THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 7, NUMBER 17, APRIL 29, 2007

AN ANSWER TO A FALSE TEACHER

PART 5

                This week we continue to answer the questions set forth by David Martin, a preacher at the Solid Rock Baptist Church in Barlett, Tennessee, in his short tract, “Common Sense Questions a ‘Church of Christ’ Preacher Cannot Clearly Answer.”  Still waiting for his phone call, a phone call that I have even offered to pay for.  We will see.

“6. If as a Christian I can fall and ‘lose my salvation,’ is it possible to regain it? If so, how?  If God ‘takes away’ my salvation, doesn’t that make Him an ‘Indian giver?”  How could I ever know for sure that I was saved or lost?”

            Let me first say that Mr. Martin, once again, tries to belittle or make fun of what a faithful child of God believes concerning the possibility of falling from grace.   He asks,”If God ‘takes away’ my salvation,” placing takes away in quotation marks – emphasizing how silly he believes that to be.  Did you ever wonder where the language “takes away” comes from in a discussion of salvation?  In Revelation, a book written to Christians, we find in 22:19 these words, “and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from His holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”    Here are Christians being told, and it includes Christians today, that as a result of certain actions they can take, God will take away their part from the Book of Life and from His holy city.  If, as a Christian, God will remove our names from the Book of Life, it is possible for a Christian to so sin as to lose his or her salvation.

            I cringed when I read Mr. Martin’s use of the derogatory term, Indian Giver.  He must know that the use of that term is offensive and inappropriate.  He should have displayed better sense.

            Now, is it possible for a Christian to regain salvation if they have so sinned as to place it in jeopardy?  Yes, and all one has to do is read the scriptures to find out how.  Peter told Simon, a Christian who was “poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity,” to “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you” (Acts 8:22-23).  In 1 John 1, another book written to Christians, we find in verse 8-9, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  

            All of this is pretty simple to see provided that one does not read these passages with the veil of previously held false ideas clouding their view.  

“7. After becoming a Christian, are there any sins that will put me beyond the ‘point of no return’ so that I cannot regain salvation?  What sin or sins will put me in such jeopardy, so that, after becoming a Christian, I would be doomed to hell without any recourse?  Please be specific and give me clear Bible references.”

            Before answering this question, let me say that for 32 years I have been asking Baptist preachers to give me even one Bible passage where anyone was told to “Accept Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior” in order to be saved.  For 32 years I have been asking for just that one passage, and no one has ever given it to me.  Now Mr. Martin, as so many before both publicly and privately, is asking for specificity and clear Bible references.  What is good for the goose is good for the gander. 

            In 1 John 5:16 we read, “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.  There is sin leading to death.  I do not say that he should pray about that.”  There is no recourse for the sin leading to death.  It even serves no purpose to pray about it.  The question is, what is that sin?  Well, as we see consistently in the New Testament that a condition for forgiveness, even for the Christian who has sinned, is repentance, (Luke 13:3 & 5; Mark 1:15; Acts 2:38, Acts 8:23);  the sin leading to death is any sin that a person obstinately refuses to repent of.  That is pretty clear and specific.

“8. If I committed some sin – whether in thought, word, or deed, one minute before a fatal car crash – would I go to hell if I did not have time to repent of it?  And, please, don’t just say that it’s up to God without giving me a specific Bible reference.”

            What if I was ½ of a minute away from believing in Jesus with all my heart and I had a massive heart attack and died.  Would I be lost?  Would God eternally punish me for 30 seconds? Don’t tell me that it is up to God!  All of these hypothetical situations are kind of silly, aren’t they?

            All such questions are best left up to God and the job of a faithful Christian is simply to teach what the Bible actually says.  I will give Mr. Martin a specific Bible reference that shows that it is “up to God.”  Psalm 3:7-8 says, ”Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!  For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.  Salvation belongs to the Lord.  Your blessing is upon Your people.”

            Mr. Martin, and all such preachers, need to recognize that hypothetical situations can be thrown back at them as well and cease such foolishness.  At the same time, recognize that “salvation belongs to the Lord” and quit trying to take His place as the ultimate Judge.   Just teach what the Bible actually says and leave the speculation to those who play the stock market.

            There will be more to follow.

Greg Litmer