Why I Stopped Passing Out
Chick Tracts Years Ago
by David J. Stewart | September 2015
Acts
20:21, “Testifying
both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks,
repentance toward God, and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When I was a teenager, I loved Chick Tracts. They were like eye-candy and I
collected as many as I could. I eagerly searched all the tract tables at rescue
missions and churches that I visited with my parents. I had a big collection. I
was born-again at age 13 (not by reading Chick Tracts), and God led me to serve
Him at age 15, but I wasn't sure in what capacity.
I was saved under the Gospel
preaching of a local New Testament Baptist church. It was Bible-preaching that
gave me a burning desire to do something for God. I just loved the cartoon
pictures in Chick Tracts. I remember how they impacted my heart. Kids love them!
At the time, I didn't have enough spiritual discernment to see what was wrong
with them.
It was another faithful Christian who pointed out to
me many years ago that Jack's Chick tracts teach a corrupt plan of salvation. At
first I was defensive, having been a big Chick tract fan for so long. But the
seed had been planted. I prayed and struggled with the issue for several months.
Eventually, the Lord impressed upon my heart and I thought, “What is the truth
of the matter?” The answer was obvious. I was reminded that there's nothing in
the Gospel about turning away from sinful activities, forsaking the world, nor
surrendering to follow Christ. I contacted Chick Tracts, but they never
responded. I didn't think they would, because I kindly challenged their
theological position on salvation, based upon the Word of God. Although some
religious people would like to bury the issue as being a mere matter of
semantics, it is a much bigger problem. If I hadn't had other sources of
Biblical truth to accompany Chick Tracts, I would have been in a world of hurt.
So now for many years I have been exposing the errors
of Jack Chick's teachings in his cartoon religious literature. Chick tracts are
spiritually dangerous, because they deter people from getting saved, being
misled to think that God won't save them unless they're willing to forsake all,
cease from lifelong sinful bad habits, and surrender your life to Christ.
Consequently, Jack Chick is hindering people from being saved, and giving false
hope to others who think their personal behavior has a part in their salvation
(which is no salvation at all). Jack Chick is helping pull on the same rope as
the Devil, blinding men to their need to repent from DEAD WORKS (Hebrews 6:1 -
all references only to trustworthy King James Bible), to completely rest in
Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:10-11). Religion is man trying to reach God through
human effort, but Christianity is God trying to reach man by the sacrifice of
His Son on the cross. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's
best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.
Jack Chick's website has added a
new section in defense of their
beliefs, countering the allegations against their ministry for preaching a
false meaning of repentance. Bible doctrine concerning salvation is like the
buttons on a shirt, that is, if you get the first button wrong then all the
other buttons will be wrong too. Repentance concerning salvation is a
critically important matter.
Please consider that Ray Comfort,
John MacArthur and Chip
Ingram are teaching the
same false understanding of repentance as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and Seventh
Day Adventists. And sadly, Jack Chick is also teaching a false
understanding of repentance when he requires a person to be willing to cease
from a sinful lifestyle as a prerequisite to being saved. Biblical repentance
is correctly explained by Pastor
Harry Ironside (1876-1951)...
"Repentance is the recognition of my sinnership
— the owning before God that I am as vile as He has declared me to be in His
holy Word."
SOURCE: Except
Ye Repent, by Dr. Harry Ironside, chapter 3
Step
one in Jack Chick's religious tracts is correct (as seen to the right).
However, in step two Mr. Chick adds the unbiblical requirement to “Be willing
to turn from sin,” which clearly means more than admitting one's sinnership,
because that was step one in his plan of salvation.
It is tragic that many preachers
view this theological debate as a mere matter of semantics and not worthy of
dividing over. May I say, Judas repented in Matthew 27:3 and yet he went
straight to Hell when he died. Judas is in Hell this moment, and will suffer
there for all eternity because he died in his sins without Christ. Clearly,
there is a
false form of repentance that
leads to damnation in Hell.
Judas experienced reformation,
feeling sorry for his misdeed and even trying to return the 30 pieces of
silver by which he betrayed the Son of God; but he didn't get saved. Salvation
is neither reformation, rehabilitation, legislation, nor education; but
rather, REGENERATION! Ye must be born again!
