Unbiblical Analogies

Stories Preachers Tell As If They Were True

Many Christians have probably heard preachers and bible teachers tell stories like those below, comparing salvation to various kinds of things or situations, none of which are true.  Most people hearing those stories don’t realize that such tales are the products of people who don’t really know how spiritually lost mankind really is.
 

Lie #1:

We all have a God-shaped vacuum in us that only Jesus can fill.
 
The truth: We do NOT have a god-shaped vacuum in us.  We all want nothing to do with the God of the Bible and His plan of salvation by grace alone, until God converts us.  We may want God but not the real God who hates sin and hates the sinner, who saves whom He pleases when He pleases and leaves the rest to die in their sins and be forever damned. Romans 3:11 says: “There is none that seeketh after God”.  Also, Romans 8:7 says: “The carnal mind is enmity against God” which means the unsaved, unregenerated person hates God, as God’s enemy.
 

Lie #2:

An unsaved man is like a man drowning in a lake and someone throws him a life preserver but he won’t get saved unless he grabs onto the life preserver.  Jesus is that life preserver.
 
The truth: An unsaved man is NOT like a man drowning in a lake.  An unsaved man is like a dead man at the bottom of the deepest sea who needs to be dredged out of the sea and brought back to life, not someone who might be capable of reaching for a life preserver. Ephesians 2:1 says: “You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins”. Notice it says “dead” and not “almost dead” or “about to die” or “drowning”.
 

Lie #3:

We are all of infinite value to God which is why Jesus died for us.
 
The truth: We are NOT all of infinite value to God.  We are but dust, mere broken vessels of clay.  All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.  Every imagination of the thoughts of our hearts is only evil continually.  We are estranged from God from the womb…  Jesus died to glorify himself and his Father in heaven, not because of our value or worth to God.  Jesus died because of the enormous payment for sin that God’s law required.  The offense of our sin was so great against God.  It had nothing to do with our worth but everything to do with God’s holiness and his tremendous hatred for sin.   What makes salvation such an amazing display of God’s love is the death of a Being (Jesus Christ) so valuable & precious to God the Father for something so worthless and evil (rebellious wicked sinners like you and me). Romans 5:6 states: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”   It does not say that Christ died for the valuable.  Try reading Isaiah chapter 59:1-8 [1] sometime and see if it is describing people of infinite value.   Timothy Morton makes this helpful observation: “Where is mercy, grace, and love when one is buying something that is worth the price? Were you showing these traits to the salesman when you bought your last vehicle? Or did you buy it because you thought you were getting a pretty good deal? How is salvation a gift if it is merely a mutual transaction for something of value? That nullifies the entire concept of giving.” [2]
 

Lie #4:

An unsaved man is like a man on an airplane that is going to crash only he does not know it so he does not realize he needs a parachute.  Jesus is that parachute.
 
The truth: An unsaved man is NOT like a man on an airplane that is going to crash, nor is Jesus like a parachute. An unsaved man is like the dead burnt mangled body in the wreckage of the plane, who is totally incapable of reaching for a parachute or anything else. Revelation 3:17 says: “Knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”.  It is not describing some resourceful guy who knows how to get himself out of a “jam”. And Jesus is not like a parachute for you to grab when you feel the need.  Jesus is more comparable to someone who knew the plane was going to crash so he kept you from climbing aboard and got on board the doomed plane Himself, in the seat you should have been sitting in.  –– RM Kane

REFERENCES:

1. Isaiah 59:1-8 – “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.”

2. The Value of the Human Soul by Timothy S. Morton
 

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