The Other Jesus:
The Gospel Perverted
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For if he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus... 2 Corinthians 11:4. I marvel that ye are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto
another gospel... and would pervert the gospel of Christ, Galatians
1:6. The warning from God is quite clear: false prophets abound
who preach another Jesus, another gospel, a perverted gospel which
is no gospel at all. [Mat 7:13, 14]
We greatly underestimate the enemy of our souls. We can fully
expect him to have a false plan of Salvation to present to Bible
believers; it will be an exact duplicate of the real thing, yet
miss the truth just enough to miss Biblical Salvation. The enemy
will not deny the blood atonement nor the verbal inspiration of
the Scriptures, yet he will not place the blood atonement in its
proper place. Of course, his plan would have to be so close to
the truth that it would look exactly like the truth, thereby avoiding
detection by even the 'best scholars.' [From this preacher's experience,
only those who have been caught in the deception are readily able
to understand the perverted gospel's devastating closeness to
the truth yet the lost condition of those in it.]
Though the perverted gospel claims the blood atonement,
it avoids it ever so slightly just enough to miss eternal life.
Can we expect anything less from the best deceiver ever created,
the father of lies?
In these next few pages, we will attempt to look past
the apparent perfect message, which makes the perversion so appealing,
so that we might see its underlying perversion.
Many who read this will say, "You are splitting hairs."
Certainly! The father of lies is an expert at splitting hairs
and misusing words. Did he not try to misuse wordsþScriptureþwith
the Lord Jesus? We can be assured that he will do no less to those
today who believe God's Word; what better place to misuse words
than in the plan of Salvation? [Mat 4:6] One of the primary responsibilities
of a teacher of God's Word is to divide asunder the soul and spirit,
and.. the joints and marrow with the word of God. [Heb 4:12]
This perverted plan probably has come into wide acceptance
since the '40's. [Undoubtedly, it is deeply rooted in the "Christian"
Mystics of old who longed for some kind of a mystical experience
with God.] It is centered around various basic instructions:
"You must ask Jesus into your heart to be saved - You
must ask Jesus to save you - If you will pray and turn your life
over to God, you will be saved - You must pray and trust the
Lord to take you to heaven - You must pray and trust the Lord
to come into your heart to save you - Receive God (Christ) into
your heart, life, &c."
There are abundant variations on this idea, none of which emphasize
- most avoid completely - the absolute necessity of trusting in
the substitutionary death and payment of Christ for our sins.
As we will see, all of Scripture points to this "Ask Jesus
into your heart" plan of salvation as being the perverted
plan of the other Jesus of Paul's warning. [Gal 1:6-9; 2 Cor 11:1-4,
13-15] [Try to fit the idea of "Ask Jesus into your heart"
into the law of the atoning sacrifice in the Old Testament. Were
the people commanded to ask the bullock to come into their hearts
or to turn their lives over to the bullock? [Lev 1:4] The only
thing that will work according to the Old Testament sacrificial
law is trust in the Sinless Sacrifice to pay the sin debt in the
place of the repentant sinner. All of the Lord's statements, e.g.,
John 3, must be viewed in the light of the Old Testament sacrificial
law.] ["Implicit in this justification is the substitutionary
sacrifice for sin sincerely offered as noted in Ps 51:16-19. The
righteousness of God's heirs of salvation is the righteousness
of the Messiah attributed to them by God through faith in the
redemptive work of Messiah in which God declares them righteous
only because of the grace provided through that redemptive work."
TWOT, Moody Press, pg. 755. This could not be any clearer. Any
other emphasis is the devil's lie.]
The perverted gospel seemingly has all of the right
words, feelings and works. [2 Cor 4:3-6] Its counterfeit is so
perfect that only a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit can separate
it from the truth. The true plan of Salvation was best described
by C.H. Spurgeon:
"The gospel is that Jesus Christ suffered in the
place of all sinners who trust Him as their Saviour; that He
endured what they ought to have endured and made atonement to
God for all the sins that they would ever commit; and if you
thus trust Him, you are saved. The simple act of relying upon
Jesus as your Substitute and Saviour puts away your guilt and
sin forever." He continues, "...Pride must come down,
self- righteousness must die, and the sinner must glorify the
grace of God by knowing that he has no merit of his own, or he
cannot be saved. ...Say, `Lord, I deserve to die; I deserve to
perish; I deserve to be destroyed. I will have no cavils with
Thee about my sentence, for how can a worm dispute with the Almighty?
