Abraham Lincoln Was Right

Romans 11:6, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

Both sides of the repentance debate cannot be right!

On one side you have hellbound neo-evangelicals like John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, Marty Herron, Steve Pettit, Ken Ham's Answers-In-Genesis, Pensacola Christian College, Bob Jones University, Harvest Baptist Church on Guam and other theological cults who pervert the Gospel. They all preach the Devil's lie that Bible repentance means to be willing to forsake your sinful bad habits, as a prerequisite to qualify saving faith.

On the other side you have Harry Ironside, Jack Hyles, Curtis Hutson, Onorato Diamante, myself (humbly), Steven Anderson, Ralph Yankee Arnold, Ray Stanford, Hank Lindstrom, Alexander Marshall and others who preach a free grace Gospel without works. This faithful group of men preach the truth that Bible repentance is “a change of mind.” You must change your mind from unbelief to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

These two different plans of salvation are irreconcilable! The former group requires that you first be willing to reform (turn from your sins) to get to Heaven; whereas the latter group requires that you simply come to God as a needy sinner. We must always remember that eternal life is a free gift from God, because it was paid for by the precious blood of Jesus, God's only begotten (biological) Son. 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.”

I watched a very interesting 12 hour documentary by historian film producer, Ken Burns, on 'The American Civil War.' It is heartbreaking history! I just heard a quote in the film by President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) that caught my attention...

“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 (1860-1865). 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!

One of my favorite books is titled: “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” by Michael P. Bowen. The following prolific words are from page 17 of chapter one...

I am at eternal odds with the false, counterfeit messages of salvation-by-works that are taught from virtually every pulpit today, on every television channel, and on every Christian radio station; however, I am not at eternal odds with the individuals who preach these counterfeit messages. My heart literally goes out to all of them because they simply do not understand Christ’s plan of salvation. They have been lied to by a crafty enemy named Satan, whose sole aim is to take as many people with him to the lake of fire as he can possibly manage to steal away from God using a counterfeit plan of salvation that appears so real, so genuine, and so holy that few ever realize they have been deceived by it. Oh reader, so many of today’s professing Christians who think they are going to heaven when they die are not going to make it to heaven as they had assumed because they’ve been lied to by today’s error-filled gospel messages. Radical? Yes. But I am nonjudgmental toward the bearers of false messages; I am only judgmental toward the false plans of salvation they emphasize as being equal to the plan of Christ. There is only one plan of salvation in the bible; therefore, there cannot be two plans. SOURCE

Michael Bowen is so right! A counterfeit message is being preached in nearly every religious college, church pulpit, YouTube video, book and film today. It is tragic!

Dear reader, the inspired Word of God very plainly teaches that there is only ONE 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.”

In Acts 15:1 we read a helpful Scripture, “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” These false prophets were horribly teaching that to get to Heaven you must keep the law of Moses. This is no different than telling a lost person that God will not save them unless they are first willing to forsake their sinful bad habits. Take a look at what Pensacola Christian College wickedly teaches their thousands of students...

“REPENTANCE — Now is the time to turn from your sin and embrace God. The act of turning away from sin is called 'repentance.' This word implies an inward decision to follow and obey God's will instead of your self-serving sins. It means changing your mind about sin and seeing it as something that grieves God. The Bible says that God patiently waits for all people to make this decision.”

SOURCE: “John & Romans,” Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College, p. 60

To make matters even worse, on page 62 of the “John & Romans” booklet, Campus Church tells the reader that to be saved, you must make a mental check requiring the reader to agree to:

“I repent of my sins. I realize that sin is something that God hates and I no longer want to hold onto sinful bad habits in my life.”

SOURCE: “John & Romans,” Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College, p. 62

Oh My! Folks, this is NOT part of the Gospel which the Apostle Paul preached in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4...

1st Corinthians15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”

There you have it! The “Gospel” is the “GOOD NEWS” that Jesus Christ DIED on a cross for our sins, He was BURIED and after three days He physically RESURRECTED from the dead. In Paul's Gospel (which Paul said he received directly from Jesus in Galatians 1:12), did you see anything that reads: “follow and obey God's will instead of your self-serving sins.” No, that is not what Paul taught. So why is PCC and their Campus Church promoting this filth?

The only requirement to believe the Gospel is to know why you need to be saved. You need to know what you're being saved from. You are a guilty sinner, and so am I. No one has ever lived who didn't sin (Romans 3:10-23), except Jesus (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is the perfect sinless Lamb of God (John 1:29). The Bibles teaches and warns that the wages we earn from our sinning is death (Romans 5:12, 6:23). This includes a second death in Hell, fire and brimstone forever (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8). If you admit by faith to God that you are a guilty sinner deserving of Hell, then that is all you need to know to believe the GOOD NEWS that Jesus Christ died on a cross to pay for your sins, was buried and three days later He bodily raised up from the dead for your justification. BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS, oh sinner, and you are saved!

Abraham Lincoln was right, both sides may be wrong, but one side must be wrong! There cannot be two opposing plans of salvation. Either you cannot be saved without being willing to forsake sinful bad habits, or you don't, but it cannot be both.