"I was a Baptist before I was saved"

Back when I was in the Church of God of Prophecy, I used to joke around with people and say "I was a Baptist before I was saved."

That statement was total bunk of course...

Prior to my conversion I was no more a Baptist than the Pope in Rome, but I got lots of chuckles with that line because some of us suffered from a kind of spiritual superiority syndrome. Basically, we were of the opinion that most Baptists were a bunch of unregenerate, beer drinking knuckleheads who believed they could live like the Devil and have full assurance of Heaven. Therefore, to hear someone say "I was a Baptist before I got saved" was a real hoot!

Prior to my conversion, I would sometimes identify myself as Baptist. You might say a "cultural Baptist," much like the Über-atheist Richard Dawkins recently identifying himself as a "cultural Christian". I had always heard my mother's side of the family claim to be Baptists, so I figured that if I wanted to get some religious nut off my back, it would be okay to call myself a Baptist.

The perception that Baptists are a carnal bunch isn't helped by all the people who claim to be Baptists, but have never been Born Again. If I were a betting man, I'd wager good money that here in the South, you could poll all the people at a Sunday NASCAR race and find that around 87% would claim to be Baptists! Furthermore, I'd bet these same "Baptists" could probably name 6 brands of beer for each of the 10 Commandments they could remember!

During my school days, many of my best friends were active members of Baptist youth groups. You know what's really sad? We all talked the same, acted the same, and broke God's commandments the same. The only difference between them and myself was that they went to church three times a week and I didn't! They claimed to believe in God and I claimed God didn't exist.

Did any of them try to reach me with the Gospel?

NO!

Until this day, some of the most reprobate people I know will tell you that they are "Baptists." They won't darken the door of a church, or invoke God's name unless it's in blasphemy, but simply because their grand-pappy used to be a deacon, they think the name "Baptist" is their spiritual pedigree or something. What's so disturbing about the majority of these unregenerate "Baptists" is that almost all of them think they are soundly saved and headed for Heaven!

With virtually no church discipline being practiced and after years of unchecked Antinomianism being spewed from many Baptist pulpits, it's really no wonder there are so many false converts who use the Baptist name. When one reads the writings of historic Southern Baptist leaders, it's plain to see that something has gone terribly awry in the SBC. The theology and practices of the typical Baptist church of today would horrify C. H. Spurgeon, J. P. Boyce, or J. L. Dagg.

I used to say I was a Baptist before I was saved, but that was a lie...

I've now been in the SBC for about a year and a half and I've seen true Baptists. True Baptists are people who fear God, love Christ, and are indwelled with the Holy Spirit. They are people who are serious about serving the Lord and seeing others come to faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone who claims to be a "Baptist" but doesn't honor Christ with their lives is a liar and the truth is not in them. A real Baptist is a Christian!

Don't be fooled by the pretenders!

May God send Revival and Reformation to the SBC and all Baptist churches!

Paul Washer: Youth Conference Sermon

Probably the greatest sermon ever preached at any youth event anywhere in the Southern Baptist Convention, and it's said he wasn't invited back! Oh how far the SBC has fallen!!



(H.T. Gordan)

Perseverance: Not a License to Sin!

Another helpful clip from the Amazing Grace DVD.



Hopefully you will see that true Calvinists are not teaching the modern version of "Once Saved Always Saved" -that a Christian is free to live like the devil and have hope of Heaven. It's also worth noting the similarities of the Arminian and Roman Catholic teachings on this issue.

Decisional Regeneration: The Plague of Modern Evangelism

Please see also my Rant called Decisions or Disciples: What's the Goal?

A Perversion of Perseverance

Of all the doctrines I ever despised in the past, the doctrine of Eternal Security, or "Once Saved, Always Saved," had to be at the top of the list.

I can remember teaching Sunday school during my days in the Church of God of Prophecy, ranting and raving about how Baptists in particular "believe a person can get saved and live like the devil for the rest of their life and still go to Heaven."

To make matters worse, I could look around and see plenty of examples of Baptist folks who were not living up to the faith they professed on Sunday morning. I had seen people who professed faith in Jesus and later became hard hearted "backsliders," therefore I had all the evidence I needed to repudiate the doctrine of Eternal Security -or so I thought....

When I finally decided to investigate the doctrine of Eternal Security, it was because I saw some things in Scripture that I couldn't reconcile with my old semi-Pelagian theology. I began a journey to seek after truth, instead of what fit the mold of my theological tradition. I wanted to understand why seemingly decent Christian people believed that their salvation was eternally secure, while others seemed to use it as a cloak for their sinful living.

I began my search to understand Eternal Security by getting a copy of Charles Stanley's Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure?. I had thought Stanley would be a good source because much of what I had heard him teach sounded okay. As I read his book, some of the arguments made sense to me. Some almost convinced me. Then I hit a big snag...

