Watchman Magazine

Dear Larry, I have a question.  Is salvation based on being faithful? If so, how faithful?

— William

Dear William,

"How faithful" does your wife expect you to be to her?  That is what the Lord expects, too — "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2).  Your wife would not like it, if, after telling you that she has been faithful to you, you were to ask her, "How faithful?"

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I have a question, Is there any condition, when somebody has been saved, and they are a Christian, can that person get unsaved?  Thank  you, William

Reply:

Thanks for your question, William.  I shall seek to answer it with Scripture.  I will also send you some articles which apply to your question.  

First, there are those who believe there is not "any condition" which will cause a saved person to become lost or unsaved.

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Examining Romans 7:7-25

To say that this passage has been the occasion for much debate is an understatement. The fact that it is a difficult passage, regardless of the interpretation defended, is a truth to which all serious students would readily agree. In this brief study, we cannot raise all of the questions posed about this text, much less take the space required to reason towards answering all of those questions. We will, however, try to lay a foundation needed to properly understand the main points. For a detailed study, Whiteside’s commentary gives an excellent examination of this text.

The apostle Paul began the epistle to the Romans by affirming that the Gospel is God’s power to save those who respond in faith to that message. He then shows that all are in need of that salvation because all have sinned beginning with the Gentiles and then concentrating on the Jews (Romans 1:18 – 2:20). The next two chapters emphasize the themes of faith and grace as they relate to the justification of the sinner through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This point is also made with special emphasis to the Jews. Up to that point in the book, the writer stresses the need for, and nature of God’s action in salvation.

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COMMON SENSE QUESTIONS A "CHURCH OF CHRIST" PREACHER CANNOT CLEARLY ANSWER

By Pastor David Martin
Solid Rock Baptist Church

David Martin is pastor of the Solid Rock Baptist Church, 5893 Old Brownsville Rd. E, Bartlett, TN 38135 USA; phone: 901-634-1622. He is a 1984 graduate of Pensacola Bible Institute of Florida, and was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1986. He has been in his current pastorate for eight years. His article on the Church of Christ cult is the result of in-depth personal conversation with a Church of Christ elder that led to a 3-day public debate with a Church of Christ evangelist in 1997. The debate was attended by 250 people nightly from within a 300-mile radius of Memphis, Tennessee.This is one of the most controversial articles on the church of Christ you will find anywhere. No church of Christ preacher can satisfactorily answer any of the questions posed by Pastor Martin.

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Authors:  Bobby Holmes and Mark Roberts

I. Tips and Tactics

A. Define all terms. Watch for "term jumping"
1. Neo-Calvinists are notorious for saying one thing when they mean something else entirely
2. Make certain that terms such as "law," "grace," "imputed righteousness," are clearly defined and that they stick with the definition

B. Make them say "Must."

1. Neo-Calvinists don’t want to admit we must believe to be saved, or that we must accept God’s grace, or that man must do anything to be saved.
2. Make them say it!

C. Get ready to be charged:

1. Legalism – "You’re a modern-day Pharisee, legalist, etc."
2. Ignorance – "Do you know everything?"
3. Unrighteousness – "All our works are as filthy rags."

D. Know the book of Romans

1. A great deal of Neo-Calvinism comes from perverting Romans.
2. You must know what is taught before you can know error when you hear it!

Authors:  Bobby Holmes and Mark Roberts

I. Error

A. Neo-Calvinists say:

1. "We are under grace, not law. We must not depend on what we do, but on God."

B. Passages Misused:

1. Romans 6:14-15
2. Galatians 3:11

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Authors: Bobby Holmes and Mark Roberts

I. Error

A. Neo-Calvinists say:

1. "Some sins don’t separate us from God. Christ’s blood automatically covers sins of ignorance or inadvertence.

B. Passages Misused:

1. 1 John 1:7-9; 5:16-17
2. Romans 4:8
3. 2 Corinthians 5:19

C. Favorite Tactic:

1. Using a hypothetical situation to make you play God.
2. "A man is a faithful saint for 50 years, gets splashed by mud on the street one day, curses, and then is hit by a bus. Will he be lost or saved?"
3. Don’t play God! Clemency is up to the Judge. All we can do is quote the law!