Who am I that I should reply against my Maker?'"
"When you have taken that position, rely upon
the freeness of divine grace. Grasp, as with a death-clutch,
this great fact and say, 'Lord, Thou dost forgive sinners for
Thine own name's sake. Thou canst not find anything in us that
is good, anything that can move Thee to pity! But, oh, by Thy
mercy and Thy love, let men see what a gracious God thou art!
For Thy great name's sake have mercy upon us, and save us!'"
"You can plead that Jesus said, `Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out.' [Jn 6:37] And that he has
bidden his servants say, `Whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved;"
"...Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous
man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will
have mercy upon him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon."
"I cast aside all my former confidences, and all
my boastings, and come as the worst sinner must come, for I feel
that, in some respects, I am the worst sinner who ever came to
thee. I come as an utterly lost, undone, bankrupt sinner, and
I look to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for all I need."
[Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 53, Sermon "Rule of
Grace," pp 500-502, Pilgrim Publications, Pasadena TX]
Observe: First, we must realize we are sinners without
hope. Second, we must recognize that we can do nothing at all
to avoid the wages of our sin. Third, we must understand that
Christ paid all the penalty for our sin through His atoning sacrifice,
enduring what we should endure. Fourth, the sinner must rely upon
Jesus as his Substitute for his sins and as his Saviour, confessing
this verbally. Fifth, this simple act puts away the guilt of sin
forever. Anything less than this is not Biblical Salvation. If
these basic things are not made clear to the sinner before he
makes a profession, then it is impossible for him to be saved.
[Eph 1:12-14]
The sinner is saved because he has trusted in what Christ
has already done; he has trusted in Christ to pay his debt for
him, to pay what he should have paid: "To endure what he
ought to have endured." Then the Spirit of Christ comes to
dwell in the heart of the believer. One is not saved because he
asks the Spirit of Christ to come to dwell in him. If Salvation
were the result of the Spirit of Christ coming to dwell in a person,
there would have been no need of the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
Notice the order in 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.. It matters not how much the sinner wept, the degree
of conviction, his sincerity or the intensity of the emotional
experience involved, if the substitutionary payment of Christ's
atoning work was not made understandably clear. How could he trust
in something he didn't know about?
We fail to recognize the tenacity of our soul's enemy.
Luke 9 records a man who brought his son to Jesus for help, and
right at the feet of Christ, the devil made a final effort for
the boy. (As he was yet coming, the devil threw him down, and
tare him, v. 42.) The Enemy has not changed! Many with the world's
best intentions have been offered something else by the devil
as a last ditch effort to keep them from trusting in the atoning
sacrifice of Christ.
We have heard pastors preach "Trust Christ as your
Saviour," yet we see their congregations go out and spread
the "gospel" as "You must ask Jesus into your heart
to be saved." Where is the Salvation in this? The simplicity
that is in Christ is "You must trust Christ to pay the penalty
of your sin." The other Jesus is: "You must trust Jesus
to come into your heart." Look at the two completely different
things for which Christ is being trusted: one, you are trusting
Him to pay the penalty for your sin; the other, you are trusting
Him to come into your heart. There is a clear distinction between
the two.
The argument arises, "Brother Need, you are arguing over
semantics. All the best scholars agree that the two mean the same."
Being without Scriptural foundation, their argument is heretical
because there is not one contextual Scripture which will support
Salvation as a result of trusting Christ to come into one's heart.
A text without a context is a pretext. [2 Pe 3:16]
Obviously, the dividing line between the two plans
is only a hair's width, maybe only a word or two. But let us be
reminded that our enemy specializes in splitting hairs and misusing
words. His specialty is making a verse say something that it does
not actually say. In a futile attempt to justify the
perverted gospel, there are many verses offered by the devil which
are commonly wrested from their context: Behold I stand at the
door and knock... [Rev 3:20] Notice the context is speaking to
a church with no reference at all to Salvation; therefore, any
effort to make it say more than it does is similar to Satan's
efforts against the Lord. For whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved... shows the result of trusting Christ
as one's Substitute and Saviour. Any effort to make it stand alone
not only does great harm to the context, but removes Salvation
from the passage. [Rom 10:9-14] 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... [Jn 1:12] Within the context of the gospel,
this is receiving His redemptive work as payment for our sins
in our stead. To use it as "receiving Him into our hearts"
changes the plan of Salvation and makes Salvation a result of
Jesus coming into one's hearts, which it is not. The Spirit of
Christ coming into the believer's heart is a result of Salvation.
