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Houston Says Jesus Wants Our Righteousness “to exceed, or go beyond” The Pharisees?

25 Friday Jan 2013

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Pharisee Houston

This article is broken up into four segments. The last segment provides the snippet of Brian Houston which the earlier segments set out to correct.

WHO IS JUST JUSTIFIED AND MADE RIGHTEOUS?

Jesus told a “parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.”

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’” Luke 18:10-12, Emphasis added.

Was the pharisee justified and made righteous by his own efforts? Do you believe they could be made righteous by their own efforts? Was it the tither that was justified? Was it the one that kept giving? Jesus continues,

“… But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:13-14, Emphasis added.

Who was made right before God in this parable? The Pharisee or the tax collector? Jesus was making the point in the parable that those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous” were in fact not. Righteousness and justification was given to the man who realised his sin and asked for God’s mercy.

THEN WHO CAN BE SAVED?

In the sermon on the mount, what did Jesus condemn the pharisees of doing that Jesus also demonstrated they did in his above parable? Jesus exposed their sin in trusting themselves in thinking “they were righteous”.

So what do you think Jesus was saying to the multitude about the Pharisees at the beginning of his sermon on the mount?

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5:20

Was he telling the Jewish people to try harder than the Pharisees? Is Jesus challenging believers “not to live below the level of righteousness upheld by the Pharisees”? Was Jesus teaching the multitude to “exceed, or go beyond” the righteousness of the Pharisees?

No. Jesus’ message was against them and their false teachings. Instead, Jesus taught people to follow Him and his teachings. The scripture above was to dishearten his listeners to even bother trying to live up to the false teachers standards.

The Pharisees practiced the Law as best they could. The only issue was that the Law was designed to have people to depend on God to forgive and save man from their sins. No one in Israel could follow the Law perfectly, EXCEPT Jesus. The Pharisees and the Lawyers could not obey the law perfectly or be good all the time. Jesus kept EXPOSING the lies and hypocrisy of the false teachers who practiced the Law and believed they could follow it perfectly (Luke 18:9-14; Luke 18:18-26). When Jesus exposed the sin in the heart of the rich young ruler, one of Jesus’ apostles cried out, “Then who can be saved?” (Luke 18:26). This is where Christ wants his audience to be spiritually situated in his sermon on the mount.

JESUS VS PHARISEES

Jesus continually challenged the false teachers, leaders and prophets through His sermon on the mount. He exposed their false teachings, shows and hypocrisy (Matt 6:2; Matt 6:6; Matt 6:16). He warned people to not be like them and do the opposite to them (Matt 6:1; Matt 6:6; Mat 6:17). He is not encouraging people to exceed in the ways of the Pharisees. He is warning people not to follow them but instead follow him. Christ preached Himself. In this sermon, Jesus used the Law to point all his listeners to his teachings and to Himself.

In his sermon, the climax falls on the false teachers again. Jesus teaches about two ways, two trees, two gates and two foundations. Only one way leads to life. Only one tree offers life. Only one gate allows you to enter life and only one foundation offers true life.

Jesus associated the pharisees and their teachings (“false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves”) to the false road, the false gate, the bad trees and the bad foundations. 

Through out the gospel accounts, Jesus reveals he is The Way, The Truth and The Life (John 14:6) and The Gate (John 10:7). When Jesus told people to watch out for wolves in sheep’s clothing, he was actually describing a wolf disguised as a shepherd. Jesus says HE is The True Shepherd (John 10:11). He is pointing the people away from the Pharisees, their false practices and their false teachings. The only option that Jesus offered was always Himself.

The people in this sermon were left with these two options:

    1. Follow Jesus and His teachings to life. Reject the Pharisees. Or…
    2. Follow the Pharisees and their teachings to life. Reject Jesus.