The false type of repentance places
the burden upon the sinner to forsake sinful bad habits and the world to be
saved; but Biblical repentance leaves all the burden upon the Savior, Who
became as sin so that we by faith could obtain
God's
imputed righteousness. Jesus Christ carried the unbearably heavy load of
our sins so that we wouldn't have to pay for them in Hell for all eternity.
Let me give you a helpful
illustration to help you correctly understand repentance and faith. Let's say
an evangelist is traveling from Michigan to Hawaii to preach at a church. He
boards the plane in Michigan and then flies toward Hawaii. He doesn't leave
Michigan first, and then secondarily head toward Hawaii; but rather, he is
moving away from Michigan and toward Hawaii at the SAME TIME. Likewise,
repentance and faith happen at the same time. Repentance and faith are one
deal. A person is saved when they turn to Christ by faith to be forgiven of
their sins. As you turn toward the precious Savior, you are simultaneously
turning your back against sin. This is a “change of mind,” which is exactly
what repentance means in the Bible concerning salvation.
Jack Chick is correct when he says
that repentance is not a fruit; but rather, it is part of salvation itself.
However, a changed life is the FRUIT of genuine repentance. Repentance is a
CHANGE OF MIND, not a CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE. A changed life is the fruit of
genuine repentance, and not a part of the ROOT of saving-faith. Jack Chick
makes the grave mistake of requiring a person to BE WILLING to clean up their
life (be willing to turn from sin) to be saved. Remember, Mr. Chick is not
satisfied with simply acknowledging one's guilt of being a sinner for
salvation; but rather, he additionally requires a person to be willing to
depart from the act of sin itself.
Romans 3:19 proves Jack Chick a
false prophet concerning the plan of salvation. Romans
3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who
are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and
all the world may become guilty before God.” The
purpose of God's Law is to show men their guilty sinful condition, and then
point them to the Savior to be saved.Galatians 3:24-26, “Wherefore the
law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified
by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” The
Law of God shows us our guilt of sin and consequent need for redemption, and
then points us to the blessed Savior Jesus Christ for cleansing and
forgiveness.
The entire perverted concept of
requiring a person to be willing to stop living in deliberate sin to be saved
is of the Devil and a false plan of salvation. What has happened is that
religious people are sick and tired of shallow professions of faith, so they
have taken it upon themselves to change the gospel in an attempt to force
people to live right. It doesn't work that way!!!
William
Lane Craig is another false
prophet concerning salvation. In essence Mr. Craig teaches that a person's
faith does not become valid until they depart from sin in their personal life.
He misinterprets 1st John
3:8, “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” The
Bible is simply teaching that a person who can live in gross immorality with
no Holy Spirit conviction, no chastisement from the Lord and no remorse
whatsoever, never got saved to begin with. When a person gets saved the Holy
Spirit comes inside to live (indwell) that person (1st Corinthians 3:16-17).
That doesn't mean that some Christians don't live in gross immorality (we have
plenty of examples in the Bible of believers who continued in long periods of
deliberate sin, like Samson, Solomon, the church at Corinth, Lot and Demas).
The Bible is not saying that a believer who sins is not saved, God forbid. We
all sin every day!
In sharp contrast, Mr. Craig
errantly teaches that 1st John 3:8 refers to professed Christians who never
really got saved because they never stopped living in sin. That's what he
teaches! Craig says you cannot be saved until you stop living wickedly. That's
not what the Bible is teaching. God is not saying that you have to give up
your sins TO BE SAVED; but rather, that you should have given up your sins
because YOU ARE SAVED. Brother Lester Roloff says, “Jesus saved you so you
wouldn't live like that anymore.” If you still love your sins and have no Holy
Spirit conviction inside, then you didn't get really saved. 1st John 3:8 is
entirely a matter of whether or not you have the presence of the convicting
and righteous HOLY SPIRIT living inside you.
Jack Chick's Red-Herring Defense In
His Own Words
Here is the conclusion of their
defense argument from Jack Chick's website. Notice that Jack Chick subtly
changes the subject from the meaning of repentance to repentance itself. This
is commonly called a “red-herring”...
A “red-herring” is something used as a distraction. The term
originates from herring fish which were smoked and then pickled in brine,
which turned them red. As legend goes, some animal-rights activities in 19th
century England would drag the red-herring fish along the ground to throw off
the foxes' scent, so the hunting hounds (dogs) couldn't follow them.