John 3:16 is probably one of the greatest verses
in Scripture. But again, the devil is no fool as he uses even
this precious verse to present his another Jesus. How? By changing
the meaning of a word. The meanings of words change with their
usage. Again, the dividing line is only a hair, a word or two,
but enough to miss Salvation.
I have read how new editions of the dictionary are
assembled. The editors have "listening stations" all
over the country, and whenthe usage of a word changes enough,
the dictionary is updated. An example of this would be II Thessalonians
2:7, where letteth means "hinder," but today, this word
means "to permit." The Scripture gives us a fixed language
where the meanings of words like letteth, believe and many others,
do not change. However, the meanings of these same words have
changed in our usage over the years, and is reflected in our dictionaries.
Our enemy then uses these changes to subtly present his another
Jesus.
Note the word believe: The usage of this word today
indicates, "to believe something as a historical fact."
James 2:19 points out that the devils believe there is a God -
they know the fact that He exists. A good secular humanist education
is required to know more than the devils do: There is no God.
Scripture teaches that even the devils will bear witness to who
He is and that they will confess and praise Him, but He will not
accept their praise. Therefore, just because someone acknowledges,
confesses or praises God and Christ does not mean he loves God
or is saved. [Mat 8:29; Ma 1:23, 24; 3:11; 5:7; Lu 8:28; Ac 16:16,
17; 19:5]
Consequently, if a person claims for Salvation,
"I believe Christ died, was buried and rose again for sinners
and I now confess that with my mouth," he could have nothing
more than the devils' belief. The Bible definition of the word
"believe" must be trust or reliance. Thus Paul's statement,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, Acts
16:31, would mean to place one's complete trust or reliance in
His payment for his sins, "To endure what we ought to endure."
Anything less is not Biblical Salvation.
Matthew 7:21-23 strikes at the heart of the matter.
First, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven... The sinner might have cried out,
"Lord, save me," or, "Lord, I trust you to come
into my heart and save me," but he did not have a clear understanding
of the substitutionary, redemptive work of Christ. Or maybe he
did not have the Holy Spirit's light to enable him to understand
the substitutionary death and payment for his sins. [1 Cor 2:10-16;
2 Cor 4:3-6. God's judgement will be according to His one standard
of truth, Rom 2.] Whatever is prayed must be firmly grounded in
understanding and receiving what Christ has done for the sinner,
or they shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
An objection to our argument for the necessity of
a clear understanding of Christ's work might be: "I didn't
understand about Christ's redemptive work when I made my profession,
but I do now, so I'm OK." Observe: Ephesians 1:13, In whom
ye also trusted after...ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation; Romans 10:14, How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed (trusted)? and how shall they believe
in Him of whom they have not heard?; So then faith cometh by hearing...
Clearly, according to God's word, trust and relianceþthus
Salvationþcan only come after hearing and understanding
the truth of Christ's atoning work. Another objection
might be "Well, how about children? The atoning work of Christ
for the sinner and the sinner's trust in His atoning work is too
difficult for them to understand; therefore, we must place it
down on their level by telling them they must have Jesus in their
hearts." It is an absurd devil's lie to say that
the Lord has provided two plans of Salvation: one for children,
one for adults. Romans 2 clearly tells us that all judgement is
according to God's one standard of truth. Furthermore, when we
lower the gospel to the level of natural understanding, we depart
from the truth and exclude the Spirit of God from regeneration.
Is not one of the reasons for standing against modern perversions
of the Scripture their reduction to the level of the natural man?
