Category Archives: Once saved always saved

Lordship Salvation: False Prophets or Fruit?

Posted on February 7, 2016 by johninnc | 221 comments

By johninnc

Matthew 7:15-16:

[15] Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

[16] Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

As I encounter people contending for the hearts, minds, souls, votes, and money of a bewildered public, false prophets and their fruit are almost everywhere.

As the late Jack Weaver, founder of ExPreacherMan used to say, “the woods is full of ‘em!”

I am also reminded of the quote that was above the door exiting a Southern Baptist church that I used to sporadically attend: “You Are Now Entering the Mission Field.” That message was true, but incomplete. It needed to be on both sides of the door.

The point is, that much of professing Christendom is comprised of either false prophets, or their fruit. It is just impossible to know which is which.

Following are some of the insidious false messages that abound in the world of professing evangelicalism.

Just to say “believe in Christ” can produce a false assurance of the hope of Heaven. Jesus spoke often about the gift of eternal life. To make it clear, He said, “Count the cost.” –“Evangelist” Billy Graham

I would ask them to consider whether the signs of eternal life are present in them. As John explains so thoroughly in 1 John, conversion does not bring sinless perfection, but it does begin to make fundamental changes in the human heart.” – Pastor J.D. Greear

Another proof of the conquest of a soul for Christ will be found in a real change of life. If the man does not live differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance needs to be repented of, and his conversion is a fiction. – 19^th Century Preacher Charles Spurgeon

I often wonder if those who espouse easy-believism have simply adapted their theology in order to try to get a sinning loved one into the kingdom. – Pastor and best-selling author John MacArthur

We have to repent of our sins in turn. A person cannot stay in adultery and be accepted by God. You’ll have to repent. – Evangelist Franklin Graham

So a dispassionate statement of belief, with nothing behind it, and no intention to serve God in any way is all it takes…interesting belief. Never heard that before. – Facebook Comment from the son of a Southern Baptist Minister

However, good and bad deeds will prove an individual’s faith. If good deeds aren’t there, it proves faith isn’t present. These people face eternal judgment. If good deeds are there, it proves faith is present and they are granted eternal resurrection life. – David Chadwick, Pastor of Forrest Hills Church, Charlotte

The paralyzed man is not healed by walking. Just like a Christian is not saved by works. However, when that paralyzed man walks, he proves that he was healed. When Christians demonstrate a changed life, they prove they were saved by Christ. – Commenter, ExPreacherMan

James 2:24 [“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only”] is the reply to the question of James 2:14. Unproductive faith cannot save, because it is not genuine faith. Faith and works are like a two-coupon ticket to heaven. The coupon of works is not good for passage, and the coupon of faith is not valid if detached from works” – Ryrie Study Bible

As such, repentance is a necessary precursor to saving faith. It means that a nonbeliever must admit his sin to God, acknowledge he is wrong, and be willing to seek a new way of life. – “Free Grace” theologian Joseph Dillow

How a person conducts his life or campaign is an indication of who he is. In Matthew 7, Jesus Himself says that a tree – and people of faith – are known by their fruit, not just the words they say. – Presidential Candidate Ben Carson

Repentance is a turning from sin, while faith is turning to Christ. – Theologian Dr. Roy Zuck

Second is the subjective or experiential test of assurance in which you ask yourself, “Is my faith real?” The apostle John’s purpose in writing the epistle of 1 John was to give true believers assurance of their salvation (1 John 5:13). In that small epistle John gives several marks to distinguish a true believer. – Commenter, Redeeming Moments website

James’s purpose is to contrast mere intellectual agreement with active, saving faith that involves receiving the life of Christ. When Christ stood at the door and knocked, did you respond by opening the door, as Rahab did? If so, I think you’ve met the requirement of this historically controversial faith-works passage. – Author Andrew Farley, from “The Naked Gospel”

The question to ask is whether a Born-Again Christian can cease being a Born-Again Christian. The answer to this question is, yes, a Believer can stop believing, a Christian can stop being a Christian, and the Born-Again can turn his back on Salvation and become lost-again. – “Evangelist” Jimmy Swaggert

Each of the above quotes is fruit of false prophets.

Those of us who are clear on the gospel should seek to minister to those who aren’t. In so doing, we should be gentle and wise.

If someone is bound and determined to persist in error, or in their associations with apostate organizations, you should know when to move on.

If you are unsure about the message of a particular person, church, book, website, etc., I would encourage you to see if it passes ALL THREE of the following conditions:

1. Is it consistent with eternal life by grace through faith alone in Christ alone?
2. Is it consistent with eternal security?
3. Is it consistent with assurance of eternal life, based on God’s promises alone (i.e., it is not internally-focused on changes in attitudes, behavior, etc.)?

And, if you want to know how to have eternal life, click here: THE GOSPEL

221 Comments

Posted in Assurance of salvation, Billy Graham, Calvinism, Christianity, Eternal Security, Once saved always saved, Salvation, SBC, Southern Baptist Convention

Playing Church

Posted on October 11, 2015 by johninnc | 135 comments

By johninnc

2 Corinthians 6:14: Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Our friend and frequent commenter at ExPreacherMan, Bryan Roach, posted the following comment that I thought would provide a good springboard for an article on “playing church.”

Wow, if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought both of y’all were visiting churches in my area. I have dealt with the exact same situation with several preachers seeing no problem with preaching grace, yet distributing LS material and associating with other preachers and organizations that promote the LS gospel. I’ve had meetings with several who have told me that “I’m being too picky, or over thinking it.” They don’t want to start a debate between LS members and the grace members, because unity is their top priority. One pastor said, “My church will have some Arminians, some 5 point Calvinists, and some 0 point Calvinists, but what I love about our church is that we are all here in unity and we take pride in that.” It’s sad and frustrating to say the least.

“Playing church” refers to people gathering under the mistaken belief that they are gathering in Christ’s name.

Matthew 18:20: For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Unlike the many false substitutes that go by the name “church”, the true universal church is comprised of those who have believed in Jesus alone as Savior.

John 1: 12-13:

[12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

[13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

In a sense, only those that believe on His name (believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone) can be truly gathered in his name.

Anything else is just playing church.

If your “church” teaches, or tolerates, any of the following things (note that this is not an all-inclusive list), particularly after you have tried to teach them the truth, they are simply playing church.

You have to be willing to turn from your sins to be saved
You must repent of your sins to be saved
You must want to follow Christ to be saved
You must want to have a relationship with Christ to be saved
It’s not faith and works. It’s faith that works
God will never take away your salvation, but you can walk away from it
You can lose your salvation through serious, habitual sin
If you die with serious, unconfessed sin, you won’t go to heaven
You have to be water baptized to have eternal life
You have to make a public confession of Christ to have eternal life
You will not be sinless, but you will sin less
A true Christian will bear the fruit of a changed life
Intellectual assent is not saving faith
Jesus didn’t save us in our sins, He saved us from our sins
Faith is the gift of God
A true Christian wants to obey Christ
He can’t be your Savior if he’s not your Lord
A true Christian may stumble every once in a while, but he won’t live in persistent willful sin
A true Christian will…

There are all kinds of “churches,” ministries, books, DVDs, youtube videos, and so on run by people who insist that they believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Sadly, most of them that I have encountered do not really believe or teach that.

Below is an example from an internet ministry that I recently came across. They claim to believe in salvation by grace through faith, but their further statements belie that.

Saving Faith is trusting in Jesus Christ, and Him alone, for your Salvation…

Are you willing to repent of your sins right now, and become a responsible member of God’s forever family, following Him and serving Him as a member of His forever family, following Him and serving Him as a member of His body, the Church? If your heartfelt answer is, “Yes”, then we can go to Him now in prayer, and we can tell Him that you want to cease trusting in anything else for Eternal Salvation, especially in what you can do for yourself.

This so-called ministry is teaching that one receives eternal life by TRADING willingness to repent from sins and follow Christ. This is a false gospel of works that will not save anyone. The Bible teaches that eternal life is a gift, not a trade.

Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If you have understood and believed the gospel, please don’t continue to yoke yourself with those who teach, or tolerate false gospel substitutes.

And, if playing church has kept you confused about how to receive eternal life, click here: THE GOSPEL

135 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Christianity, Ecumenism, Eternal Security, Grace, James 2, Justification, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Repentance, Salvation

Something Greater than a Mother’s Love

Posted on March 5, 2015 by johninnc | 77 comments

By johninnc

My wife’s mother passed away last week, and I had the privilege to deliver the following message at her funeral. My wife’s mother (Doris) did not write this, but we are sure she would have approved.

Ephesians 2:4-7:

[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
[5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
[6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
[7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

There’s something that Doris knows is true that she wants everyone else to know. I don’t think she would mind us paraphrasing for her. It goes something like this:

Dear friends,

There is an old adage that there is nothing greater than a mother’s love. As someone who has a mother, and is a mother of five, I understand why some would say this.

But, a mother’s love cannot compare to the perfect love that God has for us.

There is a God. He is the eternal creator, without beginning or end. He created everything, including you and me. He is perfectly holy, perfectly just, and perfectly loving. As such, He cannot allow anything that isn’t perfect into His presence.

You and I aren’t perfect. We have all broken God’s laws, and can’t do anything to fix that. Our efforts to work our way back to God are completely useless.

But, God loves us so much that He would rather die than spend eternity without us.

So, He gave his only begotten Son –Jesus Christ – God in the flesh – to reconcile us to Him.

Jesus had no sin of His own, but bore our sin so that we might be reconciled to God. He had no sin and we had no righteousness. Jesus took our sin from us. He made the complete payment for our sin, leaving us nothing to pay.

He did this by suffering a criminal’s death by crucifixion. He died on the cross, He was buried, and He was raised from the dead three days later, proving that His payment for our sins was accepted.

Anyone who believes in Jesus, and what He accomplished through His death and resurrection – that he paid the full price for our sins, leaving nothing for us to pay – has eternal life. Eternal life means that it can never be lost or forfeited. God no longer sees believers in their sins, but sees them as perfectly righteous.

People will tell you all kinds of different ways to have eternal life, or even that there’s no such thing.

