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The Baptist Error of the Sinner’s Security
It is so hard to find a truly sound Biblical Church to attend these days. And the Baptist would be a delightful alternative if you could just actually find one that did not teach the damnable heresy of “Once Saved Always Saved.” I’m still shocked about the statement that one Baptist Deacon made to me a couple of years ago as he stood drunk. He told me that because he has been saved he can never lose his salvation. And he even went on to say that even if the Rapture Trumpet sounded and he was in the very act of violating the innocence of a child, that both he and the child would be caught up to meet Jesus in the air! This man’s statement really made me realize just how dangerous the teaching of “Once Saved - Always Saved” really is. Especially considering that the doctrine of “Unconditional Eternal Security” is the most widely accepted teaching in the Bible belt where the instances of Child abuse are so staggering.
Of course the defenders of this error would say that such an abuser of God’s grace was never saved to begin with. And yet that is what is so disturbing. It’s the fact that so many of the very defenders of this heresy who claim that such person’s were never saved, are not only abusing the grace of God themselves, but they along with far too many in their congregations are all living in gross compromise in the perdition of worldliness. And as one director of a Christian Crisis Pregnancy Center once told me regarding another related issue? She said: “It does not matter how sexually immoral the Contemporary Christian Music world becomes, because after all, we are all Unconditionally and Eternally Secure anyway!” With Christian leaders and guidance counselors who reason like this, it is no wonder why so many Church going teenagers are getting abortions, sex diseases and are becoming drunks, druggies and sex addicts.
And yet we have been warned against such false leaders which come to us as wolves in sheep's clothing. For Jesus said that we shall know them by their fruits. “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:16-20) Thus, in light of God's Word we would do well to examine the fruit of this “Once Saved Always Saved” teaching which I shall abbreviate as “OSAS” for the remainder of this article.
I realize that there are many OSAS believers out there who would even go as far as lying through their teeth to justify and protect this damnable heresy of OSAS and in my opinion the fruit of this teaching can only be described as “evil.” I know because once while homeless I went to a Nationally known Mission for the Homeless in Down Town Chicago where one of their staff leaders, a man by the name of Tony, overheard me stating to another individual that I did not believe in the teaching of OSAS. And this staff leader asks me to follow him into an office where he shut and locked the door behind us. He then told me his name and claimed to be a head staff leader at this Mission. He then took out a Bible and a Strong’s Concordance and informed me in no kind manner that I was wrong about the OSAS teaching and that before I left that office he was going to prove that I was wrong.
I then responded by saying that I was not interested in his teaching. At which point he became even more angry and yelled at me in a very hostile manner. When he saw that I was not responding in like manner, he then informed me that one of the conditions of staying at this Mission was that everyone had to attend a daily Bible Study and also be teachable by accepting and acknowledging that the doctrine of OSAS was indeed true. And unless I attended these daily studies and became teachable, then I could not stay at the Mission. At that point I said I would be leaving. Yet when I turned to leave, this man blocked the door and said that I could not leave until he proved to me that OSAS was the truth.
At this point I told him that I just wanted to leave and he needed to get out of the way so that I could go. But he only refused and laughed at me as if he was taking great delight in causing me stress. I finally told him that if he did open the door and get out of my way I would call the police as soon as I did leave because he could not keep me there forever. At that point he unlocked and opened the door and as I walked out he pushed me into the door frame with the door and then quickly re-slammed the door on me causing great pain in my head as I was slammed between the door and door frame.
I then went immediately back to the front lobby where the man who took my Social Security number stood when I first came into the mission. And I ask him if I could speak to anyone at the Mission who was in authority over this guy named Tony. And this man told me that he was Tony's Elder. So I related what had just taken place and as I was relaying what had just occurred, this guy Tony walked up calling me a liar. By this time there were other staff people gathering around all looking at me as if I was crazy while Tony stood there smiling ever so contemptuously toward me. And I then realized that since I was a stranger off the street, these people most likely thought I was the liar and so before them all I walked up to Tony looking him in the eyes and I said: “You are the liar, because I believe that if I lied in such an evil way to slander and falsely accuse a Minister, I would fear being judged by God and going to hell. Yet since you believe that you are saved no matter what you do, it is really easy for you to do what you did to me and then lie through your teeth about it, because you have no fear of God.”
Needless to say, those other staff persons who heard me rebuke this OSAS fanatic were not too happy about the way I rebuked him. And I suspect that it was because I had exposed the evil fruit of their beloved OSAS heresy. And though no one was willing to openly admit that I might be telling the truth, I strongly suspect that by this point everyone knew that this guy was as guilty as sin and he was lying through his teeth. Yet rather than showing me any kind of respect by at least speaking to me as being an innocent victim in that whole situation, I was instead told that I was the one who was sinning. Because they reasoned that if I was a real Christian I would have forgiven Tony. And if he really did assault me then I would have just let it go without causing such a scene. And the whole time all this went on, Tony was looking at me mockingly with that same devilish grin. So I just left that place and have never publicly disclosed this experience until now.