Respectfully, Evangelist Jack Chick
says:
How can we
give “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:20-21, 27) and refuse to tell people
to repent? If we don’t tell people to repent, we would be disobeying Christ,
because He said that “all men everywhere” must repent (Acts 17:30). And
Jesus said before He ascended into heaven that “repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in his name among all nations” (Luke 24:46-47).
This is not a
work for salvation. No one can “boast” that his heart was changed by God.
Repentance, an act on the heart, accompanies faith and is no more a work
than faith itself is.
So we at Chick Publications preach “repentance
toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
SOURCE: Why
Chick Tracts Preach Repentance
Jack Chick is trying to sidestep the
core issue. The issue is NOT whether or not repentance is necessary for
salvation. Yes, repentance is absolutely required to be saved. No one debates that.
If a man didn't repent, he would never come to Christ. John 3:20, “For
every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved.” I
don't know anyone who disagrees with Jack Chick for teaching the need for
repentance. We all agree that repentance is not optional. Repentance is 100%
absolutely required for the new birth. Repentance is that change of mind, when
a person sees them self as a guilty sinner in the eyes of a holy God. Romans 3:19,
“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it
saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and
all the world may become guilty before God.”
The Bible mandates repentance for
salvation, it is not an option. Without repentance there can be no salvation.
The problem with Jack Chick's tracts is that he espouses a FALSE meaning of
what it means to “repent.” Jack Chick has a WRONG understanding of what
repentance means, which he likely adopted from the reprobates false teachers
of our time; namely, Aiden Tozer, R.B. Thieme Jr., John MacArthur, Ray
Comfort, Paul Washer, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Charles Stanley, Beth Moore,
John Hagee, Pat Robertson, John Piper and umpteen other heretics on the plan
of salvation.
The Word of God teaches about “the
simplicity that is in Christ” in 2nd Corinthians 11:3, that is, it is so
simple to be saved that even a child can be born-again. All that God requires
of a person to be saved is to “Repent ye, and believe the Gospel” (Mark
1:15). You cannot show me even one Scripture that requires “turning from
sin” or “turning away from sin” to be saved. Rather, the Bible teaches in Romans 1:12, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service.” This doesn't mean that forsaking deliberate
sinful behavior is optional. Romans 6:15, “What then? shall we sin, because
we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” Romans 3:31, “Do we
then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
Clearly, God expects all believers to do right and obey Him. But this
matter is entirely separate from the “gift” of eternal life.
Kindly, what Jack
Chick and other Lordship Salvationists are doing is forcing people to present
their bodies a living sacrifice to live holy as a prerequisite to salvation,
and that is a false plan of salvation. It's absurd reasoning, because how can
a person who hasn't even been saved yet, who does not have the indwelling Holy
Spirit, make such a commitment? They cannot. I used to be perplexed how
pastors, evangelists and professed Christians across the world could succumb
to such satanic heresies, but then I learned from research about the
vulnerability of the human psyche. God called us sheep for a good reason.
Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to
his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Sheep
are totally vulnerable animals. They don't have a cunning predatory nature
like hungry wolves do. Some people are like wolves, cunning and deceitful,
intentionally hurting others; but most people are like naive sheep, simple,
knowing nothing. So the sheeple are open prey for the wolves who come in
sheep's clothing to deceive and victimize them. This is the wicked world!
In every single one of Jack Chick's
tracts he requires a person to go further than merely admitting one's guilt of
sin, but also “be willing to turn from sin (repent).” So according to Mr.
Chick you cannot be saved by simply acknowledging your sinnership, you must
also have a willingness to cease from intentional sinful behavior...
Jack Chick plainly teaches in
every Chick Track that faith in Jesus Christ is insufficient to save unless
you are willing to
cease from your sins. That is human effort and a backdoor approach to works salvation!!!
The Lord saves us to change us, not requiring a commitment to change to be
saved.
In other words, Christ won't save
you unless you first qualify for salvation by meeting the prerequisite of
having a desire to stop committing deliberate sin anymore. This is far from what the Bible
teaches. Mr. Chick puts the cart before the horse, demanding a willingness to
change as a qualifying prerequisite to faith in Christ. That is a back door
approach to
Lordship Salvation.
I praise God that He has given me a clear understanding of the plan of
salvation. I struggled with the assurance of my salvation between age 13 and
20, and it was that intense search for the truth that God used to prepare me
theologically to “fight the good fight of faith” (1st Timothy 6:12). I
am being your friend. My only heart's desire is to defend the simplicity that
is in Jesus Christ!