The snag was in chapter 8. It was there that I could no longer follow Stanley's line of reasoning. You see, in chapter 8, Stanley argues that once a person has made a profession of faith, the person can go as far as totally losing all faith in Christ and yet be Heaven bound!

Stanley compares salvation with getting a tattoo:

"If I choose to have a tattoo put on my arm, that would involve a one-time act on my part. Yet the tattoo would remain with me indefinitely. I don't have to have to maintain an attitude of fondness of for tattoos to ensure that the tattoo remains on my arm. In fact I may change my mind the minute I receive it. But that does not change the fact that I have a tattoo on my arm. My request for the tattoo and the tattoo itself are two entirely different things. I received it by asking and paying for it, But asking for my money back and changing my attitude will not undo what is done. Forgiveness/salvation is applied at the moment of faith. And its permanence is not contingent upon the permanence of one's faith."

Before I was a Baptist I rejected such theology and now that I am a Baptist I still reject such theology!!! In my opinion, this sort of nonsense is why the Southern Baptist Convention has millions of absentee members as well as churches full of false converts!

If Dr. Stanley's theory is true, then even Dan Barker, the faith healing evangelist turned apostate God hating atheist, is just as bound for Heaven as the most God fearing saint alive! Stanley's theology is pure Antinomianism. It's nothing more than "Easy believe-ism," plain and simple. Thankfully, I was able to find out that Stanley's version of Perseverance is not in line with the Bible, nor with historic Baptist theology. It is a perversion of perseverance.

Salvation is in no way analogous with getting a tattoo! A tattoo is only skin deep, but Biblical salvation is a work that takes place in the very soul of a man. For God himself tells us "a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Eze 36:26-27)

Salvation is not a "one time act" on our part: it's a new beginning! It's the temporal realization of what God planned to do in the life of an individual sinner in eternity past! It's a New birth! A life changing experience! Though Stanley's doctrine allows for a person to totally apostatize and eventually be saved, the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith says something quite a bit different:

"And though they may, through the temptation of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins, and for a time continue therein, whereby they incur God's displeasure and grieve his Holy Spirit, come to have their graces and comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves, yet shall they renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end." (LBCF 17:3) emphasis added

Stanley believes a person can totally lose his or her faith and still persevere, yet historic Baptist teaching says despite their shortfalls, the believer will be "preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end!!!" Quite a difference if you ask me!

Stanley's version of Eternal Security denies that God is "able keep [us] from falling, and to present [us] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy! (Jude 24) It overlooks the fact that we "are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:5). Once a person has truly met Jesus Christ, they can never be the same. Apostates and those who forsake Christ for "another gospel" show that they were never truly saved to begin with! (1 John 2:19) "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new!" (1 Cor 5:17)

Our security is not based upon our ability to hang on and hold on, but rather we are secure because God is working to "make [us] perfect in every good work to do His will, working in [us] that which is wellpleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ." (Heb 13:21) God has not saved us so that we can live like the devil and abuse his marvelous Grace, but on the contrary, "we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:10)

R.C. Sproul sums up my position well:

"The perseverance of the saints could more accurately be called the preservation of the saints... The believer does not persevere through the power of his unaided will. God's preserving grace makes our perseverance both possible and actual. Even the regenerated person with a liberated will is still vulnerable to sin and temptation, and the residual power of sin is so strong that without the aid of grace the believer would, in all probability, fall away. But God's decree is immutable. His sovereign purpose to save his elect from the foundation of the world is not frustrated by our weakness"

Rejoice dear reader! For if you have been truly saved, you can be "confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ!!!" (Phil 1:6)

Soli Deo Gloria!

A Tale of Two Converts

In this article I will try to illustrate something that I believe is a common mistake within churches today. Though my story is fiction, it is based on observations I have made and situations I have seen. In setting this up, I need you to use your imagination for a few minutes and let me take you to a imaginary town in the "Bible Belt" of the Southeastern United States. In our small imaginary town there are two churches. One is called the Antinomian* Fellowship Church and the other is called the Arminian* Fellowhip Church.

On a certain Sunday, each of the churches had wonderful services. The two pastors delivered glossy sermons on how God loves sinners and has a wonderful plan for their lives. The preachers make clear that this offer is for all who will simply believe in Jesus Christ. In each of the services, as the invitation is given, a young man approaches the front and prays the "Sinner's Prayer".

