Are you a victem of easy belevism?

Preachers should not preach either false doubt or false hope. They should preach the biblical gospel and rely on God to do His work in conviction, regeneration, and conversion.

 

It was about 10 yrs ago, and I remember that he preached on the sins that teens usually commit. He said that if they were still tempted by these sins, (like lust) they could not be saved. He said that once a person gets saved, they will not be tempted over and over again to sin. That if they were truly saved, the Holy Spirit will protect them from the evil temptation...He tried to use the fact that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and if someone is sealed, that means they will not "spoil". They are preserved, and sin will not be able to touch us, the way bacteria cannot get to things that are preserved in jars.

He basically convinced them that if they sin, they could not have been truly saved. Then he went on a rant about how hot Hell is, and how they may not even live through the night. So you can see how a bunch of 13-16 yr olds would have been scared to death.. sooooo naturally when he gave the invitation and told them if they were not sure they were saved they need to come forward and make sure, over half the camp came forward....

That of course was a real ego boost for him!

As for cleaning it up.... well since it was an emotional response (fear) we still had teens crying 3 hrs later, scared they were going to die and go to hell because they were not sinless... It took alot of biblical counselling that night, and weeks later after they got back to their home churches.

I agree with J.D.
Preachers should not preach either false doubt or false hope. They should preach the biblical gospel and rely on God to do His work in conviction, regeneration, and conversion.

 

Where I'm from they call it "retreading" - you know, like tires are re-treaded. Many years ago I had intended to go to a small bible college, but when I learned, and saw first-hand, that they were retreaders, I changed my plans. Their methods are as you stated. It's a thin veneer, and I don't know why more folks don't see through it. The method I saw one of them use was to key in on some doctrinal truth that is not readily understood by babes in Christ, and then say "if you didn't understand that when you got saved, then you are not saved". In the case in point the preacher keyed in on the doctrine of propitiation (which he himself did not understand BTW), and he droned on and on, using all sorts of difficult definitions and analogies. By the end, everyone was confused, and all of those that did not see through his ruse were doubting their salvaiton. Several, including a missionary's wife, came forward at the invitation and "got saved". And, as you said, the clean up took a long time.

 

I just wish some of these guys would re-tire!!!!

ohhhhh... a bad joke!

 

YES

I AM NOT GOING TO HELL BECAUSE OF HIS SACRIFICE AND I STRIVE TO DO HIS WILL AND PRAY FOR HIS GUIDEANCE EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF MY LIFE

 

Jesus Saved Me When I Was Very Young.. I Didnt Understand Alot As That Comes W/ Sanctification But I Knew That He Had Died For Me And I Trusted Him To Save Me And Him Alone. The Gospel Is Perverted When People Add To The Simple Child Like Faith That Is Required.. Repentance Is Required But My Understanding Of Repentance Is That God Gives It And Its A Change Of Mind. Maybe From Not Believing To Believing. Yes I Doubted Some As A Teenager As I Went To A Christian School. In The End I Believe God Used Those Times To Grow Me Up As His Child. He Has Sealed Me For The Day Of Redemption.

Rusty

 

rooster - i love how you type - with each beginning letter of every word as a capital.

a good friend of mine does that - it takes skill i tell ya.

 

I think it appropriate for a pastor or someone witnessing to another to say, 'Now I cannot tell you that you are saved but if the Lord has truly done a work in your heart you will notice a change in your interests and that you make it a point to find time to read His word daily and a desire to be in church when it convenes and find new friends who are Christians that will encourage and support you! You then will find an assurance that you are truly a child of God!'

 

You can read my testimony under the introduction thread, but I totally understand what you mean with "easy believism." I think that there are going to be many people who work and are in our churches who will end up in hell because they trusted in a prayer that they said to save them. Wouldn't that be trusting in a work.

Salvation is nothing we do...it is all that HE did.

