(2 Cor 5:20 KJV) Now then we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray
you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
The most prevalent teaching in the extreme majority of churches today is
that it is possible for one to “accept Christ” as their savior at any time.
They believe that God is begging you to accept His Son and that you are the
Sovereign determining the final decision as to whether to accept or not.
This is based on the belief that man has free will giving him or her the
ability to understand the Gospel and to accept Christ. This stems from the
belief that Christ died for every sinner in the world and not just for a
certain number. It is normally based upon the complete misunderstanding of
verses like 1 John 2:2.
(1 John 2:2 KJV) And he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the
sins of the whole world.
Propitiation - Expiation or sin offering
It is a sad thing that this verse is very misused by those who advocate
free will. If you will notice in the beginning of this verse it talks about
the Lord Jesus being the sin offering for the believer. The word “our” is in
the genitive or possessive case which means it belongs to us. So what is in
view here is that the Lord Jesus Christ was the sin bearer for all the
believers. Now the second part of this verse could trip a person up if they
do not connect what the rest of the Bible teaches on this. It is a given
fact in Scripture that not every person in the world is going to be saved,
in fact, there is only going to be a small remnant saved out of all the
billions in population.
The second part of this verse is not teaching universal atonement
because that is simply not true based upon the Scriptures and what we see in
life. We can see unbelievers all around us who die in that state. What this
verse is simply teaching, based upon all the collateral biblical evidence,
is that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ was not only sufficient for
the believers in John’s time, but that sufficiency will extend to the end of
time to all the Elect all around the world. It in no way implies universal
atonement, in that Christ paid for the sins of every person in the world and
all they have to do is “accept Christ” and the atonement will be applied.
This is taught nowhere in Scripture because saying a few words does not
apply the forgiveness of God.
God Himself is the one who chooses who He is going to save and applies
the sacrifice of Christ to that person and then indwells them with the Holy
Spirit. Man has no part whatsoever except to receive it. If Christ paid for
every sin of every human being on earth, then what will the unbeliever be
cast into hell for at the Great White Throne Judgment? It is for their sins
because they had no savior for their sins. Many state that Christ was the
final sacrifice for sins but that is not true. He was the first sacrifice
for sins and He died to pay for the sins of all the Elect. All the animal
sacrifices done under the Mosaic Law were only foreshadows and could not
take away sins.
(Heb 10:4 KJV) For it
is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins. Christ was the only one was able to take
away sins by His sacrifice on Calvary. The unbeliever who dies will stand at
the Great White Throne Judgment on the last day and without Christ as their
Savior, will now be forced to pay for their sins eternally in hell. In
essence, they are their own sacrifice for sins and this sacrifice never ends
as it is eternal. This would make the unbeliever the final sacrifice for sin
but only for their own sin and not the sins of another. The sacrifice of
Christ removed the sins from the Elect and gave them eternal life. The
sacrifice of the unbeliever gives them eternal damnation and no separation
from their sin.
I want to look at some teachings of the free will movement concerning
salvation which have absolutely no basis in Scripture. It is born out of the
minds of men who wish to make themselves sovereign and make God the beggar.
As we look at some very plain scriptures, we will see that free will, in
reference to salvation is a total fallacy and needs to be abandoned so a
better understanding of Scripture will follow.
Spiritual Condition Before Salvation
(Eph 2:1 KJV) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins:
(Eph 2:5 KJV) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
It is very important to know our pre-salvation condition. The Bible is
very clear that before salvation, a person is spiritually dead. The word
“dead” in both verses carries with it the meaning of “lifeless.” This means
that our spirit and soul were dead yet we are still physically alive. This
means that this verse is stating that a person can be physically alive while
being spiritually dead. This is very important to understand.
