Salvation is not kept by persevering in “continued
obedient faith in Christ,” which is reprobate Calvinist philosophy. “Calvinism
And Grace Are Not Compatible” (a helpful video sermon by Pastor Ralph Yankee
Arnold of the Calvary Community Church). Also, to learn more on the subject,
please watch: “The Five
Dangers Of Calvinism” (Dr. Yankee Arnold). Calvinism and grace are not
compatible!
Jesus does not forgive sin. That is correct! Jesus has
already paid for everyone's sins with His own precious blood. Forgiveness of
sins is a gift that we receive by faith. “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,
AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED” (Acts 16:31b). Christ died on the cross in our
place, paying a debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not
pay. JESUS PAID IT ALL! Hence, eternal life and forgiveness of sins are a free
gift from God, already paid in full by Jesus Christ, Who is “the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29b). Christ is our sin
payment! If you judge yourself as a guilty sinner in the sight of a holy God,
and you receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins,
believing that He raised up from the dead 72 hours later, you are immediately,
irrevocably and permanently saved!!!
The Holy Bible teaches that we are saved by believing
“the Gospel.” What is the Gospel?
1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “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.”
There you have it! “The Gospel” (i.e., Good News)
is that Jesus Christ DIED on the cross for our sins. He was
BURIED. And Jesus bodily RESURRECTED three days later for
our justification. The Bible warns us about religious phonies who “having a
form of godliness,” but “denying the power thereof”... “FROM SUCH
TURN AWAY!” (2nd Timothy 3:5). I've heard radio ministers teaching listeners to
“invite Jesus into your life” and to “follow Jesus” and to “turn away from your
sins,” but none of these are the Gospel. You cannot receive the
new birth in Christ Jesus by “surrendering your life to serve Christ.” You
cannot receive the new birth by “being willing to turn away from committing
sins.” You cannot receive the new birth by “asking Jesus to come into your
heart.” You may do all these things and yet never have been saved at all. Jesus
exclaimed, “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN” (John 3:3-7). The Bible teaches that
it is “the Gospel” which is the power of God unto salvation. Romans
1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is
the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
We are saved by BELIEVING THE GOSPEL. 1st
Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to
save them that believe.” TO SAVE THEM THAT BELIEVE!!! There is no
mention of turning away from sins, which is a common misunderstanding of what it
means to repent. Biblical “repentance” is the Greek noun metanoia (or the
verb metanoeo) which simply means “a change of mind,” or respectively “to
think differently.” Since the word itself doesn't tell us what to change our
mind about, we must look to the Scriptures for supplemental (additional)
information. We read in Acts 20:21b about “repentance toward God.”
Thus, repentance is changing our mind toward God, which always results in
believing the Gospel. Mark 1:15b, “Repent ye, and believe the Gospel.”
Biblical repentance is simply the admission that I am a guilty sinner in the
sight of a holy God.
Here is one of the best quotes that I've found on
repentance, by Dr. Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951):
“Which comes first, repentance or
faith? In Scripture we read, 'Repent ye, and believe the gospel.' Yet we
find true believers exhorted to 'repent, and do the first works.' So
intimately are the two related that you cannot have one without the other.
The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the
Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. Theologians may wrangle over this,
but the fact is, no man repents until the Holy Spirit produces repentance in
his soul through the truth. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for
his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God.
And this is repentance.” (Except Ye Repent,
p. 16)
When a man admits that he is a sinner in God's eyes,
and receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for his sins, believing
that Christ bodily raised up from the dead the third day, he is immediately and
forever saved. That man is not required to continue in “obedient faith” to
remain in “a state of salvation.” One of the best MP3 sermons that I've heard on
the subject is titled, “How
Permanent Is Your Salvation?,” by Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008). If you
think you can lose salvation, you don't have it!
The believer's salvation is secure in Christ's finished work of redemption. The
blood has been applied to the heavenly Mercy Seat. The price for the
Church has been paid with Jesus' blood (Acts 20:28). The place is the
Mercy Seat, in the heavenly Holy Place, in the presence of God the Father
(Hebrews 9:12, 24; 12:24). JESUS PAID IT ALL!
I KNOW I am saved because eternal life is rooted in the PROMISES
of God (Titus 1:2); and not upon how good I'm doing in life as a believer. My
salvation is secure in Jesus Christ and has nothing to do with my efforts.
Eternal life is a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). A gift has no strings attached. Our part is
simply to trust upon the name of Jesus. God does the saving
(John 1:12-13).
The implication of the Salvation Army's heresy is that salvation can be lost by not
continuing in faith. I believe this teaching was put forth by General William
Booth out of ignorance of the
Bible more than anything else. Salvation is a free gift from God, which cannot be
lost. Those who claim to no longer be Christians were never saved in the first
place. 1st John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if
they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went
out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” If
saved, always saved.
The Salvation Army is vague on exactly what
they believe.
Dr.
John
MacArthur errantly teaches...
