Dr. Steve Pettit's Own Words Condemn Himself

By David J. Stewart | July 2020

Matthew 12:35, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

       Evangelist Steve Pettit is a false prophet! He bids Godspeed to heretic Dr. John MacArthur, and he corrupts the Gospel himself, as I will get into in this article. Former BJU vice president Sam Horn has taken over in 2020 as the president of 'The Master's University And Seminary,' replacing John MacArthur as their longtime college president. You can read at the preceding webpage that Sam Horn teaches the “turn from your sin” heresy to be saved. I have nothing personal against Dr. Steve Pettit, but he is wrong on the Gospel, and wrong to bid Godspeed to Pastor John MacArthur, who also preaches a false gospel message. These men are all connected, supportive of each other, and they are all heretics on the Gospel. And I mighty add, they are each getting paid 6-digit lucrative salaries!!!

I listened to Bob Jones University's (BJU) 'The Daily Platform' today, episode #766 - “Understanding Galatians.” I was amazed and creeped out at the same time, as I listened to Dr. Pettit's chapel sermon today. I was amazed at the doctrinal accuracy of his sermon, and creeped out realizing the whole time that Steve Pettit bids Godspeed to John MacArthur and his ministry in California. If you listen to Dr. Pettit's chapel message on Understanding Grace, I'm sure you'll agree with me that it is a tremendous message, yet something is very wrong at BJU today. I made this brief excerpt from the message, in which Dr. Pettit condemns himself with these words:

“Paul makes it clear that it is wrong for any believer, to give knowing support, to those who have compromised the Gospel, by your associations with them, for if you do that, you're saying I actually am saying by my actions: 'I believe the false message!'” —Dr. Steve Pettit, an excerpt from 'The Daily Platform' (766 - 'Understanding Galatians')

I couldn't agree more, so why does Dr. Pettit bid Godspeed to Pastor John MacArthur? On March 6, 2020 Dr. Steve Pettit sent a 'Tweet' on Twitter saying:

“Had a great meeting with @johnmacarthur this afternoon! Thankful for his ministry at @mastersunivsity.” —SOURCE; Twitter

That is shameful! Steve Pettit bids Godspeed to John MacArthur. Folks, Steve Pettit condemns himself with his own words!!! The Apostles Peter and Paul both preached the same Gospel. Peter ministered to the Jews, and Paul to the Gentiles. Peter was sitting down eating with some Gentile converts, but when he saw the heretical Judaizers he felt fear, and separated from the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul sharply rebuked Peter, telling him that by his actions he has bid Godspeed to a false gospel!!! This is a tremendous Bible passage, which Dr. Pettit accurately teaches in today's message. Therefore, it blows my mind that Dr. Pettit could bid Godspeed to Dr. John MacArthur, of all people, who absolutely PERVERTS the Gospel of free grace. There is not a more dangerous religious cult today than those who follow the Calvinist 'Lordship Salvation' movement. The godfather of this movement today is Dr. John F. MacArthur of the Grace Community Church in California. Sadly, thousands of Baptist pastors, Bible professors, evangelists and churches have bought into this satanic lie, which is nothing more than deadly Calvinism repackaged.

Here is Pastor John MacArthur's heretical and very difficult manmade plan of salvation:

“The narrow gate is hard to find and hard to go through, because it demands: denial of self, denial of self-righteousness, recognition of sin, full repentance, submission to Christ, commitment to obey Him, and follow Him no matter what the cost!” —Pastor John MacArthur, a quote from his sermon titled, “Saved Or Self-Deceived, Part One” (time: 4:25 in YouTube sermon video)

“The Greek word translated 'belief' is not referring merely to intellectual attainment or mental acquiescence but a wholehearted acceptance of everything that is implied in the claims of Christ. You need to believe that Jesus is God and that He died for your sins, committing your whole life to Him in sacrifice and serving Him as Lord.” —Pastor John MacArthur, Assurance of Victory; 1 John 5, Moody Press, p. 12).

