Friday, December 31, 2021

Warning: Do Not ADD Anything To Your Faith!

Ephesians 2:4-9, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

I recently posted this intriguing picture below on Facebook. A sincere guest commented that they weren't sure if this message was Biblically accurate. She used the illustration of a sweet elderly woman who trusts Christ, but she also asks God to forgive her sins. Here is what she wrote about the message in the picture below:

So, if a little old lady who can't get to church due to ill health, asked Jesus to be her Saviour (after hearing and believing gospel on the radio ) would go to hell, if she asked God to forgive her sins?

I kindly posted this Biblical reply to help her understand:

Please understand that the preceding post is not criticizing "asking" God to forgive your sins. Albeit, Scripturally we don't need to "ask" God to save us, because He is already freely offering every human being eternal life as a gift (Titus 2:11; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:15-18). God will not penalize someone for ignorantly asking to be saved, but it is important to understand that you don't need to ask or pray to be saved. The Bible says to just BELIEVE (John 3:16).

The preceding quote is refuting the demonic heresy that says you must forsake your sinful bad habits to be saved. This is a popular false teaching in many churches today. So even if a sweet old lady partially trusts Christ, but she also trusts in her effort to avoid sinning, she will go to Hell forever. That is what the Bible teaches (Galatians 3:1-3; Revelation 20:12-15).

We must not ADD anything to our faith, or else it is not faith at all. Romans 11:6, "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." Salvation cannot be by both grace and works, it can only be one or the other.

So, kindly said, anybody who ADDS water baptism, turning away from sin, running the Christian race, counting the cost and paying the price, exchanging all that I am for all that Christ is, following Jesus as "Lord," or anything else other than resting in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. We need GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS (Matthew 6:33; Romans 10:3-4; Philippians 3:9) which is imputed (credited) to us by faith alone (Romans 4:4-7). God bless you my friend and kindest regards.
Dear reader, please do not make the fatal error of thinking that God will allow people to slide. That is, don't foolishly think that God will allow anyone into Heaven apart from FAITH ALONE in His only begotten Son, Jesus. John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we have a remarkable true story of a group of religious people. These folks loved serving Jesus. They boasted on Judgment Day of their many wonderful works. They boasted to Jesus of their preaching, saying: “have we not prophesied in thy name?” Carefully notice that they did these good deeds in “Thy name.” They even followed Christ, calling Him “Lord, Lord” (there's your damnable heresy of “Lordship salvation ight there). What saith the Scripture? ...
Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
The blessed Savior Himself plainly tells us the Father's will:
John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
The heavenly Father's will is that you and I, and everyone else, BELIEVE on Jesus Christ alone. God desires for ALL humanity to be saved (2nd Peter 3:9). I marvel in bewilderment and astonishment that so many preachers today fail to see the simplicity that is in Christ (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). Instead, they ADD repenting “OF YOUR SINS” to faith, which cannot produce the new birth. The only mindset that produces the new birth is that JESUS PAID IT ALL!!! That means there is absolutely NOTHING I can do to help save myself.

Preachers get into trouble when they start relying upon their own human understanding. The Bible warns in Proverbs 14:22, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” To the carnally-minded religious man, it makes perfect sense that you cannot merely come to God and receive His free gift of forgiveness of sins, while maintaining the shameful attitude that you intend to continue committing those very sins for which Christ died. But friend, if you don't believe exactly that—YOU DON'T GET GOD'S GRACE!!!

Whether a sinner intends to forsake his or her lifestyle of sinning at the time of salvation, has absolutely no impact on their faith in the Gospel (i.e., the Good News of Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day). That is why God calls it a free gift in Romans 5:18, “Therefore as by the offence of one [Adam] judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. This FREE GIFT is offered by God the Father to all mankind. You can have it for the taking dear friend, by simply accepting what the inspired Holy Bible tells us about Jesus Christ. These facts are properly called “the Gospel,” which means “Good news” or “Glad Tidings.” What saith the Scripture? ...
Romans 10:13-17, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Please don't miss that! Faith cometh by HEARING. I love what the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:2-3, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?I LOVE THAT! This passage shows the simplicity of salvation—when a lost sinner HEARS the Gospel preached, and BELIEVES what they hear, they are immediately, irrevocably and forever saved!!! That is God's simple plan of salvation.

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Hardly Anything Is Truly "FREE" Anymore

Genesis 3:1-5, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.  And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Like many people, I am struggling to keep my body's weight off. Once you turn 50 years old, your metabolism slows down and you can easily start growing sideways like a refrigerator. SO I went online to search for a free application (aka, "app") for my mobile phone, to help me plan meals and track my daily calories. So I did a Google search for: "Are there any totally free apps to lose weight count calories?" Here is what came up at the top of Google...

  • Lose It! App. ...
  • MyFitnessPal. SHOP NOW AT MyFitnessPal. ...
  • Fitbit App. ...
  • WW App. ...
  • Noom. ...
  • FatSecret. ...
  • Cronometer. ...
  • Fooducate.

I went to check out the first so-called "free" app. "Lose It!" hounds you continually for money. I hate that! They advertise their product as being "completely free," but then they restrict usage. For example: Lose It! won't let you track daily calories unless you pay them! They lied. Lose It! are liars!!!

So then I moved down to the next so-called "free" app from "MyFitnessPal," but they do the same shady thing. They even put the words "SHOP NOW AT MyFitnessPal." Remember, in my frustration I did a Google search for: "Are there any totally free apps to lose weight count calories?"

It frustrates me to no end that everybody seems to lie nowadays. Dear reader, it is bad enough that "free" doesn't really mean free anymore. But then even when you search the internet for things that are "totally free" and "completely free," there's always still a catch somewhere along the way. You later find out that what was advertised as "free," in fact is NOT FREE. Who wants a "free" weight  loss app that won't tract calories, won't tell you the details, and is basically worthless, unless you pay them money? THEY LIED TO YOU!!! THEY LIED TO ME!!! THEY ARE LYING WICKED PEOPLE!!!