Mark 1:15, “...repent
ye, and believe the gospel.” The
word “repent” here is the Greek word metanoeo,
meaning “to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider.” Jesus said
to reconsider your ways and believe the Gospel. Jesus DIDN'T say stop living
in sin and believe the Gospel. No one can cease totally from sin. So whether
you give up 10% or 99% of your sins is irrelevant, because there's still some
sin remaining. Even committing one sin makes us GUILTY OF ALL according to
James 2:10. The entire idea of giving up sinful bad habits to be saved is
satanic!
It appears to me that Mr. Chick has put himself
in an awkward position between a rock and a hard place. If he changes his
tracts now, then he will confuse millions of people (and his critics will have
a hey day). Please understand that my intention is strictly Mr. Chick's
theological error in his tracts, this is not personal. I admire Jack Chick's
awesome artwork and believe that he is sincere. Unfortunately, Mr. Chick's
tracts add an extra requirement (a very burdensome requirement) for salvation
that God does not, which fully supports the nightmare of Lordship Salvation
which has infected at least half of our Baptist churches.
Friends, the Holy Bible teaches us that eternal
life is a “free gift” (Romans 5:15, 18; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-10). What part of
“gift” doesn't Jack Chick understand? If I told you that I bought you a
birthday gift, but to have it you must promise to behave better this coming
year, what would you think? Would it truly be a gift? No, it wouldn't! Yet,
when it comes to God's free gift of eternal life, men lose their sense of
sanity and faculty of reason, being deceived by Satan to think that salvation
is a gift that requires forsaking the world, ceasing from sinful bad habits,
making a commitment to follow Christ, surrendering all to Jesus, and
confessing Christ publickly before men to be saved.
I honestly don't enjoy exposing Jack Chick's
flawed definition of repentance. It's difficult for any man to admit after
decades that he should have better worded his tracts. I'm always editing
earlier writings myself. We all adjust our beliefs over time and need to make
changes. It's much harder when you've published works in printed form. The
fact that Jack Chick's articles and website statement of beliefs are written
very differently than his ministry's tracts evidences to me that he wants to
set the matter straight, but he has boxed himself in a corner so-to-speak.
This is my humble opinion.
In Acts 20:21 Repentance And Faith
Refer To One Event
Most people
misunderstand Acts 20:31, assuming that repentance and faith are two entirely
separate steps to salvation, but they're actually the same step. They are two
parts of one step, as Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) taught. The following Greek rule evidences
the fact that most people
misinterpret Acts 20:21...
Granville Sharp's
Rules of Greek Exegesis
Acts 20:21
does not teach
two separate actions! Repentance and faith are shown as the same
thing in this verse. Here is
why;
“Testifying both to the Jews, and
also to the Greeks, repentance
toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Any time two
singular Greek nouns appear in a sentence and are connected by the conjunction
"and" (kai Greek) and the definite article “ho” precedes the first noun, but
not the second, they both mean the same person! This means that the
appositive, “our Lord Jesus Christ” is referring to “God” in the first
clause! Rendering this into the sentence it is then to be read as follows:
“Testifying both to the Jews, and
also to the Greeks, repentance
toward God, ("EVEN") or ("that is") faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This is what
Paul was preaching! Repentance
toward God using the Granville
Sharp's rules of Greek
exegesis, is synonymous (means the same) as faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The
illustration that I shared with you earlier about the evangelist traveling
from Michigan to Hawaii is an excellent example of repentance and faith. You
don't leave Michigan first and then afterwards fly toward Hawaii; but rather,
the two are inseparable. The evangelist is DEPARTING from Michigan at the same
time that he is moving TOWARD Hawaii. Likewise, repentance and faith are one
deal, happening simultaneously (at the same time).
Faith and
repentance are the same event
according to the Greek grammatical rendering of this verse.
Chick Tracts Preach ANOTHER Gospel
Jack Chick is correct that repentance is not a
work; yet his belief and teaching that repentance means to “be willing to turn
from sin (repent)” is dangerous, because it implies that a person must forsake
sinful living to be saved, which is not true...
This is not a
work for salvation. No one can “boast” that his heart was changed by God.
Repentance, an act on the heart, accompanies faith and is no more a work
than faith itself is.
