David Kirkwood gets the Skull and Crossbones Award for his license for immorality (and contradictory teachings). David S. Kirkwood, when pastoring in the Pittsburgh, PA area, was one of the first that I (Dan Corner) encountered who believed one can possibly lose his salvation, but he also believed that even King David didn’t do that with his adultery and murder! Imagine that! According to David Kirkwood it takes a “practice” of adultery, a “practice” of murder, etc. before such can occur! He wants us to believe a single type of a particular sin can not cause loss of salvation, even if it is adultery and murder together!
David Kirkwood wrote a book entitled, The Great Gospel Deception. Among other things, that book is supposed to be teaching about “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” and exposes the false promise of heaven without holiness—the great gospel deception. The problem is, David Kirkwood is not teaching holiness at all yet is instead offering heaven to people in adultery, drunkenness, slander, greed, etc. who do such occasionally. He presents a contradictory mixture of concepts which allows for immorality and salvation at the same time, just like the eternal security teachers. There is no essential difference with that point.
At one point, after citing 1 Cor. 6:9,0; Gal. 5:19-21 and Eph. 5:5-7, David S. Kirkwood wrote this:
From these three passages of Scripture, we can compile a list of sins, which, if practiced, are sure evidence that a person has not been regenerated. (The Great Gospel Deception, pp. 23,24; 1999 ed., bold emphasis mine.)
By teaching that way, David S. Kirkwood shows he denies that King Saul, King Solomon, the Apostle Judas Iscariot, the unnamed disciples of John 6:66, those referred to in Heb. 6:4-6, etc. ever had salvation, even though the evidence is overwhelming. Those same Biblical characters practiced wickedness, after they had been regenerated. Strange as it may be, Kirkwood’s teaching at that point is also part of the double message the eternal security teachers give to help camouflage their license for immorality.
On p. 24, David Kirkwood also wrote a similar thing:
Although it is certainly possible for a born-again person to temporarily stumble into one or more of these various sins, no true believer will practice these sins. (ibid., italics his, bold emphasis mine.)
So again he denies a real Christian can ever afterwards practice the various sins in 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Eph. 5:5-7 and Gal. 5:19-21. He also clearly differentiates between a practice of adultery, witchcraft, idolatry, homosexuality, lying, murder, swindling, etc. and a temporary situation, but doesn’t tell us how long in wickedness it takes to pass from temporary to a practice of sin. Again, this is just like the eternal security teachers!
Again, David Kirkwood thinks a person once saved can commit adultery, murder, theft, swindle, lie, etc., but can not practice them, according to those excerpts, and that same Christian remains saved while in that degree of wickedness. That is not holiness preaching. That is not the salvation message. He is offering heaven without holiness, the very thing his book is supposed to expose! He also wrote:
Is there really danger that a true believer could end up in hell? The answer is yes. If a true believer returns to committing the “exclusionary sins,” those which, if practiced, Scripture guarantees will result in one’s exclusion from God’s kingdom (see 1 Cor. 5:11; 6:9-10, Gal. 5:19-21, Eph. 5:5-6), he forfeits eternal life.... Contrary to what many modern teachers say, the Bible teaches that any believer who consistently follows after the old sinful nature, what Scripture calls the flesh, is in danger of spiritual death (ibid., p. 185, emphasis mine).
Certainly, a single sin by a believer does not result in instant spiritual death. Persisting in sin, however, or habitually walking after the flesh, does eventually result in spiritual death. (ibid., p. 188, emphasis mine.)
Again, though he believes a Christian can lose his salvation, it is also crystal clear that David Kirkwood denies singular acts of adultery, murder, theft, idolatry, swindling, homosexuality, etc. can cause spiritual death! That is already enough to reveal his lethally poisonous, sinister and deceptive teaching under the banner of his so-called holiness teaching. By teaching this way he also violates the Biblical definition of an adulterer, murderer, etc. Scripture shows one act of adultery, murder, etc. will make one an adulterer, murderer, etc. With that in mind read 1 Cor. 6:9,10, Eph. 5:5-7 and/or Rev. 21:8 and David Kirkwood is refuted instantly.
All through the Bible, from Gen. 2 to Rev. 22 the warnings of spiritual death can occur from one singular act of wickedness. Adam and Eve lost their salvation over one sin. It was not a “practice” of sin. They didn’t have to “consistently” eat the forbidden fruit over an extended time period. It was the devil who denied they would die spiritually after eating from the forbidden fruit. [Eating was one act.]
In the NT, Jesus taught one will also lose his salvation for disowning Jesus and that can be done in one act with words. Knowing that one sin can bring spiritual death is especially important at the end of this age, for we need to know, if a Christian takes the mark of the beast, that one act of sin will cause loss of salvation. To believe David Kirkwood’s message is to reject those facts.
If all of that isn’t bad enough, David Kirkwood also contradicts his own teaching! Read this carefully:
... a true believer can forfeit his salvation by abandoning his faith or returning to the practice of unrighteousness. (ibid., p. 197, bold emphasis mine).
There, and elsewhere, he states a Christian (a regenerated person) can practice unrighteousness, but at other times David Kirkwood (as already shown) also teaches the exact opposite and must go unnoticed by those who praise him and his book:
From these three passages of Scripture, we can compile a list of sins, which, if practiced, are sure evidence that a person has not been regenerated. (Ibid., pp. 23,24; 1999 ed., bold emphasis mine.)
One can only wonder how sure Kirkwood himself is by teaching differently. David Kirkwood says the “sure evidence” one has not been regenerated is if he “practices” the sins listed in 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Eph. 5:5-7; Gal. 5:19-21, then he teaches the regenerated can practice those same sins, but it will cause loss of salvation! Why is there not consistency? (That type of contradiction is a sure sign of error.)
David Kirkwood Admits
To Being A Hypocrite
(and Implies Being Lost!)
At another time, David Kirkwood wrote the following:
And God becomes angry with those who hold others to a standard by which they themselves don’t live. Such people are hypocrites, as Jesus said, pretending to be what they are not. How many preachers (like myself) have heard the stinging yet loving words of their spouses on a Sunday afternoon, “Great sermon today, honey. You really ought to consider living it yourself!”? Ouch! ... (Article entitled, Judge Not, emphasis mine)
David Kirkwood is clear about how his own wife views him, that is, as a hypocrite! (She would know since she is around him when he is not preaching!) David Kirkwood agrees with her low spiritual assessment of himself. He doesn’t deny it, but is open about not living the message he teaches others to live. For him to admit to not living it, is to say he is practicing hypocrisy. According to his own teachings in the aforementioned book, such a person does not have salvation. This is the author of the book, The Great Gospel Deception, which is supposed to counter the false view that one can have heaven without holiness!
His book, if believed, will create confusion and much worse—it will take the Christian off his guard—making him an easy prey for the devil.
One of David Kirkwood’s lesser goals in this book is to convince the Christian that individual acts of adultery, murder, theft, drunkenness, etc. will not cause spiritual death. Again, such a teaching is demonic and he himself is part of the great gospel deception! He is teaching a license for immorality just like many others. Christians BEWARE! David Kirkwood has a counterfeit and dangerous grace message, though he rejects eternal security. My regret is that I didn’t expose his teachings sooner.
Please read these for additional information:
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/onesin.htm
GOD BLESS YOU.
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