In this article, I want to refute some of these
ridiculous, unbiblical, false teachings that you'll read and hear today all
across the world, most of which sadly originated from corrupted Bible
revisions and corrupted churches in the United States. After reading this
article, you'll have the truth and a much clearer mindset on the important
matter of salvation.
You Don't Need to “Ask” Jesus to Save
You
Jesus doesn't forgive sin, Jesus has already
paid for our sins with His blood. The holy Bible plainly tells us to
“BELIEVE” to be saved, nothing else. John 3:16, “For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
It is false teaching to tell someone to “ask” Jesus to save them. I can hear
the Lord saying something like this, “Why are you asking Me to save you? I
have already 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.” There you have it! You don't have to “ask” God
to save you, you simply need to BELIEVE on the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ—the One Who died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and bodily
resurrected the third day.
No one needs to “ask” Jesus to save them,
because God has already PROMISED to save them that BELIEVE. 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?”
You Don't Need to “Walk Down a Church
Isle” at Invitation Time to Be Saved
All across America, pastors add an unbiblical
requirement to God's plan of salvation, which He does not require—walking
down a church isle to find out how to be saved! Why cannot a person be saved
right there in the pew? Why must they walk an isle down to the front, to be
saved? Is walking a church isle a requirement to be saved? No, of course
not! Every pastor ought to preach the Gospel—so that the layman in the pew,
or the visiting guest, or the small child, or someone who doesn't feel too
well, or perhaps someone who is timid and shy, or simply too embarrassed to
walk an isle—can still receive the free gift of forgiveness of sins and
eternal life by faith in the Gospel.
I was saved in a pew. I don't remember the day,
week, month or even year. I heard Dr. Hyles testify yesterday in a sermon
that he doesn't remember the day, week or month that he was saved either,
but he remembers where he was, and the experience. Dr. Hyles was saved at
age 11. I am in the same boat. I think I was 13 years old, or close. It must
have been about 1980. I remember that I was saved on a Sunday morning in
Chicago. I remember where I was sitting in back of an independent Baptist
church. I was brought to church by the bus ministry. I remember feeling the
Holy Spirit's conviction in my soul during the church service. As best I
knew how, with childlike faith, for the first time in my life I made a
personal appeal unto the Lord Jesus Christ to save me, and He wonderfully
did.
Now, I mentioned this to say something. I also
remember that an invitation was given to come forward. I was too scared and
shy. The pastor never told anyone how to be saved from the pew. However, I
had attended Sunday school for years, and knew what I needed to do, sort of.
I knew that only Jesus could save me, and so I called upon Him in my heart,
BELIEVING on Him. But I didn't fully understand the simplicity that is in
Christ. For the next 7 years I wept often, fearful that I hadn't done
something correctly to be saved. The question haunted me, “What if?” What is
I go to Hell? What if I miss Heaven? I was ignorant of the holy Scriptures.
Had that pastor (whom I am not critiquing) told me how to be saved in the
pew, perhaps I would not have spent the next 7 years struggling to find the
assurance of my salvation. If you are a pastor, you should always tell
people how to be saved in the pew.
You Don't Have to “Pray a Sinner's
Prayer” to Be Saved
My parents enrolled me into the same Baptist
church's Christian school. I love and thank my parents for doing that, more
than anything else I appreciate them ever doing. Folks, my website ministry
wouldn't exist if it were not for my parents putting me into that Baptist
church and school. The pastor was a Hyles-Anderson graduate. I was
influenced to attend Hyles-Anderson myself in 1985. I met Dr. Jack Hyles,
and spent 8 years serving the Lord under Brother Hyles' ministry. That is my
greatest treasure in life, next to my salvation. I could have so easily
ended up a neo-evangelical, or not saved at all. It's quite strange, because
my father was from the Moody camp (a graduate), which is totally
neo-evangelical.
In hindsight, I believe God put it in my
parent's hearts to enroll me into an independent Baptist church. What's more
amazing, is that the Christian school on Chicago's Northside was only there
for a very short time frame, a few years. The church then moved 10 miles (80
city blocks) south in Chicago, where I was bused to and from church and
school for the next 4 years for high school. In hindsight, only God could
have worked everything the way he did. When I think about it, I am so
blessed and fortunate to have been given that special privilege, and I don't
take it lightly. THANK YOU LORD JESUS!!!
