John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 5:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” 1st Corinthians 6:11, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1st Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
These are but a few of umpteen Scripture passages which plainly teach an instantaneous new birth by the power of God. You don't get born again and again and again. Just as the earthly physical birth is a one time event, so also is the second spiritual birth into the Kingdom of God. It would be impossible for a child physically born into the world to go back into its mother's womb and be unborn. Likewise, a child of God cannot lose the new birth, not for any reason. Those false teachers who claim that salvation can be lost due to negligent sinning, and straying too far from God, are denying the new birth. You certainly can lose your religion. You can lose your membership in a manmade organization. You can fall out of favor with a group of humans. But dear friend, you cannot lose the salvation which God alone gives by faith.
I personally heard Dr. Steve Pettit preach at Harvest Baptist Church of Guam in 2014, before he was inaugurated as the new president of Bob Jones University later that year. Steve Pettit labored as a traveling evangelist for 35 years, living out of a recreational vehicle. I love Dr. Pettit as a human being. He is a friendly, cordial and kind man from my recollection of him. I wept as he spoke on the topic of “Wisdom” at Harvest Baptist Church on a Sunday morning. But unfortunately Dr. Pettit is a reprobate concerning the faith; meaning he is a tare instead of wheat, not a true born-again believer. Please consider the following heretical statement made by Dr. Pettit at Bob Jones University on January 26, 2015 to 2,700 students and faculty...
Instead of a new instantaneous birth, Dr. Pettit errantly views salvation as being a progressive race that we must all run to “qualify.” This is Satanic folks! Respectfully, this is how I KNOW Dr. Pettit is a reprobate concerning the Christian faith. Any man who denies the immediate new birth, and instead views receiving eternal life as a process, which requires living the Christian life, cannot be a true child of God. Dr. Pettit states:“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)
“'The race' is a description of the whole of the Christian life of faith.” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 4:26)
Although it is true that Paul was referring to the Christian life in Hebrews 12:1 when he spoke of “THE RACE,” he absolutely was not talking about the gift of eternal life. Dr. Pettit plainly says that Heaven is an “award,” which we must QUALIFY FOR by faithfully living the Christian life. ...
“We run the race, we cross the finish line, and so what’s the prize? What is the award? Well, there are different viewpoints. Some would have the viewpoint that the awards are crowns in Heaven. But as I read the book of Hebrews and see the whole gist of the book and the flow of the book, I don’t believe its referring to crowns in Heaven. I think it is referring to Heaven itself.” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 22:57)
“God's people HAVE TO continue in the faith! They MUST PERSEVERE, because perseverance is the testimony of the reality of your faith!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 25:13)The preceding statements may sound good to someone naïve, but they are 100% unbiblical. Steve Pettit has perverted the grace of God, changing the instant new birth into a probationary type thing, whereby you are required to prove yourself by your performance for the rest of your life. Matthew 23:4, “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” This is the same Satanic plan of damnation taught by Evangelist Ray Comfort, who heretically states:
“For the real reality of the genuineness of your faith is that you are faithful to run the race!” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 22:44)
“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: Ray Comfort, “I've never killed anyone” (MP3 clip from video).
Dear reader, YOU CAN speak about getting saved, and you just accepted Christ, and that's that! That is why the Bible calls it a new birth! 1st Peter 2:2-3, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” 1st Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
What Steve Pettit is effectively preaching is that no one can have assurance of salvation, because it is conditional upon your living a faithful Christian life to PROVE the genuineness of the reality of your faith. Well how can we do that without laboring each day, year after year, making sure to prove that your faith is genuine? Oh, this is so awful and sickening folks! Steve Pettit is a false prophet, he truly is! I say that with love and a humble heart. Jude 1:3b exhorts every Christian believer “that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Salvation is by faith alone, and nothing else is required. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
I feel so sorry for all the students at BJU, who will go through life wondering if they are living faithful enough to “qualify” to obtain the “award” of Heaven. That is what Dr. Pettit sinfully preaches! How could anyone ever have the sweet assurance of God's gift of eternal life, with that type of horrible mindset? Dear friend, Bob Jones University has gone to the dogs! Dr. Steve Pettit is an infidel, and so are the Harvest Baptist Church of Guam who bid him Godspeed. I speak THE TRUTH in love (Ephesians 4:15a). God pity the foolish parents who pay for their child to go to such a wicked place, to have the faith of the saints robbed away from them. If you don't believe me, please listen to the godly wisdom of Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) himself...
