Today, I received tract in my box titled “It’s Time for You to Know.” That’s a great title. It is a beautiful tract. It has a clock on it with the hour glass divided into 12 wedges with nice pictures in each pie. It is very professionally done with a particular church name on the back and a map etc.
In the center of the tract is the message
“The Good News Is that Christ Paid for Our Sins.”
That is definitely true and it is certainly good news.
It is the next section of the tract that is disconcerting. It states:
“We must Personally Pray and Receive Christ by Faith as Our Savior”
Then Romans 10:13 is quoted as the proof text that we must “personally pray.”
This isn’t biblical. The Bible doesn’t say “we must personally pray.”
What must one do to be saved? Acts 16:30-31 answers this question; read it with me.
Acts 16:30-31
And brought them [Paul and Silas] out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Notice Paul didn’t say “personally pray.” Instead, he said “believe!”
The fact is a person does not have to pray to be saved, but he or she must believe. You can pray without believing. But God knows authenticate belief. A person can trick the preacher or his wife into believing that he or she is a Christian with words, but you can’t trick God. God knows who has believed and who has not believed. God knows who is born again and who is only saying a prayer.
I have already explained what it means to call upon the name of the Lord (in a previous posting) so I will not explain it again.
Authenticate original unsolicited prayer— as an expression of genuine faith—should never be hindered, but that is completely contrary to telling someone that they “must personally pray.”
This sounds like a work. It is something I must do. But my salvation is not based upon something I do.
Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
My response to message of the gospel is belief or faith. And the Bible says faith comes by hearing the Word of the Lord.
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When someone says “we must personally pray” he is adding to the gospel.
Some denominations (like the Church of Christ) teach a person must be baptized. Baptists have always taught that that is heretical because it is creating something that man must do. Baptists have always insisted that man is saved by grace though faith—not by words that must be articulated.
Romans 4:3
For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
In the past, soul-winning tracts would contain something like “this prayer of salvation” is an expression of your faith.
But not now, this tract (and others) is so bold as to suggest that a person “must personally pray.”
According to the tract titled “It’s Time for You to Know” prayer is no longer an optional expression of faith in Christ—it is now a requirement for salvation.
But this is what Jesus said:
Mark 1:15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:
repent ye, and believe the gospel.
A person can pray after he is born again and he can pray before he is born again, but in either case it is not his prayer that makes him born again. Prayer doesn’t save; therefore, no one should be told they “must personally pray.”
When a person is told that, there is an automatic inference that implies this prayer saves me but it doesn’t!
This tract, “It’s Time for You to Know” is just as wrong as a tract that teaches one must be baptized to be saved.
Showing posts with label Assurance of Salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Assurance of Salvation. Show all posts
What Does It Mean to Call Upon the Name of the Lord?
Recently, I was on an independent Fundamental Baptist dating ministry website (like eHarmony), by invitation of the sponsoring pastor, and I was reviewing their presentation of the gospel. After a solid presentation of numerous verses relating to salvation, the presentation closes like this:
7) Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and take you to Heaven someday when you die:
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
* The word call means, in this verse, to pray.
Here is a sample prayer:
“Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that I deserve hell for my sin. Please forgive me of my sin and I trust in Jesus alone as my only way to get to Heaven. Please come in my heart and save me and take me to Heaven someday when I die. Amen.”
I wonder if this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote Romans 10. Did Paul imagine that two millennia after he penned Romans 10, people all over the globe would be told that if they sincerely asked Jesus in their hearts they can be assured of being saved because of the promise in Romans 10:13?
Another website says: "We must pray to receive Christ" and then cites Romans 10:13 as the proof text. Is this adding to the gospel? Where does the Bible say we must pray to be saved?
A different Baptist church website looks like this:
Won't you call on Him in prayer today? It's a promise from God - the Bible says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13
Is it true that “call” means to pray in this verse? Can we say “Whosoever shall pray to the Lord shall be saved?” Would anyone dare say: “If you pray this prayer you are saved?” Who would be so bold as to assure someone of salvation based upon a prayer?
The truth is the word call is never translated “pray” in any of the numerous times it is used in the NT. (Notice the various ways the AV/KJV translates epikaleomai G1941 — call on 7, be (one's) surname 6, be surnamed 5, call upon 4, appeal unto 4, call 4, appeal to 1, appeal 1.) Did you notice it wasn't pray one time?
The verse is never translated “whosoever prays to God will be saved.”
In an effort to explain what it means to “call upon the name of the Lord,” the entire context of Romans 10 must be examined. Paul was writing a letter, and he never intended for isolated verses to be pulled out of his letter and used arbitrarily. Romans 10:12-14 reads like this:
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Romans 10:14 should never be separated from verse 13. Romans 10:14 asks this question:
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?”
This is a critical point. Whatever it means to “call on” can’t be done without belief. Therefore, “call upon” can’t simply mean “say words in the form of a prayer.” In this follow-up question to verse 13, Paul explains that you can’t call upon the name of the Lord if you have not believed in Him whom you are calling upon. The context is very helpful. The context provides much clarification. Paul helps me understand that it is not the action of “calling upon” that saves me, but my faith in the One upon whom I am calling.
In Romans 4, Paul reminded his reader that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham was not declared righteous because he prayed to God. The book of Genesis does not record any prayers that Abraham offered up to God.
If “call upon” is the same as “pray to,” why didn’t Paul just say that? He could have. He uses the word “prayer” in 10:1 and the word “pray” in Romans 8:26 speaks of the Spirit of God making intercession for us when we pray.
No, “call upon” is not the same as “pray to.”
The emphasis upon verse 13 is not an explanation of how to be saved, but a promise from God and the promise is extended to “whosoever.”
Salvation, according to Paul, is no longer limited to just the descendents of Abraham. Verse 12 makes it clear that the context of the “whosoever” is Jews and Greeks. Now Greeks (Gentiles) can also be included in the promise that God will save those who “call upon the name of the Lord.”
The phrase “call upon the name of the Lord” is a way of expressing a dependency upon the Lord to be one's Savior. This person is invoking the “name of the Lord” as the name of the One who is their Savior. This person who is calling upon the name of the Lord has already believed in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead (10:9). He would not be invoking the name of the Lord as the One who saves him if he thought Jesus was still dead. Dead people can’t save people. No, the very reason the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is being invoked as Savior is that the person has already believed upon Him. He has already recognized that he is helpless to save himself. This is why the name of the Lord Jesus Christ must be invoked. Who is the one saving you from sin? “The Lord Jesus is my Savior” is the testimony of anyone who is a believer. This person believes that God saves those who appeal to the gospel as their only hope for salvation in faith. This appeal is not the articulation of words, in the form of a man-made prayer, but it is an acknowledgement of a complete dependency upon God for salvation from the heart.
The testimony of the one who is a believer in Romans 10 is: “If I am going to be saved, it is God who will have to save me.” This is why saved people frequently and without hesitation confess or profess with their mouth “the Lord Jesus.” This profession or confession is not a prayer but a testimony (either orally or in writing or any other means of communicating) of their faith in Christ. Those who believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead have as their testimony that “Jesus is Lord.” He is not just a man. He is God Incarnate—the Son of God. He is the Lord—which is precisely why God raised Him from the dead. Believers appeal to or invoke the name of the Lord Jesus as the One who saves them from sin and death because there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which a person can be saved (Acts 4:12). When asked, “How do you know you are going to heaven when you die?” believers will always invoke the name of the Lord Jesus as the reason they know they are saved (1 John 5:13). It is not the fact that they have prayed a prayer that saves them. God knows their heart.
Believers’ faith is not in their prayer, but in the promises of God found in the gospel. Like Abraham who believed God’s promise for a future son (the child of promise, Romans 9:9) to carry forward Abraham’s name, today’s believers in Christ invoke or appeal to the name of the resurrected Lord Jesus as the One they are depending upon for salvation. They would never appeal to their own righteousness. They would never appeal to their keeping of the law as sufficient to save them. Their appeal, instead, is found in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead.
Genesis 4:26 speaks about a day when men began to call upon the name of the Lord. On what day did you “call upon the name of the Lord to be your Savior?” When did you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the tomb to be your Savior?
I can’t help but wonder how many people have been led to pray a prayer from Romans 10:13 who have subsequently never publically confessed Jesus before men. Jesus said (using the same Greek word Paul used) “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Mt 10:32).
Obviously, it is imperative that we don’t attempt to make Romans 10:13 say something it is not saying. Jesus is not communicating that anyone who has ever said “Jesus is my Lord and Savior” can be assured that Jesus will confess their name before the Father in heaven. In the same way, anyone who calls out to God to save them cannot be assured that those words have obligated God to save them.
Someone would be foolish to think that the articulation of the words “God save me” is what saves a Christian from hell. People are saved from hell because of their faith in the gospel—not their faith in the words they have said as an expression of that faith.
A person who has previously prayed a prayer of salvation, like the one on the webpage, must be taught that his faith should never be in the fact that he prayed to God. Instead, his faith must be in the “name” of the Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified for the sins of the whole world and subsequently rose from the grave in demonstration of the power of the gospel to save all who believe.
If you have previously prayed for salvation and have yet to experience any peace in your salvation, let me encourage you to examine what your faith was truly in—was it faith in your prayer or faith in the promises of a God Who cannot lie?
7) Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and take you to Heaven someday when you die:
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
* The word call means, in this verse, to pray.
Here is a sample prayer:
“Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that I deserve hell for my sin. Please forgive me of my sin and I trust in Jesus alone as my only way to get to Heaven. Please come in my heart and save me and take me to Heaven someday when I die. Amen.”
I wonder if this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote Romans 10. Did Paul imagine that two millennia after he penned Romans 10, people all over the globe would be told that if they sincerely asked Jesus in their hearts they can be assured of being saved because of the promise in Romans 10:13?
Another website says: "We must pray to receive Christ" and then cites Romans 10:13 as the proof text. Is this adding to the gospel? Where does the Bible say we must pray to be saved?
A different Baptist church website looks like this:
Won't you call on Him in prayer today? It's a promise from God - the Bible says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13
Is it true that “call” means to pray in this verse? Can we say “Whosoever shall pray to the Lord shall be saved?” Would anyone dare say: “If you pray this prayer you are saved?” Who would be so bold as to assure someone of salvation based upon a prayer?
The truth is the word call is never translated “pray” in any of the numerous times it is used in the NT. (Notice the various ways the AV/KJV translates epikaleomai G1941 — call on 7, be (one's) surname 6, be surnamed 5, call upon 4, appeal unto 4, call 4, appeal to 1, appeal 1.) Did you notice it wasn't pray one time?
The verse is never translated “whosoever prays to God will be saved.”
In an effort to explain what it means to “call upon the name of the Lord,” the entire context of Romans 10 must be examined. Paul was writing a letter, and he never intended for isolated verses to be pulled out of his letter and used arbitrarily. Romans 10:12-14 reads like this:
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Romans 10:14 should never be separated from verse 13. Romans 10:14 asks this question:
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?”
This is a critical point. Whatever it means to “call on” can’t be done without belief. Therefore, “call upon” can’t simply mean “say words in the form of a prayer.” In this follow-up question to verse 13, Paul explains that you can’t call upon the name of the Lord if you have not believed in Him whom you are calling upon. The context is very helpful. The context provides much clarification. Paul helps me understand that it is not the action of “calling upon” that saves me, but my faith in the One upon whom I am calling.
In Romans 4, Paul reminded his reader that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham was not declared righteous because he prayed to God. The book of Genesis does not record any prayers that Abraham offered up to God.
If “call upon” is the same as “pray to,” why didn’t Paul just say that? He could have. He uses the word “prayer” in 10:1 and the word “pray” in Romans 8:26 speaks of the Spirit of God making intercession for us when we pray.
No, “call upon” is not the same as “pray to.”
The emphasis upon verse 13 is not an explanation of how to be saved, but a promise from God and the promise is extended to “whosoever.”
Salvation, according to Paul, is no longer limited to just the descendents of Abraham. Verse 12 makes it clear that the context of the “whosoever” is Jews and Greeks. Now Greeks (Gentiles) can also be included in the promise that God will save those who “call upon the name of the Lord.”
The phrase “call upon the name of the Lord” is a way of expressing a dependency upon the Lord to be one's Savior. This person is invoking the “name of the Lord” as the name of the One who is their Savior. This person who is calling upon the name of the Lord has already believed in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead (10:9). He would not be invoking the name of the Lord as the One who saves him if he thought Jesus was still dead. Dead people can’t save people. No, the very reason the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is being invoked as Savior is that the person has already believed upon Him. He has already recognized that he is helpless to save himself. This is why the name of the Lord Jesus Christ must be invoked. Who is the one saving you from sin? “The Lord Jesus is my Savior” is the testimony of anyone who is a believer. This person believes that God saves those who appeal to the gospel as their only hope for salvation in faith. This appeal is not the articulation of words, in the form of a man-made prayer, but it is an acknowledgement of a complete dependency upon God for salvation from the heart.
The testimony of the one who is a believer in Romans 10 is: “If I am going to be saved, it is God who will have to save me.” This is why saved people frequently and without hesitation confess or profess with their mouth “the Lord Jesus.” This profession or confession is not a prayer but a testimony (either orally or in writing or any other means of communicating) of their faith in Christ. Those who believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead have as their testimony that “Jesus is Lord.” He is not just a man. He is God Incarnate—the Son of God. He is the Lord—which is precisely why God raised Him from the dead. Believers appeal to or invoke the name of the Lord Jesus as the One who saves them from sin and death because there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which a person can be saved (Acts 4:12). When asked, “How do you know you are going to heaven when you die?” believers will always invoke the name of the Lord Jesus as the reason they know they are saved (1 John 5:13). It is not the fact that they have prayed a prayer that saves them. God knows their heart.
Believers’ faith is not in their prayer, but in the promises of God found in the gospel. Like Abraham who believed God’s promise for a future son (the child of promise, Romans 9:9) to carry forward Abraham’s name, today’s believers in Christ invoke or appeal to the name of the resurrected Lord Jesus as the One they are depending upon for salvation. They would never appeal to their own righteousness. They would never appeal to their keeping of the law as sufficient to save them. Their appeal, instead, is found in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead.
Genesis 4:26 speaks about a day when men began to call upon the name of the Lord. On what day did you “call upon the name of the Lord to be your Savior?” When did you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the tomb to be your Savior?
I can’t help but wonder how many people have been led to pray a prayer from Romans 10:13 who have subsequently never publically confessed Jesus before men. Jesus said (using the same Greek word Paul used) “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Mt 10:32).
Obviously, it is imperative that we don’t attempt to make Romans 10:13 say something it is not saying. Jesus is not communicating that anyone who has ever said “Jesus is my Lord and Savior” can be assured that Jesus will confess their name before the Father in heaven. In the same way, anyone who calls out to God to save them cannot be assured that those words have obligated God to save them.
Someone would be foolish to think that the articulation of the words “God save me” is what saves a Christian from hell. People are saved from hell because of their faith in the gospel—not their faith in the words they have said as an expression of that faith.