Many people will tell you that Jesus is necessary for salvation, but that He isn’t enough – that you have to “do your part” by reforming your behavior, doing good works, and so on. But this is not true. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

You should listen to what Jesus has to say, above what anyone else tells you. Since Jesus is God, and God is perfect, He cannot lie.

Here is what Jesus says on how to have eternal life:

John 11:25-26:

[25] Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
[26] And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

I hope you believe this. I do.

Love. Doris

77 Comments

Posted in Christianity, Cross, Eternal Security, Hope, Joy, Love of God, Once saved always saved, Peace, Resurrection, Salvation, Security of the believer

“I Give Unto Them Eternal Life”

Posted on February 10, 2015 by johninnc | 31 comments

Note: the following article was originally posted on July 30, 2014. I decided to re-post it today, in memory of my earthly father, who died yesterday at the age of 95, and in honor of our heavenly father who gave his only begotten Son through which all might be saved.

John10:28: And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

My family and I recently traveled to France for vacation. Among our stops were the beaches of Normandy, on which the allied invasion of France began on June 6, 1944 (D-day), and the American Cemetery.

These sites held particular significance for me, as my father was among the soldiers who fought in the Normandy campaign. He and my mother were able to visit Normandy for the 70th anniversary of D-day about a month before we were there.

The American Cemetery tells the stories of many of the brave soldiers who fought and died to liberate Europe from the grip of tyranny. There is also a chapel at the Cemetery. The chapel contains an altar that tells the story of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice to save mankind. The altar has an inscription that reads: “I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH”.

This brief inscription, which quotes Jesus, is extremely well chosen. Its eleven words affirm many Biblical truths that are central to the gospel, including the following:

Jesus is God. The Bible says that God grants eternal life. So, if Jesus gives eternal life, it follows that He is God in the flesh.

John 1:14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Eternal life is a gift. The Bible calls eternal life a gift – unmerited favor.

Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The gift of God is eternal life. Jesus is not only necessary for eternal life. He is enough. Believing in Jesus as Savior means believing that our good intentions or good works have nothing to do with receiving eternal life. Neither does their presence or absence prove whether or not we possess eternal life. We need only believe in Christ alone as Savior in order to receive eternal life.

Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Eternal life is available to everyone. Who is the “them” to whom Christ gives eternal life? The Bible says that anyone who will believe in Christ as Savior will receive eternal life.

John 20:31: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

The God of the Bible did not choose some to receive eternal life, while making it unavailable to others. The Bible says that God desires that everyone be saved.

1 Timothy 2:4: Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Eternal life is eternal. The doctrine of eternal security of Christians is taught throughout scripture. Eternal security is a necessary conclusion of grace. We cannot work our way into eternal life, and we cannot work our way out of eternal life.

Ephesians 1:13-14: In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Every one of the soldiers who has defended our freedom on the battlefield deserves our gratitude. Jesus Christ, who came to seek and to save that which was lost, deserves our gratitude infinitely more. He died for our sins. He was buried, and He rose from the dead. He offers us eternal life as a free gift.

All one needs to do to have eternal life is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.

31 Comments

Posted in Eternal Security, Grace, Hope, Justification, Love of God, Once saved always saved, Salvation

The Gift That Is Not An Exchange

Posted on December 22, 2014 by johninnc | 19 comments

by johninnc

Luke 2:11: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

One of the most difficult concepts for people to grasp is the concept of a gift. That is due, in large part, to how our world system has redefined the meaning of “gift” to be a reward, a bonus, or a reciprocal arrangement.

At Christmas, we have Santa, theoretically giving out lumps of coal to bad boys and girls and “gifts” to the good ones. We have the Elf on the Shelf keeping an eye on things.

One of my favorite Christmas classics – “A Christmas Carol” – features the godless miser Ebenezer Scrooge finding redemption by promising to “keep Christmas.”

And, in Cathedrals and churches throughout the world, we have seasonal musicals and Christmas Eve services worshipping Christ the Lord as Savior, while teaching that He really only helps save us. This takes many forms, but generally boils down to the vain attempt to change eternal life from being a gift to being a trade. In other words, much of professing Christendom falsely teaches that our works are necessary to gain or keep the gift of eternal life, or to provide evidence that we have received the gift of eternal life

The Bible teaches that eternal life is the gift of God, given freely to anyone who accepts it by faith in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8-9:

[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
[9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Just as our world system has redefined the meaning of “gift”, many churches and ministries have redefined the “gift of God” to be faith itself.

But, the Bible is clear that eternal life – not faith – is the gift of God.

Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Likewise, many churches and ministries have redefined the meaning of “faith” to include works, either implicitly or explicitly.

The mission of ExPreacherMan is to proclaim the gospel clearly, while soundly refuting the many false gospel substitutes that are collectively referred to as Lordship “salvation”, or LS.

LS is the unsupportable belief that the PERFORMANCE of good works, the PROMISE of good works, or the EVIDENCE of good works MUST accompany faith in Christ in order to establish, or provide evidence, that such faith has resulted in eternal life.

LS can be overt (one must forsake all of his sins and follow Christ in obedience and discipleship in order to be saved) or VERY SUBTLE (one’s behavior WILL change once he is saved). But, do not be deceived. Trying to add ANY human merit to Grace makes it no longer Grace.

Romans 11:6: And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

The gospel – which means “good news” – is that Jesus (God in the flesh) died for our sins (in complete payment, leaving us nothing left to pay for our sins – past, present, or future), was buried, and was raised from the dead three days later (proving that God had accepted His sacrifice on our behalf).

God offers eternal life, that can never be lost or forfeited, as a free gift to anyone who will believe that Jesus made the full payment for his sins. There is no cost or obligation to us in accepting this gift. We need only accept it by faith.

This is the greatest gift imaginable, and it is available to everyone.

2 Corinthians 9:15: Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

If you would like to know how to receive the greatest gift ever – the gift of eternal life – click here: The Gift of Eternal Life

19 Comments

Posted in Eternal Security, Free Grace, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved

A Thanksgiving Gospel Message

Posted on November 26, 2014 by johninnc | 23 comments

By Jack Weaver and johninnc

Colossians 2:6-15:

[6] As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
[7] Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
[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.
[9] For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
[10] And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
[11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
[12] Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
[13] And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
[14] Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
[15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

From Wikipedia: Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.

For Christians, abounding in thanksgiving is an integral part of our walk in the Lord Jesus Christ. We should be exceedingly thankful for our Savior – for who He is, for what He has done for us, and for our resultant position in Him.

Jesus is God our Savior – in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (verse 9). He is the head of all principality and power (verse 10).

Jesus died for our sins (verse 14), was buried, and was raised from the dead (verse 12). He triumphed over the principalities and powers of this world (verse 15).

Once we received Him by faith, He made us partakers in His life (verse 13), freed us from the law (verse 14), and forgave ALL of our sins (verse 13) – past, present, and future. We are complete in Him (verse 10). Our bodies of sin have been put off by Him (verse 11). We are reconciled to God. We have eternal life that can never be lost or forfeited.

Thank you Jesus!

PS – don’t let anyone spoil (ruin) you by leading you astray with fleshly, man-made philosophies that are based on the principles (rudiments) of this world (verse 8). This includes Calvinists, Lordship “salvationists”, and all of the various accusers of the brethren.

If you would like to know how to have the gift of eternal life click here: Eternal Life for You

We thank the Lord for all of our visitors and readers at ExPreacherMan. And, we thank the Lord for the opportunity to read, discuss, and spread His Word.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

23 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Eternal Security, Free Grace, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Salvation, Thansgiving

I Marvel: Lordship Salvation’s Spookiest Passage

Posted on October 26, 2014 by johninnc | 78 comments

By johninnc

Galatians 1:6-9:

[6] I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

[7] Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

[8] But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

[9] As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:6-9 is one of the most misinterpreted passages in the Bible. This is true, in part, because of the mindset of Lordship “salvationists”, who do not realize the passage is talking about them.

Lordship “salvation” (LS) is the unsupportable belief that the PERFORMANCE of works, the PROMISE of works, or the EVIDENCE of works must accompany faith in Christ in order to establish, or provide evidence, that such faith has resulted in eternal life.

There are two varieties of LSers:

The first group is those who have never trusted in Christ alone as Savior. The Bible refers to this group as “false brethren.”

Galatians 2:4: And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

The second group is eternally secure Christians who once believed the gospel, but who have since incorporated LS into their understanding of the gospel.

Galatians 5:4: Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

According to the NIV Bible that is the mainstay of many LSers, Paul is consigning both of the above groups to hell.

Galatians 1:9 (NIV): As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

This translation is woefully inaccurate. While it is true that anyone who is preaching a false gospel is accursed, it is not true that they are beyond redemption. In fact, the sad reality is that some people who preach false gospels are eternally secure Christians who have turned from the good news of the gospel to the bad news and uncertainty of LS.

The mistranslations of Galatians 1:8-9, such as the one featured in the NIV, are part of the reason that Christians fail to mark and avoid the false teachers of LS.

I marvel that someone thinks that God could both desire that everyone be saved (John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9) and also desire that people who are teaching a false gospel be eternally condemned.

I marvel that people cannot discern the contradiction in the NIV “translation” of Galatians 1:8-9 with other scripture.

I marvel that anyone would think that an eternally secure Christian, who falls from grace by incorporating LS into his understanding of the gospel, would be consigned to hell.

I marvel that LSers are not totally freaked-out and spooked by this passage in the NIV!

I marvel that LSers think they can please God with their lifestyle changes, cessation from sin, good works, and so on, without ever having believed in Jesus ALONE as Savior, or after having believed in Jesus as Savior and then having fallen from grace.

I marvel that LSers look to themselves for assurance of eternal life and think they have found it.

I marvel that LSers, who insist that an inspection of self and others for “fruit” of salvation, seem to find it in themselves, but not others.

I marvel that LSers think people represented by soil 2 in the parable of the Sower were never saved. Particularly in light of the FACT that any LSer who is saved is himself represented by soil 2.

