Beyond Easy Believism

Know the Truth

Pastor Rex Deckard

Des Moines, Iowa

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32

The Bible admonishes us to,

…believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because

many false prophets are gone out into the world…

… Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

1 John 4:1, 6

Much of the writings of Paul were sent to Churches to correct errors that had crept in.

John’s Gospel and Epistles were written entirely for this reason.

If that was the situation in the New Testament era, then it will

be even more prevalent in today’s world!

That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts 2 Peter 3:2

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, II Timothy 3: 1-7

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

II Timothy 3:4-7

We have a need to know truth. One songwriter said,

“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for

anything!”

The Bible has to be the final word on all questions of doctrine and truth

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Ephesians 4:14

1 Timothy 1:3 … teach no other doctrine

1 Timothy 4:6 ….nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

1 Timothy 4:13 … give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

I Timothy 6:3

When interpreting Scripture

Look at the context~Where was it written?~Who wrote it?~Who were they writing to?~What do the preceding and following verses say?

A Text without a Context is a Pretext!

For example…

And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and

hanged himself.

Matthew 27:5

Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Luke 10:37

Never develop a doctrine or position from just one Scripture in isolation

In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall

every word be established.

2 Corinthians 13:1

Now lets take a look at some commonly held positions

We’ll start with Easy Believism

“Accept Christ”

Is this the Biblical plan for salvation? Where do we find this in the Bible? When people were saved in the

Scriptures, is this what they were doing?

When Peter was asked by the crowd at Pentecost, “What must we do (to be saved), is this what he told them?

Let’s see what Scriptures we can find….

Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?

Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so

mock him?

He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.

Job 13:8

In virtually every place where the word “accept” is used in Scriptures, it is used in the context of God accepting us, or our offering or our sacrifice….never the other way around!

So where does this doctrine originate from?

It comes as a result of what we call hyper-Calvinism

The great Reformer of the 16th Century, John Calvin, reacting to the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church of his day, went to the other extreme in his teaching, and the teaching of his successors

The Canon of Dort ("The Five Points of Calvinism")

that fallen man was totally unable to save himself (Total Depravity)

that God's electing purpose was not conditioned by anything in man (Unconditional Election)

that Christ's atoning death was sufficient to save all men, but efficient only for the elect (Limited Atonement)

that the gift of faith, sovereignly given by God's Holy Spirit, cannot be resisted by the elect (Irresistible Grace)

that those who are regenerated and justified will persevere in the faith (Perseverance of the saints)

This resulted in 3 primary beliefs that continue in many Protestant Churches today…

PredestinationUnconditional Eternal

SecurityImputed Righteousness

The adherents of this line of thinking have an almost irrational fear of anything that smacks of ‘salvation by works’.

To them…..

Baptism is a work Repentance is a work Praying is a work The act of believing is a work Confession is a work

And so for those ones drawn to God by His “Irresistible Grace”, that is, those who are privileged to share in Unconditional Election, can only accept (or simply acknowledge) Christ

To do more would constitute (in their thinking) salvation by

works!

Does this agree with Scriptural teaching concerning salvation?

And what does the Bible teach regarding ‘salvation by grace and not by works’, anyway?

The only correct answer must be found in the Bible

Is this how people were saved in the Scripture?

It is true that we must acknowledge Jesus Christ is our Saviour when we come to Him

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrew 11:6

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. John 8:24

But that acknowledgement of who He is, is only the first step

toward God…..

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also

believe, and tremble.

The word believe here is “pisteuo”, the identical work used in Hebrews 11:6

and John 8:24 !

Was “accepting Christ the instruction or experience of new converts in the Book of Acts, the History of the first Church?

Not on the day of Pentecost Acts 2 Not in Samaria Acts 8 Not among the Romans in Acts 10 Not among the Ephesians in Acts 19 Not when Paul recounts his conversion in

Acts 22

So where do we find people ‘accepting Christ’ to be saved?

I don’t know!

So what about this issue of ‘salvation by works’ versus

‘salvation by grace?’

This was a huge issue in the early days of Protestantism, due to the excessive corruption in the Catholic Church at that time. They were literally practicing a salvation by good works, rather than by the grace of Christ….Both Luther and Calvin vehemently opposed this.

We are not saved by

Good worksWorks of the Law

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Galatians 2:16

What are the works of the Law?

Following the Law of Moses, which was only a blueprint of ‘better things to come.’

Galatians 3:24-25 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.….but after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

And we cannot be saved by Good Works

Not of works, lest any man should boast.Ephesians 2:9

But we are saved by the Grace of God through Faith

And our faith is made evident, or demonstrated by our obedience to His commandments! If we do not

obey, we do not display faith!

Notice what James says about faith….

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy

faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.

The NIV makes this even plainer….

James 2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

This is the evidence of Abrahams faith- His obedience!

21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. James 2:21-22

In other words, it is impossible to separate faith and the actions that are an extension of our faith.

It was not what Abraham did that saved him, it was his faith (made apparent by his obedience to God’s commandment)

• In Scripture, the words “believe” and “obey” could be used interchangeably in many instances, for to the early Christians you would NEVER do one without the other.

          Today, many have tried to BELIEVE the gospel without OBEYING the gospel. That is impossible!

Accept Christ?

No, I pray for Him to accept me, because of my obedient faith toward Him.