God Wants To Give You A Gift Of Eternal Life, He Doesn't Demand That You Give Up Your Sinning To Receive It

Romans 4:1-5, “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Our text passage makes it very clear that salvation is by faith alone, without works. I am so frustrated with pastors today who continually focus on repentance more than faith to be saved. The Gospel of John doesn't mention the word “repent” even once. This is because repentance is automatically included with believing. The word “believe” is mentioned 85 times in John. 

Dear friend, God wants to give to you a free gift of eternal life. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” God does not demand that you give up your sins, make a mend, promise to do better, improving your life, surrender all to Jesus, turn over a new leaf, be willing to turn away from your sins, nor anything else to receive His free gift.

I heard a pastor recently teach that believing on Jesus is not enough to be saved. He simply meant that a person must also realize their sinnership, and I fully agree with that. You cannot merely turn over a new leaf from sin. to clean up your life to be saved. You need Jesus Christ! Contrariwise, you cannot merely trust Christ and fail to realize that you are a guilty sinner. Every person must answer the SIN QUESTION and the SON QUESTION. 

1. Do you know that you're a guilty sinner? 
2. Do you know that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins, was buried and raised up three days later, and that only though faith in Him can you be saved?

That is the simple Gospel. Nothing more is required. So when you hear wayward preachers perverting the Gospel, requiring tuning away from sins in addition to believing, you know that they don't know what they're talking about. Repentance must never be taught as being a separate action from believing. Therefore, it is impossible that someone could ever believe and yet not have repented. It is utterly impossible! You may follow Christ, but not believe. You may join a Christian organization, but not believe. You may live the Christian life, but not believe. But you cannot believe and yet still be lost!

The churches are filled with heresy today.

Anybody Who Makes Repentance A Separate Act From Believing Has Perverted God's Grace

1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

In several dozen Bible passages we are simply taught that salvation is by faith alone in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our inspired text verse from 1st Thessalonians 4:14 makes this abundantly clear, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” Also, please consider Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Please consider Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Please consider John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” That is so simple.

Yet, we hear in umpteen corrupt churches today that BELIEVING on Jesus as our Savior is not enough to be saved. In addition, many preachers foolishly teach that you must have an additional act of repentance, which they say is more than a mere change of mind; but rather, they say that a change of mind must lead to a change of behavior. This is a counterfeit plan of salvation which cannot produce the new birth by the Holy Spirit of God. I love how Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan (1628-1688), explains it:

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” [emphasis added] —Evangelist John Bunyan

Amen! That was well written. Anybody who adds repentance as a separate act from BELIEVING on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved is preaching another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). What saith the Scripture? Acts 16:30b-31, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Again, the inspired King James Bible simply teaches to BELIEVE! How in the world then, do so many preachers in churches today come up with the additional requirement to turn away from sinful behavior as a necessary step to salvation? They have been woefully deceived by Satan!

A changed life is the “fruit” of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25), which every born-again believer possesses (1st Corinthians 3:16-17; Romans 8:9; 1st John 3:24). The Holy Spirit sanctifies every believer with the Word of God, which is THE TRUTH (John 17:17; 1st Peter 2:2). To change one's own behavior is reformation, not repentance. Sorrow over sins is penitence, not repentance. Making a mend for sin is penance, not repentance. Yet, so many corrupt pastors today confuse and add these things to repentance, demanding that people be sorry and commit to behavior modification in order to go to Heaven. That is not the Gospel of free grace, not even close! The true Gospel always points you to Christ; a false gospel always points to you. Anybody who teaches that believing on Jesus is not enough to get to Heaven, claiming that you must also repent (that will lead to turning away from your sinful bad habits) is a theological liar! In effect, such a horrible preacher is requiring that you first make a toll payment in order to enter into God's Kingdom.

In the true Gospel, you do need to repent, but repentance is simply a change of mind toward God (Acts 20:21) that causes you to BELIEVE the Gospel. Repentance and faith are not the same thing, but they both happen at the same time, and are one act, not two separate acts. False prophet Ray Comfort teaches that repentance is a separate act from believing...

