J. Vernon McGee Is A Dead False Teacher (2 Peter 2:17)
April, 2003

Dr. J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988) is best known for his "Thru the Bible" radio programs which are broadcast around the globe in more than thirty-five different languages. He served as a pastor for over forty years and was also a teacher, lecturer, and author.

Dr. McGee was the author of more than two hundred books and booklets, including Ruth and Esther: Women of Faith, The Best of J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee (5-volume set), and the Thru the Bible Commentary Series (60-volume set). [From the back inside dust jacket of Questions and Answers, copyright 1990]

Dr. McGee's greatest pastorate was at the historic, Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles, where he served from 1949 to 1970. Here he began a daily radio broadcast called "High Noon Bible Class" on a single station.

Dr. McGee began teaching Thru the Bible in 1967. After retiring from the pastorate, he set up radio headquarters in Pasadena, and the radio ministry expanded rapidly. Today the program airs on over 400 stations each day in the United States and Canada, is heard in more than 100 languages around the world and is broadcast worldwide via the Internet. (www.ttb.org/DrMcGee.htm)

According to the Thru the Bible Radio web site, McGee died on December 1, 1988. If the material found in the book Questions and Answers, is truly what he taught, then McGee "fell asleep in his chair and quietly passed into the presence of his Savior" (www.ttb.org/DrMcGee.htm) in hell (Psalm 139:8; 1 Timothy 4:10; 2 Peter 2:1).

Questions and Answers depicts McGee was among those who turn the grace of God into lewdness (Jude 4), who secretly bring in destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1), and for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved (2 Peter 2:17). The book claims, "the answers are virtually as he gave them" (p. 23). If this is true, McGee gave lies.

I. Suicide

Q. I was completely surprised when one of my friends from church committed suicide. How could a Christian kill himself?

McGee's answer, in part, reads,

I can understand that a Christian might have a mental breakdown, a catastrophic illness, or certain other things which might cause him to do this. I would not sit in judgment upon a professing Christian who does this because, to begin with, the minute he commits this act he is out of your hands and out of my hands. We cannot pass judgment on him. And I do know this: if that person is a child of God, he is saved. I don't care what you say, he is saved if he is a child of God. (p. 50)

Because McGee was one who turned the grace of God into lewdness (Jude 4), he taught a Christian could kill himself and still end up in heaven. This is lewd, giving a license for sin, and a damning lie (2 Peter 2:1). For Scripture is very clear, if a person is either not in the faith (John 3:36), or does not continue in the faith, that person will end up in hell (Romans 11:22).

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:1-6).

Some might argue, "What about Samson? He committed suicide." Samson's "suicide" was actually an act of war, as he killed three thousand Philistines in his vengeance upon them (Judges 16:28-30). He died in his effort to kill others, as he said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" (Judges 16:30). It was not, as a typical suicide of our day, because of a lack of hope, or a deranged mind. He died with the Philistines to "take vengeance on the Philistines" for his two eyes (Judges 16:28). Plus, this was the only choice he had, to kill them as he did.

Typical suicidal people today are those who have no hope, and they are thus not in Christ (Ephesians 2:12; 1 Peter 1:3; 3:15), or they have been moved away from the hope of the gospel and are thus lost (Colossians 1:21-23). Those with deranged minds, or as McGee put it, who "might have a mental breakdown," are those who do not have a sound mind and are therefore not in Christ (Isaiah 26:3; 2 Timothy 1:7). These people will end up in hell if they die in such a state. Contrary to McGee's destructive heresy, those who commit suicide certainly do end up in hell. Such people are not saved (see also Suicide).

II. Pride

Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, . . . (2 Timothy 3:1-2)

In his days, McGee could see a problem with pride in the "ministry," but he didn't have the discernment (Romans 1:29) to understand the proud go to hell, and that this characteristic of pride is a bench mark of the false Christianity in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

I'll be honest with you, I think a great many people are not being used today because of their sin. And a great many who are seeming to build great kingdoms - that is, great religious works - today are building nothing in the world but straw stacks which are going to go up in smoke one of these days. Why? Because they are not really building for the Lord; they are building for themselves (see 1 Cor. 3:12-15). You know, the great sin in the ministry today is neither money nor sex. The big sin of the ministry is pride. Preachers' pride is a terrible disease, and I think God will judge a lot of us because of it. God does judge believers. (p. 119-120)