This is why we are able to buy the car we want, wear the clothes we
want, or are able to drive from one place to another. We have physical life
and are able to make decisions which pertain to the physical. Many free
willers make the erroneous comparison that because they can do certain
things in the flesh, they can accept Christ. As we see above, the spirit of
unsaved man is dead and salvation does not take place in the physical body
but takes place in the spirit. If the spirit is dead, then it has absolutely
no way of knowing it is dead and no way of regeneration on its own. Like
Lazarus, if spiritual regeneration is to come to a person, then it must be
initiated by an outside source which of course is God. So unsaved man being
dead, must be regenerated from the outside in, not from the inside out. This
is shown in the following verses:
(John 1:12-13 KJV) But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name: {13} Which were born, not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
How many times have we heard John 1:12 given as proof that we can accept
Christ and if we do, we then become sons of God. Let us briefly look at that
verse. First of all it speaks about “receiving him.” It does not state that
you can accept Him, but it states that “you receive.” That word for
“receive” in the Greek means just that. First, a person receives Christ,
which means a person is passive in their salvation and all they do is
receive it. Then the verse goes on to say that “He” gave power to become the
sons of God. First a person receives the Lord and then they have power to
become the sons of God, and then there is ability to believe, once they are
saved and I will cover faith in the next section. Now connect this plain
understanding to verse 13 where we read that a person is not born of the
will of the flesh (because remember salvation does not take place in the
flesh) nor of the will of man which is still only pertains to the physical
before salvation, but they are born again by the Will of God. How much
clearer can God make it that being born again is totally separate from the
physical and not according to man’s will, which is flesh driven before
salvation, but by God’s Will. Here we plainly see that man does not initiate
salvation, God does and He does it according to His will.
You Must Exercise Saving Faith
How many times have you heard some free will preacher make a plea for
salvation and telling you that you must exercise faith in Christ to accept
Him as savior? I am sure we all have heard it many times and will hear it
many times more. There is a major problem with this theory because as we saw
previously that before salvation a person is spiritually dead. A verse which
completely rejects this theory is found in Galatians 5:22.
(Gal 5:22 KJV) But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Basically, we need to ask the question. Where does faith come from?
Galatians 5:22 answers that plainly. Faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and
therefore is not given until a person becomes saved. Remember John 1:12?
(John 1:12 KJV) But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name: One can become a child
of God, only if they believe on His name. Now the words “faith” and
“believing” are related in the Greek. Faith is the noun and believing is the
verb. For one to believe in Christ, they must have faith to believe. Belief
is built on faith because faith is the foundation of belief. However, one
does not receive faith until one has already become saved allowing them to
believe on Christ. So the free willer has another dilemma in that faith is
given after salvation as we saw in Galatians 5:22.
(Rom 8:9 KJV) But ye are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
What is Romans 8:9 reminding us of? The main thesis is that if a person does
not have the Holy Spirit, they are not of Christ, which means they are still
unsaved and in the kingdom of Satan. If a person is still unsaved, they
cannot exercise “saving faith” simply because they do not have any faith at
all. The only way they can have faith, is if the Holy Spirit indwells them
and that means they are saved. So the order is simple. Salvation first -
Faith second - Believing third. Once again we see that a dead man does not
initiate salvation, God does.
Lamb’s Book of Life
The morning of the day I am writing this (4/1/11) I was listening to Dr.
Charles Stanley and I want to make it known that I do like him and I have
learned much from him in the 30 years I have been saved. This morning he
stated something from a free will point of view which also has no biblical
basis. He stated that if you accept Christ then your name will be entered in
the Lamb’s Book of Life. He is not the only one who teaches this as all free
will proponents teach it. They believe that once you accept Christ, your
name is then written in the Lamb’s Book of Life at the moment you accept.
The following two verses refute that teaching.
(Rev 13:8 KJV) And all that dwell upon the
earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
(Rev 17:8 KJV) The beast that thou sawest
was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into
perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were
not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they
behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Notice what it says in these two verses concerning the Lamb’s Book of
Life. It states plainly that the names of all those whom God plans to save
were written in it before the foundation of the world. This means that
before the world was created, God already had chosen out a people to save
and named them in the Lamb’s Book of Life. To those who believe in free
will, where were you when the Lamb‘s Book of Life was written? You were not
yet created which means you could not accept anything. The Lamb‘s Book of
Life was completed before Adam and Eve and is not an ongoing journal.
