Truth is ancient; it's grey hairs may make it venerable;
it comes from Him who is the ancient of days. --Thomas Watson

 

28 September, 2005   comments: (0) Today's Synergism   Salvation Turned On and Off By Man? It seems unbelievable, but it's entirely possible now days to run into people who testify: "I've tried God, and He didnt work". Some will even tell you that they've been saved 4 or 5 times already. What's going on here? How are they getting the perception that they've come to Christ, and the experience failed to live up to some expectation of theirs? And what kind of an attitude towards true-Christianity does it leave them with, after having tried an impostor-Christianity that crashed and burned? They think they've had the real thing, and it was no good. What's at the core of this? Much of this stems from a wide-spread modern idea called Decisional Regeneration, in which man is left with the impression that he can turn Christianity on and off, like a light switch, by simply making a "decision for Christ". One example of this can be found in Rick Warren's Purpose Driven system, in which he tells unbelievers to pray this prayer: "Dear God, I want to know your purpose for my life. I don't want to base the rest of my life on wrong things. I want to take the first step in preparing for eternity by getting to know you. Jesus Christ, I don't understand how, but as much as I know how - I want to open up my life to you. Make yourself real to me. And use this [Purpose Driven] series in my life to help me know what you made me for." Warren goes on to say: "Now if you've just prayed that prayer for the very first time I want to congratulate you. You've just become a part of the family of God." Dont get me wrong, there are lots of other problems with Rick Warren's prayer, such as - no mention of sin and repentance, but it has something in common with the way many modern churches evangelize now days. It conveys to the unbeliever that they have full control over the "light switch" that turns their salvation on and off. Often this is done in conjunction with Altar Calls, but a new trend is to spare the audience the awkward experience of "going forward" in church. This church, for example, makes "choosing Christ" a check box at the bottom of a bulletin insert. But modern Decisional Regeneration isnt the first error in church history, that places man in control of salvation. James E. Adams explains: The history of the Christian Church has seen many errors concerning the new birth. These teachings depart from Scripture by attributing to man the ability to regenerate himself. When these false concepts of man and the new birth are adopted, churches soon become corrupted with false practices. The Roman Catholic church, the Anglican church, the Lutheran church and many other churches have all been corrupted at different times and to different degrees with the teaching of Baptismal Regeneration. Because of this erroneous teaching on regeneration, these churches have embraced false practices. In the nineteenth century few controversies were so heated as the one over Baptismal Regeneration. It is interesting to note that C. H. Spurgeon (1836-1892), the most prolific preacher of that century, had printed in 1864 more copies of his sermon denouncing Baptismal Regeneration than of any other sermon. Baptismal Regeneration teaches that the new birth is conveyed by the waters of baptism. The sacrament is performed by man and is in his control. But the [modern] Church has, in 'Decisional Regeneration,' a more subtle falsehood to combat. 'Decisional Regeneration' differs from Baptismal Regeneration only in the fact that it attaches the certainty of the new birth to a different act. This doctrine, just as Baptismal Regeneration, sees the new birth as the result of a mechanical process that can be performed by man. What is here called 'Decisional Regeneration' has in its deceptive way permeated much of the Christian Church. In his explanation of Decisional Regeneration, Adams rightly explains: 'Except a man be born again (born from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God' (John 3:3). Our Lord Jesus Christ taught that the new birth is so important that no one can see heaven without it. Mistakes concerning this doctrine have been very destructive to the Church of Christ. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God. It is not a work of man. It is not something that man does but something that God does. The new birth is a change wrought in us, not an act performed by us. This is stated so beautifully by the Apostle John when in the first chapter of his Gospel he speaks of the children of God as those 'which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God' (v. 13). For anyone interested in learning more about the New Birth, and how it happens in man, I recommend an excellent resource called: "How God Converts The Human Soul". It's an in depth video series dealing with the history and biblical basis of this issue. I've watched all of the videos in this series, and I believe it would be ideal for personal study or for church Sunday School classes. You can find out more about these videos by going to the following site (scroll to the very bottom of the page): http://www.crosstv.com/BornAgain.htm Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/.id.2.pid.59   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism