In a booklet delivered to my home's mailbox in November of 2023 by Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College, it contains the following damnable heresy...
“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 decisionto 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
Also this damnable heresy,
“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
That is damnable heresy!!! You cannot show me any of those false teachings in the inspired King James Bible. Pensacola Christian College (PCC) and their incompetent Campus Church pastors are theological liars!!! Satan is using them to lead lost sinners into Hell (2nd Corinthians 11:13-15). They are giving lost people a false hope.
The "Gospel" is that Jesus died on a cross for our sins. He was buried. He resurrected physically three days later. According to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, whosoever BELIEVES (trusts, relies upon) this Good News is saved. Anyone who admits to being a guilty sinner in God's sight (Romans 3:19-20), and they receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for their sins, believing that Christ is risen from the dead, is saved (1st Thessalonians 4:14).
To get to Heaven, there is no additional biblical requirement to hate sin so much that it compels us to forsake a lifestyle of sinning. That is manmade reformation, not biblical repentance. In true salvation, God saves an ungodly sinner (just as I am), and then the indwelling Holy Spirit indwells that child of God. If we choose to Walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25), then the Holy Spirit (not us) lives the Christian life through us (Galatians 2:20).
A changed life is the "fruit" of the indwelling Holy Spirit (God living in us as believers). What Lordship Salvation does, is it forces an unsaved person to change their own life, in their own human power, to be saved. This is not the "fruit" of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is human reformation and a counterfeit plan of salvation.
Pastor Harry Ironside (187501951) said it best, I humbly think:
“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …
Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”
Bravo! Clearly, Dr. Harry Ironside taught a free grace view of the Gospel. I love free grace preachers who get the gospel right!
“When it comes to salvation, if you're saved by grace, there's nothing to stop or start.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Legalistic Judaism is Today's Calvinism”
Amen and amen! John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
Galatians 2:1-5, “Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.”
The Apostle Paul said he refused to tolerate false prophets for even one hour (Galatians 2:5). I visited the BibleReasons.com website and it is 100% of the Devil. This is Satanic!!!
On their website, in an article titled: “How To Become A Christian,” Fritz Chery errantly teaches...
“Repentance is, I’m dropping all that is in my hand to grasp a hold of something better.” SOURCE
No, that is NOT repentance! In God's true plan of salvation you don't have to STOP or START anything. One of my favorite free grace preachers, Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold makes these helpful statements:
“When it comes to salvation, if you're saved by grace, there's nothing to stop or start.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Legalistic Judaism is Today's Calvinism”
“Christ paid for my sins. If He paid for my sins, why would I have to go to Hell to pay for my sins? All He wanted me to do was believe that He did it all for me. That is the greatest news in all the world! And no man, no preacher, has the authority to change the Gospel message. Just because you don't see how it works, or understand how it works—you don't have to know, it ain't none of our business; but God says there is a Heaven and a Hell, and if you want to go to Heaven this is what you do, and your opinion don't count.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Legalistic Judaism is Today's Calvinism”
Your behavior has nothing to do with getting saved. I am sick and tired of lying false prophets who say that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, but then say deadly crap like this from the BibleReasons.com heretical website.
“...a true repentant heart will not live a continuous lifestyle of sin.”SOURCE
Listen, everyone (saved or unsaved) continues in a lifestyle of sin. The crazy idea that somehow because you sin less today than you did yesterday is not evidence of the new birth. The false prophets in Matthew 7:21-23 did “many wonderful works” but they went to Hell. Jesus denied knowing them as His sheep. Good works and a changed life don't prove anything!!! BEWARE of the demonic BibleReasons.com website.
“A repentant heart has been so moved by the grace of God, and it has been so captivated by the beauty of the Lord, that it wants to live a life pleasing to Him.” SOURCE
That is the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation! The Bible is full of examples of sinful saints who lived horrible lifestyles of sin (e.g., Lot, Samson, Demas, Solomon, Cain). David commit adultery and murder to hide his wickedness. If forsaking one's sins is necessary to know that you are saved, then how much sin is allowed? Where do you draw the line? At one point of sinning should you start to worry you're not saved. Do you see the fallacy of such unbiblical thinking. Lordship Salvation causes people to worry, fear and live with uncertainty about salvation.
