That Was Easy! …or was it really?
It seems I go through spurts on my blog where I may write several posts and then it turns dry for a while. Or I wait until I’ve got something serious or something that I’ve been thinking about a while before I write. I guess I really need to start writing more often. I’m know it will be good for me, and for anyone who might read. Ok, now onto the post….
I work in an office, in a cubicle and have my desk decorated with a myriad of personal affects. One of the more insignificant, yet fun ones is an “Easy Button.” I was at Staples awhile back and thought it’d be fun to get and have on my desk. You know have some fun during a stressful day at work. It’s been sitting on my desk for at least a couple years and every now and then I hit it, to hear it say “That was easy!”
Even before the Lord moved my family and I away from the church/school we were at, He began showing me the easy believism I was being taught was a false gospel. Although all those who were doing the teaching would tell you that’s not what they believe, nor what they teach, if you look at Scripture and compare it w/ what was being taught, that’s exactly what it was, and to my knowledge that’s what still is being taught,
Numbers is everything. Creating supposed converts equals higher numbers. Bringing bus loads of kids and sometimes adults to church, to share the “gospel” with them only to take them through a tract, to get them to pray a prayer at the end and declare them saved and then baptized either that week or the next is the goal. Of all the years spent doing this, I wonder how many of these kids grew up to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, and were active in church. Better yet, I wonder how many of them God actually saved, and how many of them have a false assurance? I would venture to say the latter is higher, that most have a false assurance of Salvation. This is exactly what we’re taught, and that’s because it’s all man centered. Man has a “free-will” and in his dead, sinful, condemned condition, he can somehow make a decision to “accept Christ as personal Savior”? I think not! That’s not what Scripture teaches, but this is a topic for another discussion although it does relate to the topic at hand.
The gospel is not to just give mental assent to 5 “truths” and then pray a prayer “accepting Him as your personal Savior.” I say 5 “truths” because although each of the statements is backed up with a Scripture verse they are totally taken out of context. See there is some truth in them but the big picture is a false view of the Gospel contained in the Scriptures.
The tract reads:
1. Realize that God loves you
God loves you and has a plan for your life
“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.” John 3:16
2. The Bible says that all men are sinners
Our sins have separated us from God
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
God made man in his own image. He gave man the ability to choose right from wrong. We choose to sin. Our sins separate us from God.
3. God’s word also says that sin must be paid for
“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23
Wages mean payment. The payment for our sin is death & hell, separation from God forever. If we continue in our sin, we shall die without Christ and be without God forever.
4. The good news is that Christ paid for our sins
All our sins were laid on Christ on the cross. He paid our sin debt for us. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, and He arose from the dead. He is alive forevermore.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
5. We must personally pray & receive Christ by Faith as our Savior
The Bible says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13
Then there is:
Let’s review for a moment
Realize that God loves you……John 3:16
All men are sinners…..Romans 3:23
Sin must be paid for….Romans 6:23
Christ paid for our sins….Romans 5:8
We must personally pray and receive Christ as our Savior…Romans 10:13
Pray and Receive Christ as your Savior
Lord, I know that I am a sinner. If I died today, I would not go to Heaven. Forgiven my sin, come into my life and be my Savior. Help me live for You from this day forward. In Jesus name, Amen.
The Bible says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13
New Life
Everlasting life begins when we receive Christ as our Savior
Let us help you in your new life as a Christian
Study the Bible with us and build your life on a solid foundation
Now I’ve quoted the tract verbatim in it’s entirety as to the meat of it. I did that so as to understand the context in which it is all written. There are so many things I could go into regarding this topic and the information contained in the tract so I may not hit them all. We’ll see. So as you can see there is some truth but not all of it. All but one of the verses is either taken out of context, The only verse that does not do this is Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
One cannot simply acknowledge these 5 things, pray the prayer and be saved. Despite what anyone who believes this may tell you, their actions speak louder than their words. They speak out of both sides of their mouths. Many times people are coerced into the prayer. I’ve spoken with people who give mental assent to the fact that they’re sinners, dead in their sin, they know who Jesus Christ is and what He came to do, and they’ve been told what Scripture says about coming to faith in Christ, yet there’s no change in their heart. I know someone that’s prayed the prayer and has been living an unchanged life for all their life since. Just because someone gives mental assent to these things, and prays the prayer does NOT make them anymore saved than the man who flat out rejects. The quest for larger and larger numbers has fueled this easy believism. Not all large churches act in such a manner, but I’ve been a part of one that was wholeheartedly, full force, gung ho for producing more and more #’s. They’d say they weren’t but then in Sunday school they’d talk about the numbers, and at church services the pastor would talk about how full the place is, and how every service is that way. They’d brag on their #’s on the busses and how many “bus kids” they get to come in. It is all about the #’s and this fuels easy believism to build up the #’s higher and higher, faster and faster. Because we all know that the measure of the success of a ministry is in the #’s right?! …NO! ….