I am tired of seeing pastors & evangelist who push for "easy believism" as part of their services...so they can brag later that 100's were saved. My husband attended a teen revival once where the invitation lasted longer then the message (approx. 45 of invitation) because the young evangelist did not feel that the Holy Spirit was finished yet......(like he would no). My husband and pastor almost went up just to stop the insanity.

 

I agree that flippantly giving someone the gospel and not putting alot of prayer into it can and does result in someone praying the prayer without getting saved. You can usually spot them when you invite them to church or some other activity at the church and they have no desire to be around God's people.

However. I run three nursing home ministries where I teach that a person has to understand they are lost in sin. They need to understand that because they have not trusted Jesus Christ that they will die and go to hell. When a person knows they need to be saved from hell you can pray with them and if they truly repent and trust Jesus at His word be pretty confident they got saved. I liken some of the elderly to the thief on the cross. No time or ability to do anything but trust that Jesus died for them and beg His forgiveness.

The elements to be saved are in the sinners prayer. It just requires a deeper understanding of our lost condition than alot of cookie cutter soul winners put into it. I see alot of door knockers that like to rack up the numbers. This is the wrong way. A pair who approach soul winning with prayer and are willing to step out of the way and let God workwill see true conversions.

We have to remember also that when we lead someone to living water, we need to teach them to drink. We must arrange to disciple them. If not , it is like leaving a baby on a doorstep with predators around.

 

easy believe-ism & ministers of doubt

To discern ones salvation from observation is nearly impossible. So called ministers of doubt are truly concerned about the eternal destination of those they speak to. I once preached on the foundation of our justification out of Genesis 3 where Adam heard the voice of God and was afraid. Adam knew God as a matter of fact Adam was the only man who could say that he always believed in God. But disobedience created sin and a penalty for that sin “in the day thou shalt eat in that day thou shalt die” Adam was fearful (I heard they voice and was afraid and hid myself) that God was going to kill him, but God placed an innocent animal that Adam had nurtured and raised as his substitute and the penalty of disobedience was paid by an innocent animal that Adam loved.

I then explained the atonement process how that it was not just saying I am a sinner, God let me in, but a faith that the penalty for my sin was transferred to Jesus who died as payment of the penalty of my sin that rightfully I should have had to pay.

I explained that prayer did not save but belief by faith that the penalty was mine to pay but Christ paid it for me, I was lost unable to pay the penalty because of my sin nature, there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. I challenged men and women to evaluate their profession of faith to insure that their faith was not in the prayer of repentance but in the unchanging power of God to forgive through the atonement of Christ on our behalf.

I called the church office the next day concerning another matter and the church secretary jokingly said she could not get to the office because of people who were not sure of their salvation were blocking the door.

Was the message designed to create doubt or challenge people to make sure, 1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Too many presume to know the heart of the speaker and while you say he is playing Holy Spirit in striving for salvations perhaps you are playing the part of Satan in trying to convince others they were saved when they knew they were not (no indictment here).

BTW as in regards to one particular post teaching perfection is not in accordance with scripture “If we say we have no sin the truth is not in us”.

I understand the nature of the original OP and the fear of the inroads of easy believe-ism none-the-less we do not know whom the Father is drawing and must present the gospel to all regardless of our fears. How many thousands are saved because a simple plan of salvation was presented and though they did not understand it all they understood that they were a sinner, they were on their way to hell without any hope, Jesus loves them, died for them, and offers eternal life upon repentance and appropriating the great gift through faith in Jesus and his accomplished work on the cross.

Seems simple enough to me :smilewinkgrin:

thjplgvp

 

1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God:..

So yes, I am a "victim" of "easy believism" because believing on Jesus Christ is the easiest thing I know how to do. How about you?

The difficult part for me is the mortification of my flesh and its sinful desires.

So what is the alternative to "easy believism"? "Difficult believism"?

As a matter of fact believing on Jesus Christ is impossible without the enlightment from the Holy Spirit.

