To begin with I will say what I believe about salvation: The gospel of the grace of God is how that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day for our justification (1 Cor. 15:1-4, Rom. 4:25). God manifest in the flesh shed His own blood to pay for our sins (1 Tim. 3:16, John 1:29, 1 John 2:2, Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14). Any sinner anywhere can "receive the atonement" be "now justified by His blood" by placing their faith in Christ, trusting Him alone so save them from their sins (Rom. 3:19-27, Eph. 1:13, 2:8-9, Titus 3:4-7, 2 Tim. 1:9, Acts 13:38-39, 16:30-31, Rom 5:1-9). That is what salvation is, forgiveness of sins by Jesus Christ. There is no other mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5-6). Which means anything other than faith in Christ is EXCLUDED from how you receive Christ. There is only ONE way to be saved, and that is by faith in Christ (Gal. 1:5-12, 3:26). Salvation is "to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly" (Rom. 4:5). Anything else will get you DEBT, not saving grace (Rom. 4:4, Eph. 2:8-9). Your works are LOSS and DUNG to God (Phil. 3:7-9). This means no water baptism, no tithing to the church, no "mass", no Sabbath keeping, no 'good' morals, no animal sacrifices, no confession of sins, and no prayers can save you. Only faith in Christ ALONE can save you.
However, John Davis heavily disagrees. He believes that you can labor your way to Heaven. Because I take the above position on salvation, John Davis says that I am probably not saved and may end up at the Great White Throne Judgement (Rev. 20:11-15). See his latest newsletter where he suggests that I am not saved throughout it
http://www.timefortruth.co.uk/content/pages/documents/1461429266.pdf
It is strange that John Davis has never sent me a message telling me the gospel. He has never explained to me the gospel or told me how to be saved. You would think if he thought I wasn't saved then he would want to tell me how to be saved, but he hasn't. I wouldn't even know that he thought I wasn't saved if his friends hadn't of sent me his newsletters. He must not care if lost people get saved or not.
John Davis believes that you receive salvation by doing two things: #1 believe on Christ, #2 confess your sins to God and repeat a prayer asking Him to save you. (it helps if you bow your head, close your eyes, and walk down to an "altar".)
Here are some quotes from John Davis on his false gospel (also check the link above to Time For Truth News Issue 78). He says you are a "heretic" if you don't think that praying the sinner's prayer will get you saved. He says if you haven't prayed the prayer then "you're NOT saved". He says you "need" to do this.
"So what are you waiting for? Get saved TODAY! Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of all your sins RIGHT NOW & come & save you. You need to do this from your heart NOT from your head - 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 10v9)"
--John Davis http://www.timefortruth.co.uk/the-gospel/
"If you haven't asked JESUS CHRIST to forgive your sin & come & save you, you're NOT saved; for HE ALONE is the ONLY ONE who can save you!" (John Davis, TFT News Issue 28) http://www.timefortruth.co.uk/tft-newsletters/
"These HERETICS tell you that by praying the sinner’s prayer you won’t get saved!"
TfT News issue 77 http://www.timefortruth.co.uk/content/pages/documents/1454797861.pdf
"You will NEVER know the true meaning or purpose to life unless YOU confess your sins to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him as your Saviour. Don’t take my word for it, pray to the Lord Jesus Christ asking Him to forgive you and help you through your LIFE, you really need Him."
Does Anyone Really Care? http://www.timefortruth.co.uk/content/pages/documents/1327949167.pdf
John Davis also says that Acts 2:38, "repent and be baptized...for the remission of sins", is how we get saved under Grace.
"Those
baptized in Acts 2v38-41 still received the gift of the Holy Ghost
and were saved as anyone having salvation today, 3000 being added
unto them i.e. the apostles, Acts 2v41."
(Tim
for Truth News! Issue 75 April-May 2015)
John Davis does not believe that a man is justified by faith, he believes man is justified by faith plus confession of sins, prayer, etc.
Does God want people to open their mouths and start nagging for salvation? Or does God want sinner's to stop trusting their own righteousness and look to Christ and His shed blood for their sins? Let's see....
John 2:24-25 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.
John 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
Proverbs 1:28-30 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Isaiah 59:
[1] Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
[2] But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
[3] For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
[4] None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
Psalms 34: [15] The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
[16] The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
[17] The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
Matthew 7: [21] Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
[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?
[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Prayer has nothing to do with getting saved, faith in the blood of Christ to wash away your sins does!
But John Davis ignores all of those scriptures and takes other verses out of context to back up his false gospel. Here is his most pathetic "proof text"...
Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
That passage has nothing to do with lost people getting saved. Christ is referring to saved children of God asking the Father for something (it is not even referring to the Dispensation of Grace, we do not get everything we ask for). Look at verses 9-11. He is referring to the disciples in the context of the gospel of the kingdom (Luke 11:1-13). Not salvation.
Here is an example of some people that KNOCK and ASK but do not "receive"!!
Luke 13:
[25] When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
[26] Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
[27] But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
[28] There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
John Davis does not understand that prayer is a WORK that you OFFER God and persevere in...
Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
John Davis thinks you can "offer" God your "labor" of prayer and He will save you. That is far from what the Bible says, "to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Rom. 4:5)
John Davis adds more to salvation than just faith in Christ, he denies the doctrine of justification by faith. I understand that coming to a so called altar, getting on your knees, bowing your head, closing your eyes, and repeating a prayer are not considered "big" works like keeping the 10 commandments, BUT THEY ARE STILL WORKS. Whether you add a big work or a small work to salvation, it is still a WORK.
Prayer to God is for saved people, when He puts His Holy Spirit in us whereby we cry to Him "Abba Father"....not for lost people who are of their father the devil.
Romans 8:
[14] For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
[15] For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Galatians 4:
[3] Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
[4] But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
[5] To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
[6] And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Ephesians 2:18 For through him [Christ] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
John Davis seems to think that lost people have the same access to God as saved people do, which diminishes the grace that Christ has given us.
Some people try to justify the "sinner's prayer" 1-2-3 repeat after me false gospel by pointing to verses in the Psalms that mention calling on the Lord (such as Ps. 116). But those passages are in the context of calling on the Lord to save you from trouble and from enemies, not for salvation under grace. The popular one is Psalms 116, but that passage actually disproves what the sinner's prayer people teach. The prayer and calling there is what the Psalmist renders to God BECAUSE God blessed him with benefits (vs 12-13). That passage is also about paying vows to the Lord (vs 14, 18,19).
Another passage sinner's prayer people point to is Luke 18:9-14, but that passage is a "parable" (vs 9) spoken to people under the gospel of the kingdom, it is not the gospel message for anyone. (you can repeat the phrase "Lord be merciful to me a sinner" all day long and go to hell). Besides, the people who use those verses don't actually obey them. Do you go up to a temple to pray like the Jews under the Law did (vs 10).
But the favorite passage of all sinner's prayer advocates is Romans 10:9-13. But the passage does not support what these false gospel advocates teach. Romans 1-8 is written about Gentile salvation and the Body of Christ. Paul already established that a man receives righteousness and salvation by faith in the gospel of Christ without works (Rom. 1:16-17, 3:19-27, 4:1-5, 4:24-5:1). Romans 9-11 is mainly dealing with Israel (of course Paul does deal with the Gentiles as well). Romans 10 says nothing about asking the Lord for anything, it says "confess". (which means to admit and acknowledge, not ask)
Paul says in Romans 10:1 that he is referring to Israel's salvation. In
Rom. 10:9 the "thou" is the same thou of verses 6-8 and Deut. 30:11-14,
Israel. Paul quotes Joel 2:32 which is about Israel.
Besides that, the passages he quotes are not about salvation from sin,
but rather salvation from apostasy and falling. What does Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and Joel 2:32 have to do with anyone's salvation from sin? Romans 10 is a reference to the national salvation of Israel from
their apostasy. Israel "fell" at Acts 7 with the stoning of Stephen and
they were diminished and cast away (temporarily--Rom 11:25-27) for denying Christ and blaspheming the Holy Ghost (Acts 3:13-14, 7:51), some of them could be saved from their fall by confessing Christ.
It would be strange if Romans 10:9-10 were referring to the salvation of our soul because that would mean that we became "righteous" when we believed, but we weren't "saved" until we call upon the Lord. It is obviously impossible to separate the righteousness and salvation of the soul (you can't have one without the other). Also, if Paul is referring to the individual salvation of the soul, it would be strange that he did not mention it in chapters 3-5 of Romans where he was dealing with salvation from sin. And again when Paul mentions the gospel in Rom. 10:16 it is said that you obey it by believing it, not by confessing. "But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?"
It would be strange if Romans 10:9-10 were referring to the salvation of our soul because that would mean that we became "righteous" when we believed, but we weren't "saved" until we call upon the Lord. It is obviously impossible to separate the righteousness and salvation of the soul (you can't have one without the other). Also, if Paul is referring to the individual salvation of the soul, it would be strange that he did not mention it in chapters 3-5 of Romans where he was dealing with salvation from sin. And again when Paul mentions the gospel in Rom. 10:16 it is said that you obey it by believing it, not by confessing. "But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?"
I have made many other posts on the "sinner's prayer" issue here:
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/p/sinners-prayer-false-gospel.html
Mr. Robert Breaker has some great lessons and books on the sinner's prayer here:
The heresy of the sinner's prayer by Robert Breaker
http://www.rrb3.com/mypub/books/hrsy_sin_pryr.htm
What it means to call upon the name of the Lord by Robert Breaker
http://www.rrb3.com/mypub/books/how_to_call_on_Lord.htm
The Sinner's Prayer by Robert Breaker (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnK_8pKJd84
Reasons why we left our old church
http://www.rrb3.com/Left/reasons_left_church.htm
Mr. Breaker has an excellent Youtube channel, he seems to be a very smart guy (Pensacola Bible Institute graduate)
--Eli Caldwell
YES!
ReplyDeleteOn a related note, here's Steven "Arizona Adolf" Anderson teaching that "faith alone" doesn't really mean faith alone... and showing what he thinks about REAL soulwinners, not frauds like him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cESCJ4CWOM