Exposing Misconceptions About "Saving Faith"

Exposing Misconceptions
About "Saving Faith"
(Part 2)

By William Handschumacher

Rock of Offence Special Commentary

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This is part 2 of a three-part Bible study.
To access the other parts click on the
appropriate link below:

Part 1 ----- Part 3

Return To Home Page

Return To Basics of Salvation Page
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Unfortunately, all church teachings
that claim to be "the gospel" does
not necessarily come from God - just
because a member of the clergy says
so from the pulpit.

Saint Paul gave one of the strongest
and most frightening warnings about
these counterfeit gospels and those
who propagate them - to both the
Galatian and Corinthian Churches ...

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:6-8)

But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his (Satan's) ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness (or ministers of Christ), whose end will be according to their works. (2 Corinthians 11:12-15)

We should notice two important, yet
disturbing points made in these
passages.

FIRST: In 2 Corinthians 11:12-15, Paul, who wrote nearly half of the New Testament canon, is connecting anyone who preaches a counterfeit gospel directly to Satan. Generally speaking, these are ministers within the Christian Church who have good intentions and love God with all their heart. They are not outwardly evil. However, since they choose to preach a gospel that redefines the Grace-based salvation of Christ (something the Bible calls heresy), Paul ties them directly to Satan - who's goal is to replace the authentic Gospel of Christ with his own 'modified' (or perverted) version. As a result, anyone who unknowingly establishes their faith on Satan's counterfeit gospel is in danger of being blocked from receiving eternal life ... which usually occurs without their knowledge. This is why Paul warned that those who teach the Bible in such ways are; 'Satan's ministers who transform themselves into apostles of Christ and ministers of righteousness'. As a result - and contrary to their loving nature and outward appearance of godliness - they do not represent Christ or our Heavenly Father.

SECOND: Due to this demonic connection, Paul warned that a 'curse' is placed on anyone who preaches this kind of "different gospel" ... which suggests some form of Divine rejection. We find it interesting that Paul's warning in this passage might possibly be connected to what Jesus said concerning those who commit 'blasphemy against the Holy Spirit'. How can we make such a statement? When a false or counterfeit gospel - one that Scripture says originates from the devil - is taught as "the Gospel of Christ" it falls in the same general category as blasphemy; since it changes the truth of God's Word into a satanic counterfeit. We should remember that a counterfeit of anything is nearly 'indistinguishable' from the original. In other words, Satan's counterfeit looks and sounds 'Biblical' to inexperienced Christians. While no air-tight conclusions can be made from these passages - Paul's warning is sobering. Strong discernment must always be used when any church leader or their followers claim they are preaching 'the Gospel'.

A good example of this type of discernment is when Jesus spoke surprisingly harsh words about some false apostles - and commended the believers at Ephesus for diligently exposing them.

Note: An apostle represents one of the highest levels of spiritual authority in the Church.

"To the church of Ephesus, Jesus said, 'I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are Apostles and are not, and found them to be liars ...'" (Revelation 2:2)

Notice that Jesus referred to
these apostles within the
Church of Ephesus as being
'evil'.

One Baptist Bible scholar, Dr. Ernest Pickering, gave a sober warning to the Church about those who preach the popular "Lordship Salvation doctrine", which changes the principles that govern Christ's Gospel message.

"One of the chief objections to the notion of ‘Lordship salvation’ is that it adds to the gospel of grace. It requires something of the sinner which the Scriptures do not require. The message of salvation by grace proclaims to sinners that they may receive eternal life by faith alone whereas the message of "Lordship salvation" tells sinners they must be willing to give up whatever is in their life that is displeasing to God. At the point of gospel presentation they do not know what things those are, nor does the personal worker seeking to point them to Jesus know. There is a vast and significant difference between believing on Christ for salvation and learning from Him as our Lord....None of us are happy with shoddy, fleshly, and disobedient Christians. But the remedy for this condition is not found in changing the terms of the gospel. Well over 100 times in the New Testament, we are told that salvation is by faith or through believing. It is a very serious matter to add an ingredient to the gospel of salvation which is not found in the New Testament... . Our task is to keep preaching the plain, simple gospel of free grace. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to produce in true believers those qualities of righteousness which we all devoutly long to see."