This of course carries into evangelism. I’ve spoken w/ some who ask, “How many have you led to Christ recently?” They gauge your spirituality based on the answer to this question. Our job is to preach the Gospel & make disciples. If God is drawing someone, he’ll use the preaching of His Word to bring them to Himself. When you turn this around and put the emphasis in the wrong place, on man, it will lead to this. In order to get more people saved they get them to to acknowledge these 5 things and once done, pray the prayer and call them saved. Bam, presto, you’ve completed these things and prayed the prayer, “Now that you’re saved, here’s a Bible, write down the date, time & place and if you’re ever in doubt of your Salvation just turn here to see this to remind yourself of what you did here today!” ….Wait, hold the phone!!!….What YOU did? ….It’s the mantra, “You can’t do anything to save yourself, works don’t save you! But if you want to be saved you must…” “Jesus wants to save you if you let him” “Jesus voted for you, Satan voted against you, and it’s up to you to cast the deciding vote.” ….These are statements that I’ve heard before….Now the last time I checked, Scripture doesn’t teach anything like this! ….Yet in many churches and schools it is propounded from pulpits & lecterns as the Truth.
This easy believism is NOT the gospel, even if the points listed above have Scripture to try and back them up (This is a topic I’ll deal with in a separate post when I break down the tract and we delve more into the Scriptures surrounding it). The Scriptures listed are taken out of context and this painting of the Gospel, is not the one of the Scriptures, but rather a painting of another gospel. Nowhere in Scripture do we see this as an example of the Gospel being given, and someone acknowledging these 5 things, praying a prayer and then declared saved! ….Look at the way the Gospel was given in Scripture and look at the way people came ot faith in Christ in Scripture. Paul didn’t prayer a prayer to be saved on the Damascus Road, in Acts 9, nor did the jailer in Acts 16. Christ didn’t say you needed to acknowledge 5 spiritual truths, pray a prayer, and you’re saved.
“Salvation is of the Lord!” I’ve heard said so many times, yet contradicted in the very next breath! If you adhere to the “That Was Easy” gospel, it ‘s all about man and his decision, and he could still be a possible child of hell.
….Yes a thousand times yes! that statement is true, salvation is of the Lord, and nothing of man. Period. Think about it.
Soli deo Gloria!
Shedding The Excesses
Hebrews 12:1- 2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
It is January 13th and we are well into the new year. With the coming of each new year comes many “new year’s resolutions.” How many of these are actually kept and have a lasting change on our lives? More importantly though, what is our motivation for setting such resolutions? Like so many others, my motivation in the past has been selfish. It has always been for my benefit, for me, and for no one else. Where is God in the whole matter? Scripture tells us that everything we do should be to glorify God. Our lives should be a reflection of Him, and as the Westminster Catechism points out, that the “chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” This changes everything when we view our resolutions in light of this one thing.
As I am going into this new year, I have set some resolutions to shed excesses…to shed excesses in areas of weight, debt, stuff & anything else I can think of. I have done these things before, only to gain them back. But before it has always been for myself and no one else. I resolve this year with my resolutions, that they are not being done primarily for myself but for Him who ransomed me, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that as I work toward shedding excesses in these areas that my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ would be glorified. May He be glorified in your life as well.
Called & Saved By His Grace 