"Many people live
in false hope. It is on false hope that every casino makes its dirty
money and that every crook uses to lure his victims to invest in
questionable schemes. The sad thing is that the victim is as much to
blame as the con-artist. While it is terrible to see people live in
the false hope that their ten dollars are suddenly going to become
ten million, it is even worse to see people gamble with their souls
and eternity. People who put their trust, hope and confidence in a
religion that cannot save them are to be pitied. But the men who
assure people that everything is well, when it is not, are to be
condemned.
Most of us have probably been to funerals where the preacher assured
everyone that the departed has gone to “a better place.” Many of us
have also known deep down in our hearts that it is more likely that
many of the poor departed have gone to hell because of the evidence
of their lives. (I know that God alone is the judge, but the Bible
also teaches that we will know men by their fruit.) No matter how
much the preacher wants to comfort the grieving family, to lie about
such a serious thing is inexcusable, especially when those preachers
are also implying that the living can continue in their sin, and in
the end we will all go to heaven – together with our dogs and cats.
But an even greater crime is the thousands of preachers of all
denominations that see it as their mission to give people some
“assurance of salvation” when there is no evidence that the poor
individual is actually born-again. I clearly remember as a young
preacher, how my elders taught me to point people to certain pet
verses in the Bible (like John 1:12) that will give them an
assurance of salvation. Many Bibles that contain lists of Scriptures
appropriate for different circumstances also contain a list of
verses that will give the reader assurance of salvation. It seems
every preacher has in his arsenal a bunch of sermons that will
assure people that they are saved.
The typical conversation with someone who is uncertain usually goes
something like this:
Inquirer: “I don’t
feel I’m saved.”
Counselor: “We don’t go by feelings but by faith. Did you ask
Jesus into your heart/pray the sinner’s prayer/respond to the
appeal?”
Inquirer: “Yes.”
Counselor: “Then you are most certainly born-again – just
believe it and quote John 1:12.”
I’m sure this
conversation takes place many times every day in every part of the
world. But is this the truth?
No, it is a pack of lies. How can anyone assure someone they are
saved when the sinner has not truly come to salvation? Is our job to
make people feel comfortable and secure or is it to snatch souls
from the flames and to make absolutely sure that people have been
truly born again by the Spirit of God? (By the way, the same thing
happens when people are assured they are filled with the Spirit when
the evidence says that they are powerless and unchanged, if they are
even saved!)
I know these are strong words and that a few dozen readers have
stopped reading and are unsubscribing from this mailing list right
now. But are we interested in the truth or our Evangelical
traditions? The truth is that many of the criteria that counselors
use to judge whether an individual is born again or not, are
thoroughly unbiblical and false.
Where does it say that we are born again because we asked Jesus into
our heart, prayed the sinner’s prayer, slipped our hand up or
responded to the altar call? It may be written in evangelism manuals
but it is not in the Bible. And before you rush to remind me that
John 1:12 says: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God” and that this surely covers
inviting Jesus into your heart – The fact is that “receiving Him”
and “asking Jesus into your heart” are two totally different things.
By “receiving Him” John means we receive Him as our Savior,
Lord and Master and that we submit to all the claims He may make on
us. I very much doubt that most of those who asked Jesus into their
lives ever meant that they would accept His Lordship and that they
would be obedient to Him - no matter what. In fact, the next verse
says: “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:13). This clearly
says that to be born again is not something we can do for ourselves
but it is something that God has to do. Where on earth did we get
the idea that it was something that was totally dependent on what I
have done?
The New Testament does not give glib, easy assurances of salvation
but rather instructs us to “examine yourselves as to whether you
are in the faith. Test yourselves.” (2Corinthians 13:5). And
“let each one examine his own work” (Galatians 6:4). And “since a
promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you
seem to have come short of it” (Hebrews 4:1). And “looking
carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God” (Hebrews
12:15).
Can we not know for sure that we are saved? Yes we can. Paul says
“I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
(2Timothy 1:12). John says “These things have I written unto you
that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye
have eternal life” (1John 5:13). BUT, that assurance has to come
from two things:
First, there needs to be an inner witness of God’s Spirit
that we are indeed His. Romans 8:16 says: “The Spirit Himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
1John 5:10 says: “He who believes in the Son of God has the
witness in himself.” How dare we tell people they are born again
when God does not bear witness to that fact? The problem is that
there are far too many people running around claiming they have the
witness of God simply because they have been brainwashed into
believing a lie.
Second, there needs to be external evidence (fruit) of the
fact that we are born again. Let me make it simple: If your life has
not changed – you are not saved. How difficult is that to
understand? Being born again will be evidenced by new desires, new
habits, new lifestyles, new values, new language, new friends, new
thought patterns, etc. If the fruit is rotten, the tree is rotten,
simple as that. You can tell a rock as many times as you like that
it is a child of God, it does not change the facts.
Are we then to leave people in a state of uncertainty? Yes – until
they find their assurance from the only One who has the right to
give that assurance! I know that this means people may need to spend
time on their knees and in the Bible. Since when is seeking God’s
face and wrestling with eternal issues bad?
""For
we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."
(Galatians 5:5)
"We give thanks to God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we
heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have
to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven,
whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth
forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it,
and knew the grace of God in truth:" (Colossians 1:3-6)
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