That experience really opened my eyes to the fact that this OSAS heresy not only corrupts those who embrace it. But it actually leads to a reprobate mind that is totally void of the fear of the Lord. Such apostate souls would do well to heed God's Word which admonishes us to: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2nd Corinthians 13:5
And yet what disturbs me the most is the fact that this Mission has a national Radio Ministry through which they request financial support to house and feed the homeless. But the guy who took my Social Security number (before allowing me to enter that Mission in the first place,) told me that it was needed to receive government money for each person they house and feed? Sadly, that's the Christian world which we live in. A world where Christian Ministries receive tax payer dollars and the offerings of Christians in the name of helping the homeless, only to use a Ministry of mercy to force demonic indoctrination upon those suffering poor homeless people who would not get a bed to sleep in or a bite to eat otherwise. At least not from such a Ministry as that, whose leaders are totally subverted by the OSAS heresy.
Another evil fruit that I've seen from this damnable OSAS teaching is the suicides and accidental overdoses which this teaching fosters. I've personally known professing Christian individuals who have shoot themselves and/or have taken fatal overdoses of drugs. And it is almost eerie because only months and/or a few short years before these same individuals died by their own hands, they tried to convince me that they were saved and secure no matter how far they had fallen into sin. One guy even told me that he once believed like I did. But after watching Charles Stanley he was liberated from legalism and no longer had to live his Christian life in fear of going to hell for the sins he no longer had to struggle against. Sadly what he meant was that he had simply given himself over to partake and indulge in a lifestyle of those very sins he once denied himself. And not many months after I tried to reason with him against the error of this teaching, he lost his job, wife, home and everything due in part to his raging drug habit. And because he believed that he was OSAS he placed a gun to his head and ended it all.
I think of a young woman who absolutely scoffed against the true way of salvation. Unlike the young man before who had really come to Christ in repentance before being deceived by the demonic teachings of Charles Stanley. This young woman had never really been saved at all. She simply accepted an invitation to go an altar without ever really repenting of her sins. The way that she explained it to me was that it did not matter how you lived. Christ paid it all and all we have to do is accept His free gift of eternal life and we can never lose our salvation. Yet her sins went on to consume her soul with sexually transmitted disease and a raging drug addiction while she sat through Church services week after week. Only she was never once told that hell awaited her if she did not repent. You see, hers was a OSAS Church and in spite of being told that she would lose her heavenly rewards if she died in sin. Still yet she was totally devoted to her wicked lifestyle.
It's beyond me how that these OSAS deceivers actually believe that by telling Christians they will lose their rewards if they do not repent, it's going to somehow scare folks into turning away from their sins? We live in this fallen world where the only freedom from sin's bondages is through true repentance by the preaching of God's Word. And like so many who embrace the OSAS lie, this young woman I knew had no heart for the truth. And think about this: If such deceivers are conditioning people to believe that they are indeed eternally saved, but are only in danger of losing some unspecified reward for their backsliding; In most, if not all cases, people are naturally going to choose the immediate pleasures of sin rather than waiting for the after life to receive some fuzzy concept of a promised reward that they have no heart or desire for any way. Because if God's Word has no place in their hearts, then what makes these OSAS preachers think that a reward is going to matter to them? And it would seem really amusing listening to these ridiculous Media Ministers trying to sound so serious when warning people against losing their rewards if it were not so sad.
It's ridiculous, because all those OSAS Christians out there who are smoking, snorting and shooting their drugs and indulging in their adulteries and whoredoms could really care less. I mean can you imagine people suddenly putting their cloths back on and laying down their crack pipes after hearing a preacher over the television saying: “If you take pleasure in such sins you are still eternally secure and will not lose your salvation! But oh listen, you better understand that you are not going to get away with your sin because when you get to heaven God is going to withhold some of your rewards!” And it's sad, because even though it sounds so ridiculous, most people take them seriously. In that instead of having the effect of causing them to repent, it really only reinforces their desire to sin because it removes any fear they have against going to hell.
Speaking of such believers, Jesus exposed the heart of the matter. They are willfully ignorant of the truth and they actually hate it because they are servants of sin who have no place in their hearts for the true Word of God.
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.” John 8:31-37
And like those “believing” Jews who wanted their sins along with their salvation, this young woman refused to believe the truth. And because she was so well indoctrinated by the lies of the OSAS teaching, there was simply no way to reach her soul. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and even up to the very day that she took an accidental overdose and died, God was still reaching out to her through true Believers who sought to warn her against her perdition before it was too late.