This is why after hearing this controversial sermon the writer states

“the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt 7:28-29)

The Pharisees were the image of righteousness before the people. But Jesus was calling the Pharisees the “least in the kingdom of heaven” for nullifying or twisting “one of the least of these commandments” and for teaching “others to do the same”. He was reforming the people. He was rightly using the Law to bring them to despair. Who can honestly say that your own righteousness can surpass the righteousness of dedicated religious leaders? Who can honestly say that Jesus wants our own righteousness to exceed the Pharisees?

Well… Brian Houston does.

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WHAT JESUS WOULD NEVER TEACH

Houston says that Jesus teaches that “your righteousness” can “exceed, or go beyond” the righteousness of the Pharisees through all means possible (especially in  giving). He teaches “what the Pharisees did is only a starting point” and we are meant to exceed their righteousness. Houston believes that WE are to take “everything one step further.”

If Brian Houston actually believes this, any Christians should actually question if Houston is a pastor or a Christian at all. Brian Houston has missed the entire point of the New Testament, the gospel and how one becomes a Christian if he believes this.

Not only does he misquote Jesus saying, (“Jesus said we shouldn’t get angry”), Houston twists Jesus’ sermon to teach people that they can be made righteous through their efforts, especially in their tithing.

Houston then further demonstrates biblical incompetence by teaching that “You tithe because you put the Kingdom first in your life, and it is with a spirit of faith that you sow into God’s Word”. As we already have seen, tithing is not a requirement for Godly righteousness. It was of the Mosaic Law and not taught by Jesus and His disciples. Because tithing is of the Law, Brian Houston is flat out wrong saying, “You tithe… with a spirit of faith”. God rebukes Houston with this:

“Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.” Galatians 3:21

“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Galatians 2:21

“The law is not based on faith.” Galatians 3:12

According to Brian Houston and his beliefs, he must be an even greater Pharisee than the Apostle Paul (Acts 26:10). Paul says,

“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as dung, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Philippians 3:2-10, Emphasis ours.

We will now leave you with the Pharisee of Pharisees to teach you how “to exceed” your own righteousness. This excerpt is found in the chapter, ‘The Power of Tithing’ from Houston’s book ‘You Need More Money’.

“Exceeds

For I say unto you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righeousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

Jesus said that he didn’t come to destroy the law but to fulfil [sic] it. This is why the Old Testament is so relevant today. However, the challenge to believers is not to live below the level of righteousness upheld by the Pharisees – His challenge to us is to exceed, or go beyond, it.

What the Pharisees did is only a starting point. Jesus took everything one step further. For instance, one of the Ten Commandments is not to kill or murder. Jesus said we shouldn’t get angry, because that would lead us to sin.

When Jesus said that the Pharisees ought to tithe, that sets a precedent for us to go further. New Testament tithing is different to the bondage and legalism of the Old Covenant. You shouldn’t feel depressed or miserable about it. You tithe because you put the Kingdom first in your life, and it is with a spirit of faith that you sow into God’s Word.” – Brian Houston, You Need More Money, Smithfield, NSW: Alken Press, 1999, pg. 72.

Brian Houston Is A Pastor How?

02 Wednesday Jan 2013

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What you are about to read from Brian Houston is not theological, historical or logical. This is what it means when Peter said, “In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up”, (2 Peter 2:3). Below is an excerpt from Houston’s book, ‘You Need More Money’.

“WHAT IS THE TITHE?

Tithing was a principle that was established in the book of Genesis. We’ll probably need to go into a bit of Bible history here, but literally a tithe means “one tenth”.

The principle of first fruits

Going back to the book of Genesis, you discover the principle of first fruits. It was established in the Garden when one of the first principles given to mankind was that God kept something for Himself. Initially it was a tree in the middle of the Garden. Everything else was free for Adam and Eve to enjoy.

While Adam and Eve disregarded God’s portion and subsequently reaped the consequences, their sons Cain and Abel, made offerings to the Lord from their work.

“And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering.” (Genesis 4:3-4)

One brother gave the first of his increase, while the other waited to the end of  his harvest and gave of his left-overs. God honoured the offering that put Him first place, not the after thought. The eternal principle of first-fruits was established here.” – Brian Houston, You Need More Money, Smithfield, NSW: Alken Press, 1999, pg. 68-69.

HOUSTON EXPOSED

It only took Satan to reinterpret what the tree meant to Eve so she could eat of it. It only took Brian Houston to reinterpret what the tree meant so people could eat his false Christianity.

God said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen 2:16-17). It is at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that Satan made Eve doubt God’s Word, “Did God really say?” (Gen 3:1), and eat the fruit.

It is clear that Brian Houston is lying to the reader. No where does it say in the bible that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is the tithe or “God’s portion”. He simply made it up. The Apostle Paul correctly writes about the Genesis account and writes against people like Brian Houston (emphasis ours):

“I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” 2 Corinthians 11:2-5

Brian Houston than dared to quote Genesis 4:3-5, in an attempt to teach something that contradicts scripture. In fact, Brian Houston once again lied about what the text says. The text Genesis 4:3-5 does not teach us that, “The eternal principle of first-fruits was established here”. Instead Hebrews teaches us something that opposes Brian Houstons false teaching. (Emphasis ours.)

“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” Hebrews 11:4

It wasn’t by the “eternal principle of first fruits” that Abel offered a better sacrifice to God. That would make Abel a pantheist. Abel didn’t bow to the eternal principles of nature to see God respect his offering. This wouldn’t be faith. This would be sin. Houston is teaching believers a pagan belief.

God did not honour “the offering that put Him first place.” If it did, that would be righteousness by works (a false gospel). Instead the scriptures say against Houston, “By faith [Abel] was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.” This is righteousness by faith and not by works, (Ephesians 2:8-9)

To further demonstrate the logical bankruptcy of Houston, one has to consider what he meant here:

“The eternal principle of first-fruits was established here.”

What does this mean? If an eternal principle was “established here” in an historical moment (recorded in Genesis 4:3-4), then this principle is DEFINITELY not eternal. It is temporal. We must remember that Brian Houston is linking the “eternal principle of first-fruits” with the tithe “in the book of Genesis”. Therefore Houston simply defeated his own argument that the tithe/firstfruit principle is eternal or played a significant role in the early Genesis narrative. Not only that, the tithe no longer meant his definition of “one tenth”. There weren’t only ten trees in the Garden of Eden. The bible does not inform us how many animals Abel has. Houston simply redefined his meaning along the way to support his argument for the tithe.

Following this logic through, one has to ask these questions: Who taught Abel this “eternal principle”? HOW could Abel learn this “eternal principle” if his latter actions established this “eternal principle”? Maybe Abel should have asked Brian Houston how to access these eternal principles so God could respond in favour to Abel. Maybe both Cain, Abel could have bought Brian Houston’s book ‘You Need More Money’ to access these supernatural principles… You get the point.

To justify his unbiblical stance in regards to his false doctrine, Brian Houston created fables. Since when is a pastor ever qualified to treat God’s Word like this?

In his statement of beliefs, Hillsong says the bible is, “accurate, authoritative and applicable to our everyday lives”.

After examining Houston’s handling of the bible, everyone should be asking the question to Brian Houston or the congregation of Hillsong: “How?”

Warning: Hillsong Music Spreads Their False Doctrine

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

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Christians have often wondered if it is safe to sing Hillsong music in their churches. To answer this question, we would like to point our readers to Brian Houston’s book “You Need More Money”. On the back cover, Houston advertises that this book is about how people can “become a money magnet”.

Houston reveals in the conclusion of his book that Hillsong music does capture his false prosperity gospel. Quick reminder – although he doesn’t express this in his book, Houston believes you cannot be right-standing with God or be in God’s will unless you put him first in your finances. Keep this in mind as you read below.

Here is the conclusion of Houstons book.