A person who has previously prayed a prayer of salvation, like the one on the webpage, must be taught that his faith should never be in the fact that he prayed to God. Instead, his faith must be in the “name” of the Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified for the sins of the whole world and subsequently rose from the grave in demonstration of the power of the gospel to save all who believe.
If you have previously prayed for salvation and have yet to experience any peace in your salvation, let me encourage you to examine what your faith was truly in—was it faith in your prayer or faith in the promises of a God Who cannot lie?
The Sinner's Prayer: Biblical or Extra-Biblical
Within the Baptist and larger Evangelical Christian community, there is a debate concerning whether or not a person must pray to receive Jesus as their Savior. Certainly no one should discourage the unsolicited prayer of someone who is genuinely converted by the power of the gospel. Authentic prayer is often an expression of faith. Any time those who believe in Christ wish to pray, they should pray—but the evangelist (or any other person sharing the gospel) should never give someone the impression that a prayer seals the deal or is essential to salvation. The continued theme of the New Testament is “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31). Where believe is always understood as so much more than intellectual assent—for even the demons believe and shudder (James 2:19). In contrast, those who believe are trusting God to keep his Word in all that he has promised in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 13:32).
The way many tracts and web pages are written, it appears that most believe words of faith must be articulated in a prayer or that the words guarantee something. Some people seem to believe that it is necessary for one to pray a prayer in order to be saved. Invitations at the end of a sermon are frequently conducted in such a way as to give the impression that the recitation of words, led by an evangelist, is effectual unto salvation. Must people ask or articulate words of faith (http://www.sinner-prayer.com/) to be saved? This “Sinner’s Prayer” is often found at the end of gospel tracts and web pages. Sometimes the person who now believes in Christ is told, with the supposed authority of the Bible, that if they were sincere when they prayed that they are now Christians and have eternal life. Is this true?
IS THIS TRUE?
Is that the gospel? Read a gospel tract, pray a prayer, and instantly one can be assured of his salvation—he is born again! Most would agree that a prayer doesn’t save the person, yet their gospel presentation and methods imply the opposite. People are told, “Sincerely pray this prayer,” and then they are assured that they are saved if they were sincere as though sincerity can be measured. How sincere is sincere? The evangelist may say something like, “This prayer does not save you. It is your faith that saves you. Would you like to pray to receive Jesus?” If faith saves, what is the point of asking would you like to pray? The better question is: “Do you know what it means to believe that the Lord Jesus is the Christ?” Or, “Are you willing to trust that God is able and willing to do all that he has promised to do in and through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus?
In reaction to “easy believism,” internationally known Southern Baptist Evangelist Paul Washer, John MacArthur, and others have been publically opposed for their adamant position that salvation prayers do not guarantee conversion. In some fellowships, Washer and others have been accused of perverting the grace of God with a “Lordship Salvation” doctrine. Is this a fair and balanced accusation? Washer discourages people from praying to receive Jesus and argues that no one can gain assurance of his salvation from such a prayer. Is he right? Does God need us to pray a prayer? Do we have a biblical model for a “Sinner’s Prayer?” Are the Scriptures prescriptive in this matter? These are important questions that require answers from the Christian’s only authority in life—the Word. This article will show that articulating a prayer of salvation should never be presented as a necessary component of salvation. It will clarify the role of prayer in a gospel presentation, provide three reasons why people should not be encouraged to pray to receive Jesus, and encourage new converts to begin following Jesus.
Those in the “Sinner’s Prayer” camp use Romans 10:9-10 and 10:13 as their trump cards, insisting that the unbeliever must “confess” and “call upon the name of the Lord” for salvation and that, when they do, they are saved. Who wouldn’t argue that “prayer, confess, and calling” seem to be the same? Indeed, Rom. 10:9-10 describes the “heart believing” and the “mouth confessing.” This seems to indicate there is a need for both. Is that correct? Should we interpret what Paul is saying as two actions—that believing and confessing are two requirements? Or should we interpret one as a requirement (belief) and the other as a result (confession)? Jesus said that if we confess him before others he will profess us before His Father (Mt 10:32). Is that the same as praying, “Dear Jesus, come into my heart?” Is that the confession of faith to which Christ is referring? Certainly not. When Jesus hears those words, do unbelievers receive the gift of salvation by receiving him and then become Christians? Should one be given assurance verses of salvation because he prayed a prayer? Some suggest that because eternal life is a gift one much ask for it (Romans 6:23). Is that what the Bible teaches? Can we find the apostles teaching men to pray to God to come into their hearts? Paul makes it clear what comes first—belief—when he asks, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?” (Romans 10:14).
Before we consider what John 1:12-13 says concerning how one receives Jesus (in their heart or life), it is interesting to note that those who require confession in the form of a prayer are often the same ones who insist that, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mk. 16:16) does not teach that baptism is a requirement for salvation. They rightly teach that baptism is the outward expression of what has already happened in the heart and does not guarantee salvation, yet they often report people as saved because they prayed a prayer of salvation. Yet early in Christ’s ministry, he warned of “many” who will describe themselves as saved but are not (Matt. 7:21-23). The evangelist needs to acknowledge that in the same way baptism doesn’t guarantee salvation neither does confession of words of faith in a prayer. John 1:12-13 says:
But as many as received him [Christ], to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
According to these two verses people (both adults and children) become children of God by believing—not praying, asking or confessing. They receive Christ and “become sons of God” through their faith in Christ. They are not spiritually born again because of the will of any human, but it is God that gives those who believe the second birth and eternal life.
SUPERFICIAL BELIEF
The Apostle John is so convinced of this theological truth and wants his reader to comprehend this important doctrine, that he provides a practical illustration of this in John 2. In chapter one, John initially packs the chapter full of descriptions of Christ as the Word, God, the Light, the Son of God, the Christ, the Rabbi, the Prophet, the King of the Jews, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Then in chapter two, after Jesus cleanses the temple of those who were robbing the Jews during the Passover, John writes about people who believed on the name of Jesus, but Jesus did not positively respond to their belief. When Jesus was finished cleansing the temple, the Jewish leaders insisted upon a sign of authentication for His authority to cleanse the temple. And Christ promised them a sign—the sign of the resurrection. He spoke of the temple of His body being resurrected. But the Jews didn’t understand His meaning. They thought that he was making reference to the physical temple he had just cleansed. Then John speaks of a group of people whose spiritual followers still exist today. Beginning in John 2:23-25, John writes of many who profess to believe in Jesus. Although their culture was different, it could be America where 80% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians—followers of Christ (America’s Seven Faith Tribes p.29). John writes:
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
Notice that John uses the same language he used in chapter one: “believed in his name.” In fact, he says that “many believed on his name.” So, from this verse alone, one could conclude these people believed. They “believed on His name” and therefore must be saved. “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them.” What?! “But they believed!” you might say. In fact, they must have articulated belief at some point because John was not a mind-reader. Yet John writes, “but” as a transitional word to create a strong contrast to the “many” and noted that Jesus “did not commit himself unto them.” An examination of the Greek words behind John 2:24 show the use of pisteuō (one of John’s favorite words for belief) twice in this verse. Jesus did not believe (pisteuō) that they (the many) believed (pisteuō) on Him.
Jesus’ response to the many that believed was one of unbelief (or non-commitment). John had already explained to his reader that spiritual birth is not of the will of man, but of God. So John says that Jesus did not believe that they believed because “He knew all”—that is, he knew what they believed. He is God. God is omniscient. God knows whose belief is authentic and whose is not. (The evangelist cannot know what God knows.) God knows who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (such as Peter’s great confession of faith in Matthew 16) and those whose belief is not authentic. Later John would write: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19). John is well aware that there are pseudo-Christians who are not born again because authentic Christians continue in the faith. Genuine conversion cannot be ascertained minutes after a profession of faith or prayer. The evangelist must be content in realizing all he can do is ask probing questions. Jesus asked: “But who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15). If a child or adult articulates faith in Christ as their Savior they should be treated as a disciple of Christ and encouraged to begin following Jesus as their Teacher, Savior and Lord.
HE KNOWS THE HEART
Moreover, John writes “and needed not that any should testify of man.” Jesus doesn’t need to hear words of faith to recognize a person’s faith in Him. Only God knows when words are authentic expressions of faith. He knows all men. To use Paul’s language from Romans 10, he knows who is authentic in their belief in the Person and salvific work of Christ in their heart. Yet God enjoys hearing believers pray. New converts should be encouraged to begin talking to God in prayer.
John points out that Christ didn’t believe in those who expressed faith in Him. He doesn’t say that they didn’t “pray” or “call.” Jesus doesn’t need to hear a confession or testimony; he knows. An evangelist should tell a potential convert, “God knows your heart; he knows whether your belief is authentic or or not.” Everyone else will have to wait to see if the one articulating faith in Christ turned to God from idols to serve the living God—repentance (1 Thess. 1:9, John 10:27).
In John 3, John launches into Christ’s encounter with Nicodemus and reinforces that Christ knows what Nicodemus thinks and believes. Jesus interrupts Nicodemus and goes to the heart of the issue. Jesus doesn’t need men to pray to receive Him; God knows whose belief is superficial and whose belief is authentic. When belief is authentic, Jesus commits Himself to the believer—they are born again. When it isn’t genuine, then that person is not born again—regardless of what they testify, speak, articulate or call out to the Lord or to others (see Matt. 7:21-27). The evangelist may have a desire to hear one pray in an attempt to ascertain whether the person is saved or not, but the truth is the articulation of a prayer is never presented as an assurance that one is saved. What role should prayer have in securing one’s salvation? The clear, biblical answer to that question is, “It cannot secure salvation.” People are saved by grace through repentant faith in the Person and salvific work of Christ.
Evangelists should never get in the way of a person wishing to spontaneously express faith in Christ through prayer, but neither should they encourage or require such. This is true for both adults and children. In fact one must be even more cautious in mixing prayer and faith with children. The truth is: It is very hard to determine if a child is born again. There isn’t a single biblical example of an evangelist teaching or leading someone to articulate a prayer to get saved. Tracts should be rewritten, web pages redesigned, evangelists retrained and gospel invitations should be limited to a call to repent and believe (Acts 20:21). Evangelists must be content with the reality that a prayer said well does not guarantee a person believes with the heart (Roman 10:9, 10).
THE PROMISES OF GOD
“God said it and I believe it” is the testimony of one who has been converted. Abraham is the model of such faith—he trusted in both the God of the promise and the promise he received from God. Consider how Paul describes Abraham’s saving faith as “being fully persuaded [convinced] that, what God had promised, God was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21). In Romans 1:1-2, Paul communicates that the very gospel of God was promised beforehand by God’s prophets in the Holy Scriptures. By faith, the follower of God believes that the Father will fulfill all that he has promised to his children in and through His Son—the Savior—who is Christ the Lord (2 Cor. 1:19-20). His faith is in both the God who made the promise and the promise. He must have faith in what God promised (the gospel) and believe (trust) that God is able to do what God promised. In Acts 26:6, Paul makes it very clear that his hope is in the promise of God. Peter describes these promises from God as “exceedingly great and precious which are able to make people partakers of the divine nature and deliver them from the corruption in the world” (2 Peter 1:4). And John understands one aspect of this promise to be eternal life (1 John 2:25). Ultimately, those born again become “children of the promise” (Gal. 4:28). Finally, Peter declared: “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).The evangelist preaches and the Spirit of God convicts of sin and calls them to salvation.
THE INVITATION
One can conclude that there isn’t any value in teaching men to articulate a Sinner’s Prayer to be saved for three reasons. First, the one desiring to be saved knows his own heart—he doesn’t need to articulate a prayer to tell himself what he believes. He knows if he believes. Second, in a similar way, God does not need to hear a prayer that articulates faith—he knows who believes. Third, the evangelist doesn’t know the prospect’s heart—therefore; the evangelist gains nothing from encouraging a prayer that may or may not reflect an authentic belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. If the evangelist wants to determine if the person understands the gospel presentation, he should ask specific questions about the gospel. For example, “do you understand what it means to trust in the promises God has made through the gospel of the Lord Jesus?” Or “Is there anything keeping you from trusting in the Savior God promised for your salvation?” If a person who believes desires to pray—he should pray—but he should never be encouraged to pray to receive salvation. He should be encouraged to repent and believe the gospel. When a person is regenerated (born again) they may sometimes pray. But such a prayer by the newly regenerated person is simply a confession of what they believe.
In Matthew 16, Jesus told Peter that his great confession came from the Father; his flesh and blood (brain or heart) did not come up with it. It was revealed to him. This reinforces the ridiculousness of encouraging a prayer to receive Christ when the Father is the one who reveals the truth that Jesus is the Christ (Matthew 16:13-17). Praying to God doesn’t prove that one believes. It is absurd to suggest that the Father needs to be told (via prayer) who he is drawing to the Son (John 6:44). Twenty-first century evangelists should follow the example of the Apostles. They testified to everyone that a person is saved through repentance toward God and faith (belief) in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38, 16:31, 17:30 and 20:21). Those who profess to believe (trust in the promises) on the Lord for their salvation should be encouraged to begin following Jesus in worship, Bible study, professions, prayer, baptism, and church membership.
A FINAL WORD ON PRAYING
None of this is meant to discourage anyone from praying. “Men ought to always pray” (Luke 18:1). “God be merciful to me a sinner” and “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom” are examples of prayers expressing faith in the Lord (Luke 18:13, 23:42). When the Spirit leads men to pray, they should pray. However, such genuine prayer is substantially different from prayer prompted by the evangelist. Such prayer may produce a false sense of one’s assurance of salvation. In Luke 23:39-42, the heart of the thief on the cross had already been changed—this can be seen when he began to rebuke his fellow thief dying with him. His prayer was a reflection of what he believed, and he didn’t need someone leading or encouraging him to petition God. He said what he already believed—Christ was a King who was able to save him.
Certainly, there have been thousands upon thousands of people who have been saved and subsequently prayed to receive Jesus. However, the problem with praying to receive Jesus is that it has filled churches with multitudes of unsaved church members—people who are fully convinced they are saved because they “asked Jesus in their heart” but are not believers. Many more are not in any church today despite previously praying to receive Jesus because they were never born again yet have a false assurance of salvation. Paul wrote, “No man can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). Certainly Paul is not writing about the articulation of the words “Jesus is Lord.” Anyone can pray a prayer. This is a reminder that it is the Spirit who gives new birth and the Spirit’s work is invisible (John 3:8). Articulating a prayer doesn’t obligate God to save a person. If a person doubts his salvation, praying to receive Jesus again is not the solution. Instead, an admonishment to seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon Him while he is near would be more appropriate with the promise that he will never cast out anyone who comes to Him (Is. 55:6; John 6:37). At some point, the evangelist has said all he can say and must trust that it is God who saves—the evangelist can’t get the person saved. His responsibility is to “preach the gospel” (Mk. 16:15) and trust in the grace of God to give “the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6-7, Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 2:11).