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Authors:  Bobby Holmes and Mark Roberts

I. Error

A. Neo-Calvinists say:

1. "Gospel is the good news about Christ, and nothing more. Gospel cannot be preached to saints. None of the epistles are Gospel. We must agree on Gospel, but not on doctrine. Fellowship should be extended to all who accept the Gospel."

B. Passages misused:

1. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

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Authors:  Bobby Holmes and Mark Roberts

I. Error

• 1. Galatians 2:17
  2. Romans 4:5-10; 5:1
  3. Hebrews 7:22
  4. Isaiah 64:6

A. Neo-Calvinists say: “Men are saved by His good works. Jesus is our substitute. We are accounted righteous because Jesus is righteous. The righteousness of Christ clothes the believer with the righteousness the law demands. Man is too corrupt — he can never be righteous on his own.”
B. Passages misused:

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Authors: Bobby Holmes and Mark Roberts

I. Error

• 1. “Salvation is by grace alone”
  1. Romans 4:1-5; 11:6
  1. Watch them say “grace only” whenever you talk about obedience, but then say “one must believe”
  2. Which is it – grace only or grace and faith?
  3. See John 6:29

A. Neo-Calvinists B. Passages Misused

C. Red Flag:

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Authors: Bobby Holmes and Mark Roberts

I. Error

• 1. “Justification is done by God, makes one right with Him. Sanctification is an ongoing process wrought by the Spirit.”
  1. Romans 5:1-5, 17; 8:1ff
  2. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4
  3. 2 Thessalonians 2:13

A. Neo-Calvinists: B. Passages Misused

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Authors:  Bobby Holmes and Mark Roberts

The Seed of Calvinism

God’s Sovereignty Must Rule and Control Everything!

John Calvin’s Five Tenants

• Total Depravity
• Unconditional Election
• Limited Atonement
• Irresistable Grace
• Perseverance of the Saints

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(An Issue That Will Not Die)

Authors: Bobby Holmes and Mark Roberts

Naturally, the roots of Neo-Calvinism are found in plain vanilla Calvinism. This booklet attempts to briefly cover that ground before turning its attention to this “offshoot” of John Calvin’s original errors.

John Calvin made one wrong assumption, and it totally corrupted and destroyed everything he ever thought or wrote from then on. His decision that God controlled everything crept into his beliefs about salvation, redemption, etc. Look carefully at the TULIP and you will see his erroneous ideas about sovereignty behind every point.

The Neo-Calvinists among us make some similarly wrong conclusions, and then build a house of theology upon the shifting sands of error. May this booklet help you to destroy this pernicious teaching.

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In the previous article mention was made of Martin Luther, one of the most prominent theologians of the Reformation movement. Because of his influence, most Protestant groups today believe that salvation is obtained by faith alone. His influence on Protestant denominations is rivaled only by John Calvin.

Calvin was born in 1509, and came to adulthood under the influences of the Reformation begun by Martin Luther. In 1536 he published the first edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, which contain a systematic theology based on the premises of the total depravity of man, and the individual predestination of the saved. Though few Christian denominations can be said to be fully Calvinistic in their theology, Calvin’s writings have had a profound influence upon Protestant doctrine.

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One aspect of Calvinistic doctrine is the three-fold error whereby it is taught that (1) Adam’s sin was transferred to mankind; (2) man’s sin was transferred to Christ; and (30) Christ’s personal righteousness was transferred to believers. None of these statements are true nor do they reflect accurately the Bible doctrine of “imputation.” In this article we will note the second of these errors and study the claim that the sins of mankind have been transferred to Christ.

A verse often used in this context is 2 Corinthians 5:21: “Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” The phrase “he made to be sin” is the controversial part of the text and one that is grossly misused. We need to understand in what sense God made Christ “to be sin.” Did God place our sins on Christ? Would that make Christ a sinner? Did Christ die a spiritual death as well as a physical death on the cross? Just what is meant? As in all studies, we need to consider all that the Bible says and not take one verse to mean something that would contradict other Bible passages.

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Dear Larry,

Due to the fact that you believe that you are saved in part or wholly by baptism, I must mark you as one still in darkness and as one who has not seen that we are complete in Jesus Christ and his finished work. Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves. What is it about that that you don’t understand? Paul said if it be works it is something that God owes us but grace is the gift of God which is faith. Larry, due to the fact that the Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith, and you say that it is by some work that we do like baptism, or any other thing, I would bid you to repent and trust in the finished work of Christ and nothing else but Christ and God will save you. I hope you will take this as a letter of love and may God have mercy on you.