Folks, this is a very serious matter to God. I wish there were laws which prohibited advertising anything as "free," but then it is limited and won't work as expected unless you upgrade for money. That is fraudulent advertising. That is exactly what the evil serpent did to Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:4, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:Was the serpent (Satan) telling Eve the truth? Well, kind of. Eve didn't die physically when she ate the forbidden fruit, but she DID die spiritually. So the serpent told a half-truth, just like Lose It and MyFitnessPal. They advertise their products as "free." Are they telling the truth? Well, kind of. Their products are free in the sense that you get a program that doesn't work the way it was intended to work. For that you MUST get your credit card out and pay them $39.95 a year, or whatever they ask. Then they want money for this, and money for that.

Dear reader, aren't we humans just awful sometimes? Yes, we sure are!!! "Free" should mean free, in every sense of the word. I cannot help but see this as a PERFECT illustration of what is going on all across the world in our churches today, especially in the deteriorated United States of America. I am so ashamed to be called an "American" anymore. Our city streets are plagued with needless homeless, an epidemic of substance abuse, and politicians who are crippled to do anything about it, because of the fraudulent banking system established in 1913 (which is the root cause of income inequality and homelessness in America).

Everywhere we turn nowadays, we see preachers (pastors, Bible professors, chaplains, evangelists, missionaries, pastors, et cetera) perverting the grace of God concerning salvation. The inspired King James Bible (which is the ONLY English Bible we can trust today) plainly teaches that FAITH ALONE SAVES!!! Yet, pastors everywhere are preaching the Devil's lie that more is required. Take for example, Pastor James Knox of The Temple Baptist Church in Leland, Florida. Pastor Knox said these horrible words:

“Do you know why it's hard to know if people get saved or not anymore? It's because we've given them this option of salvation without repentance. You don't see a changed life, because no changed life was expected. No changed life was required. Look, you can stop drinking, stop cussing, stop chasing women, stop chasing men, stop chasing both—you can quit all that stuff and die and go to Hell—repentance is not the Gospel. But you're not going to come to God, without any sorry, any guilt, any acknowledgement, any desire, to do something about your sin. You're not going to get saved on those terms. Those are man's terms, not God's terms.” [emphasis added] SOURCE: Pastor James Knox, “Repent And Believe The Gospel: What Is Repentance?” (58:22 time in YouTube sermon video)
Kindly said, Pastor James Knox is a liar, who adds to God's Words. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 30:5-6, "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Where does the Bible teach that "God's Terms" (as Knox claims) is that we should "require" a change when preaching the Gospel to lost sinners? No such nonsense is found in the inspired King James Bible. What saith the Scripture? Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” The Romans soldier asked a very direct question: 
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?The Apostle Paul's answer was just as direct: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” Paul didn't "require" the soldier to change his sinful ways to be saved!!!

We ought not expect changes from a person to be saved, nor later on as a means of proving that they are saved. We've got a bunch of corrupt self-righteous pastors today, running around attaching works to faith, one way or another. Listen, you CAN trust Christ and still go out and live like the Devil, and KNOW 100% that you're going to Heaven. That is because forgiveness of sins and eternal life are the free gift of God (Romans 6:23). We are saved by GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is imputed (credited) to every believer by faith alone. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” Boy, I love that!

It is truly sad and heartbreaking what has happened to our Baptist churches today. Once Independent Fundamental Baptist churches, which were bastions of the Christian faith, are today cesspools of iniquity and false doctrine. How did this happen? It happened my dear friend because preachers stop SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES (John 5:39), and instead have been listening to fools like Pastors' John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, et cetera. Consequently, the followers of these infidels (e.g., Marty Herron, Steve Pettit, Chuck Phelps, James Knox, Gary Walton, Sam Horn, et cetera) are also pulling on the same rope as the Devil. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!

We must stay true to the simplicity of the gospel!! Repentance regarding salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief!!! We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3). Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty! The true Gospel always points you to Christ; a false gospel always points to you. Salvation is not doing your best; it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work. This is the true FREE grace of God, which is by faith alone.

When a preacher lures you into his false plan of salvation, by advertising that it is "free" and "by grace," but then he starts saying that you must do this, and do that, and stop doing this, and start doing thus or another, he is preaching another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). FAITH ALONE SAVES!!!

I think this is a wonderful illustration is what salvation is not. Lose It! and MyFitnessPal deceive people! They advertise that their weight loss apps are "totally free," but then in reality what they give you is so lacking in functionality that it is worthless unless you upgrade for money. They are behaving just like the sneaky serpent in the Garden of Eden. They all tell half-truths, and every half-truth is also a half-lie! We live in a wicked world of deception!!!

Have you believed a lie? I could name dozens of heretical preachers, but for the sake of keeping this blog short I won't. But another example of a dirty lying false prophet is Dr. Steve Pettit (executive president of Bob Jones University since 2014):

You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added]—Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)

Liar, liar, pants on fire! Dr. Pettit is oh so very WRONG in his doctrine! Friend, you certainly CAN accept Christ and that's it. That is what a gift is! Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Eternal life is a gift. But as we all know, nothing in life is free. Jesus paid for our gift with His precious blood. Lose It! and MyFitnessPal are liars! If their products were truly free, then they would pay for it FOR YOU! But they want you to pay, which cannot be free. JESUS PAID IT ALL!!! Romans 5:6, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.You mean Jesus even died for Adolf Hitler? Yes, Jesus died for Hitler! You mean Jesus died for The Golden State Killer, a retired career police officer who raped 50 women, murdered 12 married couples, and burglarized over 100 homes? Yes, him too! Dear friend, Jesus even died FOR YOU AND ME!!! Christ died for THE UNGODLY!!!