What seems most appropriate at the end of a gospel presentation, or a post-sermon invitation, is for evangelist to close the time with the person in prayer. He or she should express thanksgiving to God for an opportunity to share the gospel and to pray that the Spirit will convict, give faith and strength to follow Jesus (Mk. 8:34). The person who declares the gospel could certainly do well to pray for converts and petition the Sovereign God of the Universe to “grant repentance” and “give the increase” (Acts 11:18; 1 Cor. 3:7). Praying for the conversion of a soul is always appropriate—but no one should ever be told, or allowed to infer from a method or additional requirement, that a prayer saves. Believing (not intellectual assent or empty prayers) on the Lord saves. This is the biblical demand.
The way many tracts and web pages are written, it appears that most believe words of faith must be articulated in a prayer or that the words guarantee something. Some people seem to believe that it is necessary for one to pray a prayer in order to be saved. Invitations at the end of a sermon are frequently conducted in such a way as to give the impression that the recitation of words, led by an evangelist, is effectual unto salvation. Must people ask or articulate words of faith (http://www.sinner-prayer.com/) to be saved? This “Sinner’s Prayer” is often found at the end of gospel tracts and web pages. Sometimes the person who now believes in Christ is told, with the supposed authority of the Bible, that if they were sincere when they prayed that they are now Christians and have eternal life. Is this true?
IS THIS TRUE?
Is that the gospel? Read a gospel tract, pray a prayer, and instantly one can be assured of his salvation—he is born again! Most would agree that a prayer doesn’t save the person, yet their gospel presentation and methods imply the opposite. People are told, “Sincerely pray this prayer,” and then they are assured that they are saved if they were sincere as though sincerity can be measured. How sincere is sincere? The evangelist may say something like, “This prayer does not save you. It is your faith that saves you. Would you like to pray to receive Jesus?” If faith saves, what is the point of asking would you like to pray? The better question is: “Do you know what it means to believe that the Lord Jesus is the Christ?” Or, “Are you willing to trust that God is able and willing to do all that he has promised to do in and through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus?
In reaction to “easy believism,” internationally known Southern Baptist Evangelist Paul Washer, John MacArthur, and others have been publically opposed for their adamant position that salvation prayers do not guarantee conversion. In some fellowships, Washer and others have been accused of perverting the grace of God with a “Lordship Salvation” doctrine. Is this a fair and balanced accusation? Washer discourages people from praying to receive Jesus and argues that no one can gain assurance of his salvation from such a prayer. Is he right? Does God need us to pray a prayer? Do we have a biblical model for a “Sinner’s Prayer?” Are the Scriptures prescriptive in this matter? These are important questions that require answers from the Christian’s only authority in life—the Word. This article will show that articulating a prayer of salvation should never be presented as a necessary component of salvation. It will clarify the role of prayer in a gospel presentation, provide three reasons why people should not be encouraged to pray to receive Jesus, and encourage new converts to begin following Jesus.
Those in the “Sinner’s Prayer” camp use Romans 10:9-10 and 10:13 as their trump cards, insisting that the unbeliever must “confess” and “call upon the name of the Lord” for salvation and that, when they do, they are saved. Who wouldn’t argue that “prayer, confess, and calling” seem to be the same? Indeed, Rom. 10:9-10 describes the “heart believing” and the “mouth confessing.” This seems to indicate there is a need for both. Is that correct? Should we interpret what Paul is saying as two actions—that believing and confessing are two requirements? Or should we interpret one as a requirement (belief) and the other as a result (confession)? Jesus said that if we confess him before others he will profess us before His Father (Mt 10:32). Is that the same as praying, “Dear Jesus, come into my heart?” Is that the confession of faith to which Christ is referring? Certainly not. When Jesus hears those words, do unbelievers receive the gift of salvation by receiving him and then become Christians? Should one be given assurance verses of salvation because he prayed a prayer? Some suggest that because eternal life is a gift one much ask for it (Romans 6:23). Is that what the Bible teaches? Can we find the apostles teaching men to pray to God to come into their hearts? Paul makes it clear what comes first—belief—when he asks, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?” (Romans 10:14).
Before we consider what John 1:12-13 says concerning how one receives Jesus (in their heart or life), it is interesting to note that those who require confession in the form of a prayer are often the same ones who insist that, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mk. 16:16) does not teach that baptism is a requirement for salvation. They rightly teach that baptism is the outward expression of what has already happened in the heart and does not guarantee salvation, yet they often report people as saved because they prayed a prayer of salvation. Yet early in Christ’s ministry, he warned of “many” who will describe themselves as saved but are not (Matt. 7:21-23). The evangelist needs to acknowledge that in the same way baptism doesn’t guarantee salvation neither does confession of words of faith in a prayer. John 1:12-13 says:
But as many as received him [Christ], to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
According to these two verses people (both adults and children) become children of God by believing—not praying, asking or confessing. They receive Christ and “become sons of God” through their faith in Christ. They are not spiritually born again because of the will of any human, but it is God that gives those who believe the second birth and eternal life.
SUPERFICIAL BELIEF
The Apostle John is so convinced of this theological truth and wants his reader to comprehend this important doctrine, that he provides a practical illustration of this in John 2. In chapter one, John initially packs the chapter full of descriptions of Christ as the Word, God, the Light, the Son of God, the Christ, the Rabbi, the Prophet, the King of the Jews, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Then in chapter two, after Jesus cleanses the temple of those who were robbing the Jews during the Passover, John writes about people who believed on the name of Jesus, but Jesus did not positively respond to their belief. When Jesus was finished cleansing the temple, the Jewish leaders insisted upon a sign of authentication for His authority to cleanse the temple. And Christ promised them a sign—the sign of the resurrection. He spoke of the temple of His body being resurrected. But the Jews didn’t understand His meaning. They thought that he was making reference to the physical temple he had just cleansed. Then John speaks of a group of people whose spiritual followers still exist today. Beginning in John 2:23-25, John writes of many who profess to believe in Jesus. Although their culture was different, it could be America where 80% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians—followers of Christ (America’s Seven Faith Tribes p.29). John writes:
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
Notice that John uses the same language he used in chapter one: “believed in his name.” In fact, he says that “many believed on his name.” So, from this verse alone, one could conclude these people believed. They “believed on His name” and therefore must be saved. “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them.” What?! “But they believed!” you might say. In fact, they must have articulated belief at some point because John was not a mind-reader. Yet John writes, “but” as a transitional word to create a strong contrast to the “many” and noted that Jesus “did not commit himself unto them.” An examination of the Greek words behind John 2:24 show the use of pisteuō (one of John’s favorite words for belief) twice in this verse. Jesus did not believe (pisteuō) that they (the many) believed (pisteuō) on Him.
Jesus’ response to the many that believed was one of unbelief (or non-commitment). John had already explained to his reader that spiritual birth is not of the will of man, but of God. So John says that Jesus did not believe that they believed because “He knew all”—that is, he knew what they believed. He is God. God is omniscient. God knows whose belief is authentic and whose is not. (The evangelist cannot know what God knows.) God knows who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (such as Peter’s great confession of faith in Matthew 16) and those whose belief is not authentic. Later John would write: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19). John is well aware that there are pseudo-Christians who are not born again because authentic Christians continue in the faith. Genuine conversion cannot be ascertained minutes after a profession of faith or prayer. The evangelist must be content in realizing all he can do is ask probing questions. Jesus asked: “But who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15). If a child or adult articulates faith in Christ as their Savior they should be treated as a disciple of Christ and encouraged to begin following Jesus as their Teacher, Savior and Lord.
HE KNOWS THE HEART
Moreover, John writes “and needed not that any should testify of man.” Jesus doesn’t need to hear words of faith to recognize a person’s faith in Him. Only God knows when words are authentic expressions of faith. He knows all men. To use Paul’s language from Romans 10, he knows who is authentic in their belief in the Person and salvific work of Christ in their heart. Yet God enjoys hearing believers pray. New converts should be encouraged to begin talking to God in prayer.
John points out that Christ didn’t believe in those who expressed faith in Him. He doesn’t say that they didn’t “pray” or “call.” Jesus doesn’t need to hear a confession or testimony; he knows. An evangelist should tell a potential convert, “God knows your heart; he knows whether your belief is authentic or or not.” Everyone else will have to wait to see if the one articulating faith in Christ turned to God from idols to serve the living God—repentance (1 Thess. 1:9, John 10:27).
In John 3, John launches into Christ’s encounter with Nicodemus and reinforces that Christ knows what Nicodemus thinks and believes. Jesus interrupts Nicodemus and goes to the heart of the issue. Jesus doesn’t need men to pray to receive Him; God knows whose belief is superficial and whose belief is authentic. When belief is authentic, Jesus commits Himself to the believer—they are born again. When it isn’t genuine, then that person is not born again—regardless of what they testify, speak, articulate or call out to the Lord or to others (see Matt. 7:21-27). The evangelist may have a desire to hear one pray in an attempt to ascertain whether the person is saved or not, but the truth is the articulation of a prayer is never presented as an assurance that one is saved. What role should prayer have in securing one’s salvation? The clear, biblical answer to that question is, “It cannot secure salvation.” People are saved by grace through repentant faith in the Person and salvific work of Christ.
Evangelists should never get in the way of a person wishing to spontaneously express faith in Christ through prayer, but neither should they encourage or require such. This is true for both adults and children. In fact one must be even more cautious in mixing prayer and faith with children. The truth is: It is very hard to determine if a child is born again. There isn’t a single biblical example of an evangelist teaching or leading someone to articulate a prayer to get saved. Tracts should be rewritten, web pages redesigned, evangelists retrained and gospel invitations should be limited to a call to repent and believe (Acts 20:21). Evangelists must be content with the reality that a prayer said well does not guarantee a person believes with the heart (Roman 10:9, 10).
THE PROMISES OF GOD
“God said it and I believe it” is the testimony of one who has been converted. Abraham is the model of such faith—he trusted in both the God of the promise and the promise he received from God. Consider how Paul describes Abraham’s saving faith as “being fully persuaded [convinced] that, what God had promised, God was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21). In Romans 1:1-2, Paul communicates that the very gospel of God was promised beforehand by God’s prophets in the Holy Scriptures. By faith, the follower of God believes that the Father will fulfill all that he has promised to his children in and through His Son—the Savior—who is Christ the Lord (2 Cor. 1:19-20). His faith is in both the God who made the promise and the promise. He must have faith in what God promised (the gospel) and believe (trust) that God is able to do what God promised. In Acts 26:6, Paul makes it very clear that his hope is in the promise of God. Peter describes these promises from God as “exceedingly great and precious which are able to make people partakers of the divine nature and deliver them from the corruption in the world” (2 Peter 1:4). And John understands one aspect of this promise to be eternal life (1 John 2:25). Ultimately, those born again become “children of the promise” (Gal. 4:28). Finally, Peter declared: “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).The evangelist preaches and the Spirit of God convicts of sin and calls them to salvation.
THE INVITATION
One can conclude that there isn’t any value in teaching men to articulate a Sinner’s Prayer to be saved for three reasons. First, the one desiring to be saved knows his own heart—he doesn’t need to articulate a prayer to tell himself what he believes. He knows if he believes. Second, in a similar way, God does not need to hear a prayer that articulates faith—he knows who believes. Third, the evangelist doesn’t know the prospect’s heart—therefore; the evangelist gains nothing from encouraging a prayer that may or may not reflect an authentic belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. If the evangelist wants to determine if the person understands the gospel presentation, he should ask specific questions about the gospel. For example, “do you understand what it means to trust in the promises God has made through the gospel of the Lord Jesus?” Or “Is there anything keeping you from trusting in the Savior God promised for your salvation?” If a person who believes desires to pray—he should pray—but he should never be encouraged to pray to receive salvation. He should be encouraged to repent and believe the gospel. When a person is regenerated (born again) they may sometimes pray. But such a prayer by the newly regenerated person is simply a confession of what they believe.
In Matthew 16, Jesus told Peter that his great confession came from the Father; his flesh and blood (brain or heart) did not come up with it. It was revealed to him. This reinforces the ridiculousness of encouraging a prayer to receive Christ when the Father is the one who reveals the truth that Jesus is the Christ (Matthew 16:13-17). Praying to God doesn’t prove that one believes. It is absurd to suggest that the Father needs to be told (via prayer) who he is drawing to the Son (John 6:44). Twenty-first century evangelists should follow the example of the Apostles. They testified to everyone that a person is saved through repentance toward God and faith (belief) in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38, 16:31, 17:30 and 20:21). Those who profess to believe (trust in the promises) on the Lord for their salvation should be encouraged to begin following Jesus in worship, Bible study, professions, prayer, baptism, and church membership.
A FINAL WORD ON PRAYING
None of this is meant to discourage anyone from praying. “Men ought to always pray” (Luke 18:1). “God be merciful to me a sinner” and “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom” are examples of prayers expressing faith in the Lord (Luke 18:13, 23:42). When the Spirit leads men to pray, they should pray. However, such genuine prayer is substantially different from prayer prompted by the evangelist. Such prayer may produce a false sense of one’s assurance of salvation. In Luke 23:39-42, the heart of the thief on the cross had already been changed—this can be seen when he began to rebuke his fellow thief dying with him. His prayer was a reflection of what he believed, and he didn’t need someone leading or encouraging him to petition God. He said what he already believed—Christ was a King who was able to save him.
Certainly, there have been thousands upon thousands of people who have been saved and subsequently prayed to receive Jesus. However, the problem with praying to receive Jesus is that it has filled churches with multitudes of unsaved church members—people who are fully convinced they are saved because they “asked Jesus in their heart” but are not believers. Many more are not in any church today despite previously praying to receive Jesus because they were never born again yet have a false assurance of salvation. Paul wrote, “No man can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). Certainly Paul is not writing about the articulation of the words “Jesus is Lord.” Anyone can pray a prayer. This is a reminder that it is the Spirit who gives new birth and the Spirit’s work is invisible (John 3:8). Articulating a prayer doesn’t obligate God to save a person. If a person doubts his salvation, praying to receive Jesus again is not the solution. Instead, an admonishment to seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon Him while he is near would be more appropriate with the promise that he will never cast out anyone who comes to Him (Is. 55:6; John 6:37). At some point, the evangelist has said all he can say and must trust that it is God who saves—the evangelist can’t get the person saved. His responsibility is to “preach the gospel” (Mk. 16:15) and trust in the grace of God to give “the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6-7, Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 2:11).
What seems most appropriate at the end of a gospel presentation, or a post-sermon invitation, is for evangelist to close the time with the person in prayer. He or she should express thanksgiving to God for an opportunity to share the gospel and to pray that the Spirit will convict, give faith and strength to follow Jesus (Mk. 8:34). The person who declares the gospel could certainly do well to pray for converts and petition the Sovereign God of the Universe to “grant repentance” and “give the increase” (Acts 11:18; 1 Cor. 3:7). Praying for the conversion of a soul is always appropriate—but no one should ever be told, or allowed to infer from a method or additional requirement, that a prayer saves. Believing (not intellectual assent or empty prayers) on the Lord saves. This is the biblical demand.
People in Hell who had a Personal Relationship with Jesus
I have a question:
Have you ever considered the number of people who may NOT be in heaven who believe they have a “personal relationship with Jesus?”
