Evangelical Outreach, EOMIN.org proclaims and defends the Christian Gospel against various forms of religious deceptions.
Throughout the history of Christianity, the concept of grace has often been misunderstood. What grace is and how to get it is a salvation issue since one is saved by grace. This Heaven or Hell related subject must be carefully examined with scripture. Besides Roman Catholicism the Once Saved Always Saved teachers are the main problems with their false grace teachings. Author and evangelist Dan Corner has this to say:
The biblical term grace has been distorted from different fronts, which has lethally confused salvation itself. Since a Christian is saved and justified by grace (Eph. 2:8,9; Tit. 3:7), to change what grace is or how to get it, is an assault on how to become saved.
Unwittingly, even the utility companies mention a grace period, when one doesn't pay his bill on time. Along with all the religious attacks, that has also aided in the misunderstanding that grace is unmerited favor instead of favor, as the Greek word actually means.
If grace were unmerited favor, then everyone would get saving grace, which is surely not true for the proud and unbelieving. It takes humility to get God's grace, while the proud are opposed (1 Pet. 5:5). It also takes a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to get in grace (Rom. 5:2), but that same faith can afterwards cease to exist (Lk. 8:13; 1Tim. 1:19; 2 Tim. 2:18; Rom. 11:20-23). If it were not necessary to have a submissive faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation by grace, then Universalism would be true, which is impossible (Mt. 13:41,42; 25:46; 2 Pet.3:9; Jude 7; etc.).
The grace changers (Jude 4) of our day are the Eternal Security (or Once Saved Always Saved) teachers, who have equated their fraudulent doctrine to grace, and thereby automatically attempt to discount all opposing views as something else, such as a work's salvation, legalism or cult. Also, their once in grace always in grace belief is demolished by Gal. 5:2-4, which shows a Christian can fall from grace to the place where Christ is of no value at all, meaning he no longer has salvation.
From a totally different angle, Catholicism attacks grace by teaching Mary is the mediatrix and dispenser of all graces and “to Jesus through Mary”, meaning we get to Jesus by first going to Mary. In contrast, Jesus taught us to come directly to him (Mt. 11:28; Jn. 5:40; 7:37; etc.). The Catholic view is also disproved by the repentant thief, who bypassed Mary at the foot of the cross and successfully went to Jesus and was saved (Lk. 23:42,43).
Catholicism also teaches grace comes through their sacraments with babies getting born again at infant baptism. If that were true then infants, who can't repent or have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, would get saving grace, which is impossible.
The result of these ongoing attacks on grace have resulted in multitudes being lethally deceived about salvation and the holy image of Christians being smeared. In reality, God's grace teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:12). True grace does not allow for wickedness, and the gospel of grace includes a conditional security for the believer in Christ (1 Cor. 15:2; Col. 1:23).
The counterfeit grace has deceitfully allowed for Christian drunks, adulterers, thieves, liars, etc. with no one living holy and obediently, as Christians do (Lk. 8:21; Phil. 2:12; Heb. 5:9; 1 John 2:3,4; etc.). The prevalent counterfeit grace teachings have produced millions of counterfeit Christians. Remember, God is not holding and keeping Christians to the place where we can't turn away and die spiritually (Rom. 8:12; James 1:14,15; 5:19,20; etc.), getting back on the road to hell again, as has happened to many.
True salvation by grace includes humble repentance (turning from sin) and a submissive faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to the place of unashamedly following, serving and obeying him. Salvation by grace is gained without Mary or water baptism, and it is not unmerited favor. We have eternal life as long as we have Jesus (1 Jn.5:12,13), which can change (Mt. 10:33; Jn. 15:1-6; Rom. 11:20-23; Rev. 3:16; etc.).
Jesus taught to make every effort to enter through the narrow door (Luke 13:24), while the spurious say, “make no effort because that is works and legalism”. Obedience is not legalism. We must continue to sow to please the Spirit and not give up to reap eternal life (Gal. 6:8,9; Rom. 2:7) and to endure hatred to the end for salvation's sake (Mt. 10:22; Heb. 3:14; Rev. 2:10,11). Consult the books, The Believer's Conditional Security and Is This the Mary of the Bible for much more.
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
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
The Attack On Grace By Eternal Security Teachers And Catholicism Offer Christians A Distorted View Of The Path To Salvation And How To Get To Heaven Says Evangelical Outreach
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
The Truth Regarding The Salvation Of Reprobates Offered By Dan Corner Of Evangelical Outreach
Corner is a Christian author, defender of the Christian faith and evangelist who has had over four decades of experience dealing with the Bible.