“So if the plane goes down, you'd end up in Hell! There are two things you have to do to be saved. Do you remember what they are? I told you what they are—You've got to repent and trust the Savior! ... God's offering you everlasting life upon your repentance and faith in Christ. Who in his right mind wouldn't say, 'Whoa! That's a good offer!' (The curious woman asks what it means to “repent”?)... Have you ever said you're sorry to someone you did something wrong to? That's all repentance is—You've sinned against God; it's a matter of saying, 'God, I'm sorry,' and then LIVING A LIFESTYLE that proves the reality of your repentance. That's what repentance is, it's a continual thing! God, 'I'm sorry, but I'm not going going to lie or steal or blaspheme Your name ever again. It has that attitude! And the second thing—trust in Jesus!” [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Evangelist Ray Comfort, “I've never killed anyone” (MP3 clip from video).

Dear friend, believing on Jesus is NOT the “second thing” that you must do to be saved, it is the only thing!!! What saith the Scripture? Acts 16:30b-31, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Does the Bible say that you must first prove your sincerity by giving up your sinning, and then SECONDLY believe on Christ? No, it certainly does not. The Bible simply teaches to BELIEVE on Jesus! So why does Ray Comfort teach this madness? You tell me.

To be saved, you do need to know that you are a guilty sinner (Romans 3:19-23), so that you will see your need for the blessed Savior Galatians 3:24-26). But this is all that repentance is. Let me give you a helpful illustration of repentance and faith. I recently moved from Guam to Florida in July of 2021. Now, when I got on the airplane to leave Guam, I didn't have to make a second decision to head toward Florida. I was moving toward Florida at the same time I was moving away from Guam. That is how repentance and faith work. You don't repent first, and then believe second.

I am tired of hearing unlearned and injurious preachers corrupt the simplicity of the Gospel, by teaching that someone who is trusting in Christ isn't really saved if they haven't forsaken their sinful behavior, alleging that they have never repented. That is another gospel. Anything required more than faith is a counterfeit plan of salvation. Faith is the only righteous thing I can do. Our part in salvation is simply to get out of the way, by ceasing from our own dead works (good and bad works alike) and RESTING wholly on the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:9-11).

The Gift Of Eternal Life Is Wrapped In The Wonderful Package Of Jesus

“Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do!” —Pastor Jack Hyles, a quote from the MP3 sermon titled: “God's Reversal Of Psalm 51”

1st Corinthians 16:24, “My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.”

Didn't Dr. John R. Rice Teach That You Must Turn Away From Sin To Be Saved?

Romans 4:4-7, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”

Didn't Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980) teach that you must “repent from sin with all your heart” to be saved? Yes he did! Yet, Dr. Rice clearly didn't believe that a person must attempt to reduce their amount of sinning to be saved, as evidenced by this wonderful quote from him:

There are those hyper-dispensationalists who think that John the Baptist preached a different Gospel from Christ when he commanded repentance (Matt. 3:2). But it is the same repentance Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17, in Luke 13:3 and 5, and the same repentance that Paul preached in Athens that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30 31). Repentance is not a different plan of salvation from having faith: it is part of the same plan of salvation. Or rather repentance is simply another way of describing or looking at the plan of salvation. One who turns from sin to God has done so by trusting in Jesus Christ. A change of mind toward sin is necessarily involved in saving faith. [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 251-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

Clearly, John R. Rice believed that the way you “turn from sin” is by trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior. This is one step, not two, to be saved. That is NOT what the Lordship Salvation crowd are heretically preaching today. I keep hearing these false preachers teaching that you must turn away from your sins first, and then secondly believe the Gospel. That is a false gospel of partial faith in Christ plus works! You don't repent AND believe, as Dr. Tom Ferrell, Pastor Marty Herron and Bob Jones University preach; you repent TO believe as Dr. John R. Rice rightly taught. There is a fine line between faith and foolishness!

Having said that, I do not like nor approve of Brother Rice's poor choice of words. No preacher should ever add to the Scripture, to say something that God didn't say. Nowhere in the inspired King James Bible are we taught to repent “OF YOUR SIN” to receive God's free gift of eternal life. Proponents of this damnable heresy are often quick to falsely accuse the free grace crowd (e.g., myself, Dr. Jack Hyles, Dr. Curtis Hutson and Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold) of leaving off repentance. No, we have not left off repentance, nor have we added something to the Bible which God did not say. To repent simply means “to think differently.” 

I love how Pastor Bob Gray Sr. explains it:

“Repentance means to change your mind—change your mind—change your mind about how you want to get to Heaven to what God says you've got to do to get to Heaven. If you've got to repent of all your sins, you're still headed for Hell tonight.” —Pastor Bob Gray Sr., a quote from the awesome MP3 sermon, Why You Should Be A Part Of A Growing Church

Christian author Michael Patrick Bowen accurately states in his excellent book titled: “I NEVER KNEW YOU”:

“Repent, as Christ meant it to be in terms of salvation, means to change your mind from trusting in what you can do for God to trusting only in what He can do for you.” —Michael Patrick Bowen, a quote from the awesome book, “I NEVER NEW YOU” (Page 114)

The faithful soulwinning man of God, Dr. Harry Ironside (1876-1951), rightly states:

"Repentance is the recognition of my sinnership—the owning before God that I am as vile as He has declared me to be in His holy Word." —Dr. Harry Ironside, Except Ye Repent, chapter 3

I agree with all those explanations of repentance. Acts 20:21 speaks of “repentance toward God,” not from anything. Some foolish pastors coddle and bid Godspeed to false teachers, by alleging that in order to turn TO something you have to also turn FROM something. I agree! But when you require turning FROM something as a separate act of turning TO Christ to be saved, you have corrupted the Gospel. It is easy to see how words can be manipulated to teach a perverse plan of salvation (Galatians 1:6-9). The man who turns TO Christ has at the same time turned FROM all that had previously hindered him from coming to the light of the truth of the Gospel to be saved. Nothing more is required to get to Heaven than to simply BELIEVE the Good News of Jesus Christ. This is what Dr. John R. Rice rightly believed and taught.

In 2014, I heard Pastor Marty Herron at Harvest Baptist Church on Guam errantly teach hundreds of people on a Sunday morning, and I quote: “It is not enough to admit that you are a sinner to be saved, you must also turn away from a lifestyle of sinning.” I knew right there and then that Pastor Herron is an infidel, not a born-again Christian, a false prophet! Herron has added works to grace, perverting the Gospel. Where did he get that garbage theology? Look no further than his mentors: Dr. Steve Pettit and Pastor John MacArthur. I am not trying to be unkind or mean, I am contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3). I can preach the truth all day long, month after month, year after year, but people don't seem to take notice and “get it,” until I start to mention the names of heretics and step on some toes. Let God be true, but every man a liar (Romans 3:4). The greatest sin of our generation is complacency, indifference and tolerance of false teachers by professed Christians. Right doctrine matters! It matters which Bible that we use. Words matter to God. God cares and so should we as His redeemed children!

So, even though I disagree with Dr. John R. Rice's poor choice of wording, he vindicates himself by plainly explaining what he means by “turn from sin with all your heart” to be saved. Dr. Rice plainly taught that the man who BELIEVES on Christ has turned from his sins. This is not what the Bob Jones crowd are preaching today! Dr. Rice rightly recognized repentance and faith as being two sides of the same coin. He didn't see them as separate actions, and that is critically important to understand, lest you corrupt the Word of God and cast stumbling blocks before the people. 

If a man must commit to forsake his lifestyle of sinning as a requirement to be saved, then a payment has been demanded of him. This is a false plan of salvation. In God's true plan of redemption, a man ceases from ALL his works (good and bad alike, which the Bible calls “dead works” in Hebrews 6:1). One of my favorite Bible passages is Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” If you want to go to Heaven, you simply need to CEASE from trusting in all your works (good and bad works alike) and REST in Jesus Christ. Look at this frightening theological garbage that Evangelist Ray Comfort wickedly preaches!

Dear reader, eternal life is the free gift of God (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9). You don't earn or merit that gift. You don't turn away from your sin to qualify for that gift. It is a gift! You don't have to live a lifestyle of repentance as Steve Pettit and Ray Comfort preach to prove the validity of your faith. You don't have to be willing to turn away from sin to get that gift. You simply take it by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31). You simply need to acknowledge the truth that you are a guilty sinner in God's sight (2nd Timothy 2:25; Romans 3:19-20), so you'll see your need to believe the Gospel (the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen) to be saved (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). 

Our part in salvation is simply to BELIEVE the Good News of Jesus Christ, God does the rest. That is the simplicity that is in Christ (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). Whatever changes that God wants to see take place in one's life as His child is His department, and you can be assured that He will not be an absent Father (Hebrews 12:6-8). Although I respectfully disagree with some of his wording, Dr. John R. Rice was a faithful man of God and I still fully support his ongoing ministry today at the Sword Of The Lord.