I marvel that someone who has never believed in Christ ALONE as Savior thinks he can be a disciple, a “Christ follower” or have a “relationship with Christ.”

I marvel that someone who has fallen from grace thinks he can stay in that state and be in fellowship with Christ.

I marvel how LSers, who mistakenly interpret the book of 1 John to be a series of tests to determine whether or not one has eternal life, routinely conclude that they have passed the test.

I marvel that LSers think the book of James, which was written to believers, is a field guide for determining whether or not one has eternal life – which is received by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone – based on an evaluation of his works.

And finally, I marvel that someone who understands and believes the gospel would attend churches and financially support ministries that preach a false gospel. I marvel that someone who understands and believes the gospel would hold hands with those who do not and pretend they are all on the same page.

I DO NOT marvel that those who take a stand for the gospel are harangued, hassled, maligned, unfriended, unwelcomed, and disavowed by the religious masses claiming the name of Christ.

Have you been spooked by LS? If so, click here: Not Scary!

78 Comments

Posted in Assurance of salvation, Eternal Security, Free Grace, HELL, Once saved always saved, Salvation

Lordship Salvation: Believing in Vain

Posted on October 15, 2014 by johninnc | 92 comments

By johninnc

Galatians 2:21: I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

The word “vain” appears in the New Testament 38 times. In the context above, vain means “useless” or “ineffectual.”

There are three crucial points to Galatians 2:21.

First, Paul doesn’t participate in frustrating grace, and neither should we. Nor should we have anything to do with those who frustrate grace.

2 John 1:10-11:

[10] If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
[11] For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Second, to try to be justified by the law is to frustrate grace. Like the word “vain”, the word “frustrate”, in this case, also means to make ineffectual.

Third, there is no law that could provide righteousness to mankind. If there were, then Christ need not have died to pay for our sins.

Galatians 3:21: Is the law against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

As believers in Christ, we know that Jesus has saved us completely. We know that He paid the FULL price for our sins. We know that we didn’t contribute to our salvation by forsaking our sins, confessing our sins, saying a prayer, walking an aisle, committing to reform ourselves, or by allowing Jesus to change our lives. We know that when we believed in Jesus, we received eternal life that can never be lost or forfeited.

We know that our righteousness comes from Christ, and not our attempts to keep the law, whether it be God’s perfect law or the Lordship “salvationists'” (LSers) arbitrary laws. In other words, we know that Christ is not dead in vain. We know that He is risen and alive and that we have eternal life through Him.

Romans 3:21-26:

[21] But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
[22] Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
[23] For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
[24] Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
[25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
[26] To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

LSers frustrate grace by insisting that simply believing in Jesus is not sufficient to either receive, keep, or evidence eternal life. In so doing, they create a false gospel of works, devoid of power to save those who trust in that false gospel for eternal life. And, for those Christians who are duped into LS after they receive eternal life, they are robbed of any power for Christian living or evangelizing the lost.

In Romans 4, the Apostle Paul confirms that the admixture of faith in Christ PLUS works for eternal life is not possible :

Romans 4:14: For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect.

Notice the similarity between Galatains 2:21 and Romans 4:14. If we could be justified by the law, Christ is dead in vain. If those trying to be justified by the law could be justified by the law, then justification by faith is of no effect.

If you ask an LSer what “believe in vain” means, you will likely get some answer that has to do with one’s works. For example, that someone may believe in Jesus, but not have eternal life, because they haven’t turned from their sins, or they haven’t shown sufficient good works. They may throw “faith without works is dead” or “even the demons believe and they tremble” at you. They may talk about “head faith versus heart faith”, or say that “real faith is obedient faith.”

And, yet, we know that LSers don’t keep God’s laws. They may say they are trying, but trying is a work.

Galatians 3:10-11:

[10] For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
[11] But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

LS is the unsupportable belief that the PERFORMANCE of works, the PROMISE of works, or the EVIDENCE of works must accompany faith in Christ in order to establish, or provide evidence, that such faith has resulted in eternal life.

Lordship “salvation” is no salvation at all. It is belief in salvation by works. It is believing in vain.

For a message of hope that is not vain, click here: Eternal Life for You

92 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Eternal Security, Free Grace, Hope, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Salvation, Security of believers, The Law

Helping a New Believer Find an Oasis of Grace in a Desert of Lordship Salvation

Posted on October 11, 2014 by johninnc | 103 comments

By johninnc and Jack Weaver

We recently received an e-mail from a fellow grace believer who wants to spread the gospel to people with whom he comes into contact. Following are excerpts from the e-mail:

When l share the simple plan of salvation and they believe in Jesus to give them the gift of eternal life, what do l do with them to help them grow as christians. lt seems to me that if l send them to a church in my area, they will get this LS teaching…l know that l will have to have a fellowship in my home to encourage and also be encouraged, if you know of a web site that would teach new christians ” what’s my next step” i would love to know about it.

This is a great question. Many of us do not have a home church, and would not be comfortable steering anyone – much less a new believer – to any church that distorts the gospel in ANY way.

Before anyone begins looking for a church, he should be thoroughly grounded in the gospel.

In addition to the home fellowship that you suggested, below are some recommendations to help new believers grow in grace, and some things to avoid.

1. Suggest that they repeatedly read clear explantations of God’s plan of salvation. Such resources will remind them of the Biblical truth that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This will also reinforce the truths of eternal security and assurance for the believer in Christ.

We recommend two such resources at ExPreacherMan.

“The Gospel” booklet by Ron Shea

Click to access the-gospel.pdf

“How to Be Sure You are Going to Heaven” by Dr. Thomas Cucuzza:

Click to access how-to-be-sure-you-are-going-to-heaven-with-cover.pdf

2. Have them learn to read God’s Word. Start by suggesting they read through the book of Galatians several times, one chapter per day. The book of Galatians is a defense of the gospel that will help new believers understand the nature of the attacks that they will face from the world of professing Christendom, and the Biblical response to those attacks.

3. Emphasize the importance of not looking to changes in our lives for assurance of salvation, nor to let the lack of sufficient changes in our lives undermine our assurance of salvation.

4. Suggest they read ExPreacherMan articles and comments.

5. Have them listen to online sermons from sources that you have evaluated and are convinced are reliable. We recommend Dr. Cucuzza’s sermons. See link below:

http://northlandchurch.com/go/downloads

6. Warn them to avoid playing “Russian Roulette” with books, sermons, and websites that claim to be teaching Christianity. There is more bad teaching out there than good.

7. Make yourself available for questions – within reason. Some people will fail to do things they need to do to grow in grace, or will do things to undermine their faith (see number 6) and be pretty shaky. Challenge people to take an active role, and not just have you feed them.

8. Pray that God will provide for them, and for you, a church in which the gospel is taught clearly, consistently, and without contradiction. If you are unable to find a church, don’t despair. ExPreacherMan is available as a place for fellowship, discussion and encouragement for people who have church homes, as well as for those who don’t.

9. Let them know to never let down their guard and to maintain vigilance. Avoid any church where there is evidence of Calvinism or Lordship “salvation.” Many churches and pastors will claim to believe in grace, but their words will betray them. Consider the following from one false teaching mega-church:

From “Core Beliefs:

Those who put their faith alone in Christ for Salvation are children of God and heirs of eternal life.

From the Senior Pastor’s blog:

Through my obedience, my Father has given me the final authority to execute judgment over all humanity. One day, everyone will hear my voice and appear before me in final judgment. Don’t marvel at this saying. It is true. This judgment will solely depend on those who have believed in me. John’s gospel repeatedly states this truth (3:16;5:24,25; 14:6). However, good and bad deeds will prove an individual’s faith. If good deeds aren’t there, it proves faith isn’t present. These people face eternal judgment. If good deeds are there, it proves faith is present and they are granted eternal resurrection life.

10. Tell them to share the good news with others.

Want to know the good news? Here it is: Good News!

103 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Calvinism, Christianity, Eternal Security, Free Grace, Grace, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Salvation, Security of the believer

My Story: What This Fellowship Of Believers Means To Me

Posted on August 24, 2014 by johninnc | 128 comments

By John and Jack, Administrators

This article will be somewhat different than our norm. Our Goal at ExPreacherMan has always been to share with you the simplicity of the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ alone — and to expose those who would pervert that Good News message.

If you, as a friend of ExP feel so inclined, we would appreciate you telling us and our readers in a short note, what ExPreacherMan means to you. Your note may include your thoughts of how ExP has helped you understand God’s Word, His Grace, salvation, your assurance of salvation, your encouragement, helping get you out of LS, Calvinism, etc. We know all of our readers will be thrilled and encouraged.

A short time line of ExPreacherMan:

2006 was the first year.
2011 we added Bruce Bauer as a co-Administrator. We were so thankful for him and saddened when he resigned due to his other ministry pressures. Thanks Bruce, the Lord used you wonderfully.
2013 John came on board as co-Administrator. [Jacks comment: We are so thankful for John and Jane.]

Since we launched ExP, we have been blessed by the Lord with:

Over 609,000 total views of the web site.
Viewers from 53 different countries in just the last seven days, many more in entirety.
Views ranging from 400 to 600 or more views per day.
ExP has 256 personal subscribers who have signed up to receive notices of our posts.

We see so many folks have been positively influenced by ExP, including your ExP administrators who have been encouraged. The Lord has blessed this ministry by your participation.

We will appreciate you telling us your short story to encourage us and our readers.

Thank you!!!

128 Comments

Posted in Free Grace, Grace, Hope, Joy, Once saved always saved, Salvation, Security of believers

Lordship “Salvation” — Willful Naiveté ?

Posted on February 25, 2014 by expreacherman | 64 comments

By Jack Weaver and our fellow Administrator, John

We will borrow some ideas from a Conservative friend’s web site. He applied the thought to politics, but we see some parallels between the politically naïve and the theologically naïve. In both cases, otherwise intelligent people seem to park their brains at the door and believe astonishingly stupid propositions. For lack of a better term, we will call it “willful naiveté.”

In politics, willful naiveté can be seen in people who hold advanced degrees in economics that have convinced themselves that 1+1 = 3, because it fits their political narrative. In the theological realm, there are scores of prominent “educated” theologians who are teaching their theological narrative, the lie of Lordship “salvation”, to vulnerable non-believers and believers alike.