The other day I heard an evangelist use that phrase over and over again. He repeatedly asked a room full of people if they knew that they had a “personal relationship with Jesus.”
And I thought that maybe that’s not the right phrase or question to use—there are a lot of people who believe they have a personal relationship with Jesus who are not born again. It may be we need to go back to using biblical phrases, explanations and invitations.
“Personal relationship” is not a phrase or expression that the apostles used in any of their gospel presentations. It is not in the New Testament.
And there were people who had a personal relationship with Jesus who were not born again.
The first person that comes to my mind is Judas the traitor. For three years Judas had a personal relationship with Jesus. For three years he walked, talked, ate and hung out with Jesus as a disciple; yet there is no doubt that Judas was an unsaved man.
He did not believe that Jesus was the Lord (Romans 10:9); he did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah—the Anointed One—sent from God the Father to be the Christ.
What about the people described in Matthew 7:22 who call Jesus Lord? Surely if we asked them if they had a personal relationship with Jesus—they would answer in the affirmative.
Yet we know they did not believe that Jesus was the Christ in the sense of Christ as their priest. When we analyze their salvation testimony, they talk about good works- not salvation by grace.
Any person with an authentic faith understands that Jesus is their mediator; he is their savior and priest with God the Father. Someone who has believed the truth of the gospel understands that it is not their good works that saves the soul but the grace of God. Yet as we listen to the unregenerate in Matthew 7:22, they say that what they have done makes them worthy of salvation--not what Jesus has done.
READ: Matthew 7:22 “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?”
Where is a true understanding of the gospel in this testimony? Where is the mention of grace?
People who are saved know Jesus as teacher (prophet), savior (priest), and master (king).
People who are converted will grow in their understanding of Jesus as their teacher, who can also forgive their sins, and as their Lord, who speaks to them through His Word and Spirit and expects them to obey Him.
It is time to stop emphasizing an exceptionally subjective “personal relationship with Jesus” and start asking questions that revolve around Jesus as the Christ (1 John 5:1) that can be answered with a greater degree of certainty.
1. Do you believe in the death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus, as the Son of God and God-Man, and His current existence at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for those who believe?
2. How do you know you are saved (born again or going to heaven)? At the heart of this question is the “Christian’s” understanding of the purpose of Christ’s death and the manifestation of grace in the gospel. People who are saved do not articulate a salvation by works testimony.
3. Can you remember a time when the Spirit of Christ living inside you convicted you of sin or opened biblical truth to your heart and mind?
Think about everything you know about Old Testament prophets—they were the men (and women) who dealt with sin and judgment (Acts 7:34).
4. Do you believe that Jesus was the “Anointed One,” sent from the one true and living God as God’s only begotten Son?
5. Do you believe that Jesus is Lord? (Romans 10:9). Do you actively love Jesus as Lord? (John 10:27). Is there any evidence or indication in your life that he is your King? Can you articulate a particular time when you voluntarily submitted to His authority in your life? In other words, whose kingdom are you most interested in building—yours or His?
6. Do you believe that Jesus came in the flesh as the Son of God and Son of man? (1 John 4.2)
7. Is there a time when you can remember being chastened by King Jesus for your disobedience as one of his servants?
8. Why were you baptized?
9. Why are you a member of a church? Are you active? Why or why not?
10. Have you ever made a public profession of your faith in Christ as your Lord and Savior? If you study the New Testament Jesus is often referred to as “our Lord” as a means of communicating love and relationship to Him as Master or King.
I certainly am not trying to suggest that these questions sum up everything that needs to be asked, but I think they are much more objective. Yet, anyone can lie to any number of questions.
There are many Roman Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, etc, who all would very quickly affirm that they have a “personal relationship with Jesus.” But there is not a shred of evidence that they are new creatures in Christ.
According to the Barna Research Group, four out of five adult Americans describe themselves as Christians. Yet we know that the lifestyle of the majority of Americans clearly calls into question whether they are being radically changed by the power of the gospel into fully-devoted followers of Christ.
If we are going to reach these lost who think they are saved with the gospel, the same old questions, phrases and explanations are not going to work.
Asking them if there has every been a time when they asked Jesus into their heart isn’t going to cut to the core of their being and convict them of their need of the truth. Faith comes by hearing and hearing very specifically by the Word of God. In Acts 2 Peter did not ask the men if there had ever been a time when they asked Jesus into their heart, NOR did he lead them in a sinner’s prayer. Instead, he told them to REPENT. They knew he was calling for them to turn from Judaism to the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn’t asking them to have a personal relationship. Peter was insisting that they had to start FOLLOWING the Risen Lord whom they had just crucified.
Leading multitudes in a generic, semi-heartfelt prayer hasn’t produced a nation of Christians, so I want to know when are we, the body of Christ, going to wake up and commit to a standard that insists our theology must drive our methodology.
When it comes to what we preach, teach and share as Ambassadors of Christ, there is no need to add to or to take away from what the apostles did in the 1st century.
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t change.
There is still a need to preach, teach and share repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is time to start unpacking why Jesus came as the Christ, what it meant to come as the Christ, and what it will mean to come-again as the Christ.
Then our invitation needs to be a challenge to FOLLOW Him.
Now a person doesn’t follow someone they don’t BELIEVE in, so the first step is FAITH that Jesus is Lord. Once a person believes that Jesus is LORD, this salvific or authentic faith will drive them to follow Him. God who began a good work in them will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1.6).
And that precisely is how YOU know if your FAITH is authentic or NOT. Therefore, every man must examine himself to see whether He is in the faith once delivered.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
I don’t examine you and you don’t examine me—each man is challenged to examine himself according to the Word of God—not against non-biblical questions like: “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus” or “Can you remember a time and place when you prayed to ask Jesus into your heart?”
Have you ever considered the number of people who may NOT be in heaven who believe they have a “personal relationship with Jesus?”
The other day I heard an evangelist use that phrase over and over again. He repeatedly asked a room full of people if they knew that they had a “personal relationship with Jesus.”
And I thought that maybe that’s not the right phrase or question to use—there are a lot of people who believe they have a personal relationship with Jesus who are not born again. It may be we need to go back to using biblical phrases, explanations and invitations.
“Personal relationship” is not a phrase or expression that the apostles used in any of their gospel presentations. It is not in the New Testament.
And there were people who had a personal relationship with Jesus who were not born again.
The first person that comes to my mind is Judas the traitor. For three years Judas had a personal relationship with Jesus. For three years he walked, talked, ate and hung out with Jesus as a disciple; yet there is no doubt that Judas was an unsaved man.
He did not believe that Jesus was the Lord (Romans 10:9); he did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah—the Anointed One—sent from God the Father to be the Christ.
What about the people described in Matthew 7:22 who call Jesus Lord? Surely if we asked them if they had a personal relationship with Jesus—they would answer in the affirmative.
Yet we know they did not believe that Jesus was the Christ in the sense of Christ as their priest. When we analyze their salvation testimony, they talk about good works- not salvation by grace.
Any person with an authentic faith understands that Jesus is their mediator; he is their savior and priest with God the Father. Someone who has believed the truth of the gospel understands that it is not their good works that saves the soul but the grace of God. Yet as we listen to the unregenerate in Matthew 7:22, they say that what they have done makes them worthy of salvation--not what Jesus has done.
READ: Matthew 7:22 “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?”
Where is a true understanding of the gospel in this testimony? Where is the mention of grace?
People who are saved know Jesus as teacher (prophet), savior (priest), and master (king).
People who are converted will grow in their understanding of Jesus as their teacher, who can also forgive their sins, and as their Lord, who speaks to them through His Word and Spirit and expects them to obey Him.
It is time to stop emphasizing an exceptionally subjective “personal relationship with Jesus” and start asking questions that revolve around Jesus as the Christ (1 John 5:1) that can be answered with a greater degree of certainty.
1. Do you believe in the death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus, as the Son of God and God-Man, and His current existence at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for those who believe?
2. How do you know you are saved (born again or going to heaven)? At the heart of this question is the “Christian’s” understanding of the purpose of Christ’s death and the manifestation of grace in the gospel. People who are saved do not articulate a salvation by works testimony.
3. Can you remember a time when the Spirit of Christ living inside you convicted you of sin or opened biblical truth to your heart and mind?
Think about everything you know about Old Testament prophets—they were the men (and women) who dealt with sin and judgment (Acts 7:34).
4. Do you believe that Jesus was the “Anointed One,” sent from the one true and living God as God’s only begotten Son?
5. Do you believe that Jesus is Lord? (Romans 10:9). Do you actively love Jesus as Lord? (John 10:27). Is there any evidence or indication in your life that he is your King? Can you articulate a particular time when you voluntarily submitted to His authority in your life? In other words, whose kingdom are you most interested in building—yours or His?
6. Do you believe that Jesus came in the flesh as the Son of God and Son of man? (1 John 4.2)
7. Is there a time when you can remember being chastened by King Jesus for your disobedience as one of his servants?
8. Why were you baptized?
9. Why are you a member of a church? Are you active? Why or why not?
10. Have you ever made a public profession of your faith in Christ as your Lord and Savior? If you study the New Testament Jesus is often referred to as “our Lord” as a means of communicating love and relationship to Him as Master or King.
I certainly am not trying to suggest that these questions sum up everything that needs to be asked, but I think they are much more objective. Yet, anyone can lie to any number of questions.
There are many Roman Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, etc, who all would very quickly affirm that they have a “personal relationship with Jesus.” But there is not a shred of evidence that they are new creatures in Christ.
According to the Barna Research Group, four out of five adult Americans describe themselves as Christians. Yet we know that the lifestyle of the majority of Americans clearly calls into question whether they are being radically changed by the power of the gospel into fully-devoted followers of Christ.
If we are going to reach these lost who think they are saved with the gospel, the same old questions, phrases and explanations are not going to work.
Asking them if there has every been a time when they asked Jesus into their heart isn’t going to cut to the core of their being and convict them of their need of the truth. Faith comes by hearing and hearing very specifically by the Word of God. In Acts 2 Peter did not ask the men if there had ever been a time when they asked Jesus into their heart, NOR did he lead them in a sinner’s prayer. Instead, he told them to REPENT. They knew he was calling for them to turn from Judaism to the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn’t asking them to have a personal relationship. Peter was insisting that they had to start FOLLOWING the Risen Lord whom they had just crucified.
Leading multitudes in a generic, semi-heartfelt prayer hasn’t produced a nation of Christians, so I want to know when are we, the body of Christ, going to wake up and commit to a standard that insists our theology must drive our methodology.
When it comes to what we preach, teach and share as Ambassadors of Christ, there is no need to add to or to take away from what the apostles did in the 1st century.
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t change.
There is still a need to preach, teach and share repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is time to start unpacking why Jesus came as the Christ, what it meant to come as the Christ, and what it will mean to come-again as the Christ.
Then our invitation needs to be a challenge to FOLLOW Him.
Now a person doesn’t follow someone they don’t BELIEVE in, so the first step is FAITH that Jesus is Lord. Once a person believes that Jesus is LORD, this salvific or authentic faith will drive them to follow Him. God who began a good work in them will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1.6).
And that precisely is how YOU know if your FAITH is authentic or NOT. Therefore, every man must examine himself to see whether He is in the faith once delivered.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
I don’t examine you and you don’t examine me—each man is challenged to examine himself according to the Word of God—not against non-biblical questions like: “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus” or “Can you remember a time and place when you prayed to ask Jesus into your heart?”
A Profound Question
A few days ago, a young person asked me a simply profound question:
“If my Sunday school teacher knew a prayer does not save a person from their sins, why did she lead me to pray a prayer for salvation?”
What a great question? How do you answer that?
Isn’t it interesting how we all say:
It is repentant faith in the person and work of Jesus as the Christ that saves one from the wrath of God and adopts them into the family of God, as a justified believer, and then we go forward with leading the boy or girl in some recitation of:
Dear Jesus,
How confusing?
It really needs to stop.
Ambassadors of God must challenge men and women, boys and girls to BELIEVE. Nothing more—salvation is a work of the Lord that is appropriated by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ as the eternal prophet, priest and King--the Son of God.
The central teaching of the entire NT is “belief” in the person and work of Jesus Christ saves men and women. 1 John 5.1.
If the heart that has been regenerated wishes to pray, let it pray and pray and pray but not under the leadership of a canned prayer that seems more like a recitation than the confession of a new believer.
“If my Sunday school teacher knew a prayer does not save a person from their sins, why did she lead me to pray a prayer for salvation?”
What a great question? How do you answer that?
Isn’t it interesting how we all say:
It is repentant faith in the person and work of Jesus as the Christ that saves one from the wrath of God and adopts them into the family of God, as a justified believer, and then we go forward with leading the boy or girl in some recitation of:
Dear Jesus,
How confusing?
It really needs to stop.
Ambassadors of God must challenge men and women, boys and girls to BELIEVE. Nothing more—salvation is a work of the Lord that is appropriated by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ as the eternal prophet, priest and King--the Son of God.
The central teaching of the entire NT is “belief” in the person and work of Jesus Christ saves men and women. 1 John 5.1.
If the heart that has been regenerated wishes to pray, let it pray and pray and pray but not under the leadership of a canned prayer that seems more like a recitation than the confession of a new believer.
Read Psalm 81
Ps 81 was the Psalm to read today for my daily Bible reading plan:
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
9 There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
Notice the worship. God is commanding them to shout unto him. He tells them to blow the trumpet unto the Lord. They are to sing unto the Lord. When was the last time God heard you shout unto him?
When was the last time you cut loose and worshipped God?
God has delivered me from the bondage of a will that was intent on doing wrong every single waking moment of my life.
I too have been delivered from the bondage of Egypt. I too was a slave to sin with no hope outside of the almighty hand of God. I too was in need of a Savior who would deliver me from the oppression of the Evil one.
And my God my Lord and Savior has done just that. Praise the Lord.
Notice verse 8 God is admonishing them. God is the one who has rescued Israel and yet they are worshipping other gods.
May I be every so careful that I have no idols before God. None!
Verse 12 is scary. God forbid that I ever get to a point where God is giving me over to my stubborn heart. I don’t want the Sovereign God of the Universe to hand me over to my own counsel.
I don’t want the Creator God of the Universe expressing a desire that I follow him because I am consumed in idolatry after He rescued me from Egypt.
At the judgment Seat of Christ, I know I am going to be shocked at all that God intended to do for me but I would not. The finest wheat, the best honey, a mouth open wide are all ways of describing how God desires to bless fully devoted followers of Christ.
I don’t want to hear that God intended on protecting me from my enemies, that He had blessings that I forfeited because I would not serve Him with my whole heart.
May I head the admonishment of Psalm 81 today and every day.
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
9 There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
Notice the worship. God is commanding them to shout unto him. He tells them to blow the trumpet unto the Lord. They are to sing unto the Lord. When was the last time God heard you shout unto him?
When was the last time you cut loose and worshipped God?
God has delivered me from the bondage of a will that was intent on doing wrong every single waking moment of my life.
