Galatians 1:6-7, “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.”
I am utterly disgusted lately as I listen to 'UNSHACKLED,' produced by the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago since 1950. They embellish the Gospel so much that it is no longer God's plan of salvation. I was listening today to their latest episode, the life's story of Christopher Replogle. I used to visit Pacific Garden Mission in the 1970's and early 1980's, a hundred times as a boy, tagging along with my father who preached there regularly to Skid Row. I used to sit in the Prayer Room as my father witnessed to men, kneeling on the floor, praying with them. Then the men would go to eat. Harry Saulnier (1902-1990) was the director of PGM for 46 years. He was in charge when I visited the mission as a lad, back when the mission still preached the Gospel correctly. These yuppie-type Neo-evangelicals today are pulling on the same rope as the Devil, perverting the Gospel of free grace.
The narrator (Timothy Gregory) of the UNSHACKLED series is not a saved man in my humble opinion. That is very clear to me, by his constant use of corrupt theological teachings that are nowhere found in the Word of God. It is truly sad that with the massive influence which UNSHACKLED has worldwide in dozens of languages, that they don't have a doctrinally sound man in charge of the ministry.
For example: Here are some heretical statements Timothy Gregory made today in the story of Christopher Replogle:
“If you don't remember anything else, remember this, you can either invite Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior, or you can shut Him out. But friend, I implore you to invite Him inside. Don't delay it another day. Call upon Him as your 'Lord.' For when you do, you are choosing to live life abundantly. To the full, for all of eternity.”
SOURCE: UNSHACKLED, Program #3651 - Aired in 2021; Christopher Replogle Pt 1
Nowhere in the Bible are we taught to call upon Jesus as our “Lord” (Master, Boss). Pastor Jack Hyles gets it 100% correct, refuting the Lordship Salvation heresy mess! You don't have to take Jesus as your “Lord and Savior” to be saved, you just need to take Him as your SAVIOR!!! What saith the Scripture? 1st Timothy 4:10, “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach.” Jesus is the Savior of ALL men, even those who reject Him. That is what the Bible says. Jesus is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe on Him.
Timothy Gregory in part 2 heretically says:
“If you have ever doubted where you will go when you leave this earth, know this: Once Jesus is your 'Lord,' and you live for Him, there is no doubt. You will be with Him.”SOURCE: UNSHACKLED, Program #3652 - Aired in 2021; Christopher Replogle Pt 2
What gross theological incompetence! Dear friend, that is a whacky form of Calvinism at best, where you are required to persevere in holy living all your life to get to Heaven. That is the damnable junk theology taught at Bob Jones University today. Have they never read Jesus' warning in Matthew 7:21-23, “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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Please read again what Mr. Gregory heretically says:
“If you have ever doubted where you will go when you leave this earth, know this: Once Jesus is your 'Lord,' and you live for Him, there is no doubt. You will be with Him.”SOURCE: UNSHACKLED, Program #3652 - Aired in 2021; Christopher Replogle Pt 2
That is the horrific blunder that the foolish people made in Matthew 7:21-23. They were flabbergasted that Jesus said He didn't know them. They boasted of their “many wonderful works,” which were all done in “thy name.” They did it all in Jesus' name! They boasted that they had “cast out devils” in Jesus' name. They desperately tried to defend themselves, saying they had “prophesied” (preached) in Jesus' name. They called Him: “LORD, LORD.” Yet, Jesus said He didn't even know them, and they were all cast into the horrifying Lake of Fire forever! What did they do wrong? Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:21. They failed to do the will of God the Father. God's will is found in 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.” There you have it. The Father's will is that you BELIEVE on His only begotten Son.
Christ died on the cross for our sins. He was buried. Three days later He miraculously resurrected physically from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). This is “the Gospel” (the Good News), by which men are saved, if they will REST in the finished redemptive WORK OF CHRIST. You see, it's not YOUR WORKS that saves you, it is JESUS WORKS! The Bible teaches in Hebrews 4:10-11 that just as God ceased from His works, even so must we cease from our works, resting completely in Jesus Christ to be saved. God didn't turn from His sins, He ceased from His labors.
“Everything that's hard and complicated about salvation is God's side of it!” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “Yea, Yea, And Nay, Nay!”
I am so sick and tired of Pacific Garden Mission perverting the Word of God. They need to have a revival of letting the Bible speak for itself! PGM has foolishly adopted a bunch of religious jargon and theological ideas that are totally unbiblical. Their go-to verse at UNSHACKLED is 2nd Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Notice that the man is already in Christ. This verse has nothing to do with getting saved. It simply means that when a man gets saved, the Holy Spirit of God comes to live inside him. In theology we call this the “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit.
When I got saved at age 13 in Chicago, there was a change in me. I started desiring the milk of the Word (1st Peter 2:2). For the first time in my life I wanted to read the Bible. I didn't turn from my sins to get saved, but for the first time I had the Holy Spirit convicting me about the sins in my life (Proverbs 3:12; Romans 8:9; Hebrews 12:6-8; 1st John 3:24). I still did bad things as a teenager, but I felt God's abiding Holy Spirit presence in me. I worried for 7 miserable years that I wasn't saved, simply because I had been misled (just like PGM is horribly misleading people). I was taught that praying is part of getting saved. My faith was in Jesus alone, but I thought the way you trust Jesus is to pray for Him to save you. So I keep worrying what I had prayed, and if I had missed something. I was saved, but I couldn't nail it down, because I had never been taught properly. It wasn't until many years later that I learned you don't have to pray to be saved. The Bible simply says to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED (Acts 16:30-31).
Once again, here are the errant words of Timothy Gregory:
“If you have ever doubted where you will go when you leave this earth, know this: Once Jesus is your 'Lord,' and you live for Him, there is no doubt. You will be with Him.”SOURCE: UNSHACKLED, Program #3652 - Aired in 2021; Christopher Replogle Pt 2
Jesus was their “Lord” in Matthew 7:21-23, but the Lord said He didn't know them. Kindly said, Mr. Gregory is wrong, you can go straight to Hell with Jesus as your “Lord.” You had better trust Him alone as your SAVIOR!!! Lordship means YOU are being faithful to serve God; but in true salvation, GOD is the One being faithful, to keep His promise of eternal life by faith alone. Gregory even says that above that you must “LIVE FOR HIM,” to have the solid assurance that you are going to Heaven. That is not Biblical at all. Serving Jesus as “Lord” is a sure way to burn in Hell someday. Living for the Lord is a matter of SERVICE, not of SALVATION.
Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again. Judas followed Christ. Judas was one of Jesus' very apostles. The Bible says in Matthew 27:3 that Judas “repented” (the word for repented here means reformation; Judas turned from his sins). He brought the 30 pieces of silver back (penance). Judas was sorry and said he betrayed innocent blood (penitence). But none of this is repentance unto salvation. Judas commit suicide and is burning in Hell forever, because He died in His sins, never having believed on Jesus as His Savior. We are saved because of GOD'S faithfulness, not by OUR faithfulness. Jesus paid the price for our sins with His precious blood.
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.” God ceased from His “works” the Bible says. Did God have to turn away from His sins? No, God is incapable of sinning (James 1:13). God ceased from His efforts. He ceased from doing anything. God rested. Dear friend, that is the best illustration of salvation you'll ever hear, and it came directly from God Himself in Hebrews 4:10-11. Just as God ceased from his works, that is exactly how to get saved. You simply cease from doing anything, and you rest completely in the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Simply receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He is risen, taking God at His Word as recorded in the Holy Scriptures.
Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.
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