Lordship “salvation” (LS) is the unsupportable belief that the PERFORMANCE of good works, the PROMISE of good works, or the EVIDENCE of good works MUST accompany faith in Christ in order to make that faith result in eternal life.

LS arrived on the scene just after the start of the church. It was first manifested in false teachers who claimed one must be circumcised – in addition to trusting in Christ as Savior – in order to have eternal life.

Acts 15:1: “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved”

LS has shown up in various forms ever since, and has dominated popular Christendom through the centuries. And, the raging wave of LS continues to invade and overtake our Grace Faith communities.

We see stunning examples of “willful naiveté” in those who advocate LS. The Bible has more than 150 verses that state that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. See article linked for more information: Believers Justification << Link

However, this overwhelming biblical evidence does not daunt LS advocates. Instead, they lean on their own understanding of certain biblical “proof texts”, always taken out of context to support their false teaching. Or worse, their misinterpretation of scripture leads them to believe there are biblical “paradoxes”. For example, many LS advocates say things like “salvation is free, but it will cost you everything.” This is non-biblical nonsense. The fact of the matter is that there are no paradoxes in God’s Word.

LS destroys everything it touches. It impedes the advance of the gospel, thereby keeping lost people lost; for believers who are bewitched by LS, it undermines their faith and assurance, it robs them of the power to live the Christian life, and it keeps them from a sound spiritual understanding of scripture.

LS has only two potentially “attractive” features that both appeal to the flesh. First, it appeals to man’s pride. One may internalize feelings of having contributed to (or merited) his salvation in some way. He may feel like he has somehow “purified” himself. There are side benefits, including a sense of comfort in “group think” and a sense of belonging in the ecumenical mainstream. Second, it appeals to the tribal need for an external, common enemy. So, LS advocates make bogeymen out of proponents of salvation by Grace through faith in Christ alone. Accordingly, they malign believers, using all sorts of pejorative language. Lordship “salvation” is very much a separate “religion,” a cult in the worst sense of those words.

LS advocates will continue to be deceived and to deceive others until the Millennium. They have successfully “converted” many into a works-based religion, false salvation and probation — which result in no salvation at all. By selling books, designing seductive web sites, producing slick YouTube videos, by infiltrating and taking over churches, religious schools, Bible colleges and seminaries, LSers have raised yet another generation of “Christians” who will continue to refuse, or fall from, God’s true Grace. They abhor the freedom and individual liberty we are to have in Christ Jesus as is so clearly delineated in God’s Word, the Bible. (John 3:16-17, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5)

Is their deception a willful naiveté or deliberate?

Our suggestion: We waste our time using secular logic on these folks, so let us use God’s Powerful Word!!! (Hebrews 4:12) Scripture says, “Let us reason together.” However, we often find LS advocates very unreceptive to either reason or scriptural proof. They find it virtually impossible to accept Biblical, contextual “reason.” We must continue to “earnestly contend for the Faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3) and do it Biblically. That is the goal of our ministry here at ExPreacherMan.com which, by God’s Grace, we will continue! We thank the Lord for our many friends who support this ministry by commenting here in support of God’s Biblical Grace.

Please click here >> Wiki-Index of False Teachers for our compilation of a partial index of false teachers.

The Truth of FREE Eternal Life << Click

64 Comments

Posted in Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, Joy, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Salvation, Security of the believer

ExPreacheMan.com’s Most Popular Articles Posted Within The Amazing Past Year

Posted on February 8, 2014 by expreacherman | 12 comments

Listed below are our most popular articles posted within the last year. The number of views are recorded in the right hand column of each listing. You will notice on our page- right column – that ExPreacherMan.com has accumulated over half a million (506,544) views since its inception,.

Feel free to scan the list below for a topic that interests you — click on the link , read it and we welcome your comment.

We thank the Lord for His Grace, your support and help in making ExPreacherMan an Oasis of Grace in a mixed up world of false prophets and religions.

Home page / Archives	59,627
What is Hope? (By far the Most read topic)	8,258
Paul Washer, Lordship Salvation and Repentance	6,105
Berean Call Promoting – Not Only Calvinism But Now – The Terrible Lordship “Salvation” of Ray Comfort!	5,556
What is Francis Chan Doing Now? Francis Chan’s Latest Speech to 5000+ Christian Youths, Questioning Their Faith; Latest News on Francis Chan	3,273
Latest on Paul Washer: Paul Washer Again Proclaims a Lordship “Salvation” Message and Worse.	3,026
Latest News on “Radical” Author David Platt: Calvinist Author of Lordship Salvation book “Radical” Openly Declares his Lordship Salvation Stance	2,812
Lordship “Salvation” Authors/Speakers Francis Chan and David Platt Team Up to Create the “Multiply” Discipleship Movement	2,804
Eternal Life For You	2,710
Wiki-Index	2,403
Francis Chan’s Latest Pronouncement: Failure to Help the Poor Could Send You to Hell; Latest Francis Chan news	2,355
A Distressed Young Man, Francis Chan and Lordship “Salvation”	2,098
♦ Dr. Cucuzza’s Stack	1,847
John MacArthur’s New Apostate Book: Slave	1,819
3 Reasons Why the Gospel of Grace is the True Gospel	1,696
Dr. J. Vernon McGee on Calvinism, Dr. J. Vernon McGee Denounces Calvinism!	1,635
Kyle Idleman, Lordship “Salvationist” Exposed – Review by Jim F.	1,600
Statement of Faith	1,590
John MacArthur Changes His “Lordship salvation” Message??	1,575
Lordship Salvation’s Billy Graham Sets Trap	1,566
Calvinists /Lordship Salvationists Set Up a Straw-Man Argument Against Free Grace Teachers — It Is Called “Decisional Regeneration.”	1,529
Lordship Salvation for Kids? “Crazy Love” Lite: A Review of Francis Chan’s Children’s Book, “Halfway Herbert”	1,514
Billy Graham, King of Lordship Salvation’s False Gospel!	1,503
Beware Rick Warren’s New Age Daniel Plan. It sounds so good, but… POISON	1,383
♦ About Us	1,354
Why I Use the King James Version (Dr. Tom Cucuzza)	1,324
36 Amazing Things	1,318
An Admitted Lordship “Salvationist” Visits ExPreacherMan and Asks Questions	1,277
Lordship “Salvation” Teaches Confusion [Francis Chan]	1,265
Lordship Salvationists and Calvinists: Why We Expose Them	1,260
True or False: A Person Who Believes In Jesus For Salvation WILL Have A Change Of Behavior	1,231
What are The Motives Behind Lordship “Salvation” and Other False Teachings?	1,198
Southern Baptist Convention and J.D.Greear Promote: “The Posture of Lordship Salvation”	1,186
GRACE vs. WORKS	1,142
Sympathy for Rick and Kay Warren at Their Son’s Suicide	1,080
John MacArthur Speaks on Predestination: A Rebuttal	1,042
Are All “Christian” Religions Teaching Lordship “Salvation”?	1,042
The Mistrusting Groom: A Portrait of Lordship Salvation’s Capricious “god”	1,004

God’s Eternal Plan of Salvation. FREE << Cli

12 Comments

Posted in Assurance of salvation, Bible, Christian, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Salvation

A Free Gift? Absolutely FREE? You Gotta Be Kidding Me!

Posted on December 24, 2013 by expreacherman | 11 comments

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

By Jack Weaver

TV Clothing store – Buy one get two absolutely free

An electric razor, buy one and get one absolutely free — just pay shipping and handling.

Free web computer scan for problems — absolutely free — just a small fee to find out what it is and fix the problem.

Christmas – good kids get absolutely free gifts — “bad” kids get none.

There always seem to be strings or conditions attached to FREE! Don’t believe the advertisers. NONE of these are free. The words FREE and GIFT have been perverted in so many ways that when we speak of salvation and eternal life as God’s free gift, folks automatically throw up a guard and think there must be conditions attached.

THE GIFT:

It did not begin with the Creation of the world. John 1:1-3

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

It did not end with the Birth of Jesus Matthew 1:22-23

“Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

It did not end with the Life of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)

It did not end with the persecution of Jesus John 19:16:17

“Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:”

It did not end with the crucifixion of Jesus. John 19:18

“… they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.“

It did not end with the burial of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:4a

“And that he was buried, …. according to the scriptures:”

It did not end with the resurrection of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:4b

“…and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

It does not end!!

God’s GIFT of Eternal Life is still FREE to you — no strings attached, never ending.

Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, the Savior is Himself Eternal. His Gospel of FREE Eternal life is just as ETERNAL. Eternal means NEVER ENDING!!

Eternal Life — the totally FREE Gift <<< Click and Believe

11 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Christianity, Christmas, Eternal Security, Faith, Grace, Hope, Joy, Once saved always saved, Salvation, Security of the believer

True or False: A Person Who Believes In Jesus For Salvation WILL Have A Change Of Behavior

Posted on December 14, 2013 by expreacherman | 486 comments

By Jack Weaver and our fellow Administrator, John.

In a recent Internet conversation with a gentleman, he insisted that a person who believes in Christ WILL have a change of behavior.

He insisted that a believer, being indwelt “with the Holy Spirit in their life, there WILL be change.” [our Caps emphasis]

Too often folks look to changes they have experienced as a validation of their salvation. Let’s not get bogged down in “experiences” of change, but look to Bible doctrine. Experience will beg the question, “How much change would satisfy God”?