By his grace, Frank L. McClanahan

Dear Frank,

Thank you for your letter and for your clarity of expression. I appreciate your willingness to state boldly what you believe. I trust that you will grant me the same right to respond with equal directness to your arguments.

(1) Baptism And The Finished Work Of Christ: Frank, suppose I were to say, "Due to the fact that you believe that you are saved in part or wholly by faith, I must mark you as one still in darkness and as one who has not seen that we are complete in Jesus Christ and his finished work," how would you answer me? Primitive (Hardshell) Baptists make the same argument against you as you have made against me. They do not believe that faith is essential to salvation. Thus, when you say that one must believe in Jesus, they will accuse you of not trusting "in the finished work of Jesus Christ." Tell me, Frank, how you would answer their charge?

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Under the headline, "Pro-homosexual Church Withdraws from CBF," the following article appeared www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=11536, August 17, 2001.

"University Baptist Church in Austin, Texas, has notified the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) that they are pulling out of the national group because of its policy against homosexuals, according to a report in The American-Statesman.

"The CBF’s policy prohibits the hiring of non-celibate gays and lesbians, bars them from missionary work and does not allow the organization to give money to homosexual groups or causes.

"’We most deeply regret the condemning message you have sent in the name of Christ to all gay and lesbian persons by your action,’ wrote the Rev. Larry Bethune in a letter from the church Aug. 16. ‘Because it is God’s call for our congregation to minister with gay and lesbian Baptist Christians and their families, we cannot in good conscience support an organization which discriminates against our brothers and sisters in Christ … any more than we could do so if the CBF discriminated on the basis of race or gender,’ Bethune wrote.

"This isn’t the first scrape University Baptist has had over its policy of welcoming homosexuals. The Austin Baptist Association voted to oust the church in 1995 after University Baptist ordained a gay deacon. The Baptist General Convention of Texas’ executive committee voted to end its affiliation with University Baptist in 1998. University Baptist is a member of the American Baptist Churches, U.S.A., a Baptist denomination that continues to debate whether to take a stand on churches that allow non-celibate homosexual members."

Candid Comments

First, how does the average Baptist regard the spiritual status of "the Rev. Larry Bethune" and the "University Baptist Church in Austin"? Are those who endorse and sanction homosexual behavior, such as they do, still in a saved state before God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)?

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"Rev. Mack Jones," of Baytown, Texas, writes a weekly column in his church bulletin entitled, "From Your Pastor’s Heart." From it, we extract the following:

"We are often questioned about the eternity of our belief. People want to know if God will disown them. The emphatic answer is, no! By no means will God ever disown one of his children. Heb. 7:25 states this very clearly; ‘Hence, also, he is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them’ (NAS). We are saved forever. We draw near to God through Christ, and He makes intercession for us. This gives us great assurance of our faith in Christ" (Wooster Baptist Church Messenger, Vol. 29, Number 8, 2/20/01).

Review Of Mack Jones’ Remarks

It is to be doubted that folks question "the eternity of (their) belief." Faith, like hope, is not eternal. Both shall be swallowed up in the possession of "life and immortality" brought to fruition and completion. However, we shall let that pass and deal with the main thrust of Mack’s message.

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(A brother sent me the following “Calvinistic ‘cutsie,’” as he called it.)

One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick. Suddenly, my son Matthew spoke up from his relaxed position in the front seat. “Mom, I’m thinking of something.” This announcement usually meant he had been pondering some fact for a while and was now ready to expound all that his seven-year-old mind had discovered. I was eager to hear. “What are you thinking?” I asked. “The rain,” he began, “is like sin and the windshield wipers are like God, wiping our sins away.” After the chill bumps raced up my arms I was able to respond. “That’s really good, Matthew.” Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little boy take this revelation? So I asked… “Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?” Matthew didn’t hesitate one moment with his answer: “We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us.” Who can drive in the rain again without thinking of this one? Thank You JESUS!

Well, since Jesus shed his blood for the lost, for the sins of those who have never believed on Christ, does the same rule apply to them (1 John 2:1, 2)?

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