"And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life FREELY." —Revelation 21:6
A WARNING About Chick Tracts!
Chick Tracts seem to have a different answer than the Bible to the question, "What must I do to be saved?"
Surrender your life to Christ? That's Lordship Salvation!
"And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." — Acts 16:30,31
I have personally written to Jack Chick's ministry, asking for an explanation as to why they contradict themselves; but they refuse to reply. On their website's statement of faith, they state concerning salvation:
"Salvation is the gift of God and includes the forgiveness of sins, the imputation of the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the gift of eternal life. Union with the triune God provides all blessings in this life and the life hereafter. Salvation is received by faith alone, apart from all good works and merit."
SOURCE: http://www.chick.com/information/general/statementoffaith.asp
Yet, Mr. Chick horribly contradicts himself in every tract he writes, when he REQUIRES lost sinners to "Be willing to turn from sin" to be saved. No Sir! Why doesn't he state that in his statement of faith? Jesus plainly said in Revelation 21:6... "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life FREELY." Jesus said in John 7:28, "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
Mr. Chick states on one hand that he believes "salvation is the gift of God"; but then on the other hand teaches that a person MUST "be willing to turn from sin" to be saved (see item #2)...
What a contradiction! Regardless of what Mr. Chick believes, we must analyze his Gospel tracts based upon their individual content. The above back cover is present on ALL Chick Tracts! Notice what Jack Chick requires the sinner to pray in order to be saved... "I am willing to turn from sin." This is unbiblical. The implication is that a person must cease from the activity of sin to be saved. This is the heresy of Lordship Salvation, which is nothing less than works salvation, and a sure road to hellfire.
Biblical salvation is when a person turns toward Jesus Christ to be saved from their sin; NOT turning from their sin in order to be saved. Romans 3:19 states, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Carefully notice that a person is only required to turn to Jesus to be saved from the condemnation of sin, and not from the act of sin itself. The Law of God shows us our sinful condition, which causes us to realize that we are GUILTY! Repentance is when we "turn" to Jesus to receive His free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. To turn to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins is Biblical repentance. This is drastically different than what Jack Chick is teaching, i.e., that a person is required to be willing to turn from the act of sin itself to be saved. You won't find the phrases "repent of sin" or "turn from sin" anywhere in the Bible. Please read, What is Biblical Repentance?
Jack Chick is no better than Benny Hinn who teaches the EXACT same perverted plan of salvation...
Dear Lord Jesus,
I believe You are the Son of God. I believe You came to earth 2,000 years ago. I believe you died for me on the cross and shed Your blood for my salvation. I believe you rose from the dead and ascended on high. I believe You are coming back again to earth. Dear Jesus, I am a sinner. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me now with Your precious blood. Come into my heart. Save my soul right now. I give you my life. I receive You now as my Savior, my Lord, and my God. I am Yours forever, and I will serve You and follow You the rest of my days. From this moment on, I belong to You only. I no longer belong to this world, nor to the enemy of my soul. I belong to You, and I am born again.
Amen! [emphasis added]
Hinn teaches Lordship Salvation! Where does the Bible say that we have to serve Jesus to be saved? Where does the Scriptures require us to give Jesus our life to be saved? It doesn't! Jack Chick and Benny Hinn teach the same garbage. Don't you dare criticize Benny Hinn if you support Jack Chick!!! Salvation is receiving; NOT giving. I supported Jack Chick's ministry for years, but after much convicting by the Holy Spirit have been forced to face the reality that Mr. Chick is teaching the damnable heresy of Lordship Salvation. Every tract published by Jack Chick requires a person to "Be willing to turn from sin" to be saved. No Sir! That is works salvation!!!
The problem is that a willingness to turn from sin is a FRUIT (i.e. a result) of genuine repentance, and not a prerequisite to salvation. People are being misled by Chick tracts. I think Pastor Roloff said it best, "Real repentance is putting your trust in Jesus Christ so you will not live like that anymore." 2nd Corinthians 5:17 tells us that salvation brings a change. But, we must never require a change, or even a willingness to change, as part of saving faith. To do so perverts the Gospel message. Salvation is WITHOUT WORKS (Romans 4:5).