When I was 13 years old I got gloriously born-again. Before that moment in time, I have no recollection of anything in mind concerning God except a blank—just empty darkness. But since the moment I got saved until today, I have felt the blessed presence of God's indwelling Holy Spirit living in me. 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.”
There is a lot of junk theology being preached in Bible colleges and churches today, which are dangerous doctrines of devils. 1st Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” We are warned in the Bible that many people have a false assurance of Heaven. Luke 13:23-24, “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” In Matthew 7:21-23, a group of religious people labored for Christ. They preached in Jesus' name. They did many wonderful works in Jesus' name. They constantly referred to Jesus as their “Lord” (there's your Lordship Salvation crowd right there). But they all went to Hell the Bible says! Jesus said He never knew any of them! The reason why is simply because, like Steve Pettit and many others in the Bob Jones' camp today, they are adding to the Gospel, perverting the grace of God (Matthew 7:21; John 6:40; Galatians 1:6-9; Acts 15:1, 24; Romans 4:4; Ephesians 2:8-9).
The Bible teaches that at the time of salvation, God SEALS every believer with His Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:12-14, “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” There's that beautiful word “TRUTH” again. You get saved by embracing THE TRUTH that you are a SINNER (repentance) and Jesus is the SAVIOR (faith). Once you are saved and sealed, you are forever secure in the everlasting arms of the heavenly Father. When we sin as believers, GRACE DOTH MUCH MORE ABOUND (Romans 5:20). The Christian believer is JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS (Acts 13:39). We've PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE (John 5:24).
I'm Saved By The Blood Of The Crucified One
When the child of God looks at the Bible, they see it in a very different light than does the unsaved (or natural) man. Kindly said, since Dr. Steve Pettit is religious but not saved, he views the Bible very differently than I do as a child of God. I see God's wonderful free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23), paid in full by the precious blood of the Lamb (1st Peter 1:18-19). It is a one time free gift, that once received is a done deal (Romans 10:13). I am saved solely on the merit of what Jesus did through the cross, to redeem me from sin and Hell; and not in any way am I saved by my own goodness, merit, works, performance, attitude, perseverance, holiness, nor any other human effort. Jesus paid it all!
What saith the Scripture? 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.” I love that! We get saved by getting out of the way, ceasing from our own works, and resting in Christ alone. That doesn't require a lifetime probationary period as Steve Pettit teaches. That doesn't require living a devoted religious life to prove the genuineness of the reality of my faith.
The reality of my faith is that I am wholly trusting the Lamb of God. The genuineness of my faith is faith itself! If we must live a certain way to prove that we are saved, then we can never truly know that we are saved! How is that a gift? How is that something we can rejoice over, if we cannot KNOW that our name is written down in Heaven? In order to “rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20b) then I must be able to 100% KNOW that my name is written in Heaven; and the only way I can KNOW that is to have the absolute assurance that I am redeemed. In Steve Pettit's nightmare plan of salvation, you can never truly KNOW that you are saved, because your continued faithfulness is required to “QUALIFY” for the “AWARD” of “HEAVEN ITSELF.” Those are Steve Pettit's exact words!!! GET THEE BEHIND ME, SATAN!!!
What ungodly false teachers—Pastor John MacArthur, Marty Herron, Steve Pettit, Sam Horn, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, John Piper and Harvest Baptist Church of Guam—preach is not compatible with grace. They have perverted God's instant new birth into an oppressive lifelong process that requires YOUR faithfulness instead of GOD'S faithfulness.
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