2nd Peter
3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance.”
I was listening to Pastor Steven Anderson today, whom I love and
respect, but I want to refute something that he teaches that I think is
a horrible teaching. Brother Anderson
says:
CALLER QUESTION: “When it comes to reprobates, isn't there a chance for them to get saved, when they Scriptures say: 'AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU' (1st Corinthians 6:11)?”
ANSWER: “No, the Bible does not say, 'Some of you were reprobates.' That is not what the Bible says. Nowhere does it say, 'Reprobates! And such were some of you.' Okay. So obviously, when he says, 'Such were some of you,' he's not talking about reprobates, because—well you say, 'Isn't there hope for the reprobates?' If there were hope for them then they wouldn't be a reprobate. The word 'reprobate' means they are rejected, their minds have been darkened, their eyes have been blinded. The Bible says in John chapter 12 verse 39 through 40 there, it says they could not believe. God blinded their eyes. God hardened their hearts. The Bible says three times in Romans one—God gave them up, God gave them over, God gave them up—if that were the same crowd that He is talking about in Romans chapter 6, that wouldn't make any sense.”
SOURCE: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS - Pastor Steven Anderson Uncensored (Episode 3), https://youtu.be/O4Zk6D9xsjI?t=4704
It is Biblically wrong to differentiate between homosexuals and all other groups of sinners in 1st Corinthians 6:11—“AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU.” Search the internet and you will find countless Christian testimonies of former homosexuals. One such former homosexual's testimony is called “NEW HOPE MINISTRIES.” Obviously then, there is hope for homosexuals in Christ and they can be saved. Respectfully, Brother Anderson is influencing tens of thousands of people with his teachings, and it is detrimental to teach that God gives up on a certain class of sinners. But by the grace of God, there go you and I! I do not disagree that there is a point of no return for some hardened sinners, but NO ONE except God knows when that point is crossed. And when that line is crossed, and that point of no return is reached, it is not God Who decides it, it is the unrepentant sinner. It could be that God's Holy Spirit will never deal with that unsaved person's hardened heart again, such as when under conviction in a fundamental Baptist church service. Albeit, it is not God that has given up on the sinner, but the sinner that has foolishly refused the grace of God. We definitely cannot say that a specific group of calloused sinners are beyond the reach of God's grace. I find no teaching in the Scriptures which says that God ever gives up on anyone, except those who have given up on God. 2nd Timothy 2:13, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”
And then there is a second related question from a different caller, that Pastor Anderson answered, and I disagree with the answer...
CALLER QUESTION: Hello Pastor, “Do you believe that a child molester can be saved?”
ANSWER: Absolutely not, they're a reprobate and they are doomed!
SOURCE: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS - Pastor Steven Anderson Uncensored (Episode 3), https://youtu.be/O4Zk6D9xsjI?t=4917
Respectfully, Brother Anderson is wrong Biblically. I love the guy for being an aggressive soulwinner, and my intent is not to debate his teachings; but rather, “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3). I don't believe in writing people off as being “hopeless,” beyond the hope of the saving Gospel of grace. Anybody can be changed through the transforming power of the truth of God's Word and the Holy Spirit.
I also don't believe somebody has just “been a rotten person” their whole life. Something made them that way. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) is correct that, “BEHIND EVERY TRAGEDY IN HUMAN CHARACTER THERE IS A SLOW PROCESS OF WICKED THINKING!” We are all woeful sinners by nature and by choice, but the Bible says “a child left to himself” bringeth his mother to shame. Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:15, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” America is in such a mess today because we live in an ungodly society that was raised up without the Word of God in the daily classroom.
Foolishness wasn't driven from a generation of American children, who grew up to be a bunch of wicked heathens! They weren't reared up in a godly Christian home. They weren't raised in a Bible-believing local church. That is what is wrong with our country today! Homosexuals don't just happen, they are made from a woeful lack of proper upbringing in a solid Christian home, with a manly father and a feminine mother. In many cases homosexuals were made from being sexually abused as a child, or watching a mother being physically abused by a tyrant husband. Abuse is a common reason cited by homosexuals for being what they have become. Case in point: Former Homosexuals And Children Of LGBTQ's Speak The Truth!
Kindly, Pastor Anderson quotes verses 39-40 from the following Scripture passage to support his “Reprobate Doctrine,” but he leaves out verse 42, which says some of those “reprobates” actually did get saved—“NEVERTHELESS AMONG THE CHIEF RULERS ALSO MANY BELIEVED ON HIM.” ...
John 12:38-44, “That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.”
Since “MANY BELIEVED ON HIM,” no one can cite this passage of Scripture to claim that 'reprobates' cannot be saved. THEY DID GET SAVED!!! What does John 12:39 mean, “Therefore they could not believe”? To understand what it means we need to refer back to the Old Testament book of Isaiah...