“Repentance is a change of mind about Christ, which will lead to a lifestyle change.” SOURCE
Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Beware of the religious cults today who masquerade as Bible colleges and churches, who preach a counterfeit gospel of partial faith in Christ plus something else (e.g., turning from your sinful ways, water baptism or keeping sacraments). Eternal life is a free gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965) said it very well in defense of a free grace Gospel:
"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)
God does not demand or expect for you to forsake a sinful lifestyle to receive His free gift. That is not how the new birth works. You come to God as a guilty sinner and place your childlike faith in Christ, receiving His sacrifice upon the cross as full payment for your sins and believing that He was buried, but then bodily resurrected from the dead three days later. This is “the Gospel,” by which all who BELIEVE IT are saved (1st Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 1:16).
My favorite of all free grace preacher quotes is by Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan:
“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)
Kindly said, Fritz Chery fails to put a difference between sanctification and justification, he mixes the two. In so doing Fritz has corrupted the Gospel, and cast stumbling blocks before the people, leading people into Hell with himself. No one is saved who only partially trusts in Christ plus something more. Please watch the excellent documentary, 'Another Gospel.'
Here are some excellent helpful quotes from Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold...
“Salvation is one thing and service is another, and never the two goes together. No man is saved because he serves, and no man has to serve because he is saved. Gotta keep them separate. And if you don't do it, the Scriptures will be confusing to you. You'll not rightly divide what God has to say.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, "Why Lordship Salvation Is Wrong"
“Lordship Salvation is the unsupportable and unbiblical belief that the performance of good works, the promise of good works, or the evidence of good works, must accompany faith in Christ to establish or provide evidence that such faith has resulted in eternal life.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Jesus Versus John MacArthur”
I humbly think Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) said it best of all:
“To add anything to salvation other than the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross is to say that His death was not sufficient payment for our sins.” —Dr. Curtis Hutson
Like so many false teachers today, who are all hellbound infidels, Fritz Chery is caught between grace and works. And with that great truth I will end this important defense of the Christian faith. Thank you for reading dear friend.
John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
I heard a wonderful sermon today from which I gleaned this edifying quote:
“When it comes to salvation, if you're saved by grace, there's nothing to stop or start.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Legalistic Judaism is Today's Calvinism”
This MP3 excerpt was taken from Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold's helpful sermon titled: “Legalistic Judaism is Today's Calvinism.” Here is the sermon if you'd like to watch it...
Legalistic Judaism is Today's Calvinism
I love this guy! It is becoming extremely rare to find a free grace preacher in these perilous times. Tragically, I'd guess that about 85% of Baptist churches today have succumbed to the Devil's falsehood that more than faith is required to get to Heaven. In addition, they falsely teach that you must be willing to “turn from your sins” to be saved, which the inspired Holy Bible doesn't teach. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
The shameful pastor of Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College (Jeff Redlin) is a liar! His clown sidekick Timothy Zacharias is a liar! God says so, not me. Bob Jones University today and their longtime president Steve Pettit are liars! They have ADDED man's words to God's Words, perverting the grace of God. Jesus paid for everybody's sins, He doesn't demand that you forsake your sinning to receive His payment for your sins.
God is so very good dear friend. Christ died on that cross to pay for your sins. He was buried but then came back from the dead. All that God requires for you to get to Heaven is that you BELIEVE Jesus Christ did it all for you. I love this quote from Pastor Yankee Arnold...
“Christ paid for my sins. If He paid for my sins, why would I have to go to Hell to pay for my sins? All He wanted me to do was believe that He did it all for me. That is the greatest news in all the world! And no man, no preacher, has the authority to change the Gospel message. Just because you don't see how it works, or understand how it works, you don't have to know—it ain't none of our business; but God says there is a Heaven and a Hell, and if you want to go to Heaven this is what you do, and your opinion don't count.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Legalistic Judaism is Today's Calvinism”
That's truthful preaching! We need more free grace preachers today.
Jeremiah 10:21, “For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.”
Galatians 2:4-5, “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.”
The Apostle Paul said that he refused to put up with false prophets, not even for one hour. Paul shut their microphone down (so to speak), and ran them out of the churches!
