I recently attended a church event where the "gospel" was supposedly presented--hardly any such thing happened. The "invitation" was the preacher saying to come to the "altar" and praying for salvation--then he mentioned that if we do not come out from our pews publicly than Christ will not confess us before God (Matthew 10:32-33).
To that I say....I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.
1.) No Baptist church in America has an "altar". They have a platform to stand on for preaching. An altar is for sacrificing animals in the Bible.
2.) We do not "pray" for salvation--we believe....(John 1:7, John 1:12-13, John 3:15-18, John 3:36, John 5:24, John 6:29, John 6:35, John 6:40, John 6:47, John 8:24, John 11:25-26, John 12:46, John 20:31, Acts 4:12, Acts 4:32-33, Acts 5:14, Acts 8:37, Acts 10:43-45, Acts 11:17, Acts 15:7-11, Acts 13:38-39, Acts 16:30-31, Acts 26:18, Ephesians 1:7, Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 2:8-9, Ephesians 3:16-17, Ephesians 4:30, Ephesians 4:32, Philippians 3:3-9, Colossians 1:13-14, Colossians 2:6-23, 1 Thessaloninas 4:14, 1 Timothy 1:16, 1 Timothy 2:3-6, 2 Timothy 1:9, Galatians 2:16-21, Galatians 3:1-26, Romans 3:10-31, Romans 4:1-25, Romans 5:1-21, Romans 8:8, Romans 10:1-5, Romans 11:6, 1 Corinthians 1:17-21,1 Corinthians 2:1-2, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Titus 3:5, 1 John 3:23, 1 John 5:1, 1 John 5:5, 1 John 5:10, 1 John 5:13)
3.) You do not "ask Jesus to come into your heart".....He already knows what to do and will come into your heart when you put your faith in Him (Eph. 1:13, 3:17, Gal. 4:6).
4.) You do not ask Jesus to takeaway your sins--He did that almost 2,000 years ago (Col. 1:14, 2:13-14, 1 Cor. 15:1-4).
5.) Matthew 10:32-33 is in the context of tribulation salvation (Matthew 10:23) and those tribulation Jews have to "endure to the end" without denying the true Christ (Matthew 24:1-25)....which has nothing to do with us on this side of the dispensation of grace (Eph. 3:1-9, Col. 1:24-27, 2 Cor. 5:14-6:2).
6.) Walking down to the front of the church and confessing before men is a work--and we are not saved by works (Eph. 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, 2 Tim. 1:9, Rom. 4:5, Rom. 8:8).
7.) There is no "sinners prayer" ever mentioned in the Bible. We receive the Holy Spirit when we trust Christ and believe on His finished work--not when we pray/confess (Acts 10:43-45, Acts 15:7-11, Gal. 3:1-3, Eph. 1:13, Eph. 3:17).
8.) As a lost child I would pray the "sinners prayer" often and wonder if I had said the right words--I was not trusting anything except my own recitation of man made "sinners prayers".
If you want to go to hell off Baptist tradition--the "sinners prayer" will do it for you. --Eli Caldwell
Hi Hoss, I have read your comment over at brother Steve's blog.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I like your critical thinking on this blog, good post!
Although I do not totally agree with some of your points.
Concerning salvation, I have noticed that the Calvinists and the Arminians do not rightly divide the word of truth, that is in my informed opinion.
According to the Word of God, salvation is both, one is a free gift by grace alone and others by works and if we amalgamate both we have a conflict.
Thank you. Here's a few more scriptures on the matter....(some of my favorite verses in Ephesians)
DeleteEphesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
*****(Not when you pray)******
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
******(No public confession before men)*******
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
*****(No continual confession for forgiveness, Christ "HATH forgiven". Also see Acts 13:38-39 where we are "justified from ALL things" and Colossians 2:13-14 where we are forgiven "ALL trespasses")*****
--Eli "Hoss" Caldwell
Oh brother, I love those passages.
ReplyDeleteI can see that you believe the election doctrines, but just out of curiosity; why is it, that the free gift of salvation is not given to the unelected?
Also, what is that free gift of salvation which was given by grace alone?
You're welcome.
ReplyDeleteI think you are mistaken, I am NOT a Calvinist. I do not believe in ANY of the 5 points of TULIP.
Rather I believe in the FREEWILL of man and the UNLIMITED ATONEMENT of Christ's shed blood to ALL men who put their faith in what Christ did.
1 Corinthians 15:
[1] Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
[2] By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
[3] For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
[4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Acts 13:
[38] Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
[39] And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
After we put our faith in Christ and what He did for us, we are then "sealed" with the Holy Spirit until the rapture and cannot be separated from the love of God. (see my eternal security post here http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/more-pointsnotes-on-eternal-security.html )
Have a good weekend,
--Eli "Hoss" Caldwell
I'm glad that you are not a Calvinist, but do you believe the election doctrines of Jacob Arminius and his 5 points, or do you have your own 5 or more points :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Calvinist either, though I believe the election according to the Scriptures.
Do you believe that a person is chosen and elected at the moment they are willing to put their faith in Jesus Christ?
You said, "After we put our faith in Christ and what He did for us, we are then "sealed" with the Holy Spirit".
So, are you saying that we need to convince a sinner to put his or her faith in Jesus Christ and then they are saved for all eternity?
You said, "Rather I believe in the FREEWILL of man and the UNLIMITED ATONEMENT of Christ's shed blood to ALL men who put their faith in what Christ did."
What can the 'free will' do?
Can my free will elect myself to be a son of God?
Can my free will save me from sin?
Can my free will prevent me from getting sick? Etc.
I think that you know the answers to that.
"Unlimited Atonement"
If the Lord Jesus shed His blood for the sins of X, are then the sins of X atoned for or not?
If X is not intelligent enough to understand faith, does his ignorance nullify the shed blood?
If the Lord Jesus atoned (paid for, cancelled out) the sins of everybody in the whole world, how then can He put someone to hell who is without sin?
My reply is too long for the comment box, I'm going post my reply to you in a blog post. :)
Delete