I too have been delivered from the bondage of Egypt. I too was a slave to sin with no hope outside of the almighty hand of God. I too was in need of a Savior who would deliver me from the oppression of the Evil one.
And my God my Lord and Savior has done just that. Praise the Lord.
Notice verse 8 God is admonishing them. God is the one who has rescued Israel and yet they are worshipping other gods.
May I be every so careful that I have no idols before God. None!
Verse 12 is scary. God forbid that I ever get to a point where God is giving me over to my stubborn heart. I don’t want the Sovereign God of the Universe to hand me over to my own counsel.
I don’t want the Creator God of the Universe expressing a desire that I follow him because I am consumed in idolatry after He rescued me from Egypt.
At the judgment Seat of Christ, I know I am going to be shocked at all that God intended to do for me but I would not. The finest wheat, the best honey, a mouth open wide are all ways of describing how God desires to bless fully devoted followers of Christ.
I don’t want to hear that God intended on protecting me from my enemies, that He had blessings that I forfeited because I would not serve Him with my whole heart.
May I head the admonishment of Psalm 81 today and every day.
The Purpose of Practicing Righteousness
1 John 2:28-29 through 3:3
And now, little children (You, if you are rescued), abide in him (Jesus); that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
If ye know that he (Jesus) is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man (or woman) that hath this hope in him (Jesus) purifieth himself (or herself), even as he (Jesus) is pure.
If you have your Bibles, looks especially at verse number 29.
If ye know that he [Jesus] is righteous. If you say Pastor, I know He is righteous; if you have discovered that He is the Righteous One and without a doubt He is sinless; if you understand in Hebrews 4:15 that we have a High Priest which has been tempted just like us, and yet He was without sin; if you know the Truth that Jesus went to the wilderness and in spite of all the temptations, He did not sin, if you understand that He, the One Who knew no sin, was made sin for us, if you have come to the realization that the Man, the Person who was crucified was without any sin; if you have come to that idea and you can relate to and understand that truth, then you are born again. You are a child of God. You are a son or daughter of God. If you by faith have believed that Jesus was born of a Virgin and kept all the Jewish laws perfectly; if you believe that there was never a single time in His life that He rolled His eyes at His parents. Not one time. I have to tell you that from a carnal perspective, it is hard to imagine. It is hard to imagine that a person could go their entire life and never be rude. And you say well, Jesus did not have to drive on the streets of Fayetteville. When our Savior walked and talked on this planet and dealt with rude people, He always responded in the right way. There was never a time that He was rude, and He ultimately lived a life without even one sin, not even the smallest sin. If you have not embraced that truth as your own, then you are probably not converted, because that truth is a truth that comes from God.
Hebrews 4:15
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (This is a Key Gospel-Presentation Verse!)
Proof Text: Matthew 16:15-17
He saith unto them, But whom say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, by my Father which is in heaven.
The realization that Jesus is the Righteous One, the acknowledgement that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, does not come from a human perspective. You do not muster that up inside of you. That is not something you realize because you earnestly studied it. According to Matthew 16, it is a gift from God. The truth that Jesus is the Righteous One comes from the Father. This reminds me first and foremost that when I am presenting the Gospel, I need to emphasize the person of Christ. I need to emphasize that He is Virgin born and that He lived a sinless life. I need to emphasize that. I am not going to assume that my neighbor or my cousin understand that. I am going to present Jesus as the Righteous One. Pastor, what happens if they do not believe that? I am going to pray. Why are you going to pray? Because I cannot convince them of that. I cannot prove to you a virgin birth. I can show you in Scripture, and I can tell you that we believe by faith. That is the extent of it. I cannot convince you. I cannot prove it to you like 2 + 2 = 4. I can explain that He had to be virgin born, that He had to be born of a virgin so that He would not have a sin nature. I can show you that He is fulfilling Old Testament prophecies, but in the end, you have to believe it by faith, and that faith comes from God. You cannot generate that in and of yourselves. That is why we emphasize here that we need to be praying for the salvation of lost souls. It is not an intellectual mind game in which we get into a debating match. I want you to see the parallel between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John.
1 John 3:1
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
I am very concerned that the church is moving further away from the excitement over the Gospel. The centrality of Jesus leaving the glories of heaven and coming and dying on a bloody cross so that you and I could be called the sons of God. So that there is now no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ. I have got to tell you that if the glory of God and the incredible love that He displays isn’t something to you, then you may not be born of God. Because people who are born of God say “what manner of love!” and they pause for a minute and they are enamored by the love of God. It speaks to them. They think about it in their very soul and being, and they find themselves communicating to God in worship.
Notice what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
This verse communicates to us that when you realize that Jesus died on a cross for the world and that He did it so we can live, that gets inside the fiber of your being and it stirs within you a desire to stop living for yourself and start living for Him. This is why John says in verse 29 that these people practice righteousness. Look in your Bibles at verse 29: If ye know that he (Jesus) is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
• People who are born of Him are born-again and are children of God.
• God imputes the righteousness of His Son to the account of each person who knows that Jesus is Righteous—these are children of God.
Perhaps if you had a checking account, you were bouncing checks, and something was deposited into your account, maybe you would appreciate that more. Everyone needs to understand that if you are a child of God, you are spiritually bankrupt. You have nothing in your account. You are as broke as broke gets. And God imputed (credited) into your account a sum that causes you to stop bouncing checks. And what the Apostle John says is that when we grab hold of that concept, it should cause us to want to practice righteousness. This does not mean going to church, dressing a particular way, and wearing a tie. I am talking about practicing righteousness. Paul says it like this:
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Paul calls children of God “new creatures”. I do not know anything about salvation in which things do not change. I do not know anything about a salvation in which someone knows that Jesus is righteous but they do not start practicing righteousness. Do you see it in that verse? These people start doing righteousness. There is not a disconnect between knowing Jesus is righteous and but not doing righteousness. The two go together. So then let’s ask ourselves: What do those who know that Jesus is Righteous do as new creatures? They do righteousness. 1st John 2:29.
What does it mean to practice righteousness? The answer is in 1 John 2:3. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Doing righteousness begins with striving to keep the commandments. We are characterized by practicing righteousness. Please note that “practicing righteousness” is NOT being a morally decent person. That is very important. There are going to be a lot of morally decent people in hell. It will be filled with morally decent people. People in hell are going to say “I never murdered anyone.” People in hell are going to say, “I was faithful to my wife.” People in hell are going to say, “I never perjured myself in court.” People in hell are going to try to articulate moral decency because they have a warped sense of righteousness according to God’s standard.
What does the Bible say the first commandment is? Not what does culture think? The most important commandment is to love God!? Not go to church on Sunday. Not giving a tithe. But do you love God? Do you get up in the morning thinking about God? Do you go to bed at night thinking about God? Can you go long periods of time throughout your day without thinking about God? For you is thinking about God a Sunday morning event? Or are you crazy about Him? Do you go on your back porch at night and look at the sun or the moon and say “God you made that! God you are awesome!” That is doing righteousness!
Commandment #1
Mark 12:28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is,
Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
• “Doing Righteousness” is NOT conforming to particular cultural customs.
• “Practicing Righteousness” is NOT a particular haircut, method of dress, or a fixed behavior unique to a generation.
• Christianity rises above and beyond a human culture; it rises above apple pie, baseball, and the American flag
Doing righteousness is loving God with all your heart, soul and mind. And let me tell you something, I do not always do that. Sometimes I find myself incredibly selfish. And I find myself warring within my very being to have the victory for even just a moment.
“Many American churches have actually embraced cultural conformity as a strategy for church growth. They do not see that surrendering to the culture means the disappearance of the church. The current culture is effacing its doctrines, ignoring its morality, and erasing its history.”
Gene Veith
Commentary
“Practicing righteousness” is doing what is morally and ethically right without regard for the cultural norms of a particular society and without a historical anchor point in a certain decade or century when God was moving. God does not have a favorite culture, language or people group. Do you understand that God is working right now all over the planet and with all different ethnicities? Do you recognize that Korea is getting ready to take the lead in sending more missionaries out than America? Do you know that right now churches in Africa, South America, and Korea are sending missionaries to America? They see us as a pagan nation. They see our materialism as the idol that must be destroyed. They see us in love with the power of positive thinking as a superstition. And they are seeking to evangelize their own people by leaving their country to take the Gospel to America because the Gospel that is being preached is the perverted Gospel. So what was the number one commandment? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and being.
Let me take you to what I believe is the number two commandment. It is the most difficult one: be kind. “Doing righteousness” means “being kind!”
Ephesians 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
You see, we are so wrapped up in the Ten Commandments that we say “Well, I’ve never perjured myself. I’m not really covetous because I have everything I ever wanted and more; I don’t commit adultery and I’ve never killed anyone so I’m probably a pretty good person.” But what about when we examine ourselves in light of this verse right here: “Be ye kind one to another.” Why don’t we take that commandment right there and say that is what doing righteousness means? Doing righteousness does not mean I wear my white shirt on Sundays, carry my big Bible, and make a show when I come into church. That is easy to do. I am going to preach to myself right here because this is Sean Harris’s biggest struggle right here. This is my greatest sin. I am not kind 24 hours a day, 7 days a week like my Savior is. I am not kind. We could say if you know that Jesus is righteous, then you will be kind. You’ll be tenderhearted. You will forgive other people. We could take that single verse where it says “doeth righteousness” and we could insert that right into the text. Does that help you get a better understanding? Our young people in the middle school have such a hard time being kind. Students are so rude to each other. They are mean and look for every way to elevate themselves and put down everyone one else. They are constantly looking for a way to mock someone else. The Apostle Paul says under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit “be ye kind!” What we need to do is kill them with our kindness. We need to be out on the highways or on Skibo Road by the mall and still be kind! We need to be able to drive through this city and be kind. See, we get such a warped perception of what Christianity is. We figure “I go to church on Sunday. I read my Bible three out of five days a week. I sing songs. I listen to Christian music. I check the block.” But we go through all our daily life being rude. I am going to use this analogy, and as long as they are open, I am going to keep on using it. We need to go to Wal*Mart and be kind. I mention it all the time. I see a lot of you at Wal*Mart, so it must be a pretty relevant thing. You see, we need to be able to be in line and still be kind when she says “I am sorry. I am closed”. That is what doing righteousness is.
Loving Jesus the Righteous One and being kind one to another is a sure way to know that you know Him. If you are able to forgive someone, chances are you are born again. Because you know what the natural born mind says? I’m not forgiving you. The natural mind says “I’m not forgiving. Are you kidding? You shouldn’t have done that, and you are not going to get my forgiveness.” The natural mind is not kind. The natural person believes that their life is the most important life. If that person would drive 5 miles faster, I would get there 30 seconds earlier. Don’t they know that 30 seconds is important in my life? What are you talking about today, Pastor? I am trying to take our Christianity out into the world! That is what I am trying to do. We go to the doctor’s office and we see that the doctor is running behind schedule. We step in there and are just as rude as can be. Why? Because we think we are the most important person in the world. And that doctor needs to be on time all morning long so that when we get there, we will get seen on time. We are not concerned that maybe the person before us had a greater problem and needed 5 more minutes of their attention. That happened twice, and therefore they are running 15 minutes behind schedule. That is not our concern. Do you know what we need to do in this church? We need to forgive each other. We need to be tenderhearted and forgiving of each other. Why? Because Christ forgave us. There are husbands and wives in this church that are still holding grudges. You are just not letting it go. You keep bringing it up over and over. You are dredging it up from the bottom. It’s been talked about. It’s been forgiven and dealt with; it’s under the blood, but you keep bringing that thing up. You have to bring it up one more time. That is not doing righteousness. You need to let it go.
The Ultimate Standard
James 4:17: Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
A true believer can’t just say, “O well I’m just not a kind ….”
Six Biblical Reasons Why Christians Should “Practice Righteousness”
There isn’t anyone here that does not need this advice. I struggled for 15 years in the United States Army with this. I had a hard time being kind to soldiers I was chaptering out of the Army. Every day the Holy Spirit would work on me about that. I know what it is like to have a pill for a boss. I know that I need to be kind. I need to be kind at home. I need to be kind to my wife, my son, my co-workers, and my neighbors.
#1. We are new creatures!
2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
If you have stuff from your former life, let that stuff go. Let it go. You are able to forgive.
#2. We love God.
1 John 3:1: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
How many would say, “I sure am glad that God doesn’t hold a grudge against me.” I love the idea that God always forgives me. I love that every time I go to God and confess my faults He is faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. According to 1st John 3:1, that should motivate us to be kind! God does not throw it in our face that we are short. God does not throw it in our face that we are overweight. God does not throw it in our face that we are not as smart as others. God does not throw it in our face that we are not athletic. And yet our middle school students will be just as rude to each other, and it’s unbelievable. It seems to be an age where it comes natural to them. Seeing the love that God demonstrated should be enough.
#3. God is pure and Holy and He commands us to be pure.
1 John 3:3: And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
God could come in our city and drive on our streets, and He would never ever for even a moment lose it. God could go to Wal*Mart or your place of business every single day; and He could show you how to be kind, considerate, loving, compassionate, and forgiving; and He could do it incredibly well. He did it 2000 years ago and He could come back today and do it again. It would be no problem for Him to do that. And the Bible says that I can look at God and say, “you are pure God, so You show me where I am impure or where I am harboring bitterness. You show me where I am not being kind, compassionate, and forgiving. You show it to me, and I will confess it as sin and work on changing it by the grace of God.”
#4. We don’t want to be ashamed when He returns.
1 John 2:28: And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may hve confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
You only get one life to live. You only get one life to be kind. You get one life to be tenderhearted. You get one life to be forgiving. You only have one life, folks. You cannot do it over. Monday is going to come tomorrow, and you get one day. After that, it’s over. Some of you work at customer service events. You work with people all day long. The medical field is a tough area in which to be kind. All day long you are dealing with people and their problems. It is hard, and that is why you need God. It is why you need the grace of God to do that job. You need the grace of God to work with difficult people. And that is why I go back to number one “loving God.” Doctors, how about every single time you go from patient to patient, you stop and say “Jesus, I love you, and I need some of Your grace to make it to the next patient.” Teachers how about every time you change classes, get a break, or move from subject to subject, you stop and worship God for just a moment. You say, “God, I love you. I know what You did on that bloody cross. I know how You suffered for me. It’s the least I can do to receive this pill one more time.”
#5. It shows that we are born of Him.
1 John 2:29: ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
Kindness shows that we are born of Him. Being kind at school, work, or in the home shows we are born of God. If you are the one student in the classroom that can stay kind when everyone else is mocking that one individual, it is an indication that you are probably born again. Because it is hard to be kind. It does not come natural to us. Just the opposite comes natural.
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#6. Someday, I will stand before my Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:14: If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
You know, we have such misperceptions about what the Judgment Seat of Christ is going to be like. We think that all the preachers are going to line up and be rewarded. I tell you we are going to be shocked when we see who gets some of the greatest rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ. We are going to be shocked. Kind, compassionate, forgiving people who love Jesus seven days a week are going to be rewarded beyond our comprehension. That wife that has been living with a miserable husband for years and years and yet she stayed faithful is going to be rewarded beyond comprehension.
