More Baptist Baloney

The more I read Baptist books, tracts, statements of faith, and listen to their sermons, the more I am disgusted. The more I see and hear, the more I realize that 99% of them are preaching a false gospel. Their false gospel can be summarized in the following two areas:

1.) Baptists add the so called "sinner's prayer" to the gospel which is found nowhere in the Bible. These prayers differ in both who they are addressed to (Father or Son) in what they actually say. Prayer is a work that saved people LABOR in, help in, persevere in, and strive in (Col. 4:12, Rom. 15:30, Eph. 6:18, 2 Cor. 1:11), which is why God does not hear it from lost people (Isa. 59:1-2, Ps. 34:15-16, Matt. 7:21, John 9:31, 1 Pet. 3:12, Prov. 15:29, 28:9). God does not accept anything a sinner offers Him, and prayer is something that we offer God (Heb. 5:7). God wants lost people to stop their mouths and believe on Christ (Rom. 3:19). God knows our hearts, He does not need that any should testify of man (John 2:24-25). The Bible makes it clear that salvation under Grace is by believing on Christ trusting His shed blood to pay for our sins (1 Cor. 15:1-4, Rom. 1:16-17, 3:19-27, 1 Cor. 1:17-21, 2:2, Eph. 1:13). It is provided by God's grace alone and is received by faith alone (Rom. 11:6, 5:1, Titus 3:4-7). Baptists further pervert the gospel by telling lost people to come pray at an altar (which is not really an altar) and repeat a prayer after them. Repeating a prayer after a man will not get you saved, Christ is the only Mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5). Some Baptists twist Luke 18:9-14 to teach that prayer saves, but that passage is a "parable" and not the plan of salvation for any dispensation! Baptists also twist Romans 10:9-13 to justify their false gospel, but if you look at the context of Romans 10:9 it is referring to Israel (verse 1 and 6-8) and the Old Testament verse that Paul quotes (Joel 2:32 with Rom. 10:13) is NOT about the salvation of the soul. Further, Romans 10 does not mention anyone asking God for anything, only acknowledging that Christ is the Lord and that He was raised from the dead. It is not about a prayer. Also, the passage makes it clear that a sinner is made righteous by faith without works (verses 4, 9-10).

2.) Baptists believe that sinner's must "give their life to Christ" and "turn from their sins" in order to be saved, which are both WORKS. Turning from sin is a work (Jonah 3:10) and nobody on Earth has ever turned from all their sin, we all have sin in our lives and we always will until the rapture (Phil. 3:20-21). A lost person cannot give his/her life to Christ to be saved, God does not want your life! He wants to give you NEW LIFE through Christ (John 20:31). Christ IS the life and without Him you will never even have a life to offer Him (John 3:36, 14:6). Even after we got saved we did not "give our life to Christ", He became our life (Col. 4:3). Baptists seek to justify their false gospel of works salvation by saying that "repent" means to "turn from sin", but that is not true. Those who misdefine "repent" as "turning from sin" are guilty of making God a sinner that needs to turn from sin, since God repents many times in the Bible. In fact, the word "repent" is first used in reference to God (Gen. 6:6-7, Exod. 32:14, etc.). The word repent means “to change your mind; reconsider; or, to think differently.” I suppose someone could turn from particular sins...like stop drinking alcohol or something like that, but to just "turn" from all sin is impossible. None of us (saved or lost) have turned from all "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like" (Gal. 5:19-20). Then there are those who say that repentance is turning from sin, but that it is extreme sorrow and guilt for sin. They then quote 2 Corinthians 7:10, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." However, if "godly sorrow worketh repentance", then doesn't that mean that sorrow and repentance are different things? Besides, Paul is referring to already saved people in 2 Cor. 7:10, check the context. Repentance is a change of mind, when someone hears the gospel and submits to the righteousness of God rather than trusting their own righteousness, that is repentance (Acts 20:21, Rom. 10:1-4, Eph. 1:13). To change the Biblical definition of repentance to "turning from sin" creates so many doctrinal problems and a FALSE gospel. A lost person cannot surrender their life to Christ, neither can they turn from all their sins. [By the way, you cannot confess all of your individual sins either, they are more than the hairs of your head. "For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me." Ps. 40:12] 

Here is the "Baptist baloney" I recently read...

[My comments in brackets]

Salvation.We believe that Scripture teaches that we can know that we are saved. Salvation is the gift of God, apart from any works or merit on the part of man. Salvation is brought to man by grace and received by repentance toward God and personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. Salvation is freely offered to all who will receive it and results in a changed life. We believe that all sins, except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (the sin of unbelief in Christ as Saviour), are forgivable. (Matt. 12:31-32; John 1:12; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9; 5:13)

[This statement about salvation sounds very good until they say "we believe that all sins, except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (the sin of unbelief in Christ as Saviour), are forgivable". That is an utter heresy. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost was something Israel committed when they attributed the power of the Holy Ghost to the devil (if you look at the context) and it has nothing to do with anyone under Grace, where grace does much more abound than sin (Rom. 5:20, 6:14). This Baptist is teaching that anyone who hears the gospel of Christ but does not believe it the first time they hear it will be lost! I didn't believe the gospel of Christ the first time I heard it, so according to this Baptist I must not have ever been able to get saved after that, since I had committed the unpardonable sin. Thankfully the God of the Bible has mercy on us and gives many chances to put our faith in Him. Also, this Baptist has put 1 John 1:9 in their list of references, which is written prophetically about the gospel of the kingdom in Daniel's 70th Week in the last time (1 John 2:13-14, 2:18, 5:18). John wrote to the circumcision (Gal. 2:9)] 

Are you 100% sure that if you died today you would go to Heaven?

1. THE BIBLE DECLARES ALL HAVE SINNED

• “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23
• “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9
• “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6

2. THE BIBLE DECLARES SIN’S PENALTY

• “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
• “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” Revelation 20:14

3. THE BIBLE DECLARES SIN’S PENALTY WAS PAID

• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
• “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” 1 Peter 3:18

4. THE BIBLE DECLARES WE MUST REPENT

• “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10
• “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7
• If we are truly sorry for our sins and willing to turn from them, we can be saved.

[This is obviously works salvation and private interpretation of Scripture. First of all, if "godly sorrow worketh repentance", then doesn't that mean that sorrow and repentance are different things? Besides, Paul is referring to already saved people in 2 Cor. 7:10, check the context. Repentance is a change of mind. Then the use of Isaiah 55:7 is very bad, it is not about salvation under Grace. It is about Israel who turned from God and they needed to "RETURN" to Him, a lost sinner cannot "return" to God because they were never with Him. None of us have ever forsaken our wicked way and our thoughts, we all have sin in our lives and we always will until the rapture (Phil. 3:20-21). It is up to saved people to seek to forsake sin, but that is not what lost people are told to do, they are told to WORK NOT (Rom. 4:5, Eph. 2:8-9) and believe on Christ and His shed blood for sin. Turning from sin is a work (Jonah 3:10). How is a lost person going to be "willing to turn from sin" since God does not work in us to will and do of His good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13)?]   

5. THE BIBLE DECLARES WE MUST RECEIVE CHRIST

• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” John 1:12
• We need to exercise our faith by receiving Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Faith and repentance are both necessary for salvation.

[What do you mean "exercise" our faith? Wouldn't exercising faith be a WORK? The Bible makes it clear that we just need to stop trying to establish our own righteousness and submit to His righteousness instead by believing on Christ having faith in His blood (Rom. 1:16-17, 3:19-27, 10:1-4)]

6. THE BIBLE DECLARES YOU CAN BE SAVED TODAY, IF YOU WANT TO BE

• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13
• God loves you and wants you to experience peace and eternity in heaven with Him.

I hope you noticed the caption “God’s gift to You.” Scripture is God’s Word - His message to us - and not our “theory.” We pray that after reading these six thoughts from God’s Word that you will place your faith in the gift God has given us. He gives free pardon of sin, and a “know-so” salvation. You don’t have to hope that God will save you, or hope that someday you will go to Heaven. The Bible says in 1 John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” Do you know where you’re going when you die?

WHAT YOU MUST DO:

1. Admit your need (I am a sinner).
2. Be willing to turn from your sin (repent).
3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross.
4. Invite Jesus to come in and control your heart and life (receive Him as Saviour and Lord).

[First you gave us six steps to salvation, now it is four? Confusing.]

SUGGESTED PRAYER:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I know I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I now ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal Saviour. I am willing, by God’s grace, to follow and obey Christ as the Lord of my heart and life."

[I have already addressed the "sinner's prayer" above.]

--Eli Caldwell