By saying “there WILL be change” in a believers life, this gentleman seems to be discounting the fact that any believer in Jesus Christ still has a human will which can be motivated by his personal choice to disobey (or obey) the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Every Christian, upon the first moment of believing, is instantly indwelt, sealed and regenerated by God’s Holy Spirit (simultaneous events – Ephesians 1:13). Believers do not become robots by faith, but have the choice to obey or disobey the promptings of the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is why believers are told: “Quench [tune out, or stop responding to the prompting of] not the Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

Most churches to whom Paul wrote had some (often many) believers (addressed as Brothers in Christ, or brethren) who CHOSE not to change and CHOSE to be disobedient, thus quenching the Holy Spirit:

1 Corinthians 3:1-3:

[1] And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

[2] I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

[3] For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Among the believers in Corinth there were contentions and strife, they were puffed up, there was fornication with one’s own father’s wife, covetousness, idolaters, etc. (1 Corinthians 5)

Believers were constantly admonished by the Apostles to “walk in the Spirit”, “be filled [controlled] with the Spirit”, “walk in good works”, “put on the new man”, and “put on the whole armour of God”. They were guilty of such despicable behavior that Paul found it necessary to instruct them in how to behave – it was not automatic simply by virtue of them being believers in Jesus.

Thus we see in Scripture that behavioral change is NOT automatic upon belief.

To say that believers WILL change (behavior) means that good works must accompany faith in Christ. And, if good works must accompany faith in Christ, than good works would be required for someone to go to heaven.

The Bible does not teach that works are required as a condition for receiving eternal life, nor does the Bible teach that good works will accompany faith in Christ. The Bible teaches that salvation is received by grace, through faith in Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-10:

[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God

[9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.

[10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

It is obvious that God wants our behavior to change once we are saved (Romans 6:4). Of course God wants us to do good works. Tom Cucuzza explained this concept in part 1 of his sermon series on the book of James:

“Grace. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Not “must” – that would be works. Not “will” – that would be Calvinism. No, it’s should. We should.”

We see this concept repeated throughout scripture, as believers are exhorted, admonished, and beseeched to live their lives in a way befitting their identity in Christ. Please note the following examples, all of which are instructions to believers – not to be saved, to keep saved, or to prove they are saved, but because they are saved:

Romans 12:1-2:

[1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

[2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Titus 3:8:

This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

1 Peter 2:11-12:

[11] Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

[12] Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Galatians 5:16

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Hebrews 13:22

And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words.

James 4:7-8:

[7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

[8] Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

The notion that a believer’s behavior will change is nothing more than the false teaching of perseverance of the saints – the “P” in the Calvinist TULIP. Calvinists proclaim that a believer will “persevere to the end” or he will not be saved. OR, because he does not persevere to the end, he is not really saved to begin with. That is terrible teaching.

And of course, these teachings are the very essence of Calvinism and Lordship “salvation” which represent NO salvation at all.

Questions to ponder:

1. Could one say that without good works a person cannot be or stay saved? NO!! Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us

2. Does God look at our good works to determine the validity of our faith, our righteousness in Jesus? NO!!! Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

3. How many good works could it possibly take to satisfy God and justify one before God? NONE !! Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

4. Who dictates to a believer which good works are good enough to justify one before God? NO ONE: Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

5. Can a person trust Jesus Christ alone as his Savior, be excited, do “good works” for a week or two and then do nothing more until he dies — and still have eternal life? YES, Jesus said: John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (Please note that NOWHERE in the Bible does it say that one can walk away from his salvation, and thus lose it.)

6. Are there any circumstances whereby a believer in Jesus Christ can lose or forfeit God’s Gift of Eternal Life? NO!! Jesus said: John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

True, Simple, Easy Eternal Life For Anyone << Click

486 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Christian, Eternal Security, Faith, Grace, Hope, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Reformed theology, Repentance, Salvation, Security of the believer

Giving Thanks for What and Why

Posted on November 27, 2013 by expreacherman | 22 comments

By Jack Weaver

Realizing that ExPreacherMan is read and commented upon all over the World, this post will not necessarily be about the American Holiday, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, the act and attitude is not unique to America but should be a constant thing for Believers in Jesus Christ all over the World.

Join with us as we itemize our thanks. This can always be iffy since many things for which we are thankful will be neglected.

Our friend John wrote a note to me this morning: “By the way, the word “thanksgiving” shows up in Psalms eight times.”

THANKFUL FOR:

The Gospel of our Salvation so free for the taking.
That God loved the whole World and desires that each individual in the whole World choose to believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life.
God’s Amazing Grace that saved a wretch like me.
That we have been given a choice to believe in Jesus Christ or not.
That once one believes in Jesus for Eternal Life — it is Everlasting and without end.
God’s everlasting, infallible Word that explains His FREE Gift of salvation so clearly.
That God does not require the Performance, the Promise or the Evidence of good works to accompany our faith in Christ in order to make that faith result in eternal life.
That our eternal life in Christ is in no way dependent upon our behavior.
That when we depart this earth by death or Rapture, we shall “ever be with the Lord”!
For the opportunity to share the Gospel of God’s Grace and expose those who would pervert that Pure Gospel.
And so many thousands more, ad infinitum.

And we here at ExPreacherMan are forever thankful for our friends and visitors, some of whom have come out of the darkness of false teaching into the Light of the Gospel Truth. Your testimonies are a blessing to all of us.

If you desire to express your thankfulness, pleases do so in a SHORT paragraph or two. [Edited] 😎

Thankful – The Gospel! << Click

22 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Christian, Christianity, Eternal Security, Faith, Grace, Hope, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Reformed theology, Religion, Repentance, Salvation, Security of the believer, Thansgiving

The “Re-start” of Florida Bible College and the FBCAA are Apparently Sharing the Lie of Lordship “salvation.”

Posted on November 13, 2013 by expreacherman | 91 comments

By Jack Weaver (FBC Winter ’71)

This article should not have to be written and it pains me greatly to do so — but the truth must be told.

Florida Bible College (FBC) is my theological Alma Mater (December 1971) and was one of the greatest Grace Bible Colleges ever founded. Recently however, some well meaning alumni have decided to re-start the college after it has been off the map for many years in a state of legal closure.

The Board of Florida Bible College Alumni Association (FBCAA) in their desire to re-start FBC seems to be taking a downward spiral. If we check out the web site of the church which will house the new FBC campus home, (the Circle Community Christian Church (CCC)) we will see why. Unless CCC scrubs the site due to pressure, you will see a big splash-page advertisement promoting the new Billy Graham program, “My Hope For America.” Graham’s program promotes the same message he preached for 50 years, a pernicious “repent of sins for salvation”, “turn from sin ‘salvation'” and a “commitment ‘salvation’ (probation)“ messages. NONE of these are the Biblical Gospel of God’s Grace. It is nothing more than the modern iteration of a Biblically condemned “works” message. Such messages (adding works to God’s Grace) and the person or group promoting it are accursed (i.e. banned) according to God’s Word. (Galatians 1:8-9)

In my note on 11/7/13 to Circle Community Church Pastor Ron Hoffmann (an FBCAA Board members), I asked for an explanation as to why he would promote Billy Graham and his false messages on his church web site. I have not heard from him as of today.

Here is the main text of my message to Pastor Hoffmann explaining my background with and interest in the original Florida Bible College in Hollywood, FL:

Pastor Hoffmann,I received the notice that FBC will be re-started in your church soon.

A little of my personal History, FYI:

Trusted Christ as my Savior at an FBC Christmas Concert, Grove Community church, December 15, 1964.

Served as a Deacon at Grove for many years and then an Elder at Grove and Florida Bible Church when we moved to Hollywood.

Served on the Board of Directors of FBC Hollywood, FL for several years in.

I graduated FBC, Hollywood, December, 1971.

Founded Palmetto Bible Church from which I am now retired at age 84.

I visited your CCC web site and frankly am appalled that your church, as a sponsor of the “new FBC,” would support and advertise an association with Billy Graham and his organization. Graham is known for his ecumenical evangelism, his false “turn from sin salvation” message, his cooperation and association with false teachers, churches and apostates. Graham Videos With Robert Schuller:
Billy Graham Denies Jesus Is The ONLY WAY To The Father

Robert Schuller And Billy Graham Speaking Wide Acceptance

If your church and FBC are running in this kind of Billy Graham crowd, their teaching and affiliation for expediency or whatever reason, you have departed from every vestige of free Grace teaching by which FBC was founded, existed and taught for years.
~~End of note to Hoffmann~~~~

There is NO assurance of Eternal Life in the Billy Graham message.

In contrast to the message at CCC/FBCAA, our friend Dr. Yankee Arnold and his church (formerly Dr. Hank Lindstrom’s Calvary Community Church in Tampa, FL), have already started classes for the officially incorporated Florida Bible College of Tampa. This is a Biblically sound Grace Bible college.

It is sad to see the old FBC, once a Torch of Grace, shining the Gospel Light into a dark world, surrender to the “works” message of Graham. (through the CCC/FBCAA).

With thousands of compromising seminaries and Bible colleges teaching the Lordship “salvation” lie, why would anyone desire to multiply that number with just one more?

We can only pray that the the FBCAA Board will seek God’s Word and His Will, wake up to the Truth of God’s Grace and reject all vestiges of the terrible, false Lordship “salvation” message of Billy Graham and his ilk. Find out (Lordship Salvation Defined)

A few days ago I communicated by email with another of the FBCAA Board members who assured me he would “bring it up in the next Board meeting.” He did not express any concern one way or the other over the CCC/Graham website connection except to say, “Jack, I personally do not consider Billy Graham accurate or clear on the Gospel. Your question was to the board and I do not have authority to answer for them without consulting them.”

I pray for the general world-wide population of Florida Bible College’s Alumni — that they will be discerning and not be taken in by the FBCAA Board, who seem to exhibit little discernment in this case. I likewise pray that if this is all nothing more that a terrible error in judgment by the FBCAA Board and CCC, they will admit and correct it quickly.

ADDENDUM I: I just visited the CCC web site and the Graham splash screen has been scrubbed. That is why I saved a screen-shot of the CCC web site (above). There was no explanation why it was scrubbed. We will wait for either CCC or FBCAA to offer an explanation. (Jack)

ADDENDUM II: OOOOPS. One of our alert readers, D. Taylor reports that though the splash screen was scrubbed, the web page at CCC/FBCAA is still encouraging their members to attend the Graham presentation — and they invite their friends to attend so they can learn to share their faith. Billy Graham is a terrible example and certainly NOT an example of Biblical soul winning!!! We would encourage someone from both organizations, CCC/FBCAA to drop by and explain. (Jack)

The Gospel TRUTH for Which We Contend << Click

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Posted in Assurance of salvation, Bible, Billy Graham, Eternal Security, Faith, Grace, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Repentance, Salvation, Security of believers

Encouraging News about the Good News (The Gospel). ExPreacherMan Reaching Around the World.