When we go out those doors and tackle the world that we live in, we need to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and body. We need to be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving people. We need to assume that the person in front of us is having a bad day, and we are going to understand their problems. We are going to forgive each other when we ask for it. We are going to love each other. Why are we doing all this? Because the Bible calls this “doing righteousness.”
And now, little children (You, if you are rescued), abide in him (Jesus); that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
If ye know that he (Jesus) is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man (or woman) that hath this hope in him (Jesus) purifieth himself (or herself), even as he (Jesus) is pure.
If you have your Bibles, looks especially at verse number 29.
If ye know that he [Jesus] is righteous. If you say Pastor, I know He is righteous; if you have discovered that He is the Righteous One and without a doubt He is sinless; if you understand in Hebrews 4:15 that we have a High Priest which has been tempted just like us, and yet He was without sin; if you know the Truth that Jesus went to the wilderness and in spite of all the temptations, He did not sin, if you understand that He, the One Who knew no sin, was made sin for us, if you have come to the realization that the Man, the Person who was crucified was without any sin; if you have come to that idea and you can relate to and understand that truth, then you are born again. You are a child of God. You are a son or daughter of God. If you by faith have believed that Jesus was born of a Virgin and kept all the Jewish laws perfectly; if you believe that there was never a single time in His life that He rolled His eyes at His parents. Not one time. I have to tell you that from a carnal perspective, it is hard to imagine. It is hard to imagine that a person could go their entire life and never be rude. And you say well, Jesus did not have to drive on the streets of Fayetteville. When our Savior walked and talked on this planet and dealt with rude people, He always responded in the right way. There was never a time that He was rude, and He ultimately lived a life without even one sin, not even the smallest sin. If you have not embraced that truth as your own, then you are probably not converted, because that truth is a truth that comes from God.
Hebrews 4:15
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (This is a Key Gospel-Presentation Verse!)
Proof Text: Matthew 16:15-17
He saith unto them, But whom say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, by my Father which is in heaven.
The realization that Jesus is the Righteous One, the acknowledgement that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, does not come from a human perspective. You do not muster that up inside of you. That is not something you realize because you earnestly studied it. According to Matthew 16, it is a gift from God. The truth that Jesus is the Righteous One comes from the Father. This reminds me first and foremost that when I am presenting the Gospel, I need to emphasize the person of Christ. I need to emphasize that He is Virgin born and that He lived a sinless life. I need to emphasize that. I am not going to assume that my neighbor or my cousin understand that. I am going to present Jesus as the Righteous One. Pastor, what happens if they do not believe that? I am going to pray. Why are you going to pray? Because I cannot convince them of that. I cannot prove to you a virgin birth. I can show you in Scripture, and I can tell you that we believe by faith. That is the extent of it. I cannot convince you. I cannot prove it to you like 2 + 2 = 4. I can explain that He had to be virgin born, that He had to be born of a virgin so that He would not have a sin nature. I can show you that He is fulfilling Old Testament prophecies, but in the end, you have to believe it by faith, and that faith comes from God. You cannot generate that in and of yourselves. That is why we emphasize here that we need to be praying for the salvation of lost souls. It is not an intellectual mind game in which we get into a debating match. I want you to see the parallel between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John.
1 John 3:1
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
I am very concerned that the church is moving further away from the excitement over the Gospel. The centrality of Jesus leaving the glories of heaven and coming and dying on a bloody cross so that you and I could be called the sons of God. So that there is now no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ. I have got to tell you that if the glory of God and the incredible love that He displays isn’t something to you, then you may not be born of God. Because people who are born of God say “what manner of love!” and they pause for a minute and they are enamored by the love of God. It speaks to them. They think about it in their very soul and being, and they find themselves communicating to God in worship.
Notice what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
This verse communicates to us that when you realize that Jesus died on a cross for the world and that He did it so we can live, that gets inside the fiber of your being and it stirs within you a desire to stop living for yourself and start living for Him. This is why John says in verse 29 that these people practice righteousness. Look in your Bibles at verse 29: If ye know that he (Jesus) is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
• People who are born of Him are born-again and are children of God.
• God imputes the righteousness of His Son to the account of each person who knows that Jesus is Righteous—these are children of God.
Perhaps if you had a checking account, you were bouncing checks, and something was deposited into your account, maybe you would appreciate that more. Everyone needs to understand that if you are a child of God, you are spiritually bankrupt. You have nothing in your account. You are as broke as broke gets. And God imputed (credited) into your account a sum that causes you to stop bouncing checks. And what the Apostle John says is that when we grab hold of that concept, it should cause us to want to practice righteousness. This does not mean going to church, dressing a particular way, and wearing a tie. I am talking about practicing righteousness. Paul says it like this:
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Paul calls children of God “new creatures”. I do not know anything about salvation in which things do not change. I do not know anything about a salvation in which someone knows that Jesus is righteous but they do not start practicing righteousness. Do you see it in that verse? These people start doing righteousness. There is not a disconnect between knowing Jesus is righteous and but not doing righteousness. The two go together. So then let’s ask ourselves: What do those who know that Jesus is Righteous do as new creatures? They do righteousness. 1st John 2:29.
What does it mean to practice righteousness? The answer is in 1 John 2:3. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Doing righteousness begins with striving to keep the commandments. We are characterized by practicing righteousness. Please note that “practicing righteousness” is NOT being a morally decent person. That is very important. There are going to be a lot of morally decent people in hell. It will be filled with morally decent people. People in hell are going to say “I never murdered anyone.” People in hell are going to say, “I was faithful to my wife.” People in hell are going to say, “I never perjured myself in court.” People in hell are going to try to articulate moral decency because they have a warped sense of righteousness according to God’s standard.
What does the Bible say the first commandment is? Not what does culture think? The most important commandment is to love God!? Not go to church on Sunday. Not giving a tithe. But do you love God? Do you get up in the morning thinking about God? Do you go to bed at night thinking about God? Can you go long periods of time throughout your day without thinking about God? For you is thinking about God a Sunday morning event? Or are you crazy about Him? Do you go on your back porch at night and look at the sun or the moon and say “God you made that! God you are awesome!” That is doing righteousness!
Commandment #1
Mark 12:28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is,
Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
• “Doing Righteousness” is NOT conforming to particular cultural customs.
• “Practicing Righteousness” is NOT a particular haircut, method of dress, or a fixed behavior unique to a generation.
• Christianity rises above and beyond a human culture; it rises above apple pie, baseball, and the American flag
Doing righteousness is loving God with all your heart, soul and mind. And let me tell you something, I do not always do that. Sometimes I find myself incredibly selfish. And I find myself warring within my very being to have the victory for even just a moment.
“Many American churches have actually embraced cultural conformity as a strategy for church growth. They do not see that surrendering to the culture means the disappearance of the church. The current culture is effacing its doctrines, ignoring its morality, and erasing its history.”
Gene Veith
Commentary
“Practicing righteousness” is doing what is morally and ethically right without regard for the cultural norms of a particular society and without a historical anchor point in a certain decade or century when God was moving. God does not have a favorite culture, language or people group. Do you understand that God is working right now all over the planet and with all different ethnicities? Do you recognize that Korea is getting ready to take the lead in sending more missionaries out than America? Do you know that right now churches in Africa, South America, and Korea are sending missionaries to America? They see us as a pagan nation. They see our materialism as the idol that must be destroyed. They see us in love with the power of positive thinking as a superstition. And they are seeking to evangelize their own people by leaving their country to take the Gospel to America because the Gospel that is being preached is the perverted Gospel. So what was the number one commandment? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and being.
Let me take you to what I believe is the number two commandment. It is the most difficult one: be kind. “Doing righteousness” means “being kind!”
Ephesians 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
You see, we are so wrapped up in the Ten Commandments that we say “Well, I’ve never perjured myself. I’m not really covetous because I have everything I ever wanted and more; I don’t commit adultery and I’ve never killed anyone so I’m probably a pretty good person.” But what about when we examine ourselves in light of this verse right here: “Be ye kind one to another.” Why don’t we take that commandment right there and say that is what doing righteousness means? Doing righteousness does not mean I wear my white shirt on Sundays, carry my big Bible, and make a show when I come into church. That is easy to do. I am going to preach to myself right here because this is Sean Harris’s biggest struggle right here. This is my greatest sin. I am not kind 24 hours a day, 7 days a week like my Savior is. I am not kind. We could say if you know that Jesus is righteous, then you will be kind. You’ll be tenderhearted. You will forgive other people. We could take that single verse where it says “doeth righteousness” and we could insert that right into the text. Does that help you get a better understanding? Our young people in the middle school have such a hard time being kind. Students are so rude to each other. They are mean and look for every way to elevate themselves and put down everyone one else. They are constantly looking for a way to mock someone else. The Apostle Paul says under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit “be ye kind!” What we need to do is kill them with our kindness. We need to be out on the highways or on Skibo Road by the mall and still be kind! We need to be able to drive through this city and be kind. See, we get such a warped perception of what Christianity is. We figure “I go to church on Sunday. I read my Bible three out of five days a week. I sing songs. I listen to Christian music. I check the block.” But we go through all our daily life being rude. I am going to use this analogy, and as long as they are open, I am going to keep on using it. We need to go to Wal*Mart and be kind. I mention it all the time. I see a lot of you at Wal*Mart, so it must be a pretty relevant thing. You see, we need to be able to be in line and still be kind when she says “I am sorry. I am closed”. That is what doing righteousness is.
Loving Jesus the Righteous One and being kind one to another is a sure way to know that you know Him. If you are able to forgive someone, chances are you are born again. Because you know what the natural born mind says? I’m not forgiving you. The natural mind says “I’m not forgiving. Are you kidding? You shouldn’t have done that, and you are not going to get my forgiveness.” The natural mind is not kind. The natural person believes that their life is the most important life. If that person would drive 5 miles faster, I would get there 30 seconds earlier. Don’t they know that 30 seconds is important in my life? What are you talking about today, Pastor? I am trying to take our Christianity out into the world! That is what I am trying to do. We go to the doctor’s office and we see that the doctor is running behind schedule. We step in there and are just as rude as can be. Why? Because we think we are the most important person in the world. And that doctor needs to be on time all morning long so that when we get there, we will get seen on time. We are not concerned that maybe the person before us had a greater problem and needed 5 more minutes of their attention. That happened twice, and therefore they are running 15 minutes behind schedule. That is not our concern. Do you know what we need to do in this church? We need to forgive each other. We need to be tenderhearted and forgiving of each other. Why? Because Christ forgave us. There are husbands and wives in this church that are still holding grudges. You are just not letting it go. You keep bringing it up over and over. You are dredging it up from the bottom. It’s been talked about. It’s been forgiven and dealt with; it’s under the blood, but you keep bringing that thing up. You have to bring it up one more time. That is not doing righteousness. You need to let it go.
The Ultimate Standard
James 4:17: Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
A true believer can’t just say, “O well I’m just not a kind ….”
Six Biblical Reasons Why Christians Should “Practice Righteousness”
There isn’t anyone here that does not need this advice. I struggled for 15 years in the United States Army with this. I had a hard time being kind to soldiers I was chaptering out of the Army. Every day the Holy Spirit would work on me about that. I know what it is like to have a pill for a boss. I know that I need to be kind. I need to be kind at home. I need to be kind to my wife, my son, my co-workers, and my neighbors.
#1. We are new creatures!
2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
If you have stuff from your former life, let that stuff go. Let it go. You are able to forgive.
#2. We love God.
1 John 3:1: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
How many would say, “I sure am glad that God doesn’t hold a grudge against me.” I love the idea that God always forgives me. I love that every time I go to God and confess my faults He is faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. According to 1st John 3:1, that should motivate us to be kind! God does not throw it in our face that we are short. God does not throw it in our face that we are overweight. God does not throw it in our face that we are not as smart as others. God does not throw it in our face that we are not athletic. And yet our middle school students will be just as rude to each other, and it’s unbelievable. It seems to be an age where it comes natural to them. Seeing the love that God demonstrated should be enough.
#3. God is pure and Holy and He commands us to be pure.
1 John 3:3: And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
God could come in our city and drive on our streets, and He would never ever for even a moment lose it. God could go to Wal*Mart or your place of business every single day; and He could show you how to be kind, considerate, loving, compassionate, and forgiving; and He could do it incredibly well. He did it 2000 years ago and He could come back today and do it again. It would be no problem for Him to do that. And the Bible says that I can look at God and say, “you are pure God, so You show me where I am impure or where I am harboring bitterness. You show me where I am not being kind, compassionate, and forgiving. You show it to me, and I will confess it as sin and work on changing it by the grace of God.”
#4. We don’t want to be ashamed when He returns.
1 John 2:28: And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may hve confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
You only get one life to live. You only get one life to be kind. You get one life to be tenderhearted. You get one life to be forgiving. You only have one life, folks. You cannot do it over. Monday is going to come tomorrow, and you get one day. After that, it’s over. Some of you work at customer service events. You work with people all day long. The medical field is a tough area in which to be kind. All day long you are dealing with people and their problems. It is hard, and that is why you need God. It is why you need the grace of God to do that job. You need the grace of God to work with difficult people. And that is why I go back to number one “loving God.” Doctors, how about every single time you go from patient to patient, you stop and say “Jesus, I love you, and I need some of Your grace to make it to the next patient.” Teachers how about every time you change classes, get a break, or move from subject to subject, you stop and worship God for just a moment. You say, “God, I love you. I know what You did on that bloody cross. I know how You suffered for me. It’s the least I can do to receive this pill one more time.”
#5. It shows that we are born of Him.
1 John 2:29: ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
Kindness shows that we are born of Him. Being kind at school, work, or in the home shows we are born of God. If you are the one student in the classroom that can stay kind when everyone else is mocking that one individual, it is an indication that you are probably born again. Because it is hard to be kind. It does not come natural to us. Just the opposite comes natural.
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#6. Someday, I will stand before my Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:14: If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
You know, we have such misperceptions about what the Judgment Seat of Christ is going to be like. We think that all the preachers are going to line up and be rewarded. I tell you we are going to be shocked when we see who gets some of the greatest rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ. We are going to be shocked. Kind, compassionate, forgiving people who love Jesus seven days a week are going to be rewarded beyond our comprehension. That wife that has been living with a miserable husband for years and years and yet she stayed faithful is going to be rewarded beyond comprehension.
When we go out those doors and tackle the world that we live in, we need to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and body. We need to be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving people. We need to assume that the person in front of us is having a bad day, and we are going to understand their problems. We are going to forgive each other when we ask for it. We are going to love each other. Why are we doing all this? Because the Bible calls this “doing righteousness.”
True Believers Continue in the Faith Once Delivered
1st John 2:18-22.
Today we will look at the fact that true believers do in fact continue in the faith that was once delivered.