We really begin to understand just how evil the fruit of the OSAS teaching really is when we consider the wicked wretchedness that this heresy fosters. And “evil“ is not even a strong enough word to describe it when we think about all the heart break, misery, pain, despair and darkness that it leaves behind as loved ones are left to pick up all the broken pieces after it has poisoned and killed souls who might have otherwise been saved and lived. And yet in its wake there are millions of betrayed spouses, broken marriages, shattered families, confused and abused children and grieving loved ones.
God does not tempt men to sin. And yet by comparison, if I had a teenager who I promised to take on a paradise vacation under the condition that he would just accept my love for him as a Father and be obedient to my word because he loved me in return. And I told my teenager that as soon as I returned from a business trip that we would take this paradise vacation. But in the meanwhile he was forbidden from going to a friend's party while I was away on business. And yet I also warned him that if he did indeed go to that party in disobedience to my instruction. I would still take him on that paradise vacation, but when we arrived I would not buy him a T-Shirt because he disobeyed me. Would not I as a Father be tempting my teenager to disobey me by making it so easy for him to weigh the consequences against being obedient?
Of course I would be tempting him to disobey by making such an enticing proposition against obeying my stated instructions. How could such a Father claim to even love their child by encouraging them to walk in such a path of disobedience? No parent in their right mind would be so careless. And likewise, God the Father is not going to tempt us to disobey His Word by making such an enticing proposition of promising us paradise in heaven after He returns by simply telling us that if we do decide to live in disobedience we will still be saved but we will only lose a few rewards. God is not the author of such confusion! And is it not written:
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" James 1:13-15
Questions About Once Saved Always Saved
Question: Does the OSAS teaching (which conditions people to believe that there shall be no eternal consequences for sin in relation to going to hell) inspire professing Christians to walk in the fear of the Lord or does it undermine God's fear in their lives against sinning?
Answer: It is written in the Bible that: “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” (Proverbs 16:6) And sense the teaching of OSAS conditions people to believe that there are no eternal consequences for sin. It is therefore only logical to conclude that such a teaching undermines the fear of the Lord in people's lives against sinning; thus, undermining the ordained and restraining power of God's Word and conviction in their hearts against sin. In other words the OSAS teaching actually encourages sin in the lives of Christians.
Question: In light of the fact that the teaching of OSAS is the cherished doctrine of almost every Christian and Radio Broadcasting Network and Ministry. And their leaders and speakers are all continuously promoting this teaching; thus, mentally conditioning the Christian masses into becoming totally indoctrinated by this belief, which states that they can have the pleasures of sin in time while claiming the promise of salvation in eternity. Does the teaching of OSAS serve as a strait gate and narrow way that few find? Or does it serve as a wide gate and broad way that many go into.
Answer: Over and over again in the New Testament, both Jesus and His Apostles warned us against the blinding, deceiving and damning power of sin against our becoming corrupted and reprobate. Over and over we are warned against false prophets and teachers who would deceive the masses and lead many Believers to their eternal demise. Over and over we are admonished to beware, to take heed, to stand, to watch, to be stedfast and to endure because so many believers would be deceived and fall away. When speaking of the end times Jesus warned:
“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:11-13
Notice that after Jesus warned of false prophets deceiving many He did not say: “And because they shall deceive many the love of many shall wax cold.” Rather, He states: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” In other words Jesus is telling us that the result and consequence of these false prophets deceiving many, is that iniquity (sin and wickedness) shall abound and the love of many would wax cold; thus, what is actually being revealed by Jesus is that in these last days there are many false prophets out there who are deceiving many with a deception which causes sin to abound in their lives. And in the very next verse He states: “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Now ask yourself, why would Jesus say that? Why would He state that we must endure to the end against false prophets whose messages encourage Believers to sin? I mean if we have the assurance of being saved after back sliding and living and dying in sin, then why would Jesus teach such a contradictory thing as saying we must endure unto the end to be saved? Is God a liar? In other words, given the fact that Jesus is talking about deceivers whose teachings inspire Christians to sin. And He goes on to warn us that we are not going to be saved unless we endure unto the end. It is then only a matter of common sense to realize that Jesus is warning us against becoming deceived by those who teach a doctrine of Unconditional Eternal Security which tells us that once we have been saved we shall always be saved and therefore we need not fear dying in our sins.
