In these last days there is a common and acceptable false gospel out there called easy believism. It is pandered by many false teachers from Schuller to all the word-of-faith teachers.
Before we discuss any further let me make a point. Saving faith is totally apart from works. We are saved by faith alone in the finished work of the Lord Jesus. A person can never earn salvation but they must come to the only Saviour, the Lord Jesus!
EASY BELIEVISM
What does the false teaching of easy believism state:
- There is no sin or it is ignored
- There is no hell and eternal damnation
- Eventually all will be saved as God would never send anyone
to an eternal place of torment called hell.
- All religions have merit and truth and therefore are to be respected
People in a liberal church that teaches easy believism are told that by accepting Jesus a person will have a better life here on earth. They are told that He will help solve all their problems and life will be rosy and great! Although there is an element of truth to these things, there is also enough error to damn a soul for all eternity.
For example. The Lord Jesus will give a better life. This is true but it is not the main reason a person comes to the Lord Jesus. A better life is a result of salvation and it also includes tests and trials. Things are not always happy and rosy in a Christian's life.
SAVING FAITH
The whole issue does not revolve around the Lord Jesus giving a better life here on earth. Yes a Christian does have a better life but that is more of a result of salvation and not the main issue.
The main issue is the fact that we are all sinners and therefore are condemned because of that sin! Once people realize this fact there will be no begging for a lost person to accept the Lord Jesus because He will make ones life better. Most lost people feel their life is fine already and begging them to come to Jesus just does not make any sense for that reason. But if a lost person comes to the realization that they are a lost sinner just one short heartbeat from an eternal hell, then all of a sudden their perspective changes. They flee to the Lord Jesus, not for a better life, but to accept the gift of forgiveness and eternal life lest they die and rightly perish in hell forever!
Are you beginning to see the difference between easy believism and saving faith? Once a lost person realizes they are a lost hellbound sinner then their need for the Lord Jesus makes quite a bit of sense. The Lord Jesus is no longer a fun type of guy who will give them happy lives here on earth. Instead, He is the only Saviour and His blood shed on the cross cleanses from all sin. The lost person runs to the Lord Jesus to be saved from an eternity in hell. After salvation, a better life on earth is nothing more than a benefit from saving faith.
The above is the point of this entire article. But lets go deeper and explain the lost condition of a soul more clearly:
First the Bible clearly states that we are all sinners:
Rom 3
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Notice the word "all" above. That means you and that means me as well. We are all sinners before God.
This is where some lost people take issue. They say something silly like this: I'm not really a bad person so I really don't see any need for salvation!
This is a common argument by the lost hellbound sinner. In fact, if you were to ask most of them if they thought they would go to heaven or hell after death, most would say heaven!
So at this point they really need to realize they are a sinner before a Holy God.
The best way to do this is to review the 10 commandments with the lost sinner. Go through the entire list and see if the lost person really is a sinner or not! Here are the 10 commandments as found in the Bible:
Exodus 20
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD
thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my
commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD
will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant,
nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that
in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the
sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the
land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his
ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
So show the lost person and ask him a few questions.
- In your entire life, have you ever lied? Then you are a liar!
- In your entire life, have you ever stolen something? Then you are a thief!
- In your entire life, have you ever looked with lust at a member of
the opposite sex? Then you are an adulterer
Are you starting to see that it is impossible for a person to be sinless before a Holy God. No one can be sinless toward God and his fellow man. In fact it only takes one sin for a person to be condemned to an eternity to hell.
Let me give you an analogy that may make sense to the lost hellbound sinner. Lets say you are a pretty good person. Being such a good person for your entire life you only sinned an average of 3 times per day. This works out to be 1000 sins per year. Now lets say you live to the age of 50 (that's 50,000 sins) or the age of 70 (that's 70,000 sins). So after death you will stand before a Holy God. What do you think He will do when you show up with 70,000 sins on your account. Will you really look like a good person in light of your many sins and offenses?
The ten commandments are an excellent way for a person to understand their need for the Lord Jesus. You see once a person realizes they are a sinner before the Lord, they will also understand their need for a Saviour!
Lets look at more verse in light of man's sinful condition:
Ezek 18
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear
the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the
iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be
upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
There is a penalty for sin. God is a Holy God who demands payment for sin.
Rom 6
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Did you know that sin pays a wage? People who are sinners have earned a wage and that wage is death. Remember God demands penalty for sin. That penalty is death. Now death includes two parts: 1) the death of the body 2) the separation of the soul from God for all eternity in the lake of fire
This is quite a serious problem. We are all sinners and therefore we have all earned the wages of sin which is death and hell.
It is very important to understand these things. All have sinned and therefore all and under a death penalty for sin. That penalty is an eternity suffering in the lake of fire, hell. At this point a person should be feeling a bit lost, scared, and helpless!
Now for some good news! God became a man and died on the cross in payment for our sin. The Lord Jesus paid the entire penalty for our sin in our place. He died as our substitute. All the penalty for sin was paid by the Lord Jesus. God poured out all His wrath upon the Lord Jesus on the cross.
Lets look at the second part of Romans 6:
Rom 6
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is true we are all sinners and have earned death and judgment. But the good news is that God has a gift of eternal life found ONLY through the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus died as our substitute and suffered hell so we would not have to! Salvation is now offered to all who will receive it!
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.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved.
So now the choice is upon each of us. We can accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour or we can reject Him and pay for our sins ourselves with an eternity in hell. Which will you choose? The Lord Jesus or pay for your own sins in hell?
John 3
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abideth on him.
CONCLUSION
Easy believism is false teaching that will lead a person away from God and straight to a lost eternity in hell! People need to understand the fact that they are lost sinners without the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. Everyone is a sinner and those sins must be paid for! Either we allow the Lord Jesus to pay for those sins or we reject Him and pay for them ourselves in the lake of fire.
Run to the Saviour today. There is no need to perish in hell!
Rev 14
10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels,
and in the presence of the Lamb:
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they
have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and
whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 20
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.
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