The only sin we literally need to forsake to be
saved is UNBELIEF, which is the only sin that can keep us out of Heaven.
A WARNING About The Fellowship Tract League!
Again,
just as with Chick Tracts, we see the damnable heresy of Lordship
Salvation. Carefully notice the back cover of the tract "My
Best Friend," pictured to the right. The "bully" says he was saved
because "...I promised I wouldn't do those things anymore ... and he saved
me..." That is a lie! Salvation is NOT conditional upon a person
promising not to commit sin anymore. Salvation is receiving; NOT
giving! Eternal life is a free gift (Romans 5:15;6:23). If we
have to do anything in exchange for salvation, then it's NOT a gift!
MOST of the Gospel tracts I have read lately are garbage. I can't believe how corrupt and misleading so many tracts are. What are we handing to people? Does a person have to promise not to sin anymore to be saved? Does a person have to be sorry for their sins to be saved? Does a person have to be willing to turn from their sins to be saved? The answer is No, No, No!
The word "repent" is NOT found mentioned even once in the Gospel of John; yet John stated the purpose of his Gospel was to convince us that Jesus is the Son of God. John 20:31 states, "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." Obviously, to believe on Jesus is to repent. To turn to Jesus to be forgiven of one's sins is repentance. You have already turned from your sins, i.e., from the guilt and condemnation of sin, to the precious Savior to be cleansed by His blood (1st Peter 1:18,19).
In fairness to the Fellowship Tract League,
they have many good tracts which are doctrinally acceptable; however, this
one is horrible, and there are others teaching Lordship Salvation.
Conclusion
The only sin which a person needs to literally forsake to be saved is the sin of UNBELIEF, because unbelief is the only sin which can keep a person out of Heaven. John 3:18 says, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Please notice that the Bible doesn't say "He that forsaketh not his sins is condemned." No, rather, God's Word says... "He that believeth not is condemned..." The Biblical focus is upon whether or not a person believes. Making a commitment, surrendering one's life to Christ, and being willing to turn from sin have NOTHING to do with receiving God's GIFT of eternal life. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. You don't make Jesus Lord; He is Lord!
At first, I pondered in my heart concerning Chick tracks. I thought to myself, "So many little children love Chick tracts... they're like eye-candy to people. Surely, Jack Chick must be doing a good thing." I pondered back-n-forth for months on the issue, because cartoon tracts are one of the best soul-winning tools in the world. However, God convicted my heart concerning THE TRUTH. I began to consider that the Jehovah's Witnesses cult have some of the best artwork and captivating literature in the world, but that doesn't make it Biblical. Jack Chick is a talented man; but he is perverting the Gospel. You don't have to "surrender your life" to Jesus Christ to be saved; but you do need to BELIEVE on Him to forgive your sins.
The big question we have to ask ourselves is: If a person sincerely makes a commitment to try to live better (i.e., be willing to turn from sin) in order to get saved, did they really get saved? The answer is a resounding "No"! If you think you're going to get saved by your own self-righteousness, think again! Jack Chick is leading millions of people to believe that giving up sin is required to be saved. If that be true, then salvation is no longer a gift, because I was required to be willing to give up something to get it. Like other heretics, Jack Chick does a play-on-words. He ought just be honest and say what he implies. There can be no mistaking what "Be willing to turn from sin" truly implies, i.e., if you want to be saved, you are going to have to give up your sins! To be REQUIRED to be willing to do something, in order to get something, makes it obligatory. In sharp contrast to Chick's teachings; salvation is of God, conditioned only upon our BELIEF on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior to forgive our sins (John 1:12).
If a person simply has childlike faith in Jesus Christ to forgive their sins, they will be saved. We are sinners, and Jesus is the Savior. The matter of repentance is critically important — because if we are wrong on repentance — we are wrong on everything!
The Curse of Lordship Salvation
The Hypocrisy of Lordship Salvation
The Foolish Doctrine of Lordship Salvation
Scriptural Proof that Lordship Salvation is a Lie
Lordship Salvation Ignores Babes in Christ and the Backslidden