“The gospel Jesus proclaimed was a call to discipleship, a call to follow Him in submissive obedience. . . . Forsaking oneself for Christ’s sake is not an optional step of discipleship subsequent to conversion; it is the sine qua non of saving faith.” (The Gospel According to Jesus [Revised & Expanded Edition], p. 27, 142.)

“Thus in a sense we pay the ultimate price for salvation when our sinful self is nailed to a cross. . . . It is an exchange of all that we are for all that Christ is. And it denotes implicit obedience, full surrender to the lordship of Christ. Nothing less can qualify as saving faith.” (The Gospel According to Jesus, p. 140.)

“Let me say again unequivocally that Jesus’ summons to deny self and follow him was an invitation to salvation, not . . . a second step of faith following salvation….” (The Gospel According to Jesus [Revised & Expanded Edition], p. 221).

“Submission to the will of God, to Christ’s lordship, and to the guiding of the Spirit is an essential, not an optional, part of saving faith” —Pastor John MacArthur, Ephesians, p. 249).

“Saving faith is a placing of oneself totally in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ” —Pastor John MacArthur, Romans, 1-8, p. 205).

The following appeared in 'Pulpit Magazine' on September 29th, 2006. This paragraph is from Pastor MacArthur’s post titled: “True Faith And True Grace,” which sums up the Lordship Salvation controversy:

“Those who teach that repentance is extraneous to saving faith are forced to make a firm but unbiblical distinction between salvation and discipleship. This dichotomy, like that of the carnal/spiritual Christian, sets up two classes of Christians: believers only and true disciples. Most who hold this position discard the evangelistic intent of virtually every recorded invitation of Jesus, saying those apply to discipleship, not to salvation.”

My friend, that is NOT the childlike faith, the simplicity, that is found only in Jesus Christ. 2nd Corinthians 11:3-4, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” Mr. MacArthur is preaching 'ANOTHER GOSPEL.' And it is certainly “another spirit,” not the spirit of the Gospel of free grace. There is no requirement anywhere in the Bible to surrender, turn from sins, make full repentance, submit to Christ, run the race, count the cost, pay the price, commit to obey Him, nor follow Christ to receive the free gift of God, which is eternal life!

Evangelist Miles J. Stanford (1914-1999) correctly teaches...

“Lordship salvation is not the childlike faith of John 3:16. It rightly insists upon repentance, but wrongly includes a change of behavior IN ORDER TO BE SAVED. No one questions that there must be a sincere change of mind, a turning from oneself to the Saviour, but Lordship advocates attempt to make behavior and fruit essential ingredients of, rather than evidence of, saving faith”

SOURCE: Miles Stanford, in his review of 'The Gospel According to Jesus.'

Dr. MacArthur defines REPENTANCE as turning from your sins (Faith Works, pg. 74). He also teaches that true repentance "inevitably results in a change of behavior" (Faith Works, pg. 75). But is not TURNING FROM SINS a CHANGE OF BEHAVIOR? Is MacArthur confusing the RESULTS of repentance with REPENTANCE itself? Is not he confusing the FRUITS with the ROOT? MacArthur is more accurate when he says, "true repentance involves a change of heart and purpose" (Faith Works, pg. 75). The inner change will produce an outward change. REPENT! REPENT! REPENT!

Again, on March 6, 2020 Dr. Steve Pettit sent a 'Tweet' on Twitter saying:

“Had a great meeting with @johnmacarthur this afternoon! Thankful for his ministry at @mastersunivsity.” —SOURCE; Twitter

That is shameful! Steve Pettit condemns himself with his own words, by bidding Godspeed to John MacArthur's ministry of preaching the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation!!! Mr. Pettit further states in his sermon:

“What if Peter had persisted in his disobedience? Then we know, that it would have destroyed the unity of the Church, and Peter would have been at fault, by his compromise; for the unity of the Church has to be based upon obedience to the truth.” —Dr. Steve Pettit, an excerpt from 'The Daily Platform' (766 - 'Understanding Galatians')