Having said that, when I was 17 years old, I
was still struggling with the assurance of my salvation. So I went to my
pastor. He made the common mistake of assuming that I must not be saved,
since I wasn't sure. So he led me in a “sinner's prayer” (Oh boy!), and then
I was water baptized, still fearing that I might miss Heaven and go to Hell.
Meeting with my pastor hadn't helped me at all. And now I was really
reluctant to tell anyone that I still didn't know that I was saved, because
the whole church now thought I just got saved! I had been saved since age
13, under that same pastor's preaching, but he simply didn't know how to
help someone find the assurance of salvation. I've heard errant preachers
say from the pulpit, that you're insulting God if you doubt your salvation.
That is a cruel thing to tell a person in doubt. What they need is to be
taught correctly how to now for sure they are saved.
The truth is that I had been misled and
confused by the requirement to “pray a prayer” to be saved. That obscured
the Gospel. I did believe on the Lord, and I was saved. I know because of
the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, since I was 13 years old.
Albeit, I was confused. Did I pray right? I knew that I was a sinner. I knew
that I deserved to burn in Hell for my own sins. I believed that Jesus died
on the cross for my sins. I believed that He was buried and bodily
resurrected three days later. THAT'S WHAT ALL THE GOSPEL TRACTS SAID!!! So
why couldn't I obtain the feeling that I was saved? Why was I was so afraid
of going to Hell? The answer is so simple. I had read over a hundred
religious tracks, including dozens of corrupt Chick Tracts (which I loved to
look at as a youth), but I had never been shown the Scriptures! You
can read the Bible and not understand it. That's why Philip had to help the
Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter eight.
I cannot warn pastors and Christian workers
enough about the spiritual dangers of leading people to pray a prayer to be
saved. I am not against it. I believe in the Romans Road method of
leading a sinner to Christ. But it is of paramount importance that you make
sure the person to whom you are witnessing to, fully understands that
“saying a prayer” is not required to be saved. Personally, I don't lead
anyone to pray. Instead, I simply present
the Gospel, and then I ask them,
“Will you make that decision right now to receive Christ's sacrifice on the
cross as payment for your sins? And do you believe that Jesus was buried and
three days later He bodily resurrected from the dead? Will you, right now,
make that you're only hope for Heaven?” If they agree to “believe,” they are
saved. Then it would be appropriate to pray with them afterwards, thanking
God for saving them. I've just met too many people, who testify when asked,
that they were saved by praying a prayer long ago. They're not saved.
All the Faith You Need to Be Saved is
“Just Enough” to Call Upon the Lord
I used to ask myself the question, “Do I have
enough faith to be saved?” But then I learned a wonderful truth from
Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.” If you have “just enough” faith to call (i.e., trust) upon the Lord, that is
all the amount of faith you need to be saved. You can be saved
simply by BELIEVING, even if you never say a prayer. You don't have to “ask” Jesus to save you. To “call”
in Romans 10:13 doesn't mean to pray, it means “to appeal unto,” that is, you are saved by
going to the Lord to be saved. Hundreds of times we are told in the
Scriptures, especially the Gospel of John, to simply BELIEVE on the name of
Jesus Christ to be saved. When I was a child, I remember seeing a sign in
the local grocery store which read, “Please call again!” It is an old
English expression. It means that you “called upon them” for their business
services. In this case, to provide groceries and supplies. Well, Jesus is in
the business of providing salvation to sinners, and if you call upon Him,
the Lord promises to save you!!!
The Lord said that unless a person humbles them
self like a little child, they will not enter into the King of God.
Matthew 18:3-6, “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except
ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as
this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso
shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall
offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the
depth of the sea.” Adults are full of skepticism, selfishness and pride.
I worked with a good man one time, but unsaved, who said to me, “I won't
believe the Bible until God's knocks on my door and says, 'This is my
Word'.” Kindly, that man is a fool. Jesus exclaimed in Luke 24:25, “Then
he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken.”
The word “converted” in Matthew 18:3 means “to
turn, reverse.” That is what repentance is, a change of mind. Most people
question the holy Bible, casting doubt about it, and taking the advice of
atheist idiots like comedian George Carlin, actor William Shatner and
theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. I believe the Bible, thank God!
Unless an adult reverses their mind, becoming as a trusting small child,
they will never trust the Lord, and will never be saved. This is why, the
older a person gets, the less likely it is that they will ever get saved.
