"To repent we need to recognize and feel sorry for what we’ve done wrong, do whatever is possible to repair the damage it may have caused, and to leave our sinful behavior behind. Repentance can be difficult and requires a lot of honesty, but the joy and freedom we feel when we turn away from our sins are well worth the effort. Because Christ suffered for our sins, we can be forgiven when we repent. That’s why the Atonement is so important to all of us."
SOURCE: Jesus Christ | Mormon.org
Is John MacArthur a Mormon? You Decide!
Lordship Salvation (in layman's terms) is the teaching that a person must try really hard to stop sinning as a part of saving-faith. This is Satan's gospel. In the Biblical gospel of free-grace, the burden rests completely upon Christ Jesus, Who bore our sins upon Himself at Calvary. In the perverted gospel of Lordship Salvation which John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron and Paul Washer teach, the burden rests largely upon the sinner (who is told they cannot be saved unless they try really hard to stop sinning). You don't have to take my word for it, you can read these heretic's words for yourself...
Here's the garbage theology of Dr. John MacArthur which says...
Pastor John MacArthur of the Grace Community Church has authored a heretical book titled, “HARD TO BELIEVE” in which he errantly teaches...
"Salvation isn't the result of an intellectual exercise. It comes from a life lived in obedience and service to Christ as revealed in the Scripture; it's the fruit of actions, not intentions. There's no room for passive spectators: words without actions are empty and futile...The life we live, not the words we speak, determines our eternal destiny" (Hard to Believe, p. 93). [emphasis added]
Ladies and gentlemen, what you have just read is works salvation. Now in fairness to Dr. MacArthur, who is a gifted teacher (but bad Bible student), he has attributed the previous quote to a publishing error and has updated the quote. Here is the new updated quote...
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. Salvation isn’t gained by reciting mere words. Saving faith transforms the heart, and that in turn transforms behavior. Faith’s fruit is seen in actions, not intentions. There’s no room for passive spectators: words without actions are empty and futile. Remember that what John saw in his vision of judgment was a Book of Life, not a book of Words or Book of Intellectual Musings. The life we live, not the words we speak, reveals whether our faith is authentic. [emphasis added]
SOURCE: Dr. John MacArthur, Grace To You, an updated quote from his book 'Hard To Believe', page 93.
At a glance, the preceding quote sounds impressive. It certainly seems proper to authenticate one's profession of faith with a life of good works. It appeals to our sinful human nature to attempt to please God by our own self-righteousness. The true nature of MacArthur's deadly teaching becomes more apparent when you only consider the first two lines of his quote...
“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...”
Is John MacArthur a Mormon? As with Lordship Salvationists, Mormons believe that salvation is a process that comes from a life lived in obedience to God. Here is what Mormons believe about repentance...
Notice that Mormons say “repentance can be difficult,” just as John MacArthur's book titled “HARD TO BELIEVE.” In sharp contrast, the Bible teaches 2nd Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the SIMPLICITY THAT IS IN CHRIST.” The Bible teaches that salvation is simple in Christ. Mormons preach ANOTHER JESUS, ANOTHER GOSPEL AND ANOTHER SPIRIT that are all of the Devil.
These are damnable Gospels, not Biblically sound teaching. In sharp contrast to the demonic teachings of MacArthur and Mormonism, the Word of God teaches that salvation is not hard. The Bible teaches that salvation is a new birth, a spiritual birth, a second birth. When we were born, it was hard for our mother, but we were simply born. Likewise, Jesus did the hard part by dying on the cross for our sins, so that salvation is very simple, free and easy for us!
Like MacArthur, Mormons teach that salvation comes from a life lived in obedience to God. Here's another quote from the Mormon website...
As we follow His example and live according to His words, we will feel our faith growing until it becomes an active force in our lives, helping us repent of our sins and deal with our challenges. Faith in Jesus Christ isn’t a simple declaration of belief—it is a source of power we can renew every day by studying His words, praying, and by trying harder to follow His example. [emphasis added]
SOURCE: Jesus Christ | Mormon.org follow his example
Heresy! This negates the gift of God. Romans 4:5 plainly teaches, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Mormons ignore and disregard Romans 4:5. Salvation is without works of self-righteousness. The man who believes on Christ is saved, because his faith is COUNTED for righteousness. I tell you plainly that Mormonism is straight out of the pits of Hell. By the way, Mormonism is rooted in the occult of Freemasonry, because Mormon's founder was a 33rd degree Freemason. Many of the Mormon rituals are identical to those in the Masonic temple. Literally, Freemasonry is a generational satanic plot (spanning back centuries) to set up the Beast system, aka, the New World Order of the coming Antichrist. The god of this world is Lucifer, as stated by Albert Pike (the most infamous leader of Freemasonry) and by the Bible itself (2nd Corinthians 4:4). The Mysterious All-Seeing-Eye.