Posted on October 25, 2013 by expreacherman | 49 comments

By Jack Weaver

Jesus Christ speaks:

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15

All of us here at our Oasis of Grace often express feeling of isolation because of a dearth of sound, Biblical church fellowship with other Believers. ExPreacherMan attempts to offer a small island of fellowship through abiding by an unwavering and uncompromising stand for the Gospel of our salvation — by God’s Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ alone — and NOT by our works of our righteousness in order to gain or keep Eternal Life. (Ephesians 2:8-9) (Titus 3:5)

The Administrators at ExPreacherMan.com strive to speak the Truth of the Gospel and expose the lies of Lordship “salvation,” Calvinism, “turn from sin probation-ism” and all other subtle (and some not so subtle) teachings which contradict the simplicity that is in Christ and His Word.

This morning I was looking over ExPreacherMan web statistics for the past 365 days.

I was thrilled to see how the Lord has used ExPreacherMan to share Jesus Christ worldwide. Our visitors include many from Islamic countries, China, India, Russia and others in the spiritually darkest areas of the world. Of course we realize some few of these Views represent nefarious spammers who attempt to trade on our worldwide outreach. But, even so, we pray that when these folks do visit, they will read and believe the Gospel, the Truth of God’s Salvation. (John 3:16) Pray for them – God loves them too..

Look over these statistics. Realize that your comments and explanations of God’s Word circle the globe and land in isolated and dark countries (even the spiritually dark USA). We humbly realize one thing before the Lord — we have an awesome responsibility to share that Truth clearly, accurately and without error.

We thank each of you for your part in this outreach. We are approaching half a million total views of ExPreacherMan since our modest beginning six years ago. We are all volunteers who love and are thankful for our Savior and His Precious Gospel Message — His Free Gift of Eternal Life. The Glory and Praise are to the Lord God Almighty.

Good News – Eternal Life FREE

Statistics for the past 12 months alone, as of 10/25/2013. ExP reached 184 different countries in the world.

Country	Views
United States	152,876
Canada	8,005
United Kingdom	7,071
Australia	4,292
Netherlands	1,775
New Zealand	1,619
Philippines	1,568
South Africa	1,096
Germany	861
Singapore	735
India	666
Malaysia	566
Indonesia	546
Brazil	336
Thailand	307
Switzerland	261
Nigeria	249
Republic of Korea	209
Mexico	206
Hong Kong	177
France	165
Sweden	163
Spain	153
Kenya	151
Ireland	149
Czech Republic	144
Argentina	140
Italy	131
United Arab Emirates	131
Romania	130
Norway	120
Qatar	102
Finland	100
Ghana	98
Japan	96
Costa Rica	94
Trinidad/ Tobago	90
Pakistan	88
Jamaica	87
Saudi Arabia	85
Puerto Rico	85
Taiwan	83
Poland	81
Jersey	79
Russian Federation	71
Belgium	65
Slovakia	61
Denmark	56
Hungary	55
Israel	52
Guam	45
Ukraine	45
Sri Lanka	44
Colombia	43
Austria	39
Uganda	39
Chile	39
Greece	38
Turkey	38
Ethiopia	37
Croatia	36
Egypt	33
Namibia	32
Barbados	32
Peru	31
Zimbabwe	30
Bahamas	29
Bulgaria	27
Honduras	27
Panama	26
Bahrain	25
Kuwait	25
Portugal	23
Brunei	23
Cambodia	22
El Salvador	21
Latvia	19
Dominican Rep.	18
Guatemala	18
Cyprus	17
Serbia	17
Malawi	17
Fiji	17
Nepal	16
Rwanda	16
Republic of Tanzania	16
Viet Nam	16
Zambia	15
Ecuador	14
Malta	14
Botswana	14
Venezuela	14
Bangladesh	12
Nicaragua	12
Jordan	12
Mauritius	12
Côte d’Ivoire	12
Albania	12
Virgin Islands	11
Faroe Islands	11
Isle of Man	11
Lithuania	11
Uruguay	11
Estonia	10
Georgia	10
Oman	10
Haiti	9
Grenada	9
Lebanon	9
Saint Lucia	9
Cameroon	9
Bolivia	9
Liberia	7
Guyana	7
Belarus	7
St Vincent/Grenadines	7
Paraguay	7
Macedonia	6
Algeria	6
Iraq	6
Bosnia/Herzegovina	6
Mozambique	6
Moldova	5
Belize	5
Swaziland	5
Yemen	5
Macao	5
Guernsey	5
Luxembourg	5
China	4
Morocco	4
Benin	4
Afghanistan	4
Bermuda	4
Togo	4
Sudan	3
Cayman Islands	3
Azerbaijan	3
Laos Republic	3
Antigua and Barbuda	3
Saint Kitts and Nevis	3
Mongolia	3
Armenia	3
Solomon Islands	3
Aruba	3
Papua New Guinea	3
Bhutan	3
Djibouti	3
Slovenia	3
American Samoa	2
Republic of the Congo	2
Lesotho	2
British Virgin Islands	2
Guadeloupe	2
Suriname	2
Libya	2
Mali	2
Maldives	2
Anguilla	2
Madagascar	2
Angola	2
Tunisia	2
Martinique	1
Myanmar	1
French Polynesia	1
Kazakhstan	1
Andorra	1
Niger	1
New Caledonia	1
Gibraltar	1
Dominica	1
Gambia	1
Micronesia	1
Montenegro	1
Kyrgyzstan	1
Seychelles	1
Gabon	1
Burundi	1
North Mariana Islands	1
Iceland	1
French Guiana	1
Palestinian Territory	1
Senegal	1
Sierra Leone	1

49 Comments

Posted in Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Christian, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, Islam, Israel, Jews, Lordship Salvation, Love of God, Muslim, Once saved always saved, Repentance, Salvation, Security of believers

What are The Motives Behind Lordship “Salvation” and Other False Teachings?

Posted on September 21, 2013 by expreacherman | 144 comments

By Jack Weaver and our friend, John

Are we able to assess the motive of those false teachers/prophets who preach “another gospel”? Galatians 1:6-8

We can certainly assess and discern a false “gospel” message. That would be adding anything to the Gospel of salvation by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. If we see or hear ANY teacher, Pastor, CD — or read any books, web sites or articles that tell you any of the following are requirements for eternal life, “the performance of any works, the promise of any future works, or the evidence of any works,” (to quote our friend John), such are teaching a false “gospel,” which is no Gospel at all. (Examples: Repent, turn from sins to be saved, Turn or burn, make Jesus the “Lord of your life” or commit your life to Christ to be saved, persevere to the end, etc.) These are all Satan’s add-on to the precious Gospel of God’s Grace and totally pervert the Gospel (Good News).

We came up with at least four general categories of people teaching false gospels:

Believers who still believe the gospel, but teach error out of a personal motive.
Believers who no longer believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Luke 8:13, Galatians 5:4).
Non-believers, who are counting on their own righteousness to get into heaven (Matthew 7:15 and Matthew 23:15).
Satan’s ministers, disguised as ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15).

While the first and second groups are saved, and therefore eternally secure, all who preach false gospels are under a curse (Galatians 1:8-9).

To even attempt to discern the motives behind the person doing the false preaching, we must carefully analyze them, their behavior and their statements.

Following are some of the reasons that believers may teach false gospels:

Ignorance or misuse of scripture – includes use of “proof texts”, always out of context, as well as use of poor or plainly false Bible translations.
Sense of belonging – desires to be part of something big and exciting, with lots of structured programs for kids, etc. Willfully blind to obvious error.
Respect for authority – putting the doctrine of men on par with, or above, the word of God.
Social pressure – a desire to hold a position of honor, even it requires compromise.
Financial allure – big churchs, big money, lucrative demand for books, etc.
Family legacy – “my Daddy’s Daddy’s Daddy believes that, and so do I.”
Eat the meat and spit out the bones “theology” – disregarding the Biblical warnings to separate from false teachers/teaching.
Ecumenism – going along to get along.
Fear of “failure” – desiring the praise of men above the praise of God.
Hero-worship – reverence for icons of evangelicalism, such as Calvin, Spurgeon, Billy Graham, etc.
Gatekeeping – They don’t want “nominal Christians” in their midst, so they change the Gospel from Grace to fit their own rules of behavior.
A Feeling of Spiritual Invincibility – Failure to separate from false doctrine – as if they are not susceptible to being misled by false teaching – thus they let down their guard and find no need to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11).

It should come as no big surprise that non-believers also teach false gospels for many of the same reasons as those who purport to be believers in Christ — even so, each of them manage to slip in a teaching of Lordship “salvation” (probation).

If anyone claims to believe in a false gospel of works, we should take him at his word. He needs to be treated as an unbeliever, since simultaneous belief in a false gospel and the real Gospel of Christ is impossible! We should lovingly confront such a religious “professor” of faith in Christ with his disbelief. We must proclaim the Gospel, and if possible, show him from the Bible why his false gospel is false. The Lord does not require ANY works to acquire His gift of salvation – it is FREE. Grace and Works are polar opposites and CANNOT coexist as a means of salvation! (Romans 11:6)

The Only Gospel of God’s Salvation <<Click

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Billy Graham, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Danger, David Platt, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Joy, Kirk Cameron, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Religion, Repentance, Rick Warren, Salvation, Secure salvation, Security of the believer, Southern Baptist Convention

Mariella, Sadly “Repenting” Herself to Death – Literally.

Posted on September 19, 2013 by expreacherman | 52 comments

By Jack Weaver

Just recently I experienced an example of a pitiful case of non-Calvinist “perseverance” while witnessing to my Audiologist. It is an awful object lesson showing an ignorance of scripture and “following the leader” to hell:

Mariella, my Audiologist, is a sweet, early 30s, young Latino lady. I pray she reads this and “changes her mind.” On my first visit several months ago I shared the Gospel and a tract.. She said, “Oh, you are a Christian, here read mine.” Her tract was titled, “The Grace That Saves.” Great Title!! Since I could not read the fine print, I took it optimistically believing the title may be a hint of Biblical contents.

