Romans 4:5-6, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.”
Pastor John MacArthur is one of the most dangerous men theologically in the
world. The following quote is from his video sermon titled, “Are You Saved
Or Self-Deceived?” ...
“The narrow gate is hard to find and hard to go through, because it demands denial of self, denial of self-righteousness, recognition of sin, full of repentance, submission to Christ, commitment to obey Him and follow Him no matter what the cost! It's hard to find that truth and hearing it, it's hard to act upon it, because of the love self and the love of sin, which is natural for the sinner! The true way to Heaven is hard to find.”
Dr. MacArthur is referring to the Scripture passage from Matthew 7:13-15, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Kindly, I believe John MacArthur is the wolf that the Bible warns us about. I just prayed for Mr. MacArthur. He looks so physically drained in his sermon videos. I know he carries many heavy burdens as a pastor. I am sad that he is doctrinally corrupt, because it means that he is not saved. No man is saved who denies that Jesus' blood is in Heaven sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat (Hebrews 9:12, 24; 12:24).
We are taught in 2nd Corinthians 11:3-4 that the Gospel is simple (i.e., “the simplicity that is in Christ”), and we are warned about false prophets who come to us preaching “ANOTHER GOSPEL.” 2nd Corinthians 11:3-4, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” You cannot be saved by “ANOTHER GOSPEL.” There is no pervert like the Gospel pervert!
The Holy Bible plainly defines “the Gospel” for us in 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.” The Gospel truth is that Jesus Christ DIED on the cross for our sins, He was BURIED in a tomb, and then miraculously He bodily RESURRECTED from the dead the third day, according to the Scriptures. This is “the simplicity that is in Christ.”
On the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:41, we read that 3,000 people “gladly received his word” and were saved. Then they partook of believer's baptism as a profession of their faith. They were added to the Church. In Acts 2:23 the apostle Peter told the crowd that they had crucified Jesus, the Christ. In Verse 24 Peter says that God raised up Jesus. In Acts 2:32 Peter tells them again that, “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.” In other words, Peter was preaching the Gospel (meaning, the “Good News”) to them. When the crowd heard the “Good News” of Christ crucified on a cross and risen, they gladly received (believed) that Word, and they were saved. 3,000 of them were saved in one day!!! Amen!
Now, how does Acts 2:14-41 compare to John MacArthur's complicated plan of salvation? According to John MacArthur's earlier quote, getting saved “demands denial of self, denial of self-righteousness, recognition of sin, full of repentance, submission to Christ, commitment to obey Him and follow Him no matter what the cost!” Is this what happened in Acts 2:14-41? Absolutely not! Does the Bible's definition of “the Gospel” in 1st Corinthians 15:1-6 mention ANY of the extra six requirements that Dr. MacArthur specifies? Only one: “recognition of sin.” Yes, a person MUST acknowledge that they are a sinner to be saved!
Romans 3:19 teaches that the PURPOSE of God's LAW is to show humanity our sinnership, and bring us to Christ to be saved by grace through faith alone. Romans 3:19-20, “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. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” So RECOGNITION OF SIN is necessary to be saved, because we need to see our need for the Savior. All that means is that you must admit being a guilty sinner in the sight of God, so you will BELIEVE THE GOSPEL to be saved.
I often tell people that the hardest part about getting somebody saved is to first get them lost. Salvation requires submitting to the grace of God. We read in Romans 10:3-4, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” That's really what repentance and faith are, that is, submitting to God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ because you have judged yourself as being a guilty sinner.
Albeit, the other SIX requirements taught by John MacArthur are unbiblical.
Let's list the unbiblical things which Dr. MacArthur requires for salvation:
- Denial of self
- Denial of self-righteousness (this is Biblical. You must trust God's righteousness, not your own to save you)
- Recognition of sin (this requirement is Biblical. No one ever got saved who didn't realize he is a sinner.)
- Full of repentance
- Submission to Christ
- Commitment to obey Him
- Follow Him no matter what the cost!
Mr. MacArthur is a false prophet! Only two of those
seven things that he requires for salvation are a part of the Gospel. If
denial of self, denial of self-righteousness, full repentance (MacArthur
errantly defines repentance as turning away from sinful behavior),
submitting to Christ as Lord, and following Jesus, were all required to be saved, then
the apostle Paul would have included them in his definition of “the Gospel”
(1st Corinthians 15:1, “brethren, I declare unto you the gospel”),
but he didn't.