A primary issue of debate within Christianity is the question of Eternal Security. That debate has raged on for centuries. Within that general debate is another - the status of "reprobates." Can a reprobate be saved?
Many of us take positions on either side of that all-important debate, depending on our own interpretations, drawn from a particular version of the Bible. Interpretations however are not truth. When we look at questions such as these, opinions matter not at all. Only truth matters. Dan Corner of Evangelical Outreach offers a compelling answer to the question regarding the salvation of reprobates:
"Reprobate" is a KJV term which, like many other KJV terms, conjures up misleading ideas. Too often, it has even been preached or inferred that a "reprobate" cannot get saved OR that if one backslides after many years of serving God – having much knowledge of the Word beforehand – then he becomes a "reprobate" and can never return to salvation again. Neither one of these scenarios is true. Note the following verse where "reprobate" is used:
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a REPROBATE mind, to do those things which are not convenient (Rom 1:28, KJV).
The context of Romans 1:28 refers to homosexuality, showing homosexuals have a "reprobate mind" (KJV). The NIV says a "depraved mind". So, can homosexuals get saved? The answer is a definite, unequivocal and absolute YES:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor HOMOSEXUALS, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such WERE some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:9-11, NASB)
So again, the "depraved" (NIV) or "reprobates" can indeed get forgiven, based on a comparison of scripture with scripture. But what about 1 Cor. 9:27, where the same Greek word translated "castaway" has elsewhere been inconsistently translated "reprobate" in the KJV?
But I [Paul] keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a CASTAWAY (1 Cor. 9:27, KJV).
The point Paul is making in 1 Cor. 9:27 is: though he himself has preached the Word to others, he also MUST crucify the flesh ("die daily" – 1 Cor. 15:31) and walk holy OR he too will be a "castaway" (KJV), that is, "rejected" by God for salvation. Hence, Paul 'kept his body in subjection' in order to avoid losing his salvation.
Similarly Paul taught, if he himself preached "another gospel," that is, a different gospel other than the one and only true gospel, he would be "anathema" (CONDEMNED) just for preaching that false plan of salvation (Gal. 1:8,9). Preachers, YOU get no spiritual "brownie points" just because you are a preacher, except you will be given a MORE STRICT JUDGMENT (James 3:1), and you have a chance for the "crown of glory," if you qualify (1 Pet. 5:4). IF preachers don't live HOLY, they too will be DAMNED to eternal torment! Remember, the Apostle Judas Iscariot was a preacher, and he ended up going to HELL (Mk. 14:21; Jn. 17:12).
Remember the following truth about backsliding; Peter was an APOSTLE (one of the elite "TWELVE") – a preacher – yet he returned to salvation after he lost his salvation by disowning Jesus three times, he returned to salvation (Mt. 26:34 cf. Mt. 10:33; Lk. 22:32b). ALL backsliders can return to salvation, unless they commit eternal sin (Mark 3:22-30 cf. Heb. 6:4-6), commit suicide (1 John 3:15b; Rev. 21:8) or take the mark of the beast (Rev. 14:9-12), which is not out yet.
Finally, in Calvinism, a "reprobate" is, according to their FLAWED theology, simply a non-elect person – one doomed to be thrown into eternal fire with no free will and no chance of ever being saved! Such a repulsive concept smears Almighty God as an unloving, spiritually diabolical maniac, who has created some people only to be ETERNALLY TORTURED IN FIRE FOREVER!
The true God does not want any to perish (2 Pet. 3:9); commands all to repent (Acts 17:30); draws all to Jesus (Jn. 12:32); and wants all to come to the knowledge of salvation (1 Tim. 2:4); etc. God has given us free will, and he wants us to voluntarily choose to love him (obey him). He does not force us to love him.
All five points of Calvinism are DOCTRINES OF DEMONS, with the last point being the most dangerous of all. To read scripture refuting the HERESY OF ETERNAL SECURITY see https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/eternal-security.htm.
Ex Catholic Dan Corner 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
God Delights In Showing Mercy To The Repentant Backslider And Recidivist Says Dan Corner Of Evangelical Outreach
Corner is a Christian author, defender of the Christian faith and evangelist who has had over four decades of experience dealing with the Bible.