So we at Chick Publications preach “repentance
toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
SOURCE: Why
Chick Tracts Preach Repentance
So a man shacking-up in fornication with his
girlfriend may not come to Christ because he thinks he must either break-up
with his girlfriend or get married in order to be saved. I mean, according to
Jack Chick the man must do more than admit he's a sinner; he must also be
willing to stop living in sin or no salvation. That is a false gospel.
Repentance is “a change of mind”; not of
lifestyle, priorities, nor intentions. CreationToday.org is
teaching a false gospel of self-righteousness. It is an important matter. I've
never understood Christian ministers who make light of doctrinal integrity,
except that the love of money has made them indifferent and complacent
concerning THE TRUTH. The truth is worth fighting and dying for.
A WARNING About Chick Tracts!
Chick Tracts seem to
have a different answer than
the Bible to the question, "What must I do to
be saved?"
Surrender your life to Christ? That's Lordship
Salvation!
"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." —Acts
16:30,31 - King James Bible
On their website's statement of faith, Jack Chick states
concerning salvation:
"Salvation is the gift of God
and includes the forgiveness of sins, the imputation of the Righteousness of
Jesus Christ, and the gift of eternal life. Union with the triune God
provides all blessings in this life and the life hereafter. Salvation is
received by faith alone, apart from all good works and merit."
SOURCE: http://www.chick.com/information/general/statementoffaith.asp
Bravo! That's correct. Now if only they stuck to
it! Like Pastor Rick Warren, Mr.
Chick is contradictory, trying to straddle both sides of the fence. My friend,
to be saved, you either are required by God to “BE WILLING TO TURN FROM SIN”
(which Mr. Chick clearly intends to mean more than admitting one's sinnership,
because that's step #1, this is step #2 in his plan of salvation), OR, you do
not. It cannot be both. 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.” Since Mr. Chick teaches
two different things between his website and Chick tracts, it would seem to
indicate that he knows he has messed up, but is unwilling to fix it. That's my
opinion.
Also, Mr.
Chick has totally side-stepped the entire issue, by fabricating a red-herring,
changing the matter from what it means to repent, to repentance itself. I've
never one time questioned the need for repentance. No one ever got saved who
didn't repent, because the love of sin hinders men from coming to the light to
be saved (John 3:20). Albeit, when a person repents, they acknowledge their
sinnership and believe the Gospel to be saved. Repentance and faith happen at
the same time and are inseparable. It's like getting on a jet plane from
Michigan to Texas. You don't leave Michigan on one plane and then fly toward
Texas on another. No, rather, you are leaving one place and moving toward
another simultaneously. The man who believes has repented, and the man who
repents has believed. This is why in the Gospel of John, the words “believe”
and “believed” are mentioned 85 times, but the word “repent” is not mentioned
even once. That fact speaks volumes!
Charles Spurgeon Didn't Preach
Lordship Salvation!
Both Pastor John MacArthur and Evangelist Ray
Comfort have misquoted Charles
H. Spurgeon as a secondary
authority to support their damnable heresy of Lordship Salvation, but they
never quote the following spoken by Spurgeon...
“You must not expect that
you will be perfect in 'repentance' before you are saved. No Christian can
be perfect. 'Repentance' is a grace. Some people preach it as a condition of
salvation. Condition of nonsense! There are no conditions of salvation. God
gives the salvation himself...” —Pastor Charles Spurgeon
SOURCE: http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0044.htm (from
a sermon preached at the New
Park Street Chapel, Southwark, on September 23, 1855)
Clearly, Charles Haddon Spurgeon DIDN'T believe
that ceasing from one's sins was necessary
to be saved. Spurgeon plainly taught “there are no conditions of
salvation,” which is what the Bible teaches. We are sinners and Jesus is
the Savior!
From reading Spurgeon's sermons, it is clear to
me that at times he did enter into the realm of Lordship Salvation (as most
preachers do in their human imperfection), but as you just read, Spurgeon didn't believe there are any CONDITIONS to salvation. Dr. Jack Hyles
explains this important truth in his classic MP3 sermon titled,
Steps In Sanctification (Or, The Root Of All heresy). Dr. Hyles said every
preacher has a tendency to preach that if professed believers are still
drinking, smoking and not tithing, “You didn't get the same salvation that I
got.” That's simply not true, which Dr. Hyles admits in this sermon. I've made
this theological error myself in the past, writing in articles that you'd
better check to see if you're saved if you're still living in intentional sin.
