What is the

"Gospel"?

 

Rescuing The Truth From

A Deadly Redefinition

 

 

 

by Keith Comparetto

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preface

 

This book was meant to provoke but not to offend.  Some may find the position presented in these pages to be something new or out of balance; though if you read this in its entirety, and search the Scriptures with an open heart, I believe you will find that what I am presenting is indeed the Òold-time Gospel,Ó and is as balanced as the Bible is.  I am considerably troubled that the trend of modern biblical thinking has swung so far to one side and remained there for so long, making salvation so easy, as to be damning many souls to hell who have not a concern in the world that they may be spiritually lost.  What is more troubling is that the teaching which has led to such over-confidence is now so glibly accepted as biblical fact, that one is considered unloving, judgmental, unbalanced, a legalist or a false teacher for suggesting that the Bible may actually teach otherwise. 

There is not enough space in this little book to present all the Bible passages and interpretations that have led to my conclusions.  My heartÕs desire would be to prick the readerÕs conscience to study out true salvation on his or her own Ð and how few today have done this! Ð giving due consideration to the massive weight of Biblical evidence as well as the writings of men much greater and wiser than most of us, some of whom have made the study and proper presentation of salvation the centerpiece of their lifeÕs work. 

I speak as one who spent my entire Christian life and teaching career on the other side of this, for lack of a better term, Òcontroversy.Ó  The thinking that I now call Òeasy-believismÓ was so ingrained in me, the Bible passages so often presented the same way, the altar calls so regularly making the same appeals, that I never questioned such interpretations seriously.  I have since had to repent before God for allowing some very serious passages to be dispensed with much too easily, specifically:  (1) the many warning passages which I now consider to the lost were preached as warnings to the saved;  (2) the Òforsake all and follow MeÓ passages, though presented by Christ as essential to the very definition of a Christian, were preached as being merely ways to become more spiritual;  and (3) the Òcontinue in the faithÓ passages were mostly ignored.  I now know that these passages were interpreted completely differently little more than a century ago, by brilliant and godly men who spent their lives in their Bibles and on their knees.  Their conclusions should not be flippantly overlooked, especially because we have no new evidence to refute them. 

The consequences of the new theology for the modern church have been devastating, especially to the lost:  From Gospel invitations to salvation that make little mention of the cost of being ChristÕs disciple, to interpretations of passages which convey the unbiblical idea that Christians can backslide to the point where they can be little different from the world around them and remain that way for indefinite periods of time, the result is that the tares who sit in probably every congregation have their false assurance continually reinforced.  True believers are harmed also, not only because their ÒChristian fellowshipÓ is often not in the Spirit and thus not edifying, but because by hearing the clear meaning of passages on the power of salvation and the sureness of GodÕs judgment on sinners simply Òexplained away,Ó they become confused and miss the wonderful unity of the Scriptures that truly cause the saint to ÒRejoice in thy salvation.Ó  The result of the modern teaching within the visible church is that, because so many unregenerate souls can sit comfortably among the saints, the church becomes worldly and eventually dies.  Most of us have seen this cycle many times over.

What, then, is the Gospel?  Distilling it into a Romans-Road type of formula is dangerously misleading.  Like a finely cut stone, the Gospel has many facets in Scripture.  One facet reveals it as a remedy for manÕs depraved condition; another, as the sum total of all GodÕs commands to believe in, trust, embrace, follow after and forsake all for, Christ.  Another reveals it as a treasure trove of precious truths pertaining to salvation, the saved individual and his wonderful position in Christ; and another, as a body of evidences by which GodÕs elect may know if they have attained it.  All of these facets must be recognized, or we will have a defective Gospel. 

In this book I may challenge your sacred doctrines, your favorite authors, or your common practices; if so, please consider that I had to challenge my own first. My message concerns the Lordship of Christ in the life of a true Christian (though I believe that statement in itself contains a redundancy), and because this message is so rarely presented clearly today, this book may cause you to react emotionally and jump to false conclusions.  Therefore, please understand that: (1) I am not in any way preaching that sinless perfection is possible in this life, though some without justification have accused me of doing so.  (2) I am not preaching that any true believer can lose his salvation, though I abhor the presumptuous self-assurance that characterizes our churches today.  (3) I am not preaching that we are saved or kept through works; in fact, I would suggest it is the doctrines I take issue with that come closer to such a notion.  (4) I am not rehashing the old Calvinism versus Arminianism arguments.  Though I have a strong belief in the sovereignty of God, I can respect some Arminians, such as John Wesley, for their strong stand on Lordship, while taking issue with some Calvinists who have not stood so.  (5) I am not focusing on a petty or peripheral issue, nor am I speaking to the head and not to the heart.  My focus is an individualÕs eternal salvation Ð how one may find it and know it Ð something I believe the modern evangelical church has played carelessly with, and without which no one has a right to claim any of the wonderful promises of the Bible.  (6) I am not attacking or defending any particular denomination or theological system such as covenant or dispensational theology; the Lordship issue cuts across these lines. (7) I am not attacking people; nor am I attacking anyoneÕs motives:  Many who express the positions I now take issue with were, or are, sincere men of God who loved the Bible and cared for peopleÕs souls. 

Perhaps most of all, I am not personally attacking you or the people you love.  If I put doubts in your mind that cause you to question the salvation testimony of a child, a parent, a friend, or someone else you care about, perhaps the promise, Òthose who rebuke the wicked will have delight, And a good blessing will come upon themÓ (Proverbs 24:25), will give you the strength to bring a new challenge to that person.  If it is your own testimony that I bring into question, consider the words of John Bunyan when introducing a similar message:   

This awakening work (if God will make it so) was prepared for thee: if there be need, and it wounds, get healing by blood: if it disquiets, get peace by blood: if it takes away all thou hast, because it was nothing (for this book is not prepared to take away true grace from any), then buy of Christ gold tried in the fire, that thou mayst be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayst be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness doth not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayst see (Revelation 3:18). Self-flatteries, self-deceivings, are easy and pleasant, but damnable. The Lord give thee an heart to judge right of thyself, right of this book, and so prepare for eternity, that thou mayst not only expect entrance, but be received into the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Dear reader, I ask you to read, to pray, to consider these things in your heart.  As I have said to people many times, if my Òexamine your salvationÓ message is wrong, I am merely driving some saints to their knees to examine the condition of their souls, which is always a wise thing to do, and which these days is rarely done.  If the other side is wrong, they are deceiving people into hell by the thousands.  I pray that you will receive these words in the sincere and burdened spirit in which they were given, and allow them to challenge you into determining for yourself, through your own study and prayer, what the Bible really says about salvation.  Paul warns, ÒLet no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.Ó

--Keith Comparetto

 

What is the ÒGospelÓ?

To those who believe in the Bible, it seems like such a simple question:  It is the ÒGood NewsÓ of course Ð the Good News of salvation, of redemption from the slavemarket of sin, of justification before Him who will judge the living and the dead.  But how does one partake of this Good News?  Some would say the answer is a matter of simple confession to God in agreement with the truths of the Gospel, as summarized in part by PaulÕs words to the Corinthians:  ÒFor 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 ScripturesÓ (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  But the simple Òbelieve and confessÓ interpretation of this passage is complicated by PaulÕs qualifiers in verse two, which indicate that one may ÒreceiveÓ the Gospel truths unsavingly:  Òif you keep in memory [or, Òhold fastÓ] and Òunless ye have believed in vain.Ó

Some will refer to Romans 10:9-13, which tells us that salvation involves believing in the heart and confessing with the mouth, which many associate with the sinnerÕs prayer of Luke 18:13, ÒGod, be merciful to me, a sinner.Ó  They cite Romans 10:13 as their proof:  ÒFor whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.Ó  But many consider Òconfess with thy mouthÓ in Romans 10:9 to refer not to a prayer unto salvation, but the voicing of oneÕs profession to the world after oneÕs conversion.  Many godly believers donÕt remember specifically praying a ÒsinnerÕs prayer,Ó but they exhibit the evidences of true belief, and GodÕs Spirit Òbears witnessÓ with theirs that they are children of God (Romans 8:16).  Moreover, most of us know people who have outwardly gone through these ÒbelieveÓ and ÒconfessÓ steps and then gone back to their old ways and beliefs, thus bringing their salvation testimony into question.  As for the sinnerÕs prayer in Luke, it seems to refer to an attitude of the heart and not to a formula for salvation. 

Others prefer to summarize the Gospel with Acts 16:31:  ÒBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.Ó  Still, this summary is inadequate, for the phrase Òand thy houseÓ indicates that the statement was intended for that particular individual and his family whose hearts obviously had already been prepared to receive this message. 