The judgment McGee speaks of is not one of condemnation, but of rewards or the loss thereof (1 Cor. 3:12-15). Therefore, McGee here declares proud preachers as those who are believers, i.e. those who will enter the kingdom of God! This is lewd and against the clear declaration of Scripture. The unrighteous, this includes the proud, will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. (Psalm 31:23)

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs - O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render punishment to the proud. (Psalm 94:1-2)

Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though they join forces, none will go unpunished. (Proverbs 16:5; see also Proverbs 15:25)

"For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 4:1; see also 1 Peter 5:5)

The proud are cursed (Psalm 119:21) and are in no way believers in Christ (Psalm 18:27; 25:9; 147:6; 149:4; Proverbs 3:34; 11:2; 16:19; Matthew 5:3; James 4:6). But McGee was fooled (2 Timothy 3:13), and taught otherwise.

III. Ecumenism

Rather than withdrawing from those who teach otherwise (1 Timothy 6:3-5), cleansing himself from dishonorable vessels (2 Timothy 2:20-21), avoiding those who teach contrary to sound doctrine (Romans 16:17-18), and having no fellowship with the unfruitful workers of darkness (Ephesians 5:11), McGee, by his own admission, fellowshipped with them.

I have found that I can fellowship with any person who will meet with me around the person of Christ. If he won't insist that I accept his mode of baptism, we can enjoy some wonderful fellowship. I have marvelous fellowship with some people who believe that you ought to be put under the water three times, and I can fellowship with those who sprinkle. I got out of the Presbyterian church, but I can fellowship with them, provided we meet around the person of Christ. Separation is unto, not just from, something.

Now, if you are separated unto Christ, you will find that you are separated from some groups. You don't have to withdraw from them; they will withdraw from you. I have no problem here in Pasadena about this matter of separation. I find the churches and pastors that are liberal have nothing in the world to do with me, not a thing. They talk about brotherhood, but I just do not happen to be in that brotherhood. They talk about loving everybody, but they sure don't love me. And I feel bad about that, too, because I think I am a nice fellow! They ought to love me, but they don't. I said that facetiously. If you want to know the truth, it doesn't bother me a bit, because if they would meet with me around the person of Christ, we could have fellowship. (p. 191-192, bold added)

Here McGee admits that he would fellowship with people who teach false doctrine. He even admits he would fellowship with those he calls "liberal." Don't be fooled by his "if they would meet with me around the person of Christ." It is not around the real Christ of whom he speaks, because the real Christ is the Truth (John 14:6), the word of God (John 1:1; Hebrews 4:12-13; Revelation 19:13). If they were to do this, they would be meeting around the truth, believing the same thing, speaking the same thing (1 Corinthians 1:10). They would put off their error and embrace the truth (Christ, John 14:6). They would be of one faith (Ephesians 4:5), not many "Christian" faiths. But, McGee was not in that one faith (Ephesians 4:5), thus he held no such ground (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Jude 3; for more info please see Unity, Saved?, and Cult?).

IV. Additions

Proverbs 30:5-6 states,

Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

McGee added to God's Word and proved himself to be a liar several times over.

1. Creation

McGee added seismic action and billions of years to the Bible.

Q. How long did it take God to create everything? Was it really in just six 24-hour days?

McGee begins his answer with,

A. We see the construction of the universe in Genesis 1:1, the convulsion of the earth in verse 2, and then the construction of the earth in six days (vv.3-31). I believe what we have here is this development.

There are several things that I would like to call to your attention. Exodus 20:11 reads, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." There is nothing in that verse about creating. It says, "made"; God took that which was already formed and in those six days He did not "create," He re-created. He worked with matter which already existed. It was matter He had called into existence probably billions of years before. (p. 107, bold added)

First of all, there is no "convulsion [i.e. seismic action] of the earth" in Genesis 1:2. McGee adds this. Secondly, it is a lie to say "He did not 'create'" in those six days. The Hebrew word for create, yivrâ', is used in Genesis 1:21 in reference to sea creatures and in Genesis 2:3 (bârâ') referring back to the entire six days. Thirdly, McGee adds, "probably billions of years" when "years" did not exist!

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day (Exodus 20:11).

By the time God finishes His creation it is only 7 days into the existence of time.

Paul speaks of "before time began" (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2). When did time begin? It began "In the beginning" (Genesis 1:1). The very first day is recorded for us in Genesis 1:1-5, and it clearly declares that God created earth on that first day, in the beginning. McGee not only adds a probable billions of years, before years even existed, but he adds matter to the text that also did not exist.