[Lordship Salvation, by Dr. Ernest Pickering, published by Baptist World Mission, P.O. Box 1463, Decatur, AL 35602]

More detailed information is available
about this popular false evangelistic
message (or what Saint Paul referred to
as "a different gospel") at the
following link:

What Is Wrong With Lordship Salvation?
By Dr. Andy Woods (PDF Format)

Another warning that complements the one given by Dr. Pickering and Dr. Andy Woods was delivered nearly 70 years ago and comes from former Moody Memorial Church pastor, Harry Ironside (1876-1951).

“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past...

Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”

[ Dr. Harry A. Ironside, from his famous sermon: What Is The Gospel?--Emphasis Added ]

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Jesus Christ paid the entire price so that eternal life could be given as a gift. This valuable blessing wasn’t something cheap or “watered down”. It cost Jesus His life and blood. If it isn't given freely as the Bible says, then God lied when He called it a gift. The following Scriptures reveal this incredible truth:

"...Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He save us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His Grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:5-7)

“Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin." (Romans 4:4-8)

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

"For by Grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

"And if by Grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work." (Romans 11:6)

"...Being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:24-26)

IMPORTANT NOTE

Eternal life was not offered as
God's gift under the program of
Old Testament Law. It became a
'gift' only after Christ purchased
our redemption through His shed
blood at the cross.

'Saving Faith' According to
The Counterfeit Gospel

As previously discussed, the Bible warns that there is both an authentic and a counterfeit gospel of Christ operating within the world-wide Christian Church. As a result, there are both authentic and counterfeit rules that govern the subject of “saving faith”. The counterfeit adds various character and behavioral requirements before a person can obtain (and keep) God's gift of eternal life. As a result, God’s gift is subtly redefined (changed) into something that's not a gift.

Here’s one example:

A pastor gave an alter call to receive Christ during one of his services. He then warned those who responded that God would "look into their heart to see if they possessed a willingness to obey Christ". He continued ... “If God doesn’t see a sufficient willingness to obey Christ’s authority as Lord (usually taught as obedience to some ethical code or derivative of Old Testament Law), He won’t save you - even if you ‘call upon the name of the Lord Jesus’ as Romans 10:8-13 instructs”.

Countless expressions and variations
of this toxic theology exist in the
world-wide institutional church.
Many of those who preach this kind
of doctrine wrongly claim that our
willingness or commitment to obey
God and Christ's Lordship is what the
Bible calls;

'Saving Faith'.

They warn ... that if God looks into your heart and doesn’t see “saving faith” (as they define it), He won’t permit you to obtain eternal life (or salvation) regardless of how sincerely or passionately you “call upon Jesus to save you". Other ministers teach the same error by saying something like ... “God won’t save anyone He can’t command”. However, these good-sounding statements contradict many New Testament Scriptures - including Romans 10:8-13.

When Christians who live under this
kind of teaching eventually begin to
experience doubts concerning their
salvation - they are often told that
they probably never had “saving
faith” to begin with.

Imagine the kind of intense fear and mental torment this kind of statement generates. In order to address the problem, these preachers then claim that the doubts are caused by a failure to repent from sin, a lack of obedience - or by not possessing sufficient faithfulnes to God. These hurting and tormented people are then told - “If you want the torment of fear and doubt to go away ... repent and be more obedient!” This kind of religious nonsensical advice is similar to a humorous saying among soldiers in the military; “The beatings will continue until morale has improved”. But, there’s nothing amusing about the torment caused by the doubt and fear that comes from believing a counterfeit gospel.

Millions of professing Christians live under this sort of oppressive teaching. The instruction of these ministers exploits the fear of losing salvation (or the fear that comes from learning that you were probably not saved to being with) as powerful “control mechanisms” to coerce church members to obey their teachings. It is one of the dominating types of authority that Jesus forbids His ministers to practice (Matthew 20:25-28 and Mark 10:42-45). The Apostle Peter also warned shepherds and church leaders about using this kind of forbidden authority (1 Peter 5:1-4). Exploiting the fear of losing eternal life once you have it - as a way to coerce a congregation to obey church leadership - is a popular practice based on the same heresy that Saint Paul condemned in the Galatian Church of the first century.