I received numerous emails yesterday and today from a religious man who wanted to debate eternal security. I kindly told him that I don't debate, but he persisted to pressure me, thinking that he was going to convince me over to his damnable heresy. Here first is his last email to me, and then following I will post my response. This is an important matter, which I want to lay to rest once and for all. The Bible teaches: ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED!!! If you don't agree with that, then you are not born again and if you don't repent, you will spend eternity burning in Hell, fire and brimstone. It's as simple and frightening as that!
Here is a portion of his foolish email (his grammar is so bad that most of his sentences make no sense at all). I haven't edited anything. Literally, this is exactly what he wrote to me...
I won't quote scripture for I know you know them, but so do I.
And I have never once read the words "once I am saved I always will be saved" no mater what I do and say to others because if I do anything it is just works trying to save myself.
If we all did not need to do anything then who is not saved by not earning Lord Jesus own death and resurrection Blood Salvation? That he has already gave everyone today even before they were born as sinners and they never could earn it, can they?
Please take no offence, I am not trying to argue, I honestly ask, is "always saved" even Biblical, and if so then why would Jesus own appointed Apostle be lost when he already profess faith in Jesus Christ and who also cast out demons and healed the sick?
Also the 2 born again believers in Acts 5 who Peter drove out their spirit and they fell dead on the ground for their lies they gave against the Holy Spirit.
Also the Holy Spirit has never told me, that I am always saved no matter what I or how I treat others, nor did Apostle Paul never said he was always saved, not that I could read anywhere in scripture. For he said I have finished the race and he looked forward to be saved.
Can we discuss those scripture please, "as it is written" already in the Holy Spirit's Interpretations in Holy scripture with the words God spoke that need no other private reinterpretation from anyone?
Here is my full reply to him...
*****,
Kindly, we don't agree on eternal security. I absolutely believe in, "once saved always saved." No matter what I say, you are set in your beliefs, and so am I.
You are caught between grace and works, because you think YOU have something to do with your eternal salvation. Jesus paid it all and I'm only trusting in CHRIST. The very idea that someone would have to live a certain way to know that they have eternal life, is a fallacy that causes millions of confused people fear and worry every day. No thanks!
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.
The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.
I won't debate this with you. You're not going to convince me to adopt a faith in Christ plus my own efforts type of false salvation. You say salvation is by Christ alone, but then you deny your words by suggesting that the life we live somehow can cost us God's free gift of salvation. A "free gift" (Romans 5:18) means there can be no stipulations or obligations.
You are woefully deceived. Nothing I say is going to convince you, and I refuse to listen to your unbiblical heresy.
In Jesus' precious name, David
Please keep in mind that this was our fifth exchange of emails. I was being patient with him. I sent him a dozen Gospel sermons and books. I wrote at length explaining the difference between service and sanctification. In fact, here is the previous email that I sent to him, so you can see how sincerely I tried to help the guy see the light of the truth. He had asked me, "Do you think you're always saved no matter what you do or how you treat others as the example of Jesus Christ?" Here is my full reply...
*****,
Yes, once saved always saved, because God's gift of salvation is based upon what Christ alone did to pay for our sins through Calvary's cross.
Having said that, no believer has God's permission to life in sin. Romans 6:1-2, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" God commands all saints to depart from iniquity and walk in holiness, but when we do sin (and we all choose to), God's grace much more abounds so that we can never lose salvation. It is God's salvation, not ours to give. We cannot lose by bad works what we could not earn by good works. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.
My favorite preacher quote is from Pilgrim's Progress book author, John Bunyan, who said:
“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)
We must keep sanctification (service - Romans 12:1) completely separate from justification (salvation - Galatians 3:26), or else we will corrupt the Gospel and cast stumbling blocks before the people. Many preachers make the mistake of citing the book of Matthew, about picking up one's cross to follow Christ, and they foolishly apply it to salvation. But that is discipleship Jesus is talking about in Matthew. God authored the specific Gospel of John to show humanity how to be saved (John 20:31). We find the word "believe" mentioned 85 times in the book of John, but there is no requirement to follow, confess, repent, turn, forsake, live or anything else; but just to believe. John 6:47, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
The Bible warns in Hebrews 12:6-8 that if a man is without chastisement from God for his sins, then he is a bastard and not a genuine adopted son of God. God is not an absent parent! There are two wrong extremes to which a preacher can go. The first is to corrupt the Gospel by adding living a holy life (service) to God's free grace. The second extreme is to just preach that people can be saved without turning from sins, but then that preacher never warns believers of God's judgment upon disobedient children (2nd Corinthians 5:9-11).
Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) addressed this issue of Lordship Salvation. A lady in the church suggested that some of the young people weren't saved because of their misbehaving and bad attitude. Dr. Rice corrects her by teaching her that the problem is not that the teens aren't saved; but rather, they haven't been properly mentored by the spiritual adults in the church. And of course, it might be that indeed they are not saved. But whether someone is saved or not can only be known by a direct testimony from their mouth concerning Jesus Christ. ...
One of my favorite preachers and sermons is by Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold. The sermon is titled, "Why Lordship Salvation Is Wrong."
The Bible is full of horrible saints who hurt others at times. King David stole Uriah's wife, impregnated her, then murdered Uriah to hide the unintended pregnancy. David didn't lose God's gift of salvation, he lost the "joy" of salvation (Psalms 51:12). I believe Joseph's 10 half brothers were saved, even though they conspired to sell him into Egyptian slavery. The Bible is full of the sins of the saints. Thankfully, our God is merciful and is always willing to forgive us and give us unlimited chances, as we see with the woman taken in the act of adultery in John chapter 8.
There is none righteous the Bible says, no not one (Romans 3:10). That includes saved believers. The only thing that makes the holiest saint, any more righteous than the vilest dirty unsaved sinner like John Wayne Gacy, is the precious blood of Jesus (1st Peter 1:18-19). James 2:10 says that if a man commits even one sin, he is guilty of all in the sight of God. In other words, all it takes is just one sin to keep a sinner out of Heaven. The only other place to go is the Lake of Fire forever.
I hope that answers your question. I welcome Bible questions. I just don't like to debate with people.
Have a good evening,
David
Like so many fools before him, he doesn't believe in eternal security. He rejects the idea that a person can be saved and then just live any way they want. Well, he is WRONG! Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9). Either God does the saving, all of it, or else you don't get grace!!!
As I watched a documentary yesterday about the following horrifying maritime disaster in 2014 in South Korea, which killed 304 people (250 of which were teenagers all from the same high school), I related it to bad churches today which are incompetent with the Gospel.
Weaponized Negligence │ 5 HORRORS on the Waves
The reason why this ferry cargo ship capsized was because nobody paid attention to the safety guidelines. The ship was massively overloaded with cargo. Although the ferry's captain reported 657 tons of cargo, prosecutors said that the real amount exceeded 2,140 tons! That's 2,966,000 extra pounds of weight!!! None of the cargo was secured as it was supposed to be. This caused the loose cargo to shuffle from side to side, as the ship moved through the ocean. The new owners of the ship in 2012 made illegal renovations to it, adding an additional 500,000 pounds of weight. All this extra weight made the vessel very top heavy, and a disaster waiting to happen.
To make matters even worse, when the captain went to sleep he left a rookie ferryman in charge who steered the ship too sharp to the right, which caused the vessel to turn onto its side; a few hours later the ship turned completely upside down as it filled with water. The Korean Coast Guard dillydallied for several hours and were so inept that they largely contributed to the high number of deaths. In the aftermath of the disaster the Korean government disbanded the Coast Guard's leadership, giving control over to the police instead. This tragedy could have easily been avoided had anyone cared. Like all manmade disasters, there was a slow process of incompetence, foolish decisions and ignored warnings which led to catastrophe.
Likewise, tens of thousands of churches across America are not paying attention to the rules of God's inspired Word. They are following their own manmade traditions instead of the commandments of God. They are overloading the Gospel with a bunch of extra cargo which God does not require. They are modifying God's simple plan of salvation, making the Gospel top heavy and a disaster waiting to happen. Church captains (pastors) have been repeatedly warned that they are messing with the Lord's cargo ship.