CONCLUSION

MORE THAN ENOUGH

“More than I could hope or dream of

You have poured your favour on me

One day in the house of God is

Better than a thousand in the world

So blessed, I can’t contain it

So much, I’ve got to give it away

Your love taught me to live now

You are more than enough for me*

The words of this song are a powerful confession of the promise of God. Written by Reuben Morgan, a young songwriter and worship leader in our church, he was inspired to write this song by the theme of the teachings in this book and the revelation of God’s blessing in one’s life.

With the heart of a loving Father, God wants to see you blessed in every area of your life, but His provision is so that  you can bless others. You aren’t meant to hoard or contain it for yourself.

The principle is FIRST the Kingdom, and THEN all things will be added to you. As you begin to expand your thinking and apply His Word, you will see the promises of God at work in your life.

I love to see the people of our church being blessed, and I love to see the Word working in their lives, as they move forward and grow in God. I even love seeing things added to their lives, especially when I know they are building on the principle of first the Kingdom! It means that they are not only successful and blessed, but that they are unable to contain it, reaching out and making an impact beyond their own world.

My prayer is that this book releases you into a new dimension of blessing, that you are challenged to stretch and increase in all God has for your life. Yes, YOU NEED MORE MONEY – but now I trust you know why!” – Brian Houston, You Need More Money, Alken Press: Smithsfiedl, NSW, 1999, pg. 133-134. * © 1999 Reuben Morgan/Hillsong Music Australia.

Why You Need More Money – Introduction

11 Thursday Oct 2012

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Brian Houston wrote a provocative book called ‘You Need More Money’ in the year 2000. While he has pulled this book off the shelf, there has been no public notification that he has repented of his false beliefs. While he may show embarrassment that he wrote it – this is not an indicator that he has changed his views. Therefore, we believe it is in our best interest to disclose the information within it’s pages.

Below is the introduction to his book, ‘You Need More Money’:

INTRODUCTION 

“I’m going to get straight to the point: YOU NEED MORE MONEY!

 You may think this provocative, presumptuous, or prophetic coming from a pastor but the fact is that it is true. Whoever you are, you need more money.

 I know that money is a highly sensitive subject for anyone, but in this book I am going to tell you WHY you need more money and secondly HOW you can get more money (even if you won’t admit it, I bet you are interested in the latter). I don’t believe that we should be uncomfortable talking about something that plays such an enormous role in our day-to-day lives.

People love to quote the Bible when it comes to money, wealth and riches (and will sometimes do so out of context), but there is a fascinating verse in the book of Ecclesiastes that says it all:

A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry; but money answers everything.

(Ecclesiastes 10:19)

If that’s a shock to see a statement like that in the Bible—check it out for yourself. That is exactly what it says: MONEY ANSWERS EVERYTHING!

Now I believe the Bible has all the answers to life. It contains the wisdom of the ages, eternal principles and practical counsel for any situation. In fact, the more you read the Bible, the more truths you keep discovering. It is a book that I have been reading continually over four decades now … and there is always something fresh and relevant to find every day.

MONEY ANSWERS EVERYTHING

It is really interesting that Solomon, in his renowned wisdom, makes a statement like that. Think about it for a moment. Money certainly provides solutions and has tremendous power to change situations, making a big difference in people’s lives. It’s true – money is inevitably the bottom line of everything.

  • What is the answer to hunger? Money! But you may say “what about food?” But you need money to buy it.
  • What is the short-term solution to poverty? Money!
  • What is the answer to powerlessness in your life? Money! It enables you to be influential.

While money provides many positive solutions, money also has just as many negative responses.

  • How do you feed a heroin addiction? Money!
  • What is listed as one of the greatest causes for marriage failure? Money!

We live in a world where almost everything relates to money, yet money in itself isn’t bad. This book deals with the real issue – people’s attitude and thinking towards money.

If you and I can change our thinking and develop a healthy attitude towards money, I believe we can all walk in the blessing and prosperity that God intends for us. We will never have a problem with money again.