Liberty In Christ, Eternal Security And The Issue Of Drunkenness - Evangelical Outreach EOMIN.org Offers Scriptural Guidance Through Compelling Testimony

Evangelical Outreach is a Christian ministry dedicated to the defense and confirmation of the life-giving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The "Once Saved Always Saved" doctrine holds that it is not possible for a Christian to die spiritually. Sadly, the "liberty in Christ" concept can be, and often is, used by OSAS teachers to justify sinful behavior. Ex-Catholic Dan Corner, Director of Evangelical Outreach knows that Scripture says something very different. He recently offered a very important anonymous testimony on this topic.

I initially came to salvation about 9 years ago. As a baby Christian, I began attending a very large and friendly Southern Baptist Church. After service we had Connect Group where about 30 people got together for food and fellowship. I was eager to read all the big names that were on display in the Church and airport bookstore. Although as a new Christian (or so I thought), I still wanted to continue to get drunk occasionally. However, I did not want to anger God and be punished for my occasional indulgences.

I confessed to the group that every couple of weeks I liked to drink a bottle of wine and smoke a pack of cigarettes and asked them what the Bible had to say about that. This question was received like a hot potato, and it was hard to get a straight answer, but in sum, I was told it was a matter between me and the Holy Spirit and that we just don't want to cause someone else to stumble.

I wanted a more definite answer but was also secretly hoping for a loophole that would allow me to continue to "treat myself" every now and then. When I spoke to different members of the group about "having to obey Christ" and God’s wrath, I was told things like: that’s legalism, "God is love", "This is the age of grace" and, “Just go enjoy your relationship with Christ."

I was ecstatic when one day after class, in response to one of my "what if" questions, one of the lead teachers told me that I could do the same thing again and again and again, and I would be forgiven every time. That was music to my ears; now I could still get drunk every couple of weeks and remain in good standing with Christ! I knew I kept returning to my wine as a dog returns to his vomit (2 Peter 2:22) but I thought I was safe because I was returning to it less than before.

And if I did it less and less - let's say once every 2 1/2 or 3 weeks instead of once every 2 weeks, then I was becoming more and more sanctified. I listened to speakers from our church visit prisons and tell the inmates that if they believe in Christ, all God sees is Christ's righteousness -- not their sin -- when he looks at them. I knew that there had to be repentance from sins in order to come to Christ to be initially saved, but afterwards, it seemed that as long as you sinned less than you did before you came to Christ, then you were being sanctified and you were on the road to Heaven.

I got a deceitful MacArthur Study Bible and read the commentaries at the bottom of the Bible page. I read and heard expressions like the "practice of sinning" and a "lifestyle" of sin, which gave me a false sense of security because my drunkenness was only occasional and not a "lifestyle" or a "practice". The Holy Spirit was convicting me that something was wrong and false about this gospel message. I erroneously thought the matter was one of true and false conversion. I had not yet understood that a true Christian can indeed fall away.

I began to see the term "liberty in Christ" used to justify sinful behavior. I also noticed all the focus was on God’s love but nothing about his wrath. Because of all this, at my urging, our family left the big popular church in search of one with more "narrow gate" preaching. The other churches we visited had the same lopsided message. Finally we settled on a tiny church that I thought would be safer and more real. When I asked the pastor there about occasional drinking, he told me that they do not meddle into people’s business and that we have "liberty in Christ". At that point, I quit going to church altogether because I was afraid of being subjected to and deceived by false doctrine; I didn't trust myself as strong enough to stand firm under it. I started to become obsessed with finding out whether or not Once Saved Always Saved was true and what were the real consequences of sin.

Scripture states that those who commit the sin of drunkenness will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21). Know that drunkenness, which leads to hell, starts with only one drink; it is by having one drink that paves the way for the imbibing of the next (and the next). It is true that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus but only for those who walk after the Holy Spirit and not after the lusts of the flesh. (Romans 8:1)

When I read all these verses together, my heart started violently pounding and I had a fearful expectation of judgment and raging hellfire as God's enemy. (Heb. 10:26) I immediately got down on my knees and begged the Lord to forgive me for being a drunkard and to give me his grace and mercy to stop. That was almost 9 years ago, and I have not had a drink since. Looking back, I can now see how the doctrine of eternal security puts people back on the road to hell very soon after initial salvation. Even so, I know I must take full responsibility for my own sins and not blame others for my choice to sow to my flesh. "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Romans 6:16) Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. (1 Peter 1:13) Share this message with others. God bless you.

Dan Corner, a former pastor and ex-Catholic, is the author of a number of books including 'The Believer's Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted', 'The Myth of Eternal Security' and 'Is this the Mary of the Bible?'.

Dan is available for media interviews, including debates, and can be reached using the information below or by email at eternallifeblog@gmail.com, by phone at 724-632-3210 or by mail at PO Box 265, Washington, PA, 15301. His websites are https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org (EOMIN.org) and AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net) and EternalLifeBlog.com.