Most people are saved as children. Dr. Jack Hyles was saved at age 11. I was
saved at age 13. Charles Spurgeon was saved at age 15. Dr. Curtis Hutson was
saved at age 11. And I could name hundreds more men of God, all saved as
youth.
I believe the reason why Jesus warned “wide is
the gate” and “broad is the way” in Matthew 7:13-14, saying that “few there
be that find it,” is because it is so simple to be saved that most people
complicate it and never get saved (Matthew 7:21-23). Men complicate
everything. Adam tried to cover his sins with fig-leafs. God rejected Adam's
fig-leaf religion. Cain foolishly tried to impress God with offerings of
grain from his field, but able properly demonstrated his faith in the blood
of the coming Messiah, by killing an innocent animal and offering a blood
sacrifice (Hebrews 12:24). Catholics pervert the Gospel, adding seven
sacraments as a requirement to be saved. Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and
Church of Christ pervert the Gospel, adding water baptism as a requirement
to be saved. Dr. John MacArthur perverts the Gospel, adding “turning from
your sins” and “making Jesus 'Lord'” as a requirement to be saved. None of
these are the Gospel.
All the faith you need to be saved is “just
enough” to BELIEVE the Gospel, and nothing more is required nor permitted.
We are saved by childlike faith in what Christ has done to pay for our sins.
Jesus is our sin payment.
Faith is the Presence of Belief, Not the
Absence of Doubt
I love the illustration of a chair. Let's say
that you use a chair to replace a defective lightbulb. Faith is not saying,
“I believe! I believe that this chair will support my weight!” That is not
faith; but rather, optimism. Optimism cannot save you! Optimism is a
positive outlook. Faith is trusting Jesus Christ to do what He has promised
to do, which is SAVE THEM THAT BELIEVE! If you stand upon the chair, placing
all your weight upon it, you have placed your complete trust in that chair.
But if you hold onto something as an aid, just in case the chair doesn't
hold up your weight, you have not placed your complete truth in that chair.
Salvation is no different. Unless you are placing your total trust in Christ
alone, you are not saved at all.
Years ago I read in the Chicago Sun-Times that soldiers in the Iraqi War (which began
in 2003) were getting water baptized, “just in case” they died in combat.
May I kindly say, according to the holy Bible they would go straight to
Hell, having died in their sins without Christ. You can get baptized as many
times as you'd like, you can join a dozen different churches, you can tithe
everything that you own, and do a hundred good deeds every day of your life
until you die, but YOU WILL GO STRAIGHT TO HELL if you don't get born-again
by faith alone in Christ. There is no other way to be saved. You either come
through the precious name of Jesus or you don't go! (Acts 4:10). John
14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
I love that! Notice that no mention is made of turning away from sinful
behavior, nor of following Jesus as one's “Lord,” nor of surrendering one's
will to Christ. No mention is made of “being willing to turn from sin” (aka,
Chick Tracts). Jesus simply said to “BELIEVE on Me.” How wonderful! How
simple! What a precious truth!!! If you'd like to have your sins forgiven my
friend, and spend eternity with Jesus, all you need to do is BELIEVE ON
HIM!!! Believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God. John 20:31, “But
these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God; and that believing ye might have life through his
name.” Could the Bible be any plainer? I think not.
Most Roman Catholics don't see the harm of
trusting the Catholic church, and their sacramental salvation. But by doing
so, they are not trusting the Lamb of God. If you add anything to the simple
Gospel, you are not completely trusting in Jesus Christ. 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.” Do you believe my friend? By “believe” I don't
mean intellectual consent; but rather, you are relying upon what Christ did
to pay for your sins on the cross to save you. And you believe that He was
buried and physically raised up three days later from the dead. Either you
are completely trusting the dear Savior to get to Heaven, or you are not
going.
My friend, it doesn't matter how many doubts
you may have. Even if you have 99% doubt that a chair will support your
weight, you have placed 100% of your trust in it, if you place 100% of your
weight upon it unsupported!!! The same is true in salvation. Even if you
have many doubts, it is no less than 100% trust if you BELIEVE ON THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST to save you!!!
Jesus Doesn't “Forgive Sin”
Jesus doesn't forgive sin. That is correct.