Therefore, it is absolutely certain that the teaching of OSAS serves as a wide gate and broad way which leads to the destruction of those who go in thereat. And it does not matter how innocently such deceivers come to us, because Jesus warned that they would appear as innocent as lambs but inwardly they would be ravening wolves. As it is written:
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matthew 7:13-15
I realize that shining a light into the dark and scandalous consequences of the “Once Saved Always Saved” teaching is going to stir up a lot of demons and upset a lot of its proponents. Yet no matter how beloved this satanic doctrine has become throughout the land. I for one am not going to allow the dissenting masses who willfully embrace and dogmatically defend this “Say a Simple Sinner’s Prayer and Live like the Devil free and fair” heresy to dictate what I preach. Because behind all their false justifications of contending for the Believers security for the sake of saving the Church from legalism. The real reason that so many fight against the truth is because it is a threat to their worldly and sinful life styles. But I believe there are more than a few out there who will appreciate hearing the truth amidst all the confusing voices which so devotedly defend this damnable doctrine.
Once Saved - Twice Dead The Snare of Unconditional Eternal Security
“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;” Hebrews 3:12-14
My dear friend if I just may Please heed these words I say
For your eternal soul I cry You need not to spiritually die
You say that you are saved Yet who can tell by your life each day
You live in sin without a care Habitually practicing that which the righteous would not dare
Yet you still claim that you're secure “Eternally safe,” you say you're sure
“Unconditionally” at rest and at peace “Once Saved Aways Saved,” yet you're deceived Jeremiah 23:14 / Ezekiel 13:22
For I fear by some dark means You have been beguiled just like Eve
And now you're corrupted from within Being lead astray deeper into your sin 2nd Corinthians 11:3
For just as the Serpent beguiled Eve Through such wicked trickery
You have been seduced to misconceive Thus you are blind and do not see
For though once saved, you are now lost And in unbelief and blindness you've paid the cost
Because the wage of sin, it still is death No matter what the false Media Preachers have said 2nd Corinthians 4:1-4 / Romans 8:1-14 / Galatians 5:16-24
For the fear of God they undermine So that into sin you shall decline
Just as the Serpent beguiled Eve Saying: “Ye Shall Not Die” for her misdeed
So we see that the Devil was the first To teach a false grace for man to curse
Thus from the womb of Satan came to birth The most damnable doctrine ever heard Genesis 3:1-4 / 1st Timothy 4:1-2 / 2nd Timothy 3:1-9,12-13
For it makes a liar out of God As underfoot His blood you trod
Therefore I warn you to take heed You must repent of your misdeeds Hebrews 10:19-31
How can you say that you are saved When it has been written so very plain
That we must be sure to take good heed Against an evil heart of unbelief
For we are only made partakers of Jesus Christ If our hearts are not hardened by sin's dark lies
Thus we must hold steadfast until the end And not depart from God back into sin Hebrews 3:12-14
For it is written yet again That we must endure unto the end
Because many false prophets shall arise And shall deceive many by their lies
Thus wickedness shall abound As the love of many is cooled down
Yet those who shall endure unto the end Shall be saved for sure my friend Matthew10:22 / 24:11-13
Thus only then shall we be saved Not by our own works, but by God's own grace
For the grace of God that saves from sin Has appeared to teach all men
That denying ungodly and worldly lust We should live holy without distrust
Looking for our hope in Jesus Christ Who for us, He gave His Life
That he might redeem us from all sin To purify a people unto Him
Zealous of good works our lives to live This is the true grace message which God's Word gives Titus 2:11-15
Not like many, who do now teach Who have crept in, for to deceive
Who turn God's grace into a license for sin To live unrestrained in the lust of men Jude 1:3-25
Against such seducers we have been warned It is so crystal clear, it can't be ignored
That upon such scoffers God's wrath shall pour For their willful ignorance and deceptive scorn
Promising a false freedom to those clean escaped From the sinful pollutions of this world and its dark fate
They allure through the lust of the flesh Turning the once saved back to unrighteousness
Yet better for them to never have known The way of righteousness from which they've gone
Than to have turned from truth given unto them As a dog returns to its own vomit and a pig to its pen
For if after they've escaped, through the knowledge of Christ And are again snared by sin and its blinding lies
Their last end is then worse than when they had begun For they no longer fear God against sin to shun 2nd Peter 2:17-22
Oh how very fearful for you my friend Because you can not see that you shall be damned
For believing the lies of these godless men Who teach “Once Saved Always Saved,” throughout the land
For it is written, that if are faithful unto our death We shall be given a crown of life when we pass the test
Thus upon all who shall overcome and endure to stand The second death, shall have no command Revelation 2:10-11 / 2O:4-15
But for the wicked, it shall not be so Into the Lake of fire they shall be thrown
For as it is written, “this is the second death” Thus heed Jude’s warning against the twice dead. Revelation 21:8 / Jude 1:12 © 2003 Raymond Bolton Pena Though the Articles and Poetic Contemplations on this Website are copyrighted, you are most welcome to make printed copies for free distribution only according to these conditions: You must copy them in their entirety, including the copyright notice at the end of each poem along with this notice of permission. Thank You. RemnantLifeMinistries.Net <<<<{{{{((((((((R.L.M.)))))))}}}}>>>> |