When we returned home I magnified the tract. It was distributed by Fellowship Tract League. They advertise hundreds of different tracts in hundreds of languages. It sounded good until the “salvation” prayer. Very dangerous false doctrine.

The obvious errors are highlighted in bold.

Please pray this prayer or one similar to it: Dear Heavenly Father, I know I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died for my sin. [1] I am willing to turn from sin. I now [2] ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal Saviour. I am willing, by God’s grace, to follow and obey Christ as the Lord of my heart and life. Amen.

[3] Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. (Revelation 3:20) [3] Will you let Him in?”

[1] The Bible NEVER tells us we must be willing to turn from sin to have eternal life. That is a lie!!

[2] The Bible NEVER says to ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and life as your personal Saviour to have eternal life. That is a lie!!

[3] The Bible NEVER asks anyone to “let Jesus into our heart and life in order to have eternal life. That is a lie!! The heart does not have a “door.” That whole statement is a gross misrepresentation of the verse Revelation 3:20 — which is plea by Jesus, asking for renewed FELLOWSHIP and to dine with the seven last days churches listed in Revelation Chapter Three.

Two weeks later on my next visit I handed her a great booklet illustrating that Salvation is a free gift, (“The Gift,” by Dr. Richard Seymour). She promised me she would read it and make notes which we could discuss. I asked her why she felt that God’s gift of salvation by Grace required her to turn from sin in order to have eternal life. Her answer, “I must repent continually to be ready.” Sadly, we had to depart to make room for another patient.

On our next visit I questioned Mariella further. Amazingly she said that she repents continuously all day long and before she goes to sleep at night. Then she asked me in somewhat broken English, “My father wanted me to ask you if you believe in ‘once saved, always saved?'”

I answered, “Of course, Jesus is The Savior. He alone saves eternally with no works on our part!! We cannot add anything to His work on the cross.” She answered, “My father says I cannot accept your booklet because it has false doctrine and is against the Bible.”

I was flabbergasted. As we left, she said, “I must repent, repent and repent all the time.” I asked “What does repent mean to you?” She said, “Turn from my sin, be sorry for any sins and bad thoughts, etc, etc.” As we departed, I left her with this thought, “I am so sorry you are not sure of eternal life, that you must torture yourself with continually ‘repenting.’ Just remember, Jesus is The Savior. He alone SAVES!! Biblical repenting is simply changing your mind about Jesus being your Savior — and not your works.” She answered, “Yes but I must always be ‘ready’ by repenting.”

This is a pitiful example of a person believing the false doctrine of repentance and turning it into her own personal “perseverance until the end,” and a father who is teaching his daughter the direct “works” path to hell.

I found her church in the Internet. It is a Latino, Charismatic, holy-roller, “healer,” works preaching mega church in Hialeah, FL. Terrible.

Please pray for Mariella that she may read this and believe the Gospel in order to have the peace that passes all understanding by trusting that her salvation is by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Eternal Life — FREE- No Charge!! << Click

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Christian, Christianity, Cross, Danger, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Religion, Repentance, Salvation, Security of believers

Lordship Salvation’s Demon Belief That Does Not Save

Posted on September 4, 2013 by expreacherman | 114 comments

By Our Dear Friend, John

James 2:19: Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

James 2:19 is one of the favorite verses that Lordship “Salvationists” quote to try to convince themselves and others that one has to do more than trust in Christ to receive eternal life. Incidentally, you will usually hear them say “demons” instead of “devils”, because that is how the NIV and other LS Bibles have translated this verse.

When you hear someone raise James 2:19 as an objection to God’s free gift of eternal life through faith in Christ, you are hearing the voice of confusion and disbelief. You are a witness to the bad fruit of the LS tree. While it is true that demons believe and tremble, it is not true that this means that simple belief in Christ is not sufficient to save a human believer. Demons are beyond redemption, so the content of their faith is irrelevant. For a more compete discussion of this topic, click the attached link:

A Lordship “Salvationist’s” Prayer To His Prodigal Son

But, besides a demon’s belief, is there a belief that doesn’t save? Is it possible for a human being to believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead and still not have eternal life? The answer to the above questions is a resounding YES. There is a belief that doesn’t save. In fact, there are all kinds of beliefs that don’t save, but not for the reasons that Lordship “salvationists” espouse.

Lordship “salvationists” believe that the performance of works, the promise of works, or the evidence of works MUST accompany faith in Christ in order to make that faith result in eternal life. Some of the more common adages that indicate that someone might have been “bitten by the LS bug” include:

“There’s head faith and heart faith, and only heart faith saves.”
“There’s no ‘fire insurance’. You have to want to follow Christ to be saved.”
“A believer won’t be sinless. But, he will sin less.”
“We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is not alone.”
“We’re not saved by faith plus works, but we are saved by a faith that works.”
“A true Christian may backslide, but he will always return to the faith.”
“A Christian’s behavior will change once he is saved.”
“It is disciples who are saved.”
“Believing in Christ isn’t a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card.”
“He can’t be your Savior if He’s not your Lord.”

Each of the above, and other similar expressions, indicate that someone is not quite comfortable with Grace. These types of statements expose an underlying misunderstanding of, or disbelief in, the part of the Gospel that says “Christ died FOR OUR SINS.”

The Lordship “Salvationist” does not believe that Christ paid the FULL PRICE for our sins, leaving us nothing to pay. He believes that Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection were necessary, but not sufficient. He believes that he must add to Christ’s finished work with his repentance from sin, commitment, or perseverance. In other words, the Lordship “Salvationist” seems to view Jesus as Lord and Helper, not Lord and Savior.

So, there is belief that does not save. It is belief in a false gospel of Christ plus works for salvation, more commonly known as Lordship “salvation.”

Can a person believe in Christ alone and not be saved? The answer to this one needs less explanation. The answer is NO.

John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Eternal Life — No Strings Attached!<< Click

114 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Calvinism, Christian, Danger, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, Lordship, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Reformed theology, Religion, Salvation, Security of the believer, Social Gospel, Southern Baptist Convention

Are All “Christian” Religions Teaching Lordship “Salvation”?

Posted on August 26, 2013 by expreacherman | 142 comments

By Jack Weaver

The Gospel 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
To Be Believed: John 3:16,18a
For Eternal Life!! John 10:28
Not by Works: Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-9

It is sadly evident that virtually every “Christian religious” system ever formulated by mankind (men and women) has veered terribly from those four vital Biblical Gospel points. All “Christian religions” now seem to contain the corrupt seeds, if not the full blown growth and fruit of Lordship “salvation” (LS) as the centerpiece of their teaching.

We here at ExP have written and commented on hundreds of articles documenting errors in organizations and churches, Presbyterian, Southern Baptists, Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Churches of Christ, et al; and by teachers, featuring some of the more obvious and egregious perpetrators of LS such as Spurgeon, Francis Chan, Rick Warren, Paul Washer, David Platt, John Piper, John MacArthur, A.W. Pink, R.C. Sproul, Billy Graham, Al Mohler, Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, ad infinitum. (Find them.. search Box on the top right column >>)

We will take the liberty of quoting from our good friend, ExP Co-Administrator, author and commenter, Bruce Bauer, and our good friend, author and commenter at ExP, John.

John quotes from Clear Gospel Campaign, one of the very best descriptions of the not-so-subtle lie of Lordship “salvation”: “the perversions of the Gospel of Grace is the performance of works, the promise of works, or the evidence of works as a necessity for salvation.”

We should use that guideline in our critique of all teachers, thus separating those who would twist or change the Truth of God’s Grace-Gift of Eternal Life in Jesus Christ alone.

John quotes further from Clear Gospel Campaign:

“Ultimately, however, there is no theological distinction between corrupt systems of theology that require works, such as water baptism, to be performed prior to gaining salvation, and corrupt theological systems that require the promise of future works in exchange for salvation. Any gospel presentation that makes, as a requirement for gaining eternal salvation, repentance from one’s sins, committing one’s life to Christ, making Christ the ‘Lord’ (master) of one’s life, becoming a disciple of Christ, and other equivalent statements that require a promise of future behavior is heresy.” (Romans 5:8; Titus 3:5)

We would add that according to God’s Word, the teachers pushing these false doctrines are accursed. (Galatians 1:8,9)

Another pearl of wisdom from John:

“Since the Bible unequivocally teaches salvation by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, I [we] can readily dismiss any teaching that seeks to introduce works (the performance of works, the promise of future works, or the evidence of works) into the salvation equation.”

And then John commends Bruce on his excellent article on David Platt which really gets to the core of Lordship “salvation.”

Particularly striking [is this] quote from Platt:

“To be born-again, one must repent, turn from sin and self, and believe, trust in Jesus as the Savior who died for us and the Lord who rules over us.”

[John’s] comment: This is really the crux of LS. Platt says we must not only trust in Christ as Savior in order to be born again — no, he says we must also “turn from sin” (works) and accept Jesus as Lord who rules over us (implicit obedience – the promise of future works) in addition to believing. This is exactly what is being taught by Billy Graham and the SBC.

Purveyors of LS have turned the Good News into Bad News!

