Salvation: God alone makes Christians (Part 13)
We continue from Part 12.
Job 33:27-28 "He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; 28 He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light."
How did the Rich Man in Luke 16 end up in hell? I have lost count of the number of teachings these days that attacks the doctrine of repentance because it is not compatible with their false doctrine of "easy-believism", "quick-prayerism" or "decisionism" which basically teaches that we are are bound for heaven the moment we perform certain things required of us and usually given to us in the form of a procedure:
Admit you're a sinner;
Realize the penalty of sin;
Believe that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again for you;
Trust Jesus Christ alone as your saviour.
Even though it is not explicitly stated in this list, it usually starts with a "decision" to accept Christ as Lord and Saviour, and it normally ends with a sinner's prayer. This is in a nutshell of what decisionism is about. Decisionism teaches that a person is saved based on the outward gestures he demonstrates rather than the inward conversion of his heart. It was a liberal theology developed by Charles G. Finney in the early 1800s.
Colossians 2:8 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
Finney was most likely the first preacher to introduce the altar call, somewhere around 1825. He taught that any person, after he has made a decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and has prayed the sinner's prayer as demonstration of his conversion is considered born again.
Decades later, DL Moody conducted citywide crusades based on the system developed by Finney. The result was an even higher percentage of false converts. Since 1825, decisionism has filled churches with millions upon millions of false converts who have been deceived to think that they have been saved after they walked through a certain set of procedures, when in fact, they are still lost and on their way to hell. Such was the fruit of concerted efforts by Charles G. Finney, DL Moody, Billy Graham, Billy Sunday, and many others.
Acts 3:19 "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;"
Why was the Rich Man in hell? Notice what the Bible says in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.
Luke 16:30 "And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent."
The reason why the Rich Man was burning in Hell (and still is) was because he knew to REPENT, but did not do so in his lifetime. In fact, that was the only thing that was mentioned whereby his five brethren may escape the torments of hell. Nowhere in that Scripture do we find the sinner's prayer or things as such prescribed in churches today as a necessary part for one's salvation. Do you perform a set of actions just to be seen of men, just so they know that you are saved? Yes, I know some may say that praying the sinner's prayer is an act of repentance. This is where we must be very careful, if not, we may lead many to stumble on this issue.
Genesis 3:4-5 "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
For every real and valuable thing, there is usually a counterfeit that looks very much like it. The Devil is extremely subtle. He knows how to manufacture counterfeit doctrines that attacks the true and pure doctrines of the word of God in a way that is subtle and not easily discernible. Lost people always walk by sight and not by faith. That's where they are highly susceptible to be deceived by things which looks like they are straight from the pages of the Bible, but are close counterfeits of the true doctrine.
It is not the act of religiously following through a set of procedures that will deliver your soul and mine from the torments of hell fire. It is true repentance that leads one to cry out to God, saying "... I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not" (Job 33:27). There are two types of repentance according to:
2 Corinthians 7:9 "Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner..."
The words "not that ye were made sorry" ought to tell us that there is a form of false repentance whereby a person is made sorry, howbeit not after a godly manner. Genuine repentance is always preceded by godly sorrow, without which no sinners can truly repent. How cometh that godly sorrow? It was working of the word of God sown in that believer's heart. It was the Spirit of truth working in a believer, and testifying to the truth by the word of truth that leads one to sorrow after a godly manner. It was NOT that one was made sorry by some other means e.g. emotionalism, rationalization, etc.
Hebrews 12:16-17 "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears."
Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a morsel of meat, and afterward, God made sure that he would not inherit the blessing. The part after the colon mark (‘:’) in verse 17 tells us why Esau was rejected, that is, he found no place of repentance even though he sought it carefully with tears. That is false repentance right there!! It has a form of sorrow, but it is not godly sorrow.
Proverbs 13:13 "Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded."
Esau despised the birthright and God has rejected him. Likewise, a Christian who found no place of repentance because he despise the words of the LORD shall God also reject. He has rejected the Word, and God will also reject him.
Matthew 10:28 "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
The end of a man who is rejected by the LORD is that his soul will be destroyed in hell fire for ever and ever. This was what happened to the Rich Man in Luke 16. He found no place of repentance because he despised the word, and God has also rejected him. The basics of salvation is this:
the "seed" is the word of God (Luke 8:11);
when the "seed" is sown on the good ground of an "honest and good heart" (Luke 8:15), it will bring forth fruit, "some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred." (Mark 4:20).