“Don’t believe anyone who
says it’s easy to become a Christian. Salvation for sinners cost God His own
Son; it cost God’s Son His life, and it’ll cost you the same thing.”
SOURCE:
Dr. John MacArthur, Grace To You, an
updated quote from his book 'Hard To Believe', page 93.
MacArthur is espousing a false Gospel of works
salvation.
Lordship Salvation is a lie of the Devil, NOT based upon the Word of God. Likewise,
the Salvation Army is also preaching a false Gospel, by teaching that
salvation can be lost due to lack of obedient faith. I don't care if a
Christian deliberately commits adultery and murder, they are 100% safe and
secure in their salvation. The reason why is because eternal life is a free
gift that Jesus Christ paid for with His own precious blood. The sinless
Lamb of God died on the cross as my sacrifice, and He raised up the third
day as my High Priest (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 4:15-16). John MacArthur is a
religious fraud, a servant of Satan, who teaches that
children cannot be saved, and Jesus' blood is not on the heavenly Mercy
Seat.
A person who claims to have lost faith never
had faith to begin with. They may have ascribed to the philosophy of
Christianity for awhile. They may have joined a religious organization for
awhile. But they only had churchianity without Christianity. The Bible clearly
teaches that salvation is a FREE GIFT of God (Romans 5:15,6:23; Ephesians
2:8-9). A gift cannot have any strings attached if it is a genuine gift. To teach that a believer has to
continue in “obedient faith in Christ” is incorrect doctrine. Salvation occurs in a split second,
the very moment you believe upon Jesus Christ as your Saviour. Once
you're saved, you can NEVER lose your salvation. If someone professes
that they are no longer a Christian, then it is only because they weren't a
Christian to begin with. The spiritual birth is as irreversible as the
physical birth.
Ironically, pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951)
was a captain in the Salvation Army and he strongly taught the
Eternal Security of
the Believer. I am a big fan of
Pastor
Ironside and he was doctrinally correct in my opinion. It is sad that the Salvation Army's doctrinal
statement doesn't reflect this important doctrine of the Christian faith. A correctly understood
Gospel—Christ's death on the cross for our sins, His burial and bodily
resurrection—mandates eternal security.
Here are the words of Dr. Harry Ironside, who has it exactly right . . .
WHEN THE LEGALIST
comes insisting that salvation is by obedience to God's holy law (which
in itself is just and good), he is preaching another gospel, for the
Word of God declares, “By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be
justified in His sight.”
SOURCE: Dr. Harry Ironside, from the Gospel tract,
Another Gospel?
In total contrast, the Salvation Army teaches a form of
religious legalism, and I quote...
“We believe that
continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient
faith in Christ.”
SOURCE:
1878 Foundation Deed Of The Salvation Army
Continuance? Continued obedient faith? The TRUTH from God's Word is that you
DON'T have
to continue doing anything to remain saved. Once you've been born again,
you've been born again!!! Once you get saved, your relationship is
forever settled in Heaven. You are God's child and He is your Heavenly
Father. Though our fellowship with God may be broken due to sin, our
position in Christ never changes. Salvation is not of mankind, but is of
God. Salvation is receiving, not giving. Our only part in salvation is
only to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ
(John 6:40; Acts 16:31). God does all the rest. Satan's greatest
weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being
born again!
“'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.”
Please don't be deceived by the Devil's lie my
friend, you don't have to give up anything to be saved. There's a lot of heretics running around ADDING
turning away
from sins to simple faith in Christ. We call 'em the “Lordship Salvation” crowd. Now
please don't misunderstand me, being saved doesn't give us God's permission
to
sin, but God's simple plan of salvation does NOT require us to do anything
more than believe the Gospel to be saved. Salvation is simple (2nd
Corinthians 11:3). The whole idea of a “gift” is that it is completely
free. Romans 5:18, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all
men unto justification of life.” Salvation is a FREE GIFT!
Anyone who comes as a guilty sinner, condemned
under God's Holy Law, and trusts upon the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive their
sins will be saved. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the
prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins.” Whether they “continue in obedient faith” or
not is irrelevant to their salvation. The Bible is filled with
examples of carnal believers who continued in sinful living, such as the
sexually immoral man in 1st Corinthians 5:1-5... Paul told the church at
Corinth to address the issue... “To deliver such an one unto Satan for
the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of
the Lord Jesus” (verse 5). Salvation is without works. Eternal life
is a gift (Romans 6:23), freely given (Romans 5:15), and freely received
(Revelation 22:17).
I don't care if my preaching harelips every dog
in the county, it is THE TRUTH. I hope that I make someone angry at the
Salvation Army, because it matters what we believe. William Booth was just a
flawed man, like me, capable of doctrinal error. We all make mistakes, quite
often. Mr. Booth was wrong in his doctrine, sincerely adding works to faith
alone in Christ, which is unbiblical. If you receive Christ's sacrifice on
the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that God raised Him up
from the dead, you are immediately and forever saved. Nothing can ever
jeopardize a believer's position in Christ as God's child. Galatians
3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