Others will sum up the truths of the Gospel with John 3:16, for many the most beloved Bible verse:  ÒFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.Ó  But as a summary of the Gospel, this verse is also inadequate, for if simple belief brings salvation, then we must assume nearly all of professing Christendom to be saved, and few even modern evangelicals would accept that premise.

Some will take you straight to JesusÕ words to Nicodemus in John chapter three:  ÒYe must be born again.Ó  But this truth is not fully explained in the passage, for how does one go about being Òborn againÓ?  Despite modern notions of Òleading a soul to ChristÓ or Òmaking a decision for Christ,Ó the New Birth is not humanly possible, as Nicodemus himself replied.  It does seem that an important qualification to all of these summarized ÒGospelsÓ is found in this very passage, in JesusÕ explanation to Nicodemus in verses five and eight: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God....The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.Ó  Here, a crucial aspect of the Gospel of Christ is proclaimed:  that salvation is, after all, not a human act but a divine one, one that involves the infusion of GodÕs Spirit into man, and one which perhaps should not be so glibly summarized into a simple formula.  ÒYe must be born againÓ means for certain that to be the beneficiaries of the Good News, we must have a work of God performed in us, and that we must, as the passage indicates, evaluate the reality of that work biblically by the fruit it produces (for we are told in the passage, Òthou hearest the sound thereof,Ó i.e., we see its effects); otherwise we have not truly been Òborn of the Spirit.Ó  

But in the 20th century, the age of mass evangelism, many lost sight of this important truth.  They put into practice human doctrines, systems and methods for winning the world to Christ which swelled the numbers in the church but failed to warn its members that, as not all professing Israel was truly Israel (Romans 9:6), so not all professing Christians, even those in Bible-preaching churches who have prayed a ÒsinnerÕs prayer,Ó are true Christians.  Thus, by abandoning the biblical principle of individual self-examination, they allowed the church to be infiltrated by the unregenerate world.  We would contend the reason for this is that in modern times, there has indeed been preached Òanother gospel, which is not anotherÓ (Gal. 1:6-7). 

The true Gospel has never changed.  The fact is, there is no quick and easy Gospel, for GodÕs truth is given Òprecept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,Ó but those who are truly His will find Him because He has drawn them to seek Him diligently:

ÒMy son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of GodÓ (Proverbs 2:1-5).

The Lessons of Church History

The Reformation and its Aftermath

During the tumultuous time in church history known as the Reformation, those who pored over their Bibles Ð Bibles made even more precious by the blood of the recent martyrs who had died for manÕs freedom to possess them Ð struggled to recover the biblical doctrine of salvation from its association with the manmade additions of Roman Catholicism.  They formulated deep, biblical statements of faith known as Òconfessions,Ó which stood the test of time among GodÕs people for hundreds of years.  Despite minor differences of opinion on matters of church administration and ordinances such as baptism, virtually all of these confessions tenaciously held to the important biblical doctrine which they defined as the Òperseverance of the saints,Ó which states that true salvation makes its possessor a new creation, with a new mind, a new heart, and a new life, the absence of which brings the authenticity of oneÕs faith into question.  Proverbs 4:18 perfectly illustrates this perseverance truth, which is a precious promise to the true believer:  ÒBut the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.Ó

Martin Luther wrote, in the 1500Õs, ÒI believe that there is upon earth a little holy group and congregation of pure saintsÉbrought to it and incorporated into it by the Holy Ghost by having heard and continuing to hear the Word of GodÉ Thus, until the last day, the Holy Ghost abides with the holy congregation or Christendom, by means of which He fetches us to Christ andÉwhereby He works and promotes sanctification, causing [this community] daily to grow and become strong in the faith and its fruits which He produces.Ó 

The Westminster Confession of 1646, which one Baptist historian calls Òthe noblest of all Evangelical creeds,Ó likewise recognized the power of true salvation:  ÒTo all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption, He doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the sameÉ effectually persuading them by His Spirit to believe and obey, and governing their hearts by His Word and SpiritÉ.When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He freeth him from his natural bondage under sin; and, by His grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually goodÉenlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.Ó  These very biblical concepts were retained almost verbatim in the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, in C.H. SpurgeonÕs update of it in 1855, and, in America, in the Philadelphia Baptist Confession of 1742. 

One reason many donÕt point out the statements in the above creeds is that many professing Christians, including many preachers, find that it does not describe their own personal experience.  I plead with them to carefully consider their Òconversion experienceÓ in light of the many biblical proofs upon which the creeds were founded.  One need not read much from the great authors of our religious heritage to realize that most of our most revered preachers of the past, until at least the late 19th century, took the above positions as a matter of fact Ð they assumed Christians loved God and His Word, were separated from the world, and lived in a general pattern of obedience to His commandments and victory over sin, and if they werenÕt, they probably were not in the faith and needed to examine themselves.  John Bunyan, for example, in the 1600Õs spent 20 years of his life in a prison cell with nothing but a Bible and God, and concluded that those who donÕt tend to examining their own profession of faith are likely to miss heaven, for the gate is narrow, and the Savior told us to ÒstriveÓ to enter it.  John Owen, also in the 1600Õs, wrote on this topic in Evidences of the Faith of GodÕs Elect, and Thomas Shepherd, the first president of Harvard, preached a series entitled ÒThe Ten VirginsÓ over an entire school year, challenging his hearers to examine their professions of faith.  Richard Baxter wrote a manual for young preachers and spent much of the book telling ministerial candidates to be sure of their salvation:  ÒTake heed to yourselves,Ó he wrote, Òlest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others, and be strangers to the effectual working of that gospel which you preach; and lest, while you proclaim to the world the necessity of a Savior, your own hearts should neglect him, and you should miss of an interest in him and his saving benefits.Ó 

In fact, nearly all the preachers of the Puritan era made calls to self-examination a regular part of their preaching Ð some perhaps to excess, but they held that it is better to be duly warned and lack assurance than to be falsely assured and lack saving grace.  (In our day, with the pendulum swung so far to the opposite side, I would suggest that we need more self-examination, not less.)  Those who fell short on the Òmarks,Ó or evidences, of saving grace, regardless of what they professed to believe, were viewed not as backslidden but as lost. 

In the 1700Õs, Matthew Henry, one of the most beloved commentators of all time and the one whom Spurgeon advised that all Christians should read on their knees, wrote that it is

the great duty of all who call themselves Christians to examine themselves concerning their spiritual state. We should examine whether we be in the faith, because it is a matter in which we may be easily deceived, and wherein a deceit is highly dangerous: we are therefore concerned to prove our own selves, to put the question to our own souls, whether Christ be in us, or not. 

During the remarkable years of the revival known as the Great Awakening, George Whitefield and John Wesley preached a similar message in their evangelistic efforts.  Jonathan Edwards, who was perhaps the greatest theologian during the time of that revival, looked back on the results of those years which resulted in thousands of new Òconverts,Ó and was so grieved at what he saw in many of those people that he wrote a book (A treatise on Religious Affections) examining what he believed to be the biblical evidences of salvation, and, by contrast, which supposed evidences were false and deceiving ones.  Edwards wrote, ÒIt is no new thing, that much false religion should prevail, at a time of great reviving of true religion, and that at such a time multitudes of hypocrites should spring up among true saints.Ó  His main premise is that it is the affections Ð love for God, for His Word, for His people, etc. Ð that are the best indicators of salvation.  EdwardsÕ conclusion strikes at the heart of what we consider to be a false test of salvation today:  a continual appeal for people to remember their ÒexperienceÓ of salvation, as if that memory had more value in gauging the truth of their conversion than whether their life evidenced the fruits of salvation.  I have met many who were counseled to pray a salvation prayer to gain the assurance of a time and place Òexperience,Ó despite the fact that nowhere is this called for in Scripture.  Edwards wrote, ÒChristian practice is the chief evidence to ourselves, much to be preferred to the method of the first convictions [i.e., the ÒexperienceÓ], enlightenings, comforts, or any immanent discoveries or exercises of grace whatsoever.Ó  Edwards wrote this work as a mature servant of Christ, and his advice would be well-heeded in our day Ð yet how few today seem interested in what he had to say. 

 

The Age of the Great Revivals

In the 1800Õs, Charles Finney, the evangelist usually credited (or blamed) with the invention of the ÒGospel invitation,Ó bemoaned the fact that many of his ÒconvertsÓ did not retain evidences of grace, and wrote about it in Lectures to Professing Christians. C.H. Spurgeon frequently commented on the apparently large numbers of people in the church who did not seem to evidence true salvation, and was troubled at the growing trend even in his day to use programs and entertainment to bring the unsaved masses into the preaching arena.   Regarding evidences of salvation, he said, in a statement rarely quoted today,

A man does not have salvation until he comes by the power of GodÕs Spirit through faith to a living, personal, vital, intimate union with Christ as the Lord. A man is not a Christian until he has a vital union with Christ. A man is not a Christian until he is inseparably joined Ñ personally joined to Jesus Christ. A man is not a Christian until Christ becomes his life. A man is not a Christian unless you can cut into his heart and find love for Christ; cut into his mind and find thoughts of Christ; and cut into his soul and find a panting after Christ. 