Being born-again is NOT a process. It's a new birth, a second birth, a spiritual birth. Salvation is a supernatural miracle of God in response to our faith. John 1:12-13, “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: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
“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.”
SOURCE: Dr. John MacArthur, Grace To You, an updated quote from his book 'Hard To Believe', page 93.
Is that Biblical? No, it is not. MacArthur foolishly teaches that it is hard to become a Christian, because he says it will cost you your life of worldliness, sinful bad habits and selfish ambitions to make your faith valid. Clearly he does not believe that faith alone in Christ is enough to be saved. MacArthur deceitful says that mere words won't save, which is true if they are insincere words; however, the thief on the cross was saved immediately when he spoke the words, “Remember me” to Jesus (Luke 23:42). We are saved solely by faith in Christ, which may or may not be expressed by words. Words are not required to be saved. We are saved the moment we believe in our heart that Jesus is the Christ Who died FOR OUR SINS on the cross and rose (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
The Devil is so subtle. False prophets know that adding works to salvation is blatant heresy, a lie. So what they do is instead say that you're saved by grace through faith, but your faith is not valid unless there are works to make that faith credible (or to authenticate it). This is a backdoor approach to a works-based salvation.
I certainly don't believe that MacArthur is a Mormon, but his
flawed understanding of repentance closely resembles that of the Mormon
religious cult. The Jehovah's Witnesses also share
a similar perverted understanding of the doctrine of repentance. And
let's not leave out the religious false cult of
Seventh Day Adventism. The Bible teaches us to “REPENT YE, AND BELIEVE
THE GOSPEL” in Mark 1:15. Notice that the object of repentance is to
“believe.” The Bible does NOT say to repent and turn from sins to be saved.
Some old-time preachers say to “turn from sin” to be saved. They are sincerely referring to John 3:20, where Jesus said “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” The Lord taught that love for sin hinders men from coming to Christ to be saved. So when the old-time preachers, like Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) said to “renounce” every sin as a condition to be saved, they simply meant to confess one's sinnership. That's all that God requires to be saved, that is, that you come as an acknowledged guilty sinner, believing upon the gospel of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Careful analysis of Spurgeon's sermons plainly evidences that Spurgeon DIDN'T believe in Lordship Salvation. Nor did Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951).
In sharp contrast, there are false prophets today who teach something totally different than the Bible and the old-time preachers who believed the Bible. There's a vast false doctrinal movement today who teach “Lordship Salvation,” which is the false doctrine that a person cannot be saved by merely admitting their sinfulness and believing that Jesus died on the cross, was buried for three days, and then raised up miraculously. Jack Chick in his popular cartoon literature teaches that admitting one's sinnership is NOT ENOUGH to be saved. Mr. Chick adds an additional step which requires a person to “BE WILLING TO TURN FROM SIN,” which he understands to mean repentance. Remember, this is an additional step beyond admitting that you are a sinner.
Jack Chick says that you must be willing to stop living a sinful lifestyle to be saved. Ray Comfort teaches that you have to actually do it, but Jack Chick says you have to BE WILLING to do it. That's like saying, “You can borrow my lawnmower if you're willing to fill the fuel tank.” Clearly, I have implied that I expect you to fill the fuel tank before you return it. Chick Tracts prevent many people from coming to Christ to be saved, who think God won't save them unless they are willing to stop shacking-up in fornication with a mate, or cease from some other sin(s). The truth, Biblically, is that God will save ANYBODY who wants to be saved, just so long as you sincerely admit that you are a woeful sinner in need of Christ's redemption.
Most people believe that a man named Jesus once lived and
died, but very few believe that Christ rose from the dead by a supernatural
miracle of God. If Christ is dead, then the cross was in vain. 1st
Corinthians 15:14, “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain,
and your faith is also vain.” Do you believe that Jesus rose from
THE DEAD? The gospel according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 is that Jesus DIED,
was BURIED and RESURRECTED three days later. Repentance is necessary for
salvation, but the Biblical meaning of repent is simply a change of mind. If
YOU believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God Who died, was buried
and raised up from the dead to pay for YOUR sins, then you have repented.
