"Is the Assembly teaching on the 'inheritance' Scriptural? What about all those verses in the Bible that seems to indicate that it is true?"
Dear Wounded Pilgrim,
GG took away all sense of context when he went used Scripture to support his messages. He never stopped to ask about a particular passage of Scripture, "Who was Paul speaking to? What was the culture of the day? Was the author using any figures of speech?"
GG would sweep through verse after verse starting from Cain and Abel, the Exodus, the wanderings of Israel in the desert, the "land", David, the gospels, and the epistles, and pull out concepts that seemed to support his inheritance teaching.
GG's method of interpretation was to place the above parts of scripture into categories that he had already established. The establishment of these categories forced all texts into his presuppositions regardless of their original context. For example, the nation of Israel and their "salvation" from Egypt, their wanderings in the wilderness, and their eventual failure to enter into the "land". This to GG taught that not all believers would enter the inheritance, regardless of what the New Testament teaches regarding the subject.
In an attempt to prove his teaching of a conditional entry into heaven, GG jumped all around his Bible and was able to put together "proof texts" but ignored the clear message of the entire New Testament that the inheritance is part of our salvation and as such is "reserved in heaven for us".
It makes more sense to study the New Testament first to see what it teaches regarding the inheritance rather than starting from the Old Testament. We should always let the New Testament inform the Old Testament.
Bible based cults delight in teaching that they are very diligent students of the Word (for example, the J.W.'s), but their method of study is unbalanced. They will stress a verse that talks about "life in the blood" and totally miss the doctrine of the grace of God.
Jesus himself stated that the Pharisees gave greater credence to lesser things of the law while not seeking those values that were of greater value. Jesus also taught that all of the law could be condensed into two main points: love of God and love of my neighbor.
Possibly the most dangerous aspect of GG's hermeneutics is his idea of "receiving revelation". GG made fun of using the mind in Bible study. The mind was not to be trusted and was clearly an "unspiritual" thing to do. His idea was to get into a special "meditative" state in order to really understand the Word (shall we chant OM?).
GG, by moving his listeners into the realm of "meditation", set us up for his bewitchment. The Phillips translation of the New Testament calls the Galatians "Dear Idiots" for falling for the deception they were being fed. (Boy, were we ever!)
A book that was very helpful to me regarding GG's teaching is called, A Theology of the Holy Spirit, by Frederick Dale Bruner. The book is actually a rebuttal to "higher life" teaching as taught by the old line Pentecostals.
Another book that was a great blessing is, Grace, The Glorious Theme, by Lewis Sperry Chafer. The first author is Reformed and the other is a Dispensationalist, but both reject GG "inheritance" teaching.
God Bless, Mark
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