In an honest evaluation, rather than placing the true plan of
redemption through Christ's atoning work on a child's level, we
see the false child's plan ask Jesus into your heart, &c.þbrought
to an adult level. Note that we are not speaking against
reaching children for the Lord. Obviously, our future hope lies
in reaching young people for the Kingdom's sake and teaching them
to observe all the Lord's commands. We must do all we can to reach
children for Christ, [Lk 18:6] but for us to say there is a way
for anyone to come to Christ other than through His substitutionary
death corrupts ..And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise
cast out. Everlasting life comes only through trusting Christ
as our Substitute and Saviour. We cannot add or detract anything,
for His revealed plan is complete. [Jn 6:40; Rev 22:19]
Consider this example. A little girl about six years
old heard that she had to have Jesus in her heart in order to
be saved. She expressed her desire to her mother and followed
her mother's instructions to ask Jesus into her heart. Her mother
then assured her that she was saved. Only by violently
wresting Scriptures beyond all recognition from their obvious
contexts can we believe that there is any Scriptural redemption
in the actions of the little girl. [Wrested, we might add, to
the destruction of all involved, Ps 56:5; 2 Pe 3:16.] We cannot
find one hint in contextual Scripture that this "gospel"
will save anyone. Certainly, the believer has Christ in him, the
hope of glory, but only as the result of trusting Christ as his
sin-bearer or substitute. [Col 1:27]
To tell a child, as this mother did, that she can
be saved by "asking Jesus into her heart" presents to
her the other Jesus. Although the other Jesus undoubtedly did
come into the girl's heart with good feelings and works, he is
not the One who died for sinners. We receive that Spirit of Christ
by trusting in His payment for our sins, not by asking Him into
our hearts. Jesus Christ lives in the believer only through faith
in His atoning work not through faith in a prayer. [Ac 20:29;
2 Cor 13:5]
Have we not been warned that he passes himself off
as an apostle of Christ and a minister of righteousness? He may
even stand in the pulpit preaching righteousness, but, regardless
of his righteous appearance, the total of Scripture exposes him
for what he is: a false teacher. [2 Pe 2:1-3]
The master deceiver
Remember, the enemy is a MASTER deceiver. A deceiver imitates
and/or misuses truth; therefore, Satan counterfeits every spiritual
gift of Romans 12 and Galatians 5. As a deceiver, his specialty
is not obvious works of the flesh; rather, it is "truth"
misused to serve his purpose. He truthfully said to Eve, You shall
not surely die, for the fruit was not poison. But separation from
God, sin and death entered into the world as a result of the deception
(1 Tim 2).
What would the enemy do to prevent one from seeing
and/or acting on his need of the substitutionary death of Christ?
Would he not give the necessary feelings and good works to prevent
one from coming to Christ as his Substitute and Saviour? Would
he not give "conviction of sin" if that "feeling"
would draw a person away from Christ and to something else? He
is the deceiver and an expert at using peoples' emotions. [Rev
12:9. The devil is a spirit, specializing in working with man's
spirit against God's spirit.] Also, one's refusal to believe that
he can be deceived will give the enemy greater ability to draw
them away from the truth. [2 Tim 3:13; Ja 1:22]
The little girl, unless the Spirit intervenes, will
always look back and say, "I'm saved because I did what they
told me: I asked Jesus into my heart." She may go on to understand
the necessity of trusting Christ, but until she gives up what
she was told as a six year old and realizes that she is a lost
sinner on her way to hell who must come to Christ to pay for her
sins, she will not enter into the Kingdom of God. In other words,
we cannot "grow" into Salvation; it is a one time event
of being born again preceded by the presentation and understanding
of Christ's atoning work for them. Our responsibility
is to emphasize, as simply as possible, the atoning work of Christ
and the sinner's need to repent and trust in that work for his
sin payment. It is the Spirit's responsibility to make it understandable.
Anything less than this is another Jesus. To tell a person
he will be saved by "Asking God to forgive his sins and asking
Jesus into his heart, then trusting Christ to do that" avoids
His atoning work and gives a false assurance of Salvation which
will take a supernatural working of the Holy Spirit to remove.
For our own benefit, we need to be reminded that
the Holy Spirit MUST convict of sin and open the understanding
to the Gospel. Far too often, we try to do the Holy Spirit's work;
it is HIS job to convict of sin and draw the sinner to Christ.
If the Spirit's drawing is not present, in Christ's words, there
can be no salvation. [Jn 6:37-45; 15:16; 16:8]
Back to Matt. 7:21 ...but he that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven. Here we have two points. First,
2 Peter 3:9, ...not God's will that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. Luke 13:3-5 also covers this: Repentanceþa
turning around. But a turning from what? It is a turning from
the sin for which a person is already condemned, the refusal to
trust Christ as his Substitute and Saviour. [Jn 3:18; 6:39]
Therefore, God's primary will is that all men should turn
from their own ways of salvation to God's way of Salvation. Furthermore,
the Father's will is defined in John 6:39, 40: that we believe,
i.e. trust in His completed work, on him and, in doing so, have
everlasting life.