Likewise, Charles Hodge, Alfred Barnes, and many other well-known commentators of that era did not take professing converts at their word but pointed out from Scripture the fruit of the genuine Christian.  But by the early 20th century, this important truth was almost dead, having been replaced by a doctrine that makes salvation little more than a ticket to heaven (thus the modern appeal to sinners if they would like to know for sure they are going to heaven), and sanctification in this life becomes little more than an act of human will.  Such a doctrine falls short, first in leaving the unsaved in the church floundering, trying to do that which they do not have the power to do, and secondly in creating within the church a hierarchy of spiritual and unspiritual people.  The truth is that, as GodÕs elect, we are a true brotherhood, all equal in GodÕs eyes: ÒBut we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of usÓ (2 Corinthians 4:7). What brought about this monumental change in doctrine? 

 

Bible Conferences and the Holiness Movement

It seems that a major change in opinion took place in the late 19th century when the Bible conference movement, an outgrowth of the Keswick holiness conferences in England, took hold in America.  These Bible conferences were designed to promote greater holiness among Christians, but as they became more popular among the masses, the great Òperseverance of the saintsÓ doctrine began to fade, being replaced by an increasingly presumptuous doctrine of Òeternal security.Ó  (Of course the true believer is eternally secure; but he is assured of it only as he perseveres in the faith: ÒIf that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father,Ó 1 John 2:24.) 

Encouraging Christians to pursue greater holiness is certainly a worthy enterprise, but the great error of the holiness conferences was its skewing of the very definition of saving faith, which had recognized as essential the inner working of the Holy Spirit in sanctifying every true believer.  With that essential truth glossed over, sanctification increasingly became merely a result of oneÕs dedication or Òcommitment.Ó  The essential holy nature of a true Christian became less important than what a person must do to become holy.  This concept became even more prevalent in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and dominates the modern preacherÕs appeals to his congregation.  Passages such as Psalm 1 and Proverbs 2:1-5, for example, rather than being a factual contrast between the saved and the unsaved man (a theme presented so beautifully in the Psalms and Proverbs), is seen primarily as a list of things the Christian must do to be blessed of God.  This view tears down and makes conditional Ð perhaps even works-oriented Ð one of the central truths of Scripture:  that God loves and blesses His elect, whom He sees as righteous, and in whom He has written His law upon their hearts (Hebrews 8:10), Òboth to will and to do of His good pleasure.Ó(Phil. 2:13).

 

The New Century

In fact, as the holiness doctrine became commonplace and the old truths were forgotten, the very notion of what constitutes a Christian Ð i.e., the baseline Ð was defined downward in a way the early holiness preachers most likely could not have imagined.  This new baseline became the norm as the Bible conference movement was transforming itself into the age of mass evangelism (led by popular evangelists such as D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Bob Jones and others).  To this development was added the new and instantly-popular Scofield reference Bible, one of the first of its kind which boldly placed the authorÕs own notes between the verses of the Scriptural text, in violation of the policy of all well-known Bible societies of the day.  Scofield himself was a lawyer who was converted as an adult, yet one writer points out how this heretofore unknown Bible teacher, by taking the King James Bible and adding his own notes to it, Òassured himself a place in the memory of all who read that version of the Bible.Ó  Scofield was perhaps not even aware how out of the mainstream his ideas were as he made a ÒBiblicalÓ case, whether intentionally or not, for saying that one who merely accepted the facts of Christianity could be considered positionally Òsaved,Ó even though their life showed little evidence to back up that testimony. 

But his ideas spread like a cancer.  One of ScofieldÕs closest disciples was Lewis Sperry Chafer, founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, whose widely influential Systematic Theology took ScofieldÕs ideas and brought them into the seminaries.  John MacArthur, who along with a few others in recent times has attempted to bring back the older and established salvation doctrines (now often termed, for better or for worse, ÒLordship salvationÓ) of Spurgeon and his predecessors, makes the following comment on ChaferÕs theology, which will be confirmed by any serious study of the earlier writers:

Prior to this [the 20th] century, no serious theologian would have entertained the notion that it is possible to be saved yet see nothing of the outworking of regeneration in oneÕs lifestyle or behavior.  In 1918, Lewis Sperry Chafer published He That is Spiritual, articulating the concept that 1 Corinthians 2:15 Ð 3:3 speaks of two classes of Christians: carnal and spiritual.  Chafer wrote, ÒThe ÔcarnalÕ Christian isÉcharacterized by a ÔwalkÕ that is on the same plane as that of the ÔnaturalÕ [unsaved] man.Ó  That was a foreign concept to most Christians in Dr. ChaferÕs generation, but it has become a central basis for a whole new way of looking at the Gospel.

The curiosity created by this new way of thinking about the Bible captured the greater part of the popular evangelists, the professing church, and nearly all the seminaries of that time, to the extent that anyone who questioned it was considered uninformed and out of step with ÒBiblicalÓ doctrine. A few writers at that time (the 1920Õs & 30Õs), notably A.W. Pink, H.A. Ironside, and A.W. Tozer, tried to stem the tide of empty professions, and preached against the shallow evangelism of their day, but they were vastly outnumbered.  Today, though most Christians have never read Chafer, nearly all of the popular Christian writers and preachers of today were spawned in seminaries that were heavily influenced by Chafer and Scofield, and are of what could be termed the Òeasy-believeÓ mentality.  Their ideas dominate most of the popular, even so-called ÒconservativeÓ study Bibles (Scofield, Ryrie, etc.) and most modern Christian books and commentaries (for example, WiersbeÕs BeÉ series) read by millions of Christians and their leaders, who unknowingly accept their presuppositions without question. 

The interconnection of these writers is astounding:  Chafer and Scofield were colleagues who formulated their then-dubious ideas together.  Dallas Theological author/professors John Walvoord and Dwight Pentecost, both enormously influential in formulating Christian intellectual thought along with popular author Charles Ryrie, were ChaferÕs and ScofieldÕs disciples, traveled in their circles, and disseminated their ideas.  After the modern revival of lordship views came to the forefront with John MacArthurÕs The Gospel According to Jesus in 1988, popular author Warren Wiersbe wrote the introduction to his friend Charles RyrieÕs So Great Salvation, a negative response to MacArthurÕs book; and we could go on and on.  All of these men and others exert great influence on the Christian public by injecting a bias into the way passages are interpreted and preached, and thus the way Christians talk about them.  Thus, the salvation doctrine taught in most pulpits across America today is not the time-honored orthodox position of the last 2000 years, but a new doctrine based on the complex and innovative but questionable teachings of a few men and the many who were influenced by them.  Certainly, Òa little leaven has leavened the whole lump.Ó 

Through seminaries, pastors, evangelists, and missionaries, these new doctrines are carried virtually around the world, while the deep, biblical salvation teachings of Bunyan, Edwards, Spurgeon, and others remain buried in old books as the professional Christian world rushes on.  As I discovered these older writings, I wondered why they were never presented at least for consideration during my college days, even to a student like me pursuing a Bible degree; in fact, most books like these are no longer in print. I find it interesting that, while John BunyanÕs PilgrimÕs Progress is one of the most read books in the English language, his writings on the difficulty of salvation are almost universally ignored.  While Jonathan Edwards is revered for his role in the 18th century Great Awaking revival, how few are aware that he spent the rest of his life in deep contemplation about the nature of true saving faith, and questioned the genuineness of a sizeable percentage of the ÒconversionsÓ during the revival years, writing in 1751, ÒHow small a proportion there areÉwho, in the time of the late religious [revival] through the land, had their consciences awakened [i.e., made some profession of faith], who give abiding evidences of a saving conversion to God.Ó  While A.W. PinkÕs The Sovereignty of God is still widely read, his Studies on Saving Faith has been out of print for years.  The salvation testimony of the beloved Spurgeon is often retold, with all of the touching details about the dark, snowy evening and the country preacherÕs appeal to ÒLook and live.Ó  But how few have ever heard that what drew Spurgeon to the Savior was his faith in the desire and certainty that salvation would not merely save him from sin but keep him from it:

The sweetmeat which tempted me to Christ was this: I believed that salvation was an insurance of character. In what better way can a young man cleanse his life than by putting himself into the holy hands of the Lord Jesus, to be kept from falling?  I said, if I give myself to Christ, He will save me from my sins.  Therefore I came to Him, and He keeps me.  O how musical these words, ÔThey shall not depart from me!Õ

(This idea expresses what Paul seems to be saying in Romans 10:10: ÒFor with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.Ó)  And, while A.W. TozerÕs The Pursuit of God is considered a devotional classic, few seem moved by his opposition to shallow professions and the questionable evangelical trends of his day.  Perhaps it is because the message of these men is a Òhard sayingÓ that is not popular with the shallow Christianity of our day, and perhaps the absence of such writings has aided Satan in his mission to deceive souls despite the fact that more people today have more biblical knowledge than at any time in history. 

