There Is No Such Thing As "Empty Believism"

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.”

Someone showed me a wicked Facebook group today called: "BAPTIST BIBLICAL PATH." (Note: You must have a Facebook account and be logged in to access this link). The following is all DAMNABLE HERESY, which I will refute afterwards:

What is EMPTY BELIEVISM"
"Empty believism" refers to a criticism that suggests some people might claim to have faith in God or salvation, but their faith lacks genuine transformation or the corresponding actions that should naturally flow from that faith. 

This can be dangerous as it may lead to a false sense of salvation without a corresponding change in one's life. It can hinder personal growth, diminish the significance of repentance, and undermine the true essence of Christianity, which emphasizes both faith and works. 

Here's an explanation with biblical supporting verses: 

1. **Profession of Faith**: Empty believism involves merely professing faith in God or Jesus without a true heart change. — Supporting Verse: Matthew 7:21-23 - "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father."
2. **Lack of Transformation**: True faith in Christ should lead to inner transformation and a change in behavior. — Supporting Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
3. **Devoid of Fruit**: Empty believism is marked by a lack of spiritual fruit, such as love, joy, and kindness. — Supporting Verse: Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
4. **Faith and Works**: Genuine faith is accompanied by good works that demonstrate the authenticity of one's beliefs. — Supporting Verse: James 2:17 - "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
5. **Obedience**: Empty believism neglects obedience to God's commands and teachings. - Supporting Verse: 1 John 2:3-4 — "We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person."
6. **True Repentance**: Genuine faith involves sincere repentance for sins and a desire to turn away from them. — Supporting Verse: Acts 3:19 - "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."
7. **Relationship with Christ**: Empty believism lacks a personal, ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. — Supporting Verse: John 15:4-5 - "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

In summary, empty believism is the notion that faith without genuine transformation, works, obedience, and a personal relationship with Christ is inadequate. The Bible emphasizes that true faith is evidenced by a changed life and a commitment to following God's teachings.

Sadly, what the previous junk theology is saying is that you must have WORKS to prove that your FAITH is genuine. That is a backdoor approach to the Devil's Lordship Salvation. How could anyone ever know 100% that they are saved securely if the preceding were true? They couldn't, because each individual has a different idea or limit that they use to determine who is saved. The truth is that NO ONE has ever turned away from a lifestyle of sin. You may attempt to reform your own life of sin, but you will still be a dirty rotten sinner in God's sight. James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

Now you please listen to me dear friend, and you listen carefully—the ONLY thing that makes you and myself any more righteous than Adolf Hitler, John Wayne Gacy, Pol Pot, Jeffrey Dahmer, Hugh Hefner and the vilest criminals that you can think of, is the precious blood of the slain Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. My sins belong to me, but my righteousness is Jesus Christ's.

The heretical idea that a person can actually place their childlike faith (trust, confidence) in the 'GOOD NEWS' (Gospel, Glad Tidings) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen (1st Corinthians 15:1-6), yet still not be saved because they haven't begun to faithfully live the Christian life is damnable heresy!!! Pilgrim's Progress author John Bunyan got it 100% correct:

“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.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)

The Satanic proponents of Lordship Salvation are guilty of mixing and combing sanctification with justification, blurring the lines between grace and works, so that lost people cannot discern what the true Gospel is. Pastor M.R. DeHaan also made this helpful statement:

"There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness." —Pastor M.R. DeHaan, “Hebrews”; Zondervan Publishing House; 1959 (p. 117)

It is possible to become a born-again heaven-bound believer, and yet still choose to live a worldly non-productive life for God. We see this truth concerning the future Judgment Seat Of Christ (for all saints) bore out in 1st Corinthians 3:15, “If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Many saints (through faith in Jesus Christ) will barely escape the everlasting fires of Hell. They will receive no rewards for service in eternity. They got saved, but lived wasted lives for God, doing nothing to serve God. They will receive no rewards in Heaven, yet they still have eternal life. To be biblically sound we must separate service from salvation. We must keep separate discipleship from salvation.

Jesus Christ came into the world and died on a cross to pay our debt of sin. God does not require that you forsake a lifestyle of sinning to receive His free gift of eternal life. God saves us and then the Holy Spirit begins to work to change us, but this work is not required to get to Heaven. Getting born-again is a one time new birth, not an ongoing process or probationary period. I fully agree with the following excellent sermon quote from Pastor Yankee Arnold:

“'You can't tell me you can trust Christ as Savior, and then go out here and live like the Devil, and still go to Heaven!' Yes, I can tell you that! That's what the Bible says. If you don't come to the conclusion, that—Yes, you can trust Christ as your Savior and live like the Devil, and still go to Heaven when you die—you don't get grace, because that is the exact truth! That is the truth! I do not have to change my life! I don't have to stop one sin! You say, 'I've never heard a preacher say that.' You just heard one! And you listen to me—I want to live as holy and as godly as I possibly can. I am now 70 years old. I've been saved for 52 years. ... the only reason I'm going to Heaven is because, 52 years ago in a little living room, I accepted Christ as my Savior.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, a great quote from the awesome sermon, “Calvinism And Grace Are NOT Compatible”

Dear reader, you will NEVER be able to rightly understand the Gospel unless you keep SERVICE separate from SALVATION. God never gives any of His redeemed children permission to continue in sin, yet that is exactly what we all do, isn't it. Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” God commands and expects every believer to obey the Holy Bible.

But if we do choose to sin (and we all do every day), then we read in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” The more that a child of God sins, the more God's saving grace abounds, so that we can NEVER lose His free gift of eternal life. How could we ever lose that which was not ours to give in the first place? Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty!

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work. If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from? The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

There is no such thing as “empty believism.” All faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ produces the new birth. There is no such thing as a person, who has placed their childlike trust in Jesus because of what He did through Calvary's cross to pat for their sins, that didn't result in the second birth. You cannot show me any example in the Holy Bible of partial faith, false faith, insincere faith, et cetera. Faith is faith. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.

Please RUN away from these heretics on social media who go around falsely warning against “empty believism.” What they are really doing is combining discipleship with sonship, wrestling the Gospel into perversion. God deliberately made His plan of salvation for mankind free, easy and simple. If it is true, as those false prophets who propagate the idea of “empty believism” allege, then God's plan of salvation would be extremely difficult. Turning away from lifelong sinful bad habits is very difficult, if not impossible, especially for drug and alcohol addicts.

I love Pastor J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988), but I disagree with a sermon that he preached titled: “Missing Heaven By 18 inches.” The basic gist of the message is that it is not enough to believe merely in your mind. According to Dr. McGee, you must also believe in your heart. The whole premise is strange doctrine! It is impossible to believe with your mind but not your heart. Biblically, your heart is your subconsciousness, a part of your mind. The heart (which is protected inside your ribcage) is a muscle about twice the size of your fist that pumps blood 100,000 times each and every day of your life.

It is tragic that Pacific Garden Mission, on their popular 'UNSHACKLED' radio program, today preach the Devil's damnable lie of Lordship Salvation. PGM errantly preaches that a lost sinner will immediately forsake their drug, sex, alcohol and other addictions at the moment of salvation, without any professional intervention to help rehabilitate such addicts. PGM is teaching blatant false doctrine. Substance abuse addicts need medical intervention. Getting saved doesn't solve these issues automatically. PGM heretically requires that to be saved, lost sinners must turn away from their sins to be saved.

Please don't be deceived by lying false neo-evangelicals teachers. Search the Scriptures!