1st John 2:18-22
v. 18. “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come (future tense), even now (present tense) there are many antichrist; whereby we (plural) know that it is he last time. v. 19 They (plural) went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. v. 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. v. 21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
v. 22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”
Jude 3
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Here is our opening question: Once saved, always saved? Does the Baptist church really believe that you can be saved and then go into whatever you want for twenty or thirty years and still go to heaven? Does the Baptist church really believe that a person can be saved at Vacation Bible School and then live like the devil for twenty years, but because they were saved in Vacation Bible School they will still go to heaven? Does the Baptist Church believe “once saved, always saved?” Do Baptists believe this understanding from the Word of God? Do they believe that Jesus is the Christ, stop believing, and then still go to Heaven? We are going to deal with this exact issue today.
The Apostle John addresses this exact issue in 1st John 2: 19. The reason he is able to address it so authoritatively is that John spent three years with the Lord Jesus Christ and was instructed by Jesus Christ. I am going to show you today the teaching from the Lord Jesus Christ that led John to the conclusion he writes in 1st John 2:19.
Some people struggle with the idea of “once saved, always saved,” and the reason they struggle with it is that we as Baptists do not emphasize enough that not everyone who professes Jesus is born again. If we were to profess enough that everyone who professes is not in fact born again, people would have less difficulty understanding once saved, always saved. But often times, we’re guilty of putting emphasis on only one area versus the whole counsel of the Word of God. Look at verse 19, and notice what he writes:
vs. 19 “They (plural) went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” I want to draw your attention to the word “they”; it refers to the word “antichrist” from verse 18. In other words we could say “Many antichrists went out from us…”
Antichrists deny:
- Jesus came in the flesh
-anyone who says Jesus Christ was only a spirit
-anyone who says Jesus Christ is not the Only Begotten Son
- Jesus Christ was or is the Messiah
- Jesus Christ is fully Divine
-Jesus Christ is Incarnate God
-Jesus Christ is a Prophet, Priest, and King
-Jesus Christ is the only Savior, Lord, or King of the Universe
John says that there was a group of people who went out from the body and became antichrist in their attitude, doctrine, beliefs, behavior and choices. These people were initially thought to be part of the church. They went to AWANA, were saved in Vacation Bible School, served in a ministry, were an usher, or taught a Sunday School class and seemed to be one of us. We believed they were a brother or a sister in Christ. And then they departed from this community of faith. We got word back that they were now teaching that which is contrary to the Word of God, had stopped going to church, or they are part of a fringe group with bazaar behaviors. John is describing this group: initially, we thought they were part of the church, but when they went out we heard some things that caused us to doubt. The “us” refers to everyone that is in this New Covenant of believers, the Church. We distinguish the New Covenant from the Old Covenant in the Old Testament and this is the New Covenant in Christ.
Here’s the reality: Everyone on the planet fits into two categories. You are either part of the body of Christ, or you are not part of the body of Christ. There is not a third group. You are either born again in Christ, or you are not. You cannot be neutral. There is no option to say “I’m not for Christ, and I’m not against Him.” No one gets that option. You are either a sheep or a goat. You are either a follower of Christ, or you are not. You are either saved or you are lost. There is no in between. It is kind of like either you are pregnant or you are not. There is not an in between or neutral ground.
We live in a community in which people deny absolutes. Let me show you an absolute truth from the Word of God in verse 22. “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.” This does not refer to a particular people group. This is any people group, period of time, or continent. Anyone on the planet who denies that Jesus is the Christ is not telling the truth. And when you do not tell the truth you are in fact a liar. There are people who resist the idea of an absolute truth. They resent the fact that we impose absolute truth on them. In fact, I would submit to you that if you had a large group of people together, there someone would say, “Pastor I do not agree with you on that absolute. In fact, Pastor, you need to be a little bit more relative. I’m not sure that you are being fair. I’m not sure that you are accounting for the heathen in Australia or the remote group of people in Africa. It seems to me that you are making a blanket statement. It sounds like you want me to believe that all people everywhere need to repent and believe the Gospel.” It is kind of like Act 17 and the whole message there. You see, some people do not believe that truth is absolute. They deny it. Perhaps you fit in that category.
In Texas, a professor was teaching a philosophy class and they were discussing whether or not people believe in absolute truth. And the professor said, you know what, this is how I am going to grade. If you are 50 years or older, you get an A. If you are between 40 and 50 you get a B. If you are in the 30’s you get a C. If you are 20, you get a D. If you are older than that or younger than this, you fail the course. The students responded “That’s not fair.” What does that statement imply? It implies they have a standard. There is something called fair. People do not have a problem with absolute truths. They have a problem with specific absolute truths. They like the absolute truth as long as it is their absolute truth. For example, the absolute truth that there is not absolute truth is in fact an absolute. They are attacking the absolute truth that Jesus is the Christ. Once you get beyond that point in your life, you might get saved. Jesus does have a right to establish an absolute truth that He is in fact the Christ, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Once you are willing to acknowledge that truth, you are on the track to getting saved. You are on the track to being regenerated. You are on the track of submitting to Jesus Christ. Why am I so bold about preaching Jesus Christ? The reason our mission in the 21st century is proclaiming Jesus Christ is that John said you are lying if you deny that Jesus is the Christ, and in Revelation he says you are going to hell if you are a liar. He says all liars have their place in the lake of fire. They will participate in the second death. So if we as a church want people to avoid the lake of fire, then we need to proclaim the absolute truth that Jesus is the Christ. We need to proclaim it passionately, boldly, and with our whole life, because we need to remember and recognize that anyone, any people group anywhere in the world that says that Jesus is not the Christ, is lying. And God will punish them that lie for all of eternity in eternal separation in a lake of fire, a place called hell. He says in verse in verse number 19, “they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued.” If someone we knew relocated to Washington and departed from the faith it would shock us. We thought he was part of us. He served among us for a long time with us and then we find out that he’s gone away and is teaching that there is more than one way to salvation. He’s teaching something that is antichrist. Imagine someone we’ve known for years and years and yet he moves into a covenant, or a community of Buddhists, it’d be shocking to us. We would begin to wonder what is going on with him. That is what John is dealing with here. He’s saying we thought that they were part of us, but when they left, they stopped and abandoned the faith. They are no longer following Christ.
So now, do we conclude that they were never saved, or do we conclude that they lost their salvation? Free Will Baptists would say that they lost their salvation. What does the Bible say? The Bible says that people who follow Christ do continue in the faith and that continuing in the faith is the assurance of salvation. Those that do not continue in the faith should not be falsely assured that they have eternal life. Where did John get this idea from? Turn back to the Gospel of John and let me show you what he used as his basis. Let me show you the truth that he used. I want to know. I want some assurance. Sometimes Satan bothers me and makes me struggle in my mind.
John 8:31
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed” (truly, genuinely).
So when John saw people leaving the church and moving to Ephesus, Philippi, Macedonia, and Turkey, and word got back that thee people were teaching that which was antichrist, John did not say “oh, they lost their salvation.” (They were teaching that Jesus did not come in the flesh, He is not coming again, or that He was not part of the Godhead and He is not God.) He says, they were never followers of Christ. And the reason he says this was that disciples follow Christ. Where did he get that from? Turn to chapter 10. This is the verse that we use to conclude once saved, always saved.
John 10:27
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. “
Do you know what voice that is? That is the voice of the Prophet; the Prophet Jesus Christ speaking to you. So when was the last time you heard Jesus Christ speak to you personally and individually? When you are reading your Bible and you get a real sense that God spoke to you through a verse, a confirmation, something personal or individual, that is how you can know you are a sheep. The reason you can know you are a sheep is that He said “My sheep hear My voice.” Sheep are characterized by being able to recognize the voice of the shepherd. If you haven’t heard from Jesus lately, if He doesn’t speak to you through the Word of God, if He doesn’t speak to you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, if He doesn’t speak to you through preaching, if He doesn’t speak to you through a godly song, if there isn’t a sense in your life that God is speaking t you, don’t think for a second that you are a sheep! Notice what He says next.
John 10:27
“And I know them, and they follow me.”
Sheep are characterized by following the shepherd. That is what sheep do, they follow the shepherd. Sheep do not abandon the shepherd and go another way. Notice verse 28.
John 10:28
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
You can’t even pluck yourself out of His hand. When He put you in the hand, you are in the hand. So John concludes that they were never in the hand. If they were in the hand, they would have continued to follow Christ. If someone leaves this community of believers and walks away from Christ as their Prophet, Priest and King, they are either backslidden or unregenerate. They are either backslidden or they are lost. Those are the only two categories if they are walking away.
The more that they manifest antichrist behaviors and beliefs, the greater the chance is that they were never born again. This is exactly why John says they were never of us. He knew what they were teaching or what their behavior was. He just says that their behavior was antichrist in its faith and practice—what they said or the way they acted. And he looked at that and said that Christians do not act that way or believe that kind of stuff. That is antichrist behavior. His conclusion wasn’t that they were saved and lost their salvation. His conclusion was that they were never part of us from the very beginning. They might have looked liked it, acted like it and talked like it.
Do all of us as Christians have periods in our lives of being backslidden? Sure we do. Do you know what? When you are backslidden, you still hear His voice. Notice again what He said, “My sheep hear my voice.” When you are backslidden, you know you are backslidden. It bothers you. You’re miserable. Why? He is speaking to you. John’s conclusion is that this group of people was in this community of faith, and when they went out, there was no evidence that the Spirit was speaking to them. There was no evidence that they were concerned. There was no evidence of repentance.
What does it mean to continue? We are talking about following, worshipping, striving, repenting, confessing, acknowledging, being forgiven. It is up and down, in and out, and working hard. Not for salvation, but working hard in following. Obviously we don’t save ourselves or keep ourselves saved. Rather, that is an act of God. But we are commanded to follow Him. So this continuing does not keep us saved. It is God who keeps us saved.
Philippians 1:6
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
So your assurance that God has performed a work in you is that you want to be with God’s people, and when you are not with God’s people and you are not hearing His voice, it bothers you.
Continuing or not continuing provides visible evidence of conversion or a false profession. In the last part of verse 19 it says “they were not all of us.” John describes a group of people who left the church and when they went out they did not continue in the faith once delivered either in faith or in practice. Notice very closely, the New Testament does not separate faith and practice. Saving faith is always accompanied by right practice, and right practice is a result of saving faith.
There are no saved Muslims out there. You do not having a saving faith and then a practice that is antichrist. There are no saved Hindus. There are no saved Buddhists. There are no saved idolaters, Mormons, or Jehovah Witnesses. Someone could be temporarily deceived, perhaps, but you cannot be a fully converted follower of Satan while holding to a “back up” profession of Christ. It is not an insurance policy; if this first thing doesn’t work out, I’ll go back to my Vacation Bible School profession of faith. Christians follow Christ. Christians are characterized by following Christ. When you are not following Christ, it bothers you. Why?
1st John 2:20
“But ye (Christians) have an unction from the Holy One.“
If you are a Christian, you have an unction. What is an unction? It’s right between your middle toe and your big toe. Do you want to check? Where does the unction come from? It comes from the Holy One. The Holy One is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said He was going away and He was going to give us Someone: the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost. If you are a Christian, you have the Spirit of Truth residing inside you. It’s not by your toe. It’s in all of you - the Spirit of Truth. An unction is a gifting, an anointing; it’s a consecration.
For example, let’s take our children, who grow up all their lives in AWANA. They have heard from birth that Jesus is the Christ. They have memorized Bible verses that show them Jesus is the Christ, and they understand all of this to be truth. Then they go off into a college class in a secular university, and they get off the track a little bit. You know what I’m talking about. The Holy Spirit inside them will prompt them on a regular basis
“That’s not truth. That’s not true. That’s heresy. That’s falsehood.” That is what the Holy Spirit inside them will do. Because they are not their own and have been bought with a price, the Holy Spirit will keep them. He who has begun a good work, will keep on performing that good work in them. And we should expect to see that young person come out of that fringe group and get back into church. We should see and will expect to see that. That is our assurance that they are in fact followers of Jesus Christ. And John concluded that for whatever period of time that they were gone and for whatever they were teaching or practicing that they were not part of us. He did not say they were backslidden. He said they were never part of us. So how do I receive this special unction. The Bible tells us.
Ephesians 1:13
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel (the Good News) of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”
We now suffer no condemnation because of what Christ did. Those who have believed were sealed with the Holy Spirit because of the promise. So each and every believer at the moment of salvation receives an unction, a gifting, an anointing, a consecration from God. This is the Spirit of Truth that keeps you out of heresy. You know all things. He’s not referring to every thing. He’s referring to the ability to recognize heresy. He’s referring to the ability to recognize the spirit of the antichrist. He’s referring to the things which cause us to get off track. He’s saying I gave you a Holy Spirit to help you recognize these kinds of things.
Have you ever met a converted Catholic that can tell you all about salvation by faith in Christ and will tell you everything that is wrong with the Catholic Church? He will tell you that he does not believe in the pope because the pope is a man just like him. He only believes in the Bible and not the manmade stuff. They will call it just the way they see it. Where does that knowledge come from? It comes from the Holy Spirit that is inside them.
So do you know for sure that the Holy Spirit is inside you? Would you be able to recognize falsehood? Would you be able to recognize it to keep you out of trouble? Would you be able to leave this church, relocate to another country or state, and find a good, Bible believing church? Do you know what a good, Bible believing church looks like? Do you know what you should look for so you could continue following Christ? Is Jesus Christ your Prophet, Priest, and King? Does He speak to you?
God manifests His grace in their departure. There are a few reasons. Their departure is a God-ordained departure. One reason the false prophets and the antichrists need to get out of the church is that a little leaven leaveneth the whole loaf. So if they have a false teaching, they need to depart with that false teaching. There’s another reason: when they depart and stop following the faith and practice of the Christian faith, we can change how we pray for them. We can change how we relate to them. We now can begin to see them as unconverted. We will pray for them to be converted. We will pray for them to change. We will pray for them to come to Jesus. We will evangelize them. We will no longer think of them as saved and lost their salvation or backslidden. Their departure alerts us to the fact that perhaps they were never one of us. Now we don’t know for sure because none of us know the heart, but this passage gives that person the alertness to know that they are not part of it.
I will conclude with this point. If you say I’m a believer and stop following Christ and it doesn’t bother you, and if you could walk out from the church and not miss it for anything, do not be assured of your salvation. You cannot hold to a profession of faith from Vacation Bible School and go become a Buddhist. You cannot hold to a profession of faith in AWANA and then go into the Muslim religion. You cannot serve Muhammad all your life and then somehow think in the back of your mind “I’m still good to go.” You cannot do that. That is the spirit of antichrist. If you depart from this place and don’t link up with another fellowship, it should bother and concern you. You are expected in the Word of God to stay in the church. It does not have to be this church, but it should be an evangelical, Bible believing church. You shouldn’t be able to flake away for months and years at a time. It should bother you. It should be concerning you. If it is not concerning you, don’t conclude that you are still part of us. Conclude for yourself just the opposite, and I believe if you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit will bring this exact verse to your remembrance and get your heart right. If you are not a Christian, it should concern you.
Today we will look at the fact that true believers do in fact continue in the faith that was once delivered.
