Yesterday Becky and I attended a Sunday school class lead by our good friends and five time Manti vets, T&J M. They were teaching a series called, “The Way of the Master.” http://www.wayofthemaster.com/ Through this series Christians learn how to use the Ten Commandments to convict sinners of their need for to Christ.
Yesterday’s session talked about how most people present the gospel as “a wonderful plan that God has for their life” and how that waters down the message and ultimately does not meet the eternal need of the individual person. There was one section of the video shown in class where Kirk Cameron was asking people what they thought of when they were presented with the idea that God is offering them a life of fulfillment. The answers varied, but they were all along the lines of receiving material blessings.
As I was watching this segment, the thought occurred to me, “Why are so many churches asking people to come to Jesus with the offer of a false hope of a life with little trouble or trial?” From listening to many popular preachers, one could easily get the idea that if you just come to Jesus, all of your problems will vanish. This is not what Jesus said.
John 15:20- “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master ‘ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”
If we are promised persecution, then we are bearing false witness against Jesus when we tell people that coming to Him will solve all of their problems… unless, of course, you think that persecution is no problem.
Yes, you are right, and it is a shame that so many churches muddle or muddy the gospel. Charlie Bing has a great little booklet called, “How to Share the Gospel Clearly.” Many Christians and churches think they have to add (usually works) to the salvation message. Anything beyond simple faith/belief/trust (all synonyms in the Greek) is works. There is nothing in Scripture about: walking down the aisle; praying a prayer; accepting Jesus into your heart; making Him your Lord and Savior; confessing with your mouth.Many people use incorrect or no interpretation principles and read into Scripture what is not there. In fact, nowhere in the Bible is there an example of anyone praying before, during or after believing in Christ.
Well, actually Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;”
That verse may not mean what you think it does. I would recommend doing some research. Not all passages in Romans that mention the words “saved” or “salvation” refer to justification and eternal life salvation. If it does, that means works (confession)have been added to belief. Check out some of the writings on http://www.faithalone.org
If Romans 10:9 does not mean what I think it means, then what do you think it means?
First, one has to do some good hermeneutics. Paul is addressing believers in Rome. Since he is addressing believers, why would he need to tell them how or what to do to believe? He wouldn’t. There is too much that won’t fit here, but this is addressing believers and how they should be living their lives: confessing the Lord in their lives and with their mouths. Did you check the site I gave you or google the passage?There are some great articles that explain it better than I can.-Gary Veazey (aka: Elliys’s PaPa)
Try this great article:www.faithalone.org/news/y1987/878sep1.html
Another good article on Rom. 10:9-10www.faithalone.org/journal/1999ii/J23-99b.htm
The first link doesn’t work. The second one does and it was a L-O-N-G article. Whenever I use Romans 10:9, I am in no way saying that someone must verbalize a confession or they will be damned. Heck, what would a mute guy do? I take the confession to be an admission of need. That can, but does not have to be in a prayer or walking down an aisle. I agree with the conclusion of the article, “Yet God has been pleased to use these verses in evangelism precisely because they help clarify the truth that justification is by faith alone.” We can agree to disagree on which of the four views stated in the article is correct, but we can both definitly agree on the conclusion.
Amen, brother. Amen
For a counter-position against what “elliya’s papa” linked to, what some call “easy believism”, please see:http://theopedia.com/Lordship_salvationandhttp://theopedia.com/Perseverance_of_the_saints