The Epistle Of 1st John

1st John 1:3-8, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

The Epistle of 1st John is often misunderstood. It is very important to recognize that the Apostle John is the writer of both books. In the Gospel of John we are told by John how to have eternal life. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Here we plainly see that God gave us the Gospel of John, to convince us that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten (biological) Son of God, so that we might believe and be saved.

But regarding the Epistle of John we read this in 1st John 1:4, “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” Here we plainly see that John's purpose is not to show us how to have eternal life, but how to have the fullness of joy as believers. John makes it very clear that he is addressing his epistle to believers. 1st John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” Here we see clearly that the Epistle of 1st John is written to BELIEVERS, not unbelievers.

This truth is very important to know, in order to understand these books of the Bible. The Gospel of John was written to everyone, to show us the way of salvation by convincing humanity that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 20:31); but the book of 1st John was written exclusively to believers, that our joy may be full (1st John 1:4). In 1st John 5:13, the apostle John says that he is writer to believers, that we may “know” we have eternal life. This is so that our joy may be full. John is familiarizing believers with the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit in the life of every child of God. 1st John 3:24, “ And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) authored a wonderful book, which is one of my favorites, all about the Holy Spirit. This is one of the greatest and most helpful books I have ever read. The book is titled: “Meet The Holy Spirit.” The great joy of my life as God's child is enjoying the constant abiding comfort of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God in me. John 14:23, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” God the Father and God the Son live inside every born-again believer as God the Holy Spirit (1st Corinthians 3:16-17; Romans 8:9). I love the Holy Spirit!!!

So when John teaches that whosoever committeth sin is of the Devil (1st John 3:8), he is not saying that backslidden Christians aren't saved. Proverbs 14:14a says that “the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways.” We're all guilty of that! I sure am. You are too you wretched sinner! 1st John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We're all lousy Christians! 

One of the keys to having full joy as a believer is to continually acknowledge that we are sinful, and cannot live the Christian life in our own strength. Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Jesus lives the Christian life through us, as we yield to the Holy Spirit in humble submission to the inspired Word of God. 2nd Corinthians 10:5-6, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” That is not mind control, that is walking in the blessed Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

I love that last verse in Galatians 2:21, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Please don't miss that! This whole heretical idea in many churches today, called “Lordship Salvation,” is foreign to the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul also said in Galatians 3:3,  “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Paul is effectively saying, “You got saved by faith, so why are you trying to validate your salvation by works?” Our faith is justified in the eyes of MEN by works (James 2:18), but with GOD we are justified by faith alone (Romans 4:5). 

Kindly said, anyone (e.g., Dr. Steve Pettit and the Bob Jones crowd today) who teaches that works prove the genuineness of the reality of your faith in God's sight, is preaching ANOTHER GOSPEL (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). Works cannot be used to prove the validity of your faith to God. The very idea is absurd according to Romans 4:3-4, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” The evidence of your faith is faith itself! Faith is the only righteous thing I can do!!! Jesus confirmed this truth in John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

It bothers me a lot when I hear Calvinistic preachers (like Pastor Charles Lawson of the Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee) teach that a believer must turn away from sin (i.e., do works) if they are really saved. That is unscriptural. The Bible teaches the exactly opposite. Romans 5:20 says that when we sin as believers, GRACE DOTH MUCH MORE ABOUND! Acts 13:39 teaches that the believer is JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS!!! I'm not the one perverting the Gospel of free grace, the wrong repentance crowd are!

We read in 1st John 3:9 that one who is born of God cannot sin. The Apostle Paul put it this way in Galatians 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” When we choose to sin, it is only because we are walking in the flesh, instead of the Holy Spirit that lives within our body and soul. A believer who chooses to walk in the flesh cannot experience full joy. What saith the Scripture? Romans 8:6, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” That is what John is saying in his epistle. If we are to have God's fullness of joy, we need to walk in the Spirit.