Tragically, 95% of churches today (and this includes independent fundamental Baptist churches) are accidents waiting to happen. That is, their members are eventually going to plunge into darkness when the ship they are on capsizes into the Lake of Fire. Those passengers trusted their captain and the safety of the cargo ship they were all riding aboard. They put their full trust in what their captain had told them! But their captain lied to them, just as 95% of church pastors are lying to their congregations today!
Tragically, 304 people were murdered because of corruption, which is wickedness! When corrupt people break laws, violate regulations, accept bribes and look the other way instead of doing the right thing, that is more than incompetence and irresponsibility, it is wickedness!!! The ferry's ungodly captain was sentenced to 36 years in prison. That captain is fortunate he didn't get the death penalty, which is what the victim's families wanted from the court. Had the captain refused to allow the ship to be overloaded with an additional 3 million pounds of cargo, the disaster wouldn't have happened.
Likewise, if these ungodly pastors today wouldn't add things to God's simple plan of salvation, then people by the droves wouldn't be going to Hell. A counterfeit gospel cannot produce the new birth.
The Wickedness of Pensacola Christian College
Pensacola Christian College's lying pastors have much blood on their hands for corrupting the Gospel. According to PCC's Campus Church booklet titled: "John & Romans," on page 60, it heretically reads:
"Now is the time to turn from your sin and embrace God. The act of turning away from sinis called 'repentance.' This word implies an inward decision to follow and obey God's will instead of your self-serving sins.”
This is damnable heresy! It is another gospel, not the Gospel of free grace. In fact, biblically you do NOT have to decide to follow and obey God's will instead of your own self serving sins to be saved. You simply need to admit that you are unable to save yourself and trust Jesus Christ.
In his helpful book titled, "I NEVER KNEW YOU," on page 116 Michael P. Bowen writes:
"When a pastor says that in order to be saved we must first repent of our sins and then ask Christ into our heart, I want to stand up and quote verses from Christ’s own words that refute such satanic-inspired flaws because Christ never, never, never said to quit sinning or to ask Him into your heart. The bible says the OPPOSITE of what 95 percent of these pastors tell us, today. First of all, the bible never tells anyone to stop sinning in order to be saved, nor does it tell us to be willing to stop sinning in order to be saved. That is a LIE because God never said to stop sinning. The phrase 'repent of sin' is not even in the Bible, nor is it ever implied when it comes to salvation through faith in Christ. These are clever lies of Satan designed to provide people with a heavenly way to go to the eternal lake of fire with him and his fallen angels."
According to many verses in the bible, especially those warnings God gave to us through Paul in the book of Galatians, you should never listen to anyone’s message that runs counter to the message given to us by Christ, and you should never attend a church where the pastor tells the flock that they must add works of discipleship to faith in Christ’s “finished work” as the way to enter heaven. That’s exactly the reason why I no longer attend any of the local churches in my current hometown.
Sadly, I am running into the same problem in Pensacola, the city where I live. It is tragic!
The first church I attended when I moved from Guam to Pensacola in 2021 was Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College (PCC). I was deeply offended and hurt on July 21, 2021 when at their Wednesday evening Bible study (after watching a stupid Ken Ham video in church), associate pastor Timothy Zechariah told thousands of church members that faith is not enough to get to Heaven. He said that you must repent of your sins, having such a deeply profound hatred for sin that it results in a change of behavior. But don't take my word for it, here is an actual still frame (a screenshot I grabbed from YouTube) which was displayed to the church at that evening's service. This image is taken from their official Foundation's Class for all new cult members...
Blatant Damnable Heresy Preached At PCC's Campus Church
PCC's Campus Church has it very wrong! Behavior modification has nothing to do with receiving God's gift of eternal life. A changed life is the “fruit” produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22-25). But such fruit is conditional upon a born-again believer's choice to Walk in the Spirit. The Apostle Paul in the following Scripture passages makes it clear that walking in the Spirit is not automatic for a saint of God, it is a choice...
Galatians 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
Galatians 5:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
To “live in the Spirit” simply means that you are indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God; but this doesn't mean you will automatically “walk in the Spirit.” Many believers do not walk in the Spirit, but they still live (or are alive, quickened) in the Holy Spirit. This is what Paul meant in Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” By the phrase “received ye the Spirit” Paul was simply asking them how they became indwelt with the Holy Spirit. That is, how did they get saved?