That's simply not true. A person's visible life is not evidence of the
indwelling Holy Spirit, or His absence. Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) is
correct that we cannot tell how much fuel is in a car's tank by the sound of
the horn.
Then on the other extreme there are preachers who
just say to “trust Jesus” to be saved, but don't tell people that they are
woeful sinners. This is also heresy, and a false plan of salvation. NO ONE
ever got saved who didn't realize that they are a sinner! Somewhere in the
middle is the correct theological position. So, Biblically, you don't have to
cease from sinful behavior to be saved, but you absolutely must realize that
you are a guilty sinner in God's holy eyes. Jack Chick is using a red-herring
to distort the true issue, which is what is means to repent. Repentance for
salvation DOESN'T mean a change of mind that leads to a change of life.
Rather, repentance is “a change of mind,” period. Mark 1:15 tells us that the
object of repentance is to “believe the Gospel.” So, effectively, repentance
is a change of mind that compels a person to believe the Gospel, not forsake
sinful behavior.
To be saved one must simply renounce their
sins before God. That's what Spurgeon taught. Some people may choose to stop doing certain sins upon being
saved, while others may not be ready to break off lifelong sinful bad habits;
such as, drunkenness, fornication, drug abuse or looking at dirty pictures.
Certainly, no one can stop all their sins, for only Jesus Christ is sinless
(Hebrews 4:15). Salvation is the beginning of a new life in Jesus Christ (2nd
Corinthians 5:17; 1st Peter 2:2), but it is unbiblical to mandate a changed
life for salvation. Salvation must be kept separate from Discipleship.
Pastor Martin R. DeHaan correctly and excellently
states:
“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.”
SOURCE: Dr. M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117)
The process of repentance continues
throughout one's life, although salvation itself is NOT a process. You get
saved the very second you acknowledge that you are a guilty sinner and trust
upon the name of Jesus, the Christ Who died, was buried and rose from the
dead. The willingness to change is a separate matter from salvation, which
change God initiates in the life of each new believer. You don't make changes
so the Holy Spirit will come into live; but rather, the Holy Spirit comes in
by faith in the Gospel and then works in the heart and mind of the believer.
Jesus plainly said in Revelation 21:6... “I
will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life FREELY.” Jesus
said in John 7:28, “He that believeth
on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of
living water.” Jack Chick distorts the gospel by requiring sinners to be
willing to amend their ways as part of saving-faith. He not only asks sinners
to admit that they've sinned, but he also goes a step further and requires
them to be willing to stop committing those sins. That is a backdoor approach
to works salvation. It is a big deal. It is not just a matter of semantics. I
also know firsthand that some people have been misled from the truth by Jack
Chick's pamphlets, thinking that they couldn't be saved unless they were willing to
stop committing sins. The Bible does not teach that.
You either have to be willing to
stop sinning to be saved or you do not;
Chick Tracts say "yes," the Bible
says "no" (Romans 4:5).
The Bible plainly declares in Romans 4:5 that a
man's FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. That means that you don't need any
self-righteousness to be saved (and a good thing because we don't have any to
offer God - Isaiah 64:6). One man wrote to me and said there was a time years
ago when he thought God wouldn't save him because he wasn't willing to stop
shacking up with his girlfriend. He said if he had died during those years of
confusion, he would have gone straight to Hell, and it said it would have been
Jack Chick's distorted gospel that led him to believe he couldn't be saved. I
then understood the danger behind Chick
Tracts and the false gospel
message contained in them. JACK
CHICK IS WRONG!!!
Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951) Has
it Correct
Please read the following excellent explanation
of the Gospel by former Moody
Memorial Church pastor, Harry
A. 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.”
SOURCE: Dr. Harry A. Ironside, from the
sermon: What
Is The Gospel?
Clearly, Ironside correctly taught a Free Grace
view of the Gospel. Amen! Don't mess with the Gospel. Just believe it!
Beware Of Harvest Baptist Church On Guam
Romans 3:19 Clarifies the Meaning of
'Repentance'
Romans 3:19, “Now we know that
what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God.” The word “guilty” in the
Greek is “hupodikos” and means “under judgment, one who lost his suit; of
liable to punishment from God” (SOURCE: Enhanced
Strong's Lexicon).