A Closer Look At Scripure

The above facts may sound like dry historical trivia, but we would be wise to be aware of the ideas that have shaped the way we think about Scripture, for rarely in any age do Christians read the Bible in a vacuum.  And as people of the Book, we must understand that the final details of GodÕs revelation of salvation were given in the writings of the New Testament, not in the writings of primarily 20th century theologians who, whether from good intentions or otherwise have infected our churches with an easy-believe mentality that underlies their entire program. 

Consider the following scenario which can be found to some degree in most evangelical churches today.  An individualÕs acceptance into the church is usually based on whether one could remember a time when they believed the truths of the Gospel and had a Òborn-again experience.Ó  OneÕs Òsalvation testimonyÓ usually recounts when it happened, where it happened, and how they felt when it happened.  If one becomes cold and indifferent to spiritual truth, we are much too quick to say they are Ònot right with God,Ó Òcarnal,Ó Ònot walking with the Lord,Ó or ÒbacksliddenÓ Ð the last term being especially troubling because it is not found in the New Testament at all, and in the Old Testament it is almost exclusively used for unbelieving Israel, which Hebrews 3 & 4 indicate were not saved people at all.  Preachers give constant appeals for apathetic ÒChristiansÓ to Òcome backÓ to God or to Òget rightÓ with Him, despite the hard truth presented in such Scriptures as Col. 1:22-23, which says that Christ died Òto present you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable in His sightÑif ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heardÓ Ð thus indicating that those who become cold and indifferent should first be considered lost. 

Of course even true Christians may be found in various stages of development and maturity; but if God has indeed saved a person, that salvation has great power and meaning.  A powerless salvation, at any age or at any stage, is not a genuine one, for, as Spurgeon said, ÒBeloved, believe in God to keep you faithful and earnest all your lifeÉtake a ticket all the way throughÉOther tickets are forgeries.Ó

The New Theology

God has placed within His Word many warnings directed at those who fellowship among the saints but are, in truth, children of Satan.  In most cases these people are blind to their own condition, for as Scripture says, Òthe heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked Ð who can know it?Ó (Jer. 17:9).  But their blindness is reinforced by the preaching they are hearing, which dogmatically holds to interpretations that are rarely found among Christian authors prior to the late 1800Õs.  We do not suggest that there is no room for differences of interpretation among good men; but when the Scriptures are always preached with the same bent (as in the following examples), with regular invitations to Òget right with GodÓ (as in most evangelical churches today), the result can destroy peopleÕs souls.  Some of these interpretations include the following: 

1.  The falling-away passages in the book of Hebrews (chapters 2 & 3; 6:1-7; 10:26-31, and others) are preached as if speaking to backsliders, not to those who are lost.  No great preachers or commentators I know of prior to the 20th century take such a view of Hebrews.  In fact, most write that the book of Hebrews contains many serious warnings to those in the church who are trusting in false confidences, and thus are lost.  Even if such people are challenged on their lack of love for the Lord and His Word, the challenge is powerless because they have already been given a theological underpinning for believing that they can live in a long-term, cold-hearted condition and merely be ÒbacksliddenÓ!  To such presumptuous professors, Spurgeon said,

Beware, I pray thee, of presuming that thou art saved. If thy heart be renewed, if thou shalt hate the things that thou didst once love, and love the things that thou didst once hate; if thou hast really repented; if there be a thorough change of mind in thee; if thou be born again, then thou hast reason to rejoice; but if there be no vital change, no inward godliness; if there be no love to God, no prayer, no work of the Holy Spirit, then thy saying ÔI am savedÕ is but thine own assertion, and it may delude, but it will not deliver thee.Ó

2.  To preach that professing Christians who live a lifestyle characterized by serious sin, covetousness and all manner of worldliness must be saved simply because these sins are discussed in epistles addressed to Òthe brethren,Ó Òthe saints,Ó Òthe church,Ó Òall who are sanctified,Ó etc., ignores the fact that virtually all of the New Testament writers put forth clear warnings to the unsaved, even in the very books with these introductions.  Paul, for example, addresses the book of Romans Òto all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints,Ó but chapter 2 as well as other sections clearly speaks to self-righteous, unsaved Jews.  He introduces the epistles to the Corinthians in a similar manner, but both books contain warnings to the unsaved, including 1 Corinthians 15:2 and 2 Corinthians 13:5.  In the epistle to the Ephesians, addressed to Òthe saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus,Ó he warns them in Ephesians 5:6-7, ÒLet no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.  Be not ye therefore partakers with them,Ó i.e., with those who are lost. (Similar warnings include Romans 8:6-9, Galatians 5:19-21 and many others.) 

In other epistles, the writer of Hebrews, though often directing his comments to Òbrethren,Ó likewise warns, ÒLet us labour [i.e., Òbe diligentÓ], therefore, to enter into [GodÕs] rest, lest any man fall after the same example of disobedienceÓ (Heb. 4:11), and Òlooking diligently lest anyone fail [or Òfall shortÓ] of the grace of GodÓ (Heb. 12:15).  James, also frequently speaking to Òbrethren,Ó (in his case probably referring merely to fellow Jews), addresses those who are, among other things Òdouble-minded,Ó Òadulterers and adulteresses,Ó Òenemies of God,Ó and Òsinners,Ó terms which nearly all older commentators considered descriptions of the unsaved, but which today are usually preached as admonitions to the saved.  Peter, addressing his second epistle Òto those who have obtained like precious faith with us,Ó warned his readers to make their Òcalling and election sureÓ (2 Peter 1:10); and John, despite his frequent use of the terms ÒbrethrenÓ or Òmy little children,Ó wrote his entire first epistle to put his readers to the test of true faith, suggesting that those who did not keep His commandments were ÒliarsÓ with Òno truth in themÓ (1 John 2:4). 

The same could be said of references to church relationships with Òbrothers.Ó  Sometimes the address is qualified, such as 1 Corinthians 5:11, which commands us Ònot to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner.Ó   But 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, which has a parallel theme, calls such a person simply Òa brother,Ó a term which earlier commentators such as John Gill recognized merely Òin an ecclesiastical sense, a church member,  who is called a brother,  though he may not be really a child of God,  one of the brethren of Christ,  or born of the Spirit.Ó 

Commentator Charles Hodge gives a basic principle of interpretation for all of these general addresses: 

It is not to be inferred from the fact that the apostle addresses all the nominal ChristiansÉas ÔsaintsÕ and as Ôsanctified in Christ Jesus,Õ that they were all true believers, or that those terms express anything more than external consecration. Men are uniformly addressed in Scripture according to their profession. If they profess to be saints, they are called saints; if they profess to be believers, they are called believers; and if they profess to be members of the church, they are addressed as really belonging to it.Ó 

3.  Matthew 11:28-30 (ÒCome unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is lightÓ) is presented as a series of levels to which aspiring believers may attain, whereas most notable earlier authors believe this passage is a basic definition of salvation which applies to any who would claim Christ as their own. A.W. Pink said it well:

No one can receive Christ as his Savior while he rejects Him as Lord. It is true, the preacher adds, that the one who accepts Christ should also surrender to Him as Lord, but he at once spoils it by asserting that, though the convert fails to do so, nevertheless Heaven is sure to him. That is one of the DevilÕs lies. 

4.  Matthew 16:24-26 (ÒThen said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?Ó) is usually given an easy-believe bent.  Modern preachers and commentators claim that these verses tell Christians how they can be more ÒspiritualÓ if they take their faith to this level, similar to how an average athlete becomes a super, Olympics athlete.   Why then is it followed with a verse warning a person about losing his soul?

5.  To preach passages like Isaiah 5, the parable of the wild grapes (and other similar passages in the Old Testament), to refer to Christians who backslide and can fall to the point where God must burn their hedge, tear down their wall, and trample them down (thus, resulting in a ruined life), is the typical modern easy-believe interpretation: i.e., to take the wickedness of unbelieving Israel, and apply it to a backsliding Christian.  (This is especially common with New Testament passages referring to Old Testament events such as 1 Corinthians 10:1-12.) I believe such a message is completely contrary to the Scriptural teaching that those who live wickedly will not inherit the Kingdom of God:  ÒBut with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinnedÉto whom he sware that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?Ó (Heb. 3:17-18).  I find it interesting that some of the same theologians who say the Old Testament promises to Israel do not apply to the New Testament church, try to apply the curses to unbelieving Israel to New Testament Christians.  These Old Testament people of God do not represent His spiritual seed, and to make such an analogy deceives many.  I believe God will extend mercy to the Jews in the future when He restores them as a nation, but individuals, then and now, Jewish or gentile, who persist in their rebellion and unbelief did not and will not enter into ÒGodÕs rest,Ó for without holiness, Òno man shall see the LordÓ (Heb. 12:14). 

