Salvation is not by works, it is by Jesus. It is not merely a past-tense event or work that took place in
someone’s life.
Matt 7:21-23
21 "Not
everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform
many miracles?'
23 Then
I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (NIV)
The exusia or power in the name of
Jesus can be tapped into by non-believers, such as Saul (who prophesied in 1
Sam 10:11) and the seven sons of Sceva (Acts 19:14), neither of whom were ever
known to surrender completely to the Lordship of Jesus in such a way as to show
evidence of a new-birth experience by which they were given the power to continue
to know Him (John 1:12).
Likewise, those in the scripture above
make the following plea to Christ: Since they once believed Christ’s authority
to some situations, thereby manifesting His work, that they have somehow earned
a permanent place in the
Since what I wrote above may be difficult for many to
understand, let me simplify it. Here is
my transliteration of Matt 7:21-23 in modern vernacular:
“Hey Jesus,
“were saved” because of our works, namely:
-Allowing your spirit to flow through us in the past.
Due to that experience, (not a
relationship with Christ living through us as shown by our lifestyle), we are
saved forever right?”
Jesus responds, no, you are not
currently having a 2-way relationship with the Father though me, so I do not
even know who you are. In fact, you are
so far off base thinking that anything other than knowing me can save you, that
I do not even know where you live.”
-my non-authorized translation
We can see examples of this
‘spiritual works salvation’ mentality today.
Most people, when you ask them if they are Christian, saved, or born
again, will attempt to justify themselves with a past religious or even
spiritual experience alone. They
usually say things like, “I was baptized when I was 7…”. Then they expect you to follow the
“folk-Baptist” (not true Baptist Doctrine) corollary that since they were
baptized, (or repeated a sinners prayer) that they are obviously saved forever,
regardless of any other fact. Many view
water baptism as the agent of an irrevocable salvation through Christ, a type
of water sorcery that saves them forever, regardless of whether or not they
persevere (Rev 21:7‑8), or remain in Christ, as
behaviorally defined by the Bible. This is just “Religious Tradition”,
not Jesus. To those for whom the word
“Religious Tradition” has positive connotations, this is, at least, a different
gospel.
Note: Please be sure that candidates for Christian Baptism, hand
raising, standing, public profession, Catholic confirmation, repeating a
sinner’s prayer, walking to the altar, or any other ceremony (that the Holy
Spirit may very well be involved in as an act of public profession) must
understand that these ceremonies are NOT the agent of salvation! Jesus is!
Our continual 2-way relationship with the Father through Christ by the
power of the Holy Spirit is our means of salvation. Where this exists, it is always followed by concomitant ensuing
sanctification, which is behaviorally manifested in our changed lifestyle and continuance in His
identity as defined by the Bible.
Some more learned “Christians”
accept Christ as the agent of salvation, but a different type of Christ, who
has set different terms of relationship with man. This Christ does not set out a 2-way relationship with the Father
(that he died for) as a means of salvation.
Instead, this Christ, (who may be akin to the concept of Santa Claus)
gives a “free gift” of eternal security (in their salvation) to anyone who is
willing to repeat a “heart felt” sinners prayer, which may or may not include
repentance. The proselyte might say
something like, “forgive me of my sins”, like a command, many times not knowing
what their sins are, or that they need to repent, or quit doing them. They may even refer to this experience as
“being born again”, viewing it as a one-time, eternally-salvific
experience. Thus, they view the born
again experience as the agent of salvation. However, the truth is that Christ is the agent of salvation. We are saved by a 2-way, continuous, and loving relationship with the Father through Jesus
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Salvation is viewed as an event,
and not a relationship. We know that it
can be both, but not only a one-time irrevocable experience. Dr. Shank warns us in his book on the
doctrine of perseverance, “Let us beware lest we convey the impression that the
new birth is somehow an agent of salvation, rather than merely a circumstance”
(1960).
Some newer evangelical tracts by
Billy Graham, and especially the Southern Baptist Convention, are
diagrammatically introducing the concept of repentance as one of behavioral
change. Also, Billy Graham’s tract now
defines the previously vague Christian jargon of “Receiving Jesus as your
personal Lord and Savior” as “…inviting Christ to come in and control your life
through the Holy Spirit”. In spite of
these improvements, defining sin is largely left out of evangelism, and
consequently many “Christians” are living in it. Then they combine the above Evangelical concepts that make
“getting saved” easy, with the Baptist doctrine of eternal security. Thus most of the people I witness to in
Athens, GA are eternally secure “Christians” who are living in habitual, condemnable
sin, such as fornication, drug and alcohol abuse, homosexuality, lying, and/or greed.
See my “Condemnable
Sins” if you are not familiar with them, because
you should be. If you live in these lifestyles, you are not saved (1 Cor
6:9‑10, Rev 21:7‑8,
There is nothing wrong with the
presenting the above usual evangelical version of the Gospel, as long as the
recipient understands that the need to repent of their sin. However, the above combination of the “EZ
Gospel” and “Folk Eternal Security” can be deadly. The “Gospel Tract” version of the Gospel that is so often
preached is fine when followed by the doctrine of perseverance (Shank
1960). As my brother says, “It’s easy
to get saved… staying saved is the thing”.