God gave us the wonderful book of 1st John so that our joy may be full as believers. A child of God who chooses to walk in the flesh won't have God's full joy. A believer who harbors hatred against other brothers and sisters in the Lord won't have God's full joy. Ah, but when our walk aligns with our talk, and we have sweet fellowship with the Lord, then we will have full joy. So please don't make the mistake of using the Epistle of 1st John as a plan of salvation. God gave us the Gospel of John to show us how to get to Heaven. God gave us the Epistle of 1st John that our joy as believers may be full.

Not All Israel Is Israel, And Not All Baptists Are Baptists

Romans 9:6-8, “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”

The Devil is a beautiful liar! The Scriptures teach us in 2nd Corinthians 11:13-15 that Satan masquerades himself as an angel of light, and so does his false ministers of unrighteousness. To the natural (or unregenerate mind), human rational tells us that God won't forgive anyone unless they make a conscious effort to turn away from their sinful ways.

However, that is not what the inspired King James Bible teaches. If you do some research, as I diligently have, you'll find that every pseudo-Christian religion (i.e., false Christian religion) requires their followers to repent of their sins to get to Heaven. Nowhere in the King James Bible are we taught to repent “OF YOUR SINS” to be saved. Wicked men added those extra words, corrupting God's Word to mean something different than what God intended.

Repentance is a change of mind, period. According to 2nd Timothy 2:25 repentance is “the acknowledging of the truth;” Repentance is simply the admission that you are a guilty sinner so that you'll see your need to believe the Gospel and be saved. Anyone who tells you to “turn away from your sinful ways” or “repent of your sins” to get to Heaven is a liar. I have been thrown out of churches, shunned, hated, ostracized and counted as their “enemy” for preaching this Bible truth (Galatians 4:16). God will reward me for my faithful “stand” (Ephesians 6:13). I thank God for Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), who also exposed Misunderstood Repentance.

The Bible says that not all Israel is Israel. That simply means that even though God chose the nation of Israel as His own, not all Jews are God's children. Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Only born-again Christians are God's children!!! We are the chosen!

I am so sickened and disgusted by the horrible perversions of the Gospel that I keep hearing being taught today. Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago has done much good over the past century, but they are also sending souls to Hell by obscuring the truth of the Gospel. Some UNSHACKLED episodes are good, but others are horrifying in corrupt theology! Friend, right doctrine matters! Galatians 1:6-7 proclaims that there is only ONE GOSPEL. We have at least TWO very different plans of salvation circulating in churches today. I fully agree with Pastor Curtis Hutson on the Gospel. 

Now take a look at the ungodly perverse garbage that Dr. Steve Pettit (president of Bob Jones University since 2014) is preaching. These are two very different plans of salvation. In fact, they are not even compatible with each other! One is instantaneous and requires mere childlike faith (the Gospel), but the other requires a life of religious devotion to persevere in faithful Christian living until one's death. The former is grace, the latter is works!

Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) himself warned in 1945, about infidels that would someday creep into the college and steal the faith of the saints, and said that we'd pay them to do it! Dr. Jones was warning everyone about infidels like Steve Pettit, Marty Herron, John MacArthur and other reprobates of the faith who pervert the Gospel. There are not two Gospels, there is ONLY ONE (Galatians 1:6-7; 1st Corinthians 15:1-4). The Bible speaks of “the simplicity that is in Christ,” which is the Gospel (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). 

When Jesus was asked what “works” we must do to get to Heaven, here is His answer in John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” There is the simplicity of salvation... BELIEVE! Anyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving His sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He is risen from the dead, is saved. 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

Not all Baptists are Baptists! Any Baptist church that preaches Lordship Salvation, or Misunderstood Repentance, is a religious CULT, not a New Testament church.

Faith In Christ, Plus; Versus Faith In Christ, Period

John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.“ Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Again and again throughout the Holy Bible we are taught that the way of salvation is to simply BELIEVE ON CHRIST, PERIOD. Tragically, churches and Bible colleges and pastors everywhere nowadays are preaching FAITH IN CHRIST, PLUS something else, which cannot produce the new birth by the Holy Spirit of God. One of my absolute favorite sermons is by Pastor Dennis Rokser, preached at the Sugar Land Bible Church in Texas. The awesome sermon, a defense of the simple Gospel is called: 'GETTING THE GOSPEL RIGHT AND WRONG'...

GETTING THE GOSPEL RIGHT AND WRONG

Dear reader, the Word of God is adamantly clear that there is NOT another Gospel. ... 

Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. ”

There is only ONE GOSPEL. I am sickened by most church pastors today, particularly Baptists. I am sickened because they all go along with their peers, knowing that their peers in the clergy are preaching a wide array of unbiblical ideas. For example: Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) correctly preaches a free grace Gospel, FAITH IN CHRIST, PERIOD. Dr. Hutson refutes the heresy of Lordship Salvation. 

In sharp contrast, Dr. Steve Pettit (president of Bob Jones University since 2014) preaches another gospel of Calvinism (aka, Lordship Salvation). This is the same damnable heresy that Pastor John MacArthur teaches. These men cannot all be right! 

“In great contests [battles], each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God—both may be, but one must be, wrong—God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time!” —President Abraham Lincoln

Why did Mr. Lincoln say that? It is because both the Northern Union and the Southern Confederacy claimed to be doing “God's will” in fighting The Civil War (1860-1965). Both President Jefferson Davis in the south, and President Abraham Lincoln in the north, said they were doing “God's will.” As Mr. Lincoln wisely points out, that is IMPOSSIBLE! When two opposing parties, who are warring against each other, claiming to be doing God's will, obviously someone is WRONG! That is why Abraham Lincoln made that powerful statement!

Likewise, the Gospel cannot mean that there are multiple plans of salvation. Either you don't have to do anything except BELIEVE IN CHRIST, PERIOD; or else you must BELIEVE IN CHRIST, PLUS turn away from your sins, surrender your life to Christ as absolute “Lord,” run the race (Christian life) faithfully unto the end, count the cost and pay the price, exchange all that you are for all that Christ is, live a lifestyle of repentance (continually turning away from sinful behavior), and follow Jesus no matter what the cost. I have provided the preceding hyperlinks so you can see the theological garbage that these false teachers preach for yourself. Folks, all of these things have their proper place in the Christian life, but NONE OF THEM comprise the Gospel (Good News) that saves us by faith (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

If you want to go to Heaven someday dear friend, then you had better BELIEVE IN JESUS, PERIOD. John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” That is so simple! The Father's only will for you and me, concerning eternal life, is that we BELIEVE ON CHRIST. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Again and again the Word of God simply teaches us to BELIEVE ON CHRIST, PERIOD.

Yet, these devils in the pulpit today like Marty Herron, Gary Walton, Steve Pettit, John Piper, John MacArthur, Sam Horn, Ray Comfort, Adrian Rodgers, Jack Chick, William Lane Craig, Chip Ingram, Paul Washer, Joel Osteen, John Hagee, Rick Warren, Beth Moore, Charles Stanley, Bryan Derringer, Southern Baptist Convention, Pacific Garden Mission's UNSHACKLED—all these corrupt infidels are guilty of preaching another gospel that says to BELIEVE IN CHRIST, PLUS something more to be saved. 

In Matthew 7:21-23 we find a group of dedicated religious zealots, who spent their lives serving and following Christ as “LORD, LORD.” Yet Jesus denied even knowing them! The reason why is because they were trusting in FAITH IN CHRIST, PLUS their many wonderful works done in Jesus' name, and that they had preached in Jesus' name, and that they had cast out devils in Jesus' name. The Lord makes it very clear in Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” John 6:40 says that the Father's will is to BELIEVE ON CHRIST, PERIOD!!! 

We LOOK TO LIVE, we don't LIVE TO LOOK. Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Regeneration does not precede faith (John 1:12-13). If you admit that you are a guilty sinner, seeing your need for redemption, Christ will save you simply for resting in Him as your Savior. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

Exposing False Teachers Is Very Important To The Gospel

Titus 1:10-14, “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;: Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.” 1st Corinthians 11:19, “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.”

The Bible commands us as born-again believers to take a stand against heresy. The word “heresy” simply means any opinion that disagrees with the inspired Holy Bible. There is no controversy if you believe the Bible. God's Word stands! The Bible teaches in one of our text passages that WE NEED HERESY, so that doctrinally sound Bible teachers can be made known. Heresy is far more deadly than the COIVD-19 virus, which can send you to Hell forever if you die in your sins without Jesus as your Savior (John 8:24; Revelation 20:15). 