6.  To preach the Òcarnal ChristiansÓ passage in 1 Corinthians 3 as a reference to a ÒcarnalÓ class of Christians who are in a carnal ÒstateÓ and remain there for an indefinite period of time is not being honest with an important passage of Scripture. The people here are described as being guilty of certain carnal behaviors, not a chronic condition, a condition Charles Ryrie defends when he says, ÒCertainly we can admit that if there can be hours and days when a believer can be unfruitful, then why may there not also be months and even years when he can be in that condition?Ó  (Spurgeon, by contrast, said, ÒIf the grace of God has really changed you, you are radically and lastingly changed.Ó)  Since Romans 8:6 tells us that Òto be carnally minded is death,Ó we can understand why Paul would later warn those who persisted in such behavior to examine their professions of faith to be sure they were genuine (as in 1 Corinthians 15:2 and 2 Corinthians 13:5).  (Interestingly, the behavior Paul has just charged them with, the tendency to praise and follow celebrity preachers, is common in our day and is rarely condemned, even though Paul himself commanded them to Òlet no man glory in men,Ó 1 Cor. 3:21.)

7.  The parable of the seed and the sower is preached as a parable about how the Word of God falls on the hearts of Christians.   But the passage indicates that only one of the four bears any fruit, thus only one is saved.  To preach it otherwise is to allow those who are ÒunfruitfulÓ because they are, for example, distracted by riches and the cares of this world, to be deceived into a false sense of security.

8.  To preach the parable of the prodigal son as the story of a Christian coming back from a backslidden condition, rather than as a story of salvation, is a modern-day interpretation.  It is indeed, first of all, a story of salvation:  Jesus used it to convey to the Pharisees why He bypassed them and went directly to the publicans and sinners, and perhaps even to foreshadow GodÕs intention to offer salvation to the gentiles Ð thus, the anger and jealousy of the second brother, representing the Jews.  But it is also a beautiful picture of an individualÕs salvation:  the unsaved person takes the provision of his Maker and squanders it on riotous living; because of the natural consequences of ungodly behavior, he finds himself in a pitiful condition; in his despair, he Òcomes to himselfÓ (i.e., he is ÒenlightenedÓ), then comes to his father in deep repentance, much as the publican who prayed, ÒGod, be merciful to me, a sinner.Ó  His father, like God, has been awaiting his return, kisses him, and puts Òthe best robeÓ Ð the robe of righteousness Ð on him.  To make this into a backslider story denigrates GodÕs saving power and makes a mockery of the Scriptural truths of salvation, because it makes it to be of so little value that it could not keep a sinner from such a woeful condition:  ÒHe leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His nameÕs sake!Ó

9.  To preach that Christians can be the object of GodÕs wrath and fiery indignation (as is often preached in Heb. 10:27); calling Christians Òsinners,Ó Òadulterers and adulteresses,Ó Òenemies of God,Ó (as preached in James 4); saying a Christian can backslide to the point where God will Òabhor youÓ (as in Lev. 26), and your life will be Òlaid wasteÓ (as preached in Isaiah 5) confuses the difference between ÒMy peopleÓ as unbelieving Israel and ÒMy peopleÓ as the saved remnant.  It also ignores the loving Father-son relationship between God and His true children, Òthe Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ÔAbba, Father.ÕÓ Can a father imagine thinking of his own child in the above negative terms? 

10.  To preach that the people in the church at Laodicaea (Rev. 3:13-20) were believers who had become lukewarm or complacent in their service to God seems to ignore the clear meaning of the passage.  The adjectives applied to them are those which Scripture frequently applies to the unsaved: Òwretched,Ó Òmiserable,Ó Òblind,Ó and Ònaked.Ó  The Lord advises them with words indicative of their need for salvation, especially Òwhite raimentÓ suggesting the white robes of salvation, and Òeye salveÓ to heal the spiritual blindness of a lost person, for, as mentioned above, the saved are not blind because they have the indwelling Spirit of God who teaches them. Can a believer, one of GodÕs elect, be so repugnant to God that He would vomit His own child, whom He sees as righteous (not by his own works but by the blood of Christ), out of His mouth?

Sin and the Christian

Those who preach the above interpretations would say they are simply acknowledging the presence of sin in the life of the Christian, which is indeed a biblical truth, for John says that ÒIf we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in usÓ (1 John 1:8).  In fact, I would suggest that no one is more aware of the reality of sin in their life than a true Christian.  To deny it would be both unreasonable and unbiblical:  ÒIf we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.Ó (1 Jn. 1:8)  We are painfully aware of it as Christians, as Paul was when he admitted that Òthe good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do,Ó and then cried out, ÒO wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?Ó (Rom. 7:19, 24).  As Spurgeon said, ÒThe man who is converted cannot live as he likes; or rather, he is so changed by the Holy Spirit that if he could live as he likes, he would never sin.Ó 

The case of Old Testament saints is especially significant.  Lot, who Òpitched his tent toward Sodom,Ó though he was Òvexed with the filthy conversation of the wickedÓ [i.e., ÒtroubledÓ by it], is nowhere said to have participated in their wicked behavior:  ÒFor that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deedsÓ (2 Peter 2:8).  Even the cowardly offering of his daughters to the wicked men of Sodom was, as far as the text tells us, a one-time event and not a lifelong behavior, and it is perhaps noteworthy that even in such a wicked city as Sodom, we are told that his daughters were still virgins.  When we consider David, it is natural to think of the enormity of his sin and say, ÒLook how far David went into sin!Ó  But we find that the sin and its cover-up occupied him for only a few months, a year at the most, and when he was confronted with it, he, like Peter in the New Testament, immediately repented and wept bitterly, as recorded in Psalm 38:3-6: 

ÒThere is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.   For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.   My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.   I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.Ó 

In other words, he responded as a true believer, and when we look at the life of David through his writings, we see a man who loved God with such intensity that God called him Òa man after GodÕs own heart.Ó  Thus, we see the truth of Hebrews 12:11:  ÒNow no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.Ó

Another common backslider example is Jonah, who ran from God, yet the time span of his sin as presented in the book is only a day or so, and he was immediately, severely and supernaturally chastised.  Solomon is much more of an enigma, but we must admit that there is much we do not know about him.  We do not know the exact timeline of his life:  when he was saved, which of his books were written when, etc.  Furthermore, the doctrine of Old Testament salvation is in itself difficult to know with precision.  Certainly it was by faith, which manifested itself in obedience toward God, just as in the New Testament.  But many believe that the reality of an indwelling Spirit of God, residing permanently in every true believer, was not known in the Old Testament, as Paul indicates when he says, ÒI am made a minister...to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints....which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.Ó   Certainly, there is no mention of a New Birth in the Old Testament, but it is not only spoken of but mandatory in the New Testament:  ÒYe must be born again.Ó  It is thus unwise to build a doctrine of salvation based on incomplete information in the Old Testament when we have a more perfect explanation of it in the New Testament. 

My point is that we cannot take these challenges, nor our own personal experiences, to contradict the plain meaning of other Scriptures.  Professing Christians often justify their sin and coldness of heart by comparing themselves favorably with the examples given above and with the Old Testament children of Israel, whose sins are catalogued in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, a passage often preached to exhort Christians to live a more committed Christian life.  But Paul is warning his Corinthian audience here not to imitate the children of Israel, many of whom Òwere destroyed of the destroyerÓ (1 Corinthians 10:10) and according to Hebrews 3:12-19 were unbelievers. 

In the New Testament, John Mark is often preached as an example of a Òbackslider,Ó even though it must be admitted that we know very little about him.  We know only that Paul Òthought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work,Ó but that later, Paul wrote to Timothy, ÒTake Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.Ó  He does not say that he was once Òunprofitable,Ó in the sense of Òbackslidden,Ó for we know nothing of the reason Mark departed from them. Evidently Barnabas, also a godly man, did not seem troubled by MarkÕs departure.  Perhaps Mark did not feel the Spirit was leading him in that direction, or that he was qualified for the ministry with Paul at that time.   Perhaps it was simply a matter of spiritual immaturity; but it should not be extrapolated that Mark walked away from the Lord or got involved in long-time serious sin, and thus was an example of the modern Òbackslider,Ó when the text does not tell us so. 