Oh, why is it so hard for preachers to grasp the Bible truth that salvation is of the Lord? More people will go to Hell someday, because they were trusting more than faith:

“More people will die and burn in Hell, because they're trusting too much!” —Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), “Yea, Yea, And Nay, Nay!

“Everything that's hard and complicated about salvation is God's side of it!” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “Yea, Yea, And Nay, Nay!

Pastor James Knox and Evangelist Steve Pettit, utterly fail to grasp that JESUS PAID IT ALL. Man has no part in God's salvation except to cease from our own works, and REST completely in Christ. Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Why does the Bible tell us to "labour" to enter into God's rest. We find the answer from the dear Savior Himself in John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The ONLY "work" that we can do to get to Heaven is to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried and resurrected three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). This is "the gospel" (the Good News) by which anyone can be saved, if we will simply BELIEVE IT! (Romans 1:16)

All these false teachers today, who are requiring MORE than faith to receive God's free gift of eternal life, are cursed by God for preaching another gospel. Galatians 1:9, “As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.It is no light thing to corrupt the Gospel. When a man attacks the grace of God, he is attacking the God of grace!!! James Knox is the enemy of the cross of Jesus Christ! Steve Pettit is the enemy of the cross of Jesus Christ. And sadly, 'Campus Church' at Pensacola Christian College has blood on their hands too! The following shameful screenshot was taken at a Wednesday night Bible study (on July 14, 2021 from PCC's Campus Church's 'Foundations Class') ...


Blatant False Doctrine Taught At Pensacola Christian College

Pastor Tim Zacharias taught thousands of people that your behavior must change if you are saved. This dangerous type of garbage teaching causes believers to worry, wondering if they are really saved when they sin and backslide. Kindly said, Pastor Zacharias is incompetent to teach! Sadly, so also is senior pastor, Jeff Redlin. When I kindly contacted Pastor Redlin on Thursday, about the heresy I had heard and seen preached with my own two ears and eyes, Redlin 100% defended Tim Zacharias. That showed me that they're both doctrinally corrupt! 

Repentance does not result in a change in behavior. When a man gets saved, God's indwelling Holy Spirit begins to work to change him. But if that saint continues to live in gross immorality, they will always still be safe in Jesus and saved (Romans 5:20). A Christian CAN live like the Devil and still have the sweet assurance of salvation, because we are not saved by our own faithfulness, we are saved by God's faithfulness! Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty!

Dear reader, Bible repentance DOES NOT result in a change of behavior. The Bible is full of examples of believers (Lot, Solomon, Demas) whose behavior did not improve after they got saved. The saved man in 1st Corinthians 5:1-5 was living a lifestyle of fornication. He later repented, but he was living in the hogpen for a time nonetheless. I am so sick and tired of these heretical incompetent preachers today, who teach that you are not saved unless there is some evidence of turning from sin at some point. That is works, not grace (Romans 11:6). The problem is that these ungodly but sincere preachers are mixing works with grace. They are confusing and mixing sanctification with justification. 


(Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold)

Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965) gets it exactly right:

"There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness." —M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117)
Also, Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan, made this beautiful helpful comment:
“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)

If these humble men of God can see the plain truth, as I do too, then why is it so difficult for Tim Zacharias, Jeff Redlin, James Knox, Marty Herron, Steve Pettit, John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, Charles Phelps, and countless other false teachers today concerning repentance?

Sadly, even Pacific Garden Mission's popular radio program 'UNSHACKLED' is rife with heresy concerning repentance. Folks, there is only one Gospel. You either are required to change or not to be saved. You either must shew forth a change of behavior to prove that you're saved, or you don't, but it cannot be both.

Pastor Chuck Phelps errantly preaches: “You don't get saved by works, but if you are saved faith will work.” That sounds really religious. That'll preach, as they say! But the problem is that it is NOT Biblical, at all. Pastor Phelps is preaching Calvinism (i.e., the doctrines of John Calvin, 1509-1564). According to these Calvinist heretics, if you don't have works it proves that your faith is not genuine and you're not saved, despite your faith. That is not the Gospel. In God's plan of salvation, you simply come to God as a needy sinner and freely receive His gift of eternal life by faith. And then the life you CHOOSE to live (Romans 12:1-2), determines your rewards in Heaven (1st Corinthians 3:1-15). Please read this quote again by Dr. DeHaan:

"There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple." —M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117)

We must keep discipleship (service) separate from sonship (salvation). If you get these two things mixed up, you will corrupt the Word of God and cast stumbling blocks before the people, just as John Bunyan warned in the earlier quote. I will close with this wonderful helpful quote from Pastor Jack Hyles:

Now look at John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Again, we are trying to decide and determine what makes one lost. It is very plain here. Notice the word believeth, "and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." What keeps a person from seeing life? Believing not! What makes the wrath of God abide on a person? Believing not! So, from what must a person repent in order to be saved? He must repent of that which makes him lost. Since "believing not" makes him lost, "believing" makes him saved. In repentance there is a turning from the thing that keeps him from being saved to the thing that saves him. So, yes, there is a repentance from unbelief in order to believe. It is simply a change of direction. It means a turning around. You are going away from believing, and you decide to turn around and believe. You change your direction; you change your mind. With your will you believe and rely upon Christ to save you. In order to believe, you have to repent of unbelief. That which makes a man lost must be corrected.

Now turn to John 5:40, "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Oh, how simple this is, and yet how plain! Why does a person not have life, according to this verse? Because he will not come to Christ. So, if a person is going away from Christ, he must turn around and come to Christ, which is a change of direction or a change of mind. This is repentance - repenting of the thing that keeps one from being saved, repenting from "going away" to "coming to."

SOURCE: Dr. Jack Hyles, 'Misunderstood Repentance'

Amen and amen. It doesn't get any simpler than that folks. God bless Jack Hyles, Martin DeHaan and John Bunyan, because these godly men understood the free grace Gospel of Jesus Christ and preached it correctly so, keeping sanctification separate from justification.

