New IFB Cult Redefines Faith

John 11:25-26, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

There is a horrible false doctrine being preached in New IFB (Independent Fundamental Baptist) churches today, which errantly says that a lost sinner cannot be saved without calling, asking or praying to be saved. The Bible does not agree with that teaching! The following shameful video is FALSE DOCTRINE, published on YouTube by the New IFB...

New IFB Cult Redefines Faith

Wow, Pastor Jonathan Shelley is getting weird. He is espousing strange doctrine, as are other New IFB pastors. This is tragic. In a foolish attempt to prove that you have to "ask" to be saved, I heard Pastor Steven Anderson cite 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝟰:𝟭𝟬, "𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗲, 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸; 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿."

Ironically, if you read the rest of John chapter 4, not once did anyone ever ask Jesus to save them, the Bible says they simply "believed." 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝟰:𝟯𝟵, "𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱, 𝗛𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱." 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝟰:𝟰𝟭-𝟰𝟮, "𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱; 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱." These Scripture passages refute the false claim by the New IFB that a sinner cannot be saved unless they "ask" or "call" on the name of Jesus to be saved. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. We need to expose this heresy!

I love something that Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) said: "A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one." Sadly, New IFB pastors are selectively reading the Holy Bible. They are basing a false doctrine on a tiny handful of Bible verses, while totally ignoring the whole Gospel of John. In John we find the word "believe" mentioned 85 times. But not once do we find anyone "asking" Jesus to save them in the Gospel of John.

In the preceding heretical video by Jonathan Shelley, he says that no one in the Bible ever got saved without asking. That is a FALSE claim! As we just saw in John 4:39 and 41-42, the Samaritans did NOT call or ask, they simply believed on Jesus.

When I attended Hyles-Anderson College for 8 years between 1985 and 1993 when I gratefully graduated, I never led anybody to Christ without leading them to pray, because that is how I was taught by Dr. Hyles. There is nothing wrong with that per se, because we were taught to make sure that the person knows it is faith and not praying that saves you. You can hear Pastor Jack Hyles teach this truth for yourself in this helpful applicable sermon titled:

Fundamentalist Heresy
(by Dr. Jack Hyles, 1926-2001)

If you listen to the preceding beautiful sermon, you will hear Dr. Hyles about 15-16 minutes into the sermon plainly refute the heresy that you must "pray" to be saved.

Having said that, because of my own battle with the assurance of my salvation for several years, I no longer lead lost people to pray a sinner's prayer. Praying is NOT the Bible method to be saved. We are saved simply by BELIEVING. In Acts 2:41 when the Apostle Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, nobody asked to be saved. Acts 2:41 simply says that 3,000 of the thousands of Jews present, "gladly received" his word and were saved. They just believed.

Likewise, in Acts chapter 10 we read about Cornelius, an Italian centurion over 100 soldiers. Cornelius was a good man who prayed, gave alms, fasted and prayed, but he was not saved. So God arranged for a meeting between the Apostle Peter and Cornelius, so that he could hear the Gospel. In Acts 10:43-44 we read that as Peter preached the Gospel, they were filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is, they beloved what they heard and were saved.

In Galatians 3:2 the Apostle Paul asked the Galatian churches if they were indwelt with the Spirit (saved) by keeping the works of the law, or BY THE HEARING OF FAITH. That is how you get saved—you simply BELIEVE in the "Good News" when you hear it preached. Calling, praying or asking to be saved is NOT necessary.

Albeit, I humbly don't think "asking" Jesus to save you hinders a lost sinner from being saved. I asked Jesus to save me when I was 13 years old, but I did it in ignorance. It is a natural response to call upon the name of the Lord from a believing heart. There is NOTHING wrong with asking, calling or praying in response to one's heart's faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But there is something VERY WRONG with saying that a sinner cannot be saved unless they call, ask or pray, when the Bible simply tells us to BELIEVE ON JESUS. To require someone to call, ask or pray is false and unbiblical.

God saved me, because my pray was rooted in faith. I now know that I could have just as easily believed on His name to be saved. It bothers me when preachers wrest the Scriptures. The Bible teaches in Romans 10:14 that we call because we believe. However, it is heresy to say that someone cannot be saved without praying a prayer to ask Jesus to save you. I am astonished that New IFB pastors totally ignore Jesus' words in 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝟲:𝟮𝟴-𝟮𝟵, "𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱? 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁." I didn't see any mention of asking, calling or praying, did you?

In the preceding video Pastor Jonathan Shelley is horribly accusing Dr. Curtis Hutson, Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, Dr. Max Younce, Dr. Jack Hyles, Pastor Harry Ironside, Onorato Diamante, myself and other free grace preachers "wicked" and saying that we preach "another gospel." That is WRONG!!!