The Indivisible Truth

Again, we are not preaching that sinless perfection is attainable in this life.  But if we say a Christian can look just like the unsaved person for indefinite periods of time, we make a mockery of 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says that Òif any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,Ó a truth that is reinforced throughout the Bible, including the following passages: 

Psalm 23:1-3:  ÒThe LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his nameÕs sake.Ó  (How many will trust Psalm 23:4, ÒYea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,Ó as GodÕs preparing them for death, while forgetting that the rest of the Psalm declares GodÕs work in the believer for life?  Salvation is a sovereign work of God, with power to lead the believer into righteousness; Sanctification is GodÕs work, and it is done in all Christians, so that only He gets the glory.  This is indeed the Gospel the Apostles preached, and the one Òthat you received.Ó  How is God glorified in a salvation that leaves a person in a condition little different from his natural state?)

Proverbs 2:6-8:  ÒFor the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.  He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.  He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.Ó (Yes, we are also commanded in Prov. 4, ÒKeep thy heart with all diligence,Ó but according to this passage, there is an unseen power making it possible for us to keep that commandment.)

Rom. 2:5-9:  ÒBut after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:  But unto them that are contentious [or Òself-seekingÓ], and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguishÉÓ  (Those who are perpetually ÒbacksliddenÓ should see which half of this verse applies to them, and should be fearing the wrath of God, not the absence of rewards.)

Rom. 6:12-22:  ÒLet not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousnessÉ.But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.Ó  (The fruit of salvation is stated as a fact, not as a Òshould be.Ó)

Rom. 8:1, 6, 9, 13-14:  ÒThere is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the SpiritÉ. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peaceÉ. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of HisÉ. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.Ó (The Òcarnal ChristianÓ is accepted as a given in the church, but those who live in a perpetual state of carnality, according to this passage, are flirting with spiritual death.)

2 Cor. 5:17: ÒTherefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.Ó (He ÒisÓ a new creation, not Òought to be.Ó  The true Christian loves God, which is evidenced by the reality that he now longs for Him and delights in His Word, Ps. 119:174!  The truth is as Spurgeon said:  ÒMany people think that when we preach salvation, we mean salvation from going to Hell.  We do mean that, but we mean a great deal moreÉ we mean that He is able to save him from sin and make him a new man.Ó)

Gal. 5:22-24:  ÒBut the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  And they that are ChristÕs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.Ó  (It says Òhave crucified,Ó not Òshould crucify.Ó)

Col. 1:21-23:  ÒAnd you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard.Ó  (Most of us know many professing Christians who fall away into deep sin.  Many will never come back to church, and of them we will rightly say, ÒThey went out from usÉthat it might be made manifest that they were not of us.Ó  But many others will eventually come back to church or Òback to the LordÓ when they are burdened by their own guilt, a natural consequence of sin even in an unsaved person, which demonstrates Òthe work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one anotherÓ (Romans 2:15).  Some of these will even come back with great joy and become excited and active in the church again, but if Biblical salvation is indeed as this verse describes it, these people need to be seriously questioned about their salvation before they are accepted back into the embrace of the assembly of saints.  But this verse has further implications. If those who choose to remain in what they admit to be a ÒbacksliddenÓ condition would consider that perhaps they are not just sacrificing closeness to God but are playing with their eternal destiny, many would consider their condition more carefully Ð for it is not saying a prayer or making an emotional profession that brings one to salvation, but as Jesus said, we must Òstrive to enter in at the strait [narrow] gate,Ó for wide is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to life.  Or, as Peter wrote, ÒBe diligent to make your calling and election sure.Ó

1 Timothy 4:16:  ÒTake heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.Ó  (Do those who tell of a salvation experience but then grow cold and indifferent to the things of God have a right to boast confidently that they are saved?  And who could imagine that Paul would have to remind even Timothy of this warning?)

Titus 2:13-14:  ÒLooking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;   Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.Ó  (If this does not happen in a ÒsavedÓ personÕs life, or if it happens but then they fall away, what does it say about their ÒredemptionÓ?)

Hebrews 8:8-10:  ÒÉBehold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.Ó  (This passage quotes Jeremiah 31:31-33, echoed in Ezekiel 36:26-28, which speaks of a future day when the nation of Israel will turn back to God and He will supernaturally change their hearts to obey Him, and will remember their sin no more. This Hebrews passage then goes on to indicate that this prophecy was now coming to pass with the coming of Christ Ð i.e., it is a description of every New Testament believer.  Many believe it will be fulfilled on a national scale at a future time.)

1 John 2:3-5:  ÒAnd hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.Ó  (Does one whose life is characterized by a continual struggle with serious sin and with a lack of love towards God and His Word have the right to be confident about his salvation?)

Jude 1:24:   Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.Ó  (Can a person who is always struggling with and/or stumbling into major sin say confidently that he is saved?)

Biblical Assurance

These passages should serve to rejoice the heart of the true believer who sees God working in him Òboth to will and to do.Ó   We believe God desires that all of His saints would have the assurance that they have been partakers of the grace of God: ÒBeloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward GodÓ (1 Jn. 3:21). Just as the Israelites were told that God would work miracles among them Òthat ye may know that I am the LORD,Ó every New Testament saint upon salvation is given the inner witness of Òthe spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,Ó Òthe earnest [or Òdown paymentÓ] of our inheritance,Ó which works in the inner man resulting in Òthe eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saintsÓ  (Ephesians 1:14-19). 

But assurance in this modern age has become, in most evangelical circles, an end in itself, to be held almost as a basic right of all church members who have prayed a sinnerÕs prayer, whether or not they have experienced or give evidence of these workings of the Spirit; and those who struggle over assurance are counseled for the quick cure, often with an Òassurance verseÓ such as 1 John 5:13, which says, ÒThese things have I written unto you, that ye may know that you have eternal lifeÉÓ  This verse is often misunderstood to support the notion that a lack of confidence about oneÕs salvation or causing others to lack confidence is not of faith or is even sinful; thus, it is often pointed out to a new ÒconvertÓ to give him immediate assurance.  It is used in appeals given from pulpits such as, ÒHow many of you know for sure you are going to heaven?Ó These appeals fail to consider, first, that self-deceit about oneÕs soul is the natural state of the unsaved man, and giving Bible verses out of context that perpetuate that self-deceit can lead one to hell.  Furthermore, they fail to consider that assurance does not come from the Bible alone; it is the combined result of the truths of GodÕs Word, an individualÕs awareness of them, the evidences of saving grace working in his life, and the inner witness Holy Spirit, the last three of which cannot be known by any other human being.  To carelessly impart assurance to a new convert before we see these evidences is extremely dangerous, as pointed out by Dr. John Duncan, who observed in the late 19th century, ÒWhen the doctrine of assurance [as] being necessarily contained in faith (as to be essential to it) gets into a church, in the second generation it gets habituated to the use of the highest appropriating language by dead, carnal men.Ó  I fear that this describes most churches in our day.

I have heard of people lacking assurance being told that without assurance, one Òallows Satan to have the victory.Ó  How is it possible for Òhe that is in the worldÓ to have the victory over ÒHe that is in youÓ?  To the contrary, I would suggest that Satan has the ultimate victory by keeping an assured but lost soul ignorant of his true lost condition.  The truth is, no professing believer who is living in a long-term backslidden condition, spiritually indifferent, with little affection for God or His Word, or under the dominion of major sin, has the right to claim biblical assurance.

Assurance is only for those whose life and affections back up their testimony:  ÒMy little children, let us love not in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before himÓ (1 John 3:18-19).  We canÕt take 1 John 5:13 out of context and ignore the rest of the book, which is a self-test by which those who profess salvation may determine whether or not they are in the faith.  John repeatedly points out that mere words do not make a true saint:  ÒIf we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truthÓ (1 John 1:6);  ÒIf a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liarÓ (1 John 4:20);  ÒHe that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in himÓ (1 John 2:4);  ÒHe that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until nowÓ (1 John 2:9).  Why are we overly eager to claim the assurance of 1 John 5:13, while at the same time ignoring or glossing over the discomfiting implications of all of these verses and others in the same book, such 1 John 2:15, which says, ÒIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in himÓ?

Another favorite Òassurance passageÓ is 2 Peter 1:19:  ÒWe have also a more sure word of prophecy,Ó and is used to indicate that we base our salvation on the Bible, not on our feelings.  In this case, a common pulpit appeal is for people to raise their hands if they would like to know from the Bible how they can go to heaven.  It is true that the Bible is indeed the source of all we can know about salvation; but one must evaluate oneÕs own condition not only on what the Bible says about the facts of salvation, but about the fruits of salvation.  If the person lacks assurance, they first need to determine if their life, not their memory of an experience, gives evidence of true salvation Ð or bears the Òmarks of grace,Ó as some Puritans expressed it. If they are not sure, they should be advised to spend time in GodÕs Word and on their knees, and allow Him to give assurance or take it away.  As for re-praying the sinnerÕs prayer Òjust in case,Ó it has no biblical basis; it accomplishes nothing, and could indeed make one more a child of hell than he is already.