Repentance and belief happen simultaneously, not separately. This is why the
words “believe” and “believed” are mentioned 85 times in the Gospel Of John,
but the word “repent” is not found even once. Yet, do NOT make the mistake
of saying that repentance is not necessary for salvation, because Mark 1:15
says, “REPENT YE, AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL.”
In Biblical Salvation the Burden Rests 100% Upon Jesus Christ!
The Biblical gospel is much different, freely received by faith in Christ...
John 20:31, "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
1st Corinthians 15:1-4, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."
The gospel is so simple... Jesus died, was buried and rose for our sins (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Do you believe? You must come as a hell-deserving sinner, for why else would you need a Savior? Receive Jesus now, believing that He is the Christ, the Son of God and you will be saved eternally. That is God's PROMISE (Titus 1:2).
It's not hard to believe! I SAID IT IS NOT HARD TO BELIEVE!!!
For John MacArthur to teach that salvation comes from a life lived in obedience and service to Christ, sinfully boasts that salvation comes from something that man does (Ephesians 2:8-9). Whereas Roman Catholics say to DO GOOD WORKS to be saved; Calvinists and Lordship Salvationists say to NOT DO BAD WORKS to be saved. BOTH are false gospels centering around WORKS for salvation, but Romans 4:5 tell us that salvation is to him that WORKETH NOT. The Bible says that salvation is “not of yourselves... not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Ray Comfort teaches the same junk theology as MacArthur. On page 1233 of THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, under the section titled, “False Converts,” Evangelist Ray Comfort errantly teaches...
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity (Matthew 7:21-23). This is why we must forsake traditional quick-fix evangelism..."
Source: THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, by Ray Comfort, pg. 1233; 2003, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Orlando, Florida
Ray Comfort does “err, not knowing the scriptures” (Matthew 22:29) concerning Matthew 7:22-23. Mr. Comfort would errantly lead us to believe that the religious group in Matthew 7:22-23 were not saved because of “quick fix” evangelism, but that is not the truth at all. In fact, the “quick fix” of trusting Jesus Christ is exactly what they needed. If you know that you're a sinner and trust upon the name of Jesus, believing that He is the Christ (Who died, was buried and rose again), then you are saved my friend (Acts 10:43; John 20:31; Galatians 3:26).
Paul Washer errantly teaches...
“But if you profess to have gone through the narrow gate, and yet you live in the broad way ... just like all the other people who are carnal and wicked ... the Bible wants you to know that you should be terribly, terribly afraid — you know not God.” (time: 24:37 in video)
God hates the false teachings of Paul Washer! Biblical salvation is based upon the love of God (1st John 3:16) and not upon one's willingness to depart from sin. What Paul Washer is teaching is evil to the core. Paul Washer is heard around the world by millions of people, many of whom live in constant fear because of Washer's teachings. You just read it for yourself...
“the Bible wants you to know that you should be terribly, terribly afraid — you know not God.”
Paul Washer's gospel is arbitrary, conditional, uncertain... how much sin means that a person who trusts Christ is not really saved? All three of these men are Calvinists. John MacArthur boasts of being a 5-point Calvinist (but he's a 5-point heretic!). Ray Comfort doesn't believe that God loves sinners. That's the same garbage theology that John Calvin, Fred Phelps and John MacArthur teach. Yes, the "God Hates Homos" hateful preacher from Kansas who's all over the news is a staunch Calvinist!!! I tell you, Calvinism is of the Devil. And so is Arminianism. Jesus commanded for us to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES (John 5:39); not read the writings of flawed men such as John Calvin and Jacob Arminius. Neither man was doctrinally correct in all their teachings.
John MacArthur, Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort and Paul Washer all teach garbage theology!!!
So what does the Bible teach concerning sinful Christians who disobey the Lord? The Bible tells us the answer in 2nd Corinthians 5:9-11...
2nd Corinthians 5:9-11, “Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.”
The Bible says in Revelation 14:13, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” The Bible speaks of resting from our LABORS. Are you laboring for Christ? The Apostle Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 5:9 that he labored for the Lord that he might be ACCEPTED OF HIM on judgment Day. 2nd Corinthians 5:11 mentions the TERROR OF THE LORD for those believers who are disobedient and waste their life, talents, gifts, and resources; never doing anything to serve Christ here on earth.
Revelation 22:17, “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.”