To refute this kind of false
teaching, Saint Paul made the
following statement:

"For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [ He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call. ]" (Romans 11:29 Amplified Bible)

The popular fear-based anti-grace theology we warn about in this study is not from God, which is one reason Christ’s Grace Gospel is under vicious attack from within the Christian church. God's free gift of eternal life takes away this oppressive tool of coercion and greatly limits the abuse of spiritual authority that’s common within Christendom. The problem is ... some church leaders are secretly upset because they don’t want to lose this kind of dominant authority. This is one reason they twist and allegorize the Scriptures contrary to the way God intended.

There’s nothing wrong with repenting (or turning way) from sin and desiring to be more obedient and faithful to God ... for the right reasons.

Yet, well-meaning ministers continue to tirelessly work to undermine and redefine God’s Grace. Many are motivated by the false idea (likely learned in seminary) ... that believers misunderstand Grace, which causes them to think salvation (eternal life) is unmerited and free - when it's not. As a result, the Biblical principles that govern Christ's redemptive program, based on God's unmerited favor (or Grace), are changed (Paul uses the word 'perverted') to fit their theology. They tell their audience that obtaining and keeping eternal life depends on our “obedience and commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ”.

However, God designed these character attributes, such as obedience to Christ, to be addressed under the ongoing process of Sanctification ... that begins immediately after His gift of eternal life is received. God deliberately uses the word 'eternal' to describe Christ's salvation because; once it's received He never revokes it. (See Romans 11:29 quoted above)

By failing to keep these two areas separated, eternal life (God's free gift) is often held hostage to our spiritual performance or behavior. As a result, its impossible to have any assurance of salvation ... since we can never be sure that we're 'obedient enough' to be saved.

Any reader who is in this unfortunate condition is being warned from Scripture that they have unknowingly received one of the many versions of a counterfeit gospel.

It should be made abundantly clear - that we are not discarding or minimizing obedience to Christ’s Lordship, which is something every true believer should desire and embrace. Rather, our objective is to expose the popular error of mixing God’s free gift - with sanctification (or being conformed to the image and obedience of Christ - Romans 8:28-30). These are two different stages of development in the life of the believer that cannot be mixed together. Eternal life is received - first - through hearing the Gospel. Then ... Sanctification begins and continues for the rest of the believer's earthly life. However, mixing these two areas together - or making eternal life dependent upon sanctification - redefines the Gospel into something God never intended. It subtly changes the believer’s "saving faith" based on God’s Grace and the finished work of Christ ... into a false religious faith based on spiritual performance, obedience and good works.

This change often goes unnoticed.

It’s the same dangerous spiritual trap that Paul warned about when he commanded believers to “examine themselves” - to make sure they are walking in the true faith of Christ - and not the popular counterfeit faith that disqualifies them (See 2 Corinthians 13:5). Sanctification is a tremendous benefit when it operates according to God's original design. But, when church leaders force it to operate outside its intended parameters ... it becomes spiritual bondage and a false gospel. Nobody experientially (or in this earthly life) operates in “the image and obedience of Christ” 100 per cent. Anyone who claims to have achieved this level of spirituality through their personal devotion, obedience, sinless living or Christian service - is deceiving themselves and others. That’s why the Bible warns that our level of success in Sanctification (or being trained by the Holy Spirit to obey Christ’s Lordship) never validates our salvation, which is based only on God's Grace that operates through 'a faith without works' (Romans 4:4-8, Titus 3:5-7). Making God’s gift of eternal life dependent upon our “obedience to Christ” - along with holy (or sinless) living - is similar to the error that nearly destroyed the Galatian church of the first century.

Once again, notice what the
Apostle Paul said in his
warning to the Galatian
congregation:

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him Who called you in the Grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:6-8)

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:1-3)

"You have become estranged (cut-off/separated) from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from Grace." (Galatians 5:4)

Additional information about how some
preachers distort the meaning of God’s
Grace is available at the following
link:

Exposing The Error of Redefining
God's Grace

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This is part 2 of a three-part Bible study.
To access the other parts click on the
appropriate link below:

Part 1 ----- Part 3

Return To Home Page

Return To Basics of Salvation Page
***********************************************************