1st John 2:18-22
v. 18. “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come (future tense), even now (present tense) there are many antichrist; whereby we (plural) know that it is he last time. v. 19 They (plural) went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. v. 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. v. 21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
v. 22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”
Jude 3
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Here is our opening question: Once saved, always saved? Does the Baptist church really believe that you can be saved and then go into whatever you want for twenty or thirty years and still go to heaven? Does the Baptist church really believe that a person can be saved at Vacation Bible School and then live like the devil for twenty years, but because they were saved in Vacation Bible School they will still go to heaven? Does the Baptist Church believe “once saved, always saved?” Do Baptists believe this understanding from the Word of God? Do they believe that Jesus is the Christ, stop believing, and then still go to Heaven? We are going to deal with this exact issue today.
The Apostle John addresses this exact issue in 1st John 2: 19. The reason he is able to address it so authoritatively is that John spent three years with the Lord Jesus Christ and was instructed by Jesus Christ. I am going to show you today the teaching from the Lord Jesus Christ that led John to the conclusion he writes in 1st John 2:19.
Some people struggle with the idea of “once saved, always saved,” and the reason they struggle with it is that we as Baptists do not emphasize enough that not everyone who professes Jesus is born again. If we were to profess enough that everyone who professes is not in fact born again, people would have less difficulty understanding once saved, always saved. But often times, we’re guilty of putting emphasis on only one area versus the whole counsel of the Word of God. Look at verse 19, and notice what he writes:
vs. 19 “They (plural) went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” I want to draw your attention to the word “they”; it refers to the word “antichrist” from verse 18. In other words we could say “Many antichrists went out from us…”
Antichrists deny:
- Jesus came in the flesh
-anyone who says Jesus Christ was only a spirit
-anyone who says Jesus Christ is not the Only Begotten Son
- Jesus Christ was or is the Messiah
- Jesus Christ is fully Divine
-Jesus Christ is Incarnate God
-Jesus Christ is a Prophet, Priest, and King
-Jesus Christ is the only Savior, Lord, or King of the Universe
John says that there was a group of people who went out from the body and became antichrist in their attitude, doctrine, beliefs, behavior and choices. These people were initially thought to be part of the church. They went to AWANA, were saved in Vacation Bible School, served in a ministry, were an usher, or taught a Sunday School class and seemed to be one of us. We believed they were a brother or a sister in Christ. And then they departed from this community of faith. We got word back that they were now teaching that which is contrary to the Word of God, had stopped going to church, or they are part of a fringe group with bazaar behaviors. John is describing this group: initially, we thought they were part of the church, but when they went out we heard some things that caused us to doubt. The “us” refers to everyone that is in this New Covenant of believers, the Church. We distinguish the New Covenant from the Old Covenant in the Old Testament and this is the New Covenant in Christ.
Here’s the reality: Everyone on the planet fits into two categories. You are either part of the body of Christ, or you are not part of the body of Christ. There is not a third group. You are either born again in Christ, or you are not. You cannot be neutral. There is no option to say “I’m not for Christ, and I’m not against Him.” No one gets that option. You are either a sheep or a goat. You are either a follower of Christ, or you are not. You are either saved or you are lost. There is no in between. It is kind of like either you are pregnant or you are not. There is not an in between or neutral ground.
We live in a community in which people deny absolutes. Let me show you an absolute truth from the Word of God in verse 22. “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.” This does not refer to a particular people group. This is any people group, period of time, or continent. Anyone on the planet who denies that Jesus is the Christ is not telling the truth. And when you do not tell the truth you are in fact a liar. There are people who resist the idea of an absolute truth. They resent the fact that we impose absolute truth on them. In fact, I would submit to you that if you had a large group of people together, there someone would say, “Pastor I do not agree with you on that absolute. In fact, Pastor, you need to be a little bit more relative. I’m not sure that you are being fair. I’m not sure that you are accounting for the heathen in Australia or the remote group of people in Africa. It seems to me that you are making a blanket statement. It sounds like you want me to believe that all people everywhere need to repent and believe the Gospel.” It is kind of like Act 17 and the whole message there. You see, some people do not believe that truth is absolute. They deny it. Perhaps you fit in that category.
In Texas, a professor was teaching a philosophy class and they were discussing whether or not people believe in absolute truth. And the professor said, you know what, this is how I am going to grade. If you are 50 years or older, you get an A. If you are between 40 and 50 you get a B. If you are in the 30’s you get a C. If you are 20, you get a D. If you are older than that or younger than this, you fail the course. The students responded “That’s not fair.” What does that statement imply? It implies they have a standard. There is something called fair. People do not have a problem with absolute truths. They have a problem with specific absolute truths. They like the absolute truth as long as it is their absolute truth. For example, the absolute truth that there is not absolute truth is in fact an absolute. They are attacking the absolute truth that Jesus is the Christ. Once you get beyond that point in your life, you might get saved. Jesus does have a right to establish an absolute truth that He is in fact the Christ, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Once you are willing to acknowledge that truth, you are on the track to getting saved. You are on the track to being regenerated. You are on the track of submitting to Jesus Christ. Why am I so bold about preaching Jesus Christ? The reason our mission in the 21st century is proclaiming Jesus Christ is that John said you are lying if you deny that Jesus is the Christ, and in Revelation he says you are going to hell if you are a liar. He says all liars have their place in the lake of fire. They will participate in the second death. So if we as a church want people to avoid the lake of fire, then we need to proclaim the absolute truth that Jesus is the Christ. We need to proclaim it passionately, boldly, and with our whole life, because we need to remember and recognize that anyone, any people group anywhere in the world that says that Jesus is not the Christ, is lying. And God will punish them that lie for all of eternity in eternal separation in a lake of fire, a place called hell. He says in verse in verse number 19, “they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued.” If someone we knew relocated to Washington and departed from the faith it would shock us. We thought he was part of us. He served among us for a long time with us and then we find out that he’s gone away and is teaching that there is more than one way to salvation. He’s teaching something that is antichrist. Imagine someone we’ve known for years and years and yet he moves into a covenant, or a community of Buddhists, it’d be shocking to us. We would begin to wonder what is going on with him. That is what John is dealing with here. He’s saying we thought that they were part of us, but when they left, they stopped and abandoned the faith. They are no longer following Christ.
So now, do we conclude that they were never saved, or do we conclude that they lost their salvation? Free Will Baptists would say that they lost their salvation. What does the Bible say? The Bible says that people who follow Christ do continue in the faith and that continuing in the faith is the assurance of salvation. Those that do not continue in the faith should not be falsely assured that they have eternal life. Where did John get this idea from? Turn back to the Gospel of John and let me show you what he used as his basis. Let me show you the truth that he used. I want to know. I want some assurance. Sometimes Satan bothers me and makes me struggle in my mind.
John 8:31
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed” (truly, genuinely).
So when John saw people leaving the church and moving to Ephesus, Philippi, Macedonia, and Turkey, and word got back that thee people were teaching that which was antichrist, John did not say “oh, they lost their salvation.” (They were teaching that Jesus did not come in the flesh, He is not coming again, or that He was not part of the Godhead and He is not God.) He says, they were never followers of Christ. And the reason he says this was that disciples follow Christ. Where did he get that from? Turn to chapter 10. This is the verse that we use to conclude once saved, always saved.
John 10:27
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. “
Do you know what voice that is? That is the voice of the Prophet; the Prophet Jesus Christ speaking to you. So when was the last time you heard Jesus Christ speak to you personally and individually? When you are reading your Bible and you get a real sense that God spoke to you through a verse, a confirmation, something personal or individual, that is how you can know you are a sheep. The reason you can know you are a sheep is that He said “My sheep hear My voice.” Sheep are characterized by being able to recognize the voice of the shepherd. If you haven’t heard from Jesus lately, if He doesn’t speak to you through the Word of God, if He doesn’t speak to you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, if He doesn’t speak to you through preaching, if He doesn’t speak to you through a godly song, if there isn’t a sense in your life that God is speaking t you, don’t think for a second that you are a sheep! Notice what He says next.
John 10:27
“And I know them, and they follow me.”
Sheep are characterized by following the shepherd. That is what sheep do, they follow the shepherd. Sheep do not abandon the shepherd and go another way. Notice verse 28.
John 10:28
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
You can’t even pluck yourself out of His hand. When He put you in the hand, you are in the hand. So John concludes that they were never in the hand. If they were in the hand, they would have continued to follow Christ. If someone leaves this community of believers and walks away from Christ as their Prophet, Priest and King, they are either backslidden or unregenerate. They are either backslidden or they are lost. Those are the only two categories if they are walking away.
The more that they manifest antichrist behaviors and beliefs, the greater the chance is that they were never born again. This is exactly why John says they were never of us. He knew what they were teaching or what their behavior was. He just says that their behavior was antichrist in its faith and practice—what they said or the way they acted. And he looked at that and said that Christians do not act that way or believe that kind of stuff. That is antichrist behavior. His conclusion wasn’t that they were saved and lost their salvation. His conclusion was that they were never part of us from the very beginning. They might have looked liked it, acted like it and talked like it.
Do all of us as Christians have periods in our lives of being backslidden? Sure we do. Do you know what? When you are backslidden, you still hear His voice. Notice again what He said, “My sheep hear my voice.” When you are backslidden, you know you are backslidden. It bothers you. You’re miserable. Why? He is speaking to you. John’s conclusion is that this group of people was in this community of faith, and when they went out, there was no evidence that the Spirit was speaking to them. There was no evidence that they were concerned. There was no evidence of repentance.
What does it mean to continue? We are talking about following, worshipping, striving, repenting, confessing, acknowledging, being forgiven. It is up and down, in and out, and working hard. Not for salvation, but working hard in following. Obviously we don’t save ourselves or keep ourselves saved. Rather, that is an act of God. But we are commanded to follow Him. So this continuing does not keep us saved. It is God who keeps us saved.
Philippians 1:6
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
So your assurance that God has performed a work in you is that you want to be with God’s people, and when you are not with God’s people and you are not hearing His voice, it bothers you.
Continuing or not continuing provides visible evidence of conversion or a false profession. In the last part of verse 19 it says “they were not all of us.” John describes a group of people who left the church and when they went out they did not continue in the faith once delivered either in faith or in practice. Notice very closely, the New Testament does not separate faith and practice. Saving faith is always accompanied by right practice, and right practice is a result of saving faith.
There are no saved Muslims out there. You do not having a saving faith and then a practice that is antichrist. There are no saved Hindus. There are no saved Buddhists. There are no saved idolaters, Mormons, or Jehovah Witnesses. Someone could be temporarily deceived, perhaps, but you cannot be a fully converted follower of Satan while holding to a “back up” profession of Christ. It is not an insurance policy; if this first thing doesn’t work out, I’ll go back to my Vacation Bible School profession of faith. Christians follow Christ. Christians are characterized by following Christ. When you are not following Christ, it bothers you. Why?
1st John 2:20
“But ye (Christians) have an unction from the Holy One.“
If you are a Christian, you have an unction. What is an unction? It’s right between your middle toe and your big toe. Do you want to check? Where does the unction come from? It comes from the Holy One. The Holy One is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said He was going away and He was going to give us Someone: the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost. If you are a Christian, you have the Spirit of Truth residing inside you. It’s not by your toe. It’s in all of you - the Spirit of Truth. An unction is a gifting, an anointing; it’s a consecration.
For example, let’s take our children, who grow up all their lives in AWANA. They have heard from birth that Jesus is the Christ. They have memorized Bible verses that show them Jesus is the Christ, and they understand all of this to be truth. Then they go off into a college class in a secular university, and they get off the track a little bit. You know what I’m talking about. The Holy Spirit inside them will prompt them on a regular basis
“That’s not truth. That’s not true. That’s heresy. That’s falsehood.” That is what the Holy Spirit inside them will do. Because they are not their own and have been bought with a price, the Holy Spirit will keep them. He who has begun a good work, will keep on performing that good work in them. And we should expect to see that young person come out of that fringe group and get back into church. We should see and will expect to see that. That is our assurance that they are in fact followers of Jesus Christ. And John concluded that for whatever period of time that they were gone and for whatever they were teaching or practicing that they were not part of us. He did not say they were backslidden. He said they were never part of us. So how do I receive this special unction. The Bible tells us.
Ephesians 1:13
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel (the Good News) of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”
We now suffer no condemnation because of what Christ did. Those who have believed were sealed with the Holy Spirit because of the promise. So each and every believer at the moment of salvation receives an unction, a gifting, an anointing, a consecration from God. This is the Spirit of Truth that keeps you out of heresy. You know all things. He’s not referring to every thing. He’s referring to the ability to recognize heresy. He’s referring to the ability to recognize the spirit of the antichrist. He’s referring to the things which cause us to get off track. He’s saying I gave you a Holy Spirit to help you recognize these kinds of things.
Have you ever met a converted Catholic that can tell you all about salvation by faith in Christ and will tell you everything that is wrong with the Catholic Church? He will tell you that he does not believe in the pope because the pope is a man just like him. He only believes in the Bible and not the manmade stuff. They will call it just the way they see it. Where does that knowledge come from? It comes from the Holy Spirit that is inside them.
So do you know for sure that the Holy Spirit is inside you? Would you be able to recognize falsehood? Would you be able to recognize it to keep you out of trouble? Would you be able to leave this church, relocate to another country or state, and find a good, Bible believing church? Do you know what a good, Bible believing church looks like? Do you know what you should look for so you could continue following Christ? Is Jesus Christ your Prophet, Priest, and King? Does He speak to you?
God manifests His grace in their departure. There are a few reasons. Their departure is a God-ordained departure. One reason the false prophets and the antichrists need to get out of the church is that a little leaven leaveneth the whole loaf. So if they have a false teaching, they need to depart with that false teaching. There’s another reason: when they depart and stop following the faith and practice of the Christian faith, we can change how we pray for them. We can change how we relate to them. We now can begin to see them as unconverted. We will pray for them to be converted. We will pray for them to change. We will pray for them to come to Jesus. We will evangelize them. We will no longer think of them as saved and lost their salvation or backslidden. Their departure alerts us to the fact that perhaps they were never one of us. Now we don’t know for sure because none of us know the heart, but this passage gives that person the alertness to know that they are not part of it.
I will conclude with this point. If you say I’m a believer and stop following Christ and it doesn’t bother you, and if you could walk out from the church and not miss it for anything, do not be assured of your salvation. You cannot hold to a profession of faith from Vacation Bible School and go become a Buddhist. You cannot hold to a profession of faith in AWANA and then go into the Muslim religion. You cannot serve Muhammad all your life and then somehow think in the back of your mind “I’m still good to go.” You cannot do that. That is the spirit of antichrist. If you depart from this place and don’t link up with another fellowship, it should bother and concern you. You are expected in the Word of God to stay in the church. It does not have to be this church, but it should be an evangelical, Bible believing church. You shouldn’t be able to flake away for months and years at a time. It should bother you. It should be concerning you. If it is not concerning you, don’t conclude that you are still part of us. Conclude for yourself just the opposite, and I believe if you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit will bring this exact verse to your remembrance and get your heart right. If you are not a Christian, it should concern you.
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