Notice in this verse what John the Baptist was saying to the Jews who called themselves children of Abraham:
Luke 3:8 "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
BTW, this verse also tells us that Jews do not have a different plan of salvation as taught in dispensationalism. The fruits worthy of repentance are the fruits of the heart that Abel has produced (and translated in actions) which he gifted unto God, and God testified of his gifts and called it a “more excellent sacrifice” (Hebrews 11:4).
Salvation is always about what the heart does to the word of God. There is a "reaction" of the heart to the word of God when the two meet up face to face. The heart will either receive the word of God with gladness, and the sinner will repent; or it will reject the word, and the sinner continues to abide in sin.
This is that which is plainly taught in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. No decision was ever involved. No procedures were ever necessary. This is the real "Bible Way to Heaven" and there was not an alternative way prescribed. Can an unrepentant sinner be saved? Recall, the Rich Man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his 5 brethren of hell fire. But notice what Abraham told him:
Luke 16:29 "Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them."
In another words, they have the words of the LORD, let them hear them. Jesus said in:
John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
The words of the LORD is "the truth" (John 1:1; John 14:6). Without that deep conviction of the truth, without that godly sorrow, and apart from an "honest and good heart" (Luke 8:15) his brethren can never truly repent even though Lazarus rose from the dead to testify of all the things that happened to his deceased brother. Jesus rose from the dead, but yet he is still rejected to this day by the vast majority!
Luke 16:31 "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
No man can believe in the gospel and repent except he be fully persuaded. Sadly, many modern-day churches today are into songs and music that seems to tug the heart strings, whether they be the left-wing charismatic churches or the right-wing fundamental churches. They employ these things in their worship, songs that are filled with words that hardly reflect Bible truths, lyrics that speak of a perverted form of Jesus, and music that seems to soften a person's heart!
They even made the congregation cry using worship leaders that knows how to arouse emotions by their voice and words. Then after the worship and the church service, an altar call will be made and people who come up to the altar will be asked to pray a sinner's prayer or perform a set of actions after which they are declared saved and heaven-bound, confirmed by hearty congratulations received from leaders and members of the church.
Ephesians 6:11-12 "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
The Devil is that subtle. That's why we are to know the Bible. That's why we are to put on the whole armour of God!! We must never stake our eternity by laying it in the hands of men, because the Bible is very clear that "All men are liars" (Psalms 116:11). Only God is true, and the word of God is God! Please don't take my words for it. Study the Bible and find it out for yourself. If what I said is true, then you will certainly find that in the Bible.
Job 33:29-30 "Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, 30 To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living."
Salvation is the work of God in a man, and these things have he worketh oftentimes with man. Left to his own, a man can do nothing to prevent his soul from going down into hell. God must do a work in him in order to bring back his soul from the pit. To be out from the pit is to be enlightened with the light of living. When God pulls a sinner out from darkness, he will also at the same time light up his life.
1 Thessalonians 5:5 "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."
1 John 1:5 "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
A born again believer is a child of light. God is light, and God is the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. (1 John 5:7).
Psalms 119:105 "נ (NUN).Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Proverbs 6:23 "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:"
Luke 8:11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God."
If you are a born again believer, you are begotten through the "seed" (word of God) which was sown in your honest and good heart, and the substance of that seed is "light".
Matthew 5:14 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."
This is the reason why the Bible calls you a "light of the world", even as Jesus Christ is the true Light:
John 1:9 "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
The 66 books of the Holy Bible is light. I know there are many Bible versions out there today. But I also know this to be true: God has given the same word to every men - past, present and future. The words that God hath spoken in time past are the words that he has preserved to this day.
Modern bible versions contain words that deviate significantly from the King James Bible (1611). Whole phrases and verses have been taken out of these bibles. The doctrine of repentance and the doctrine of hell have been changed in these false bibles. Thousands upon thousands of words have been added, removed, or modified, and they are still not done with the changes yet. Every now and then, a new bible will come out to replace the one they obsolete e.g. NIV (1984) replaced by NIV (2011). Only the King James Bible has remained unchanged.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him."
If you are a born again believer, the substance of the new man which is in you is "light", and whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever, and this is the reason why you have eternal life. Likewise, the word of God that has begotten you, the same is also "light". It is pure and incorruptible (cannot be changed). Don't build your faith upon shifting sand. It will not last. Built it upon the solid Rock: the King James Bible. This is the last of the series in “Salvation: God alone makes Christians”. May God bless you richly as you study his words in the 66 books of the Holy Bible. Amen.