I would suggest that the widespread use of these unbiblical assurance teachings and misguided appeals in evangelical Christianity is the great error of our day, and has resulted in an almost unreachable generation of fruitless professors, like those of whom Spurgeon said,

They say they are saved, and they stick to it; they simply are, and they think it wicked to doubt it; but yet they have no reason to warrant their confidence. There is a great difference between presumption and full assurance.  Full assurance is reasonable: it is based on solid ground.  Presumption takes for granted, and with brazen face pronounces that to be its own to which it has no right whatever.

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

Some would argue that, because Christians are repeatedly told to do certain things, it is of course possible that they are able to be in a state of not doing them.  In a sense this is technically possible Ð but it is akin to saying Jesus could have sinned because God can do anything Ð but it does not take into consideration GodÕs many proclamations of what the indwelling Spirit of God will do for us and in us.  For example, we are told in Jude 1:21, Òkeep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.Ó  But 1Pe 1:5 says that Christians Òare kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.Ó  Likewise, James 4:7 says, ÒResist the devil and he will flee from you,Ó but 2 Thessalonians 3:3 promises that Òthe Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you and keep you from evil,Ó and 1 John 5:18 says, Òhe that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.Ó  Titus 2:11 lays the responsibility for godly living on us when it commands, ÒFor the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.Ó  But in the next verses we are given the wonderful promise that our Savior Ògave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.Ó   Philippians 2:12 commands us to Òwork out your own salvation with fear and tremblingÓ; yet the next verse tells us, Òfor it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.Ó  In 1Thessalonians 5:22 we are told, ÒAbstain from all appearance of evil,Ó yet 2 Timothy 4:18 pronounces it done:  ÒAnd the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom. To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen!Ó 

I believe it is the dividing of deep truths like this that Paul is referring to when he exhorts Timothy to Òrightly divide the word of truth,Ó for the Bible preaches a double-sided message:  yes, Christians should do these things, but that does not negate the fact that Christians are these things.  The modern church has erred on the side of the former, and to a large extent abandoned the latter, thus invoking the admonition of Galatians 3:3: ÒAre ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?Ó

Seeing, But Not Perceiving

The truth has rarely been preserved in the large institutions of Christendom.  God has indeed allowed error to rule the masses for nearly all of church history. His true church has existed as a small remnant, either outside of or within the large institutions, and it seems He has always allowed the insincere to be deceived.  In Matthew 13:13-15, Jesus indicated that it was no different in His day than it was in earlier days, and  we would argue that it is no different today:

Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:  For this peopleÕs heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Eating the Bread of Deceit

ÒBread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravelÓ (Proverbs 20:17).  Perhaps Satan has reserved his most clever ploy for the last days:  for deceived individuals to sit in churches where the Bible is recognized as the inspired Word of God, often participating actively in its programs and mouthing its doctrinal beliefs, while remaining under the dominion of their sins, lacking in their spiritual affections, and deceived by an unregenerate heart.  Often the church plays into SatanÕs hands by too eagerly making the assumption that their new ÒconvertsÓ are truly saved before the furnace of affliction has proved them to be genuine, thus forgetting the teaching of our Lord in the parable of the sower, in which one of the responders exhibits a counterfeit conversion:  ÒHe heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.Ó  The modern church is not blameless when we consider the reality that ÒconversionsÓ like this, and the boastings in numbers of ÒconvertsÓ that often accompany them, are commonplace in our day. 

My Bible education and all of my church experience took place in a number of Òconservative, evangelicalÓ institutions, and over the years I saved virtually every piece of literature, every tract, every preaching and teaching outline I had ever received.  As I began to examine these things more closely, I looked back in my files through the personal evangelism materials I had collected, and found that in nearly all of them, repentance is barely even mentioned, and even when it is, it is given little more than lip service Ð not the serious, probing emphasis that it deserves.  In its place are salesmanship and methods:  ÒHow to get in the door,Ó ÒHow to break the ice,Ó ÒHow to draw the net,Ó and other techniques and gimmicks to get people to make an emotional Òdecision.Ó   Summaries of the Gospel abound, and it seems they become more and more oversimplified.

The results of this kind of Òevangelism trainingÓ are often counterfeit converts.  Consider what may be the typical new ÒconvertÓ in most evangelical churches today.  They are welcomed into the church through an outreach program such as a musical performance, outing, retreat, sports event or youth activity.  They are given an appeal to Òaccept ChristÓ or Òtrust Christ as your personal SaviorÓ and, often in an emotional moment, pray the sinnerÕs prayer and are Òsaved.Ó  Or perhaps they come into the church already having a testimony of Òaccepting ChristÓ as a child (maybe even Òled to ChristÓ by another child or young person, who himself had no true understanding of the New Birth), but have been ÒbackslidingÓ or Òaway from GodÓ for years, and now want to give their life for Christ. They are encouraged to join the church and, perhaps shortly after, asked to serve in a church ministry, often an outreach program like the one that drew them in.  They then go out and invite others to Òcome to ChristÓ in the same manner in which they did. 

An ABC Nightline broadcast a few years ago on the topic of Òthe making of an evangelist,Ó showed on camera an evangelist-in-training at a conservative Christian college supposedly Òleading someone to Christ.Ó  As the woman was led by the evangelist in a ÒsinnerÕs prayer,Ó her eyes were open and she showed little outward evidence of one going through true penitence and confession unto salvation.  This is no criticism of the young evangelist, who was probably very sincere in his efforts; but perhaps it speaks much of his teachers and those who touted the program as a vehicle to reach the lost, who evidently did little to make this young man fear the devastating spiritual consequences of leaving an individual deceived into thinking she was saved, when she probably was not Ð not to mention those across the country who saw the broadcast and may also have been deceived.  This is, after all, GodÕs work, and we must not deceive many even to win one, for Òcursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfullyÓ (Jer. 48:10).

But God is sovereign, and can work even when gross error and deceit are present.  In some cases, one professing faith under the above conditions may have been truly saved and become a Ònew creationÓ in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  Yet often, it seems, such individuals never evidence true salvation, as manifested by a hungering and thirsting after God and the Bible, a desire to be separate from the world, a spirit of prayer, obedience to Christ, a decreasing pattern of sin in oneÕs life, etc.  They may remain in the church, often Òserving,Ó but their heart and life have never been truly transformed.  Yes, we do have certain expectations about one who claims to be saved, but in most of our churches, as long as they donÕt boast about their sin or do it too openly, such a person may sit for years, listening to message after message about forsaking their backsliding, getting Òback into fellowship with GodÓ or getting busy for God, and never again be challenged seriously to consider whether their salvation was genuine!  We must be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that there are many such people in our churches today.

The children in our churches also frequently have empty professions of faith reinforced, often year after year, as they are rewarded with candy and prizes for memorizing the Bible or ÒevangelizingÓ by bringing others in.  The children often learn a simplified Gospel, such as the Wordless Book or Gospel Hand:  God loves me, I am a sinner, Christ died for me, if I receive Him, I may have eternal life.  Since this presentation, if not qualified, makes no mention of repentance, it is teaching a partial truth which in effect is an untruth.  If one makes a shallow profession, it is reinforced with songs like ÒIf youÕre saved and you know it, clap your hands,Ó and ­­­­­­ÒIÕm going to heaven, canÕt wait!Ó  When they are teenagers, we urge them to go to camp where they are worked up emotionally with fun, games, and camaraderie, then preached a message and encouraged to Òmake a decisionÓ for Christ.  When they come home, they give testimonies about how great their week at camp was and how great God worked. In the end, with all the tears and emotion aside, how much true, Biblical, lifelong repentance are we seeing?  As Spurgeon rightly said, ÒThe work that is done in regeneration is not a temporary work, by which a man is, for a time, reformed; but it is an everlasting work, by which the man is born for heaven.Ó

When we give people little idea of the need for a deep, soul-searching repentance or of the cost of being JesusÕ disciple, we should not be surprised if they never live up to it, for many of them were never truly savedÑonly deceived.  This is why Jesus taught that "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of GodÓ (Lu. 9:62); and on the same subject, ÒAnd whoseever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?Ó (Lu. 14:27-28)  If they fall away from church, we will doubt their salvation based on 1 John 2:19:  ÒThey 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.Ó  But if they remain in the church, or return and get ÒservingÓ (and many will, especially as they grow up, have children, seek respectability or simply desire to be a Ògood personÓ), they will blend in just like tares among the wheat.  John MacArthur comments,

You may have heard someone, when he is getting baptized, say, ÒI received Christ when I was twelve, but my life was a mess after that, and now I want to get back to the faith.Ó  The truth probably is that he never received Christ at all when he was twelve.  He went through some superficial religious activity and was deceived into thinking he was saved as a result. 