I couldn't agree more with the sermon that Dr. Pettit preached today. But why the utter hypocrisy? Why does Steve Pettit bid Godspeed to John MacArthur and his heretical ministry? Dr. Pettit teaches in the same sermon, that Paul refused to tolerate false teachers for even one hour (Galatians 2:5). That is Biblical, and I am not tolerating Steve Pettit's junk theology! Bob Jones University (BJU) preaches a false gospel of turning from your sins to be saved. That is works! Forsaking sins is not something that is easy! Forsaking lifelong bad habits is a hard thing to do, and not required to receive God's free gift of eternal life. Anyone and everyone involved with the Bob Jones' crowd is terrified of being rejected by their peers, so they always tell people two things to be saved: 1) You must turn from your sins, 2) Believe the Gospel. The Bible only requires that you believe the Gospel, which necessitates that you recognize that you are a needy sinner; but that doesn't mean you have to forsake your sinful bad habits to be saved!!!

I cannot warn you enough about this counterfeit gospel of partial faith in Christ plus works. Steve Pettit is an evil man theologically! I even heard him teach 2,700 BJU students about a false partial faith in Christ plus works gospel, but folks, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT STEVE PETTIT AND JOHN MACARTHUR ARE PREACHING... PARTIAL FAITH IN CHRIST PLUS WORKS!!! They say faith alone is not enough to be saved, but that you must be willing to forsake your sinful living, and surrender fully to Christ as Lord, and follow Christ no matter what the COST!

Here again is the damnable heresy that Pastor John MacArthur teaches to millions of people. Any time someone comes along preaching that salvation will “cost” you something, you know that that minister was inspired by demons...

“Don’t believe anyone who says it’s easy to become a Christian. Salvation for sinners cost God His own Son; it cost God’s Son His life, and it’ll cost you the same thing...” [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Dr. John MacArthur, Grace To You, an updated quote from his book 'Hard To Believe', page 93.

Folks, that is not “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2nd Corinthians 11:3b). There is no “cost” to a sinner coming to Jesus Christ to receive God's free gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Acts 20:28 says that God “purchased” the Church with His own blood. Since God purchased our redemption, there is no COST to us. Eternal life is a gift from God, which we RECEIVE by faith in the the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way of salvation than through the holy name of Jesus (Acts 4:10-12).

“Who is John MacArthur? He is the one man in America doing more than anybody to destroy soul-winning churches!” —Dr. Jack Hyles (a needful quote from the MP3 sermon, "I Sojourn In Mesech")

The “simple” thing about salvation is that all you have to do to receive eternal life is to BELIEVE the Gospel. If you gladly receive the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ crucified on the cross, buried and bodily risen the third day, you are saved! Acts 2:43, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (God will even save you if you grumpily receive the GOOD NEWS!) They were saved by gladly receiving the Good News of Jesus crucified, buried and risen. Then they were water baptized as a pubic profession of their faith. Notice that they were saved first, and then afterwards baptized with water. God's free offer of salvation is BY FAITH alone. Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” That is, when a person hears the Gospel preached, and they receive it by faith, placing their trust in that GOOD NEWS, they are saved. Believe the GOOD NEWS my friend and you are eternally saved!!!

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies...” —2nd Peter 2:1

John MacArthur's Heretical Position On The Lordship Of Christ

John MacArthur Says: “There Is No Such Thing As A Childhood Conversion!” (Too hard 4 kids!)

John MacArthur's Master's University Investigated For Paying Son-In-Law $7,610,399 (crooks!)

Why John MacArthur Is A False Prophet!

John MacArthur Is Also Wrong On Jesus' Precious Blood

I could go on for hours about what is wrong with Mr. MacArthur's theology. According to MacArthur, Jesus didn't have God's blood flowing in His veins, which is effectively a denial of His deity. Jesus was born of a virgin, how could He not have God the FATHER'S blood in Him? Dr. MacArthur also denies the blood of Jesus! He'll claim that he doesn't deny the blood, but he sure does! When put to the test, Mr. MacArthur teaches in his 'The MacArthur Bible Commentary' for Hebrews 9:12-24 that Jesus' “blood” really “means” death.

