Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Calvinism is a lie of Satan, not the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ. In God's true plan of salvation in the Bible, you simply come to God as an admitted guilty sinner and receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that Christ was buried and raised up from the dead three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Acts 16:30b-31, “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.”
In sharp contrast, in the Devil's lie of Calvinism, you are taught that you cannot KNOW 100% that you are saved at the time you accept Christ. Don't take my word for it, here are some heretical quotes from unsaved infidels preying from the pulpit today in churches.
Evangelist Steve Pettit (president of Bob Jones University) heretically said this:
“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)
Pastor Paul Washer heretically said this:
“We talk about the Germans of the 20th centuries that brought on their higher criticism. It is not near as dangerous as conservative Baptists with their gospel reductionism. How dare we, all these stupid evangelists walking around telling men after they've made some little prayer that they need to write their name in the back of their Bible, and put the date and if the Devil ever comes to them, they need to show him that. That is Roman superstition, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see we've turned the gospel into a flu-shot.” —Paul Washer Sermonette
On page 1513 of THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, under the section “Questions & Objections,” Evangelist Ray Comfort addresses the statement: “Because Jesus died on the cross we are forgiven of every sin.” Here’s Ray Comfort’s heretical reply to this statement:
“The forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ is conditional upon ‘repentance towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Acts 20:21). It is a gift that God offers to everyone, but individuals must receive it by repenting and trusting in Christ, or they will remain dead in their sins. No one has Biblical grounds to continue in sin, assuming that they are safe just because Jesus died on the cross. See 1 John 3:4-6.” [Emphasis added] —THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, by Ray Comfort, pg. 1513; 2003, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Orlando, Florida
Do you see how these ungodly false teachers are perverting the new birth, instead teaching that you cannot KNOW 100% you are eternally secure at the time you get saved. This is because they are deceiving rotten Calvinists! I say that kindly but truthfully. In the Calvinist's errant mindset, you must prove the reality of the genuineness of your faith—by living a changed life, by turning away from a lifestyle of sin, and living a permanent lifestyle as such. If you think I am exaggerating, please read this shocking heresy by Ray Comfort, in which he heretically requires people to LIVE A LIFESTYLE to get to Heaven!!!
Dear reader, you are in fact Biblically 100% safe and don't need to ASS-U-ME anything, because God has solemnly promised "TO SAVE THEM THAT BELIEVE." 1st Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” You have God's promise!!! Anyone who puts their trust in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior instantly becomes a born-again child of God. ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED! Ray Comfort doesn't believe that! Paul Washer doesn't believe that! Steve Pettit doesn't believe that! Eternal life is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty!!!
I just shared their heretical quotes with you, which instills fear and worry into the hearts and minds of their deceived followers. You CAN absolutely know you are eternally saved the very moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ!!!!!!! How else could we obey the Lord's command to “rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20b). If my name is written in Heaven, then I KNOW I am saved. So what is this garbage theology that Paul Washer is preaching which says I cannot write down your name, date and place where you got saved? You absolutely CAN write down the time, place and your name where and when you were saved!!! That is why the Bible calls getting saved a new birth (born again - 1st Peter 1:23). John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The Christian life begins with a new birth, just as your earthly life began with a physical birth. Once you were born physically, it was a done deal. Likewise, once you are born again into God's family, it is a done deal. Calvinists will insist that you are not safe, and cannot be assured of Heaven unless you persevere to live a sanctified life. That is NOT the free grace of God. The Bible clearly teaches that eternal life is a free gift from God (Romans 5:15-18; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9). All you need to do to receive a gift is take it. That is all you need to do to receive God's free gift of eternal life, simply take it by putting your childlike faith (confidence) in Jesus Christ.
I have a very good question for Calvinists? The $64,000 question is: If we must persevere to be saved, then how can we ever know when or if we are saved? My friend Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold preached an entire sermon on this very subject. The sermon is titled: 'Questions Calvinists Cannot Answer.' Calvinists cannot answer that question! They cannot tell you WHEN you can KNOW 100% that you are saved certain, and can boldly proclaim that you ARE going to Heaven? That is a works-based plan of salvation. The proper mindset for a born-again child of God is that I CAN know 100% right now that I am forever saved. I can KNOW now because eternal life is the free gift of God, which Jesus fully paid for with His precious blood. Christ died on the cross to pay our debt of sin! Therefore, anyone who accepts Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for their sin is saved!