Ninety-Five Percent Of Baptist Churches Have The Gospel Wrong
I had attended the First Baptist Church of Pensacola for a while when I first moved to Pensacola. Their historic church has a rich heritage, going back to 1848 when they were founded. So, I attended their Discovery Class to learn more about the church and their beliefs. I was happy after attending the class because the associate pastor who led the class said the church believes that salvation comes through faith alone in Jesus Christ. I was delighted and ready to join the church. But then later on I attended both their Sunday morning Contemporary and Traditional services back to back soon thereafter.
In the Traditional service, senior pastor Dave Snyder (who became their new pastor in 2018) said in his sermon that to get to Heaven you must become a Christ follower, turn away from a lifestyle of sinning and make Jesus the “Lord” of your life. I felt numb in my soul. I was heartbroken! I was so hurt, and still am years later. I had lost another potential church family.
I have attended numerous churches in Pensacola, and I'm still visiting new ones. I still haven't found a single Baptist church that is Kosher on the Gospel. They love to use the unbiblical phrase, “repent of your sins,” which is not even found in the Holy Bible. I want to quote from page 116 again, from Michael Bowen's excellent book, "I NEVER KNEW YOU":
"When a pastor says that in order to be saved we must first repent of our sins and then ask Christ into our heart, I want to stand up and quote verses from Christ’s own words that refute such satanic-inspired flaws because Christ never, never, never said to quit sinning or to ask Him into your heart. The bible says the OPPOSITE of what 95 percent of these pastors tell us, today. First of all, the bible never tells anyone to stop sinning in order to be saved, nor does it tell us to be willing to stop sinning in order to be saved. That is a LIE because God never said to stop sinning. The phrase 'repent of sin' is not even in the Bible, nor is it ever implied when it comes to salvation through faith in Christ. These are clever lies of Satan designed to provide people with a heavenly way to go to the eternal lake of fire with him and his fallen angels."
I couldn't have said it any better dear reader. The Bible never tells anyone to stop sinning in order to be saved, nor does it tell us to “be willing” to stop sinning in order to be saved. God never said to stop sinning in exchange for receiving His free gift of eternal life. The phrase “repent of sin” is not even found in the Bible, nor is it ever implied when it comes to salvation through faith alone in Christ. These are clever lies of Satan, all designed to provide people with a heavenly way to go to the eternal lake of fire with him and his fallen angels. I like what Brother Bowen wrote—a heavenly way to go to the eternal Lake of Fire!
"A man can slip into Hell with his hand on the door-knob of Heaven." —Billy Sunday
Dear reader, there is a major disaster in the works, which will result in millions of lost sinners plunging into the fires of Hell forever. But instead of a ferry cargo ship in South Korea being recklessly overloaded with cargo and illegal modifications, the Gospel of free grace is being frontloaded and modified with embellishments which are not found in the Bible.
The country of South Korea will never forget the killing of 250 of their high school students (304 deaths total)—when a foolish and wicked captain, and a reckless company who owned the cargo ship, and others involved in the corruption—all contributed in some way to the catastrophe which happened in 2014. The manmade disaster was not an accident, it was a heinous crime that was caused by gross negligence, arrogance, blatant disregard for safety rules and corporate greed.
In similar fashion, 95% of today's ungodly pastors arrogantly dismiss repeated warnings about their false gospel preaching. They are guilty of overloading God's simple plan of salvation with too much things to do to be saved. Dr. Jack Hyles said it exactly right...
“More people will die and burn in Hell because they're trusting too much!”—Pastor Jack Hyles, “Yea, Yea, And Nay, Nay!”
“Everything that's hard and complicated about salvation is God's side of it!”—Pastor Jack Hyles, “Yea, Yea, And Nay, Nay!”
Here is the Gospel: God says that we are sinners and no amount of good works or behavioral modification on our part could ever make us holy enough to enter into Heaven. God sent His only begotten Son to pay for all of our sins. Jesus paid for our crimes by dying on the cross for everyone. His dead body was buried in a grave. On the third day, Jesus physically resurrected from the dead. The instant you believe these facts, God knows it and He saves you. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.” The free gift (Romans 5:18) is based solely upon your trust in what Jesus did for you through Calvary's cross. It has absolutely nothing at all to do with what you do for Him. Salvation is received, not achieved. It is a gift for the guilty, and not a reward for the righteous. 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.”