The problem is not "easy believism" (IMO) but the "phony believism" of the predicted "tares" who have infiltrated the local churches.

They "talk the talk" but can't/don't walk the walk.

HankD

​

 

Phony believers are the result of easy believerism. But Jesus expects that we dedicate our lives not just believe on him. The demons believe that He is the Son of God and respect Him. We must do more than that.

Luk 9:23 And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

 

Believing is easy when it's God that's doing the work of salvation. Believing is impossible if God is not in it. It's just that simple. Salvation is the work of God.

The problem with the "sinner's prayer" is not the prayer itself - it's the system that surrounds it. The conversations center on whether somebody has "prayed the prayer" or not. The question should be "has God worked a change in the sinner's heart?"

The publican prayed "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner", and Jesus said he went down to his house justified. Now then people will flock to the "prayer" of the publican and say "here it is, here is the FORMULA, here is the PRAYER one must say in order to be saved". When we do that, we've completely missed the point. The publican's prayer was nothing more than a response, an evidence, of what God was doing in his heart. With the heart man believeth, and with the mouth confession is made, and what is confession? It is a verbal agreement, not a unilateral declaration such as is a profession. The mouth confesses, or shows agreement with, the work of God in the heart.

So are they saved if they don't "pray a prayer"? Some think not. But are we saved by grace or works? I say by grace, which is a work of God in the hearts, and the rest is merely evidence of that work. I believe the confession of salvation eventually comes, and it could very well be that God has established the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper for just such confession.

 

Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved

Romans 10:10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.


Confession is always part of salvation. Paul wrote "Confession is made unto salvation". Someone who is convicted by the Holy Ghost will be driven to confession. Cant have salvation without it.

As far as praying being an act of works, that is false. The credit for the provision of salvation is not based on particular acts. But it is based on the who has the power to provide salvation.

John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name

He who has the power gets the credit. Not one who comits an act.

 

I still disagree with this statement Straight and Narrow.

What is the alternative? Does difficult-believerism result in true believers?

My specific objection is that justification needs to be separated from sanctification as a visible test of the reality of the faith of the believer and his ongoing life. Your statement does not adress that issue.

To "believe" in a manner that brings the new birth is not an issue of easy or difficult. It is in fact impossible without the direct intervention of God.
Whether it is impossible for an individual to ultimately resist this intervention is reserved for the waste of time RE: The ongoing argument of Arminius vs. Calvin.

If this effortless exercise of belief in Jesus Christ (at least on my part) results in a life that is characterised by sanctification then this is the way (although even that is not an infallible test, there is the "phoney" righteousness of "legalism" and the phoney liberty od "licenteousness") for those who are workers in the Church to know if it the belief was real or phoney not the appearance of the quality of that belief at the moment of that belief.

So I agree with you if the qualification of time is brought into the equation: I would say the following:

"phoney believers are the result of phoney believerism".

True believers are quite often the result of the misnomer "easy-believism".
True believers are never the result of "phoney-believism".

By their fruits shall you know them.

Fruit takes time to develope on the plant. When it appears then one can know if one has a wheat or a tare plant.

HankD

 

It all boils down to the Holy Spirit, and Him convincing the world of unbelief.

Only a person that is drawn by the Holy Spirit can have the faith to trust in Christ. Without the Holy Spirit working, the poor sinner will just cry and moan but to no effect.

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While this is no doubt an interesting anecdotal story, where is the Scripture that tells us this? While I have no question as to these sentences that reproduced here, I do the story cited. The Lord Jesus Christ said that "when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. ...'' The Lord also said " And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto myself.", as well as "if any wills to do His will, he shall know...". Scripture tells us that Jesus, 'the true light, lights every man as he comes into the world.', and further tells in Romans 1 that nature gives some understanding. With all due respect, I think I'll take the words of Jesus and those of Scripture over any evangelist's story.

Ed