Unfortunately many Christians mistakenly believe that nobody who backslides can be saved again. Sadly, this belief has literally destroyed the lives of many remorseful and repentant backsliders. That idea however is clearly refuted in the Bible. Dan Corner of Evangelical Outreach offers the truth - that a backslider (recidivist) can be restored and find forgiveness through sincere repentance. He had this to say:
A backslider in the Bible is a person who once had salvation, but has since turned away from the PRECIOUS Lord Jesus Christ to the point where he is now spiritually lost and dead again, just like he was before becoming saved. The truly saved can indeed backslide, and sadly many do. The following two scriptures reveal the backslider definition:
“A man who strays from the path of understanding comes to rest in the company of the dead” (Prov. 21:16).
“But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers” (Psa. 125:5).
The scriptural definition of a backslider, therefore, is a person who strayed from the path of understanding and turned to crooked ways. In the KJV, the only time the word backslider is found is in Proverbs:
“The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways... ” (Prov. 14:14).
Ezekiel and Peter give valuable details about those who are backslidden and what occurred when they turned to evil. Carefully observe and ponder these backslider scriptures referring to spiritual death and becoming bound by sin once again. According to God, backsliding is a very serious and dangerous state as proven here:
“If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it ” (Ezek. 33:18).
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud’ ” (2 Pet. 2:20-22).
So, if you backslide, are you still saved? Not according to God's word, you’re not, but that doesn't mean you can't return to God and salvation. In fact, God commands such! Moreover, God's cure for backsliding is simple; the backslider must return to him:
"Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding..." (Jer. 3:22).
There are examples of both named and unnamed backsliders in the Bible, who turned away from God temporarily or even permanently. Some backsliders, like Peter and King David, returned to salvation after a while, but some others never came back to God; some examples of backsliders who never returned to God are King Saul, Solomon, Judas Iscariot, those in Heb. 6:4-6 and John 6:66 as well as others.
The grieving backslider wants to come back to God, but isn't sure how to be restored or even if returning to God is possible. Some backsliders think they sinned far too much and too grievously to come back while others wrongly think they have committed eternal sin and therefore can't get forgiven. There is, perhaps, no more downcast person than a repentant backslider who isn't sure he can return to God and find the forgiveness he so desperately craves.
Years ago, when I was pastoring, I knew a backslider who fell into sexual immorality. Over the next couple days, that same backslider lost nearly 10 pounds and was actually, on occasions, beating his own head against the wall in regret over his sin and foolishness! He wrongly thought, as a backslider, he could not repent and was, consequently, doomed to hell with no possible hope of ever getting saved again.
What finally helped that backslider to see that he could come back to God, in spite of his wicked actions, were the examples of King David and the Apostle Peter. Since God took those men back after they backslid, then why would he not take back this man, since he too was deeply repentant and resolved to never commit those sins again.
All throughout the Bible, we see how the highest authority on backsliding and forgiveness responds to a the repentant backslider; God himself taught that a backslider can indeed be restored and find forgiveness (Luke 15:11-32). The backslider (or prodigal son in this case) repented when he came to his senses. This verse demonstrates that a person who remains unrepentant and in sin that is dragging him to hell is not in his right spiritual senses. The backslider has been spiritually blinded by something or deceived somehow.
Although the prodigal son backslider, for an unknown time period, perhaps even many years, had engaged in wild living and sexual sin with prostitutes, he still found forgiveness; he was still able to return to God, and God wanted him back.
The prodigal became alive again, and his lost spiritual condition reversed upon turning from his sins and humbly returning to the Father to serve him (Lk. 15:24). Compare this teaching to 1 Thess. 1:9b. The only time in the Bible we see the Father running is to welcome the repentant backslider back home!
Remember this precious truth if you are a backslidden former Christian. Please also note that the Father was so happy to have the backslider back home that he hugged and kissed him and even celebrated his return with a feast.
Some Christians who correctly reject the teaching of eternal security wrongly think that no one who ever falls away can come back to salvation. This notion is clearly refuted by Jesus' teaching here, as well as by other passages (Rom. 11:19-23 and James 5:19,20).
A spiritually lost and dead person could be a person that was once saved. That truth and the following explain the phrase, “God is married to the backslider”, but few know God gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away:
“I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery” (Jer. 3:8).
God delights to show mercy to the repentant backslider:
“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18,19).
“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Prov 28:13).
David's prayer as a backslider returning to God and asking God for forgiveness shows the pain, misery and guilt he, and others like him, are in (Psalm 51). His prayer for backsliding is Holy Spirit inspired. When the devil is tempting the righteous to sin, he will never accurately portray sin's regret in this manner. The following gives more insight:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” (Hosea 14:1-3)
To read the rest of this teaching, see https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/backslider.htm.
Ex Catholic Dan Corner 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 http://www.AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net) and http://www.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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