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

I Am Very Thankful To God For Google's "Blogger"

Psalms 18:49, Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Psalms 100:4, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” Ephesians 1:16, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;” Colossians 1:3, We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,” 1st Thessalonians 1:2, We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;” 1st Thessalonians 5:18, In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 2nd Thessalonians 2:13, But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

Have you ever noticed how much the Bible emphasizes being thankful to God? I was thinking today about how much I am thankful for Google's "Blogger." Ironically, I have lost 90% of my web traffic since 2015 because of Google's changing of their algorithms. I don't understand how it all works. I just know that my Jesus-is-Savior.com website ministry used to receive about 1,000,000 visitors each and every month, but now that number if visitors is down to a mere 65,000 per month in comparison. That is still a lot of people and I praise God with a grateful heart.

I also appreciate the Google directs people to my ministry, even if it is much less than I used to receive. I used to receive roughly 30,000 visitors PER DAY before 2015. But now in 2021 I am fortunate to receive 65,000 hits in a month (about 2,000 visitors per day). Albeit, I have never focused on the numbers. My attitude when I began this ministry in 2002 (and still is today), is that even if I only have 10 people who give me their heart to learn, I will give them my best and it is worth my time for Jesus Christ!!!

Still, I was becoming discouraged that Google was censoring my articles, whether on purpose or inadvertently due to their stricter algorithm rules. But then one of my loyal web visitors suggested to me that I start a blog. He uses Word Press, which I don't care for much. When I found Blogger, I feel in love with it the first day! If you love to write and express your thoughts, BLOGGER is first class all the way! Whoever designed Blogger deserves a pay raise! Bravo my friends at Google!!! Facebook is a living nightmare, but Blogger is so user friendly and easy to figure out. I cannot recommend Blogger enough to all my blog readers! And it's all completely free, which I very much appreciate from Google.

The only thing that I wish Google would change for Blogger, is to make the blog automatically default to its original URL address, so when my purchased domain name expires (if I die), then all my work won't be lost after I'm gone. For example: I purchased a cool website domain called "Faithalonesaves.org," for this blog. My original name provided by Blogger was "Faithalonesaves.blogspot.com" (which is fine, but I really liked the name I purchased. But if I die in a sudden car crash tomorrow, in a year when my domain expires, my "Faithalonesaves.org" blog won't be accessible anymore. I hope Google will do something to change this in the future. If not I will likely not use the purchased domain anymore at some point, so I can have the peace of mind that all my hard work won't be lost.

Having said all that, I have no complaints against Google. I am very grateful for their Blogger feature. THANK YOU GOOGLE!!! Thank you God for the opportunity to share my beliefs, convictions and Bible knowledge with others, so that God can be a blessing through my humble labors. My only heart's desire has always been to be a blessing to OTHERS. I have never made a single penny from my internet ministry, and I don't plan on ever doing so. My full reward is waiting for me in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-20; 1st Corinthians 3:8).

Hebrews 6:10, “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” I love and appreciate that Bible verse. Our blessed Savior is very ethical. So much in fact that He promises to reward even giving a cup of water to another Christian. Mark 9:41, “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.”

Did you notice in our various text passages of Scripture, that prayer is often mentioned in connection with being thankful? That is more than a mere coincidence. Thankful men are praying men! Thankful women are praying women! Colossians 1:3, We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,Amen and amen. People aren't thankful because they are happy, people are happy because they are thankful. 

In Romans chapter one, the first step in the downfall of a person's life is a lack of gratitude toward our Creator. Romans 1:21, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.I love that phrase: “WHEN THEY KNEW GOD.” Every child knows God in their early years. Every human being KNOWS GOD from infancy, just as does every living creature. Psalms 104:21, “The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.What a sad commentary on the human race, that wild beasts would seek their provisions from God, while we humans often don't. 

I am not bragging, but God knows that I never eat a bite of anything without thanking Him for it. I am so unworthy. I thank God for the taste buds to enjoy food. I thank God for a working healthy digestive system, without which we could not enjoy a delicious meal. God is so good!!! God is more than amazing. Praise Him all ye earth, praise our great and magnificent Maker! When I look up and behold the stars, I am humbled. Did you know when you look at the stars, you are peering back into time, because it takes light centuries and even millenniums to reach the earth from their far away distance from the earth. That is mind boggling!

Dear friend, if you just ponder the universe and how it all began, it screams the existence of a divine Creator. For example: How big is the universe? Can it have an end? If so, what is beyond that end? Since it is scientifically impossible for nothing to occupy a space, it boggles the human mind to try to understand such things. Another mind boggling question is: Where did the universe and time come from? Can something come from nothing? If so, what existed before time, mass and energy? The ONLY logical answer dear friend is GOD!

I marvel that so many people believe in the possibility of alien life, yet they deny the possibility that there is a God. My friend, God is an alien by very dictionary definition!!! There is a God, and He is a good God. Just look at all the blessings that He gives us. Luke 6:35, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.God is kind to liars, cheats, murderers and every wicked person, but His goodness will end the moment every unsaved soul enters into eternity. Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

I just wrote this blog to express my thankful spirit toward Google and God (not that Google is God...lol). I think it is great that Google provides their Blogger service for free to the masses. That is very kind and generous of them. I regret that my websites are being censored (for whatever reason) by Google, but I've been uploading my older articles to Google's Blogger instead. This is very helpful, because I am not very good at understanding website design. Technology keeps changing. When I began making my website ministry in 2002, everything was pretty much HTML 4. There were hardly no mobile phones back then to surf the internet, which started in 1996 but took time to go mainstream.