In another place, McGee responds to a question concerning "people living in China long before the time of Adam and Eve" (p. 97) and he rightly calls this heresy. But, in his answer he again reveals his ignorance of the creation account. First he says,

Genesis is not dated and gives no date for the creation of Adam and Eve.

This is a lie, as we have already noted. Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day (Genesis 1:26-31). McGee continues,

For him to categorically say there were people in China before then, when we don't know the time of then is merely a figment of the imagination. (p. 98)

Unlike McGee, those who believe the Bible know the time of "then," and they also know that,

He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. (Acts 17:26)

This "one blood" is Adam, being the first man (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47), thus there were no people living in China before this.

2. John 2

Q. What was the purpose of the miracle at the wedding at Cana?

McGee's answer, in part, reads,

Apparently, down at the corner saloon they made fun of Him and His mother, and she wanted Him to clear her name. I'm not going into detail here, but it fills in part of the silent years in the life of our Lord - what He must have gone through and what Mary went through. (p. 63)

This is complete fantasy! No such teaching is found in the word of God.

3. Judas Iscariot and God's Many Plans

Q. Was Judas Iscariot destined to betray Christ?

McGee answers, in part, with,

God is not only working on this plan that He has chosen today, but when He started out (whenever that was) on this matter of man and his destiny, there were before Him an infinite number of plans that He could have adopted. (p. 146)

And,

So to say that if Judas hadn't betrayed Christ, man would be lost is entirely wrong because God had all kinds of plans before Him. (p. 147)

This is McGee's imagination (or someone else's from whom he acquired such foolishness) gone wild. Scripture teaches no such thing, but rather, God's plan remains constant and stands from the very beginning. As it is written,

I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." (Isaiah 46:9-10)

There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel - that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. (Psalm 139:16)

Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:8-11)

A few pages later, McGee is recorded as saying this about Judas and his destiny.

Some theologians contend that Judas was predestined to betray Jesus and could do nothing else. I believe Judas made up his own mind to betray our Lord and had every opportunity to change his plans. (p. 151)

Judas did make up his own mind to betray our Lord and he did have opportunity to change his plans, that's why, in part, his sin was so great (John 19:11). But, he nonetheless was predestined to betray Christ. We know this because Jesus called him "the son of perdition" before he even committed the betrayal and noted the necessity of his betrayal for the fulfillment of Scripture (John 17:12). Also, the fearful truth on this as well is that,

A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9; see also Proverbs 16:4)

There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel - that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)

Judas was predestined not only to betray Christ, but to be "the son of perdition" as well.

4. Age Of Accountability

Q. Why is a child acceptable in heaven before the age of accountability?

McGee's answer, in part,

A. If you would go back to the Old Testament you would see a great principle that is put down that I believe makes it very clear that the child who dies before the age of accountability is saved. (p. 181)

Later in the book, in response to, "What is the age of accountability?" McGee says,

In the Scriptures you will find that God apparently didn't make an individual accountable until he moved along in his twenties. To serve in the army a man had to be twenty-one, but he had to be thirty years old before he could actively take part in the service of priest. This suggests that the age of accountability is much older than we are accustomed to think. (p. 183)

Serving in the army and serving as a priest has nothing to do with a person's accountability before God for their actions on earth. This "age of accountability" is a doctrine of men (Matthew 15:8-9). It is not of God (Colossians 2:8-9). In fact, Scripture teaches,

Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right. (Proverbs 20:11)

Scripture also says,

The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

God puts no age on this condemnation. In fact, Scripture reveals God does judge the young, and Elisha had no qualm about it.

Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!" So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. (2 Kings 2:23-24; see also Proverbs 7:7-27)

5. Hebrews 10:26

Q. I am quite sure you believe "once saved always saved." But Hebrews 10:26 seems to prove you wrong.

In an effort to get away from the fearful truth of Hebrews 10:26, McGee says,

There were some Hebrew folk saying that they were turning to Christ, but they continued to go to the temple for worship and offering sacrifices. The writer of the book of Hebrews is answering those people. He says in effect, "By doing that sort of thing, you are sinning wilfully. You know now that those sacrifices in the temple have ended, that Christ is the fulfillment of the Law - the Law in every detail, the ritualistic Law, the Mosaic system, the religious part. He fulfilled all of that, and now there's no more sacrifice for sins." (p. 169)

This is quite perverted. McGee adds to the text "some Hebrew folk" who "continued to go to the temple for worship and offering sacrifices." Hebrews does not say this. Moreover, even if it did, as some did in righteousness (Acts 21:26), in and of itself, it would not be wrong. This addition to the text and twist is an attempt to get away from the clear warning to all believers in Christ that,