Of course, the typical church unwittingly teaches clever ways for such unsaved people to avoid the implications of many passages of Scripture, thus allowing them to sit among the saved, often brimming with false assurance, and with little fear of GodÕs final judgment.  When the church carelessly allows fruitless salvation testimonies to remain unchallenged, and these lost people find themselves condemned before a holy God, what legitimate accusations will they level at the churches that have led them to such a fate?  And what responsibility do the leaders and members of these churches have to avoid such a charge?

The Simple Gospel

The church has indeed become too sophisticated in how it ignores or dispenses with the many passages that make worldly and ungodly professing believers comfortable within the body.  In 2 Corinthians 11:1-4, Paul expressed the burden of his heart toward the Corinthian church: 

ÒWould to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.Ó

I would contend that the church of today has also been corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ, as modern ultra-dispensational theology has created a massive and complicated system which relies on the following arguments to explain away simple and basic Gospel truths: 

1.  Where ChristÕs lordship is so clearly expressed in passages in the Gospels such as Matthew 16:24, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me,Ó modern theologians tell us Jesus is preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, a dispensation of Law, not the Gospel Paul preached which is one of grace.  (No pre-20th century commentator I know of holds this view.)  Thus, there really are two Gospels, though Jesus never really told us so, and the one He Himself preached is not the one for us.  This view of ScofieldÕs is the accepted view of probably the majority of evangelicals today, whether or not they openly articulate it or even recognize it. (We are not here taking issue with the basic dispensational concept that GodÕs plan for national Israel is different from His plan for the New Testament church; but when the Bible is divided and subdivided into dispensations not clearly marked in Scripture, average Christians become confused, while Christian ÒleadersÓ become exalted as the only ones ÒtrainedÓ enough to understand what the Bible really means.  This is a kind of elitism that is incompatible with the fact that all true believers are said to have Òthe mind of Christ,Ó and have Òmore understanding than all their teachers.Ó)

2.  When our Lord expresses the conditions of salvation in Matthew 11:28-30 (ÒCome unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.Ó), modern theologians see in it not one rest but two:  a rest in salvation and, for those who desire to go to the next level, a rest in service.  We would suggest that this Scofield view requires assent to a complex set of assumptions, and it leads one away from the central truth that genuine salvation is all one needs to find true rest in Christ, and that one who has refused ChristÕs yoke has no claim to the ChristÕs saving benefits.

3.  When repentance from oneÕs sin is stated as an essential element of salvation in Scripture, modern theologians use complex explanations from the Greek to say that the ÒrepentÓ simply means to have a change of mind about oneÕs sin and about Christ; that if one has Òbelieved,Ó he has in fact also Òrepented.Ó  Spurgeon commented on this interpretation as it gained popularity in his day: 

Just now some professedly Christian teachers are misleading many by saying that Ôrepentance is only a change of mind.'  It is true that the original word does convey the idea of a change of mind; but the whole teaching of Scripture concerning the Òrepentance which is not to be repented ofÓ is that it is a much more radical and complete change than is implied by our common phrase about changing one's mind.  The repentance that does not include sincere sorrow for sin is not the saving grace that is wrought by the Holy Spirit.

In one sense, those who hold insist that Òto believe is to repentÓ are correct:  One whom God has drawn to ÒbelieveÓ savingly will indeed ÒrepentÓ of his sins, and to do so more deeply as he grows in grace.  But taken to the extreme, the Greek arguments often cloud the simple Gospel truth that when one is saved, there will and must be a corresponding dramatic change in oneÕs life.  Such an expectation was clearly expressed by John the Baptist, who commanded to ÒBring forth therefore fruits meet for repentanceÓ (Mk. 3:8), and echoed by Paul who said, Ò[I] shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. 

4.  When Paul tells the Corinthians to ÒExamine yourselves, whether ye be in the faithÓ (2 Corinthians 13:5), many modern evangelical theologians contend that he was really saying, ÒExamine yourselves since ye be in the faith,Ó and thus he was not really challenging unsaved people in the church.  Again, a complex Greek argument is put forth, and a simple warning goes unheeded.  The fact is, virtually no significant Bible translation translates it Òsince,Ó and the old commentators would have taken this verse to mean what it says and say what it means. 

5.  When the Greek word spoudazo, translated ÒdiligentÓ in passages such as Hebrews 4:11, ÒLet us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience,Ó and 2 Peter 1:10, ÒWherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure,Ó is taken from the realm of the heart and defined as encouraging mere acts of ÒChristian service,Ó no matter how empty and heartless they may be, these and other serious warnings lose their impact.  They are intended as warnings for professing believers to examine the condition of their souls, but their simple truths are explained away by gerrymandering the Greek in a way the old commentators could not have conceived.

 

Closing Thoughts

Today, as some seek the cure for the sick, worldly, modern church, there is in some circles a small awakening to the ÒlordshipÓ views of the old divines, but the old cannot simply be added to the new; the break with the new easy-believe theology must be clean, or it will be ineffective.  A message is not judged acceptable by the mere presence of truth (for some truth can be found in churches of any stripe), but by the absence of error, and the damning error in the new theology must be recognized and exposed for what it is.  Those who have weakened the most crucial warning passages in the Bible by teaching them as they have been taught to do (as I once did), whether knowingly or unknowingly, cannot simply throw in an occasional Òexamine yourselfÓ message Ð it is like a liberal preacher now and then throwing in a sermon on hell, not realizing his parishioners no longer believe in it.  Indeed, there is little difference between a modernist who says ÒThis passage isnÕt inspired,Ó and the typical evangelical of today who says or implies, ÒThis warning doesnÕt apply to you, it applies only to Tribulation Jews,Ó or ÒThis warning [e.g., all of the Hebrews passages mentioned above] doesnÕt mean you will go to hell, [even though it says, Òwhose end is to be burnedÉÓ]; it simply means God will be displeased with youÓ (see Heb. 6:4-8). How clever are the modern interpretations, and what masterful arguments the Deceiver uses! ÒGod is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.Ó

Certainly, when one puts all the preconceived notions and years of one-sided teaching aside, we must admit that God is a God of holiness, that He hates sin, He does not take it lightly, He will not pardon those who are flippant about it.  And lest some would think that God has somehow changed His ways with the coming of the New Testament, we must not forget the sober warning of our Savior, in words that might be spoken to those who would be tempted to look at their church teeming with friendly, busy people, honoring God with their lips, and assume without scriptural evidence that most of them are saved:  ÒNarrow is the way that leads to everlasting life, and few there be that find it.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquityÓ (Matthew 7:22-23).  It may be uncomfortable to look at the millions of professing Christians around us, including ÒmanyÓ of our own friends and family, perhaps even ourselves, and consider the ÒmanyÓ who may not be saved; but it has been true in every period of Christendom since Christ, and I believe we are unwise to consider it otherwise today.

As serious as ScriptureÕs warnings to sinners are those to preachers who donÕt speak out against sin as God does:   ÒThus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.  They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon youÉ.  I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.  But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.Ó  (Jer. 23:16-17, 21-22).  ÒThat was Old Testament,Ó some are tempted to say, Òand those false prophets were really bad people, and the people whose sins they were covering up were really bad people.Ó  But when we too easily relegate such proclamations to another land and people, we, like the Pharisees, blind ourselves to the probability that God is indeed speaking that same message to many Gospel preachers in our own day. 

There has indeed been a small awakening to the truths presented in this book.  But our churches, as they fellowship, entertain, and too often commend themselves, are in serious trouble.  Those who preach must be honest with Scripture, with themselves, and with their people. The message of the modern church has deceived an entire generation, and it cannot be fixed with a band-aid approach.  I, for one, confess that I have misread and mistaught GodÕs message of salvation wrongly for many years and to many people, and for that I am truly sorry.  May God forgive me!

Proverbs, the book of GodÕs eternal wisdom for all ages, states as axiomatic an important truth: ÒHe that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him.Ó  When we make continual appeals to worldly or spiritually careless people that say or imply, ÒYou are saved, but you need to get right with God,Ó are we not committing this sin?  Perhaps if those preaching such a message would be honest enough with God and with their people to repent and preach the hard truth, we could see genuine revival in our day.  It is the duty of GodÕs people, and especially preachers of His Word, to be as discerning as is humanly possible regarding the condition of peopleÕs souls, and may God give us the wisdom and courage to do so. 

ÒThen they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.Ó (Malachi 3:16-18).