There is a way that seemeth right unto man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death. It seems right to be saved
by "Asking Christ to save you," but the end of that
way is death to the sinner if he has not understood and trusted
in the atoning work of Christ. The sinner must turn from his way
to a complete dependence in what Christ has done in his placeþthe
just for the unjustþand accept His payment in the sinners
place. The context of Luke 13:1-5 indicates that the
ones to whom the Lord spoke when He said, I tell you Nay: but,
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish, were religious
hypocrites who displayed correct outer actions yet refused to
turn from their way to God's way. [Lk 12:56. Hodge gives us an
extremely good insight on these religious leaders; they had total
assuranceþfalseþof heaven because they were circumcised
decedents of Abraham. Charles Hodge, ROMANS, Geneva Series, Banner
of Truth Trust, pg. 63. Therefore, what the Lord said here were
"fighting words" to His hearers.] In other words, the
Lord's strong message to repent here is given to the outwardly
moral person.
Matthew 7:21, ...will of my Father... John 6:29,
Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that
ye believe (trust) on him whom he hath sent. [Compare this with
Rev 20:12; I Jn 3:23.] The only work that will please God for
heaven is trusting Christ as our Substitute and Saviour. Thus
both the will and the work of the Father for Salvation is the
same, viz. trusting, receiving what Christ has done for us.
Matthew 7:21-33 tells of a person who had called
upon the name of the Lord (Lord, Lord) without instruction in,
and understanding of, the atoning work of Christ for him, and
of his necessity of trusting in that work alone for the payment
of his sin.
...Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in Thy name... Many have preached great
sermons and won many to the Lord; however, a person's preaching
of the Gospel or leading multitudes to the Lord does not mean
he is born again.
...and in Thy name cast out devils, and in Thy name
done many wonderful works. Many have worked bus routes, sung in
church choirs, taught Sunday School classes, entered into great
missionary endeavors, accomplished tremendous social programs
and even held important church offices. But the Lord forbids looking
back on those wonderful endeavors with the thought, "I wouldn't
be doing all of these things if I weren't saved." [Rev 19:10
..for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Telling
others about Christ or "prophecy" does not mean we are
saved.]
Notice what the Lord will say to them, ...I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity... The Lord tells
these "Christian workers" that they are workers of iniquity
because they had never trusted in the atoning work of Christ.
The devil is smart deceiver! He will not come as
a roaring lion to Bible believers who profess to love God; he
will come as a purring kitten, as a minister of righteousness,
as a minister of Christ. He will not come with a blatant departure
from the truth; he will come in crabways along side the truth
with something that looks, sounds and feels like the truth. He
will attempt to present his message as being the same as the truth,
but, when exposed to the light of God's total word, it is clearly
not the truth.
Both Paul and Peter warn of heresies, i.e. an erroneous
opinion which is a substitute for the truth, that might accompany
the truth within the church. [1 Cor 11:19; 2 Pet 2:1-3] They warn
of a quiet subverting of the Gospel from the atoning work of Christ
by something that approximates the truth. [For an excellent treatment
of this, see "Barnes' Notes, JamesþJude," p 236,
Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI] Heresy is not an obvious departure
from sound doctrine. Predominately, heresy is something passed
offþand accepted along with the truth. It is among you,
from within the fellowship of believers, not from without. Privily
speaks of the very "subtle" manner of introduction.
Our enemy is an expert at bringing in his subtle departure from
the truth completely unnoticed until he has control. [See Vine's
Dictionary Treatment of Heresy, p 574, and Privily, p 887, Riverside
Book and Bible House, Iowa Falls, IA]
If a person feels he is saved because he has "Asked
Jesus to come into his heart and life and has trusted Him to do
that (&c.)," yet at the time was not properly instructed
in the necessity of trusting Christ as his Substitute and Saviour,
then there is a problem. There can be no Salvation apart from
the clear instruction of what Christ has done for the sinner and
his trust in Him to take the sinner's place.
Now what
As we have presented the preceding message, we have seen
the Spirit work to bring questions in the hearts of many individuals.
Our purpose is not to create confusion; our purpose is most certainly
to shake those things which can be shaken. [Heb 12:27] Here is
what we suggest for those who feel shaken over the preceding message:
1) they should put aside everything they have been taught, 2)
they should lay aside all confidences which they might receive
from their good works, 3) they should lay aside all assurance
that others might try to give them, e.g. "If anyone is saved,
you are."