In other words, remaining (in Him) saved requires a mental and behavioral
commitment to persevere in the faith (Rev 21:7‑8). For an explanation of this doctrine of
perseverance, see my document entitled, “Scriptures Establishing the
Doctrine of Conditional Security”, that I got from Robert Shank
(1960).
As for the true believers who
prefer the doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved” to the (mainly Pentecostal)
doctrine of “conditional security” (1960), perhaps we will sort that out in
heaven, and focus on saving the lost for now.
However, we all must be careful to avoid accidentally confusing
unbelievers by presenting them with the above combination of an artificially
EZ-Gospel that unconditionally saves us forever, even if we don’t repent, and stay repentant.
Nobody probably ever intended to
teach Baptism as water sorcery; a means of unconditional salvation. This lie comes into neophytes who are not
discipled, but instead assured of their unconditional “free gift” salvation, as
if it were something other than Christ Himself. Sorcery is making spiritual transactions that are outside of the
identity of Christ. This Santa Claus
type of “do this and get this” works-mentality can lead to accidental sorcery
in the neophyte’s mind. They are
already apt to believe the easy way, or the wide road, because it is more
palatable to the flesh.
13“Enter through the narrow
gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and
many enter through it. 14But small is the
gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
John
3:19
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness
instead of light because their deeds were evil.
John
3:18-20 (in Context) John
3 (Whole Chapter)
Here is how not to present the
Gospel: “Repeat this prayer (mantra) and you will be unconditionally saved
forever.” Then you do not follow up
with them at all. Attempts to follow up
may fail anyway since they may think you are rude to interfere with them. After all, at first you told them that all
they had to do was repeat your mantra.
You have created a Christian who was prematurely (or falsely) born. However, you have assured them of their
salvation, so now they are hardened to the Gospel and will not listen to you or
anyone else who preaches Jesus as one who requires repentance.
This is true especially if they got a hold of “Once saved always saved”, or the
doctrine of the unconditional security of believers, which is popular in most
protestant circles (now including Charismatics as well). They do not need you or your Church for
anything because they are already unconditionally entitled to the “free gift”
you sold them.
We all must be careful not to assure people that they are saved, when we don’t
have any real reason to believe that they are.
If we do, we may be accidentally hardening them to the gospel. On numerous occasions, I have observed
well-meaning Christians assure unbelievers that they are saved: Unbelievers who don’t even repeat the
mantra, know (or care about) what’s going on, or have any desire to get saved. That is a sad joke. That is the Devil’s
evangelism. That is dumbing the gospel
down to the point that it is a different gospel. “Sharing” this gospel has eternal
consequences for its preacher.
Galatians
5:6-8 6I am astonished that you are
so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are
turning to a different gospel– 7which is really no
gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and
are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But
even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we
preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! (in Context) Galatians
1 (Whole Chapter)
Galatians
5:10
I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is
throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Galatians
5:9-11 (in Context) Galatians
5 (Whole Chapter)
False assurance is a plague among unbelievers that is
spread by such poor evangelism. Such
pre-mature births simply harden unbelievers to the true gospel. Those who preach such a different
gospel will be eternally condemned.
Consider this: A friend
introduces another friend with joy and ease of understanding. It is easier for a friend of a prospective
convert to counsel them in receiving a new friend (Jesus) than a stranger. A presumptuous Christian stranger who is
more bent on assuring a prospective convert of their salvation than on
listening to and understanding their desires, can be a dangerous agent of false
hope.
James 3:1
1 Not many of you should presume to be
teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more
strictly. (NIV)
Christ has been disgraced, especially to Muslims, who see
professing Christians living immorally. These Christians who were pre-maturely
born into the Kingdom, with out counting the
cost or repenting are not Christians at
all. Christ’s message to his large
crowd of followers below is especially apropos for the
Luke 14:25-35
25 Large
crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
26 "If
anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and
children, his brothers and sisters-- yes, even his own life-- he cannot be my
disciple.
27 And
anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 "Suppose
one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the
cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?
29 For
if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it
will ridicule him,
30 saying,
'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31 "Or
suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first
sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the
one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 If
he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way
off and will ask for terms of peace.
33 In
the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot
be my disciple.
34 "Salt
is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
35 It
is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He
who has ears to hear, let him hear."
(NIV)
Let us not cheapen God’s provision of salvation in order to feel more
evangelical or see more people blindly involved in our various Christian
evangelical rituals (walking to altars, repeating prayers, baptism, calling on
the name of the Lord, etc.). Let’s
instead focus on knowing God and making Him known. Helping others to know God through Christ: This is the task of
evangelism, and the beginning of discipleship.
Matthew 28:18-20 (New International
Version)
18Then Jesus came to
them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age.”
Through the Word of God, we should help people learn to obey his word, listen
to His voice, and follow Him. Let’s
reevaluate what “personal relationship” with
God through Christ really is, and preach that.
John 10:27-28
27 My
sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they
follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. (NIV)
Shank, Dr. Robert. (1960).
Life in the Son; A Study of the Doctrine of Perseverance. Westcott Pulishers,