If any of these six things were required to be saved, then they would have
been mentioned in Peter's Gospel preaching at Pentecost, but he didn't. The
apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you,
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?” Amen! We are saved by placing our faith in
the Gospel when we hear it. Hebrews 4:2, “For unto us was the gospel
preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did
not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”
Evangelist Alexander Marshal Gets Repentance Right
One of my favorite quotes is from
Evangelist Alexander Marshall (1846-1928), who correctly taught the
Biblical meaning of repentance unto salvation...
“I HAVE NOT REPENTED ENOUGH”
What do you mean? “I am not sorry enough for my sins.”
And if you were very sorry, would God be more willing to save you than He is now? “I think so.”
Then you are completely mistaken.
“But does it not say, unless we repent we shall perish?”
Yes; but what do you think is the Scriptural significance of “repentance”? If you say “sorrow for sin” you are wrong. It does not mean sorrow for sin: it means a CHANGE OF MIND (Matt. 21:29). This change will doubtless produce sorrow; but sorrow and repentance are two very different things (Heb. 12:17. margin, and II Cor. 7:9). When God calls on you to “repent, and believe the Gospel,” He wishes you to lay aside your wrong thoughts, and believe the glad tidings that He proclaims to you. Formerly you may have imagined that you were required to feel very sorry before being saved. Change your mind. You may have supposed you must first “feel” some great change in order to know you were saved. Change your mind. First believe in God's great love to you, as revealed in His gospel, and you will KNOW that you have eternal life (John 5:24).
SOURCE: The Horrible Misrepresentation of Evangelist Alexander Marshall
Yes, that is
excellent. Brother Marshall is 100% correct! Don't miss it! Biblical
“repentance” is the Greek noun, metanoia, which means, “a change of
mind.” Or in the beautiful words of Alexander Marshall, God wishes for us
“TO LAY ASIDE YOUR WRONG THOUGHTS, AND BELIEVE THE GLAD TIDINGS THAT HE
PROCLAIMS TO YOU.” Boy that's good stuff! This is true repentance unto
salvation, which is a change of mind unto the Gospel itself. For a wonderful
explanation of Biblical repentance, please read “THE
GREAT MEANING OF 'METANOIA.'” Amen!
Sinners Are Saved By Faith in the Gospel
John MacArthur has
it wrong! MacArthur makes the following heretical statements, which are based
upon his Calvinist views that God
predestinates and
chooses who will be saved...
“Faith doesn't produce regeneration. Repentance doesn't produce regeneration. That regeneration comes first. And only when you're made alive can you repent.”
In sharp contrast,
the Holy Bible teaches that we are saved by faith. Galatians 3:26, “For ye
are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus.” We are saved the moment that we place our faith in the seed of the
Word of God (i.e., the Gospel). 1st Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and
abideth for ever.” According to MacArthur, a person cannot be saved unless
God first gives them the new birth, and only then can they repent and put
their faith in Jesus Christ. That is backwards. The new birth cannot happen
until a sinner believes the Gospel.
God Pity the Deceived Church and Pastor Who Support John MacArthur
Life is short,
Hell is hot, and eternity is a long time. It matters what we believe! Our
doctrine determines our destiny. Mr. MacArthur is a dangerous false teacher,
who is a Gospel pervert. I say that kindly. I have nothing personal against
Dr. MacArthur, but
his own words condemn him. It is gross theological incompetence
for MacArthur to say that Jesus' blood is precious, while trampling it
underfoot as being an unholy thing, saying that Christ's blood soaked into the
dirt at Calvary and stayed there. The Old Testament is very clear that the
Tabernacle high priest had to apply the lamb's blood in the holy place to the
mercy seat. The book of Hebrews clearly teaches that Christ is our heavenly
High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16).
The Old Testament
tabernacle was a pattern of the heavenly Tabernacle. Hebrews 9:23, “It
was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the
heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things
themselves with better sacrifices than these.” Hebrews 9:12, 9:24 and 12:24 teach that Jesus
entered into the heavenly holy place BY HIS OWN BLOOD! In his corrupt 'The
MacArthur Study Bible' published by Nelson Publishers, MacArthur says that the
phrase “BY HIS BLOOD” really refers to Christ's death. It does not! If God
meant DEATH, then He would have said DEATH. Remember, God is the divine
Author of the Holy Bible, men only penned what God inspired them to write! You decide for yourself.
Are you going to believe MacArthur's heretical religious theories, or believe
the inspired Word of God?
John MacArthur is Caught Between Grace And Works
Dr. MacArthur's perverted Gospel combines salvation with discipleship. Here are some excellent quotes discerning the difference between salvation and discipleship...