I like that Google is honest, "FREE" truly means FREE. I signed up for Weebly because they advertise all over the internet that it is "completely free," but it sure isn't. The limitations imposed unless you pay them make publishing a decent website impossible. They hound you continually to get your money, for their so-called "COMPLETELY FREE" website maker. If you doubt what I say, don't take my word for it, read what others have to say negatively about Wix and Weebly (for their false advertising).

I have spent tens of thousands of hours writing, designing and publishing literally thousands of articles over the past 20 years since 2002. Very few of them are mobile-friendly. I wish there was a way that I could make them all compliant quickly, but there's not. I have to do it the old-fashioned one, editing one webpage at a time. Praise the Lord!!! I just fixed 142 broken links the other day for Lovethetruth.com, and now I am fixing 339 broken links for my website at Jesusisprecious.org. I still have 199 broken links left to fix. One day at a time.

Having said that, I really love and appreciate that Blogger automatically deformats all the junk out of my former articles, with the click of a mouse, and then perfectly formats them to be mobile-friendly. So I am definitely, God willing, planning on moving many of my older ministry articles into Blogger. THANK YOU Google!!! Blogger has been such a blessing to my ministry that I just wanted to give some credit and praise to Google, and moreover, to recommend and encourage that my blog readers make your own blogs. If you have an opinion as a child of God, you should prayerfully consider starting your own blog and share your voice for the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's completely free on Google, unlike the false advertising at WeeblyWhen I signed up for an account at Weebly, and  created a "free" website and then went to "Publish" it, Weebly demanded money or they wouldn't upload it. What liars!!! Weebly are dirty liars!!! They are greedy and exploit people with false promises of a "completely free website," but they don't really mean what they say. Weebly's owner's don't honor their word. You shouldn't have to go out of your way to contact them, to ask them why they aren't honoring their word. That is how Satan operates, with deceit and half-truths!!! I mean, if Weebly wants to charge money, that is fine, but don't deceitfully lure people in by making false promises of a free website.

I'm so glad that God is not a liar. The serpent (Satan) in Genesis 3:1-5 came to Eve and deceived her, which is what the father of all liars does (John 8:44). When humans play word games, withhold information, call things "free" that have strings attached and limitations—they are behaving like the Devil. Anyway, it means a lot to me that Google is totally upfront and honest, with no strings attached for their Blogger feature. I love it! THANK YOU!!!

Exposing Pastor James Knox's Counterfeit Plan Of Salvation

Galatians 3:1-3, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

I was saddened this evening as I found a sermon by Pastor James Knox of The Bible Baptist Church in Leland, Florida, titled: “Repent And Believe The Gospel: What Is Repentance?

“Do you know why it's hard to know if people get saved or not anymore? It's because we've given them this option of salvation without repentance. You don't see a changed life, because no changed life was expected. No changed life was required. Look, you can stop drinking, stop cussing, stop chasing women, stop chasing men, stop chasing both—you can quit all that stuff and die and go to Hell—repentance is not the Gospel. But you're not going to come to God, without any sorry, any guilt, any acknowledgement, any desire, to do something about your sin. You're not going to get saved on those terms. Those are man's terms, not God's terms.” SOURCE: Pastor James Knox, Repent And Believe The Gospel: What Is Repentance?” (58:22 time in YouTube sermon video)

Dear reader, James Knox is not saved! What a messed up theology he has! He has a wrong mindset toward the Gospel. How can a man be saved, who thinks you must desire to turn away from sinning as a prerequisite to faith? Pastor Knox plainly says that repentance is not the Gospel, nor are we saved by repentance; but then he foolishly says that if you haven't repented of your sin your faith is invalid. Kindly said, he is a confused pastor!!!

Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that God will not save a person unless they feel sorrow or regret for their sinning. James Knox is preaching a counterfeit Gospel which demands more than God requires. God just requires faith. What saith the Scripture? John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” What saith the Scripture? John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

We ought not expect changes from a person to be saved, nor as a means of proving that they are saved later on. We've got a bunch of corrupt self-righteous pastors today, running around attaching works to faith, one way or another. Listen, you CAN trust Christ and still go out and live like the Devil, and KNOW 100% that you're going to Heaven. That is because forgiveness of sins and eternal life are the free gift of God (Romans 6:23). We are saved by GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is imputed (credited) to every believer by faith alone. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:Boy, I love that!

Pastor Knox sinfully preaches another gospel:

“People don't mind you telling them they can go to Heaven in 30 seconds; what they mind is you telling them that their religion is wrong and will take them to Hell.” SOURCE: Pastor James Knox, Repent And Believe The Gospel: What Is Repentance?” (58:22 time in YouTube sermon video)

Although there is some truth to what Pastor Knox just said (regarding forsaking one's faith in false religion to instead trust Christ), he also foolishly applies this to your sins. From listening to the entire sermon it is very clear to me that Pastor Knox is evasive, subtlety teaching his damnable heresy that:

“But you're not going to come to God, without any sorry, any guilt, any acknowledgement, any desire, to do something about your sin. You're not going to get saved on those terms. Those are man's terms, not God's terms.” SOURCE: Pastor James Knox, “Repent And Believe The Gospel: What Is Repentance?” (58:22 time in YouTube sermon video)

Dear reader, DOING SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR SIN is not a part of God's plan of salvation!!! I triple-dog dare you to show me one place in the inspired King James Bible where we are taught to DO SOMETHING about our sin to be saved. It was Christ who DID SOMETHING about our sin, paying for them on the cross with His precious blood:

1st Peter 1:18-19, “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 

James Knox attempts to justify his heresy by citing umpteen passages from the Bible about repentance. However, concerning redemption, he woefully embellishes the Biblical Greek meaning of “repent” (metanoia: “a change of mind”) to mean something VERY different! As do many false prophets today, Pastor Knox wrongly understands repentance to mean turning away from your sinning. He makes the fatal doctrinal error of making repentance a separate act from believing. In his sermon, Pastor Knox plainly teaches that repentance happens FIRST, and then faith follows SECOND. That is unbiblical. Repentance and faith are inseparable and happen AT THE SAME TIME. 