Hence, a person must realize their
GUILT to be saved, i.e., that the condemnation of God is upon them because of
their own sins. A person must realize that they are a guilty sinner who justly
deserves to be punished in Hellfire. A person does NOT need to feel regret,
sorrow, or a desire to do better to be saved. These are all
emotions. Repentance is a “change of mind,” not a change of emotions.
Harry A. Ironside correctly recognized repentance
as the confession that “one is utterly without merit” and that if one is “ever
saved at all it can only be through the merits of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Salvation is without works of self-righteousness. Romans 4:5 plainly
teaches that a man's faith is COUNTED for righteousness, i.e., the
righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to one's heavenly record by faith.
“Repentance is the recognition of my sinnership
— the owning before God that I am as vile as He has declared me to be in His
holy Word.”
SOURCE: Except
Ye Repent, by Dr. Harry Ironside, chapter 3
Realizing one's GUILT is vastly
different from a FEELING of sorrow or remorse over one's sins. To FEEL sorry
for one's sins is an act of self-EMOTION; whereas, GUILT is a matter of
self-AWARENESS. Many prison convicts are sorry (emotionally) for their crimes,
but only because they got caught. They have no genuine guilt or awareness of
the sins they've committed against God. Likewise, a person may walk down to a
church alter and cry with emotion over their failures in life; YET, have NO
awareness that they are under God's condemnation and awaiting judgment for
their sins.
A feeling of emotion, i.e., sorrow
over one's sins is not Biblical
repentance. Biblical repentance is when a lost sinner becomes AWARE that they
are under the condemnation of GOD'S LAW for their own sins, and TURNS in
faith to the Lord Jesus Christ to be forgiven... “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; But
with the precious blood of Christ...” Repentance and faith happen
simultaneously, they are not two
separate events.
This fact is clearly evidenced by
the Gospel of John, in which the words “repent” and “repentance” are not even
mentioned once. Yet, we find the words “faith” and "believe" 98 times in the
Book of John. Clearly, to believe upon Jesus is to have also repented. When a
person repents, i.e., changes
one's mind, about sin and the Savior, trusting upon the Lord for
forgiveness, it is at that very moment of faith that the Holy Spirit comes to
indwell that person forever.
The reason why salvation is found
alone in Christ, and why we are to believe ONLY upon
Him, is because Jesus paid the price for our sins with His precious blood (1st
Peter 1:18,19). Muhammad never did this. Confucius never did this. Buddha
never did this. In fact, if you'll look in those graves, you'll find the
bodily remains of each of those men; but Jesus' tomb is EMPTY, because He is
alive forevermore. The stone wasn't rolled away for Jesus to escape the tomb;
the stone was rolled away so the world could see that Christ had arisen! What
a Savior!!!
Books have been written on one
phrase or one word. The word repentance is critically important, as are the
words faith, inspired, Gospel, Lord and the phrase, born-again. Terms are
everything!!! The Bible plainly defines these terms so we don't need to wonder
nor guess. False religious cults redefine these terms wrongly. Repentance
simply means “a change of mind.” This change of mind compels a person to
believe the Gospel. It's that simple. Anyone who requires more on the part of
a sinner to be saved has corrupted the Gospel.
For Jack Chick to require sinners to
be willing in their heart to stop committing sins is a requirement, an
obligation. If I tell you that you can drive my car if you're willing to fill
the gas tank, I've placed an obligation upon you (as a condition of using my
car).
As a better illustration, let's say
I own a bank. I advertise locally that new customers will receive a free
toaster as a gift for opening a bank account. Is it really a gift when you
have to do something to obtain it? I said it was a free gift? Clearly it is
not. This is the same as Jack Chick saying that he believes salvation is a
free gift, obtained by God's grace; yet he requires people to be willing to
stop living in sin to have it. That's a reward, not a gift. Mr. Chick is
sincere I am confident, but he doesn't properly understand what repentance
means. I'm tired of people saying to push and pull at the same time. Hey, it's
a free gift, but you still have to do shovel the 2-feet of snow to have it!
The Gospel is that Jesus DIED, was
BURIED and RESURRECTED three days later for YOUR sins. If receive Christ's
payment of the Gospel for your sins then you are saved. The blood of Jesus
Christ washes our sins away. That is so simple that even a child can be saved.
END
John 20:31, "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ,
the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his
name."
It's not what you're doing that gets you to Heaven, it's where you're looking.
Look to Jesus!
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