About Dan Corner:

After graduating from college, Dan Corner got saved by reading the Bible. For over four decades, he has diligently served the Lord Jesus. Dan Corner's pastoral, apologetic, counter cult and street evangelism experiences have equipped him to contend for the faith and win souls to Jesus from many backgrounds.

He is an ordained minister and director of Evangelical Outreach who pastored for almost seven years and has authored hundreds of Christian articles, answered thousands of emails and letters and has written several books of vital importance in our day.

Contact:

Dan Corner
eternallifeblog@gmail.com
EvangelicalOutreach.org (EOMIN.org)
AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net)
EternalLifeBlog.com
724-632-3210

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The Sin Unto Death Interpretation Offered By Calvinism's Once Saved Always Saved Teachers Is A License To Sin Says EOMIN.org Evangelical Outreach Director Dan Corner

Corner is a Christian author, former Pastor, defender of the Christian faith and evangelist who has had over four decades of experience dealing with the Bible.

One of the core ideas presented on the Evangelical Outreach website is that Eternal Security (Once Saved Always Saved) teachings are deceptive. Backsliders must repent of sin for salvation, and no longer possess eternal life. Thus backsliders must become alive again from a dead and lost spiritual condition through sincere repentance.

The version of the Sin Unto Death offered by Calvinism's Once Saved Always Saved teachers is very dangerous. Dan Corner, Director of Evangelical Outreach, offers Biblical references to prove that the interpretations offered by Eternal Security teachers from gotquestions.org to gty.org are false. He recently had this to say.

The counterfeit sin unto death interpretation given by the eternal security teachers (also known as Once Saved Always Saved teachers) explicitly reveals their license to sin doctrine for what it truly is. That truth is important to know because you will probably never hear any eternal security teacher admit that their doctrine really is a license for immorality. In fact, they often flatly deny this charge sometimes to the point of yelling slander. However, there are still various ways these people teach this very license for immorality although they hate to be recognized as so doing; one such example is their distorted version of the sin unto death. The apostle John wrote of sin leading to death here:

If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death (1 John 5:16,17).

Clearly, there is sin unto death. Whatever the type of death, it is not explicitly identified in 1 John 5:16-17. While it is an undeniable truth that God gets so angry over sin that he consequently kills people, there is yet another truth related to the sin unto death that the eternal security teachers vehemently deny; they deny that sin can indeed bring a Christian to his SPIRITUAL death. Hence, just like Adam and Eve who died spiritually as a result of their sin, just as God had warned would happen (Gen. 2:17), Christians can also suffer the same lethal consequence. God did not kill Adam and Eve physically, but Adam and Eve did die spiritually. For them, it was a sin unto death in a spiritual sense.

From the eternal security perspective, when a person once saved dies physically, he always goes to heaven no matter what. According to their position, how such people are living at the point of death is inconsequential, even if God would kill them physically because of their unrepentant heinous sins. This teaching clearly spells out a license for immorality, and such is their poisonous understanding of the sin unto death. Please note what deceased Dave Hunt taught in his comments on the 1 Cor. 11 passage about the sin unto death:

"For this cause, some of you are weak and sickly and some of you sleep; some of you died because God has brought judgment upon you for the way you have conducted yourselves and so forth. So I think what he's saying is, there are some sins that are so heinous, and not only heinous, but perhaps - I think it depends upon the position that a person has - that brings reproach upon Christ, and God takes them home for that." [Radio show 0121.]

The word “heinous” is defined as "utterly reprehensible or evil." Question for all other eternal security proponents: What kind of punishment is it for God to kill a person, because of his unrepentant heinous sins, to take him out of this painful cursed unjust sin-filled world and send him to a beautiful paradise full of joy, peace, love, truth, righteousness, etc.?

For Paul, to live was Christ and to die was gain and better by far (Phil. 1:21-23); nonetheless, the eternal security "blind guides" want us to believe that we can live for self, heinous sin and the devil and then gain Paradise even when we persist and die in those sins! Hence, death for such unrepentant sinners is not really a punishment at all, but a blessing and gain as a reward for their hatred of God (manifested by their disobedience) and their love of wickedness.

Again, according to Once Saved Always Saved doctrine, one can therefore backslide into heinous sin and wickedness, remain and continue in such rebellion, even after God’s discipline, and still get blessed when God TAKES THE STUBBORN UNREPENTANT SINNER TO HEAVEN after striking him dead in his holy wrath and anger! Dear reader, can you really force yourself to believe such a religious fairy tale? If you ponder the horrible, but logical, conclusion produced by the eternal security teachers, you will have to agree that their version of the sin unto death is nothing more than a deadly, religious myth yielding an extreme opportunity to live in the wildest rebellion to God - a definite license for sin.

