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
 6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

A lot of false teaching is not in what false teachers are saying, but what they are not saying. I could get off in the weeds about how most of verse 8 is spurious and not part of the original Greek text. For more information, the NET Bible has a helpful article here. There also is the soul, spirit, and heart division of the human soul that rather than clear divisions in the Bible, seem more like synonyms for the same thing. What is clearly argued in this section is that if we just discern God’s will (God’s will most clearly seen in the Old Testament law), and if we just obey all these rules, then we’ll have “success” (whatever that means). What the passage says, in my paraphrase:

If you are in Christ (and John is writing to believers), then you’re already born of God (v.1). How do we know we’re children of God? Because we love and obey God in a New Testament context (v. 2). What is the love of God? Obeying him (v. 3). How do we overcome the world? By being born again (John 3). And what does overcoming the world look like? Our faith in Christ (v.4). And who has overcome the world? The one who has faith in Christ (v.5). Christ overcame the world, and if we’re in him, we overcome it too. Who is Jesus Christ? He came by water and blood. He was physically incarnate. He poured out his blood as a satisfaction for God’s wrath on the cross (v. 6). How do we know this? The Spirit testifies. Jesus is who he said he is, and God the Holy Spirit testifies that truth also (vv.7-8). Testimony of humankind is one thing; the testimony of God is much greater (v. 9). How do we hear this testimony? By believing in the Son of God (v. 10). Disbelieving the Son by implication is disbelieving God himself. We call God a liar if we do not believe him. What is this testimony? That we have eternal life, and that that life is found in Jesus (v. 11). Who has this life? Whoever has the Son (i.e. faith in Christ) (v. 12).
What my thoughts are on why IBLP would skip v.5 as well as start the quotation at v. 3 and end at v. 8 is that they are trying to skip over the parts that make knowing Christ the central part of the passage. They seem to want to jump over anything about faith and that that faith in Christ is the foundation for everything in the Christian life.

In my next post, I will detail the next set of deception in "Discerning God's Will in Every Decision" as it relates to IBLP's quotations of other authors. 

Bibliography

Institute in Basic Life Principles. (1999). Discerning God’s Will in Every Decision. Institute in Basic Life Principles Oak Brook, IL.
Thayer, J. (1995). Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Coded with Strong’s Concordance Numbers (Reissue,Subsequent ed.). Hendrickson Academic.
Gingrich, W. F., & Danker, F. W. (1983). Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Second ed.). University Of Chicago Press.
Zuck, R. B. (1996). Vital New Testament Issues (Vital Issues Series, Vol 8). Kregel Academic & Professional.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version(R) (ESV(R)), copyright (C) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.