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?”
When I
attended Harvest Baptist Church for one year (before they kicked
me out), they held what's called 'Watchcare Meetings' once a month in
church member's homes. Pastor Jack Hyles called them 'Cell Block
Groups.' I really enjoyed those meetings at Doug and Karen Abel's house and Dave
and Amy Morgan's house. I loved the meetings so much that I went to two of them on those
special Sundays, since they were at different times! There was singing, Bible teaching, we brought food and
fellowship. I make great Flan (Mexican custard) and my Mom's cheesecake.
I always brought my ukulele. I even played my Hawaiian steel guitar for
everyone on two occasions (once at a campfire at the church), which was
a lot of fun.
The school nurse who liked me at the time, said to me at one of the Watchcare meetings that she was studying the book of Galatians. What irony! She is a graduate of Bob Jones University, who openly teaches that you MUST “be willing to repent and turn from your sins to be saved.” (That is a perversion of the Gospel of free grace, and the error of the cult at Galatia.) Kindly, if my once-upon-a-time-friend ever truly understands the epistle of Galatians, she would get right with God and quit that cult she is a member of at the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. She would disassociate with her home college, for perverting the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sadly, I have had to disassociate with my home college at Hyles-Anderson College, because since 2008 they have denied the inspiration of the King James Bible, now teaching the same crap as Bob Jones University. The epistle of Galatians is all about NOT corrupting the Gospel. Our text passage says it all! The apostle Paul asked the Harvest Baptist Church at Galatia (same as Guam) who bewitched them? I'll tell you who—Bob Jones University!!! The book of Galatians condemns the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam as a spiritual health hazard!!!
The apostle Paul only wanted to know one thing in
Galatians 3:2! Paul didn't ask them if they turned from their sins. He
didn't ask them if they committed their lives to Christ. Paul didn't ask
them if they had made full surrender to Christ as “Lord”! The apostle didn't want
to know if they were faithfully running 'The race.' Paul didn't want to
know if they were persevering in holiness, ministry and serving others.
Paul didn't want to know if they had invited Jesus into their hearts! He
didn't ask them if they had done many wonderful works. Paul didn't want
to know if they were preaching in Jesus name. The apostle didn't ask
them if they were sorry for their sins. Paul didn't ask them if they
were water baptized. He didn't want to know if they were trying to make
an amend for their past sins. Paul didn't care to know if they had
reformed their sinful ways. Paul didn't ask them if they were following
Jesus. Nor did he ask them if they had counted the cost and paid the
price. The apostle didn't ask them if they were living a lifestyle of
repentance. Paul didn't ask them any of those things!
WARNING: How Did You Get Saved?
Paul
only wanted to know how they got saved (i.e., indwelt by the Holy
Spirit)—BY WORKS, OR BY FAITH? Paul asked them if they were saved BY THE
WORKS OF THE LAW, OR BY FAITH IN THE 'GOOD NEWS' (GOSPEL) THEY HEARD
PREACHED UNTO THEM??? 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?”
Millions of professed Christians are
not saved, because some pervert BJU
graduate came along and lied to them, saying they must be made perfect
in the flesh (by continuing to keep repenting to get to Heaven). I plead
with you to reject any
perversion of the true Gospel.
And now they have a religious clown in charge as president of Bob Jones University, Dr. Steve Pettit, who is a grossly incompetent theologian. He literally teaches that you “must persevere” in holiness, ministry and faithfulness to “run 'The Race'” to earn the “award” of Heaven. That is another gospel. Read Steve Pettit's garbage theology for yourself ladies and gentlemen!!! This is so sickening, tragic and horrible! Does anybody care? Truth has fallen into the streets! The Devil has crept into our churches!!! The circus has come to town, at a Bob Jones University affiliated church in your infected area! Can you hear the circus music playing at Bob Jones? Step right up folks, get your own version of the Bible. There's a different Bible revision for everyone! The Coronavirus is not one millionth as deadly as Bob Jones University and their graduates are!!! The Coronavirus may kill your body, but Bob Jones University and their graduates will send you to Hell to burn forever!!! Ecumenism is absolutely destroying the churches!!! Ecumenism is the effort to promote better cooperation between different religious faiths. Ecumenism includes the constant attempt to yoke fundamentalist Christians together with deadbeat evangelicals (many of whom are not even born-again), which ALWAYS leads to corruption and apostasy! Ecumenism ruined the church at Galatia!!!
In salvation, repentance is a change of mind, from unbelief to belief in Jesus Christ. It could be turning from a false god to the true God. It could be turning from a false gospel to the true gospel, but it is NOT turning from sins. Repentance could be turning from the false heathen idols of Roman Catholicism, to faith in Jesus Christ alone, but it is not turning from one's sins. Salvation is a matter of turning from your unbelief to faith in Jesus Christ, not turning from your lifelong sinful bad habits. The man who comes to Jesus Christ by faith has turned his back against the awfulness of sin, but turning from sinful behavior is a work! Turning from sins is a matter of discipleship, not sonship (salvation). The apostle Paul pleaded in Romans 12:1 for believers to “present your bodies a living sacrifice” to serve God. There are many people going to Hell because they are ADDING works to salvation, because they wrongly define “repentance” for salvation. Turning from sins is reformation, not repentance. Sorrow for sins is penance, not repentance. Trying to make a mend for past sins is penitence, not repentance. We are saved by BELIEVING the 'Good News' of Christ crucified on the cross for our sins, buried and bodily risen, and not by repentance; but repentance facilitates believing, and is therefore necessary to be saved. Repentance is automatic, you don't have to repent first so you can believe. The man who believes has repented! This is why we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times in the wonderful Gospel of John, but the word “repent” is never mentioned even once.