Similarly, the D. James Kennedy's message [D. James Kennedy, Can A Christian Fall From Grace? (Ft. Lauderdale FL: Coral Ridge Ministries), pp. 14, 15] comes through loud and clear regarding his so-called doctrines of grace. In relaying his message, Kennedy is indirectly saying that Christian adulterers actually do exist. In contrast to this deadly doctrinal myth, the Bible speaks of only one type of adulterer, and such is always shown as one who will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9,10; Eph. 5:5-7), but instead is destined for the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8), unless he repents. But the eternal security teachers don't want to believe that a backslider must repent for salvation sake; instead, they claim he will still gain heaven and escape hell in his unrepentant adultery or other heinous sins, all because he was once saved! How God must hate this ear-tickling deadly lie, which has deceived multitudes. At times, D. James Kennedy's Calvinism will have him declare that the elect will invariably persevere and endure in holiness to the very end, but then he turns right back around and blatantly teaches his sin unto death yarn. Doesn't D. James Kennedy realize that dying in unrepentant adultery is not enduring to the end in holiness? Clearly, Eternal Security is a doctrine of demons, which Christians must oppose!

Dear eternal security proponent, do not let yourself be deceived by the popular teachers of our hour or from yesteryear who have changed grace into a license for immorality, as just proven. This dangerous religious subterfuge should now be apparent especially after considering what both types of eternal security teachers have said about their false version of the sin unto death. Their deadly version of grace, with their sin unto death interpretation, allows all forms of unrepentant wickedness for those that were ever regenerated (born again).

Furthermore, the true Christian is clearly called by the term "saint", which means holy one. Since sin can make a holy person unholy again (1 Tim. 5:22; Rev. 3:4; etc.), and therefore, unfit for an entrance into the kingdom of God (Mt. 5:8; Heb. 12:14; Rom. 6:22; etc.), then these eternal security teachers are dangerously downplaying the effects of sin in the life of a Christian. Souls are at risk because of these fables, including this sin unto death myth.

Spiritual reality dictates that a true Christian can sin in such a way as to bring him back into spiritual death, thereby endangering him once again to the lake of fire (James 1:14-16; 5:19,20; Luke 15:24,32; Gal. 5:19-21; 6:8,9; Rom. 6:16; 8:13; Rev. 2:10,11; etc.). This sequence of events is the real sin unto death, as mentioned by the Apostle John. Moreover, if God in his holy wrath strikes someone dead due to unrepentant adultery, such a person will not go to heaven, but to hell, with all the other God haters as demonstrated in Hebrews 10:26-27; by the way, according to the Bible, the God haters are the disobedient as Jesus said that love for him is obedience to his commands. To reiterate, adulterers do not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10). This fact was basic knowledge in first century Christianity, although popularly denied in our dark day by those who maintain their security-in-sin gospel and license for immorality.

What happened to Adam and Eve when they sinned (and consequently died spiritually) is a true example of the sin unto death. Similarly, the prodigal became "dead" and lost (Lk. 15:24) as a backslider in his sins. He too exemplifies the real meaning of the sin unto death. Moreover, because the prodigal got forgiven upon repentance, his example conclusively answers the sin unto death vs. the unpardonable sin question! These two types of sin are NOT the same. The sin unto death can get forgiven, while the unpardonable sin cannot.

Sins that cause the sin unto death (or spiritual death) are the ones listed in 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Eph. 5:5-7; Rev. 21:8 and other such listings which will exclude one from inheriting the kingdom of God. Lesser sins, such as worry or unthankfulness, are not sins unto death (that is, they do not lead to spiritual death, putting one back on the road to hell).

Dear reader, if you think you can live in heinous sin, as all eternal security teachers want you to believe, and still remain on the road to heaven, you have been dangerously deceived. You must repent (turn from sin) or you will find yourself being thrown into the lake of fire in the end. You are not merely jeopardizing your physical life, rewards, position in the kingdom, etc. as they claim, but it is your very SOUL that is being endangered and jeopardized. Do not be deceived by their distorted version of the sin unto death or anything else these false teachers say which allows for wickedness and salvation at the same time.

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil .... (1 John 3:7-8)

Eternal Security is an extreme license to sin and nothing better. Be warned and God bless you. More information is available at the Evangelical Outreach site.

Dan Corner, a former pastor and ex-Catholic, is the author of a number of books including 'The Believer's Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted', 'The Myth of Eternal Security' and 'Is this the Mary of the Bible?'.

Dan is available for media interviews, including debates, and can be reached using the information below or by email at eternallifeblog@gmail.com, by phone at 724-632-3210 or by mail at PO Box 265, Washington, PA, 15301. His websites are https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org (EOMIN.org) and AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net) and EternalLifeBlog.com.

About Dan Corner:

After graduating from college, Dan Corner got saved by reading the Bible. For over four decades, he has diligently served the Lord Jesus. Dan Corner's pastoral, apologetic, counter cult and street evangelism experiences have equipped him to contend for the faith and win souls to Jesus from many backgrounds.

He is an ordained minister and director of Evangelical Outreach who pastored for almost seven years and has authored hundreds of Christian articles, answered thousands of emails and letters and has written several books of vital importance in our day.

Contact:

Dan Corner
eternallifeblog@gmail.com
EvangelicalOutreach.org (EOMIN.org)
AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net)
EternalLifeBlog.com
724-632-3210

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