That is exactly why Jesus told every saint of God in Luke 10:20, “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” Now, how could we REJOICE unless we had the total confidence that we are presently saved certain and forever? We couldn't! The fact that Jesus commands every believer to REJOICE, that our name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life in Heaven, is clear PROOF that ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED (OSAS)!!!
Being born-again is a one time new birth, not an ongoing process! Sanctification is an ongoing lifetime process, but it has nothing to do with the gift of eternal life, which is by faith alone. We must NEVER mix, confuse or combine justification with sanctification, lest we corrupt the inspired Word of God and cast stumbling blocks before the people. Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan, made this excellent helpful comment:
“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Amen and amen! For Calvinists to ADD to the Gospel, by requiring people to live a better life, turn away from sinful behavior, and prove that their faith in genuine by living a certain way, is a counterfeit Gospel. Calvinists pervert the grace of God, instilling fear into people by making them worry constantly, that living in sin means their faith is not real. How in the world is this not 100% a works-based plan of salvation (or better said, plan of damnation)? How is this not trying to keep the law to be saved? (Romans 3:19-20)
In God's true plan of salvation, you CAN 100% know that you are saved regardless of how you choose to live, because it is a gift. In God's true plan of salvation, you CAN go out and live like the Devil and still KNOW 100% that you have eternal life. Would you give someone a birthday gift and then afterwards require them to live a certain way to keep it, or to prove that they were sincere when they accepted it? That would be absurd! Well it is no more absurd than what Calvinists are preaching! Beware of theologians! Beware of corrupt preachers! "What saith the Scripture," should always be our earnest question (Romans 4:3). Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”
I got gloriously saved at age 13. That was 41 years ago. It was an immediate permanent new birth. I instantly became God's adopted and redeemed child by faith in Christ, forever saved and sealed by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:12-14). Truly, I could go out and live like the Devil if I wanted to, and still be 100% safe in my eternal life and redemption!!! The reason why is because my salvation is based solely upon GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, and not my own goodness. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” I love that Bible verse!!!
This one Scripture passage in Philippians 3:9 blows Calvinism right out of the water! I am sick of lying Calvinists (aka, proponents of "Lordship" Salvation) saying that we are not saved by works, but then contradict themselves by saying if you are saved you will have works. That is a backdoor approach to adding works to faith, because Calvinists teach if you don't have works then your faith is not genuine. By attaching works to faith, they have absolutely corrupted the Word of God, perverted the Gospel and cast stumbling blocks before the people, confusing and instilling needless fear into their souls, and thus damning souls to the Lake of Fire forever (Revelation 20:12-15). Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again, which is EXACTLY what Calvinists are doing!!! Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.
My justification (sins forgiven) has NOTHING to do with my sanctification (becoming more Christlike). Discipleship and sonship must be kept separate! If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without, and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God and cast stumbling blocks before the people. Pilgrim's Progress author John Bunyan said that and he is absolutely right! I love that quote.
The simplicity that is in Christ means that we are saved by simply trusting Christ. You don't have to live a changed life to prove that your faith is real. Calvinism perverts the Gospel, instilling fear in its followers, leading them to falsely labor to live a moral and committed life to Christ to validate their faith, which is 100% a works-based Seventh-Day Adventist type of Lordship salvation. Dear reader, you CAN know 100% right now that you are eternally saved, by childlike faith alone in Jesus Christ. The life that you choose to live is a separate matter of discipleship, not sonship. It is a matter of sanctification, not justification. It is a matter of proving how much you love Jesus (John 14:15), not how genuine your trust in Him is as your Savior (Romans 4:4-7).
How simple is the Gospel? In John 11:25-26 we once again see that salvation is obtained freely by simple childlike faith in the only begotten Son of God. BELIEVE, oh guilty sinner, and you are forever saved! Jesus didn't ask Martha if she was ready or willing to repent and turn away from her sins (which Bob Jones University errantly requires on their website). Jesus didn't ask Martha if she had surrendered "all" to Him as Lord (which Pastor John MacArthur errantly requires). Jesus didn't ask Martha to repent AND believe to be saved (as Ray Comfort errantly requires). Jesus didn't ask Martha to start, run and finish the race to win the award of salvation (as Steve Pettit errantly requires). Jesus SIMPLY asked Martha if she BELIEVED that He is the Resurrection and the Life?
Jesus SIMPLY asked Martha if she believed that He gives eternal life? John 6:47, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Simply BELIEVE oh guilty sinner to be immediately, irrevocably and eternally saved!!! Believe the Good News (Gospel) that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, He was buried, and three days later Jesus raised up from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Galatians 3:26, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."
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