The Bible does not require that you first repent, and then believe. Proof of what I say is in the Gospel of John, which does not mention the word "repent" even once. You read correct! The word "repent" is not mentioned even once in the Gospel of John. But we do find the word "believe" mentioned 88 times! Faith alone saves!!! James Knox is a false teacher, an infidel of the Christian faith. According to James Knox, someone who believes on Christ without repenting has experienced a false conversion. ...

At about 18 minutes into the sermon video, Pastor Knox likens salvation to diabetes. He says that saying you're sorry, while drinking 32 ounce Cokes every day won't cure your diabetes. He says exercising in the gym won't help your diabetes, if you're stopping off to eat a half dozen sugary doughnuts on the way home. Sadly, he applies this to salvation, teaching that If they're not going to give up the things that are the reason they need Jesus, He can't help them. You've got to repent! (19:56 time in video). This is a false gospel. Pastor Knox is sinfully teaching that you must forsake your sins, for which Christ died, or else God will not save you on those terms.

“Do you know why it's hard to know if people get saved or not anymore? It's because we've given them this option of salvation without repentance. You don't see a changed life, because no changed life was expected. No changed life was required.” SOURCE: Pastor James Knox, Repent And Believe The Gospel: What Is Repentance?” (58:22 time in YouTube sermon video)

What a confused man! Pastor Knox accuses the free grace only crowd (true Christians like me and Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold) of giving people an "option" to be saved WITHOUT REPENTANCE. Clearly, James Knox does not believe that faith alone is sufficient to go to Heaven. According to Pastor Knox's false teaching, you must also give up your sins to be saved. I hope you see the danger of what he is preaching.

If forsaking a sinful lifestyle were required to get to Heaven, then the Apostle John would have said so in the Gospel of John, but he didn't. John said that people who do evil won't come to the light of the truth to be saved, lest their deeds should be reproved (John 3:20). So if someone believes on Christ, they have repented (i.e., they have changed their mind from unbelief to belief). Who is John Knox to ADD an extra step to God's simple plan of salvation?

It is a counterfeit gospel to teach that a person must repent AND believe. No, the Bible says we repent TO believe. Repentance is never a separate act from believing! That is why the Gospel of John doesn't mention repentance at all. The man who believes has repented. He has changed his mind toward God (Acts 20:21), acknowledging the truth (2nd Timothy 2:25-26). Beware of Pastor James Knox and The Bible Baptist Church he heretically leads.

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Dr. Steve Pettit's Damnable Counterfeit Gospel At Bob Jones University

Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

I have nothing personal against Mr. Pettit. I heard him speak at the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam in 2014. I cried as he spoke on the topic of “Wisdom.” Like many Christians, I have made some unwise decisions throughout my life. I am not writing this article to attack Dr. Pettit, God forbid. I am very concerned about the Calvinist theology that he is preaching to thousands of students at Bob Jones University, who are tomorrow's church leaders. We are in trouble with the Lord folks, for letting wolves creep into our churches and Bible colleges unawares. I am certain that many of the faculty and students at BJU in 2015 were very disturbed and uneasy, as Dr. Pettit made the following heretical statements, teaching a works-based false gospel.

The sermon preached in Chapel on January 26, 2015 is titled: “What Does it Mean To Run The Race?” (MP3, 'The Daily Platform,' Dr. Steve Pettit). Evangelist Steve Pettit is the new president of Bob Jones University (since 2014). Pettit heretically teaches that “THE RACE” we run as Christians is necessary for salvation. That is exactly what Seventh-Day Adventist false prophetess' Ellen G. White (1827-1915) taught! Steve Pettit teaches:
“'The race' is a description of the whole of the Christian life of faith.” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 4:26)
That is some dangerous talk when you include the next quote from Dr. Pettit, in which he teaches over 2,600 BJU students that the “AWARD” for running 'The Race' is “Heaven itself”!!!
“We run the race, we cross the finish line, and so what’s the prize? What is the award? Well, there are different viewpoints. Some would have the viewpoint that the awards are crowns in Heaven. But as I read the book of Hebrews and see the whole gist of the book and the flow of the book, I don’t believe its referring to crowns in Heaven. I think it is referring to Heaven itself.” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 22:57)
Heaven itself? Oh my! What saith the Scripture? 1st Corinthians 9:24-25, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” As you just read, the “award” will be an “INCORRUPTIBLE CROWN”; but Steve Pettit says it will be HEAVEN ITSELF!!!

Salvation Is Not An Award, It Is A Free Gift

Mr. Pettit is literally saying that the AWARD for running 'The Race' is salvation!!! Folks, eternal life is not an “AWARD,” it is a free gift! Are you getting this? What a demonic heretic!!! Salvation is a “free gift” (Romans 5:15), which does NOT require living a faithful life to secure!!! Steve Pettit is a reprobate in the pulpit, an unsaved heretic, a theological liar!!! He falsely says:
“So not only does it have a start, but 'The Race' has to be run! It starts with faith, but it continues with faithfulness. You start the race with the purpose of finishing the race. Nobody starts the race, so that they can quit half-way through. When you start in faith, you need to run and finish in faith. However, let me also remind you, that this race is HARD. Is a race not hard? Is it not difficult to get out and run?” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 6:34)
Let me ask you a very important question dear reader—If I give you a gift, what does that mean? Here is what it means:

A gift will cost you NOTHING, because it cost me. I paid for it. Jesus paid for the gift of eternal life!

Receiving the gift does not obligate you in any way to do anything, or else it cannot be a gift. The dictionary defines “gift” as: “Something acquired without compensation.” Eternal life is a “free gift” (Romans 5:15, 18).

I cannot take it away from you, otherwise it wasn't truly a gift, or else I am a thief for taking it back.