If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

V. Direct Lies

The religious rulers were not in danger of committing the unpardonable sin because they said that Jesus performed miracles by the power of the devil. (p. 174)

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons." So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: "How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" - because they said, "He has an unclean spirit." (Mark 3:22-30)

The attitude and state of the unbeliever was unpardonable - not the act. You see, our Lord said in Matthew 12:34, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." When a man blasphemes with his mouth, that is not the thing that condemns him; it is the attitude of his heart, my beloved, and this is a permanent condition - unless he stops resisting. This is the sin against the Holy Spirit - to resist the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in the heart and life. (p. 175, bold added)

Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:32)

The whole point of that passage of Scripture is not that God made them disabled, but that God made the mouth and the other parts of our bodies. (p. 213)

Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? (Exodus 4:11)

7. Your Life

Speaking in the context of doubting one's salvation and looking for assurance of salvation, McGee says,

Believe me, if you look at your life you can't have much assurance! (p. 164)

This is true, if you are not saved. You can't have any true assurance. But, Scripture teaches the opposite of McGee. Scripture says,

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? (1 Corinthians 13:5)

The believers in Corinth were told to look at their life, test themselves, and look to see if Christ is there. That is the test. As 1 John writes,

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. (1 John 2:3-5)

How do we know we are in Christ (i.e. saved)? By looking at our life and seeing if we keep His word. But, McGee speaks directly against this and opted for another method.

VI. "Mr. Devil"

McGee gave this advice for dealing with doubts of one's salvation.

The Bible teacher said that he had gone through that period also. He said, "I came to this conclusion: When those doubts would enter my mind (and I felt they were satanic), I would say, 'All right, Mr. Devil, I want you to be a witness. If I have never accepted Christ as my Savior, I'm going to accept Him right now and trust Him as my Savior. Now what do you think of that?'"

Well, may I say to you, the minute the Bible teacher said that to me, it solved a whole lot of problems. And do you know what I did? In the next two minutes I told the devil. "Now look, you sure have been bothering me! You have even gotten me to the place where I doubt my salvation. Maybe I didn't accept Christ back there when I said I did. Maybe you are right about that, but I want you to know this: right now I accept Christ as my Savior." Friend, that settled everything. Even to this good day, every now and then, I repeat that statement and confess Christ again. Somebody says, "Well, don't you know you have already received Christ in the past?" Sure, but I just want the enemy to know that I still trust the Lord Jesus as my Savior. (p. 164-165, bold added)

Here McGee teaches people to lie to the devil. First he says, "Maybe I didn't accept Christ," and "Maybe your right," but then he admits the devil isn't right; but he's going to tell him that perhaps, he is; even though he doesn't believe this for a second! This is ungodly worldly wisdom (1 Corinthians 3:19). Nowhere does the Word instruct us to speak to the devil in any such manner. Indeed, we are to resist the devil steadfast in the faith (1 Peter 5:9), but in this context, for McGee and company, there is no resisting, since they are not in the faith to begin with, but are rather caught in the snare of the devil and held captive by him (2 Timothy 2:26).

Since we know McGee was on the broad way (Matthew 7:13-14) and a false teacher (2 Peter 2:1), we can know that doubts of his salvation were actually true; because he indeed was not saved and had, in truth, good reason to doubt. Jesus, speaking of the Holy Spirit said,

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (John 16:8)

It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world (the unsaved) of sin and judgment. So, if an unbeliever is being convicted that they are under the judgment of God (as in John 3:36), i.e. not saved, then it is the Holy Spirit who is convicting them. Yet, McGee writes,

So, friend, I say to you today, you may be a person without strong convictions about anything, sort of a weakling - that's what a lot of us are - but right now you can say, "I trust Christ as my Savior and, Mr. Devil, I want you to know that."

Perhaps tomorrow or next week or next year you will have doubts again. All right, then go through this again. Stick with it, friend, you can't lose. It has always proven very helpful to me. (p. 165)

This is horrifying! McGee, a false teacher, was, and still is by his ministry, exhorting others to push away the very truth that could lead to their salvation! Typically, those McGee addressed, and his ministry still addresses, were/are indeed not saved; and if they could only have realized it, and today, if they could understand, they might turn, fear God, and pursue the truth (John 14:6). But, instead, McGee tells people to speak rebellious words to "Mr. Devil." The words of Jeremiah are apropos.

I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings. (Jeremiah 23:21-22)