You Must Repent of Your Sins
Probably we have all heard this ones especially if we have listened to
Billy Graham. When he made the alter call, he stated that the first thing a
person must do is repent of their sins. Keep in mind what we have learned so
far that man is spiritually dead. Repentance is one of those things which
falls under spiritual renewal. Just think for a moment, a person is out
there sinning for 20, 30, 40 years and all of a sudden he is going to repent
of his sins. He may get caught up in the moment and say that he will repent
but can he? The answer is absolutely no! No one in an unsaved state can ever
repent of their sins because they have no strength to do it. There is such a
thing as carnal repentance where someone commits an act and hurts someone
and then repents of it and will never do it again. Or someone may go to an
Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center to try and give up drinking. This is not the
kind of repentance which is associated with salvation. Why? The Alcoholic
may come out of the Center without a desire to drink, but he will still have
a desire to commit other sins because he is still dead in sins. So true
repentance does not take place.
(2 Cor 7:10 KJV) For godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world
worketh death.
In 2 Corinthians 7:10, we read about two contrasting views of
repentance. We will look at the second one first. The second type of
repentance is the worldly type which basically is described as “whoops I got
caught.” Worldly repentance may bring a few tears but it is not a genuine
repentance which leads to salvation because this type of repentance is
man-centered. We see this all the time as someone commits a crime and then
goes to court and cries, in hopes the judge will be lenient with them. So
their repentance is not to salvation but is for their own selfish benefit.
This is why it leads to death because it remains man-centered and for
manipulation. The first type of repentance is the godly repentance that
pertains to salvation, then he states that it is not to be repented of. This
means that when a person is truly saved, they can never go back to being
unsaved. The word “repentance” in the Greek carries with it the idea of a
“change of mind.” The true believer goes from a state of totally carnal
thinking and is given a change of mind by means of salvation.
(1 Cor
2:16 KJV) For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?
But we have the mind of Christ. The true believer has the
mind of Christ which means they have a renewed mind from spiritual death.
(Rom 12:2 KJV) And be not conformed to
this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Now the question remains, can an unsaved man repent
of his sins? The answer is two-fold and given to us in the following verse.
(2 Tim 2:25 KJV) In meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance
to the acknowledging of the truth; 2 Timothy 2:25
teaches us that it is God who gives repentance. So the answer to our
question is that a person can repent of their sins only if God grants it and
the second answer is that a person cannot repent of their sins on their own.
Repentance like faith is given to the believer at the moment of salvation
because it is at that time we receive the mind of Christ. The unbeliever
still has a mind which goes along with the world system and it is only when
we become saved, is when we start seeing what we are doing is sin, because
we have the change of mind and now see things differently.
Whosoever…
There is one word which the free willer likes to throw around and that
is “whosoever.” This is where I wish they would take a few moments and
investigate the word as used in the Scriptures. It is the Greek word “pas”
which is used many times in the New Testament but we will look at one verse
which is a representative verse using “whosoever.”
(John 3:16 KJV) 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.
John 3:16 has been used and misused probably more than any other verse
in the Bible. This verse is used as a capstone for those who tout free will
but the word “whosoever” does not mean that anyone at any time according to
their will can become saved. That word “whosever” carries with it the
meaning of “everyone or all.” It means those whom God has qualified to hear
the Gospel and saves them by giving them faith to believe in Jesus and this
happens to everyone who God saves. Man is spiritually dead and needs to be
raised from the dead and that can only happen when God makes the first move,
and that is salvation. We receive salvation before we can believe.
(Gal 5:22 KJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
As we previously saw, a fruit of the Holy Spirit is faith and only those who
are saved will receive the Holy Spirit. When we are saved, we are given
faith, and then we have the ability to believe. So verse 16 is a declaration
that those who are the Elect of God will never perish but have everlasting
life. It is not an offer of the Gospel because there is no such thing in
Scripture. God applies salvation to the Elect. I know because I did not ask
for salvation before I was saved. I was the Elect of God and therefore He
applied grace to my life and I became saved.
(Rev 21:6 KJV) And he said unto me, It is
done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him
that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
(Rev 22:17 KJV) And the Spirit and the
bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Here we have two verses which are very close in meaning as they both
speak of the water of life freely. In 22:17, we read “whosoever will” take
the water of life freely. Remember now the spiritual condition of man before
salvation, they are spiritually dead and incapable of making a spiritual
decision. When we walked in darkness, we did not believe we needed a Savior
especially if we thought we were good. We were not thirsty for the true
Gospel, in fact, being dead in sins we were at war with God because we were
members of the kingdom of Satan. It was only when our spiritual eyes were
opened is when we thirsted for the water of life. The water of life is the
Gospel which when applied to a person, brings eternal life in Christ.