I received an e-mail recently from a sincere 73 year old man. He rebuked me, saying that I should just preach the Bible and not fight against my brothers in the Lord. Kindly, that man is woefully ignorant. The Bible says in 1st Corinthians 11:19 that we need heresies, as a canvas against which true Bible preachers can proclaim THE TRUTH. By exposing the corrupt Bob Jones University (BJU) crowd and their Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation, I am able to lead people to Christ. I've often said that we cannot get anyone saved until we first get them lost. 

Tragically, millions of churchgoers and Bible college students have been lied to by false teachers like Dr. Steve Pettit (president of BJU), told that they cannot merely say they've accepted Christ and that's it. In addition, Steve Pettit errantly teaches that you must start, faithfully run, and finish the race (living the Christian life) or else you won't go to Heaven. There are not two different Gospels friend. There are not variations of the Gospel of free grace. The Bible says that you simply come to God as a needy sinner, resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ Who died on the cross for our sins, was buried and miraculously raised up bodily three days later. This is THE GOSPEL by which we are saved if we believe it (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Nothing more is required or allowed to receive eternal life.

In sharp contrast, false teachers like Pastor John MacArthur teach that you must forsake a sinful lifestyle, count the cost and pay the price, exchange your life for Christ's life, commit your entire personality to Christ as Lord to follow Him no matter what the cost. That is NOT the Gospel, not even in the ballpark! Another big time heretic is Pastor Marty Herron, who says that it's not enough to admit that you are a sinner, you must also turn away from a lifestyle of sin to be saved. I heard him say it at Harvest Baptist Church on Guam in 2014 with my very own two ears, in front on hundreds of church members on a Sunday morning. God's curse is upon that wicked false teacher (Galatians 1:6-9). 

Evangelist Ray Comfort is another bad apple, who requires that you LIVE A LIFESTYLE of turning away from your sins, just like Marty Herron does, to be saved. These are false prophets of the worst sort, because they deceptively appear as Christians. Their gospel is not our Gospel. There is nothing in the Gospel as defined in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 that includes repenting of your sins to be saved. Repentance is not mentioned at all! That is because repentance is automatic. The man who BELIEVS has repented of his unbelief and idols. If God wanted us to turn away from something to be saved, then He would have said so, but He didn't! 

Repeatedly in the Gospel of John, and throughout the New Testament, we are simply taught that the way of salvation is to BELIEVE ON JESUS. John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Yet, thousands of ungodly false teachers refuse to teach the simplicity that is in Christ, making salvation HARD. John MacArthur even authored a horrible book titled: “HARD TO BELIEVE.” Any preacher who makes getting saved hard is of the Devil. Pastors' John MacArthur, Chuck Phelps, Marty Herron, Steve Pettit, Gary Walton and the entire Bob Jones crowd today are of the Devil, making salvation hard.

I have paid dearly for my stand for THE TRUTH. I lost two potential wives at Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, because Marty Herron drove me out of the church for befriending him with THE TRUTH. God will deal with Herron treacherously as he has dealt with me, costing me everything. Pastor Herron has his wife, so what does he care if I am alone without a companion. I haven't had a church family since 2014 to 2021, because of Marty Herron's cowardice, arrogance, selfishness, haughty rich man's pride and wickedness to reject THE TRUTH. God's curse is upon that rotten false prophet! I didn't say, God did in Galatians 1:6-9 and Galatians 3:1-3 and Galatians 6:7. Lordship Salvation is a perversion of God's grace. My blood is upon their heads at BJU and Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. They can remove, ban, shun, shame and ostracize me as a truth-teller, but they cannot escape the judgment of God almighty (Matthew 7:1-2; Galatians 6:7; Matthew 12:36; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Hebrews 4:13; Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 13:23-24). 

I wouldn't give you a dime for any preacher who does not expose false teachers. The 73 year old man who wrote to me is foolish in his thinking. He erroneously calls the false teachers whom I expose “brothers.” Kindly said, Marty Herron, John MacArthur, Steve Pettit, Chuck Phelps, Gary Walton, Paul Washer and Ray Comfort are not Christian brothers (to name but a few), they are infidels lurking in the pulpit today, damning men's souls to Hell with a counterfeit plan of salvation which cannot produce the new birth. Salvation is not partial faith in Christ plus giving up your sinful bad habits. Salvation is not partial faith in Christ plus surrendering all to Christ as “Lord” of your life. Salvation is wholly resting in Jesus Christ because He died in your place on the cross, was buried, and physically resurrected three days later.