Please make sure that you were saved by faith alone, and nothing added; or else you are not saved. I am confident that some Bob Jones graduates are saved, but anyone who agrees with BJU's doctrinal position that a person cannot be saved, unless they are willing to turn away from their sins, does not get God's grace! It is not a mere matter of semantics, it is a matter of the truth being changed into a lie (Romans 1:25). I realize that the title of my article is harsh, but so also is BJU's perverted statement of faith! You don't have to be willing to forsake your sinful bad habits to be saved, which is effectively the same as demanding that a person stop sinning!!!
As an illustration, let's say that a man asks his
neighbour if he can borrow his extra car for a day. The neighbour says:
“Sure, if you are WILLING to fill the gas tank when you return the car.”
The man says: “No problem.” So he borrows the car, drives it, and then
returns the car with an empty fuel tank. The neighbour is understandably
upset and asks the man: “You agreed that you were willing to fuel the
tank, but it is empty, what happened?” So his friend sarcastically says:
“You only said I had to be WILLING to fuel the tank, not actually do
it!” Wouldn't that be ridiculous? Clearly, when the neighbour said he
expected the man to “be willing” to gas the tank on the car, he meant that
he expected him to actually do it! So when Bob Jones University, or
cartoon evangelist Jack Chick, tells a sinner that they MUST be willing
to turn from their sins to be saved, it absolutely implies that they
literally must do it to be saved! It would be ridiculous and
hypocritical to say that you just need to “be willing” to turn from your
sins, but not actually make some effort to do so, which is works for
salvation. Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the
knowledge of sin.” Why, Oh why, cannot professed Christians see this
truth?
The Devil Is In Charge At Bob Jones College
Bob
Jones University is pulling
on the same rope as the Devil! Here is a deceptive quote from their
college's website:
With regard to the doctrine of Soteriology:
We believe Scripture teaches that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Eph. 2:4–10; Rom. 3:21–26; Titus 3:5) and apart from any human work of righteousness (Phil. 3:9). God offers this salvation freely to all men who are willing to repent and turn from their sins (Acts 3:19, 17:30) and place their full faith and trust in the atonement Christ made by His finished work on the Cross (Luke 24:46–48, Heb. 9:11–15, 10:10–14). [emphasis added]
SOURCE: BJU Statements of Faith
LIARS!!! Where does the Bible condition getting saved on being willing to turn from sins? John 3:20-21, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” The Bible doesn't say HE THAT IS WILLING TO FORSAKE SINS comes to the light; it says HE THAT DOETH TRUTH cometh to the light. Getting saved is a matter of acknowledging THE TRUTH of the Gospel, and not of turning away from sins. 2nd Timothy 2:25, “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;”
I am not trying to be mean, but someone needs to proclaim the truth. Jude 1:3 says, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” The faith which was once delivered unto the saints is 'THE GOSPEL' which Paul taught in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. Salvation is solely by God's grace. You don't have to be willing to turn from your sins, which would be an exchange instead of a free gift. The Gospel doesn't need our help to transform sinful men into righteous saints! The gift of eternal life is without merit!
You see, since they don't understand how salvation works, they pervert the Gospel in an attempt to force people to forsake their sins. That is a counterfeit plan of salvation, which the Bible calls “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9; 2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). The very fact that a sinful person would even want to believe the 'Good News' of Christ crucified, buried and bodily risen, is evidence of repentance. Why else would they trust the Savior? If a person admits they are a needy sinner, that is all God requires, so they will see their need to trust the dear Savior! But to add to the Gospel, by saying that a person must be willing to turn away from their sinful bad habits, is to require more than God does for salvation. Remember, God Himself calls eternal life a “free gift” multiple times in Romans 5:15-18.
You say, “You mean I can receive God's free gift
of eternal life and keep on sinning wilfully?” Yes, that is exactly
right! Romans 5:20 says when a believer sins, GRACE DOTH MUCH MORE
ABOUND! Acts 13:39 says the believer is JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS!!!
Granted, God scourges and chastises His children when we sin, but we are
still His children regardless (Hebrews 12:6-8). The folks at Bob Jones
University can get mad at me all they want, but that doesn't change THE
TRUTH! They didn't get that junk theology out of the inspired King James
Bible, they got it from some corrupt preacher like John MacArthur,
Oliver B. Greene, John Wesley, Charles Finney, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer
or Steve Pettit! I don't care how much you may desire or try, you
absolutely cannot turn away from your sins! Any attempt to turn away
from sinning is effectively the same as keeping the Old Testament LAW!!!
You cannot get to Heaven through keeping the LAW! We are saved by GRACE
alone, through faith alone, in the Lord Jesus Christ alone!!! We are
saved through Christ's payment that He made through the cross, by the
precious blood that He shed and sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat in Heaven
(Hebrews 9:12, 22-24). We are saved by the blood of the crucified One!
Please Remember Me In Your Prayers
I
love all my web visitors. My life has been filled with loneliness for
many years. I need a wife for companionship. God Himself said it wasn't
good for a man to be alone. Genesis 2:18, “And the LORD God said, It
is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet
for him.”
God knows I have tried the best I know how on Guam to find someone, but it hasn't happened. I'm not smart enough, or lack courage, to know how to find a wife. I went through e-Harmony yesterday and picked out some ladies to contact.
There is one Christian woman named Anna in Minnesota that I really like, who said she likes my Christian profile. She is 37 years old. One day at a time. One way or another, God willing, I will find a Christian wife.
If all works out, I want to leave Guam within a year, but we never know what a day may bring (Proverbs 27:1). Life is what happens to us when we're making big plans! Jesus is precious!!!
1st Kings 18:17, “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?”
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