Then they should completely read the Book of John
at least once with a burning desire for the Lord to speak to them
regardless of what they believe or want to believe. Furthermore,
they should ask God to take away anything they might be depending
on other than Christ. They should ask God to reveal their true
conditions to themselves either by taking away all false assurance
or by giving a firm passage for assurance. All of these suggestions
are based upon 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 and Philippians 3:15 claiming
the work and light of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth about
one's Salvation.
Through prayer and searching of the Word, many times
we have seen God move, opening the individual's understanding
of the work of Christ for him, and the sinner fleeing to Christ
as his Substitute and Saviour.
No doubt the NUMBER ONE lie among Bible-believing
people today is: "You must ask Jesus into your heart to be
saved and trust him to do that (come into your heart)," &c.
But look at what this is saying! "You are saved because you
asked Jesus into your heart." There is no Scriptural support
for this false plan of salvation which is devastating to the cause
of Christ; it places the emphasis upon a prayer that is said and
what the sinner can do rather than upon what Christ has done.
An objection might be: "I don't see any difference."
Okay, why not change the message to something that reflects the
person's placing his trust in the finished work of Christ's substitutionary
payment in the sinner's place?
Then the objection might be, "But not everyone
is able to under- stand that message." If we accept this
argument, we say we must reduce the Gospel to the level of the
natural man, removing from it the work of the Holy Spirit.
What has happened to the plain, simple and clear
plan of salvation as preached by past saints of God? "...The
simple act of relying upon Jesus as your Substitute and Saviour
puts away your guilt and sin forever... (CHS)" It cannot
be said any better.
It is not an act of praying, but it is an act of
faith. There will be none in heaven because they prayed and turned
their lives over to God or because they asked the Lord to save
them, &c. We will be there only because of what Christ did
for us and our simple faith, verbalized when we prayed, in His
work. A lost person's growth into this faithþ"I didn't
understand back then, but I do now"þis no more possible
than is evolution. The Scripture teaches a new creation, not an
evolution of the old. The enemy, a master deceiver, knows and
uses our weak points. [Gen 3:1; Jn 8:44]
Proper Action
We pray this little booklet has been a help for you. If
God has used this to speak to your heart, let us encourage you
to take the proper action in this most important of all matters.
First, one must realize he is a sinner without hope. Second, he
must recognize that he can do nothing at all to avoid the wages
of that sin. Third, Christ paid it all through His atoning sacrifice,
enduring what we should endure. Fourth, the sinner must rely upon
Jesus as his Substitute for his sins and as his Saviour, confessing
this verbally. Fifth, this simple act puts away all guilt of sin
forever. This action of the heart is verbalized when one prays
and puts his complete trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to pay the
penalty for his sins.
We have found that the deception dealt with herein
is so well entrenched today that a oneþtime confrontation
against this false doctrine has very little effect upon it. It
took a consistent confrontation over a period of many months before
the Holy Spirit was able to start exposing this lie with His truth
at Linden Baptist Church. When He started moving, we saw over
50% of our church members saved. His Word is a hammer, and the
stronger the grip of false doctrine, the more it must be hammered
at and chipped away a little at a time. The first time this rock
is struck there may not even be a chip, but it will break if we
do not grow weary.
Hardness & Hostility
A man who represented Accelerated Christian Education in
our area once told me in the midst of an intense discussion about
the plan of salvation presented in ACE's material: "All the
best scholars agree that the terms are the same--Ask Jesus into
your heart and trust Christ as your substitute." He went
on to say that if what we were saying was correct then he was
lost. That ended the conversation, for it was then obvious he
was not defending God's Word; rather, he was defending a false
profession.
We confronted a missionary who worked with a printing
ministry in the South over the false plan of Salvation used in
their materials. After a lengthy, heated discussion, he said that
he had asked Jesus into his heart here in our church many years
ago, and if that did not save him, then he was not saved.
We have found that those who become the most `hostile'
over what we are saying are more often than not unsaved themselves.
They are defending their own false profession of faith as surely
as a man defends a city. Normally, their defense is not Scriptural,
and if they admit that what is presented herein is true, they
must admit that what they have is false. On the other hand, those
who have trusted Christ rejoice over the message contained herein.