If it is an “award,” then it cannot also be a “gift”! The dictionary definition of “award” is: “Something given for victory or superiority in a contest or competition.” Folks, getting saved is a free gift, not a race or competition!

It is not “HARD” to receive a gift. Steve Pettit says running the race is “HARD,” and he says you must run the race to get the “award” of Heaven. What a con man in the pulpit! Getting saved is easy, not an award; it is a free gift!

Dear friend, if you will simply always keep in mind that eternal life is a “free gift,” it will steer you clear of mountains of heresy!!! Steve Pettit is a deadly false prophet, who corrupts the simplicity that is in Christ (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). Romans 5:18, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”

Ellen G. White and Steve Pettit Agree On Salvation

Dr. Pettit is a corrupt false prophet, who requires works for salvation. In the following quote from Miss Ellen G. White's book, “Steps To Christ,” she teaches Lordship Salvation (which is a works-based false plan of salvation). She is essentially teaching the EXACT SAME heresy as Steve Pettit:
“That so-called faith in Christ which professes to release men from the obligation of obedience to God, is not faith, but presumption. 'By grace are ye saved through faith.' But 'faith, if it hath not works, is dead.'” —Miss Ellen G. White, 'Steps To Christ,' page 61
As you just read, Miss White says you cannot merely get saved by faith, you have to live a lifetime of faithfulness! Steve Pettit agrees with her! He states:
“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)
Do you see how they agree? They both teach that you can't just get born-again and that's it. They both say more is required, that you are OBLIGATED to live a life of obedience to God. This is the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation!!!

SDA legend Ellen G. White says true faith does not release men from the obligation of obedience to God; otherwise she says it is NOT faith. In other words, if you don't live the Christian life, and all the obligations it includes, you are not saved! She misinterprets James 2:17 to support her heresy that works are required to be saved. Steve Pettit and Ellen White are in doctrinal agreement. Folks, that is not regeneration! That is not the instantaneous new birth. Steve Petite has the same deadly mindset as John MacArthur.

They view salvation as beginning with faith, but then it is a PROCESS that continues your whole life, and if you don't faithfully run that race, you don't get eternal life!!! I agree that salvation is more than being saved, in the sense that after we are salvaged (born-again), God begins to recycle us for a lifetime; however, eternal life itself is a free gift, which does not require faithfully living for Christ! The former is salvation (our POSITION in Christ), the latter is discipleship (our CONDITION in Christ).

Salvation And Discipleship Must Not Be Combined Or Confused

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) authored a helpful book called: “Salvation Is More Than Being Saved.” Dr. Hyles likens salvation to being salvaged from a junk yard; but then that junk needs to be recycled to make it usable. Our salvation doesn't change us one bit. One of my favorite sermons by Pastor Jack Hyles is called, what else: "Your Salvation Did Not Change You A Bit” (MP3). We have been salvaged from the fires of Hell; but now we need to grow in God's grace, to be renewed in our mind to make us fit for God's purpose and use (Romans 12:1-2).

The former is salvation, the latter is discipleship. Dr. Steve Pettit goes horribly astray by confusing discipleship with salvation! Dr. Hyles keeps them separate. By mixing the two Dr. Pettit has corrupted grace, he has perverted the Gospel of free grace. A truly born-again believer has the Biblical mindset that salvation is a one time new birth! Presenting our body as a living sacrifice is a second decision that every believer needs to make (Romans 12:1). Discipleship is optional for the believer; that is, it is not required to be saved!

It is the same as the physical birth. We should take care of our physical health. We should eat right, live right, and do right; but regardless of who, what, where, when, how or why, we cannot undo the physical birth. The exact same thing is true with the second birth. Once you come to God as a needy sinner, and receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior—believing the 'Good News' that Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and physically resurrected three days later—you are immediately, irrevocably and forever born-again. You SHOULD obey God and live the Christian life; but regardless of who, what, where, when, how or why, you cannot undo the new birth in Christ Jesus!

If you choose to live in sin, you cannot undo the second birth. You have already been born anew from above, by a supernatural miracle of God in response to your faith (John 1:12-13; 1st Peter 1:18-19). I am leery of all this garbage Calvinism in Bible colleges and churches today, that says if you don't faithfully run and finish 'The Race' (The Christian Life), you won't go to Heaven! That is the Satanic garbage theology that Steve Petit is dishing out to the thousands of students at Bob Jones College!! They are victims of junk theology!!!

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) rightly teaches:
“Yes, Jesus is Lord. He is Lord of the universe, and, of course, we believe that He is Lord. However, to believe that in order to be saved one must make Him the Lord of his life is just another form of salvation by works.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “Lordship Salvation - An Enemy of Soulwinning
Dr. Steve Pettit is your typical false prophet. He will defend himself by saying that he believes in salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; but then he says that pursuing a life of holiness and living the Christian life is the evidence that you are really saved. Dr. Pettit teaches that you must surrender everything to Christ to be saved! It's a forked-tongue false gospel of partial faith in Christ plus works!!! He rear-loads the Gospel, perverting grace! Steve Pettit effectively defines faith as running 'The Race,' since he links going to Heaven as being the AWARD for faithfully running 'The Race.' Again, getting saved is not an award, it is a free gift.
Matthew 7:13-15, “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.”

Salvation Does Not Require Living A Lifestyle

Dr. Petite says that getting saved “involves a confession of faith.” Dear reader, your faith is all that is required by God to be saved!!! Salvation doesn't merely involve a confession of faith, it is your faith that saves you! Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Dr. Pettit sinfully adds works to faith. He teaches that you absolutely must faithfully stay in the race, run it, and finish the race, or else you won't go to Heaven. Pettit denies that you can lose salvation, but he believes you never had it unless you persevere in holiness, ministry and service for others. That is a counterfeit gospel of heathen Calvinism, which cannot produce the new birth, because it is a completely different mindset than those who believe the Gospel of free grace. I was born-again at age 13. Nothing more is required of me to get to Heaven.