To be saved you simply need to admit to God that you cannot save yourself. Just receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was buried in a tomb, but three days later Jesus bodily raised up. This is “the Gospel” (i.e., the “Good News”) by which all who BELIEVE IT are immediately, irrevocably and forever saved (Romans 1:16; 1st Corinthians 15:1-4). You simply need to BELIEVE that Jesus did it all for you!
John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”
In the following awesome sermon, Pastor Tom Cucuzza preaches the truth about salvation and the Christian life which we all horribly fail at...
Secure Forever - Part One: True Salvation And Its Relationship To The Christian Life
➙You don't have to repent of your sin to go to Heaven. ➙You can go to Heaven while hanging onto the world. ➙If Christ is not Lord of "all," you can still go to Heaven. ➙If you come to church with a sour and negative position, you can still go to Heaven. ➙If you're practicing certain sins in your life, you can still go to Heaven. ➙If you've grown cold toward the Lord, you can still go to Heaven. ➙If you're not tithing, you can still go to Heaven. ➙If you don't endure until the end, you can still go to Heaven. ➙You can practice sin every day and still go to Heaven.
The biblical teachings of eternal life and eternal security are not two separate doctrines, but are one and the same thing. That is, the man who has eternal life already has eternal security. Religious messes us up, but Christianity frees us. If you have trusted in God's only begotten Son as your personal Savior, then you KNOW that you have eternal life.
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."
Every born again believer has a relationship with Christ. Demons acknowledge there is a God, but they are not saved (James 2:19). The Apostle James in James chapter two is warning about not becoming a respecter of persons (James 2:1). If a man professes to be a Christian but does not help a brother in need who asks for some food during time of need, James says that that man's faith is dead (James 2:15-20).
It is important to understand that James is not writing about salvation here. He is writing about our manner of life validating our faith in the eyes of other men, not God. In the Epistle of Romans, Paul writes about being justified by faith in the sight of God (Romans 4:1-7). James is speaking about being justified by works in the sight of man, not God. Many preachers foolishly apply James chapter two to salvation, corrupting the Holy Bible and casting stumbling blocks before the people.
The demons acknowledge that there is a God, but they are still damned. James is simply teaching that our talk talks and our walk talks, but out walk talks louder than our talk talks. Again, James is not speaking about the new birth (justification), he is talking about discipleship (sanctification). Faith without works is dead in the eyes of our fellow mankind, but dead faith is still faith. One's faith may be dead, but it still exists.
Eternal life is a free gift (Romans 5:18). To truly be a gift, nothing can be required in exchange. The new birth is not a trade, it is a gift. We simply take a gift by faith, not by anything we need to do, which would be works. Every lost sinner who puts his or her trust in Jesus as their personal Savior is immediately sealed and indwelt with God's Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1st John 3:24; Ephesians 1:13-14). That new believer has a relationship with God as His redeemed child. That is one's POSITION in Christ.
How a believer chooses to live after saving faith is one's CONDITION in Christ. A man's condition may be atrocious in Christ (e.g., Lot, Samson and Solomon), yet he is saved and his position in Christ is safe and secure by faith alone (1st Corinthians 5:5).
Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965) said it very well:
"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)
The Epistle of 1st John teaches that the acid test to know (1st John 5:13) whether we are saved or not is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. If a man can sin without any conviction whatsoever from the Holy Spirit, then something is wrong. The Bible warns that if God never chastises you when you sin, you're not saved (Hebrews 12:6-8). The Holy Spirit convicts me all the time about my sinning (Proverbs 3:12).
Many hellbound false prophets do "many wonderful works," and they prophesy (preach) in Jesus' name (Matthew 7:21-23). Cornelius fasted, prayed, gave alms to the poor and feared God (Acts 10:1-3), but was still hellbound in his sins. Cornelius didn't get saved until Acts 10:44. So we cannot determine if someone, or even our self, is saved by examining our life. The $64,000 question is: Do you have the indwelling Holy Spirit?