Our message:

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.“ 2 Corinthians 11:3

As Scripture says — and is frequently quoted by our good friend, Holly Garcia: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. [honest, suitable, worthy]” 1 Thessalonians 5:21

The Gospel is GOOD News << Click

142 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Billy Graham, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Danger, David Platt, Eternal Security, Francis Chan, Grace, Hope, John Piper, Kirk Cameron, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Religion, Rick Warren, Salvation, SBC, Security of the believer, Southern Baptist Convention, Washer

Lordship Salvationists and Calvinists: Why We Expose Them

Posted on August 19, 2013 by expreacherman | 87 comments

By Jack Weaver and our friend, John

~~~

We are occasionally asked why we bother to expose Lordship Salvationists and Calvinists. In a few words, we expose them because we love our Savior Jesus Christ and His Gift of Eternal Life by Grace through Faith in Him alone. We simply try to do our best to promote and defend the Biblical Gospel of God’s Grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), to unmask and open to your understanding, those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18)

The “Christian” world is running amok with false doctrines proclaimed by Lordship “salvation” (LS) and Calvinist deceivers. We find that most LSers are Calvinists and vice versa. LSers usually include the many faces of Calvinism, i.e. Traditional, New, Hyper, “Moderate,”some Baptists, etc. Thus, since it fits, we use the acronym, “LS” to include all “works salvation” promoters.

We at ExPreacherMan have written many articles about those whose desire it is to advance, promote and subsidize the false message of LS. You may search our numerous, informative articles here.

The objective of this brief article is to clearly define LS, in as few words as possible, so believers in Jesus Christ may be equipped to discern between the truth of God’s Word and the lies being advanced in His name.

At its core, LS is a disbelief in God’s Word which clearly states that salvation is by Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. (again: (Ephesians 2:8-9)

LS is the unsupportable belief that the performance of works, the promise of works, or the evidence of works MUST accompany faith in Christ in order to make that faith result in eternal life.

LS can be overt (one must forsake all of his sins and follow Christ in obedience and discipleship in order to be saved) or VERY SUBTLE (one’s behavior will change once he is saved). But, do not be deceived. Trying to add ANY human merit to Grace makes it no longer Grace. (Romans 11:6)

We expose people who promote LS, because they:

• Keep people lost (Luke 8-12; 2 Corinthians 4:4);

.

• Are accursed (Galatians 1:9)

.

• Frustrate grace (Galatians 2:21);

.

• Bewitch believers, rendering the believers ineffective in their Christian lives (Galatians 5:4)

.

• Are to be marked and avoided (Romans 16:17 and 16:18)

In addition to the above, people who believe and teach LS don’t currently believe the Gospel and need to be confronted with that reality. They need our prayers.

One wonders why so many thousands of seeking souls flock to the false message of LS. Could it be a cultic draw by charismatic personalities who manipulate scripture, relish the attention, fame and (incidentally) the dollars cleverly conned from their followers?

These pitiful followers are striving for an LS “salvation” that is hopeless and unattainable. Pray for them to see and believe The Truth of the Gospel << Click

*Note: Our special thanks to our friend John for contributing his Biblical knowledge, wisdom and thoughts to this article. JW

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Billy Graham, Calvinism, Chan, Christian, Christianity, Danger, David Platt, Eternal Security, Faith, Francis Chan, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, John Piper, Joy, Kirk Cameron, Lordship, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Rick Warren, Salvation, SBC, Security of the believer, Southern Baptist Convention, Washer

Dr. Tom Cucuzza’s Collection – NEW!!

Posted on August 9, 2013 by expreacherman | Comments Off

Friends of ExP,

We are consolidating Dr. Tom Cucuzza’s Collection of works on the ExPreacherMan website header. We have posted all of his currently available works, his Gospel Video and wonderful PDF doctrinal files. We will post more as he makes them available.

We have just received Tom’s NEW color PDF, “Be Sure You Are Going to Heaven!” © (A beautiful color cover – suitable for an attractive Gospel Witnessing Handout.)

Please click here >> Dr. Cucuzza’s Collection where you may download the NEW article\handout plus his other works and Gospel video. Together for Souls!!

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Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Bible, Christian, Eternal Security, Grace, Hope, Once saved always saved, Religion, Salvation, Secure salvation, Security of believers

A Lordship Salvationist’s Prayer for His Prodigal Son

Posted on August 7, 2013 by expreacherman | 23 comments

By our friend, John

(Note: the following article is a PARODY of Lordship “salvation” through the lens of a hypothetical father, who believes in LS, as he prays for his son, who has received eternal life by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It is meant to demonstrate that Lordship “salvation” is not just another slant on the Gospel. Rather it is disbelief in the Gospel. Each of the false Lordship “salvation” beliefs indicated in the prayer is referenced, with explanatory footnotes provided).

Heavenly Father, I come to you today heavy-hearted. I asked my son today why he wasn’t going to church anymore. He told me it was because he hadn’t found a church in his community that he was comfortable with.

I asked what he meant, since there are plenty of Southern Baptist churches (SBC) in his area. He responded that my church (and the SBC) teaches a false gospel of works that can’t save anyone. He was raised in SBC churches, and I can’t fathom who ever put that idea into his head.

So, I asked what he meant by “false gospel of works.” He said that salvation is “by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone” (he quoted Ephesians 2:8-9). He seemed to think that most churches add something to that – such as “turn from sins for salvation”, or “surrender your life to Christ for salvation.” He said some churches seem to be free grace, but then look to changed behavior as evidence of salvation – which is, by implication, teaching salvation by works.

My son said that those add-ons had been a barrier to him understanding the gospel and accepting Christ. He said that now that he has become a believer in Christ alone for eternal life, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with churches that “frustrate grace” (he referred to Galatians 2:21: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain”).

Father, I know that Christ died for my sins, was buried and was raised from the dead. That’s the gospel! A lot of unsaved people believe that too, but they’ve never repented of their sins, nor surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. They’ve never trusted in Christ to change their lives.^¹ Like James 2:19 says – “even the demons believe, and they tremble”!^²

I repented of my sins, surrendered my life to Christ, and accepted Christ as my Savior when I was in high school. I have tried to live a life consistent with my faith. I know I haven’t been perfect, but I’ve tried to be a faithful steward of everything with which you have entrusted me – including raising my children in a Christian home, making sure they attended church regularly, and teaching them the plan of salvation that I was taught.

Father, my son made his profession of faith in Christ when he was a child. He was always a difficult child. He told me when he was in his twenties that he “gave his life to Jesus.”^³ I was overjoyed, but his commitment to Christ didn’t last very long. I know he has drifted, and has not ever really been a consistent churchgoer. Father, only You know whether my son ever truly surrendered his life to You, sincerely repented of his sins, and trusted in Christ.

Father, my prayer to you today is this: I pray that you would deliver my son from his deception. I pray that you will convict him of his error. I pray that you will reveal to him that there is more to receiving eternal life than simply believing the gospel and accepting Christ as Savior.^⁴ That you would let him know that there is no eternal life without discipleship.^⁵ I pray that you will convince him that repentance in salvation includes at least a willingness to turn from his sins.^⁶

Father, I pray that my precious son will turn from his mistaken belief that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.^⁷

Amen

Explanatory footnotes:

1 Repenting of one’s sins”, “surrendering one’s life to Christ”, and “trusting in Christ to change one’s life” are not conditions for receiving eternal life. (Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23)

2 James 2:19 is often used by Lordship “salvationists” as a proof-text that believing in Jesus is not enough for receiving eternal life. This is not true. Demons are not eligible for receiving salvation, nor does this passage say that demons have faith in Christ.

3 One who is clear on the Gospel would know that expressions such as “giving one’s life to Christ” are not a proper response to the Gospel. The only proper response to the Gospel is belief. (John 3:16)

4 The son is not in error or deceived. The father is. There is absolutely nothing more to receiving eternal life than believing the Gospel and accepting Christ as Savior.

5 Following Jesus in discipleship will not result in eternal life, nor is a discipleship a condition for receiving eternal life.

6 “Willingness to turn from one’s sins” is not a requirement for receiving eternal life.

7 The son is not mistaken in his belief. The father is. Salvation is by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. If one is not saved that way, he is not saved at all. By trying to add to the finished work of Christ, one is not trusting in Christ as his Savior, but only as his helper. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5)

23 Comments

Posted in Bible, Christian, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, Lordship Faith, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Salvation, SBC, Secure salvation, Security of believers, Southern Baptist Convention

Lordship “Salvation” Icon Kirk Cameron, Promotes Calvin’s Geneva Bible and Teams Up With Liberty University.

Posted on July 28, 2013 by expreacherman | 47 comments

Kirk Cameron

By Jack Weaver

If we thought things could not get any “weirder,” we see that Lordship “Salvationist” (LS) and teeny-bopper Idol, Kirk Cameron is:

Promoting the sale of John Calvin’s terrible Geneva Bible on TV and news web site like World Net Daily.
Convocation speaker and now teaming up with Jerry Falwell’s Liberty (“Christian”) University (LU) in starting a “Christian Film Production” course of study. But this should come as no surprise since LU’s Statement of Faith basically agrees with Cameron and reads: “We affirm that each person can be saved only through the work of Jesus Christ, through repentance of sin and by faith alone in Him as Savior. The believer is declared righteous, born again by the Holy Spirit, turned from sin, and assured of heaven.”
Teaming with Calvinist LSer, John MacArthur on YouTube about their unbiblical idea of the way of Salvation. I’ll not provide the link — but they both agreed that total submission, heart, mind, soul and body to the Lordship of Christ “is the only way of salvation.” Total apostasy!!!
Cameron has been a long-time friend and compatriot of apostate “evangelist” Ray Comfort. We have commented many times about the terrible doctrine of Comfort. Here is one comment by our friend Holly Garcia: Link:>> Comfort- 2013/07/23 at 6:11 pm If there was ever any doubt about Comfort and Cameron preaching an accursed message — this will dispel it. You may follow the link for further excellent comments from our readers.

Friends, we as Free Grace Believers, must remain constantly vigilant in the face of “sweet, charismatic double-talkers” who pervert the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus:

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3

That time has come. We who know the Truth must preach the Word, in context, the Gospel of the Good news of the Death, Burial and Resurrection of our Savior (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) as His all sufficient provision for anyone’s salvation by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ alone!!! (Ephesians 2:8-9) No more, no less!!

The TRUTH of Salvation

47 Comments

Posted in Assurance, Assurance of salvation, Atheist, Bible, Calvinism, Christian, Christianity, Emergent, Eternal Security, Faith, Free Grace, Grace, Hope, John MacArthur, Kirk Cameron, Lordship, Lordship Salvation, Once saved always saved, Ray Comfort, Reformed theology, Religion, Resurrection, Salvation, Security of believers

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