I call what certain evangelists are doing 'the hitlerian tactic'. I call it that because Adolph Hitler used the tactic as his means of manipulating the masses, thereby causing them to follow him blindly. It is specifically intended to 'short circuit' the intellect through cleverly phrased rhetoric, and thus leave the purely emotional level of its hearers vulnerable to whatever propaganda the speaker is promoting. Since the strongest emotion in all of us is the instinct for survival, if the speaker can succeed in 'shutting down' the hearers' intellects and thereby gain access to that emotion, he can more easily convince his hearers that they must obey him personally in order to attain salvation.
I personally know of 4 different radical denominations which use this tactic today. Since each of them has a different agenda from the other 3, it stands to reason that if one is chosen, the others are to be seen as 'the path to destruction'. But in actuality they are all the path to destruction, as they push aside, and even attack, the belief that we owe our salvation to accepting what God himself has accomplished on our behalf, and conspire to replace it with a belief that the hearers must obey that church's leaders in order to earn their own salvation. I call this 'salvation on a stick', because their teaching is designed to keep their members always concerned as to whether they are really saved or not, and thus constantly needing either assurance or further commands given them by the heirarchy of that particular denomination/sect.
But Scripture is clear as to where our salvation lies. And it does not lie with those who would have others see them as their path to salvation. Instead, it lies with our accepting that 2,000 years ago God himself accomplished all that was necessary for our salvation, and it is our responsibility to accept what he has accomplished, rather than our taking another path:
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:19-26,NIV)