Not one time in Scripture is there even a hint that one can
be saved by asking Jesus into his heart, nor will we find instruction
to turn our lives over to Him for Salvation; it is a false plan
of salvation being used by the devil to draw multitudes down the
broad road to destruction. The man from ACE said, "Boy,
you sure are narrow!" when I would not consider any argument
except Scripture. Yes! I am; furthermore, the Lord was very narrow,
calling all others thieves and robbers. [Jn 10]
A Personal testimony
This truth presented herein is largely overlooked in our
day; therefore, I realize many who read this will not understand
what we are trying to say. But, obviously, the risk is far too
great to dismiss this lightly. Though I am apprehensive
about mentioning personal experience (the Spirit deals with individuals
as individuals), I think it would be useful to mention that this
little booklet is written from personal experience. This preacher
was "deceived" by this other gospel for many years.
Whereas there are "other gospels" which are just as
dangerous as the one presented herein, this one appears to be
the most prevalent today. Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit might
see fit to use this little booklet to perform the same work in
others which he did in this preacher's life at 11:30 A.M., Oct.
29, 1977. Please do not attempt to compare experiences, for our
only comparison must be with the Word of God. The Lord deals with
unique individuals, and calls each to Himself in His unique way
within the bounds of His Word.
When I got out of the Service in 1965, I worked
construction during the day and took some evening Bible College
courses. Our church had a large bus ministry, and the head of
the bus ministry talked me into driving a bus, then into taking
a bus route. The Lord allowed a successful bus route, so successful
in fact, that when he left I was asked to take over the ministry.
While I was there, the Lord dealt with my heart about salvation.
I had gone forward as a nine-year old child. I am certain
I went through all the proper religious motions because I was
baptized at that time. As I got older, I could remember nothing
about it, and the message I kept hearing was, "If you can't
remember asking Jesus into your heart, then you aren't saved."
I could not remember; therefore, one evening, in deep emotional
distress, I went to one of my instructors saying, "I need
to talk to you." He took me into his office and I told him,
"I'm not saved."
"Ovid" he said, "if anyone is saved,
you are."
I replied, "No, I'm not. Show me how to be
saved." He proceeded to show me that I needed to ask Jesus
into my heart which I did.
The Lord moved us to another church where, once
again, we were placed in charge of the "soul-winning"
visitation and the bus ministry. With very few exceptions, each
Sunday we had someone whom we had "led to the Lord"
in their homes, walk down the aisle and publicly profess asking
Jesus into their hearts.
After three years, we went on to the staff of another
church and again were given charge of the soul-winning visitation
program. Here my job included doorþtoþdoor "soulþwinning,"
as well as following up the new children from the buses. I spent
six hours a day, five days a week, doing this. In my files I still
have record of close to 1,000 names and addresses of those whom
I led to pray, "Jesus, come into my heart, and save me."
The only reason I mention this is to point out that, in this particular
area, I am not a novice I have been there.
I noticed something different about the pastor at
this new church. He used a soul-winning plan called "Circles
and Steps" which he picked up from Tom Wallace. I saw the
difference in this presentation as he pointed out the necessity
of the substitutionary death of Christ before he said to the prospect,
"If you are willing to trust Christ as your Saviour, take
my hand."
I felt this was a much better way of presenting
the Gospel, so I changed the plan I used from "Ask Jesus
into your heart to save you," to "Take my hand to show
you are trusting in Christ as your Substitute and Saviour."
I had no problems with this until my pastor and
I held a Christian workers' conference in a little church in Missouri
beside the Mississippi River. At the conference, I was teaching
a class on soul-winning and was speaking about how so many people
believed they were saved because they had walked down the aisles,
shook the preacher's hand and told him they believed that Christ
died and rose again (Romans 10:9, 10). Then they would go on to
be baptized, yet their sincerity didn't save them. A lady on the
back row raised her hand and said, "If that's true, then
I'm not saved." Others raised their hands speaking their
agreement with her.
I had to call in my pastor for help in leading them
to trust in Christ. Everyone in attendance that afternoon was
saved except the host church's pastor, his wife, and a visiting
pastors wife. 45 Christian workers from the area's churches were
saved.
As we made the 10-hour drive back home the following
day, I was devastated, and wept most of the way. The question
which kept burdening my heart was, "How could so many good,
sincere people be so wrong?"
The next day, as we met with our ladies to send
them out soul-winning, I told of what had happened in Missouri.
As I did, I saw the lady who was in charge of our church's nursery
program began weeping. I gave an invitation, and she raised her
hand. I sent her to my office to talk to her after dismissing
the others. As I walked into the office, she said, "You got
me, didn't you?" Surprised over what happened, I led her
to trust in Christ.