Another key in Rev. 22:17, is the word “heareth” which does not only mean
physically hearing, but it means hearing with understanding.
(Luke 24:32 KJV) And they said one to another,
Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and
while he opened to us the scriptures? Only those
who are saved are capable of hearing with understanding. Just as Jesus
opened the spiritual ears of the disciples on the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24,
He opens the ears of the “whosoever” He saves to allow them to understand
the Gospel.
Sinner’s Prayer
Many who believe in free will state that saying a sinner’s prayer
somehow initiates salvation. That is not true because that would mean
salvation by works and it is only by grace. The ones who are truly saved may
say a sinner’s prayer at the moment of salvation but that is in response to
salvation and not for salvation. Remember we have openly read that a person
is spiritually dead and incapable of initiating salvation. Many who say
those prayers remain unsaved and it is deceitful for some preacher to claim
that if someone says a sinner’s prayer, that means they are saved. Prayer is
a result of salvation whereby we communicate with our heavenly Father.
(Isa 59:2 KJV) But your iniquities have
separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face
from you, that he will not hear. Just as God did
not hear the prayers of the sinning nation of Judah, He does not hear the
prayer of any He has not saved. (John
4:24 KJV) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth. Samaria was
surrounded by many pagan nations for many years and those pagan nations all
had some type of physical representations of their false god, of course,
which were all idols. Some were Dagon, Milcom, and Baal. The true God is a
spirit and those that worship Him, must do it according to Spirit. This
means that a spiritually dead person, the unsaved, cannot truly worship God
nor can they have a true prayer life, because they are dead. Those who are
born again are indwelled by the Holy Spirit who makes us alive unto God and
teaches us the truth about God and as we come into more and more truth about
God from the Scriptures, we continually worship Him as our understanding of
God grows.
Draw
(John 6:44 KJV) No man can come to me,
except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at
the last day. The word “draw” in John 6:44 carries
with it the meaning of “drag or force.” The fact is clear that the sinner,
which the Christian used to be, is spiritually dead and loves their sin.
(John 3:19 KJV) And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Since man is dead in sins, there is no way that they can come to Christ, and
this verse shows us that no man is able or has the power to come to Christ
of their own volition. The way that a person comes to Christ is that the
Father must draw or literally drag them. Since they are in a state of
spiritual death, all they know is sin and this world. God has to take them
and resurrect their souls, grant them spiritual ears and eyes, place the
Holy Spirit in them, thus giving them salvation. God then takes them and
transfers them from the kingdom of Satan to the Kingdom of God.
(Col 1:12-13 KJV) Giving thanks unto the
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints in light: {13} Who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Colossians 1:12-13 speaks about God the Father qualifying
us to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints and then translating us
from darkness to the Kingdom of God. So this verse completely squelches the
false notion of free will because we see that it is the Father who does the
work of salvation in the life of the believer. Those who claim that they can
save themselves by their own will are basically stating that they have as
much strength and authority as the Father. Think about it.
Summary
I have heard free will preachers claim to their congregations that “it
is your choice.” Based upon what we have looked at in this short study,
there is no way that it is our choice. This means that Christ died
indiscriminately and that is not what the Bible teaches. He died for the
Elect which was named before the foundation of the world. This idea that
Christ died for everybody in the world is foreign to the Scriptures. What we
have also found out is that neither God nor man is the beggar in salvation.
God does not beg because He applies salvation to those He named before the
foundation of the world. The unbeliever who is predestined to be a believer
does not come of his own volition but needs to be forced or dragged,
revealing how deep in sin we really are. Free will in salvation does not
exist. God named before the foundation of the world those He was going to
save and the reason that we go into all the world with the Gospel is because
we do not know who the Elect of God are because He calls them “whosoever”
and does not name them. If you believe in free will, you do not have any
biblical basis for that view. It is held in pride and arrogance, not truth.
The Bible nowhere states that man has a choice in salvation. God is not
begging and you are not sovereign as to whether you are going to accept Him.
The fact is that he accepts us! Jonah had it right >>(Jonah
2:9 KJV) But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I
will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.