Jesus has already paid for our sins with His own precious blood. 1st
Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Revelation 1:5, “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the
first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood.” Jesus has already paid for our sins, which is why
1st Timothy 4:10 calls Him “the Saviour of all men, specially of
those that believe.” Jesus is everyone's Savior, but you must receive
Him as your personal Savior, or you'll go to burn in Hell, to pay for your
own sins. John 1:12, “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.” There again we see the wonderful truth that we are
saved solely by “BELIEVING.”
Jesus doesn't forgive sin, because He has
already paid for it with His blood. Hence, eternal life is a free gift.
Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is
a “gift” because Jesus paid for it with His own precious blood. 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.” Jesus doesn't need to forgive sin, because He has
already PAID FOR SIN WITH HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD!!! That's why it is a free
gift, that you simply need to receive by faith to be forgiven and saved. You
receive God's free gifts of forgiveness of sins and eternal life by
BELIEVING THE GOSPEL. If you have never read it, I ask you kindly to
read Dr. Harry Ironside's awesome book, “WHAT
IS THE GOSPEL?”
You Don't Need to “Invite Jesus into
Your Life” to Be Saved
I hear errant radio preachers teaching that you
must “invite Christ into your life” to be saved. I heard this on Pacific
Garden Mission's
UNSHACKLED program. “Inviting Christ into your life” is not the Gospel.
“Asking Jesus into your heart” is not the Gospel. “Surrendering one's life
to Jesus” is not the Gospel. “Making a commitment to Christ” is not the
Gospel. “Repenting of all your sins” is not the Gospel. “Turning away from
your sin” (or “being willing to turn away from sin”) is not the Gospel.
“Having a drastic change of attitude” is not the Gospel. “Changing your
heart and your life” is not the Gospel. “Declaring 'Jesus is Lord' is not
the Gospel.” You may do all of these these are still not be born-again.
You don't invite Christ into your
life, for Jesus is our life. If you are saved, Christ is your life.
Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Galatians 2:20,
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself
for me.” We don't live the Christian life; but rather, Jesus lives the
Christian life through us.
How Satan Hinders Men from Being Saved
2Co:4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid
to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Please consider our text Verse again from
Luke 8:12, “Those by the way side are
they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their
hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.”
This is the parable of the seeds. Jesus plainly said, “The seed is the
Word of God” (Luke 8:11). In Verse 12, Jesus said that the seeds which
fell by the wayside represent people who have been hindered by Satan from
obeying the Gospel. “Those by the way side are they that hear;
then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their
hearts, LEST THEY SHOULD BELIEVE AND BE SAVED.”
Again and again in the Scriptures we are told that the way to salvation is
simply to “BELIEVE.”
Luke 8:12 is a remarkable Scripture. Satan doesn't want anyone to get saved.
Hence, the Bible says that the Devil removes God's Word from their heart,
LEST THEY SHOULD BELIEVE AND BE SAVED. How does Satan remove God's Word from
men's hearts? I can think of many ways: the lies of Evolution taught to
children (1st Timothy 6:20), false religion that give men false hope in a
false plan of salvation (Matthew 7:21-23), counterfeit Bible versions that
corrupt the Words of God (2nd Corinthians 2:17), the love of sin (John 3:20)
and the “turn from your sins” heresy that substitutes manmade repentance for
the new birth.
The Gospel Defined
So what is the Gospel? I'm so glad that you
asked. The holy Bible defines “the Gospel” for us:
1st Corinthians 15:1-6, “Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are
saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have
believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then
of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at
once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen
asleep.”
There you have it—Christ DIED on the cross for
our sins, He was BURIED, and He miraculously and bodily RESURRECTED three
days later. If you BELIEVE this, personally, making it your only hope for
Heaven, you are saved. Christ died, that's history; Christ died and raised
up for me, that's salvation!!! Salvation is not doing your best, it is
having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. God
will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who
are trusting to be saved. Luke 8:12,
“Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh
away the word out of their hearts, lest they should
believe and be saved.” Matthew 16:13, “When Jesus came
into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom
do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art
John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” I
also believe with Peter that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the living God. I hope you do too my friend, because your eternal
destiny depends upon it!
I love that last part of our text Verse, “LEST THEY SHOULD BELIEVE AND BE
SAVED.” Again and again in the Scriptures we are told that the way to
salvation is simply to “BELIEVE.”