Later that day, as I drove back to the church following
some hospital visits, the thought occurred to me: "Ovid,
how do you know you are going to heaven?"
"Because I have asked Jesus into my heart,"
was my reply, knowing that was not the right answer. I was then
reminded that I had just led a lady to trust in Christ as her
Substitute and Saviour who had my false hope.
I wrestled with the matter, arguing, "I wouldn't
be soul-winning every day if I weren't saved.. I wouldn't be teaching
the adult Bible Class.. I wouldn't be scheduled to be ordained
if I weren't saved." (At this point I was the Associate Pastor,
had been licensed by the church, was doing most of the baptisms
and was going to be ordained in a few weeks.) "I wouldn't
be doing all of these Bible-based religious activities if I weren't
saved."
We had taken a $600-per-month cut in pay to come
to this church. I was spending four hours each morning with the
Lord, as well as fasting and spending one night a week in prayer.
As I thought on these things, I understood that I was basing my
Salvation upon all of my good works. ("I wouldn't be doing
all these things if I weren't saved.") Furthermore, I remembered
that God was not and would not be impressed with my good deeds.
Still not wanting to give in, I fled to some standard
excuses which I had confronted so many times in others: "Well,
I didn't understand about the substitutionary death back then,
but I do now." Then I remembered that we do not believe in
evolution. The final argument to fall was, "What will people
think?" The answer to this was the one I had used so many
times with others: "Which is worse, hell or what people think?"
[These were all answers that I had used to convince others of
their lost conditions. My own arguments were coming back against
my false hope.]
I put off a decision for another day, until Saturday
morning. When I could avoid the issue no longer, I called the
pastor at his office. He came into my office, and I told him I
had to be saved. His response was that he knew; every time he
had asked me how I knew I was saved, I had answered, "Because
I prayed and ask the Lord to save me," or, "Because
I prayed and accepted Jesus Christ into my heart and life."
I saw myself that morning as one who was trying to climb into
heaven by some means other than through what Christ had done for
me.
This pastor was caught in the trap; I must say with
Paul in Philippians 3: I now count it all lost. I had spent 12
years under this false Plan of Salvation; I taught it, practiced
it and told people by the thousands that they would be saved if
they would "pray and ask Jesus into their hearts," when
all the time I had nothing and probably gave them the same nothing.
I fled to Romans 10:13 and Revelation 3:20, but
using them alone wrests them from their contexts. Romans 10:13
is based on Romans 5:8 and 10:9-13, Revelation 3:20 to a specific
church. Anything less than a clear presentation of the atoning
work of Christ is not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; it
is another Jesus, 2 Cor 11:3 and Gal 1:6. Anything less than trust
in what He has done is not Biblical Salvation. Every Bible scholar
in the world can say differently, but that will not change God's
Word - Yea, let God be true and every man a liar... [Rom 3:4]
It is not possible to be saved unless God's plan is first clearly
heard and understood.
Do not compare experiences yours with this pastor's
or any other person's.
Let Us Know
If God has used this to speak to your heart about Salvation,
please let us know so that we may both rejoice and be encouraged
as we do what we can to advance the Kingdom of our God.
We have a monthly mail-out designed to look at the Biblical
laws concerning issues at hand, "The Biblical Examiner."
In these mail-outs, we intend, with God's help, to expose root
problems using the Word of God, Matthew 3:10. Though we should
be able to tell a tree by its fruit, today's seducing spirits
are so well developed that many times their lies are indistinguishable
from the truth; therefore, they are very misleading, 2 Corinthians
11; 1 Timothy 4.
Only when God's people realize their seductions from HIS Word
and correct it can we expect Him to hear from heaven and heal
our land. But even if He doesn't see fit to heal our land, we
must still cry aloud and spare not.
These mail-outs are a ministry of our local church and will
be provided free of charge as the Lord provides. Also, if you
could use more of these little books, we will provide them as
the Lord provides for us.
Send your name and address to:
Pastor Ovid Need Jr
The Biblical Examiner
409 S 6th St
Knoxville IA 50138P.O. Box 786, Moorefield, WV 26836
May God help us to see the truth of His word, especially in
this most important matter.
The above is available in booklet form for passing on to others.
We are particularly interested in reaching Christian leaders.
The booklet is also available in Spanish.
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