Biblical proof that Dr. Pettit is teaching a strange doctrine is found in 1st Corinthians...
1st Corinthians 3:13-15, “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
As we just read, there will be believers at the Judgment Seat Of Christ, who barely escaped Hell, “saved; yet so as by fire” (1st Corinthians 3:15b). Another example is found in 1st Corinthians 5:1-5. These men did not faithfully run the race! Demas loved this present world and forsook Paul's side in the ministry (2nd Timothy 4:10). The Bible is chocked full of sinful believers who did not faithfully run the race. Every believer must run the race, because life itself is the race; but we don't have to run the race to get to Heaven!!! All we need to do to get to Heaven, is to BELIEVE on the name of the risen Son of God, receiving His sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins! That is light years apart from the trash Steve Petite is teaching at BJU!!! You SHOULD run the Christian race faithfully; but IF YOU DON'T, grace doth much more abound (Romans 5:20). Every believer has already been “JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS” (Acts 13:39). Pettit heretically teaches:
“For the real reality of the genuineness of your faith is that you are faithful to run the race!” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 22:44)
No, the reality of the genuineness of my faith is MY FAITH ITSELF!

Dr. Pettit is hypocritical to say you are not saved by works, but if you don't have works you're not saved! That is a manipulative backdoor approach to Lordship Salvation!!! Front-loading the Gospel is when you require meritorious works of a person to be saved, before they are saved. Rear-loading the Gospel is when you require meritorious works of a person to be saved, after they are saved. Either way, preachers are perverting the Gospel when they ADD to it! Galatians 1:6-7, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” Kindly, Dr. Steve Pettit is perverting the Gospel of free grace!!!

Still not convinced? Read this heretical quote again by Steve Pettit...
You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)
So “faith” for salvation according to BOTH Ellen White and Steve Pettit is not simply trusting upon the Gospel to be saved; but also, salvation is a package deal that requires sanctification and glorification, and you cannot merely get saved and that's it! Folks, that is a works-based plan of salvation!!! Ellen G. White teaches that the Christian faith encompasses all of the obligations of living the Christian life. That is exactly what Steve Pettit teaches! ...
“God's people HAVE TO continue in the faith! They MUST PERSEVERE, because perseverance is the testimony of the reality of your faith!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 25:13)

“For the real reality of the genuineness of your faith is that you are faithful to run the race!” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 22:44)
This is so sad and tragic, to see this kind of Satanic junk theology being taught at Bob Jones University today. My God, what has happened to BJU? Ladies and gentlemen, this is what happens when you dip your sails. Kindly, that is why I criticize the First Baptist Church of Hammond (FBCH) so much for changing their position on the inspiration of the King James Bible. Since 2008 the church has denied the inspiration of the King James Bible, falsely claiming that ONLY the “original autographs” were inspired (which we no longer have).

That was BJU's downfall! The next thing you know, they start tolerating the Devil's modern Alexandrian Bible revisions. John Wesley (1703-1791) was absolutely right: “What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace!” Mark my words: Hyles-Anderson College will go down the same apostate spiral as Bob Jones University has! It is inevitable once change starts. Change itself is the enemy! Pastor Bob Gray Sr. wonderfully explains this truth in his classic sermon titled: 'TRUTH VERSUS CHANGE!'

Psalms 55:21, “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.”

Titus 1:10-13, “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.”
FBCH has betrayed the Word of God by denying the inspiration of the King James Bible, which opens a Pandora's Box of ecumenical compromising, uncertainty and theological instability!!! And that ladies and gentlemen, is exactly how a liberal unsaved Calvinist came to be the new president of Bob Jones University!!! It all started with inviting the Devil's corruptible seed into their midst!!! Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again!!! Steve Pettit is teaching that you cannot just get saved and count yourself safe in Christ! In addition, Pettit says you MUST live the Christian life to get to Heaven...
“So when we talk about 'The Race,' what are we talking about? We're talking about beginning and salvation, and then running the race through pursuing holiness and ministry, and service to others. But then let me say, that number three: This race HAS TO be faithfully run to the finish! You HAVE TO finish. Salvation is not just a past reality—“I GOT SAVED,” but is a future destiny! The race is not completed until you cross the finish line at death. What is this race—it is the race as we are running as we are headed toward Heaven.” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 10:27)
That is a corrupt plan of salvation, which superficially professes the simplicity that is in Christ by faith alone, but then perverts the Gospel by requiring discipleship in order to be saved. Prolific author and 33rd degree Freemason, Manly P. Hall (1901-1990), makes the brilliant truthful statement:
“The half-truth is the most dangerous form of lie, because it can be defended in part by incontestable logic.”
SOURCE: “The Secret Destiny Of America,” page 195, by Manly P. Hall, a 33rd degree Freemason; 1944; ISBN: 0-89314-388-X; publisher: The Philosophical Research Society, Inc, Los Angeles, California.
Don't miss that! This concept is so important to understand when exposing the religious cults!
“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does it mean To Run 'The Race'? - 11:34)
Are you getting this folks? Dr. Pettit teaches salvation as a process instead of a new birth. We are saved in an instant by trusting Jesus as our Savior, but becoming Christlike takes a lifetime. Being conformed into the image of Christ is God's department, not ours! Changing is not mandatory to get to Heaven. Dr. Pettit is invading God's space, and invalidating God's grace, by adding running the race! Our part is to trust the blessed Savior. Whatever changes God wants to see happen in our life is His department alone. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I love you all!

Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”


The King James Version Is All We Need
(Brother Roloff puts Bob Jones crowd to utter shame!)


Brother Lester Roloff Puts Bob Jones University To Shame
(the Holy Spirit doesn't 
need help)

The Living Bible Exposed
(classic & needful MP3 sermon by 
Brother Lester Roloff, 1914-1982)