Isaiah 6:9-10, “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”
A good saying is that the same sun which melts the wax, hardens the clay! Likewise, the same inspired Words of God which melts one person's heart, leading to repentance; oftentimes hardens another person's heart, leading to damnation! Why does the truth take root in one man's heart, like the repentant thief on the cross; while that same truth hardens the next man's heart, like the unrepentant man on the other side of Christ, who railed against Him? It is a matter of our God-given freewill as human beings, to make our own decisions. God told Isaiah the prophet to preach the truth of the Word to the stiffnecked Jews, until their hearts grew fat with a calloused conscience, not because God didn't want them to repent and be saved, but only because they still refused to come to Christ even after hearing the truth. God did this as a testimony against the unbelieving Jews. It is false doctrine to say that God intentionally hinders men from being saved, when we have a plain statement in 2nd Peter 3:9 that God sincerely desires “THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE.”
Furthermore, God never calls unrepentant sinners “reprobates” in Romans chapter one. The Bible says in Romans 1:28 that “God gave them over to a 'reprobate mind.'” Romans 1:28, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.” The Bible does not say that God “GAVE UP” on anyone, rather, it says that “GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO A REPROBATE MIND.” If we take into consideration the whole counsel of God, then we have to conclude that God never gives up on ANYONE, they give up on God! 2nd Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” If God desires “THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE,” then that MUST include homosexuals, child molesters, kidnappers, televangelists, rapists and other monsters. John 5:40, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Jesus said “YE WILL NOT COME,” He didn't say “YE CANNOT COME”!!!
The proper meaning of “REPROBATES” in the Holy Bible is simply an unsaved person. 2nd Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Here we see that the clear meaning of a “reprobate” is an unsaved sinner. No sinner, of any sort, will be allowed into Heaven's gates...
1st Corinthians 6:9-11, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
No sinner can enter into Heaven. That is why Jesus had to pay the price for our sins, so that God could make us righteous in Christ. 2nd Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Let me repeat this wonderful Bible verse using some added clarity to help the unlearned reader—2nd Corinthians 5:21, “For he [GOD THE FATHER] hath made him [GOD THE SON] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we [UNGODLY SINNERS] might be made the righteousness of God in him [JESUS CHRIST].” I love that little precious phrase in verse 11—“BUT YE ARE WASHED”! If you and I ever go to Heaven friend, it will be only because of the precious blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, Who was slain for our sins upon the cross of Calvary. Since Christ DIED FOR ALL, then all men must be eligible to receive the free gift of eternal life. 2nd Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead. And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”
The Holy Bible says that CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY! Perverse homosexuals, thieving televangelists and demented child molesters are all UNGODLY SINNERS! Romans 4:5-6, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Christ died for the ungodly, which contradicts the false claim that homosexuals and child molesters cannot be saved. Since Christ died for them too, they certainly CAN BE SAVED! I am unalterably against the unbiblical idea that only certain types of sinners can be saved.
“A man destroyed is an INSIDE JOB! You're never destroyed from the outside.” —Pastor Ralph “Yankee” Arnold; a quote from his sermon, “The Two Trees Of Creation”
Pastor Anderson errantly says that the preceding passage of Scripture from 1st Corinthians 6:9-11 does not include homosexuals and child molesters, whom he labels as “reprobates.” That is not true! The Bible lists adulterers, fornicators, thieves, idolaters and abusers of themselves with mankind. The Bible here does not mention murderers, but we know from the conversion of Saul in Acts 9:1-5 that murderers can be saved. And if God will save a murderer like Saul, then you better know that He will save a homosexual like Elton John if he ever repents toward God to believe the Gospel. Repentance is simply “a change of mind” unto the Gospel itself, realizing that one is a guilty sinner in the sight of a holy God (Romans 3:19-23). ANYBODY CAN BE SAVED BY GOD'S GRACE!!! Nobody is beyond the hope of the Gospel.
Effectively, Pastor Anderson is teaching that child molesters and
homosexuals are incapable of repenting. It is not anyone's rightful
place to decide who can or cannot repent toward God to be saved. If a
murderer and adulterer can repent unto salvation, then so can a
homosexual and pedophile. Nowhere in the Scriptures do we find God
making a distinction between categories of sinners, categorizing which
sins are worse than others. In Galatians 5:19-20 we read about “the
works of the flesh.” Galatians 5:19-20, “Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you
before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Homosexuality is a sin
that is commonly associated with a lifestyle of fornication. I recently
watched a YouTube documentary about The Beatles, revealing that John
Lennon committed homosexuality with his first Sodomite manager. While in
Germany honing their musical skills as teenagers, The Beatles engaged in
drunkenness, fornication and all manner of ungodly sin. Homosexuality is
epidemic in the entertainment industry, and always has been! Actor Mae
West was a known lesbian in the early days of Hollywood! Who am I (as a
redeemed sinner saved by God's merciful grace) to say that someone is
beyond the hope of the Gospel? 
