glory to GOD FOR TRUTH Amen ! by GOD and J. Preston Eby The so-called gospel of this hour is fashioned to appeal to the CARNAL MIND, offering men blessings, prosperity, instant solutions to all problems, rapture out of tribulation, a miracle a day, ease and comfort and all good things, but men do not have to climb very far heavenward to pluck the fruit of these earthbound bushes, for the benefits are all EARTHLY, not heavenly. I do not err when I say that if all the prayers and faith that are exercised daily for EARTHLY THINGS, blessings of money, jobs, cars, homes, clothes, physical healing, comforts, luxuries that pamper the flesh, etc. were stripped from most Christians prayers, their prayer lives would be reduced by at least ninety percent! Yes, much fruit is borne near the earth, so appealing to the carnal mind, so easily accessible, without effort and with no heavenward climb. This easy gospel is presented to the poor sinner in this way: You are a sinner; Christ died for sinners; therefore, Christ died for you; believe this, confess it and you are saved. So easy! The disciples of this easy gospel pick a scoundrel from the streets, pass him through this plausible formula, get him to repeat the words, and turn him out a convert in the space of as many minutes as it takes to tell it. I do not hesitate to declare to you that this is nothing but SALVATION BY FORMULA! The zeal of those who propagate this easy gospel, assuredly, is not to be questioned: their instincts are right, and their work is sometimes not in vain. But the carnal mind is always looking for that which will work automatically, easily by method, technique, formula...close to the earth. Someone will certainly ask, But isnt it written, By grace are ye saved through faith, not of yourselves, not of works, lest any man should boast, and He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life? To which, however, I also answer in the words of Scripture, The devils also believe, and Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. But without seeming to make text, let us ask rather what the supposed convert possesses at the end of the process. That Christ saves sinners, even scoundrels from the street, is a great fact. But in ordinary circumstances, with no searching conviction of the Holy Spirit, nor any deep dealing of God, the person is rapidly urged through the above piece of logic, appealing to his carnal mind, four simple steps to heaven! and then informed that all his past is blotted out, and all his future secured, by a hasty application of a FORMULA. Not so! I do not hesitate to declare it, for it is a believing alright, a mistaken believing, the giving of MENTAL ASSENT, a believing with the MIND, but believing with the mind saves no man. Did not Jesus say, Out of the abundance of the HEART the MOUTH speaketh, and Paul explains what this means in terms of a mans salvation, declaring, If thou shalt confess with thy MOUTH the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine HEART...thou shalt be saved. For WITH THE HEART MAN BELIEVETH UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS; and with the MOUTH confession is made unto salvation (Rom. 10:9-10). In true conversion the mouth confesses what the heart, the deepest part of a persons being, believes. The heart! not the mind. It is deeper than mental assent, mere superficial persuasion of the mental faculties, acceptance of a formula, with no deep working of the Spirit in the inner man. I now venture to say that vast numbers of those who have embraced this Salvation by Formula, giving mental assent to the four things you know to be saved, even repeating the sinners prayer, and carrying a Bible about, are not truly converted at all, but have had their conscience soothed with the promise of such an easy escape from hell, for when faced with the prospect of hell, mans chief end is to get off. And those who pass through the Salvation by Formula process feel safe. Their minds are worked through a chain of phrases in which the words sin, hell, believe, saved, and heaven are the conspicuous terms, and giving mental assent to this, applying the formula, by all logic, their future is guaranteed! They take out, in short, an insurance policy, with one easy installment, by which they are instantly and infallibly secured eternal life at death. Ah, beloved, salvation is far more than a passport out of hell! It means DELIVERANCE; the Greek, in fact, denotes a DELIVERANCE UNTO WHOLENESS - deliverance from the whole dreadful realm of sin, darkness, bondage and death - it means a trusting in Christ, not as a fire-escape, but in order to likeness to Christ, a transformation of nature, our spirit quickened by the Holy Spirit, translated into the high and holy realm of the Kingdom of Heaven as an entirely NEW CREATION IN CHRIST.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 19:50:27 +0000
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