According to Mr. MacArthur we are saved by the pouring out of Christ's blood, and not by the actual literal liquid blood on the Mercy Seat in Heaven. In the preceding video MacArthur calls the truth that Jesus' blood is sprinkled on the heavenly Mercy Seat “weird” and “whacky.” The Bible calls Mr. MacArthur a liar! Hebrews 9:12 says “BY HIS OWN BLOOD” Jesus entered into the heavenly Holy Place, to “appear in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9:24), to sprinkle His literal liquid blood on the Mercy Seat (Hebrews 12:24). The blood had to be applied!!!
 

Bob Jones University Needs To Choose Sides

I think it is shameful and sinful that Dr. Steve Pettit teaches Lordship Salvation. He deceitfully preaches about the “Gospel of free grace” (which he mentions on 'The Daily Platform,' sermon #766 - “Understanding Galatians”), but at the same time he sinfully bids Godspeed to John MacArthur. Dr. Pettit cannot have it BOTH ways! Evidently, Steve Pettit thinks Lordship Salvation IS the Gospel of free grace! This is exactly what Dr. Pettit believes and teaches, which is why I am refuting and exposing him as a dangerous false teacher. Bob Jones University influences thousands of young people, affecting thousands of churches, so they need to be examined by shining light of the inspired Word of God. The Bob Jones camp are “Caught Between Grace And Works” (an excellent sermon by Pastor Ralph 'Yankee' Arnold).

Lordship Salvation IS NOT the Gospel of free grace!!! Speak up oh Christian, or else you are a part of the problem (like BJU)! God knows that I love the Bob Jones' crowd (including Dr. Pettit, Pastor Marty Herron, and the shameful Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, who won't even allow me to attend church services, horribly ostracizing me since 2014); but they cannot bid Godspeed to a heretic like Dr. John MacArthur, and at the same time claim to believe the Gospel of free grace. You cannot have it both ways!!! Lordship Salvation is not 'THE GOSPEL'!!!

If someone like Evangelist Steve Pettit would have come to Bob Jones College in 1944 and preached the junk theology that he teaches, Dr. Bob Jones Sr. would have kindly showed him the door and never invited him back. It's like the frog in the water pot illustration. If you put a frog in boiling water he will instantly leap out to safety. But if you put a frog in cool water and slowly heat it up, by the time he realizes what is happening it will be too late, and he will die! Likewise, Bob Jones University and many of their graduate's churches have been woefully infected with Calvinism (aka, Lordship Salvation), but they have slowly been cooking in the pot of heresy, and are now dying. My destination is not based upon how I live my life, it's on whom that I trust to save me!!! Now that's the truth!

I love them enough to tell the truth. The truth has some friends today, and I am thankfully one of them. Don't you believe BJU's staff and Dr. Pettit when they preach about faith and grace, because they are preaching ANOTHER GOSPEL. I strongly encourage you dear reader to listen to a beautiful sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles called, “Steps In Sanctification; Or, The Root Of All Heresy” (Bob Jones University needs this sermon so badly!). I care, I truly do. God authored the Gospel of John for the sole purpose of showing people how to have eternal life (John 20:31). The word “believe” is found 85 times in the Gospel of John, but the word “repent” is not found once. That is because the person who comes to Christ BY FAITH has repented. Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Repentance is simply a change of mind, from wrong thinking to believing the Gospel. Repentance has nothing to do with reforming your life, or “turning away from living your own life” (as Dr. Pettit heretically teaches). Lordship Salvation sounds very logical and religious, which appeals to the sinful nature, but it is NOT the Gospel. Jesus is precious!!!

Romans 16:17-18, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

Where Dr. Steve Pettit Goes Wrong On The Gospel

END OF ARTICLE

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