Needless to say, both of these churches are happy to have a new convert and within weeks each new convert is baptized and becomes a member of their respective churches. Both the Arminian Fellowship and the Antinomian Fellowship do all they can to nuture and instruct their new converts. All seems to be going well at first. The two converts attend their respective church services regularly, begin paying tithes, and are very helpful around the church. However, after a while, some things start to change! The two stop attending church, stop fellowshiping with other believers, and before long they are both living in outright sin! The two young men eventually renounce Christ and claim their time as Christians was "just a phase" they went through!

When the pastor of the Antinomian Fellowship Church is asked by his members about what became of the convert that left the church, he reassures them that the young man is still saved and on his way to Heaven because God remains faithful to His promises even when man does not. When the pastor of the Arminian Fellowship Church is asked the same questions about the young man who left their church, he warns the church members that the young man has probably lost his salvation and needs to repent and return to the fold if he is to ever expect to make Heaven his home.

Now back to reality for a few minutes... This scenario is not uncommon in todays church world. However, the question must be asked: Which of the pastors in the story above is correct? Did the one fellow from the Arminian Church backslide, renounce Christ, and lose his salvation? Is the other fellow from the Antinomian Church still saved in spite of his backsliding and renouncing of Christ? Obviously both pastors cannot be correct! It is not an option to accept such contradiction. What if there's something both the pastors in my story fail to understand?

I propose that both the Arminian view and the Antinomian view do not take in account one very vital thing: False Conversion! What the pastors in my story miss is this: Every person who "walks the isle" and prays the "sinner's prayer" may NOT actually be Born Again! Sometimes there are false conversions. Often these false conversions are wrought of the flesh and by the manipulation of silver tongued preachers, and not by the power of the Holy Spirit! There is no change of heart (or Regeneration) in the sinner and therefore no genuine faith or repentance. There has been no change! The "converts" in my story were never "new creatures in Christ"!!

A hog returns to the mud because he's just a hog! It is his nature to wallow in the mud. Unless a hog (the sinner) is changed in his inner most being by the power of God, he will return to the mud (the life of sin) at some point. Only "new creatures in Christ" will endure to the end! Therefore the Antinomian pastor is in error for proclaiming his former member is still saved and going to Heaven -thus giving the backslider and the church false assurance. At the same time, the Arminian pastor -while correct in assuming the person is not saved- also errs in saying the fellow was truly saved to begin with! In this situatuion the theological positions of both the pastors leave no room for what really happened in this case. Both pastors failed to discern the Bible's teaching on false conversion!

You see, the fact of the matter is that when we harvest souls there will always be some tares mixed in with the wheat. The tares may look much like the wheat at first, but they will never yield any true fruit. Many of our Lord's parables illustrate true and false conversion though I think many miss this vital teaching. In Matthew 13, the Lord Jesus illustrates true and false conversion very clearly in the Parable of the Sower. In this parable, there are 4 types of ground. All the various "ground" except the "good ground" represents false conversion. This is proven by the fact that none but the good ground ever yielded fruit! All the rest "fell away" because nothing genuine happened within their souls. The ground of their hearts had not been properly prepared to receieve the seed!

I agree with Evangelist Ray Comfort when he teaches that one of the failures of the modern church and reasons for the high "fall away rate" in churches, is due to the fact very few actually preach the high and holy standards of God's moral law. The majority of churches today may preach "the good news", but they leave out the reason why the good news is so good: that's because we have all sinned against a Holy God and deserve nothing but Hell! All humanity has broken His moral law and we are unfit for Heaven. Unless we repent of our sins and truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven! A proper understanding of this truth will help a person see what makes the Gospel such "good news"!

Many of today's churches and preachers are too worried about offending people with preaching God's Word. Sermons are being watered down or turned into some sort of self help psycho-babble. The sinfulness of man and his need for salvation is replaced by messages about prosperity, finding "purpose in life", or how to have "your best life now". Preaching the whole council of God is frowned upon and deemed to be old-fashioned by the modern pulpiteer. The aim of the modern sermon to create a "warm fuzzy" feeling and maybe a "decision for Christ" instead of repentance unto Life!

For a great handling of this topic, please visit the link below and listen to the message "Hell's Best Kept Secret". May God bless you and empower you as you do!

http://www.livingwaters.com/learn/hellsbestkeptsecret.htm

-Rhett

footnotes:

* Antinomianism- also known as "No Lordship theology"- is the belief that Jesus can be a person's Savior and not Lord. Antinomians often teach that Christians who are saved by Grace are under no obligation to observe the moral laws of God. Antinomians usually teach a twisted version of Perseverance that allows a "convert" to go on living in gross sin or even denying Christ without fear of Hell. This theology in effect makes Grace a licence to sin. Charles Stanley of In Touch Ministries is a good example of an Antinomian. His book "Eternal Security" is full of Antinomian teachings.

* Arminian Christians often affirm genuine God wrought Salvation can be lost through disobedience on the part of the believer.