Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”
Amen, God purchased the Church with His own blood, that is, the precious
blood of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Jesus had God the Father's
blood flowing in His veins. That is because Jesus was born of a virgin.
God was His biological Father in all respects. That means you can have
the gift of eternal life without paying anything for it. It won't cost
you your sins. It won't cost you your life. It won't cost you your free
will. It won't cost you the old way of living. It won't cost you
anything, because God purchased it, with His own blood through Christ's
sacrifice on Calvary's cross! God loves you so much dear friend, that He
would rather die than to live without you!
Pastor John MacArthur Is Selling Salvation
There is a group of wicked religious men in America. They are good men, as far as good men go. They are sincere men. But they are foolish men, who have been woefully deceived by the Devil. The most notable leader in their heretical group is Pastor John MacArthur of “Grace To You” radio in California. Dr. MacArthur has influenced millions of people through his books, internet, radio, sermons and college. Any time someone comes along preaching that salvation will “cost” you something, you know that minister was inspired by demons. John MacArthur heretically states:“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] —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 who comes to Jesus Christ to receive God's 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.” Eternal life is a gift from God, which we RECEIVE by faith alone in the the Gospel (Good News) of the Lord Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). There is no other way of salvation (Acts 4:10-12). Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) had this to say about Pastor John MacArthur:
“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”)That is because Lordship Salvation is a major hindrance to the Gospel. Where Lordship Salvation is being propagated, tares are filling up the churches, and people are becoming false converts to religion instead of Christianity. They are living the Christian life, calling Jesus, “LORD, LORD” (Matthew 7:22-23), but they have never been born-again! No one is saved who has turned from their sins to get saved! If you want to try to live right, fine, but don't be so stupid to add that to your faith, or else it is not true faith. Turning over a new leaf is not part of the saving Gospel of free grace.
The “simple” thing about salvation, is that to receive eternal life you just need to BELIEVE the Gospel. Even a small child can do that! 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.” They were saved by 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.
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!!! John MacArthur errantly says getting saved will COST you something, but that is not what the Scripture tells us. Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”
Dr. Steve Pettit Is Selling Salvation
Sadly, Evangelist Steve Pettit (new president of Bob Jones University since 2014) teaches the same junk theology:“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does it mean To Run 'The Race'? - 11:34)That is some dangerous talk when you include the next quote from Dr. Pettit, in which he teaches 2,700 BJU students that the “AWARD” for running 'The Race' is “Heaven itself”!!!
“We run the race, we cross the finish line, and so what’s the prize? What is the award? Well, there are different viewpoints. Some would have the viewpoint that the awards are crowns in Heaven. But as I read the book of Hebrews and see the whole gist of the book and the flow of the book, I don’t believe its referring to crowns in Heaven. I think it is referring to Heaven itself.” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 22:57)Heaven itself? Oh my! What saith the Scripture? 1st Corinthians 9:24-25, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” As you just read, the “award” will be an “INCORRUPTIBLE CROWN,” but Steve Pettit says it will be HEAVEN ITSELF!!! That is tragic folks. According to Mr. Pettit, you cannot know you are 100% saved and secure until you've finished running your race. That is not the instant new birth by childlike faith alone in the Savior.
Kindly said, Dr. Pettit is selling salvation! He says it will cost you your sinful behavior. He says it will cost you your self-will, self-assertiveness and living your own life. Dr. Pettit says getting saved will COST YOU all that!!! What saith the Scripture? JESUS PAID IT ALL!!! 1st Peter 1:18-19, “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, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
We started off in this article with a Bible verse about God PURCHASING the Church with His blood. So how did we get to Steve Pettit saying you have to faithfully 'RUN THE RACE' to get to Heaven. That is payment! Why is Dr. Pettit telling us to pay for what God has already purchased? Since the price has already been paid for eternal life, we can simply receive it, and there is nothing more that can be REQUIRED.
Are you getting this folks? Dr. Pettit teaches salvation as a process instead of a new birth. We are saved in an instant by trusting Jesus as our Savior, but becoming Christlike takes a lifetime. Being conformed into the image of Christ is God's department, not ours! Changing is not mandatory to get to Heaven. Dr. Pettit is invading God's space, and invalidating God's grace, by adding running the race! Our part is to trust the blessed Savior. Whatever changes God wants to see happen in our life is His department alone. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Repeatedly in the inspired King James Bible, we read that we're saved BY FAITH alone, without works (Romans 4:5-6). Yet, these ungodly impostors have crept into tens of thousands of churches today, preaching with a forked-tongue. While they deceptively speak of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; they demand that people turn away from “LIVING MY OWN LIFE” (that is an exact quote from Dr. Steve Pettit, from his chapel sermon #741 of 'The Daily Platform,' titled: “What Does It Mean To Be Justified?”). Dear reader, these people are false teachers who are in utter denial. The refuse to see how having to pay the “COST” of forsaking your sins, and forsaking your own way of living, somehow does not constitute WORKS for salvation. Are you really serious? There is NO COST for the Christian believer, because God has already purchased the Church with His blood. I love you all, and I hope you have not been deceived by Satan!
Evangelist Paul Washer says eternal life will COST you. Look at this quote:
When Jesus spoke with the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22, He was talking with an unsaved person; but afterwards the Lord spoke with His disciples in Matthew 19:23-30, who were already saved by faith. So we need to keep this in mind when interpreting such Scripture passages. To whom was the Lord speaking, to the saved or unsaved? In the case of Matthew 19:23-30, Jesus was speaking to the saved. It is gross theological incompetence for anyone, like Paul Washer, to apply this passage to the free gift of eternal life, which is received by faith alone in the dear Savior.
2nd Peter 2:1, “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...”
Truth + Half Truth = A Lie
